Following on from her cruise aboard the QM2 to New York, Danielle Fear (AKA Cruise Miss) embarked on a fabulous journey across the USA. Here she shares the highlights of the journey across the land of the free.
I left Queen Mary 2 behind in Brooklyn and started my 16-day American road trip. I didn’t have time to go cross country, so instead I planned a few stops along the north-east coast.
I’m highlighting the road trip aspect because not a lot of people seem to think that you can do this sort of trip with Cunard – but you CAN! Your west and east crossings (unless booked as an immediate roundtrip) are two entirely separate bookings, so as long as you meet the ESTA or visa requirements, you can pretty much do what you want. I met several people that were sailing to the UK having completed some kind of cross-land adventure and who wanted to experience life at sea with Cunard.
East Coast Highlights
I started in Atlantic City then moved on to Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Lancaster County, Bear Mountain, Salem, Boston and New York City.
I don’t even know where to begin, telling you everything that I experienced during the 16 days, but it went a bit like this…
I took part in a paranormal investigation at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, which was amazing but scary. There were seven of us in total (all ladies) and we were the first ever all-female group to investigate the prison.
Baltimore introduced me to my first ever baseball game. I watched the Orioles take on the Colorado Rockies. The Orioles lost but it was still such a great experience and I am now definitely a baseball fan!
The Amish people were the highlight in Lancaster County, as was the countryside. It was such a beautiful place and we had absolutely perfect weather for exploring outdoors. It was all about the Witch Trials of 1692 in Salem and I paid a visit to the Witch History Museum and the Witch House. It was super interesting and I would definitely recommend a visit. The House of Seven Gables is also a real treat and the history behind it is certainly worth learning about.
New York City
New York City brought Top of the Rock, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, a Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise, a TV and Movie tour, and a tour to New Jersey of places they used during filming of the TV series, The Sopranos. New York was just full of everything! I even walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and lived on pizza for four and a half days – I’m not joking!
The above is just some of the things I experienced during the trip and I’m highlighting them because they are all things you can experience if you take a transatlantic crossing with Cunard and stay for a week or two, longer if you’d prefer. A transatlantic voyage doesn’t need to mean sailing there and then sailing straight back, you can split it up and add a great big adventure in the middle. I’m thinking of doing something similar next year, but for longer and maybe even include some short cruises – you can sail right out of New York City to Bermuda with Carnival Cruise Lines, or if you do venture out of New York, you can pick up short cruises from New Orleans, Boston, Alabama, Texas, New Jersey and Baltimore. Of course, there are other embarkation ports in the US, but these are just a few little ideas for you.
Do you fancy making your way to the states in complete luxury? Check out our dedicated Queen Mary 2 page for a huge range of sailings, or call our friendly sales team on 0808 2746 777.
