DEL.ICIO.USHEALTHY EATING
Don’t throw your healthy habits overboard while on cruise
For The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, October 13, 2008
Somewhere in the north Atlantic Ocean — It was a trip of a lifetime; well really, the second trip of a lifetime.
I was born in Scotland and when I was six months old I sailed with my mom, Jessie Robertson O’Neil, on the original Queen Mary from England to New York. Now, 50-uh-something years later, I followed the same transatlantic itinerary on the Queen Mary 2. This was a historic voyage for Cunard as well since the trip marked the 100th Atlantic crossing for the QM2. All that and plenty of champagne, too!
CAROLYN O'NEIL
Menus on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 feature light and healthy Canyon Ranch Spa selections.
CAROLYN O'NEIL
Staying shipshape for some passengers aboard the Queen Mary 2 means hitting the deck on the ship’s 100th transatlantic crossing.
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A Culinary Crossing Past and Present
Ocean-going guests have apparently always been into diet and fitness while they sailed. Promotional photos from the Queen Mary, built in 1936, boast a small gymnasium (think muscle balls, not elliptical machines) and the circa 1950s menus that my mother saved as keepsakes include this note: “Passengers on Special Diet are especially invited to make known their requirements to the Chief Steward.” Reviewing the Queen Mary’s dinner menus, I’d have a few questions for the Chief Steward myself: “Can you tell me more about the pressed beef?” and “what in the world is lamb’s liver chasseur?” One of the appetizer choices was sauerkraut! My, how things have changed.
Jean-Marie Zimmermann, who creates and plans the menus for Cunard, says while perfectly cooked eggs for breakfast are a timeless standard, today’s passengers expect exciting contemporary choices for dinner. “Today we have to be more complex to wow the guests. They are more experienced with trendy cuisine,” Zimmermann said. So instead of shrimp cocktail and a steamship round of roast beef and mashed potatoes, expect to see salmon tartar with shrimp ceviche and braised short ribs with cauliflower mash, morels and asparagus. The menus on the Queen Mary 2, from the vaulted three-decks-high Britannia main dining room to the intimate Todd English restaurant, include light and healthy Canyon Ranch Spa selections for every course and there’s always an array of delicious consommés and unique salads. My favorites included the chicken consommé with herbed quenelles, and the spinach and roasted beet salad with vanilla balsamic dressing served in the Princess Grill. Girded with the knowledge the cuisine was superb, one night I decided to go for the guinea fowl and wild rice soup, and it was wonderful. With 150 chefs on board, the Queen Mary 2 serves up culinary adventures while you’re exploring the high seas, too.
All Feet on Deck!
Passengers today are just as demanding when it comes to workout facilities as they are about wine lists. So there’s a 20,000-square-foot Canyon Ranch SpaClub where you can get a massage or a mud bath before or after your merlot. The gym and weight room have professionally certified staff members. So since we were setting off on a six-day transatlantic crossing with no port stops along the way, I figured this was no time to say I had no time to exercise. I met with a personal trainer to get a plan of action and even took my very first yoga class. I think I’ve found my sport! While there’s still plenty to keep you busy on board, from movies and dance lessons to the only planetarium at sea, a transatlantic crossing allows for plenty of private pursuits such as quietly reading a book on the open deck or seeking smoother skin with a seaweed treatment.
Sure, there was great enthusiasm as guests gathered for cocktails and dinner each night. Cunard attracts a stylish crowd with three formal nights on this crossing. But Deck 7 was a popular spot, too. And the dress here was running shoe casual. That’s where you can run, power walk or just stroll around the ship on a promenade deck. Three trips around the QM2 and you’ve completed 1.1 miles. You can decide how many laps to take based on how many laps you want to do at the breakfast buffet. But the biggest fitness boost comes from taking the stairs instead of the elevator to get around the ship. Up and down, down and up from Deck 2 for yoga to Deck 12 for an outdoor café lunch and back to Deck 5 for Team Trivia in the Golden Lion Pub — that’s a cardio workout. Yes, you can stay ship shape on a cruise!
