Cunard and The New York Times collaborate to offer "The Crossword Crossing"

VALENCIA, Calif., June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cunard and The New York Times have collaborated again, this time to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of The New York Times crossword. Passengers will have an opportunity to test their skills while traveling on the flagship ocean liner Queen Mary 2 from New York to Southampton, England, departing December 8, 2017 on The Crossword Crossing (M745).

The 7-night Transatlantic Crossing will feature crossword experts from the venerable newspaper including Deb Amlen, Joel Fagliano and Ben Zimmer, who will provide insight into the popular puzzles through daily game sessions, lectures and on-board activities.

"The New York Times is one of the most esteemed news organizations in the world," said Josh Leibowitz, senior vice president, Cunard North America.  "We are proud to offer collaborations like this one, which will give our guests an extraordinary travel experience that they would not be able to find anywhere else."

The first New York Times crossword puzzle was published in 1942, when, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor a Times editor made a decision to run a crossword in the paper to offer comfort and distraction to its readers. By 1950, the crossword had become a daily occurrence, and today remains one of the paper's most popular and enjoyable features.

More about the on board experts:

• Deb Amlen is the columnist and editor of "Wordplay," the crossword column of The New York Times. She has been making people laugh and learn things they didn't think they needed to know since 2011. Amlen has also been a senior columnist for David Pogue's Yahoo! Tech, and is the author of "It's Not P.M.S., It's You." Her work can also be seen in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Establishment and BUST Magazine, among others.
• Joel Fagliano has been a digital puzzles editor for The New York Times since March 2016. Before that, Fagliano was an assistant to Will Shortz, who is currently the crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times.
• Ben Zimmer, linguist and lexicographer, is the language columnist for The Wall Street Journal and former columnist for The Boston Globe and The New York Times Magazine. He is the recipient of the Linguistic Society of America's first ever Linguistics Journalism Award and was recently awarded a Poynter Fellowship in Journalism from Yale University.

An exclusive cruise package that includes brunch at The New York Times, hosted by the "Puzzle Master" Will Shortz, is also available. This package is only available when booked direct with Times Journeys at – 1-855-698-7979.

For more information about Queen Mary 2, or to book a voyage, contact your Travel Consultant, call Cunard Line at 1-800-728-6273 or visit www.cunard.com.

For travel agents interested in further information, please contact your Business Development Manager, visit OneSource or call Cunard toll free at 1-800-528-6273.

Cunard
Defining true excellence at sea with over 176 years of legendary voyages, Cunard is the operator of luxury ocean liners Queen Mary 2^®, Queen Victoria^® and Queen Elizabeth^®. Renowned for impeccable White Star Service, gourmet dining and world-class entertainment, all three Queens offer luxury on a grand scale in Britannia, Britannia Club, Princess Grill and Queens Grill accommodation. Cunard is the only line to offer regularly scheduled Transatlantic service and continues the legacy of world cruising which it began in 1922.

Awarded '#1 Mega-Ship Ocean Cruise Line' by Travel + Leisure's 2016 World's Best Awards and 'Best World Cruise Itineraries' and 'Best Trans-Atlantic Itineraries' by Porthole Cruise Magazine's 2016 Readers Choice Awards, Cunard is a proud member of World's Leading Cruise Lines, a part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the largest cruise vacation company in the world. Together Cunard, Carnival Cruise Line, Fathom, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK) operate 102 ships visiting over 700 ports around the world and totaling 226,000 lower berths.

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SOURCE Cunard Line

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