Queen Mary 2 (QM2) Review

Cunard put the health of guests and crew as the first priority.

Review for Around the World Cruise on Queen Mary 2 (QM2)
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gillwu
6-10 Cruises • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Jan 2020
Cabin: Balcony, sheltered

COVID-19 has disrupted all cruises and cruise lines, even those that are COVID-19 free. Cunard’s QM2 is no exception. We missed ports. The voyage was cancelled very early in Fremantle, Australia. We remained COVID-19 free. However, in spite of the (early on) wishes of us passengers, Cunard always put the health of the passengers and the crew first. We all know that cruise liners are not all the same. But know that one can count on, and thus thank, is Cunard. Cunard by forethought, planning, sacrifices, top notch leadership at all levels, and a bit of luck has kept the three Queens COVID-19 free, and most passengers now back to their homes safely. What did they do? They acted early and did not hesitate or mumble. Cunard's Queen Mary 2, my ship, bypassed all ports in Asia in February before the world spread of COVID-19 (and the world pandec). After 18 days at sea, she circumnavigated Australia a country which when we started had zero infections, (when we left Australia had 15 reported cases). Cunard cancelled QM2's World Voyage in Fremantle March 15 and sent us all home by 16th. My ship, the QM2 is now steaming away to Southampton, her home port, and yes, having issues when refueling as some ports now have closed because these ports have many COVID-19 infections. The QM2 had zero infections, and she still has zero infections. Cunard's crew worked tirelessly to disinfect all surfaces, more than once a day. We received letters from the Captain, from the Physicians on board, from the President of Cunard at our door - outlining Cunard's plans for keeping all guests and crew healthy and reminding/requiring from us, healthy procedures. Trough-like sinks beside the buffet areas, extra hand sanitizers everywhere, crew squirting hand sanitizers whenever guests entered eating areas. In all of March there was not a sniffle to heard on the whole ship, no colds on the whole ship!! No passing of any cold "germs"!!. The disinfecting, all our healthy habits and the non-changing set of guests and crew were effective. And no guests booked, nor crew whose home country had infections where allowed to board the ship. The guests who had booked but were not allowed to embark had paid for their cruise, had flown to their embarkation port, had stayed in hotels - and no, they were not permitted to board and were turned back. Cunard must have (and still must be) losing a HUGE amount of money, HUGE. And of course there were disgruntled guests, blaming others for the missed ports, the extra health requirements, and then, the canceled voyage (“We have to sue them” was one such cry from a (very) small group). Yet, through all, Cunard’s bottom line was "the health, safety and wellbeing of guests and the crew are our priority". Cunard took not a step wrong. As we all hear our leaders put their spin on the pandemic, we can only hope that their priorities are similar. Three cheers for Cunard!!! (I am 76 years old, a Canadian, sailed with Cunard about six times (and two with Oceania), and am Diamond level but have no other association with Cunard).mi

Cabin Review

Balcony, sheltered

perfect for a single person

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