Queen Mary 2

Wow. It's actually cheaper to take the Queen Mary from NYC to Southampton and then fly back from Scotland to Boston (and take the train the rest of the way in) than it is to fly round-trip from my nearest airport to Edinburgh! (I checked prices up into December.)

Hmmm. But I'd have to "dress" for dinner.... 

Heheh. My "style icons" are closest to Bob Villa and Kurt Colbain. Where I'd get semi-formal attire that fits that image would be... challenging.   Then again, I think they have room service.

That sounds like a memorable journey! You only live once.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Wow. It's actually cheaper to take the Queen Mary from NYC to Southampton and then fly back from Scotland to Boston (and take the train the rest of the way in) than it is to fly round-trip from my nearest airport to Edinburgh! (I checked prices up into December.)

Hmmm. But I'd have to "dress" for dinner.... 

Heheh. My "style icons" are closest to Bob Villa and Kurt Colbain. Where I'd get semi-formal attire that fits that image would be... challenging.   Then again, I think they have room service.

Oh, I know just what you mean! I never dress up any more and to do so would feel like "fancy dress" ha! But I think it'd be worth it for the experience.   You should go for it. 

I might well do it, later in the year. The ship leaves from Brooklyn, so I can take a train straight into Penn Station and a shuttle to the ship from there. She docks in Southhampton (SP?), and they say there's onward travel available to London provided by Cunard.  It would be restful, at least. Spend a week on the ship (apparently they have lectures and things one can attend) and a week in the UK, then fly home again.  But I'm not going to do it in "high" tourist season, and I think I want to wait until I've seen a good period of time go by with no rail or other transit strikes. (I don't want to get there and get "stuck" somewhere.)

So I'll wait to see how things are going over there later in the summer/early fall.

Hate to break it to you, but the formal dress is NOT required.  Just a “do it if you want”.

Southampton is lovely. And has excellent connectivity.  No need to take a coach from the cruise line unless you want to.

Ah, cool. I've never visited Southampton, so this might be a good opportunity.

To me, "dressing for dinner" is anything other than jeans and a sweatshirt, so.... I ~think~ I still have a dress or two packed away. 

From the cruising reviews:

Cunard Queen Mary 2 (QM2) Dress Code

QM2 has one of the most rigorous and formal dress codes at sea. This is a ship where passengers appreciate formality; even informal nights require jackets and dresses. If dressing up isn't your thing, it's not the ship for you, unless you are OK being restricted to the buffet at night.  During the day, it is recommended that passengers dress in stylish casual wear, including shorts, smart jeans or chinos and collared or casual shirts. Swim and leisurewear are suitable around the pools.

On a seven-night transatlantic crossing, there are typically three formal nights, which means dinner jacket, tuxedo or dark suit with a tie for men or evening or cocktail dress for women. Men tend to stick to tuxedo on formal nights, and on themed nights, such as the Roaring Twenties, women go all-out. (Think feather boas, decade-appropriate headgear and tasseled dresses galore.)

On informal nights, men are still required to wear jackets, although ties are optional. Women are advised to wear cocktail dresses or two-pieces. After 6 p.m., shorts and blue or worn denim (for men and women), sandals and sleeveless tops (for men) are not appropriate in certain areas of the ship, such as the main dining rooms. Passengers wishing to dress more informally in the evening are recommended to dine in the Kings Court buffet and use the Carinthia Lounge.

We had done QM2 twice between NY and Southampton and once on the Queen Elizabeth.  It really is an excellent way to travel.

Even though “formal dress” was suggested for dinner I just wore a regular suit and my wife a regular smart dress, not a formal evening gown.

Once in Southampton it is easy to take a cab from the dock to the train station and then into London and beyond.  Sailing from Southampton we always took the train down the day before and Southampton is quite a walkable and pleasant city.

In 2013 we sailed on the Queen Elizabeth from NY to Southampton in March, then in September we did a 2 week cruise on a different cruise line (Fred Olsen) to Iceland and Norway and when we landed back in Edinburgh we took a train from the dock to London/Southampton and then onto the QM2 next day.

Sounds like a good way to travel, definitely. Restful. With a few lectures thrown in. Sea air. Hopefully not "rough seas" air!

I have a few "basic black" work dresses that can be upscaled slightly with accessories, and I'd probably do the early dinner option anyway and so miss having to be solo in a room full of people decades younger than me. Or I might do supper in my cabin instead. Or I may wait and see if the daughter's one year contract is extended. If not, perhaps when she comes home we could cruise over together, which might be more fun. Assuming we can find someone to babysit her guinea pig. Which is unlikely. So maybe I'll go on my own, after all.

I think if I do it I'd want to get to the train station in Southampton and catch the train up to Scotland, if that's doable. The only reason I'd head to London was if I have to catch the train to Edinburgh from there.

