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Cunard Review: Transatlantic Crossings and Formal Nights
Short answer
Is Cunard a good cruise line?
Cunard operates the only scheduled transatlantic ocean liner, Queen Mary 2, alongside three cruise ships. Fares start near $165 per person per night, formal nights are genuinely formal, and the Grills class system splits the ship into three tiers with separate restaurants and decks.
Key takeaways
- Queen Mary 2 is a true ocean liner, built for North Atlantic crossings rather than warm-weather cruising.
- A seven-night westbound crossing runs about $1,150 to $1,900 per person, and includes no ports at all.
- The Grills system assigns you to Britannia, Princess Grill or Queens Grill, each with its own restaurant.
- Formal nights are properly formal: black tie is worn, and the dress code is enforced after 6pm.
- The only line where a planetarium, a ballroom and a full-time dance host programme are standard.
Overview
Cunard is not really a cruise line and Queen Mary 2 is not really a cruise ship. It is an ocean liner, built with a thicker hull, a deeper draught and a higher service speed than a cruise ship because it was designed to cross the North Atlantic in winter rather than to sit in the Caribbean.
That distinction shapes everything. A westbound crossing is seven nights with no ports, no waterslides and no reason to leave the ship. What you do instead is read in the library, attend a lecture, take a ballroom dancing class, look at the sea and dress for dinner. A meaningful number of people consider this the best holiday available anywhere.
The Grills class system is the other thing to understand: your cabin grade determines which restaurant you eat in for the entire voyage, and the three tiers are genuinely different. Our reviewer crossed westbound on Queen Mary 2 in April 2026.
Cunard operates four ships. Queen Mary 2 is the liner and the reason most people book. Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Anne are conventional cruise ships that carry the Cunard style onto Mediterranean, Norwegian fjords and world-cruise itineraries.
The Grills system is unusual in modern cruising. Britannia is the standard fare and the largest restaurant. Princess Grill guests eat in a smaller restaurant with a wider menu and table-side cooking. Queens Grill guests eat in a smaller room still, with an effectively unrestricted menu and a butler attached to the cabin. The two Grills tiers also share a private lounge, restaurant terrace and upper sun deck.
Entertainment is the strongest in the premium segment for a certain kind of guest: the only planetarium at sea, a proper ballroom with a resident orchestra, gentleman dance hosts, and a lecture programme that regularly includes serious academics and authors.
Our Cunard score
4.3 / 5
Averaged across the six criteria below, each scored independently by our reviewers after sailing the line. It is an editorial judgment, not a user poll.
- Value for money
- 4.0
- Cabins
- 4.2
- Dining
- 4.4
- Entertainment
- 4.4
- Service
- 4.6
- Family friendliness
- 3.4
Judged on fare versus what is included before you spend a cent onboard.
Judged on square footage, storage, bathroom and balcony quality at each grade.
Judged on included restaurant quality, not just the specialty venues.
Judged on range and production quality across a full sea day.
Judged on crew ratio, consistency and how problems get resolved.
Judged on kids clubs, cabin configurations and pool space for children.
The fleet
The fleet is small and clearly differentiated. Queen Mary 2 does the crossings and the occasional world voyage. The three Queens do Mediterranean, Norway, the Caribbean and world cruises.
Queen Anne, delivered in 2024, is the newest and most modern of the three cruise ships, with better cabins and a lighter interior than the older pair.
| Ship | Class | Guests | Launched | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen Mary 2 | Ocean liner | 2,695 | 2004 | The only scheduled transatlantic liner in service. Planetarium, kennels and the largest ballroom at sea. |
| Queen Anne | Pinnacle-derived | 2,996 | 2024 | Newest ship, lighter and more modern interior. Mediterranean and Northern Europe. |
| Queen Elizabeth | Vista-derived | 2,081 | 2010 | Art deco interiors. Alaska in summer, Australia and Japan in winter. |
| Queen Victoria | Vista-derived | 2,081 | 2007 | Refitted in 2017. Mediterranean, Norway and world cruise segments. |
What Cunard costs
Cunard pricing is driven by the Grills tier as much as by the itinerary. A Britannia balcony on a westbound crossing runs about $165 to $230 per person per night; a Queens Grill suite on the same crossing runs $520 to $900.
Transatlantic crossings are the value anomaly. Because there are no ports, no excursions and no shopping revenue, Cunard prices crossings below its own Mediterranean sailings, and a westbound crossing plus a one-way flight home is frequently cheaper than a round-trip Mediterranean week.
Daily gratuities are $14.50 per person in Britannia and $16.50 in the Grills, which is the lowest of any premium line covered here.
| Item | Typical price | What it covers | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Britannia inside | $120 to $165 per night | Cabin, Britannia restaurant, all entertainment | The cheapest way to cross the Atlantic by sea |
| Britannia balcony | $165 to $230 per night | As above plus verandah | Balconies are cold and windy on a crossing; consider inside or ocean view |
| Princess Grill suite | $330 to $520 per night | Smaller restaurant, table-side cooking, Grills lounge and deck | Yes if dining matters to you |
| Queens Grill suite | $520 to $900 per night | Unrestricted menu, butler, largest suites | Only for a special occasion |
| Gratuities | $14.50 per person per day | $16.50 in Grills suites | Lowest of any premium line here |
| Drinks package | $68 to $85 per day | Wine, spirits, beer, soft drinks | Worth it on a seven-night crossing |
| The Verandah restaurant | $55 per person | French fine dining | Yes, the best meal on the ship outside Queens Grill |
| Kennels | $800 to $1,600 per pet | The only transatlantic pet passage by sea | Unique; books 18 months ahead |
Included in the fare
- Your assigned Grills or Britannia restaurant, buffet and the Golden Lion pub
- Planetarium shows, theatre productions, the Royal Court Theatre and the ballroom orchestra
- Gentleman dance hosts and formal ballroom dancing every evening
- An enrichment lecture programme with authors, historians and scientists
- The largest library at sea, with over 10,000 volumes on Queen Mary 2
Costs extra
- Alcohol and speciality coffee unless packaged
- The Verandah at $55 and other specialty restaurants
- WiFi, which is expensive and slow by modern standards
- Gratuities at $14.50 to $16.50 per person per day
- Kennels, spa and shore excursions on port itineraries
Pros and cons
What it does well
- The only scheduled transatlantic ocean liner in the world, and a genuinely distinctive holiday.
- Best enrichment and lecture programme at sea, with serious speakers.
- The only planetarium at sea and the largest ballroom, with a resident orchestra.
- Queen Mary 2 handles North Atlantic weather far better than any cruise ship.
- Lowest daily gratuities of any premium line covered here.
Where it falls short
- The Grills class system creates visible tiering that some guests find uncomfortable.
- Formal nights are enforced, which is the point for some and a deal-breaker for others.
- WiFi is slow and expensive even by cruise standards.
- Britannia restaurant food is good but not remarkable for the fare.
- Balcony cabins are poor value on a North Atlantic crossing, where it is too cold to use them.
Who it suits
Book Cunard if you are
- Travellers who want a transatlantic crossing rather than a cruise
- Anyone who enjoys formal dressing and ballroom dancing
- Readers, lecture-goers and people who want to be left alone at sea
- Nervous flyers looking for a way to reach Europe without flying
- Pet owners, since Queen Mary 2 is the only way to take a dog across the Atlantic by sea
Look elsewhere if you are
- Travellers who want ports, beaches and warm-weather cruising
- Anyone who dislikes dress codes
- Families with young children
- Guests who need reliable, fast internet
- Travellers who find visible class tiering objectionable
Cabins
Cunard cabins are conventional, comfortable and well built, with better soundproofing than most ships because Queen Mary 2 was built to liner standards.
The counter-intuitive advice for a crossing is to skip the balcony. The North Atlantic in April is cold, windy and often foggy, the ship maintains a high service speed which creates significant apparent wind, and balconies go unused. An ocean view cabin is cheaper and just as good.
Grills suites are genuinely large and come with a butler in the Queens Grill tier. The Princess Grill tier is the value pick: the restaurant is considerably better than Britannia and the suites are comfortable without reaching Queens Grill prices.
