Join Pete and Judy on their FIRST crossing on the Queen Mary 2

Thank you for posting this great review. Glad you have enjoyed this beautiful ship.

It's on my bucket list to do a transatlantic on QM, after 3 trips on QV and QE.

Glad you enjoyed the afternoon tea. It is very civilised isn't it? Is like stepping back in time to have tea formally served, though I am afraid the cream is not clotted. Real clotted cream has a crust on top with thick golden cream underneath, as it is specially heated for 12 hours or so in an oven, and it is this process which produces the thick crust of clotted cream. I'm sure you enjoyed it nevertheless.

Thank you for this thread. Will be more serious about booking a crossing on the QM2, however, just not now. Aging family issues and other pressing matters. Currently have a Crystal booking for Jan 2017 which I will need to cancel or possibly seek a farther future date to rebook.

a side note: earlier this year I had been 'frozen' out of my laptop... to occupy my mind and hands, I knitted several baby items and a couple of sweaters...very satisfying and soothing.

My final experience was great. It isn't Cunard's fault about immigration delays.

Hi

I was on the same crossing and had a fabulous time. There is nothing like being on the Queen Mary 2. I am wondering how you go about posting the pictures. Any help appreciated. Thanks and thanks for the review.

Deck Chair

For all the pictures please go to http://www.theinsidecabin.com

We had a wonderful time on the QM2 and while we ate our dinners in the Britannia Dining Room and had breakfast delivered from room service, we did use the Kings Court for lunch and snacks during other times. The Kings Court is the Queen Mary 2’s buffet style restaurant located on Deck 7. There is a lot to offer in the Kings Court and it was a little confusing at first, so this post is dedicated to the King’s Court along with the other two dining venues on Deck 7: Carinthia Lounge and Chef’s Galley.

The Kings Court itself has a second area, aft on the port side, which I will refer to as Kings Court (Aft). This area is open for breakfast, lunch and late night snacks. For dinner, this area turns into a specialty restaurant with rotating themes throughout the voyage. Here are the different specialty options ($17.50 surcharge) but you probably won’t see them all available for every voyage:

Aztec (Mexican cuisine)

Bamboo (Pan-Asian cuisine)

Coriander (Indian cuisine)

La Piazza (Italian cuisine)

Smokehouse (American cuisine)

Since this was my first time on the QM2, I can’t comment on the layout prior to the major overhaul in 2016, but I have read that people like the new look and it has been described by others as more open.

The Kings Court occupies a large space in the center of the ship between the C and D stairways sitting between the Grills restaurants and the Carinthia Lounge. Please note that the Kings Court detailed layout shown on the QM2 deck plan from the Cunard Website does not match the current physical layout down to the seating level. The downloaded deck plan doesn’t show the layout of the serving lines, but they are shown on the schematics and they are depicted here on an annotated picture of the current Kings Court Layout. The dark areas are where the Galleys are located

The Carinthia Lounge is close enough to the Kings Court to be considered as part of the Deck 7 dining options along with the Chef’s Galley. All of these options are close enough together to easily carry your food from one to the other if you can’t find an empty seat in the Kings Court. However, while the Kings Court was busy during peak hours, I never had difficulty finding open seating for 2 people.

Food is available in the Kings Court 19 hours out of 24. Here are the hours:

Continental Breakfast: 5:00 am to 6:30 am

Breakfast: 6:30 am to 11:00 am

Closed: 11:00 am to 11:30 am

Lunch: 11:30 am to 3:00 pm

Closed: 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Afternoon Tea: 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Closed: 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm

Dinner: 6:00 pm to 10:30 pm

Closed: 10:30 pm to 11:00 pm

Late Snack: 11:00 pm to 2:00 am

Closed: 2:00 am to 5:00 am

Here is a little more detail about each area along with some pictures of the various offerings. In some cases I will reference the letter or number annotated on the Kings Court deckplan accompanying this post.

General Note: There are 4 beverage stations located throughout the Kings Court. See the annotated floorplan for their locations. They are all identical and offer coffee, tea, water, ice along with Lemonade, Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice and Apple Juice. One of the 4 beverage stations offers Iced Tea instead of Lemonade. These stations are open 24 hours.