I wouldn’t worry about rough seas, which was my fear before we started cruising in 2013. During our many cruises we have encountered rough seas a few times but these large cruise ships are amazing, they have underwater stabilizers that they stick out on either side of the ship while at sea.  When booking your cabin try to get a room low down and central to minimize rolling and pitching.

There are many places to eat on board the QM2 not just the assigned dining rooms, so you can eat alone without being stuck in your room. There are also facilitated but informal groups who get together each day at a fixed time for an hour or so. My wife likes to knit so always hooks up with a group of ladies who knit, sow, crochet or simply chat once a day.

On the QM the activities during the days are very varied. We have even had the Royal Shakespeare company on board and also RADA, doing shortened plays.  Ever seen every single death in a Shakespeare play performed in an hour? Hilarious.

I think what I am saying is that you shouldn’t be concerned about traveling alone on the QM or any cruise really, lots of people do, and you can choose to keep to your own company or enjoy talking to others.

ETA
Trains to Scotland will almost certainly be change at London, Kings Cross for direct journeys to Edinburgh and beyond, so you don’t actually see any of London, just the inside of the stations.

Nan,

I have no idea of the difference in cost (especially if you have a Senior Railcard) but it is possible to fly from Southampton Airport to Edinburgh .
You can take a taxi from the cruise terminal to the airport or go to Southampton Central train station and ride one stop to the airport.

The train from Southampton Central arrives in Waterloo station and, as Durhamlad mentioned, the one to Edinburgh leaves from Kings Cross. So, you'll need to take two short tube rides (https://tfl.gov.uk/)

Be sure to book a seat for the London/Edinburgh journey because the train can be very crowded.

The wonders of rail fares are such that you can sometimes save money with two partial tickets -- without leaving the train. To see if this is possible, look at www.trainline.com and select the "SplitSave" option.  You can often get a big discount by booking in advance but this normally requires you catch a specific train.  I suggest comparing the trainline prices with those on the website of the train company (www.lner.co.uk) as they won't charge a booking fee. You can buy tickets on LNER even though the train from Southampton to London is run by South Western Railway.

I wouldn’t worry about rough seas, which was my fear before we started cruising in 2013. During our many cruises we have encountered rough seas a few times but these large cruise ships are amazing, they have underwater stabilizers that they stick out on either side of the ship while at sea.  When booking your cabin try to get a room low down and central to minimize rolling and pitching.

There are many places to eat on board the QM2 not just the assigned dining rooms, so you can eat alone without being stuck in your room. There are also facilitated but informal groups who get together each day at a fixed time for an hour or so. My wife likes to knit so always hooks up with a group of ladies who knit, sow, crochet or simply chat once a day.

On the QM the activities during the days are very varied. We have even had the Royal Shakespeare company on board and also RADA, doing shortened plays.  Ever seen every single death in a Shakespeare play performed in an hour? Hilarious.

I think what I am saying is that you shouldn’t be concerned about traveling alone on the QM or any cruise really, lots of people do, and you can choose to keep to your own company or enjoy talking to others.

ETA
Trains to Scotland will almost certainly be change at London, Kings Cross for direct journeys to Edinburgh and beyond, so you don’t actually see any of London, just the inside of the stations.

Thanks. That's helpful to know. I've been to London several times, and going there alone doesn't seem like something I'd enjoy, so the inside of stations would be ok. I will try to sort this out myself, but it might well be (as the next post suggests) best to just fly up to Scotland. I might even do a MegaBus if they still exist - I enjoy sitting and looking out the windows, and am in absolutely no hurry. (If anything, if I can manage it, I think I'd like to avoid London.)

Thanks. That's helpful to know. I've been to London several times, and going there alone doesn't seem like something I'd enjoy, so the inside of stations would be ok. I will try to sort this out myself, but it might well be (as the next post suggests) best to just fly up to Scotland. I might even do a MegaBus if they still exist - I enjoy sitting and looking out the windows, and am in absolutely no hurry. (If anything, if I can manage it, I think I'd like to avoid London.)

A flight from Southampton to Edinburgh may well be a really good option, I hadn't even thought of that.  London airports are not in our good books at the moment.

This last 6 years my daughter and/or her partner have arrived by plane into London, changing to fly to Newcastle on no less than 4 occasions and every time has been very stressful, arriving hours late into Newcastle 3 times and not at all last year when the flight was canceled that day and the next so she ended up catching a train direct to Darlington where we picked her up.

Thanks. That's helpful to know. I've been to London several times, and going there alone doesn't seem like something I'd enjoy, so the inside of stations would be ok. I will try to sort this out myself, but it might well be (as the next post suggests) best to just fly up to Scotland. I might even do a MegaBus if they still exist - I enjoy sitting and looking out the windows, and am in absolutely no hurry. (If anything, if I can manage it, I think I'd like to avoid London.)

Definitely recommend flying to Edinburgh. We took the train from London for our wedding and it was like sardines for most of the trip, and someone also sprayed their deodorant halfway through sitting 3 seats from me - i had to run with my inhaler while partner got our things and we found a new seat in another carriage. Never again.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk