ARE TRANSATLANTIC VOYAGES BECOMING LONGER?

[BrisbaneR]

I've been looking at TA voyages for early 2025 and noticed that the majority of QM2 trips are now listed as 8 nights rather than 7. And the maiden Queen Anne TA crossing is listed as 9 nights. Does anyone know the reason for this? I'm wondering if I may have missed some communication from Cunard. One thing is obvious though: the prices are clearly higher for the extra day.

[david,Mississauga]

I also noticed that for the crossings in January and March.  The first April 2025 crossing on the 27th is seven nights, so perhaps the longer crossings are just for winter. In previous years the winter crossings have been eight nights including Jan. of 2024.

 

Although I like longer crossings and don't mind the higher fares that will have to be paid, my main concern in lengthening the crossings is that there are fewer in a year than there used to be. I know that the five-night crossings that were the usual with the QE2 for a long time will not be repeated. But there were a lot more crossings when they were shorter, which made it easier to sail in both directions. 

[TheOldBear]

Our upcoming transatlantic round trip has two seven day crossings. That matches our previous crossings.

[Down-Unders]

1 hour ago, BrisbaneR said:

I've been looking at TA voyages for early 2025 and noticed that the majority of QM2 trips are now listed as 8 nights rather than 7. And the maiden Queen Anne TA crossing is listed as 9 nights. Does anyone know the reason for this? I'm wondering if I may have missed some communication from Cunard. One thing is obvious though: the prices are clearly higher for the extra day.

That maybe Hamburg- New York.-Hamburg.

[bluemarble]

QM2's has done 8-night crossings on occasion in the past (not counting crossings with ports calls such as Le Havre or Halifax to account for the extra day). During 2015, Cunard added a few 8-night crossings to the schedule. For example, there was a 16-night round trip crossing New York-Southampton-New York on Aug 19-Sep 4, 2015.

 

Cunard continued the experiment with a few 8-night QM2 crossings during 2016 but appeared to have settled on 7-night crossings after that. That is, until the 8-night crossings on QM2's schedule to start her 2023 and 2024 world voyages plus one more 8-night crossing scheduled during July 2024.

 

Now, as you have noticed, @BrisbaneR, the first three (of four) crossings scheduled for QM2 in early 2025 are 8-night crossings. We may have to wait until the release of the remainder of the 2025 schedule later this year to see if this indicates a long-term trend toward more 8-night crossings for QM2.

 

Regarding Queen Anne, the Vista-class ships Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth more often than not take 8 nights when they have crossings between Southampton and New York on their schedules. I expect that would be the case for the new Pinnacle-class ship Queen Anne as well. The crossing scheduled for Queen Anne in January 2025 to start her world voyage is an 8-night crossing with an overnight in New York to extend it to 9 nights.

[alc13]

The possibility of 8-night crossings was explored in a Cunard questionnaire I received a few months ago.  I mostly responded in favor of them.  Maybe they received a lot of positive feedback.

[exlondoner]

And just think of the savings on fuel.

[Lanky Lad]

28 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

And just think of the savings on fuel.

I'm sure that's what it is all about really. 

 

As I like back to back crossings 7 nights is idea as it means I can get there and back in 2 weeks. 16 days plus travelling and you're well into the 3rd week which is not idea when booking time off from work.

[MCC retired]

I like the 8 nighters that include 1 port stop like Halifax or Le Harve .

[RICHARD@SEA]

We use to do the 5 night crossing on QE2 & spend a few days in either Paris or  London...did the 5 nite FRANCE to LeHavre w Paris & touring the continent - so we could do 7/8 to weeks holidays.  The 5 day crosssings are gone forever I imagine  - the QE2 & FRANCE sailed like nothing else since them. 

 

The longer crossing(unless  they do LeHavre & Southampton are too long - I love the sea days but 7 is enough... tho I am looking to come back from Europe this year on QM2

[D&N]

I'd be happy for QM2 to take as many days as possible to go either way. I'd prefer not to have to get off in New York though.

The problem is that after about 12 days I can't wait to get back here.

 

Couldn't she just embark by tender from Nice or Antibes and sail continually around the bay and let us nip home to check on Carmel (or whatever cats we have at the time) whenever we feel the need?

[BrisbaneR]

Assuming that 8 night cruises might become the new normal for TA voyages, I'm hoping that someone can clarify something else for me. l've been looking at a particular westbound cruise:  M506A listed as 8 nights from 8-16 March 2025.  Here is a screenshot of the itinerary. It suggests that we would actually arrive in New York in the early afternoon of the 15th March. Does this mean that we would  then spend the rest of that day and night at Red Hook before disembarking early on 16th March (day 9). Have I read this correctly? If so, I'm wondering why we couldn't disembark later on 15th March.

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, BrisbaneR said:

Assuming that 8 night cruises might become the new normal for TA voyages, I'm hoping that someone can clarify something else for me. l've been looking at a particular westbound cruise:  M506A listed as 8 nights from 8-16 March 2025.  Here is a screenshot of the itinerary. It suggests that we would actually arrive in New York in the early afternoon of the 15th March. Does this mean that we would  then spend the rest of that day and night at Red Hook before disembarking early on 16th March (day 9). Have I read this correctly? If so, I'm wondering why we couldn't disembark later on 15th March.

 

I wish I could answer all your questions, but I must say I'm a bit puzzled by this itinerary as well. Yes, you have read it correctly. The specific timings I'm seeing listed on other sites indicate the scheduled arrival time in New York on 15 March 2025 is 12:00pm noon. So that's more like a 7-1/2 day crossing with 1/2 day in New York. The other 8-night crossings in 2025 are eastbound with conventional 8-night itineraries.

