Bee Travel
The Queen's ship
CHRISTINE HICKS- USTA Travel
The Queen occupies center stage this week. I saw the movie "The Queen." The crash of past and present was heartfelt, Helen Mirren portraying a monarch clearly befuddled as to how she's missed everything in-between. In an unrelated turn of events, I forthwith read of recent ceremonies welcoming the Queen Victoria to the Cunard Cruise Line fleet. Forged in her hull are two coins for luck: a Euro, to represent the ship's construction in Italy and a gold Queen Victoria sovereign with St. George slaying the dragon on the reverse. They smashed a good Italian Prosecco on it, a customary flair, and then it floated.

Cunard, now owned by Carnival Cruise Line, is an antique of a line begun as the North American Royal Mail Steam Packet (phew) Company. Originally a fleet of four, small, wooden, steam-paddle driven ships (the Brittania, Acadia, Caledonia and Columbia), Samuel Cunard, a Nova Scotia businessman, negotiated the contract with the British in 1839-40 to ship mail between Liverpool and Boston, via Halifax. Soon, the terminus was moved to New York, and the highly successful line grew in size and reputation throughout the 19th century. Faster and more opulent ships were turned out - the Mauretania, the Lusitania. Plans for a pair of liners capable of weekly trans-Atlantic service were laid, then delayed through the late 1920s and the Depression era. Eventually, merging with the struggling White Star Line, the Queen Mary (1935) and the Queen Elizabeth (1939) were launched. They served in the war, carrying 10,000 troops at a time without escort, a testament to their speed.

Indeed, the RMS designation, still a part of the ships' title, casts a shadow back to Mr. Cunard's contract to operate "Royal Mail Ships" across the Atlantic, even if today's ships are five times longer than the original fleet. While now a division of Carnival, Cunard is a distinct brand that is the last of a breed. Cunard's three ships maintain the tiered class service reminiscent of a golden age. "As with the custom of ocean liners in the past, each (fill in name of ship) stateroom is matched with a reserved table at a sea-view restaurant... One of the joys of sailing with Cunard is the glamour of evenings at sea..." (Think Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant in "An Affair to Remember.") "In keeping with the high standards of elegance aboard, it is suggested that you dress for dinner as you would for a fine restaurant..." These ships, especially the top staterooms, appeal to those who own tuxedos and like to wear them.

That doesn't seem to have hurt business, however. The Queen Victoria's maiden voyage sold out in one day. And it's not going anywhere until December.

Like the Queen in "The Queen," these Queens have met and made peace with the present. On board tea is taken al fresco, and you can cozy up to a pub alternative to dinner. They're Internet-worked and child-friendly. Choose the beat to which you'll dance: slow, fast or spectator. Past meets present - and sail together into the future.

(Christine Hicks-Usta has enjoyed more than 30 years of globe-trotting as a member of the travel industry in various capacities. Direct questions to her at Bee Group Newspapers, P.O. Box 150, Buffalo, NY 14231-0150.)