On boarding the QM2 we were once again struck by it's elegance. We were anxious to return once again to sailing on her. Boarding was very easy once we finally got through the traffic back up at Red Hook. The 4 of us went to the English pub for fish and chips and when finished found our balcony cabins and saw our luggage already there! Our cabin was beautifully furnished and our cabin attendant anxious to help us in any way. We quickly went on to the best equipped library we have seen. Plenty of best sellers were available. While one couple went to the Veranda restaurant, we proceeded to a beautiful table next to the window and enjoyed our first dinner.Unfortunately, when the 4 of us went to the Veranda restaurant, our steaks were so tough we couldn't eat them!Such a disappointment after a 5 minute talk by waiter on how great they were.I would not go there again. All through the trip the service was outstanding, the wine steward in particular went out of his way to be of service. Our only complaint was the food was a lower standard such as chicken, pork etc. Food was tasty but on a 13 night trip lobster was served once. This was quite different from our last trip that served high quality meats and fish. Entertainment was very good but the guest lectures were outstanding! We had tenders on several of the ports of call, making it impossible for some guests to go as they had mobility problems. On the whole the guests were a mix of different nationalities and blended nicely with each other. We would definitely return to the QM2-hope the food returns to excellence. Read Less

There is ONLY 1 Oceanliner in the world like it,and its not to be confused with a cruise ship. Every day was an Event and it wasnt the locations or destinations that made the cruise special it was the the cruise it self, even the crew loved sea days . Its smooth even in the Atlantic, there is a sense of occasion and dining at the princess grill was nothing short of exceptional and with a cellar of over 400,000 bottles on board the choices are plentiful and and fruitful.Every dinner was a dinner party nobody could wait to talk about the day and enjoy the evening .The rooms are spacious the staff is exceptional. I was so impressed that i booked another cruise Now before you think this is a retired persons ship, you are almost correct most have retired in there 40s or semi retired. I have travelled on other lines however if you like a more serene cruise with a sense of occasion with out screaming children this is it .sailing out of New York Harbour has history and probably the most iconic entry/ departure port in the world. The rooms are great , I have say they are better insulated than other liners so you dont hear almost anyone, the downside of this insulation is internet, it is best used in public areas or leave the door ajar. I personally can't wait for the next one, for me and probably more 80% of the passengers on board the only question is "when can we do this again.?" Read Less