Carinthia Lounge: Open for breakfast and lunch. For breakfast you can get breakfast sandwiches, yogurt, fruit and pastries. For Lunch they have pre-made pannis and other light fare. Beverages are available from the bar for a charge. You have to go to the Kings Court if you want complimentary beverages.

The Carinthia Lounge is one of the two public areas sanctioned for casual wear after 6pm. Remember that even on non-formal nights, a jacket is still required for men if you want to appear in any public lounge, restaurant or showroom, except the Kings Court and Carinthia Lounge. The Carinthia Lounge has a small stage on the same level as the seating and you will find various music be played from time to time throughout the day. During lunch one day there was a Dixeland Jazz Band and during the evening, the resident Harpist put on two 45 minute performances.

This lounge is used as a muster station for various guests and was also the meeting spot for the craft group during sea days.

Chefs Galley: For Breakfast they have healthy yogurts, juices and smoothies. Lunch serves hamburgers, hot dogs, and assorted sandwiches. From 6-9 pm they serve pizza and pasta. This area is pretty small and would probably seat 25 people or so. This area is adjacent to Kings Court (aft) and the specialty restaurants during the evening. During the day you can cross over from Kings Court (aft) but once the specialty restaurants open you should enter from the starboard side.

The Kings Court has 2 areas serving food buffet style: The main serving area which is quite large and open from 5 am until 10:30 pm with three one half hour closures during the day when they transition to the next meal. The Aft area of the Kings Court on the port side is open for Breakfast, Lunch and the Late snack. It is closed for dinner when it becomes one of the rotating specialty restaurants.

Kings Court (Aft):

Breakfast: Eggs to order as well as premade waffles, pancakes and French toast.

Lunch: Various Pizzas and Pastas and assorted fruits, breads, salads and deserts

Dinner: Turns into a specialty restaurant.

Late Night Snack – Open from 11PM to 2AM serving a variety of hot food, deserts and snacks.

This area has a buffet along the forward wall, a large buffet area in the center and then a “L” shaped buffet area in front of the area leading into the Galley. There is one beverage station located here. There is seating along the port side going further aft from the serving buffets.

Kings Court (Main):

The main area of the Kings Court is a large square area, with a variety of serving buffets along the sides and in the center area. The main buffet area has a starboard and port side which tends to duplicate what is on the other side. For dinner and afternoon tea, one half of the buffet lines are closed but for breakfast and lunch all of the buffet lines are open.

On other cruise lines, the food served in their buffet area is sometimes identical to what is offered in the main dining rooms. I didn’t find this to be the case in the Kings Court. I checked only a few times for dinner but never compared the two for lunch.

The selection for breakfast is extensive and I was hard pressed to think of anything that wasn’t offered. While not marked, there are chefs available for making eggs or omelets to order. Look for a chef cooking eggs in plain view and they will cheerfully take your order or direct you to the correct location. The center island has a wide selection of breads and pastries along with two conveyor belt type toasters to toast your bread or bagels.

There are two self-serve soft ice cream machines available, one on each side of the main buffet area. Cones or bowls are nearby and the ice cream, chocolate vanilla or a mix, is very good.

From 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm the Kings Court offers afternoon tea. While the Kings Court afternoon tea is not served by staff as it is in the Queens Room, they offer a wider variety of self-service sandwiches, pastries and scones.

Once per voyage they set up what they called a “Chocolate Extravaganza” which is an extensive offering of cakes, pastries, chocolate fondues and other incredible deserts. There wasn’t any advertising that this was going to occur, or if there was I missed it, but if you are a chocolate lover, I would inquire early in the cruise as to when this may be offered on your voyage.

I stopped by the Kings Court on the last formal night to see if they would be offering Lobster as they were in the main dining room. They offer filet mignon but no lobster. There were quite a few people wearing formal attire eating here rather than in the main dining rooms, or maybe in addition to their formal meals.

more on http://www.theinsidecabin.com

Hi

 

I was on the same crossing and had a fabulous time. There is nothing like being on the Queen Mary 2. I am wondering how you go about posting the pictures. Any help appreciated. Thanks and thanks for the review.

