(Read the original article in CruisesNews magazine, issue #34…)
In 1922, Cunard offered the first complete circumnavigation of the globe on the Laconia. For 130 days, its passengers enjoyed 22 port calls on five continents. For 93 years, Cunard has become the world leader in this type of cruise.
Since November 1922, no other cruise line has offered more cruises or carried more passengers on circumnavigation voyages than Cunard.
Historical Background:
The first circumnavigation of the globe was completed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1519. It lasted more than three years (1,082 days, to be precise) and, among other things, resulted in Magellan's death. Since then, circumnavigating the globe has been one of the greatest aspirations anyone can have.
Cunard is world-renowned as the pioneer of transatlantic steamships, which ushered in a new era with the departure of the Britannia from Liverpool on July 4, 1840. In 2015, Cunard celebrated the 175th anniversary of this event with various celebrations in Southampton, Liverpool, and other locations.
Another of Cunard's innovations to the maritime world, perhaps less well-known, is the round-the-world cruise. World War I led to the widespread adoption of several technical innovations that enabled ships to offer tourist cruises around the globe: the use of liquid fuel instead of coal, refrigerated storage for long-term food preservation, the first onboard ventilation systems, and so on. Furthermore, the United States emerged from the war as a superpower, with a wealthy and economically powerful class eager to explore new horizons. The completion of the Panama Canal in 1914 made it possible to offer itineraries that allowed embarkation from both North American coasts, avoiding the long detour around Cape Horn.
Cunard's First Circumnavigation:
In this context of technical proficiency and financial strength, and after the wounds of war had healed, Cunard partnered with American Express to offer the first circumnavigation of the globe in November 1922 aboard the Laconia, recreating Magellan's feat four centuries later. The first circumnavigation lasted 130 days and offered a westward itinerary with 22 stops, first through the Caribbean and the Panama Canal, then across the Pacific, with a stop in the Far East, and after passing through the Suez Canal, returning to New York via the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
However, four round-the-world cruises were marketed that winter, although the other three ships (the Samaria, another Cunard vessel, the Resolute, of United American Lines, and the Empress of France, of Canadian Pacific) sailed from New York in January 1923.
The Laconia had entered service in May 1922 on the Liverpool-Boston-New York route. It wasn't a large ship, displacing only 19,695 tons, with a length of 183 meters and a capacity of 2,200 passengers in three classes—roughly the same as the current Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, at 90,000 tons. On cruises, it carried a maximum of 400 passengers, which was approximately the capacity of its first-class cabins. It was a relatively slow ship, as its turbines propelled it at 16.5 knots. This route was suspended in winter because Boston Harbor froze over, so this ship and its sister ships (like the Samaria) were available for cruises. The Laconia made three round-the-world cruises in 1923, 1924, and 1926.
Third-class cabins were closed on these cruises. On its maiden voyage, American Express announced that “membership on the cruise would be restricted to 450.” Cunard wanted to sell the image of an exclusive country club, where passengers called themselves “Laconians.” However, not all the travelers were millionaires, and most belonged to the American middle class. The ship's capacity on round-the-world cruises was slightly higher than the number of first-class passengers it carried on the Atlantic (347), who occupied the best cabins, although some more economical cabins were also available.
The Franconia. The King of the Round-the-World Cruise Between the Wars.
However, if any ship embodied the charm and allure that round-the-world cruises held for American society between the two world wars, it was the Franconia. It was a sister ship to the Laconia, and like its sister ship, it wasn't technically an outstanding vessel. Nevertheless, Cunard imbued the Franconia with an aura of pioneering spirit, of a perpetual explorer, traversing seas and oceans and offering an elite the opportunity to discover remote countries and civilizations.
Between 1923 and 1939, the Franconia offered sixteen round-the-world cruises, always chartered by Thomas Cook. All of them followed more or less the same pattern: it departed from New York in the first half of January and returned to the city of skyscrapers at the end of May, after four and a half months at sea, having covered more than 35,000 nautical miles. His seventeenth round-the-world cruise, a 148-day voyage scheduled to begin in New York on January 5, 1940, was canceled with the outbreak of World War II.
