On a deck high atop the Queen Mary 2, Cunard’s flagship and the largest ocean liner ever built, I stood in the dark shivering. I was searching for America, or more specifically, the Statue of Liberty.

Soon, in the icy November wind, I saw the lights of Manhattan blinking on. And then, off the port side, a figure loomed, haloed in amber light. My throat caught. I imagined what millions of immigrants must have felt when they first saw the Statue of Liberty after weeks on a crowded ship. “My mother came from Ireland on one of those ships, in steerage,” my friend Maura texted me before I embarked.

As I sailed across the Atlantic, immigrant families were being separated at the border. Refugees fleeing war, famine and poverty were being denied entry. I thought a lot about the terrible irony. Between 1840 and 1923, about one in five immigrants arrived in America on Cunard steamships. “A notable portion of Cunard revenue derived from passengers in steerage’ class who were traveling to new lives in America,” a company history read.

For seven nights, sailing west from Southampton to New York, I undertook a transatlantic crossing on the formidable—and decidedly luxurious—Queen Mary 2. I was not in steerage, but a spacious cabin with a bathroom and balcony on Deck 6. Although American-owned Carnival bought Cunard in 1998, the QE2’s British sensibility lives on.

Aside from balcony rooms, there were little inside cabins or huge suites with butler service. Price also dictates where you eat, whether it’s the sprawling buffet or the aptly named Queens Grill, reserved for top-paying passengers. (They also have their own dedicated elevators.) Most nights I dined in the swanky Britannia restaurant, where passengers in tuxedos and cocktail dresses gathered around pre-assigned tables, and the menu featured entrees like Beef Wellington and Duck l’Orange, as well as an impressive wine list. (Alcohol and other beverages are not included in your fare.)