 

Deck Chair

You can post pictures by uploading them directly to cruse critic or by linking to the picture which is already posted somewhere else: another blog, facebook, Instagram etc. The pictures I post here are links to the pictures on my blog.

For all the pictures please go to http://www.theinsidecabin.com

 

We had a wonderful time on the QM2 and while we ate our dinners in the Britannia Dining Room and had breakfast delivered from room service, we did use the Kings Court for lunch and snacks during other times. The Kings Court is the Queen Mary 2’s buffet style restaurant located on Deck 7. There is a lot to offer in the Kings Court and it was a little confusing at first, so this post is dedicated to the King’s Court along with the other two dining venues on Deck 7: Carinthia Lounge and Chef’s Galley.

 

The Kings Court itself has a second area, aft on the port side, which I will refer to as Kings Court (Aft). This area is open for breakfast, lunch and late night snacks. For dinner, this area turns into a specialty restaurant with rotating themes throughout the voyage. Here are the different specialty options ($17.50 surcharge) but you probably won’t see them all available for every voyage:

 

Aztec (Mexican cuisine)

Bamboo (Pan-Asian cuisine)

Coriander (Indian cuisine)

La Piazza (Italian cuisine)

Smokehouse (American cuisine)

 

Since this was my first time on the QM2, I can’t comment on the layout prior to the major overhaul in 2016, but I have read that people like the new look and it has been described by others as more open.

 

The Kings Court occupies a large space in the center of the ship between the C and D stairways sitting between the Grills restaurants and the Carinthia Lounge. Please note that the Kings Court detailed layout shown on the QM2 deck plan from the Cunard Website does not match the current physical layout down to the seating level. The downloaded deck plan doesn’t show the layout of the serving lines, but they are shown on the schematics and they are depicted here on an annotated picture of the current Kings Court Layout. The dark areas are where the Galleys are located

 

 

The Carinthia Lounge is close enough to the Kings Court to be considered as part of the Deck 7 dining options along with the Chef’s Galley. All of these options are close enough together to easily carry your food from one to the other if you can’t find an empty seat in the Kings Court. However, while the Kings Court was busy during peak hours, I never had difficulty finding open seating for 2 people.

 

Food is available in the Kings Court 19 hours out of 24. Here are the hours:

 

Continental Breakfast: 5:00 am to 6:30 am

Breakfast: 6:30 am to 11:00 am

Closed: 11:00 am to 11:30 am

Lunch: 11:30 am to 3:00 pm

Closed: 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Afternoon Tea: 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Closed: 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm

Dinner: 6:00 pm to 10:30 pm

Closed: 10:30 pm to 11:00 pm

Late Snack: 11:00 pm to 2:00 am

Closed: 2:00 am to 5:00 am

 

Here is a little more detail about each area along with some pictures of the various offerings. In some cases I will reference the letter or number annotated on the Kings Court deckplan accompanying this post.

 

General Note: There are 4 beverage stations located throughout the Kings Court. See the annotated floorplan for their locations. They are all identical and offer coffee, tea, water, ice along with Lemonade, Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice and Apple Juice. One of the 4 beverage stations offers Iced Tea instead of Lemonade. These stations are open 24 hours.

 

Carinthia Lounge: Open for breakfast and lunch. For breakfast you can get breakfast sandwiches, yogurt, fruit and pastries. For Lunch they have pre-made pannis and other light fare. Beverages are available from the bar for a charge. You have to go to the Kings Court if you want complimentary beverages.

 

The Carinthia Lounge is one of the two public areas sanctioned for casual wear after 6pm. Remember that even on non-formal nights, a jacket is still required for men if you want to appear in any public lounge, restaurant or showroom, except the Kings Court and Carinthia Lounge. The Carinthia Lounge has a small stage on the same level as the seating and you will find various music be played from time to time throughout the day. During lunch one day there was a Dixeland Jazz Band and during the evening, the resident Harpist put on two 45 minute performances.

 

This lounge is used as a muster station for various guests and was also the meeting spot for the craft group during sea days.