 

Surely passengers will be able to disembark on 15 March to tour New York, so I don't see why you couldn't arrange to do your final disembarkation on the afternoon of 15 March if you wanted to. But of course Cunard and the port authorities will have the final say about that. I'm sure this has come up before when Cunard has had overnight itineraries calling at Manhattan, but as far as I know this will be a first for Cunard to have scheduled an overnight call at Brooklyn (assuming Red Hook will still be the terminal for QM2 in 2025; I have no reason to doubt that it will be).

Edited March 5, 2023 by bluemarble

[paulco]

The timing’s kind of cool.  Under the bridge and pass the statue late morning instead of 6am. Also harkens back to the day when when ships had to spend time in port to load coal.

[tv24]

In December, 2021, we were on the first QM2 crossing post-Covid.  It was 7 nights crossing to Brooklyn, and then an 8th night in Red Hook.  The QM2 continued on to the Caribbean.  We love Brooklyn and NYC, so having the extra day in the Big Apple was great.  We took a cab to see friends in Brooklyn during the day, and took the ferry from Red Hook to Wall Street to meet a friend for dinner at night.  It was a great itinerary that suited us fine.  Only problem was that a number of PAX caught Covid on board, but that is another story from the early days of Omicron.

[Starstruckharper]

I'd prefer prefer to have the option of getting off the ship once it docks in NY and I hope that they keep letting passengers do that. However, were I not from the East Coast of the United States, an "extra" day to explore New York wouldn't be really an inconvenience at all. A good chunk of the passengers probably already spend the day/night after the ship docks in NY already - why not save them the time and expense of finding a hotel? 

 

This method also seems like it would allow for a more relaxed turnaround that's less hard on the crew (since I'm guessing the minute the ship docks, the crew will get to work on maintenance, restocking, etc).

 

It would be a shame though - QM2 would have even fewer opportunities on a longer crossing to showcase her speed. What a shame that magnificent machine gets so few chances to really take the bit in her teeth.

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by Starstruckharper

[sfred]

2 hours ago, Starstruckharper said:

It would be a shame though - QM2 would have even fewer opportunities on a longer crossing to showcase her speed. What a shame that magnificent machine gets so few chances to really take the bit in her teeth.

 

Agreed!

 

The current Blue Riband record holder for both east- and west-bound crossings is the SS United States, now sadly rusting away near Philadelphia.  Her westbound record was 3d, 12h, 12m at an average speed of 34.5 knots.  The even faster eastbound (going with ocean currents and winds) was 3d, 10h, 40m at 35.6 knots. 

 

The first QM1 holds the fastest Cunard eastbound crossing, at 3d, 20h, 42m at 31.7 knots.  Westbound was 3d, 21h, 48m at 31 knots.

 

I don't think QM2 could ever match these times, although I'd love to be aboard for the attempt.  

[david,Mississauga]

On 3/4/2023 at 11:04 AM, MCC retired said:

I like the 8 nighters that include 1 port stop like Halifax or Le Harve .

 

I agree! I wish we had taken more of those occasional 8-night w/b crossings so we could disembark in Halifax, avoiding going to New York. We didn't do this to save money because the fare for the full crossing was charged, understandably.  Nor did we want a shorter crossing.  We have never once had a good experience disembarking in N.Y.   

 

It's a shame the call at Halifax on crossings was discontinued several years ago. 

 

 

[Starstruckharper]

1 hour ago, sfred said:

 

Agreed!

 

The current Blue Riband record holder for both east- and west-bound crossings is the SS United States, now sadly rusting away near Philadelphia.  Her westbound record was 3d, 12h, 12m at an average speed of 34.5 knots.  The even faster eastbound (going with ocean currents and winds) was 3d, 10h, 40m at 35.6 knots. 

 

The first QM1 holds the fastest Cunard eastbound crossing, at 3d, 20h, 42m at 31.7 knots.  Westbound was 3d, 21h, 48m at 31 knots.

 

I don't think QM2 could ever match these times, although I'd love to be aboard for the attempt.  

 

QM2 is slower than QE2, which was slower than the original Queen Elizabeth/Queen Mary. Going flat-out, QM2 could probably match the four-night crossings that the original QM used to do in the 1950s - but with far less reserve power available to her than was available to her ancestor, keeping to such a schedule would be far more difficult for the modern ship.

[Starstruckharper]

2 hours ago, sfred said:

The first QM1 holds the fastest Cunard eastbound crossing, at 3d, 20h, 42m at 31.7 knots.  Westbound was 3d, 21h, 48m at 31 knots.

 

I believe on her sea trials QM2 managed a hair over 30 knots. By comparison, the original Queen Mary touched 32 knots on her trials - and the difference in service speeds between the two ships is also about two knots (26 vs 28 knots average speed).

 

26 knots is still mind-meltingly fast for a modern ship - Queen Victoria only does 18 knots in service, for instance! For a sense of how fast that is, here's a video of the QM2 effortlessly overhauling a racing catamaran in Mid-Atlantic.

 

 

[TheOldBear]

And the QM2 is also much more fuel efficient than the steam powered original. I remember from one of Payne’s lectures that the original QM got about 12 feet to the gallon - QM2 gets 16 feet per gallon. 

[paulco]

The noon report on QE2 in the Med in Nov 07  had us at 26 knots,  fun!

Edited March 6, 2023 by paulco

[paulco]

M

[exlondoner]

4 hours ago, paulco said:

The noon report on QE2 in the Med in Nov 07  had us at 26 knots,  fun!

I’ve been on QE2 in the Med, when she was rushing from Gib to Palermo, and the cabin info had her at 31.5 knots for a long while. But the currents could have been very helpful. Equally on QE’s first season, trying to hurry to Le Havre after a delayed departure from Rotterdam, she did 23.9 knots, presumably against the current, The captain said that he didn’t know the ship could go that fast.