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Cunard Line

Queen Mary 2

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Gary T.
# previous cruises: 6
Date of Trip: December 8, 2005
Itinerary: Caribbean - Eastern

I have sailed on Holland America twice and three times on Crystal. I also sailed once on Celebrity. My wife,my son (22 months old) and my mother were on this 12 days cruise also. Great ship and good food. But for service, look elsewhere...A luxury cruise it isn't. The staff is nice but a large number of them were being trained and some of them had problems speaking english. If you like taking the tender to go ashore and are not too impatient you might like it! This ship is really made for crossings like in the old Transatlantic days.

Large crowds are rare, except when it's time to take the tender. Since the ship is so large, the public areas are usually not crowded. This is the most beautifully decorated ship I have been on. A lot of money and effort went into making the public areas very pleasant to the eyes. There is a Promenade on deck 7 where it's nice to walk. There is also a planetarium but it has small number of seats. The computer rooms are large but the connection is slow. The Library is the biggest at sea no doubt. I could go on and on, this is a great looking ship.

We had requested a special table at the 1st seating at the Britannia dining room. We wanted a quiet corner because my son can be a handful sometimes. Well, they put us at a table of eight with two elderly couples. They were very nice and patient. But we went to alternative dining rooms most of the rest of the cruise. The service at the Britannia left something to be desired. They mixed up our plates and sometimes the service was slow. My guess is the Britannia is under staffed.

We had the pleasure of dining at the Todd English restaurant one evening. It is an experience not to be missed. The service there was excellent. The friendly staff went to great lengths to please us. How can Cunard (or Carnival?) maintain a large gap when it comes to dinner service on board the same ship is a mystery to me. Oh yeah, that's right, you pay 30$ for dining at the Todd English. Anyway, we also had lunch there and it was great. Lunch is 20$ per person.

Most of the time we went to the King's court for our meals. The King's court is transformed into four smaller restaurants for dinner. You have the Carvery, The Piazza, the Chef's galley and the Lotus. Our favorite was the Piazza. The food was generally excellent. Although the desserts choices left something to be desired. I had tiramisu every day for the last four days of the cruise. It was great but a larger selection would have been nice. The Lotus was nice too. A larger selection on the menu would have helped there also. Breakfast and lunch was usually very nice at either of those venues. My mother had lunch at the Britannia three times and she liked it.

I had lunch several times at the Golden Lion's pub. It serves standard pub fare. Very good each time.

The room service on the QM2 is outstanding. We ordered almost every day for breakfast, lunch or even dinner because my son wouldn't eat in public areas at one point. The service was quick and they only forgot one or two things we ordered a couple of times. This is where the QM2 shines as far as service goes.

Our cabin was on deck 5 almost all the way to the back of the ship. We had a balcony which is a cutout in the hull of the ship. The room was large enough. The closet space was ample as we could fit all our clothes for us three. My mother had her cabin next to us. Since my son makes most of the noise, she told us she could hear him when he screamed. Probably most of our neighbors heard him then.

We were surprised to feel the vibration of the engines when we laid on our beds. The ship was also rocking most of the time. One night we had trouble sleeping because the ship was rocking so hard, I thought I was going to fall out of the bed.

The only annoying thing about the room was that in the evening, when the sofa converts to a bed, you can't open the fridge door anymore. The bathroom is big enough for one person. Two would not fit in there unless someone is in the shower. The shower is big enough for a full size adult. The water temperature changes if your neighbor uses the shower or the sink.

Strangely we found out that the beach towels were located under the sink. But there were none. We had to ask for them. Same thing with the bathrobes.

We didn't attend any shows. We got to bed early because of our son. The cruise staff is uneven. At the purser's desk it depends who you talk to. Some where helpful and some were useless.

One afternoon my wife was sunbathing in the back of the ship with our son. She had been there for more than an hour under a hot sun and no staff was present to serve drinks. Finally she saw an officer and asked him why nobody was serving drinks? He told her she could use the water fountains. I'm sure he never drank from them because the water coming out from those is warmer than... well you know what I mean. Luxury cruise? I don't think so.

Activities are plenty and can accommodate a wide range of interests. There were lectures I wish I could have attended. But I had limited time. I went to the health club once. It's well equipped but is too small for such a large ship. The spa looked spectacular. I had time for a wine tasting. That was great also. The Someliers were excellent.

The QM2 has a child care program for toddlers aged 1 to 3. My wife and I went twice with our son. We found the facilities clean and well equipped, but under staffed there also. Plus, when my wife was there, a couple of kids had bad coughs and runny noses. We decided not to leave our son there. We don't need a sick kid on vacation.

There was a wide range of people on this cruise. From toddlers to elderly people. There wasn't a lot of kids on board. The ship wasn't full for sure. There was a lot of empty seats at dinner. Some people didn't fit at all on the QM2. On sea days, I saw some people "letting it all hang out" and it didn't help that they were overweight...Quite a contrast to the overall feel of the ship. I guess that's expected when you can get on this cruise for a bit more than on Carnival. How can Cunard expect to maintain it's image of a premium cruise line is lost on me.

We won't go back on the QM2.