 

Chefs Galley: For Breakfast they have healthy yogurts, juices and smoothies. Lunch serves hamburgers, hot dogs, and assorted sandwiches. From 6-9 pm they serve pizza and pasta. This area is pretty small and would probably seat 25 people or so. This area is adjacent to Kings Court (aft) and the specialty restaurants during the evening. During the day you can cross over from Kings Court (aft) but once the specialty restaurants open you should enter from the starboard side.

 

The Kings Court has 2 areas serving food buffet style: The main serving area which is quite large and open from 5 am until 10:30 pm with three one half hour closures during the day when they transition to the next meal. The Aft area of the Kings Court on the port side is open for Breakfast, Lunch and the Late snack. It is closed for dinner when it becomes one of the rotating specialty restaurants.

 

Kings Court (Aft):

 

Breakfast: Eggs to order as well as premade waffles, pancakes and French toast.

Lunch: Various Pizzas and Pastas and assorted fruits, breads, salads and deserts

Dinner: Turns into a specialty restaurant.

Late Night Snack – Open from 11PM to 2AM serving a variety of hot food, deserts and snacks.

 

This area has a buffet along the forward wall, a large buffet area in the center and then a “L” shaped buffet area in front of the area leading into the Galley. There is one beverage station located here. There is seating along the port side going further aft from the serving buffets.

 

Kings Court (Main):

 

The main area of the Kings Court is a large square area, with a variety of serving buffets along the sides and in the center area. The main buffet area has a starboard and port side which tends to duplicate what is on the other side. For dinner and afternoon tea, one half of the buffet lines are closed but for breakfast and lunch all of the buffet lines are open.

 

On other cruise lines, the food served in their buffet area is sometimes identical to what is offered in the main dining rooms. I didn’t find this to be the case in the Kings Court. I checked only a few times for dinner but never compared the two for lunch.

 

The selection for breakfast is extensive and I was hard pressed to think of anything that wasn’t offered. While not marked, there are chefs available for making eggs or omelets to order. Look for a chef cooking eggs in plain view and they will cheerfully take your order or direct you to the correct location. The center island has a wide selection of breads and pastries along with two conveyor belt type toasters to toast your bread or bagels.

 

There are two self-serve soft ice cream machines available, one on each side of the main buffet area. Cones or bowls are nearby and the ice cream, chocolate vanilla or a mix, is very good.

 

From 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm the Kings Court offers afternoon tea. While the Kings Court afternoon tea is not served by staff as it is in the Queens Room, they offer a wider variety of self-service sandwiches, pastries and scones.

 

Once per voyage they set up what they called a “Chocolate Extravaganza” which is an extensive offering of cakes, pastries, chocolate fondues and other incredible deserts. There wasn’t any advertising that this was going to occur, or if there was I missed it, but if you are a chocolate lover, I would inquire early in the cruise as to when this may be offered on your voyage.

 

I stopped by the Kings Court on the last formal night to see if they would be offering Lobster as they were in the main dining room. They offer filet mignon but no lobster. There were quite a few people wearing formal attire eating here rather than in the main dining rooms, or maybe in addition to their formal meals.

 

more on http://www.theinsidecabin.com

Wonderful information. Thank you so much.

"The selection for breakfast is extensive and I was hard pressed to think of anything that wasn’t offered."

Just curious - do they have cheese blintzes? My partner loves them!

Your blog is extraordinary! Can't describe how helful and enjoyable it is!

"The selection for breakfast is extensive and I was hard pressed to think of anything that wasn’t offered."

 

Just curious - do they have cheese blintzes? My partner loves them!

 

Your blog is extraordinary! Can't describe how helful and enjoyable it is!

I didn't notice any, but I wasn't looking for them either. Be sure to ask and I wouldn't be surprised to find out they have them.

We had a wonderful time on our recent voyage on the Queen Mary 2.

Here is a summary and a copy of what I submitted to the main review section of Cruise Critic

The Queen Mary is now permanently moored in Long Beach where it is a museum, hotel and event center. My father sailed on the Queen Mary when he returned from WW II back in 1945. It is also where Judy and I spent our Honeymoon so it will always be a special ship to us. While cruising on the Queen Mary is no longer possible, we decided to try the next best thing and sail on the Queen Mary 2 on her iconic voyage – a westbound crossing. Why westbound? You get an extra hour of sleep each night for 5 of the nights and you get to sail into New York Harbor and see the Statue of Liberty the way she was intended to be seen, from a ship arriving from Europe.

