QM2 re-fit announced

Are you able to give us some ideas on these colors and material?? I hope the silly Shanks coffee cake carpets and such are thrown out

I wasn't sure at first, but I actually think the coffee cake carpets work. Obviously they need replacing again with so much foot traffic in staterooms, but I don't think they're hideous.

The room and suite upgrades last time were a huge improvement on the carpets and furnishings in the staterooms when QM2 first set sail.

I wonder whether they will put the flat screens on the wall like they did with QE. I was very pleased with that. Now all Cunard needs to do there is set up movies/tv shows on demand like Princess have done (really smart move on their part).

I wasn't sure at first, but I actually think the coffee cake carpets work. Obviously they need replacing again with so much foot traffic in staterooms, but I don't think they're hideous.

 

The room and suite upgrades last time were a huge improvement on the carpets and furnishings in the staterooms when QM2 first set sail.

 

I wonder whether they will put the flat screens on the wall like they did with QE. I was very pleased with that. Now all Cunard needs to do there is set up movies/tv shows on demand like Princess have done (really smart move on their part).

I'd be almost certain that those big flat panel TVs will make an appearance. Not only do they look more modern, but they also free up useable desk space in the Britannia Staterooms.

Speaking as an IT Nerd, TV On Demand shouldn't be too difficult to do. The only thing which you need to see Live are the news channels. Everything else could be downloaded to an on-board server over WiFi or when the ship is in port. Not only would you get TV on demand, but it would be in 1080p (or even 4k if they really wanted to) as the money spent on those big flat panels is a bit wasted if you only show programmes in 576p

Given how much nicer the Theatre is on Queen Elizabeth, with it's Private Boxes, old fashioned theatre styling and unobstructed views. Do we think we'll see major works in Queen Mary 2's Royal Court Theatre?

 

Illuminations needs its seats fixing, but that aside it's lovely as it is.

QM2's Royal Court Theatre pillars are part of the ship structural support. It's an open space the spans the beam of the ship.

Our group was not presented with any proposals for this area. In the opening remarks we had the chance to comment on what we didn't like about the ship as is. The broken seats and burned out Britannia ceiling light panels - advertised as signature spaces on the ship - were brought up. Given the constant complaints about broken seats - that were not fixed in the last refit - I'd be surprised if this was ignored.

The ship was rushed out of the 2011 refit than originally planned. This refit is scheduled for twice as long. So the scope of work is much more extensive than that of five years ago when it mostly replaced carpets and drapes.

QM2's Royal Court Theatre pillars are part of the ship structural support. It's an open space the spans the beam of the ship.

 

Our group was not presented with any proposals for this area. In the opening remarks we had the chance to comment on what we didn't like about the ship as is. The broken seats and burned out Britannia ceiling light panels - advertised as signature spaces on the ship - were brought up. Given the constant complaints about broken seats - that were not fixed in the last refit - I'd be surprised if this was ignored.

 

The ship was rushed out of the 2011 refit than originally planned. This refit is scheduled for twice as long. So the scope of work is much more extensive than that of five years ago when it mostly replaced carpets and drapes.

Thanks for the reply. I am aware of why those huge columns are there. I guess in my mind I was thinking/hoping they could put the VIP Boxes between them at the sides of the upper level.

On the bright side, no structural works in Royal Court or Illuminations means more chance of much more impactful changes elsewhere.

 

Our group did not discuss any of the public areas outside of deck 7. We had two hours and a "focus" group is meant to give in-depth feedback on a limited number of areas. It's unlikely any of us will get a repeat invitation. Usually these groups are "one and done" so that bias, influence, or personal agendas don't get injected into the evaluation.

Very interesting and thanks for sharing. I've heard there will be a complete redesign of Deck 7. Of course this will include the King's Court. There are reasons why the King's Court is the way it is, which include structural confinements and galley placements. One possibility I heard is the removal of the atrium glass elevators completely, which will free up much needed new space in the King's Court.

QM2 is probably my favorite ship in service today, and I'm glad some much needed TLC is finally being sent her way. The refit a few years ago was a bit of a disappointment. All the sofas in every stateroom were supposed to be replaced and never were. Budget shortfalls no doubt. I never liked the new carpet and felt it looked cheap from day one. Hopefully all the cabins will get a head to toe refresh, including larger flat panel TV's mounted on the bulkhead, all new soft furnishings, and new sofas! The bathrooms are already pretty nice and still look great IMO.

I can't wail to sail on QM2 after it's all completed.

I am seriously concerned about the state of my mental health with regard to the news of the refit because I quite like Kings Court :o

But, yes it definitely needs work doing on it. As has been said many many times before, the layout is all wrong. We have now learned to walk round all the stations before choosing food because there doesn't seem to be any real logic behind the placements.

Maybe we've been lucky in that we've never struggled to find a seat and the food has been fine ??

How will the Verandah differ from KC ?

QM2' The broken seats and burned out Britannia ceiling light panels - advertised as signature spaces on the ship - were brought up. Given the constant complaints about broken seats - that were not fixed in the last refit - I'd be surprised if this was ignored.

