An ocean liner is different from a cruise ship, said Beverly Beyette in the Los Angeles Times. “Purists sometimes dismiss cruise ships as clusters of floating flats” that quickly return to the same port from which they departed. Liners, on the other hand, cross oceans and may not return to a port of embarkation until much later. The Queen Victoria, the newest Cunard liner, is the latest entry in a grand tradition of gracious ocean-liner elegance that has included the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, and the QE2. The library on Deck 2 is a showpiece, with a spiral staircase, leather chairs, and a skylight. This deck also contains the red-plush-and-gilt Royal Court Theater, and an assortment of bars and lounges cluster around the triple-decked Grand Lobby “with its make-an-entrance staircase.” “Let the others have their casual dress, free-choice dining, and rock climbing.” I’ll take Victoria’s formality. After all, “a Cunard voyage is special.”
Cunard sells not only elegance but Britishness, and “clings fiercely” to such
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why ghost guns are so easy to make — and so dangerousThe Explainer Untraceable, DIY firearms are a growing public health and safety hazard
-
The Week contest: Swift stimulusPuzzles and Quizzes
-
'It's hard to resist a sweet deal on a good car'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