Our cruise – er, voyage – started in Hamburg, Germany, and would have a single port visit in Southampton before continuing the crossing to New York City. One thing you learn quickly on the Queen Mary 2 is that she is not a cruise ship but an ocean liner and great pride is taken in pointing that out whenever they have the chance. Cunard vessels also go on voyages, not cruises, and have an entertainment director, not a cruise director.

As a final note, the QM2 is an OCEANLINER, not a cruise ship which make her seakeeping abilities much superior to a typical cruise ship. The seas picked up quite a bit as we closed on NYC and the remnants of Hurricane Hermine, but we sailed along much smoother that I would have expected on another vessel.

SUMMARY

We loved the QM2 and plan to sail again on her, particularly on another crossing. The prices of some of the crossings can be competitive with business class airfare which makes taking the QM2 to Europe an alternative worth considering If you have the time. By their nature, a “Crossing” is all sea days which will often feature a special theme or guest like Fashion Week or Jazz legend Herbie Hancock. The Cunard website will feature these special crossings on their web site.

Other features of the QM2 we enjoyed include:

• Formal night means Formal night. Tuxedos required in all public areas after 6pm (except the Kings Court) and we found almost 100% compliance. Every other night is informal night which on the QM2 means jacket required, tie optional.

• The large central hallway presents a grand appearance and allows you to quickly get around without weaving thru the casino or lounges.

• 34 musicians are on the ship and you will find live music everywhere. In addition to the Royal Court theatre orchestra there is another wonderful 7-8 piece orchestra in the Queens room playing ball room dance music nightly. On one night, the two bands joined forces for a Big Band night. If you like ball room dancing, I can’t think of a more accommodating ship. The QM2 has the largest dance floor at sea and is one of the few ships with dance hosts on such short cruises.

• The lounges are busy after midnight. For a ship with an older demographic, this was pretty amazing. On many ships catering to older clientele, the bars and lounges can become ghost towns after 9pm. We found most of the QM2 bars and lounges comfortably full until past midnight.

• There is a nice suite of classrooms in the Connexions area and the theatre, “Illuminations”, which is also used as a Planetarium and a lecture space is another nice venue. Plenty of enrichment activities, classes and lectures available.

• The Photo Gallery features large flat screen monitors which makes finding your pictures easier than wandering up and down rows of photos trying to find your picture.

• The weather wasn’t great so we didn’t spend much time outside or use the pools.

• While the ship carries 2600 passengers, it never feels crowded and there was rarely much of a line for anything.

• Afternoon Tea features a live string quartet and is quite elegant. We went twice.

• While still slow, Internet was faster than on other ships, but the per minute cost was a little higher.

• Lounges are not taken over by artwork in preparation for Art Auctions. There are not Art Auctions on the QM2.

A few negatives:

• The casino floor space was cut in half during the remastering and they removed the poker table. This may be a pro depending on your point of view, but I missed not having a poker table. Note: It was advertised as the largest casino at sea before remastering, but no more. However, no one was forced to walk thru the casino to get anywhere.

• A pet peeve of mine – no room service on disembarkation day coupled with a requirement to vacate your cabin by 8:30 am.

• On board purchases, from drinks to photos, to spa services seem to be 10 – 20% more than on Holland America. For example a men’s haircut on the QM2 was $38 ($25 on HAL).

A few more details

CHECK IN

Check in at the Hamburg cruise terminal was unremarkable. There were 9 check in stations for most passengers with an additional 3 set aside for suite passengers and others at the Platinum or Diamond loyalty level. We arrived around noon, which was probably the peak check in time and waited about 1 hour to get to the head of the line. Once we checked in, there wasn’t any line for security and we were quickly onboard.

The pre-voyage photo was taken on the ship in the Grand Lobby instead of inside the cruise terminal. We enjoy embarkation photos and find they make a wonderful memento of our cruise. After our photo we were on our way to our cabin.