His itineraries were incredibly varied, though he always emphasized stops in the Far East (China, Japan, India) and the South Pacific, including Australia, New Zealand, Bali, and others. On several occasions, he negotiated the Cape of Good Hope route, offering stops in South Africa, Madagascar, and other destinations as an alternative to the Suez Canal, and he never repeated an itinerary. He offered very long port calls: not just the overnight stays so popular today, but even three or four days, ensuring complete immersion in each destination. His passengers, for example, would disembark in Calcutta, tour India for a week or ten days, and re-embark in Bombay. They would visit, for instance, the holy city of Varanasi, located 1,532 kilometers from Bombay. Optional excursions were usually included in the fare.
Its accommodations were considered particularly elegant: the main lounge was a reproduction of an English inn, with oak paneling and a corner brick fireplace; the first-class smoking room was a reproduction of El Greco's house in Toledo; the library was one of the largest afloat; and it boasted a spa with a swimming pool, paddle tennis courts, and a gymnasium.
Another of the Franconia's moments of glory occurred in January 1945, when Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met in Yalta, on the Black Sea, to discuss postwar Europe; and the Cunard ship served as the base for the British delegation.
Among its illustrious passengers was a Spaniard, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. The author of "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" was living in exile on his estate on the French Riviera and suddenly decided to take a round-the-world trip on the Franconia in 1923, which was the ship's maiden voyage. His experiences on board, and about the exotic places he visited, were compiled in a book entitled "A Novelist's Voyage Around the World," which was published in three volumes between 1924 and 1925. His descriptions of Hawaii, Japan, China, India, etc., perfectly recreate an interwar cruise, narrating how the passengers of the Franconia rigorously wore their pith helmets, since they were, and also felt themselves to be, true explorers.
The round-the-world cruise has become the most sophisticated tourist experience, and the dream of many people.
The Caronia, Cunard's Green Goddess.
World War II brought a logical halt to round-the-world cruises. After a very difficult postwar period, it was once again Cunard that, in 1951, offered the first postwar circumnavigation, using a ship built specifically for this type of voyage, the Caronia, which would become the worthy successor to the Franconia. This first cruise was described by the press as "The Outstanding Travel Event of a Decade!" It was a westward voyage, the first of only two complete circumnavigations it made in that direction. And it would also be the first of only three occasions on which it transited both the Panama and Suez Canals on a cruise ship.
For those with the time and money, this was clearly the best way to travel! In just 111 days, aboard the most luxurious ship afloat, passengers could travel over 32,000 miles, with 30 ports of call on five continents, in both hemispheres. The best double suite cost $30,000, but even in the cheapest cabin, one could travel in luxury “for about 12 cents a mile!” according to their brochure. The itinerary is as appealing today as it was sixty years ago: New York, Panama, Acapulco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Fiji, New Zealand, Sydney, Noumea, Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Bali, Singapore, Colombo, Bombay, Suez, Haifa, Piraeus, Naples, Villefranche, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Cherbourg, and finally Southampton.
1951 also marked the beginning of another Caronia tradition: its cruise to the North Cape, which would soon become an institution in its own right, with passengers booking this cruise year after year. For the next sixteen years, this cruise would operate almost without interruption. While world events could occasionally alter the planned itinerary of other cruises, the Caronia's North Cape cruise always took place in July.