- Skip the balcony on a North Atlantic crossing; the ocean view cabin is the smarter buy.
- Princess Grill is the value tier: much better dining, moderate premium.
- Queens Grill includes butler service and an effectively unrestricted menu.
- Soundproofing is better than a typical cruise ship due to liner construction.
- Sheltered balcony cabins on lower decks are the exception worth considering.
Dining
Which restaurant you eat in is determined by your cabin grade and does not change during the voyage. Britannia is a beautiful two-storey room serving competent, traditional food to about 1,300 guests at two seatings.
Princess Grill serves roughly 130 guests with a wider menu and table-side preparation. Queens Grill serves about 150 with an effectively unlimited menu: if you want something not on it, you ask the night before and it appears.
Outside the Grills system, The Verandah at $55 is a proper French restaurant and the best paid meal onboard. The Golden Lion pub serves genuinely good fish and chips at lunch, included, and is the most relaxed room on the ship.
- Your cabin grade fixes your restaurant for the whole voyage.
- Britannia is good and traditional; the Grills are a clear step up.
- Queens Grill will cook off-menu requests given a day's notice.
- The Verandah at $55 is the best paid meal on the ship.
- Golden Lion pub lunch is included and excellent.
Entertainment
Cunard's entertainment is unlike anything else at sea. The Royal Court Theatre stages proper drama and musical productions with a resident company. The Queens Room is a genuine ballroom with a resident orchestra, formal dancing every evening and gentleman dance hosts for solo travellers.
Queen Mary 2 has the only planetarium at sea, running astronomy shows and documentary films throughout a crossing.
The lecture programme is the real distinction. On a typical crossing you might get an astronomer, a naval historian, a novelist and a former diplomat, all giving proper hour-long talks. Nothing else at this price comes close.
- The only planetarium at sea, on Queen Mary 2.
- A genuine ballroom with a resident orchestra and nightly formal dancing.
- Gentleman dance hosts, so solo travellers always have a partner.
- Serious lecture programme with academics, authors and public figures.
- Royal Court Theatre stages drama with a resident company, not just revues.
For kids
The Play Zone and The Zone cover ages one to seventeen, and Queen Mary 2 is unusual in offering care for children as young as twelve months at no charge, staffed by British-qualified nursery nurses.
That said, the wider product is not aimed at children. There is no water park, the atmosphere is formal in the evening, and outside school holidays there are very few children onboard.
For a family crossing rather than a family cruise, it can work surprisingly well, particularly for children who read.
- Care from twelve months upward, free, with British-qualified nursery nurses.
- Very few children aboard outside school holidays.
- No water park or family facilities in the modern sense.
- Formal evening dress codes apply to children over a certain age in some venues.
- Works better as a crossing with children than as a family cruise.
For adults
Cunard is an adult product almost throughout. The Commodore Club, forward on every ship, is a beautiful observation lounge with proper cocktails. The Chart Room is the pre-dinner drinks room. The library on Queen Mary 2 holds more than 10,000 volumes and is staffed by real librarians.
Formal nights mean the ship looks completely different after 6pm, with black tie widely worn. For guests who enjoy that, it is the entire point.
The Mareel Wellness and Beauty spa includes a thermal suite and hydrotherapy pool, with weekly passes around $250.
- The largest library at sea, staffed by librarians, on Queen Mary 2.
- Commodore Club and Chart Room are the best adult lounges in the segment.
- Formal nights are genuinely formal, with black tie widely worn.
- Ballroom dancing every evening with a resident orchestra.
- Thermal suite weekly passes at about $250.
Terms worth knowing
- Ocean liner
- A ship built for scheduled point-to-point voyages in open ocean, with a deeper draught, stronger hull and higher service speed than a cruise ship. Queen Mary 2 is the only one in scheduled service.
- Grills class
- Cunard's tiered system. Your cabin grade assigns you to Britannia, Princess Grill or Queens Grill for dining, with the two Grills tiers sharing a private lounge and sun deck.
- Crossing
- A transatlantic voyage between Southampton and New York, typically seven nights with no port calls, as distinct from a cruise.