Our first impression of the ship was wow! The Grand Lobby is spectacular. One feature that is quite striking is the height and width of the central hallway on Decks 2 and 3. Most cruise ships usually have parallel hallways on either side of a central core and you are generally required to pass thru the casino and other lounges to get most anywhere. On the QM2 the central hallways are Decks 2 and 3 extending forward and aft from the Grand Lobby with the Britannia Dining Room at one end and the Royal Court Theatre at the other. This central hallway is very wide and very high and runs along various lounges and eating venues, but you are not required to pass thru any of them to get anywhere and people in the various lounges are not distracted by people in transit.

THE CABIN

By the time we got to our cabin, our bags were already waiting for us. We chose Cabin 6036 which is one of the larger oceanviews since it is adjacent to the balcony cabins nearby. You end up with the space of the balcony only inside your cabin. If you carefully review the deck plans you can find other cabins like these. Although the cabin could have accommodated more closet space, there isn’t any more storage in these larger cabins.

The cabin was newly remastered with a flat screen TV and carpeting. The bathroom was not upgraded and had a shower only, no tub, which was fine with us. As a sign of how the times have changed there was a built in ashtray next to the toilet. All cabins and balconies are no smoking on the QM2.

The room had a small refrigerator stocked with a few sodas and beer at reasonable prices (as far as a mini bar goes) and there was plenty of room to add your own items if necessary.

The flat screen TV has HDMI inputs and a USB input. There isn’t a DVD player, but if you have a USB stick that contains movies then this TV is capable of playing them. A note of caution – some TVs in some rooms were bolted to the walls and I wasn’t able to check if you could still access the rear input ports on these TV’s. If using these ports is important to you then it may be wise to bring along a USB and HDMI angle adapter which are available from many places – search for HDMI or USB angle adapter and you will find them.

There were quite a few selections on the TV, with all the cable news outlets represented: CNN, FOX , MSNBC, and Sky News. Like most ships these days, only the most pressing of safety announcements are broadcast inside the cabins. There is one of the channels, that plays all the announcements so if you quickly flip to this channel, you can avoid having to open your door to hear what is being said. A TV guide that covers your entire voyage should be waiting for you in your cabin or delivered the next morning.

Your cabin will have the usual booklet with all the safety features along with a room service menu and services available onboard.

The cabin has both North American electrical outlets and UK electrical outlets, bring an adapter and you will have access to an extra outlet. Another nice touch was a kettle that will make hot water along with an assortment of instant coffee and teas.

We were surprised to find clothes hangers that don’t have any hooks on them that require a matching adapter on the hangar rod. The other closet didn’t have any hangars at all, but our cabin steward brought some more once we asked.

Our Cabin Steward didn’t have an assistant, or at least one that he mentioned. Another observation was that the cabin stewards worked from carts (containing spare towels & supplies) in the hallways similar to what you would find in use by room service personnel in hotels.

The bathroom has a nice selection of soaps, shampoos and conditioners in small sizes, as opposed to dispensers on the walls of the shower you find on other lines. Water pressure was fine and the temperature was easy to control with a thermostatic valve in addition to the water volume control.

There is a digital thermostat to control cabin air temperature and it worked fine.

Our cabin was directly below the Deck 7 promenade and we only heard footsteps a few times, not often enough where it became a nuisance. One time when I left the room and looked at the foot traffic on the promenade, I was surprised to see how busy it was while I had heard nothing below in our cabin. I can only surmise that the few times I heard footsteps it must have been walkers wearing very hard heels or boots.

THE FOOD

All of our breakfasts were from room service and our dinners were in the Britannia dining room (late seating). For lunch we ate in the Kings Court, Chefs Galley, Golden Lion Pub and room service. We tried the Hot Chocolate and a desert at Sir Samuels in addition to attending two afternoon teas in the Queens Room.

The food was excellent in every venue and our only disappointment was that we didn’t have an opportunity to try the Verandah Restaurant and the Boardwalk Café. The Boardwalk Cafe was never open during our voyage since it requires nice weather which is less likely to occur on a crossing due to the prevailing winds and cooler temperatures normally found on a crossing.

