I love alternative, unusual travels, that allow me to experiment new sensations and enlarge my horizons: new destinations, new itineraries, new ways of travelling.
I love also to live in total relax and carve out some little spaces that modern life denies me, due to fast rhythms and continuos connection. Reading, thinking , planning the future, enjoying the family (and writing, of course) become the core business of the day, not just a quick moment compressed in a busy schedule.
Fortunately, trips that allow me to satisfy these willings still exist: one of them is the transatlantic cruise.
Actually, such trips have been always existing, starting from the period in which our grand-grand parents were used to arrive to Ellis Island as immigrants, but nowadays they seem to be reserved only for people who own plenty of time: no perception could be wrongest because this kind of cruise is a trip within the trip, a gained period and not a wasted period. A period to be used to explore himself and not a new town.
All the main companies offer the possibility to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the May-June timeframe, when the ships are relocated from the Caribbean to Europe to avoid the Hurricane season.
The english company Cunard, instead, is the only one offering regular service from Southampton to New York and vice-versa, leaving every month but the January-April timeframe during which the ships sail around the globe.
I already travelled twice with Cunard, and replying to a colleague who stated the trip is too long, I said that actually it is too short!
The Company has a centennial tradition, having started in the golden age of transatlantic cruises (19th century). Its ships, famous all over the world (Queen Mary, used for the transatlantic cruise, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria) are synonymous of delicate elegance and carefully tailored luxury. Many historic images can be found in the corridors, evoking timeless atmosphere.
The ship is majestic as seen from the Brooklyn Bridge (for people like me coming from Manhattan (Cunard owns a dedicated cruise terminal within Brooklyn itself). But the real astonishment comes once embarked.
The ship is designed to offer her guests a softened atmosphere, an ancient glamour based on silence and slowness. The crew members-passengers ratio is around 1 to 2, meaning the service is always impeccable, diligent and attentive. The ship is very large (345 metres) and thanks to the relatively small number of passengers the common area are dominant: pools, clubs, lounges and boardwalks are never crowd, silent. Walking in loneliness is always possible, the only noise coming from the waves.
Wild fun is not to be searched: passengers enjoy the large library, the clubs, the internal and external boardwalks and overlooks. The atmosphere is formal and relaxed at the same time.
International cuisine guarantees a very high level at any meal: warm pastry and marmalade in glass jar are the prelude to the daily explosion of tastes. Staterooms are well designed and offer an incomparable comfort level.
All ages passengers come from all over the world even if, of course, the British are dominant. They all share the common willing to try an unforgettable experience and to get disconnected from the rest of the world for a short.
This and much more is a transatlantic cruise, a trip that offer more than the time it requests.