 

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I wonder if the problem in replacing the broken seats is one of matching the originals. It would look odd if the new seats were of a different design and fabric and custom built replacements would be very costly.

 

It would probably be cheaper to strip out all the reclining seats which are showing signs of wear anyway and fit new.

 

David.

I am seriously concerned about the state of my mental health with regard to the news of the refit because I quite like Kings Court :o.

A very odd statement babs,but I suspect one that very few would argue with.You must I suspect be in a minority of possibly one liking Kings Court.

Maybe a little extreme but we have said we will not cruise on QM2 until after the refit and the revamp of Kings Court.

Everyone is entitled to an oppinon.

Rodger.

King's Court will be a case where Cunard won't please everyone. It's to be entirely gutted out so those who like it as is won't be happy. And no doubt there will those who will say the redesign is not to their liking or it even made it worse.

In Stephen Payne's September 2013 archive he address some of the complaints. One reason it's not a huge open area is that the ship needed a strong "spine". Halls near the stairs also have to be open to the promenade deck since it's the evacuation area of the ship. While Payne put in the major spaces of the ship the traffic flow was developed by Tillberg Design.

I am seriously concerned about the state of my mental health with regard to the news of the refit because I quite like Kings Court :o.

A very odd statement babs,but I suspect one that very few would argue with.You must I suspect be in a minority of possibly one liking Kings Court.

Maybe a little extreme but we have said we will not cruise on QM2 until after the refit and the revamp of Kings Court.

Everyone is entitled to an oppinon.

 

Rodger.

Minority of two-I like it as well. There is always somewhere to sit (unlike QV & QE) and there is always a bigger choice with the different stations

I am seriously concerned about the state of my mental health with regard to the news of the refit because I quite like Kings Court :o

You are not alone!

We like KC as well but keep an open mind to what they do with it during the re-fit.

We like KC too. We usually consult the menus at the door then head for the favoured serving quarter, and we've always found some where to sit even at the busiest times, whereas on QV / QE I've lost count at the number of times we've ended up in the Garden lounge or worse still out near the pool.

Whilst generally (in the daytime) on QV / QE both serving lines (port and starboard) serve the same dishes, what winds me up most is are the people who are on the cold line, but then push in to the hotline to supplement their cold selection. All this coupled with people just walking through the lido from the garden lounge to the aft deck or vice versa

We also quite like Kings Court but are now wondering what it is like now there are no trays there? For us it would mean extra journeys as we usually carry quite a few things on one - maybe soup, main meal, glass of juice and cutlery.

Can't speak too much on the Kings Court. After our first and second QM2 voyage (when we didn't know much) we decided that paying thousands for a trip should not include standing on line in a cafeteria unless it was forced by time issues.

On our last 6, we have set foot in the cafeterias of QM2 and QE a total of two times when an excursion resulted in missing dining room hours

Can't they change it to a diesel engine so it can do 6-day crossings again?

Can't they change it to a diesel engine so it can do 6-day crossings again?

QM2 is powered by diesels. Plus two gas turbines. These can't be replaced by diesels due to weight and location. The reason the turbines were put there in the first place was to allow for more interior public and revenue space. Given that QM2's equipment was in place as the ship was constructed it is probably a physical impossibility to re-engine the ship as was done with QE2. Recall also that QE2's new plant had to be divided among 9 diesels.

Just for argument let's say a civilian form of nuclear power became available. And operating this would cut fuel costs to just 10% of that they are now. From the financial standpoint the cost savings would have to be astronomical to justify such a refit. (And that's not even considering the social/political issues. The environmental zealots would push legislation for popular ports to be declared "nuclear free" zones. NS Savannah was banned from some British Commonwealth ports.)

If oil prices continue to fall the economy of operating turbines changes. But I suspect that as long as Cunard gets support for longer crossings - by passengers voting with their wallets - they won't have any incentive to return to 6 day crossings. Too many passengers demand lower prices and these same people often admonish us, "If you love QM2 why shorten your experience?"

QM2 is powered by diesels. Plus two gas turbines. These can't be replaced by diesels due to weight and location. The reason the turbines were put there in the first place was to allow for more interior public and revenue space. Given that QM2's equipment was in place as the ship was constructed it is probably a physical impossibility to re-engine the ship as was done with QE2. Recall also that QE2's new plant had to be divided among 9 diesels.

 

Just for argument let's say a civilian form of nuclear power became available. And operating this would cut fuel costs to just 10% of that they are now. From the financial standpoint the cost savings would have to be astronomical to justify such a refit. (And that's not even considering the social/political issues. The environmental zealots would push legislation for popular ports to be declared "nuclear free" zones. NS Savannah was banned from some British Commonwealth ports.)

 

If oil prices continue to fall the economy of operating turbines changes. But I suspect that as long as Cunard gets support for longer crossings - by passengers voting with their wallets - they won't have any incentive to return to 6 day crossings. Too many passengers demand lower prices and these same people often admonish us, "If you love QM2 why shorten your experience?"