Just a little history ,this was our 41st Cruise and our 3 rd on The QM2 , we've cruised all the major Cruise lines ,from inside cabins to Owners suites ,So we pretty much know what to expect . We choose this cruise because it seemed like a good value and according to all the printed material we viewed online ,they were staying to 10 PM on 2 of our favorite Islands , St Maarten and Barbados . [ see attached pics] At the time In May when we decided to book on Cunard we already had a Cruise booked at the same time [RCCL Anthem] so we had to pay 200.00 to re-book the RCCL cruise to a later date and booked on the QM2 . All went fairly smooth as we live on long Island ,and had car service to the Pier . Embarkation was a little slow ,But we were on the ship within one hour . The ship itself is a very elegant, But showing wear in both the staterooms and common area's ,Like in many places there are "soft spots " in the floor ,where you step down and get the feeling that the Carpet is all thats supporting you ,some were actually marked with cones . The Good Here's some of the good, Nice Gym ,no problem with crowding ,excellent Library , The Kings Court was OK for breakfast ,good omelets, breads etc. Stateroom was adequate ,by no means spacious ,with enough storage for a 13 day cruise . My wife seemed to enjoy the Puzzles that were available on deck 2 forward ,she and a group of people she met onboard spent hours on these 1000 piece puzzles, [ I have no interest in this] My sea days started with a visit to the gym , which was never really crowded, I guess because a good portion of the passengers were in there 70 and 80s , then head up to the Buffet for breakfast , Had my omelet chef trained how I like my omelet by the second day , He was good as I'm picky about any oil in my omelet, I spent at lease 2 hours a day in the casino at the black jack table ,the first night one of my table mates hit it big ,had 5.00 chip on the Lucky Ladies , he was dealt 2 queen of hearts and the dealer had black-jack payoff ,I believe he walked away with 6,250.00 nice on a 5.00 bet , first time I ever saw that in my 10 years of playing blackjack The Bad After a few visits to, the Kings Court for lunch which was always crowded, the lunch selection were only OK limited sandwiches, Sushi was available on certain days and was fresh . Tried dinner [to avoid formal nights] a couple of times and it was not good , seems like they put the better quality cuts out first , but if you show up at 7.30-8.00 it's gone and what was left was either over cooked or Luke warm at best , I decided to rename the Kings Court the Canine Court ,as most of the food I tried was only suitable for a Canine , Instead of thinking what can I choose today ,it turned into what can I possibly stand to try today , most choices were either cold or overcooked . We expected the Britannia Restaurant to be much better ,but we soon found out that it's not much better than the Buffet, although the service was good the waiters tried there best to satisfy us ,but you can't blame the waiter if the steak is tough or the fist is cooked to death , . . Our last QM2 cruise was in 2010 and it was excellent ,overall both service and food has declined considerably since 2010 Our room Horrible pillows , use a Duvet instead of a top sheet , How to cook in the Caribbean, this might be OK for an Alaska Cruise ,but not for the Caribbean .Even with the room temp all the way cold its still way to hot . No interactive TV system ,But did have a nice flat screen TV Overall it appears Cunard is trying to Cut Costs and relying on its past reputation ,to target 1st time cruisers ,that don't have any history to compare more modern newer ships . The Deceptive On about the 3rd sea day we went to the Pursers office to check times in Port as they claimed to have changed the Itinerary , This is when we found out that they were not staying to 10.00 pm in either St Maarten or Barbados , we were told that they never stay past 5.30 and that our travel agent had printed the wrong times . Very Unhappy ,we talked to about 6 other couples that had viewed the same info from different travel agency's, one couple offered to let us make copy's of the Itinerary they had with them ,we brought that to the pursers office ,but they claimed it didn't have enough info . the next day were in St Thomas ,we called out travel agent and had them email a copy of the Itinerary to the ship. Sure enough St Maarten and Barbados were listed as staying to 10.00 PM . They claimed they had to contact Corporate office , a few days later we were contacted by the person in charge of the Pursers claiming that even though we proved them wrong they had the option of changing ports and times at there digression. I kind of expected this ,but they offered to write a letter stating that the itinerary was changed and we might get some compensation from our trip insurance . Right Good luck with that . I feel like we got scammed , these are tricks that you might expect from a used car dealer ,not a claimed 5 star cruise line . We paid for 10 extra hrs as advertised [ bait] and than got zero with no compensation [switch] I would have been satisfied for the 200.00 it cost us to change cruises . I Can't recommend this cruise or ship when they pull stunts like this ,avoid them, even if this was listed by mistake ,they should have offered a retraction ,before we made the final payment ,Not while we had started out cruise. We won't set foot on this ship ever again . Read Less

This was my first cruise and I was not looking forward to it! However, the transatlantic crossing was high on my husband’s bucket list, so I booked a Princess Grill cabin for the 7 night cruise to New York. Embarkation from Southampton was fast, greetings from the crew as we boarded were lacklustre and we could have had some help as we wandered around looking for our cabin. However, on entering our cabin we were spellbound! It was large, luxurious, inviting (champagne and chocolates awaiting) and the big wall of windows looking out onto the balcony was perfect. Our cabin was so nice we spent a lot of time in it with room service breakfast and occasional lunch and dinner. The Stewards and waiting staff were excellent. The Queens Grill lounge was lovely for afternoon tea and the the Princess Grill dining room was very elegant. The meals were small but very tasty, the service was unobtrusive but friendly. We sat at a table of six and the other four guests were fascinating. The art work around the ship was fabulous. The theatres were spectacular. We loved the lectures especially those on the Titanic and the Concord. We did not go to any of the musical shows or balls but they seemed popular. The Kings Court buffet restaurant we avoided as it always seemed impossibly crowded. The Verandah Restaurant was very nice but it was just a steakhouse and frankly a steak is rather ordinary fare and not a gourmet experience. We enjoyed the dress code I loved ‘checking out’ the other ladies! It was very cold as to be expected in November and it snowed one night. However, that was exciting to us, our cabin 1067 was very stable. My husband caught a cold, as did many others on board but this often happens when traveling. HINT the ship is run at a cool temperature so take a shawl for a little extra warmth. It was too cold to be out on deck for long so I didn’t use the pool, etc. Overall, very few complaints, it was an unforgettable experience. My first cruise will not be my last - we have already booked a six night cruise on Queen Elizabeth in March. Read Less

it was our golden wedding anniversary and my wife wanted to go to new york. as i had spent 17 years working for american IT companies in europe and been to new york for a weekend some 38 years ago, i wasn't bothered. so i booked on the qm2 to go to new york and the caribbean. as expected the food in the britannia restaurant and the service was first class. the other features of the cruise showed that it was greatly overpriced. i am in a wheelchair so i booked an adapted cabin. this was very small. it was the smallest of all cabins on all of our 9 cruises, so far, and was only useable with the wheelchair, after our cabin steward removed some of the furniture. the entertainment was very like the curate's egg. the onboard song and dance company gave some of the worst shows i have ever seen. avoid new york unless you enjoy being forced to sit in US immigration sheds, even if you are not going into new york or any parts of the USA. as usual the weather in the caribbean was very nice. though the towns are not wheelchair friendly. lots of formal nights with the men dressed as penguins. i do not like formal nights. tried the buffet one night, to be informal. the food was below par. will not use cunard again. Read Less