The Caronia's next World Cruise had to wait until 1955. It offered new destinations such as Cape Town, Madagascar, and the Seychelles, while maintaining others like India, Ceylon, and Singapore. This eastward itinerary, which became a classic, was repeated year after year with only minor adjustments and had the advantage of enjoying the Southern Hemisphere summer. In South Africa, it even offered the possibility of safaris; in India, one could visit Delhi or Varanasi, thanks to its week-long stop in Bombay. The service on board was simply spectacular. For example, on the 1957 World Cruise, the 529 passengers were attended to by an expert crew of 693. Yes, in those years, luxury cruise ships had more passengers than crew! However, at that time, very few Spaniards enjoyed these voyages. In fact, only two compatriots appeared on the 1957 passenger list: Eladio Corchón Fernández and Eudaldo Viñas Riega, both from Barcelona; and no Spaniards appear again on the lists until 1965, when Don Manuel Viladomiu Portabella and his wife are listed as passengers.
These round-the-world voyages show a trend toward shorter cruise durations: from the 140 days of the pre-war Franconia, the first Caronia cruises lasted between 105 and 110 days, a trend that intensified in later years with itineraries that generally did not exceed 95 days. The average number of ports of call for the Caronia was approximately the same as that of the Franconia: between 20 and 25 ports in more than 15 countries. And many days at sea.
The Caronia offered fourteen round-the-world cruises between 1951 and 1967 (actually thirteen, because the 1962 voyage wasn't truly a circumnavigation, but a 90-day cruise around the Pacific). Eleven of these were eastbound and only two westbound. Throughout its service life, it underwent constant renovations, becoming one of the first ships to be fully air-conditioned. In 1965, a new aft deck with a swimming pool was added. However, in 1967, Cunard decided to sell the ship, preventing it from undertaking its fifteenth round-the-world voyage in 1968, for which the brochure had already been published. In 1955, a 106-day round-the-world cruise cost between $2,950 per person for a cabin with two berths and $32,000 for a suite. On its last circumnavigation in 1967, which lasted 95 days, prices ranged from $2,895 to $29,000. For twelve years, fares hadn't increased due to competition among cruise lines.
The QE2's World Cruises:
The sale of the Caronia, which coincided with those of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, marked the end of an era. But Cunard was determined to maintain its presence as the leading long-distance cruise ship operator and decided to use its new ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2, delivered in the late 1960s. For almost forty years, it became the benchmark of the cruise industry, offering a total of twenty-six World Cruises.
The QE2 made its first World Cruise in 1975, due to the recession that followed the 1973 oil crisis. On that voyage, it visited twenty-three ports in 92 days. The brochure published for the occasion by Cunard stated that “Because the QE2 is faster than the average cruise ship, you spend more time in port.” Of the 23 ports of call, eleven were overnight stays, with the ship remaining for two nights (New York, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Durban, Mombasa, Bali, Kobe, and Honolulu) or even longer (four in Bombay, three in Hong Kong, etc.).
Among the consequences of the 1973 crisis was a rise in fuel prices, which affected passengers on this cruise, as they had to pay a fuel surcharge. Prices, in pounds sterling, ranged from £2,360 for an inside cabin on deck 5 to £9,580 for an outside cabin. As with the Franconia and the Carmania, the QE2 offered single cabins. And it always maintained its January departures from Southampton and New York, while its competitors switched to ports in warmer latitudes, such as Fort Lauderdale or Miami.
Its Queens Grill, considered for many years by critics to be one of the best restaurants at sea, offered open seating and a full service, in addition to its own private lounge, the Queens Grill Lounge.
This first cruise was followed by twenty-five more around the world, five eastbound and the rest westbound. In its later years, from 1991 onward, all of the QE2's circumnavigations were westbound. To continue offering attractive itineraries when a ship has such a long history as the QE2, itinerary planners have to be incredibly imaginative: on its last eastbound round-the-world cruise (1986), the QE2 passed through the Panama Canal (which usually implies a westbound cruise), but instead sailed along the Atlantic coast of South America to round Cape Horn. It then sailed north to Rio de Janeiro, coinciding with Carnival; crossed the Atlantic to Cape Town, rounded Cape Horn, and then traversed the Indian and Pacific Oceans to return to New York, passing through the Panama Canal again. Only a cruise line like Cunard can offer a complete round-the-world cruise transiting the Panama Canal twice.
