The crossing that converted me
I crossed the Atlantic with my husband Chase in January 2025 aboard Queen Mary 2 — Brooklyn to Southampton over seven days. It was not a cruise. It was a crossing — a concept that sounds antiquated until you remember there is no inherent difference between sailing to Europe in 1955 and sailing to Europe in 2025, except that air travel has spoiled us into forgetting the alternative exists.
The ship moves like a thoroughbred. You feel the Atlantic underfoot in a way you do not feel anything on a modern cruise ship. The hull is deep and purposeful; the engines are powerful; the ship was built for the journey, not merely accommodated for it. The library at five in the morning with a coffee. The Britannia dining room at eight in the evening in a tuxedo. The slow rhythm of seven days where the only agenda is breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the Atlantic. The full sailing is at why I recommend Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and at seven days at sea — the long-form companions to this page.
What makes Cunard Cunard
Cunard has set the bar for ocean travel for over one hundred and eighty-five years and continually refines what they call the definitive experience. Four iconic Queens — Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and the new Queen Anne (the 249th ship to fly the Cunard flag, entered service in 2024) — sail to all corners of the world. The world's only true ocean liner, Queen Mary 2, runs the only regular transatlantic crossing service between Southampton and New York. Every other large passenger ship at sea today is a cruise ship; Queen Mary 2 alone is purpose-built for the North Atlantic.
What you are buying, on any of the four Queens, is a guest experience layered into White Star Service (the service standard that originated with the White Star Line and has been Cunard's since 1934), Cunard Insights (the enrichment program of guest speakers, masterclasses, and themed Event Voyages that distinguishes a seven-day Cunard sailing from a generic week at sea), and an onboard culinary register that runs from the included Britannia main dining room through Princess Grill and Queens Grill — Cunard's Grill Suites — at the top.
The four Queens
In canonical Cunard order — Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Anne. Each is its own voyage; each is a different shape of week at sea.
The voyages and the experience layers
Two product spokes live with this hub — the Transatlantic Crossing and Cunard's Grill Suites. White Star Service and Cunard Insights ship as theme spokes through summer 2026.