Hi. We just returned from November Ney York/ Carrabian this year Well this is a liner with no real identity.. and all the atmosphere of a lift not helped by the Choice of depressing pipped music all over the ship don’t forget this is only my opinion and observations of being on other cruise lines. The Mary suffers from dated decor and some odd design features read on, our Statroom was on deck five near stare well B a good location for getting about the room itself was fine and well serviced by staff,. So first to Kings Court Buffet, but I must add that Hygene on entrance to Buffet is very poor often empty gel dispensers and no one at entrance to help, we found this at most places, surprising as I would have thought hygene paramount, the layout is very odd and poor with pods to sit in either side, and an isolated larger area further on but dull, you need to get a seat before you get your meal as it can be a long walk to seat, and you can’t generally see out as there are corridors very odd, and lacks atmosphere, the food was good and varied and as with all cruises plentiful, I would add the staff was brilliant and service very helpful. Britannia Restaurant Silver service was really good Breakfast and Dinner were excellent as was service, this is where QM2 scored well. And the Resaraunt is a lovely room. The Lounges generally were much the same not what we expected, just given different names, the Red Lion Pub for instance is just a boring lounge we only new we were in it it because there’s a sign outside the size of a postage stamp saying so? Cunard missed a big trick hear we were expecting a good old English Pub in the days of themed pubs and fit out,this just fails on any level, and they need to get some proper good old Piano Player Entertaininer type musicians in there to liven it up, The Entertainment is below average we found the general daily bands on board were mediocre and lacked fun and drive creating no atmosphere, some extremely dull..on that the whole ship lacks of any atmosphere at all there is no buzz of excitement or vitality so doesn’t feel alive. The Shows are ok but again lack sparkle not helped by a stage void of backdrops or few props the group are working hard but just lacks Showbiz. You do not see the dancers out about at any events or evenings, The Royal Court Theatre in must be the worst at sea, it’s like they bought some bench seats from a 70s pub in put them in, you have a job to find a seat where you can see the stage properly even in the gallery a very odd theatre and disappointed and dated. The Queens Room again is very dull and just lacks atmosphere on Gala or themed nights. The Illussions Theatre by contrast is exceptional good tiered seating fresh and bright, and must be the best Cineama at Sea with 3D Movies and a Plantatrium this venue is a plus for the ship, also a brilliant library. The Spa is overrated and expensive , we found unfriendly and a little Shabby save your money and use the Pavilion Pool. On that note the pool areas are very small you will end up sitting around the deck seats around deck 7 as you will not get near pools on sunny days. As with other Cruse Lines they all need to address Drinks are very expensive topped by a service charge, why anyone buys photos is beyond me at the staggering cost in today’s digital age, and and generally anything on board is way overpriced. Generally I wouldn’t say we had a bad trip the service and food is excellent, but this ship need a good Entertainment Director to get hold of it and transform its whole atmosphere, its crying out for a 30s40s style music to fit with decor, and lift its spirit, otherwise it’s just a floating Rest Home. As I say we enjoyed our trip and shore excisions sunshine etc were fun, we would not cruise with Cunard again as we found them dated and did not come away wowed. But Happy Cruising Have Fun and being at Sea is a great way to holiday Happy Days. Read Less

