Full steam ahead

Go Feedback:The travel chaos of the past 10 days has reminded lots of people how nice it is to travel by boat. Cruise fan Renagh Holohanis one of them

THE THOUSANDS of travellers flocking to the ports of Europe this week may regard ferries as nothing more than temporary lifesavers, but who will ever again book a flight certain that, barring a slight delay – well, maybe even one of a day – they will get to their destinations? I know I won’t.

Ferry travel is everything air travel isn’t. You don’t have to strip off at security or, like an acquaintance of mine, cause consternation when ordered to remove your belt by promptly removing your trousers, too – as he said, they were attached to each other. Or be like the woman who threatened to lie down on the conveyor belt and put herself through the scanner to prove she had some sort of implants.

You can carry as much stuff as you are able, or fill your car to the rafters, no questions asked. You can relax over a meal, walk around the deck, sit in the bar, browse the internet, study or sleep in a bed for the entire journey. Or simply watch the sea go by.

All this takes time, of course, and you can’t be in a hurry. So the last time we crossed the Atlantic we went by boat – and, boy, were we pleased with ourselves.

The Cunard liner Queen Mary 2sails about once a month from Southampton to New York and back again. It left last Thursday from Southampton; the next one leaves Hamburg on May 13th, calling at Southampton the next day.

It costs a lot, but so does business-class travel, and as the price includes a cabin, all your food – which is excellent, and comes in half a dozen restaurants – entertainment, swimming pools, dancing, singing and anything else you care to think of for six or seven days, it’s not bad value, especially if you view it as a holiday rather than simply as a way to get from A to B.

Not everyone we met was on holiday. Some were afraid of flying – a phobia that is probably on the rise – and always travel by sea. Others were emigrating from one continent to another, and came with their pets.

While some choose it as a relaxing end to a holiday, for others it was their entire holiday. We met several groups who were staying on the ship for the return journey. They said they were looking forward to seeing New York in a day.

On board there was never a dull moment. You could do everything or nothing. The ship had an English pub and a casino on one deck and a planetarium and piano recitals on another; black-tie ballroom dancing to a big band at night and line-dancing classes in the morning; variety shows on an enormous scale, bridge games and captain’s parties. There were 2,489 passengers on board, plus a crew of 1,237 divided between deck, engines and hotel.

An Atlantic crossing is not a cruise, we were told, so despite all the cruise-like activities there were serious types on board, and the Hi-de-Hi!brigade were easy to avoid. Naturally, there were no stops, so no shore excursions. People generally were going on elsewhere or returning home, and, while mostly British – this is a very British ship – they were of all nationalities.

We travelled this time last year, so about the only outdoor activity came from a few yuppie types who drank champagne in the outdoor Jacuzzi as the north Atlantic wind howled around them. A few laps of the deck – it measures about 500m – was as much as most could face, or maybe an hour wrapped in blankets in a sheltered spot.

The chart that marked our progress showed the spot where the Titanic went down, north of our route. It was a chilly moment as we looked out at the grey wastes and clung to the rail against the wind.

Our arrival in New York was magnificent, even if seeing it meant getting up at dawn. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the first sight of land since the Scilly Isles, the Statute of Liberty and the port fireboats, which sailed out to meet us, made you feel this really was a rite of passage.

Then, to add to the lack of stress, we were disembarked by deck, so there was little or no waiting around. Our baggage was all colour coded on the quayside, and the immigration procedures were quicker than in Dublin or Spain. We sailed across the ocean and then we sailed ashore.

As for the cost, we felt it was worth it. This week the Cunard website was quoting €675.95 per person sharing for an inside cabin, or stateroom as they grandly call them on the QM2, for the one-way sailing from Southampton on June 1st. This lowest rate, which means you have no porthole and are denied access to the top restaurants, had doubled since Eyjafjallajökull began to erupt, so obviously there was a bit of a rush. There are more expensive options, rising to a suite costing nearly €3,000pps. On each rate you get everything – even a definite date of arrival – except alcohol.

It was all a wonderful experience. But two aspects were strange to us. One was the “gentlemen hosts” who paid for their passage by dancing nightly in the grand ballroom with unaccompanied women. These rather elderly men were expert dancers and a pleasure to talk to. I know: one asked me up.

The other was the listing in the daily programme for the 4pm meetings of the Friends of Bill W – Alcoholics Anonymous – and the Friends of Dorothy. Think Judy Garland and you might get it.

For us the disadvantage of a transatlantic crossing is that you have to get to Southampton. There are flights from Dublin, but a ferry and a train or two will get you there also. Who knows, though: if this type of travel takes off, or indeed becomes compulsory as volcanoes keep erupting, the liners might, as of old, call at Cobh.

cunard.com