- Gentleman dance host
- A vetted male passenger employed by Cunard to partner solo female guests in the ballroom, a practice unique to the line.
| Option | Typical cost | Duration | What you get | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen Mary 2, Britannia inside | $840 to $1,155 | 7 nights | Full board, entertainment, lectures, no ports | No ports and cold weather on deck |
| Queen Mary 2, Princess Grill | $2,310 to $3,640 | 7 nights | Adds a far better restaurant and private deck | Cost |
| Economy flight, London to New York | $450 to $900 | 8 hours | Point-to-point transport only | No holiday component |
| Seven-night Mediterranean cruise | $1,050 to $1,750 | 7 nights | Six or seven ports, warm weather | Port-day fatigue, no crossing |
Should you book Cunard?
Cunard is the most self-selecting line on this site. Almost everyone knows within one paragraph whether it is for them.
Book a Queen Mary 2 crossing
Choose it when: The idea of seven days at sea with no ports, a library, a planetarium and a black-tie dinner sounds like a holiday rather than a punishment.
Book Princess Grill
Choose it when: Dining matters to you. The step up from Britannia is larger than the step from Princess Grill to Queens Grill.
Book an ocean view rather than a balcony
Choose it when: You are crossing the North Atlantic. It is too cold and windy to use a balcony and the saving is significant.
Book Queen Anne or Queen Elizabeth
Choose it when: You want the Cunard style with actual ports, in the Mediterranean, Norway or Japan.
Book another line
Choose it when: You dislike dress codes, need fast internet, or are travelling with children who want a water park.
Ready to price a Cunard sailing?
Lead-in fares from $138 per person per night in our latest sampling. Compare live fares, then come back and check our cost guides before adding packages.
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Cunard questions, answered
What is a transatlantic crossing like on Queen Mary 2?
Seven nights at sea with no port calls, sailing between Southampton and New York. Days are spent at lectures, in the planetarium, in the library, at ballroom dancing classes or on the promenade deck. Evenings are formal on three or four of the seven nights. The ship maintains a high service speed, so open decks are windy and cold even in summer.
What is the difference between Britannia, Princess Grill and Queens Grill?
They are dining tiers fixed by your cabin grade. Britannia is the standard two-seating restaurant for most guests. Princess Grill serves about 130 guests with a wider menu and table-side cooking. Queens Grill serves about 150 with an effectively unrestricted menu and butler service in the cabin. Both Grills tiers share a private lounge, terrace and sun deck.
How formal is Cunard really?
Genuinely formal. There are three or four formal nights on a seven-night crossing, when black tie or a dark suit is expected after 6pm in all restaurants, bars and the theatre, and the code is enforced. On other evenings smart attire is required. Guests who do not wish to dress can eat in the buffet, but the main rooms are closed to them.
How much does a Cunard transatlantic crossing cost?
A Britannia inside cabin runs about $840 to $1,155 per person for seven nights, an ocean view slightly more, and a Princess Grill suite $2,310 to $3,640. Gratuities are $14.50 per person per day in Britannia. Because crossings generate no excursion or shopping revenue, they are often cheaper than a Cunard Mediterranean week.
Can you take a dog on Queen Mary 2?
Yes. Queen Mary 2 is the only ship offering scheduled transatlantic pet passage, with kennels on deck 12, a dedicated kennel master and an outdoor exercise area. Rates run roughly $800 to $1,600 per pet depending on size and voyage, and the 24 kennels routinely book out 18 months in advance.
Is Cunard part of Carnival?
Yes. Cunard has been owned by Carnival Corporation & plc since 1998 and is operated from Southampton as a British brand. It shares almost nothing operationally with Carnival Cruise Line, retaining its own ships, officers, service style, dress codes and the Grills class system.
About the author
Senior Cruise Editor
Mara Vance has been writing about cruise travel since 2011, first for a regional newspaper travel desk and, since 2019, as the senior editor at BestCruiseDeals.us. She sets the review framework every cruise line page on this site is scored against.
71 sailings logged across 10 cruise lines.
This page was fact-checked by Captain Alberto Ruiz, marine and operations reviewer, on . Prices and policies are re-checked against cruise line sources at least every 90 days. Read our editorial policy.