Here's my review now, sorry for the delay posting it!
This is the review of someone who always wanted to take a transatlantic, then unexpectedly managed to do one relatively cheaply as part of his summer holiday, combined with an exciting but brief stay in New York. I like that it was an "ordinary" crossing... I'd have found the previous crossing too exhausting.
To summarise my review - the ship is awesome but not perfect, as are most of her staff. The way she's operated can be frustrating, and it seems easy to see some easy ways to improve her, even for ways for Cunard to make more money from her.
I didn't take a million photos, as I've been on Queen Mary 2 before and was concentrating on having a holiday, but I took photos of things that interested me, or things that I knew would change in the refit....
I know many of you reading this have been on QM2 umpteen times, so please feel free to comment, or post your own reviews. The only thing I'd ask is that we keep the QE2 Photo Gallery for QE2 only... my photos below are all held on my personal Flickr page.
Itinerary14th July - boarding in New York
16th July - in Port, Halifax.
22nd July - Southampton
Embarkation and disembarkationIncredible embarkation. From stepping out of the taxi, to being on our cabin balcony took around 10 minutes.
Disembarkation seemed chaotic with everyone being allowed off regardless of whether it was their time or not. Having said that, it didn't take us long.
The West Quay Taxi transfer to Southampton airport (booked on board for $10) was effortless. However I'm not clear why Cunard don't offer a bus to Southampton airport - lots of passengers were there with us.
Weather.Good all the way, and often fabulous.
Speed.22 to 23 knots until the last day, and then 17-18 knots. I don't think I could bear a crossing at 17-18 knots, it just felt too slow, but 22 to 23 seemed OK. On lower decks, the water appeared to be speeding by quickly enough outside.
Other passengers.Very mixed! A good range of ages. Most people seemed to 'get it' and dress and behave appropriately, but some looked like they'd meant to get on a cross channel ferry and joined the wrong queue - complete with soccer tops etc. Some (i won't say which country most of them were from...) were very rude and demanding, to staff who were doing a good job. They were more "me" than the passengers we'd had on our short (cheap!) European cruise on her in 2012.
Our cabinNo strawberries to welcome us!!! A cost-cut too far I feel!! The chilled Pol Acker was present and correct though...
11122 was a 'BC' grade, which is one of the best ordinary Britannia grades. Even though it's only 5 cabins from the back of deck 11, it counts as 'midships'... However nipping down to the Kings court or to go down to boat deck only took a minute or so. We were told by 2 stewards that we could use the grills deck at the back of this deck - as long we were just passing through it. (I wonder if other QM2 past passengers on here agree with that?). This made the back of the ship feel more QE2-ish than it had previously to me.
I was surprised to find it felt much more spacious than the previous cabin I'd had, 5146 - especially between the bed and the balcony. The glass balcony was fantastic. Stepping into the room to see the ocean moving by was a treat every time. There was rust on the balcony when we boarded, which was magically painted one evening when we were at dinner. However it's just been painted over, rather than scrubbed back to metal and treated properly. I pushed a rusty bubble and it burst open with rusty water running out... but the next occupant will not see rust on the balcony, and i suppose that's the main thing. At one point the toilet roll holder came adrift of the tiled wall. I left it hanging there. That evening it had been partially fixed, but the following day it was properly permanently fixed - this was without me saying anything to anyone. I was impressed. The cabin's condition was otherwise perfect. I still can't get used to the plastic bathroom, especially after QE2, it always feels like a ferry to me. The cabin TV system was blurry with very tinny sound - they need to improve this. The screen that shows where the ship is etc. is not as good as the screen that was on QE2 in 2007/2008. Bed was incredibly comfortable. AC worked well. Nothing was worn or dirty.
Above our cabin... the Boardwalk Café...?Each morning at 8am (6 on the last day) the very heavy teak furniture for the boardwalk cafe was laid out. This was right above this cabin, making it not great for anyone wanting a long lie - otherwise no noise was heard from above. Questions : why do they put the furniture away each evening (conditions were calm, the furniture doesn't move easily) and why did the boardwalk cafe never open once? (more on that later). Maybe if we'd been able to enjoy the cafe during the day, the noise of it being setup wouldn't have bothered us!
Closed due to inclement weather by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
Closed due to inclement weather by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
Dining
Britannia Restaurant.
I can only say it was disappointing. Service was efficient but not particlularly friendly, and food was totally unremarkable. After trying it twice we basically gave up. Our penultimate evening, however, was on chief engineer Tony Kelly's table, and the food and service was signifcantly better, even though it was only about 20 feet from our normal table. Tony seemed charming, but unfortunately I couldn't really hear him across the table in the busy restaurant, so I enjoyed speaking to others closer to me. I never really got a chance to talk to him, and I don't think he knew why I was at his table...