On its westbound round-the-world cruises, it only followed the standard itinerary of first passing through the Panama Canal and then the Suez Canal on eight occasions. Nor did it follow this standard route in reverse on any of its eastbound itineraries (first Suez and then Panama); on these, it always sailed along the coast of South America before crossing the South Atlantic to Cape Town, and then continuing along the east coast of Africa into the Indian Ocean. South African ports were also visited on half of the QE2's westbound cruises. This was the standard itinerary for the Caronia, which allowed it to take advantage of the Southern Hemisphere summer and avoid the political instability in the Middle East that transiting the Suez Canal would entail. Thus, in 1991, the QE2 offered an itinerary that crossed that region in March, but in January of that year, Cunard redesigned it, avoiding the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. Instead, the QE2 rounded Africa and still arrived in Southampton on April 3, as scheduled, which speaks volumes for the ship's engines.
Regarding the duration of circumnavigations, the QE2 followed the Caronia's path for most of its career, offering itineraries of less than 100 days. From 1979 to 1982, it even offered 80-day round-the-world voyages, recreating the feat of Phileas Fogg, the famous character from Jules Verne. But in the mid-1990s, Cunard began to focus on longer cruises, exceeding one hundred days, which have now become standard, although still not reaching the 140 days of the pioneering Caronia. More frequent and extended port calls, lower fuel consumption, etc., are some of the advantages of these longer cruises.
The QE2 continued sailing for Cunard until 2008, completing over 40 transits of the Panama Canal and ten of the Suez Canal. That year was exceptional for Cunard, as it offered two historic round-the-world voyages: the maiden voyage of the Queen Victoria and the 26th and final voyage of the QE2. The latter wasn't actually a circumnavigation, but rather an extended 90-day cruise around the Pacific. On its farewell cruise, the QE2 crossed the Atlantic with the Queen Victoria, and the three ships met in New York on January 13, 2008, in what was dubbed the first "Three Queens Royal Rendezvous."
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez perfectly described a round-the-world cruise in his work "A Novelist's Tour of the World".
The sale of the legendary Caronia in 1967 left Cunard out of the round-the-world cruise market for almost a decade, a gap that other cruise lines filled. One of the main beneficiaries was Norwegian America Line, which in 1965 had received a ship built almost exactly like the Caronia: the Sagafjord. On January 8, 1966, it began its first circumnavigation from New York, a 93-day eastward voyage following the typical Caronia itinerary: South Africa, the Far East, the Pacific, and back to New York City via the Panama Canal. In those early years, the Sagafjord earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the most luxurious and elegant ships in the world. In May 1983, Cunard decided to buy Norwegian America Cruises and its two ships, the Sagafjord and the Vistafjord. Such was the fame of both ships that the British shipowner preferred to continue operating them without changing their names or crews, with the sole exception of a change in the colors of the funnel. However, just a year later, they began offering innovative promotions, such as applying the "one-way Concorde flight" concept to the World Cruises, a concept that had proven so successful on the QE2's transatlantic crossings. Thus, on the 1985 World Cruise of the QE2 and the Sagafjord, both ships met in Sydney, where passengers could transfer to the other vessel. Furthermore, those who purchased only one segment of the cruise were transported to Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, Sydney, and Cape Town by Concorde. Many American passengers preferred the Sagafjord to the QE2 because it was more intimate (only 400 passengers) and elegant. For over a decade, Cunard marketed two round-the-world cruises on two true legends of the sea, until the retirement of the Sagafjord, which sailed for Cunard until 1996. By the end of its service, the Sagafjord had completed 44 round-the-world cruises for three different owners, surpassing legends such as the QE2, Caronia, and Franconia. On June 30, 1994, Cunard purchased Royal Viking, the luxury operator that owned the Royal Viking Sun, for $170 million. As with the Sagafjord, the only change Cunard made was painting the funnel red, and it continued operating the ship without changing its name. In 1995, Cunard offered, for the first time ever, three round-the-world cruises on the QE2, Sagafjord, and Royal Viking Sun. In 1996, Cunard repeated this strategy with the same ships, but only completed the QE2 voyage because the Sagafjord caught fire and the Royal Viking Sun ran aground. 