We traveled August 5-28 on the Queen Mary 2, round trip from New York stopping at Southampton, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Southampton. As a result of having 3 or 4 cancelled trips in 2020 and 2021 (and resulting FCC), we splurged on a Queens Grill Penthouse (we’ve previously traveled in both Princess Grill and Britannia). This was not a ‘normal’ shipboard experience for us as we are still COVID-cautious and took many precautions while aboard, but it was a delightful journey and we returned home COVID-free, relaxed and refreshed and ready to sail with Cunard again next year. Caution: LONG REVIEW ahead!

What is luxury? Readers here have many different opinions on the luxuriousness of the Cunard experience and of course each individual’s definition of luxury varies. To us, having space, time, personalized service, an ocean to enjoy, and of course freedom from meal preparation and household chores equates to a luxury experience. We don’t need everything to be perfect, brand-new, or over-the-top, just comfortable, welcoming, and with room to breathe, and Cunard delivered.

Embarkation. We hired a local car service to take us (and our luggage – we are not light packers) from our home in Maryland to Brooklyn. While this first seemed an extravagance, the cost was about the same as shipping our bags ahead, traveling on the train to New York, staying at a hotel the night before, and then getting a cab to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. It was well worth the money for the lack of interaction with people on public transportation. In hindsight, we left home too early, allowing for Friday traffic en route and a few rest stops. The traffic was not bad, the rest stops were brief, and no issues materialized on the road, so we arrived at the terminal at about 9:45am, far in advance of our noon boarding time. Read more