Kings Court.I thought the food quality and service was really exceptional, it seemed to have taken a step up since 2012 (and we enjoyed it then). I just couldn't grasp why sections kept closing, with no warning. For example, they'd be adding fresh hot food onto a tray, and then literally 30 seconds later, the entire section would shut, sometimes leaving you with half a meal on your table and having to go and hunt for the other half. They didn't have trays - which to start with seemed daft to me - but I think it was making it function better. People spent less time at the counter and there was less waste.
Kings Court a-la-carte.Was extremely popular. We did the Indian "Coriander" night, and it was really superb with a lovely cosy atmosphere. I wanted to do the asian night (I forget its name?) but it was fully booked early on. I couldn't help wondering if this was fully booked because Britannia was also disappointing other people.
Todd EnglishReally awesome, both the food and the service, and close to the experience I had in PG on QE2 in 2007 & 2008.
Public RoomsG32Truly dreadful. I stuck my head in to check it was as bad as it was last time (smoky, smelly and unpopular) and it was. Feels like an 80s club in Glasgow.
Queens RoomThe “Blackpool style” ballroom dancing isn’t for me, so therefore most nights in the Queens Room aren’t for me, and I find it all a bit cheesy, but on the 2nd last night I think they had the full orchestra playing, and it was much better and i’d have stayed to listen if we didn’t have to be somewhere else! I don’t love the Queens Room, but it's impressive, in its unique hard-to-get-to way.
Commodore ClubStill love it, it's still the most reminiscent of QE2's public rooms, but the cigar smoke smell was very strong indeed (they all kept opening the door between the club and Churchills) and we sensed that the wealthy guests were given priority treatment in this area. One evening we waited for ages to order a drink, before giving up and retreating with our tails between our legs back down to steerage.
Champagne Bar.This is a total failure of a space, in my view. But I think it could be fixed quite easily! With frosted glass between it and the lobby, it would get an exclusive feeling that it currently totally lacks.
Sir Samuels.I still like it, but I was shocked at the tables (dirt and crumbs around the edge) and the worn and dirty looking chairs. It felt more like a cheap cafe.
Golden Lion.Constantly busy. I enjoyed a game of darts here, and loved the sea view.
Winter Garden.I actually like it, especially in the evening. It has the feeling of a calming retreat. It also was a good place for them to show the golf open live or do small demos.
PavilionSadly, this was basically a no-go area for me. Dominated by children and their families, I only ever passed through rapidly. They seemed to be enjoying it (in fact they rarely seemed to leave that room) so I was happy to leave them to it.
Planetarium.
First time I'd experienced this, and I loved it. Although I think its smaller than planetarium's I've been to ashore, it envelopes you in the same exciting way. Slightly difficult to get a ticket though - queue before 9am at Connexions. There must be a better way. And on a particular voyage, preference should be given to people who haven't already been.
IlluminationsWatched a movie here on a formal night, and totally forgot I was on a ship. The cinema is a great space, although I think the projector may need upgraded as it was a bit blurry. And here's an idea for Cunard for up selling that wouldn't ruin the ship - do what every other cinema does and sell popcorn! (Just don't sell anything with noisy wrapping papers!).
Shops.Oh dear oh dear. a rack of sale clothes in the middle of the grand lobby, and temporary tables setup every night selling what I would call junk. Now why don't they show that in the brochure....? The shops could be so much better and, I think, more profitable. A clever brand-aware merchandiser could work wonders.
The "Grand" Lobby by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
Book Shop - Chris Frame working wonders and dominating the book selection - but virtually no books left about QE2 which is very sad indeed. I was amazed that even Cunard's own QE2 books from 2007 weren't present.
PhotographyIt felt like it was everywhere. Constantly. Every evening. Including spoiling important public spaces. For example, in the brochure, the elegant couple sweep along the corridor towards the Britannia Restaurant - but you don't see them having to step over cables, and step around camera equipment.
"Champagne Sailway".It's too intrusive and I saw very few people indulging (most went to the bar and ordered something cheaper, that they actually wanted to drink). Again this seems to take between 30 to 60 minutes to setup each time, spoiling the area during this important time. Note that champagne is always available at the adjacent bar...
General thoughts about the ship.VibrationAt the steady 22/23 knots, the ship vibrated as much as I remember QE2 doing in 1987 when she was on trials, being driven flat out, exceeded 34 knots, and bit of propellor had broken off! And it was non-stop. It definitely felt propellor related, given its rhythm. This was felt throughout the back half of the ship. It stopped when she slowed to the 17/18 speed...
Lifts.
Just an observation, but the lifts seemed very efficient. They always appeared quickly, and seemed to get us to where we wanted quickly. However I almost entirely used the stairs, for exercise. Amazed by the number of people who took the lift just to move 1 or 2 decks.