BREAKFAST

Room service breakfast is our standard for all our cruises. The QM2 did not disappoint with its wonderful hang tag menu of hot and cold choices. I was pleasantly surprised that it was possible to write in items like Eggs Benedict, waffles or French toast and had them all delivered the next morning. All of our breakfasts were delivered hot and on time.

One day I went to the Kings Court for Breakfast and found a wide variety of choices, everything from eggs benedict, fried eggs and omelets to order, cold cereal, oatmeal, a variety of breakfast meats, fried tomatoes and sautéed mushrooms. The Kings Galley (Aft) is home to pancakes, waffles and French toast in addition to eggs and other selections.

We never went to the Britannia Dining Room for breakfast.

LUNCH

The Carinthia Lounge has a small buffet with a few sandwiches and other light fare and is a very relaxing place to linger with friends over a light lunch. Beverages are available for sale from the bar or otherwise you have to get something from the beverage bar in the Kings Court.

The Kings Galley is the place for burgers, hot dogs and pre-made sandwiches. I stopped by here a few times for something quick and the burgers were hot and good. There were always some empty tables and one time the Captain and his wife sat down nearby for a quick bite.

Kings Court (aft), which is right next to the Chefs Galley, serves pizza and pasta in addition to salads and desserts. I never tried the pizza, but it certainly looked delicious.

The main Kings Court Buffet had a wide variety of hot and cold selections. The center section has breads and desserts while the aft buffets have sushi, salads, meats and cheeses. Soft serve ice cream is available from machines on both the port and starboard side and is very good. There are four beverage stations serving complimentary coffee, tea, orange juice, lemonade, apple juice and cranberry juice. One of the four stations serves iced tea instead of lemonade. I found the various buffet stations not very crowded and easy to get around even during busier times. It did take about 10 minutes of wandering around the Kings Court, Chefs Galley and Kings Court Aft to understand what was offered in the various areas.

We are a big fan of Fish and Chips and we enjoyed two lunches in the Golden Lion Pub. The place is packed when it opens at 12 so be prepared to wait until the first wave gets thru the kitchen. People tend to linger here and this was the only venue where there was a little trouble finding a table from time to time.

Lunch is available in the Britannia Dining room, but we never ate there.

AFTERNOON TEA

DINNER

We ate all our dinners in the Britannia Dining room at an oval table for eight. We find that an 8 top is a good size as it allows even people sitting across from one another to have a conversation.

The menus offered 6 choices for starters, entrees and desert. Not listed, but I have been informed by others, there are some always available options like salmon or chicken, but they are not listed on the menu. There is not a separate desert menu as they are listed on the main menu and when it is time for your desert selection they pass around the original menu once again.

FOOD SUMMARY

We enjoyed the food very much and it was typical of our experience on most other cruise lines. Trying to review food is something that I don’t spend much time on as it is so subjective and can vary somewhat from day to day. My general observation was that the food on the QM2 was excellent and about the same as you would find on any other cruise line in this price range.

ENTERTAINMENT

The QM2 presents the typical type of entertainment found on many cruise lines. They have a house cast of singers and dancers which are augmented by guest entertainers of the usual genres. Original singers, comedians, tribute singers and novelty acts.

ROYAL COURT THEATRE

Queen Mary 2’s main stage is the Royal Court Theatre (RCT), a large theatre with 2 levels. One of the new features from the remastering was the installation of a large video flat screen behind the stage which can display city scenes and other images to support the production show taking place. The theatre is beautiful and has wonderful sight lines and acoustics. We never had trouble finding a seat for any show or lecture, although a few events were pretty full, we were able to find seats off to the side which still provided a good view of the stage.

The Royal Court Theatre Singers and Dancers presented 2 excellent production shows, with the second show called, “Rhythm of the Night”, that made full use of the newly installed video wall.

The late shows were at 10:30 and were surprisingly well attended.

QUEENS ROOM

The Queens Room is a large ballroom with the largest dancefloor at sea. The ceiling is high and the room is very open and a perfect venue for parties and balls. You can expect 3 formal nights on a Crossing with 2 of the 3 being themed balls.

CASINO

Small – no poker table, but $3 minimums on card games during the day and $5 at night.