Anyone know about the cost savings for the new liquefied Natural Gas that some of the new ships are utilizing??

Anyone know about the cost savings for the new liquefied Natural Gas that some of the new ships are utilizing??

It's a relatively new maritime technology and the only people who would know of any savings might be those shippers who operate similar vessels with both LNG and conventional power.

I see this only on new builds, and the concept of high pressure LNG on a passenger ship is something that would meet resistance. There is also the issue of where to refuel if it's not a common maritime fuel.

QM2 is powered by diesels. Plus two gas turbines. These can't be replaced by diesels due to weight and location. The reason the turbines were put there in the first place was to allow for more interior public and revenue space. Given that QM2's equipment was in place as the ship was constructed it is probably a physical impossibility to re-engine the ship as was done with QE2. Recall also that QE2's new plant had to be divided among 9 diesels.

 

Just for argument let's say a civilian form of nuclear power became available. And operating this would cut fuel costs to just 10% of that they are now. From the financial standpoint the cost savings would have to be astronomical to justify such a refit. (And that's not even considering the social/political issues. The environmental zealots would push legislation for popular ports to be declared "nuclear free" zones. NS Savannah was banned from some British Commonwealth ports.)

 

If oil prices continue to fall the economy of operating turbines changes. But I suspect that as long as Cunard gets support for longer crossings - by passengers voting with their wallets - they won't have any incentive to return to 6 day crossings. Too many passengers demand lower prices and these same people often admonish us, "If you love QM2 why shorten your experience?"

They'd have to slice the great lady in half. It has been done before with other Cruise ships having new midships sections built, the ship cut into two, the new section inserted and then welded back together. But it's hugely expensive & I don't recall ever seeing a Ship re-engine'd in such a way. Plus, Queen Mary 2's hull is double the thickness of a regular Cruise Ship, so a Cut n Shut job may not even be feasible!

They'd have to slice the great lady in half. It has been done before with other Cruise ships having new midships sections built, the ship cut into two, the new section inserted and then welded back together. But it's hugely expensive & I don't recall ever seeing a Ship re-engine'd in such a way. Plus, Queen Mary 2's hull is double the thickness of a regular Cruise Ship, so a Cut n Shut job may not even be feasible!

You're right, very unlikely. If I recall one of Payne's publications the shipyard welders needed some retraining as they were not accustomed to working with steel that thick.

QE2 was built in a conventional manner on a slipway and her boilers were fitted through the funnel opening. And that's how they were eviscerated and the diesels put in. Not that option of QM2. There's no clear vertical path through the ship.

On a different area, I notice some remorse on planned changes to King's Court. Kind of reminds me of the anti-social neighbor whom nobody liked. But when he passes on people have only good things to say.

You're right, very unlikely. If I recall one of Payne's publications the shipyard welders needed some retraining as they were not accustomed to working with steel that thick.

 

QE2 was built in a conventional manner on a slipway and her boilers were fitted through the funnel opening. And that's how they were eviscerated and the diesels put in. Not that option of QM2. There's no clear vertical path through the ship.

 

On a different area, I notice some remorse on planned changes to King's Court. Kind of reminds me of the anti-social neighbor whom nobody liked. But when he passes on people have only good things to say.

I don't dislike Kings Court. It'd be fine in most 4* Hotels in the world, but it doesn't feel right on such a magnificent ship. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes here most.

Our Grandparents, who spend a lot of time (and a lot of our inheritance ;) ) on Cunard refer to KC as "The Truckers Café"

"...Our Grandparents, who spend a lot of time (and a lot of our inheritance ;) ) on Cunard refer to KC as "The Truckers Café"

In the US this is sometimes called SKIing "Spending Kids Inheritance".:D

"...

In the US this is sometimes called SKIing "Spending Kids Inheritance".:D

We've been SKIing for sometime. In fact only the other day one of our children asked rather worriedly if we weren't getting too old to SKI :D

"...Our Grandparents, who spend a lot of time (and a lot of our inheritance ;) ) on Cunard refer to KC as "The Truckers Café"

 

In the US this is sometimes called SKIing "Spending Kids Inheritance".:D

We've been SKIing for sometime. In fact only the other day one of our children asked rather worriedly if we weren't getting too old to SKI :D

Seriously, we don't begrudge them with it. They love it more than we do & it's great so see how excited they get about it. They usually do at least two a year. They love The Twins, but they say there's nothing that compares to Queen Mary 2

I hope we'll be voyaging on Cunard's Queen Catherine into our 80s and beyond. I wonder if they'll be cruising to Mars by then?!

It's a relatively new maritime technology and the only people who would know of any savings might be those shippers who operate similar vessels with both LNG and conventional power.

 

I see this only on new builds, and the concept of high pressure LNG on a passenger ship is something that would meet resistance. There is also the issue of where to refuel if it's not a common maritime fuel.

I thought I read about some new build or soon to be built new Cruise Ship, one of those Gigantor ships of fun fun fun being run by Liquid Natural Gas. Anyone know??