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Transatlantic terrific |
| Reviewed By: WIGHAM, DURHAM on 11th Oct 2008 |
| Cruise Line: Cunard Cruises |
Times cruised before: 6-10 |
| Cruise Ship: Queen Mary 2 |
Sailed:
October,
2007 |
| Destination: North America |
Age: 46-55 |
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The first thing that hits you when you see the QM2 close up is its colossal size. Trying to describe to someone who hasn't seen it by saying it is the size of Durham Cathedral doesn't really do it justice - it's much bigger! It takes four minutes to walk from one end of the corridor to the other. The size comes in handy when you encounter a Force 9 gale midatlantic as we did. We were aware there was a storm but the movement of the ship was slight as she sailed serenely on at 30m.p.h.
The staterooms (not cabins on the QM2!) are of a decent size (as you would expect) with simple touches such as a leather throw to protect the bed when packing/unpacking your suitcase. The bottle of sparkling wine on ice didn’t go down badly either.
There are four stairwells/lifts to move you vertically and all the main spaces are located as centrally as possible on a ship this size. Deck 3 (of13) is where the main action is. Here we listened to great lectures by a former U.S. ambassador on Terrorism, a witty New Yorker columnist on his time as a correspondent in Paris and his take on parenthood, a professor who spoke without notes on such diverse topics as the life of Walt Disney and the archaeological evidence for the flight of the Jews from Egypt. It was genuinely difficult to fit in everything we wanted to do each day. The recitals, plays and shows in the Royal Court Theatre each day were uniformly excellent. Even the ballroom dancing lessons were a cut above. There was always somewhere we could escape to after dinner for a quiet drink. The variety of bars and their themes is another Cunard strongpoint. All over the ship there are reminders of the glory days of transatlantic crossings and we particularly enjoyed the massive collage of cigarette-cards of previous liners that made up the portrait of Sir Samuel Cunard.
Food, as we and, I suppose, everyone else expects, was very good. Service was excellent and the white glove service of afternoon tea is something not to be missed. The Britannia dining room needs to be, and is, huge in order to accommodate the two thousand guests who eat there in two sittings. The self-service restaurant on Deck 7 has different areas serving different cuisines. We ate there for breakfast and lunch and found that the best way of securing a table was to put down a couple of books borrowed from the sumptuous library on Deck 8. This way you don’t have to eat in shifts. Clearance of tables and assistance for those who needed it was provided by very pleasant and efficient waiters from all parts of the world instead of the usual Philippines/India.
Leaving Southampton on QM2 was OK. I cannot get enthusiastic about this run-of-the-mill port. In comparison to leaving New York – well try it and you’ll see what I mean. The backdrop of downtown Manhattan combined with a glass or two of champagne and the passage under the Verrazano narrows bridge is wonderful.
The only complaints I have of the whole journey were with, surprise surprise, U.S. immigration. The officer who dealt with us was very pleasant asking where we were going in the U.S. and generally doing his best to mitigate the wait we had standing in a queue in what can best be described as a hangar at the port of New Jersey. To add insult to injury U.S. citizens were invited to jump this queue and be attended to by five officers dedicated to this task who, when all the Americans had been processed, left the other seven officers to deal with the thousand-plus increasingly agitated passengers some of whom missed their city tours because of the delays. In comparison U.K. immigration was typical British under-statement. Some switched-on Cunard executive decided to splash out and have a U.K. immigration officer on board for the whole crossing so passengers could attend more or less at will and not have to wait in another seemingly interminable terminal queue. I wonder what U.S. passengers must have thought of this simple hospitality. The ship docked on time in Southampton (0530) we had a hurried busy breakfast and were standing waiting for our lift home at 0800. In New York we left the “hangar” at noon.
Would we recommend that someone pay over £1000 each way? We’re going again this year.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Excellent | | Entertainment | |
| Varied and hugely enjoyable. | | Shore Excursions | n/a |
| N/A | | Staff | |
| Purser's desk for finding my specs. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Almost, but not quite, too much. | | Cabins | |
| | Overall Rating | |
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