The Cunard Line has a wonderful heritage that spans nearly 160 years!  Samuel Cunard was convinced that someday ships will be able to cross the Atlantic on a regular time-table and the key was the steamship.  In 1840, the Britannia, Cunard’s first ship, crossed the Atlantic from Liverpool to Boston, carrying passengers and mail.  Samuel Cunard had a vision to create a steamship company that would be based on reliability and safety.  This theme would be passed on to future Cunard Line ships creating the reputation and respect of a world-class shipping company.  Cunard’s ultimate dream was finally realized after World-War II, when the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth began their timely and alternating, trans-Atlantic schedule.  Cunard had envisioned that one day two enormous ships was all it would take to maintain a regular trans-Atlantic service that would be so accurate, you could set your watch to their arrival times, just like the train schedules. Cunard Line has had an illustrious history with many of the most famous liners like the Mauretania, Aquitania, Berengaria, Caronia, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and the Queen Elizabeth 2.  Cunard’s history is rich with wonderful, comfortable ships and famous passengers like Bob Hope, Laurel and Hardy, Sir Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire, and Clark Gable. The Queens, Mary & Elizabeth, were heroes in World War II.  Because they could each carry so many troops at one time, (15,740 troops was the record held by the Queen Mary) their involvement in WWII as troopships shortened the war by at least one year! With the jet age now carrying more passengers across the Atlantic than the liners, one-by-one the great ships were sold for scrap or taken out of service.  The era of trans-Atlantic travel was over, but in the 60’s & 70’s, a new era in passenger ships was born; the cruise ship slowly became more and more popular.  Many of the liners were just too big and costly to maintain, but some of the ocean liners survived as cruise ships. The Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) was designed for a dual purpose, to make regular scheduled trans-Atlantic crossings, and to embark on cruises all around the world.  Today the QE2, having been remodeled and updated many times to keep up with the latest fashions and trends, still evokes a standard of luxury, tradition, safety and comfort.   In January of 2004, the Cunard Line set out on her maiden voyage a new successor to the legendary lineage of Cunard liners, the Queen Mary 2 (QM2).  It was often said as late as 1995 that the QE2 was the last of the great trans-Atlantic liners to be constructed, but in 1998 Cunard Line announced they would construct the largest, longest, widest, tallest grandest ocean liner ever built, and name her the Queen Mary 2 after the original Queen Mary liner of 1936.  After only a few short years the massive and opulent, Queen Mary 2 has developed somewhat of an iconic legacy of her own, and has been given the title as flagship of the Cunard Line.  The QE2 past-on the torch to the new liner, Queen Mary 2, as the vessel which will continue the legendary trans-Atlantic route.  Redeployed to European cruises and her annual world cruises, the QE2 has stepped aside to make way for the Queen Mary 2 to take center stage when it comes to trans-Atlantic crossings. Cunard will also introduce a new vessel in 2008 called the Queen Victoria which will primarily be positioned in the cruise market.  With three ships, Cunard is gaining momentum again as a world-class, five-star, luxury cruise line.