Did you know they go 'bing' for up and 'bing bong' for down?
Stateroom Corridors.Seem to have thin carpets. You can feel the metal deck going "clang" under your feet and they don't feel soft. It feels like they just need underlay. It feels cheap. It doesn't feel like QE2 did...
Carpets throughout.
What is going on? There are often craters which are big enough to trip on. There's one in the Golden Lion that verges on the dangerous. I think they said before it was underfloor fireproofing breaking up, and they fixed it on the main thoroughfare, but now it seems to be happening everywhere.
Windows throughout.Many window units seem to need replacing with the view being either compromised or non existent. On others the frames were very rusty and I found myself wondering if they'd cope with a big wave.
SpaceFantastic - lots of space. If you wanted space to yourself, it wasn't hard to find it. QE2 was like this too. They must not ruin this in the refits.
EntertainmentFor the sake of politeness, I won't mention the ones I thought were terrible but...
"International Band Xtasea".They kept popping up everywhere and we didn't like them (everyone has different tastes but I'm afraid we just didn't think they were very good). They seemed hard to escape. Are they just "international" because the ship moves?
Pat Patton (Golden Lion).This was an amusing moment. The pub was busy (a sea day afternoon) with people chatting, or watching the Golf on TV. Then Pat turned up at his allocated time. Snapped off the TV, and started loudly playing the piano. Within about 5 minutes, the pub was nearly empty. It wasn't Pat's fault, but the rigidity of "the daily programme" sometimes made me laugh.
Chart Room entertainment.I like jazz. But not every night. And not loudly, every night. I think it was "The Jazz Club with the Harry Bolt Trio" (Rosie can confirm!) Amazingly on the last night, Jeff Hughes from the Royal Court Theatre turned up and was simply superb. Taking requests, and bringing the Chart Room alive. MORE Jeff please!
SpeakersLawrence Kunetz was fascinating and entertaining. He's been on other Cunarders including QE2 and I can see why.. Robin Oakley (the headliner, was interesting but a bit dry, and
Nigel West obviously was an expert, but I found myself struggling to cope with the level of detail he went into, as did some of the others around me. He maybe should reduce the detail for his audience!
Hilary O'NeilI wasn't expecting much to be honest, but she was lovely, won over her audience immediately, and was genuinely funny in places. I'm sorry she was only on once.
Outside DecksTerrace pool and bar.This is meant to be the luxury adults-only area. The pool and hot tubs are not meant to be for kids. Subtle High-end Bose speakers surround the terrace, piping out quality "chill" music. We made it into the Hot Tub, overlooking the incredible Manhattan skyline, enjoying the tunes and a cold beer. I was looking forward to using this area throughout the trip. It seemed to work well - until :-
- the smokers took up permanent residence. Every single time I checked, every single chair was taken by the smokers. This meant I couldn't sit there, and also made me feel uncomfortable when using the pool, as the steps are right there in front of them, and they're all sitting staring...
- People let there children, including toddlers, into the pool and hot tub.
- Xtasea appeared for sailaway with their massive speaker system being dragged across the deck (setup took about 45 minutes, ruining the atmosphere during this crucial time - why can't they plug into the Bose speaker system?).
Boat Deck.Just awesome. Incredibly popular - the steamer chairs and the walking and jogging (anti-clockwise only!). And the lovely teak deck of course. The front sheltered bit is still a very special space to walk through.
Taking it all in by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
Sports Deck.This was my favourite area. All 4 shuffle boards were in near constant use, and I played until my arm hurt, getting rather good (the starboard side board was the easiest, because the caulking was best here)!
Tennis was really great too - the area is perfect, with hardly any wind, a great view, and the fake grass feeling surprisingly real under foot. I even saw families enjoying the paddling pool in the safe environment.
BUT :- the Regatta bar seems permanently disabled, and there was no way to get a drink on this entire deck (madness - Cunard could make more money here). Not even water, because the water fountain next to the tennis court was broken. Sun beds were strapped down and unavailable at the first sign of rain, meaning that 30 minutes later, people were roaming the hot sunny decks looking for anywhere to sit. And the tennis court was still locked at 11am, causing a phonecall down to the pursers desk to bring a grumpy entertainment staff member up to unlock them.
DSC_0244 by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
DSC_0212 by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
KennelsWere really busy! I hadn't seen this before, and as a dog lover it was pleasing to see. I was surprised to see that there was no lampost, and that there wasn't even fake grass for them... they all seemed very happy and relaxed though. We met a couple on board who's dog was on board, and they were delighted with the service and had only managed to get the dog on because someone else had cancelled.
Doggie Deck by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
Doggie Deck by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
Doggie Deck by
Rob Lightbody, on Flickr
The rest of my photos are here -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lightbody/sets/72157656224322605
