COVER STORY
Dining on a Grand Scale
Andrew Maclear goes behind the scenes on the Queen Mary 2 to discover what it takes to produce fi ne cuisine of both great diversity – and proportion
goes behind the W
hen I started this occasional column in World of Cruising about ship- board catering last year, I opened with a visit to the Wind Surf, the
small and charismatic Windstar Cruises motor yacht that spends much of her time under 26,000 feet of sail, plying the smaller ports of the world. She carries just 306 passengers. This story is about an entirely different type of vessel. The vast, spacious and elegant Queen Mary 2, carrying 2,600 passengers, plus the not-inconsiderable matter of 1,250 crew. When the designers of QM2 were given their brief
by Cunard almost 10 years ago, there was no ambigu- ity about the project. This was to be a liner, a vessel that would maintain the tradition of the great Cunard- ers, started way back in 1850 with ships that traversed the North Atlantic primarily as a means of covering the distance between one continent and another. It was also about transportation undertaken in the utmost comfort and style. Granted, Queen Mary 2 does a good deal of
cruise work throughout the year but her primary mis- sion is to uphold a maritime heritage and tradition set down by the great ships that came before her, vessels with names like Mauretania, Lusitania, Queen Eliza- beth, the original Queen Mary and, of course, the venerable QE2. She is the only liner still providing regular service between Southampton and New York. Thus the designers sought references, practical,
technical and stylistic, from previous ships in the Cu- nard line. Broad staircases, towering atria, tapestried walls, large uncluttered spaces and a long, sleek bow that slices through the Atlantic and renders the ship almost motion free, even at 26 knots in a rough sea. Wandering the airy spaces and quiet alcoves of this 152,000 ton ship, it is easy to imagine oneself in a different time and place. The pace is unhurried and, on this June crossing, the broad wooden decks were often occupied by just a few people. As Hotel Manager David Stephenson put it: “There are plenty of vessels of this tonnage carrying a similar number of passengers but few deliver this sense of space. And that’s a question the passenger always asks. How much personal space am I getting?”
Above: Britannia Grill; right: Britannia Kitchen,
below: Veuve Cliquot Bar. Opposite page: Grand Lobby.
Summer 2010 I WORLD OF CRUISING 65
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