Cunard: 8 Things You Didn’t Know You Needed To Know!

I discuss the things about Cunard Cruise Line that I kept finding people misunderstand, or do not realise about the cruise line. There are many cruising myths about Cunard among cruise passengers that I discuss, dispel, or explain why they may be only partly right. Cunard is not what most people think it is. I discuss topics including why despite being a very British line they use the US dollar and not the British Pound. Find out why and 7 other things you didn't know you needed to know.

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00:00 Start
00:27 Not that British?
02:11 Itinerary differences?
03:13 Too class based?
04:49 Unique ships?
05:45 Iconic features?
07:00 Signature activities?
08:21Too dressy?
09:42 Who's on board?

[jacquelyns]

Years ago when Queen Elizabeth II was doing the Transatlantic crossings, you could book passage for paired sailings that allowed you to spend weeks in the British Isles and then return to the US on the ship. No flying involved. And there was a cost savings involved. It was on my dream list.

[FraserAtSea]

The dress code point has always been my bone of contention with Cunard. However, after doing more cruises, I do now appreciate a cruise line who enforces a dress code - I’d be sad to see formality leave Cunard - hopefully they keep to it!

[Andrew-epkw]

On our last crossing (in May) one of the Insights speakers was Dr. Stephen Payne, the architect that designed the QM2. One of his lectures was about the ship and her design and he mentioned she was originally planned to be named the Mauretania 3. However, Carnival wanted the Cunard ships to follow a royal naming theme, so Queen Mary 2 was chosen instead.

[ashleymeggan]

My 6 yr old is obsessed with ocean liners. It started with Titanic, but has since grown to encompass the entire industry. He’s built Lusitania and Mauritania. A friend tried to draw him the Titanic and he was like “no, it only has one funnel, that would be the Carpathia.” I have no idea what started all of this, but he’s genuinely passionate about this. We’ve cruised and on a “not really for kids” line - Celebrity - he loved it. I was planning on taking him on a Royal Caribbean Cruise bc they are VERY kid oriented, one of the new Oasis Class ships to be specific. He is INSISTENT that he would prefer to do one of the Cunard ships. I think he would love everything about this. Afternoon tea, all of it. He WANTS to travel on a very formal, old school ocean liner.

How is the casino? The casino is my spa on a cruise. How is the gaming?

[denisosullivan]

Although Cunard lines was long British, its founder Samuel Cunard was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and only came over to the shires of Britain at age 50. He got his experience base in North America.

[Sushi]

❤❤❤❤❤ Love dressing up and seeing men in Tux or Dinner Jackets. So very civilized in a horribly crass world.

[TaylorJohnson]

Been looking for a cruise line with a dress code. I know most don’t like this but I require it. Thank you.

[terrifromm]

Cunard is definitely on my list. Can’t wait for this fabulous experience. Thank you for another great video.

[croberts]

You forgot to mention the kennel on QM2! The only way you can get your pet across the Atlantic without flying. Even without a dog or cat, it's fun to go up and see them in the exercise area.

[Smellynelly]

Another great video Gary, we moved to Cunard from P&O many moons ago as Cunard know how to cater so much better for their passengers, we are lucky enough to go in the Queens grill and there are a lot of benefits you didn't mention, free bottles of water daily, canapés daily, free cappuccino, free mini bar, bottles of champagne, chocolates, the list is endless, they really do look after you.I too love that they stick to the dress code, if people don't like it, then don't sale with Cunard, one of the reasons we left P&O was because of the number of people dining in track suits, shorts, scruffy jeans but each to their own but after saying all that Cunard definitely isn't stuffy and like you said, they cater really well if you're single, with daily meet ups and we made good friends with a gay couple who say they will only sail with this line because of the inclusion of the LGBTQ community, so I hope this cruise line never changes, WE LOVE IT 😊

[martinconnerty]

As a teenager in the 1990s, I loved formal evenings on the QE2. I felt so grown up and the ladies were stunning.

[robertlarsen]

I remember as a child we would have to dress in our church clothes to fly on an airplane.
My family and I were on the second Atlantic crossing of the QE2 in the 60's, quite different than today.

[catherinehayes]

Gala Nights are my favorite nights on a cruise.

[steveorr]

Another great video on Cunard. Thanks for helping to decode / explain this iconic line.

[dancourt]

Thank you Gary for this vlog, full of information. Cunard is my favourite cruise line and I enjoy all 3 ships x

[apgx]

I haven’t cruised for a number of years so I’m so very glad the dress code is still maintained for Gala nights.

[thomasvanantwerp]

Gary, I enjoy your videos. However, I was on the Queen Mary 2 for 20 days in November of 2022. There were no dance partners in the ballroom. In my stateroom, there was no traditional silver wine bucket with the bottle of sparkling wine and welcome note from the captain. The chocolates on my pillow at night were not the traditional Cunard chocolates, but some nondescript wrapped chocolates. Cunard has been stripped of many of special elegant touches which I always appreciated on previous Cunard voyages. I had always felt very special on previous voyages. Furthermore, the dress code has been loosened. In November, I saw plenty of guys wearing plain collarless shirts or teeshirts in the public areas of the ship after 6:00 p.m. I saw guys at afternoon tea wearing baseball caps. I even saw a guy come into the beautiful Commodore Club wearing a bomber jacket. He sat down at the bar, took off his jacket, ordered a drink while he wore his plain white teeshirt. When I am paying $350.00 to $400.00 dollars a day for an iconic ship and voyage, I expect more than what I got in November.

[Scott-phyk]

Gary, thank you for stripping out all of the pretense out of making a TA voyage on Cunard. Your videos are fact rich, insightful, and allow people to make informed decisions about booking passage on Cunard.
You do a very good job of explaining the dress code and how to approach it, or how to skip playing dress up in order to travel light. That alone is going to be very helpful on our first ever cruise to celebrate our 35th anniversary. We are looking forward to afternoon tea and strolling the deck. 😊

[KingRisen-gn]

New Bucket List is to Cruise Cunard QE to Alaska from Vancouver, QE will be doing a full season in 2024, previously only select dates, so time to fulfill the dream. Great video Sir.

[andiscott]

Great video Gary 🙂👍 And indeed, I share many of your experiences, both as a solo traveller and a gay man. I have never seen or heard any derogatory or snide comments about myself or friends as part of the LGBT passengers onboard, and indeed was also surprised by the number of people attending the FOD meeting (are we allowed to call it that any more?!? 😬), and also as a solo traveler which I thoroughly enjoy. I am one of the people who very much enjoy the dress code, delight in dressing up for dinner and seeing all the other people who have gone to great effort to do the same... I know it is unpopular to many, but I do wish it was more enforced than sometimes is, and actually would prefer them to reverse some of the changes made in recent years to the dress codes onboard, which I think many of the long term Cunarders felt was just cow toeing to the mass market.