75th Anniversary of the First World Cruise: In 1997, Cunard celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Laconia's first world cruise in grand style, with two circumnavigations aboard the QE2 and the Royal Viking Sun, which they repeated the following year. However, in 1998, Cunard was acquired by Carnival, marking the beginning of many changes. The Cunard brand was diluted alongside others such as Royal Viking, Sea Goddess, and Norwegian America Cruises. The ocean liner, a symbol of the century-old Cunard, then represented by the QE2, shared its colors with yacht-sized cruise ships, the sister ships Sea Goddess, in a complex marketing mix. Its new owners decided to recapture the splendor of the Franconia and Caronia era, relying on two powerful brands: “Cunard” and “Queen.” As a luxury product, Cunard has a significant advantage over its competitors: its 150-year history synonymous with opulence and quality. The “Queen” brand, applied to its ships, evoked the achievement of the Blue Riband, the luxury of the apartments where Churchill and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor traveled, and the gastronomy of its Queen and Prince Grills. The great mentor of this return to its roots was Micky Arison, although it was really Larry Pimentel (Cunard's chairman from 1998 to 2001) who designed this strategy. On January 8, 2004, Queen Elizabeth II christened the Queen Elizabeth 2, Cunard's newest ocean liner, in Southampton. The delivery of the QM2 received unprecedented media coverage, recapturing the media prominence enjoyed by its predecessors in the 1930s: the first Queen Mary, the Normandie, the Queen Elizabeth, and others. Perhaps the most important reason was that it truly deserved the romantic title of "transatlantic liner." It was not a conventional cruise ship, but rather one equipped to sail the North Atlantic as well as offer luxury round-the-world cruises. The QM2's entry into service marked the latest milestone in Cunard's relaunch. In April 1998, Carnival Corp., along with a group of Norwegian investors, purchased Cunard from the Anglo-Norwegian industrial group Kvaerner for $496 million. A month later, Carnival created Cunard Ltd. and integrated the Seabourn and Cunard fleets into the company, creating the world's largest luxury cruise operator. Furthermore, almost simultaneously, Cunard's new owners restructured its luxury division. On the one hand, all the yacht-like ships and the Royal Viking Sun were integrated into the Seabourn brand, while the Cunard brand was built around the Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Vistafjord, which was renamed Caronia and registered under the British flag. For the first time in a long time, Cunard offered a cohesive product, based on its decades-long maritime tradition, English refinement, and the romance of transatlantic voyages. A year later, in October 1999, Carnival acquired 100% of Cunard Line. The situation at that time was contradictory: a remarkable commercial asset, the Cunard brand, had a fleet consisting of two ships built more than 25 years earlier, with a rich reputation and history, but with shared facilities and cabins that were outdated. It was essential to truly reassociate the Cunard brand with the opulence of the ocean liners of the first half of the 20th century. It was then that the decision was made to build the Queen Mary 2, the largest ocean liner ever built. The QM2's dimensions are truly colossal: 150,000 tons, twice the size of its predecessor, the QE2. Its capacity of over 2,500 passengers boasts a high gross tonnage-to-passenger ratio, and its theater, main restaurant, and other amenities allow you to appreciate the QM2's magnitude. Its size is exactly double that of ships carrying the same number of passengers. As a result, it's possible to feel quite secluded on its decks, while its spacious lounges comfortably accommodate passengers, and movement is always fluid in its wide corridors. It's a ship with its own distinct personality, evident in almost every area, with a consistently elegant and understated, very British feel, almost devoid of ostentatious details or color combinations, making it a ship where any European feels at ease. On the Queen Mary 2, it's very easy to find the English flavor one expects from a Cunard ship. The Queen's Room ballroom impresses with its size