Cunard

For the first time in 12 years, Cunard/NAC's Vistafjord, sister ship to the prestigious Sagafjord, is in the port of Los Angeles for a brief series of cruises during January. While most of the sailings are charters, two have been available for general booking: a three-day party cruise to Ensenada and San Diego on Jan. 28 (latest word from Cunard says it's already sold out) and a 15-day transcanal sailing from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 31 (with some space still open).

The British couple - she in a long black dress, he in a traditional tux - leaned against the elevator's polished wood paneling as they headed back to their cabin after an evening performance in the main showroom. Embarrassed at my casual clothes and running shoes, I stammered, "We decided not to dress up and went to the buffet instead of the main dining room. " "Lucky you," she said. "There are 46 more formal nights for us. " "You're on the entire world cruise?" I asked. They were - all 103 days of it. We were not. Of the 2,500 passengers who boarded the QM2 in January 2011 in Southampton, England; New York; or Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; only 530 were making the entire voyage - from Great Britain or the United States to Barbados, Brazil, Uruguay, South Africa, Australia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, India, Dubai, Egypt, Italy, Monte Carlo and back home.

Garish Days by Lynn Caraganis (Weidenfeld & Nicholson: $15.95; 214 pages) The year is 1938, the narrator 19-year-old Louise Merrill, the setting a ship bound for Cherbourg, the style pure meringue. "Garish Days" is the sort of book no one writes anymore; a novel to be read on a chaise longue with a box of bonbons at hand or perhaps wrapped in a Cunard blanket of your own, whiling away the time between morning bouillon and lunch.

The idea being pitched to Long Beach by a small Las Vegas entertainment company is extraordinarily ambitious, if not downright outlandish: Renovate and restore the Queen Mary and return her to sail the oceans of the world. Cairngorm Entertainment Group is backing the Queen's Project, an organization that is soliciting funds for the proposal it estimates could cost as much as $1.5 billion and require at least four years of dry-dock restorations.

Last spring's acquisition of Cunard Line by cruise giant Carnival Corp. does not mean the Queen Elizabeth 2 will be turned into a "fun ship," but it does mean a lot of short- and long-term changes not only to Cunard but to Carnival's luxury-label Seabourn as well.

Robert Cunard has been hired as the Irvine boys' tennis coach, school officials said Wednesday. Cunard, a graduate of Laguna Beach High, has been the Artist junior varsity coach. He replaces Mike Fazio, who will coach the Vaquero track and field team.

If you've been waiting for a good reason, this may be the year to take a luxury liner to Europe. Cunard Line has announced discounted transatlantic fares, offering two-for-one deals and low-cost standby rates, some good throughout 1991. For business travelers, a sea crossing eliminates jet lag, allows time for work in the ship's computer center or executive board room, and for working out en route in the Golden Door spa.

Here's a list of many of the lines that carry passenger traffic, along with a list of their vessels. Ships that are to have maiden voyages this year also are listed; check with the cruise line, though, because dates can change. AIDA CRUISES Ships: Each name preceded by and blended with AIDA: aura, bella, blu, cara, diva, luna, mar, sol, stella (which is to make its debut in March), vita. Info: 011-49-381-20-270707, www.aida.de. AMAWATERWAYS Ships: La Marguerite, Zambezi Queen.

Cruise behemoth Carnival Corp. will relocate its upscale Cunard line from Miami to Santa Clarita this year, the company said Friday. Cunard will share administrative and technology functions with Carnival's Princess Cruises unit, which is already based in Santa Clarita. The move will save the world's largest cruise company about $20 million the first year, Carnival said. About 180 of Cunard's 300 employees will be let go.

Lord Matthews, 76, former head of Cunard Line and London's Express Newspapers. The former Victor Collin Matthews delivered newspapers as a youth and, after service in the Royal Navy during World War II, began his long business career at a then-small firm called Trafalgar House. Over two decades, he helped turn it into a multimillion-dollar shipping, property, construction and leisure group.