Having last sailed the TransAtlantic crossing on the Old Girl the QE2 in 1993, our trip to Europe from NYC coincided with the QM2's early November sailing date, so we decided to take the ship instead of flying. The Old Girl was just so amazing, and she was missed. And we decided that the only way to go was the Queen's Grill, as we had done before on our last Cunard cruise in 2008 just before the Old Girl went out of service and was packed off to Dubai. It mystifies me that the QM2 was designed with the lifeboats hanging from Deck 8, just below the Queens's Grill Deck 9 suites. So all the views from the most spacious and consequently expensive cabins on the ship have partially obstructed views of the ocean below from their windows and balconies. Not so bad in the winter when the balconies are too cold to be used, but for a sailing the rest of the year, this is just nuts. Partially obstructed cabins usually go for a large discount. Apparently Cunard learned from this huge design mistake, and the later built Victoria and Elizabeth do not have this problem for the Queens Grill cabins, nor for the QG or Princess Grill Dining Room, as discussed in the next paragraph.. Furthermore, the Queens Grill Dining Room is on Deck 7. The outdoor walking track that goes all round the ship is on the perimeter of Deck 7. So all day long the Queens's Grill diners, and the Princess Grill on the other side, get the pleasure of a constant stream of walkers and runners by, looking in often on the diners, and distracting to the fine dining experience. My wife and I found this most disconcerting. Again, why did they design the ship this way? The QG food is way above average, with caviar and foie gras on request at dinner all the time, with a little notice, plus special orders, but one does get tired of the featured standards like Orange Duckling, Beef Wellington, Tenderloin steak, Broiled Lobster and Dover Sole. More variation would be good. Appetizers need more creativity. Vegan selections boring. Sandwiches at lunch few and boring. Waiting staff excellent. Lunch menu choices could use a little sprucing up. The Maitre De takes very good care of his precious guests. Nice wine offerings. Staterooms in the Queens Grill category other than the view problem are very nice. Large bathrooms, although I would have preferred a stall shower rather than this tub/shower. Better in rocky seas for safety and just leaning against the shower walls when necessary for stability . Beds very comfortable. Large walk in closets and lots of storage space. At over 500 sq ft the Queens Grill stateroom is very nice and comfortable indeed. The last of the Ocean Liners is large at over 125,000 tons and sails very steady and mostly smoothly, even in strong winds and bad seas, but when strong winds slice across the ship's path, it is going to get rough, as for any ship. So it was on one day of the seven days crossing the pond from NYC to Southampton and a night or two. I am not a great sailor, not like my wife, but most days the rolling I can take. It is the combination of the rolling and pitching in the North Atlantic that does me in. As this one bad day proved, once again. The ship is large - 2600 passengers, although today there are the many 4,000- 5,000 passenger behemoths that have destroyed European ports such as Venice and most of the Caribbean Islands. We prefer the small Seabourn size ships, of 450 passengers and took this cruise mostly out of convenience to get to Europe. Three formal nights out of seven is just excessive to our way of thinking, but most of the Brits on board loved it that way. A really big dress deal for both men and women. Not at all the casual dress style growing so fashionable on so many other smaller ships today, such as Oceania, Seabourn, Silversea and Regent. Dress standards are very important to maintain, but so many other cruise lines have dropped standards and let people take advantage these days. It has gone in the other direction. No tuxedos for me however, so it was dark suit and tie these formal nights. Other nights it was a pleasure to wear a sports coat and tie, as were all the other gentlemen for the most part in the Grill dining rooms. A handsome crowd of men and women, elegantly attired. The main Theater has very bad seating, whereby people crowd in next to each other on long couch type seats. Not too many rows of seats have a separate seat for one person. Too many bodies get crammed in this way, but not to my liking. Just when one thinks he or she is settled in, along comes another person or two and they just push their way in. Very tight, and with coughing and sneezing, not good. The other large entertainment and lecturing room Illuminations, has very nice separate seating and is much more comfortable. Lectures and performances almost non stop all day long. Most very good. Whether about the Cold War and submarines in WW2, being kept captive in Lebanon or piano performances. The only planetarium at sea has some fantastic shows. The QM performers team put on at least one extraordinary production number. Fourteen dancers and singers, with many costume changes, and a fine orchestra. We enjoyed immensely the large collection of Hollywood and Broadway passenger celebrity photos on the old QM and QE displayed in many areas throughout the ship, and many photos of the old fleet itself. It will be a while before we take another Cunard cruise, and I do not think it will be on the QM2, although we enjoyed this one very much despite its shortcomings in QM category cabin and DR placement. Read Less