and its dance floor, the largest afloat. In the Winter Garden, another legacy of Cunard's former Queen ships, classic English tea is served at five o'clock amidst tropical décor. The QM2 boasts up to 10 restaurants. The largest is the Britannia Restaurant, although passengers in the most expensive cabins (apartments, suites, and junior suites) dine in Cunard's renowned Grills. Thus, the Queen Mary 2 is, in this respect, a ship with two classes of passengers, like its illustrious predecessors. This is the only segregation on board, as all other services are common to all passengers. The King's Court, which occupies the central part of Deck 7, operates during the day as a buffet for breakfast and casual meals, without access to the pool decks, but with splendid views overlooking the promenade deck. In addition, the QM2 is home to the first afloat restaurant by American chef Todd English, specializing in Mediterranean cuisine, located aft on deck 8. The Queen Mary 2 offers a wide range of cabins, with more than twenty different types available. The most luxurious are the five duplex apartments, each over 150 square meters, located aft on decks 8 and 9, equipped with a private elevator and a large aft viewing area overlooking the ship's wake. The four royal suites, measuring between 80 and 100 square meters, offer magnificent forward views. The 944 balcony cabins, spread across four full decks, are 18 square meters in size. QM2's First World Cruise: After entering service in 2004, the QM2 undertook the monumental task of replacing a legend: the QE2. They shared a transatlantic crossing in April of that year, which was the first for the Queen Mary 2 and the last for the Queen Elizabeth 2. The old Queen Elizabeth 2 was dedicated exclusively to cruises, including round-the-world voyages, until its retirement in 2008. This delayed the Queen Mary 2's first circumnavigation until 2007. The QM2's circumnavigations are limited by its size, which prevents it from passing through the Panama Canal. Therefore, of the ten round-the-world voyages it will undertake between 2007 and 2017, seven are not true circumnavigations, such as the one in 2013. On the other three occasions, the QM2 sailed west, rounding South America and passing Cape Horn, as an alternative route to reach Australia, a destination that has been repeated on all ten cruises. The duration of QM2's round-the-world cruises has also increased over time to save fuel and offer longer port calls. Its first two circumnavigations lasted around 80 days, with approximately 20 port calls. Since 2010, all voyages have lasted over 100 days; and the next one in 2016 will last 122 days, with 39 port calls.
A world cruise offers the chance to visit far-flung cities and countries. One week we might be in Sydney, the next in Shanghai or Tokyo. The following month we'll enjoy San Francisco, Barcelona, or perhaps even cross the Panama Canal… all without unpacking.
Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.
Continuing the fleet renewal to replace the Caronia, after its sale at the end of 2004, Cunard focused more on round-the-world cruises than transatlantic crossings, which were already covered by the QM2. The result was the Queen Victoria, delivered in 2007. While not a true Cunard ocean liner in terms of power and robustness, it boasts engine and hull reserves far superior to most cruise ships. Its design allows it to navigate the Panama Canal locks, a significant advantage in itinerary planning. However, its interior incorporates all the classic features that distinguish this shipowner. Passengers can enjoy the Queen's and Princess Grills, the Britannia restaurant, the Royal Court theater, the Queen's Room, and more.
Its debut on round-the-world cruises didn't come until a year later, coinciding with the sale of the QE2. On Three Kings' Day in 2008, the Queen Victoria began its first circumnavigation in Southampton, a 99-day voyage. A week later, it met the QM2 and QE2 in New York. This milestone was repeated in Southampton at the end of the cruise on April 22nd. Undoubtedly, the Victoria had outstanding godparents. In the following ten years, until 2017, the ship completed eight circumnavigations, all westbound.
Its sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth, was christened, like the QM2, by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010. And in January 2011, it embarked on its first round-the-world cruise. And, true to Cunard's traditions, just as happened with the Queen Victoria, on January 13th, all three Cunard Queen ships met in New York. It then met the QM2 again at several ports of call, including Sydney and Dubai.
