Download - New Zealand Automobile Association

TRAVELLERCruising through TimeKarl Puschmann enjoys the luxury of a bygone era onboard the Queen Mary 2BESIDE US AT breakfast anold gent with wispy hairand a crisp, yellow shortsleevedshirt puts down hisfork, which is sticking outof a plump sausage, leans across histable and asks: “First timers, eh?”While it is our first time at sea, it’snot the first time we’ve been askedthis question. Seasoned cruisers spotus a nautical mile away.This isn’t down to wobbly sea legsor green gills, rather it’s becausethe majority of cruisers have a fairfew decades on us. Cruising, on thisparticular vessel at least, appears tobe an older person’s game.I suspected that this would be thecase, but cruising is something I’vealways wanted to do. Firstly, becausethere’s an easy appeal to it. All youhave to do is show up. Everythingelse takes care of itself.But, mainly, I wanted to go on acruise because it offers one of thefew surviving chances to experienceyesteryear’s fabled glamour of travel.Despite generations of recessions,technological innovations and thewallet-attracting economy of no-frillsflights, cruising has managed to retainits sense of occasion and old-worldromance. It is nostalgia at its mostalive and vibrant and opulent. It is,in a manner of speaking, time travel.Well, it is these things if you’re luckyenough to find yourself onboardthe Queen Mary 2, where all thetraditions, heritage and finery oftravelling by sea are rigorouslyadhered to, and the scale of onboardluxury is palpable.The QM2 is the flagship of CunardCruise Line's fleet, and she reallyis a bit special. During our voyagewe’re fortunate enough to have abrief audience with CommodoreChristopher Rynd, an incredibly wellspokenex-pat New Zealander, whoinforms us that she is so impressive insize that she is not actually classed asa cruise ship. She is an ocean liner,which, as far as I can work out, is onlyone small step below being classed asa city. As far as my inaugural cruisegoes, I’m starting at the top.And so to our quarters, where abottle of champagne on ice awaitsus. The room is spacious andimmaculate, and we toast farewellto Sydney from our private balcony.Our voyage to Auckland gives usfour nights at sea, which we thoughtwould be ample time to explore andindulge and maybe even get a littlebored. Turns out we thought wrong.Despite our best efforts, we don’tmanage to see or sample everythingthe QM2 offers.66 AA Directions Winter 2013