I have sailed on Cunard before - QE2, Queen Mary (this was the second crossing and the new Queen Elizabeth. The Queen Mary is superior to the Queen Elizabeth in my opinion (the lack of the Chart Room on the Queen Elizabeth bothered me). Although Cunard is to an extent coasting on an old name, it remains the most traditional line. There is a dress code for dinner along with several formal nights. These are customs that I very much approve of and that attract me to Cunard. On the whole I found service good however I do wish that Cunard would return to the former five day crossing schedule. Seven days is too long. By day six you're studying the ship's programme looking for things to do. For me the Queen Mary is transportation and not just an excuse for eating a lot. A crossing is not the same as a cruise and there should be distinctions in style. Aside from breakfast (room service) I took all meals in the Britannia Restaurant. Food ranged from average to good. Never memorable however. Service was generally satisfactory however the wine steward was under a lot of pressure to serve too many people and as a result it took far too long to get a drink. Many people have complained about the price of drinks. They are not inexpensive however I found bottles of wine to be comparable to many restaurants on the ground. There were a number of speakers. Journalist John McCarthy was by far the most interesting. His first two lectures drew a full house and had people sitting on the edge of their seats. A New Yorker Magazine cartoonist spoke once or twice. I found his presentation unpolished and surprisingly dull - I'd expected far more from a New Yorker contributor. There were other speakers of moderate interest. An upbeat and affable British naval attache spoke glowingly of excellent US-UK military cooperation. The lecture series was satisfactory but I'd encourage Cunard to seek out more dynamic speakers like Mr. McCarthy. Film selection was poor. No thought seems to go into the choice of films. Given the average age of passengers, screening a few 1940's / 1950's classics would be a good idea but Cunard seems to lack the imagination or interest required to break away from the generic selections that are probably made by some outsourced company. I'd suggest hiring a film historian to give background of classic films and then field some post screening questions - but again this would require some effort by Cunard that they seem unwilling to exert. There was a wine tasting which was priced outrageous. Though I'm a wine enthusiast I refused to pay the price they asked for. I never attended the night club entertainment but table mates said it was amateurish. I did attend the piano recitals which were enjoyable. There were always long queues for afternoon tea so I stayed away. I don't know why Cunard cannot resolve this problem. To attend the planetarium shows you had to queue up for tickets hours in advance of the shows. I found this inconvenient so chose not to go. Library is well stocked but lights on the glass shelves is blinding and irritating. On the whole the ship affords a pleasant experience for those who enjoy relatively traditional crossings. Read Less

We travelled Eastbound on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 in November, so expected possible rough seas, which did not really materialise, which was good! The QM2 is a beautiful ship, one of the last "Liners" - as opposed to cruise ships - and the food (Princess Grill) and the service both in the restaurant and cabin, was immaculate. There is something to do from 6.30 am - 2.00 am if you wished to be constantly occupied, and what is offered is very varied and interesting. Our cabin was lovely with comfortable beds and a decent sized shower room. Only quibble is that it would be nice to have a shelf or two on which to put personal toiletries. However, the wine is horrendously expensive. Just two glasses of very ordinary NZ Sauvignon Blanc (currently selling in Tescos at £7.00 a bottle) was $51 and a bottle of NZ Cloudy Bay SB was $65.00. And two gin and tonics in the Carinthia Lounge were $21.00 which, seeing as they are mostly tonic water, seems really excessive. But the main rip-off on board is the photographic department. Their prices are very high, but they know they have a "captive audience", and everybody is going to want to purchase their photo with the Captain, if available, so they can charge $35.00 for an 8 x 10 inch photo. They sent round a card which said: "Spend over $90.00 in the Photo Gallery tomorrow and get a free photo". This implies that if you spend, say, $92.00 you are entitled to a free photo. We ordered $119.00 worth of photos and asked how to get the free photo but were informed that we had not spent enough to entitle us to the freebie because, if they deducted $35.00 from $119.00 we were under the $90.00 limit. This seemed to contravene the terms of the offer, but in order to get the free photo we had to order another photo which brought our total to approx. $150.00. They then deducted the cost of the "free" photo, which brought our final total to $129.80. The offer stated unequivocally that you are entitled to a free photo if you spend "over $90": we spent well over that but still had to spend more to get the free photo. We should have just stayed with our order and forgotten about the so-called "free" photo. We think this is downright dishonesty, and sadly, because of this bad experience, I shall downgrade the "Onboard Experience" to two stars. It would have been five stars otherwise. The photographic department is run by a company in Southampton, to whom we have written, but they have not bothered to reply. Apart from the sour taste left by the photo department , we really enjoyed our journey on the QM2. It is a wonderful experience, the staff cannot do enough for you and we had a truly good time. Read Less

The great dame continues to plough endlessly from New York to Southampton and back. Oceanview cabin 04015 was huge a long walk to the door, larger than the balcony cabin next door. Britannia Restaurant was consistently good in the evening, Kings court buffet a bit of a battle ground. Entertainment was ok, but Cunard continue to use the same shows time and time again. This was my second transatlantic, so not as exiting or overwhelming as the first, but would I do it again, yes of course. FOD / LGBT meetings a highlight, spa great. Boarding and disembarking was very easy in NY and Southampton. Strongly recommend the Red Hook Ferry to Pier 11 in down town Manhattan a steal at just $2.75, slides through the traffic and a two minute walk to the ship. Drinks on board are overpriced, but take your own gin and it is not too expensive, a blast. Read Less