2013 was the first year that all three of Cunard's Queens offered World Cruises since 1996: the Queen Victoria completed a full circumnavigation, the Queen Elizabeth a 91-day cruise through the South Pacific to New Zealand, and the Queen Mary 2 a 106-night voyage to Australia, Japan, China, and South Africa.
Since then, and until 2017, Cunard has offered World Cruises with all three ships for five consecutive years, bringing their total to seventeen World Cruises since they began sailing together, with six more planned for 2016 and 2017.
What exactly is a World Cruise?
First, it's important to understand what constitutes a World Cruise. Many cruise lines market longer cruises (60 days or more) under names like "World Cruise" or "Great Cruise," but in some cases, these don't offer a full circumnavigation. But this circumstance can even be positive for some passengers.
A round-the-world cruise has a thorny problem: most passengers prefer a port call to a full day at sea. However, a complete circumnavigation offers the opposite: for example, the QM2's 2012 World Cruise had 67 days at sea and 43 days in port, with a total of 38 port calls. Or, on the 120-day 2016 circumnavigation of the Queen Victoria, 72 days were spent at sea, with more on scenic cruises (for example, passing through the Suez or Panama Canals, or sailing alongside Australia's Great Barrier Reef); and of the 26 ports visited, only three times during four months was the ship to spend the night in port (in Sydney, Cape Town, and San Francisco). Crossing the Atlantic and, above all, the Pacific, means that an itinerary planner must add a minimum of 20 days at sea. And most cruises offer only one or two stops in the Pacific, usually in Papeete (French Polynesia) and Samoa, if they're going to Australia; or Hawaii if they're sailing further north towards China or Japan. Vicente Blasco Ibáñez describes this perfectly in his book, highlighting the six days at sea between San Francisco and Hawaii; or the ten between Honolulu and Japan aboard the Franconia.
To offer an alternative, Cunard invented the Partial World Cruise, which allowed cruisers to focus on a particular ocean or continent, as well as offering more stops. For example, in 1952, the Franconia offered the 110-day "Great Africa – India Cruise," which avoided the Pacific and offered, for example, a week-long stop in Cape Town, including a safari; or a nine-day stop in Bombay. This concept, although with fewer stops, is still part of Cunard's offerings. The impossibility of negotiating the Panama Canal locks for the QM2 has forced the British shipowner, to avoid circumnavigating South America around Cape Horn, to promote this option.
Guide to a Round the World Cruise
: If you're going to book a round-the-world cruise, do it with the cruise line that invented them in the last century: Cunard. Pack your bags, board the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria, or the Queen Elizabeth, and travel in the most refined comfort on an ocean liner from the world's most modern luxury fleet.
What to wear on the cruise:
DURING THE DAY: Casual attire is most appropriate throughout the ship. Evenings on all cruises are categorized as formal, semi-formal, or smart casual, with dress suggestions included in the ship's daily program. However, even on formal evenings, smart casual is perfectly acceptable in some alternative restaurants.
FORMAL ATTIRE: Dark suit and tie or tuxedo for gentlemen. Evening gowns or other elegant attire are appropriate for ladies. Military decorations and medals are suitable, although not very common in our country. We have a wide variety of formal wear for gentlemen on board, available for both hire and purchase.
SEMI-FORMAL: Jacket and tie for gentlemen. Cocktail dress or trouser suit for ladies. Jeans are not permitted.
SMART CASUAL: Jacket; tie is not required for gentlemen. Dress, skirt, or trousers for ladies. Jeans are not permitted.
ON LAND: Comfortable clothing is preferable for excursions, which will be numerous and varied during your round-the-world voyage. Even in warm climates, it can get chilly on deck, so we recommend bringing a light jacket or sweater. A light raincoat and umbrella are recommended, as well as appropriate clothing for visiting shrines, churches, and temples. Socks are also advisable in case you will be entering mosques or any temple that requires you to remove your shoes.
