We’d love to go on a Cunard cruise. We think. For all its ups and downs, Cunard is the grandfather of cruise lines. Cunard is the company that had the ships that made all of us think we’d never be able to afford cruising. Cunard and its Queens — Mary 2, Victoria and Elizabeth — set the standard for crossing the ocean in style.
So all of that makes people who write about cruising feel drawn to the magnificent ships, or one of them. One of the people, that is. When it comes to dressing up, there’s a he-said, she-said conversation. We’re from the west. He doesn’t own a tuxedo. The first evening gown she ever wore was one she made. And besides reeking royalty, hoity-toityness and social status, Cunard is about wearing formal clothes.
If it wasn’t, Cunard wouldn’t have conducted a survey on just that subject. After polling 1,500 Americans the cruise line discovered that:
• More than half like to dress up five times a year or more
• Three-fifths would like to have more opportunities to dress up
• Most (?) favor dressing up on a cruise vacation over a land vacation
Okay, we’re on board with all of those. And then the president of Cunard says: “For those who savor the sense of occasion to dress up and ‘feel famous,’ a Cunard voyage offers modernly classic elegance and style with glamorous evenings at Royal Nights themed balls, coupled with gourmet dining in grand ocean liner style.”
Neither of us has ever had the desire to be famous, but we’re okay with the gourmet dining and grand ocean-liner style part.
Maybe there’s hope for us yet. One of us, that is.