The Purser's office is the ship's financial center. The official currency on all ships is the US dollar. For your convenience, you will be asked to register your credit card upon embarkation. Most onboard expenses will be charged to your account. Currency exchange in different countries will be handled onboard.
Cunard offers special medical insurance for its world cruises. This insurance will cover passengers for any unforeseen events, treatments, and/or illnesses during the cruise. If passengers require specific treatments periodically (such as anticoagulants, insulin, etc.), this medical insurance will cover them, as well as any necessary tests performed onboard.
We suggest a different insurance policy for partial or full world cruises, with $1,500, $3,000, or $5,000 cancellation coverage.
Please also inquire about the visas required to disembark at all ports of call.
During your round-the-world cruise, you can contact family and friends via email, as you have access at the Internet Center or through your laptop with Wi-Fi in the cabins and public areas. Mobile phones can also be used on board; please check with your service provider before departure to see if you can use your phone at sea. All onboard Internet Centers offer PC connections. Guests with laptops can access the web via our wireless network, available in all cabins and most public areas. There is an additional charge for using these services.
When packing, Cunard ships offer full laundry and dry cleaning services, which will be charged directly to your cabin. Self-service laundry, dryers, and ironing facilities are also available.
Segments of a Round-the-World Cruise:
Although there are no statistics on this, only about one-third of passengers on a round-the-world cruise complete the entire voyage, while the remaining 66% opt for a segment of the journey. Itinerary planners must take this reality into account and design the itinerary as a succession of cruises, or even include complete round-trip cruises within the circumnavigation. Cunard began offering this possibility on the Franconia and Caronia, in segments such as New York-Los Angeles or New York-Europe, with return journeys using their regular transatlantic services. This option is usually sold as a combined package with hotel stays and/or tours before and/or after embarkation, allowing for greater immersion in destinations such as Australia, Africa, or Asia. A Cunard World Cruise can include up to sixty different combinations of segments. It can even include a round-trip cruise within the same itinerary, such as a complete 22-day circumnavigation of Australia, as offered by the QM2 in 2012 and 2014. Another aspect the cruise line must consider is the coexistence of those undertaking the complete circumnavigation and those only enjoying segments, in aspects such as availability of places on optional excursions, dining times, etc.
The segment can represent half of the cruise (for example, Southampton-Sydney), effectively giving the cruise two home ports. This product has seen extraordinary growth in recent years thanks to the increase in, and reduction in, prices for intercontinental flights. It has even led to the introduction of ports of call, such as Dubai, where the Franconia and Caronia never docked (and only since 1997 the QE2), solely due to the air connections offered by their airports. While in the 1980s Cunard used the Concorde as a companion to the QE2, today the Airbus A380s of Qantas or Emirates are its best allies. As Cunard
is one of only two cruise lines offering up to three World Cruises annually, it can offer what are known as boomerang cruises. These combine segments on two Cunard ships with stays in Australia, offering an unbeatable way to explore the antipodes and the South Pacific. In 2015, for example, the Boomerang cruise was 57 days long: passengers embarked on the Queen Elizabeth in San Francisco in February and sailed to Sydney. There, they had eight days to explore Australia, and then returned from Sydney to Los Angeles on the Queen Victoria.
Many experts recommend trying a segment of a cruise as the best way to determine if a round-the-world cruise suits your needs. Cunard and other cruise lines offer packages that include hotel stays, tours, and flights coordinated with the segments of a round-the-world cruise. But it's not just the number of days at sea that matters; you also need to consider the length of the port calls. Shipowners want to save fuel, so their vessels sail more slowly. This means longer circumnavigations. But you can also save money by reducing the time spent in port calls, cutting one or more hours in each port. Cunard ships offer a higher cruising speed than their competitors, which means more port calls, longer stays in port, and more overnight stays.
Another advantage of the Cunard fleet is that it's designed for the rough seas of the North Atlantic. In the event of bad weather, these ships are very stable, and they also offer a wide selection of dining and entertainment options, a significant advantage on a long cruise.