SHOPS

A nice selection of shops selling the stuff you would expect. If you forgot to bring your formal wear, they sell tuxedos and they are also available for rent.

LIBRARY

This library is huge with over 10,000 books and is the largest library on any ship sailing today.

ART GALLERY

The QM2 doesn’t have Art Auctions found on other lines, but sells art thru its Art Gallery during scheduled shows. The Art Gallery is on the way to the Queens Room and you almost have to walk thru to get there, but you are not bombarded with sales pitches along the way and browsing the collection is interesting and the art displayed changes frequently.

more at http://www.theinsidecabin.com

Great summary, thank you so much for posting.

Welcome home, once again an enjoyable report. Having sealed on her several times including one crossing with another planned next May, your report inspired me with visual images and smiles. All the best!!!

56 Cruises and Counting! Bon Voyage to my fellow CC's and smooth sailing.

Planning a vacay is almost as much fun as the vacay itself!!!

Thank you, The-Inside-Cabin, for your detailed reports. Your efforts are appreciated.

I can’t resist the temptation to respond to this one comment:

“Formal night means Formal night. Tuxedos required in all public areas after 6pm (except the Kings Court) and we found almost 100% compliance. Every other night is informal night which on the QM2 means jacket required, tie optional.”

Tuxedos (black tie) is not actually required. The definition of “formal” indicates that a dark suit and tie is acceptable as an alternative to tuxedo/dinner jacket. The only reason I point this out is I wouldn’t want some casual observers of this forum to be dissuaded from travelling with Cunard because they do not have a tuxedo or do not wish to bring it if they do. I am a traditionalist who wears a tuxedo on formal nights and jacket and tie on informal nights, but not every man does this.

My observations are that the percentage of men wearing tuxedos is higher in the Grills than in Britannia. From my experience I would say that about 95% of men are in black tie in the Grills, but I have observed as few as 50% in Britannia, although it is usually higher.

Thank you, The-Inside-Cabin, for your detailed reports. Your efforts are appreciated.

I can’t resist the temptation to respond to this one comment:

 

“Formal night means Formal night. Tuxedos required in all public areas after 6pm (except the Kings Court) and we found almost 100% compliance. Every other night is informal night which on the QM2 means jacket required, tie optional.”

 

Tuxedos (black tie) is not actually required. The definition of “formal” indicates that a dark suit and tie is acceptable as an alternative to tuxedo/dinner jacket. The only reason I point this out is I wouldn’t want some casual observers of this forum to be dissuaded from travelling with Cunard because they do not have a tuxedo or do not wish to bring it if they do. I am a traditionalist who wears a tuxedo on formal nights and jacket and tie on informal nights, but not every man does this.

 

My observations are that the percentage of men wearing tuxedos is higher in the Grills than in Britannia. From my experience I would say that about 95% of men are in black tie in the Grills, but I have observed as few as 50% in Britannia, although it is usually higher.

Thanks for this clarification. Dark suits with ties are OK as well. Ship has a much more elegant vibe than ships where anything goes in the public areas on formal night.

Thanks for this clarification. Dark suits with ties are OK as well. Ship has a much more elegant vibe than ships where anything goes in the public areas on formal night.

Indeed it does. I'm hoping for an elegant experience on my next voyage in a few days. A friend travelled on an e/b crossing a few weeks ago and reported that the dress standards were maintained. Unfortunately there have been other reports that things were getting a bit shabby on some voyages - even in Queen's Grill.

Indeed it does. I'm hoping for an elegant experience on my next voyage in a few days. A friend travelled on an e/b crossing a few weeks ago and reported that the dress standards were maintained. Unfortunately there have been other reports that things were getting a bit shabby on some voyages - even in Queen's Grill.

At my table on my first voyage we sat with a Cunard veteran. First cruise 30+ years ago. He said that "back in the day" even dark suits were rare and caused a little tut tut. On my cruise at least 90pct tuxedo 8 pct dark suits and a few sport jackets! Over 3 formal nights I only saw 1 person in the public area not dressed and he was at the pursers desk.

On informal nights a few people wore basically a windbreaker as their jacket.

Still no talk of anytime dining. Veteran Cunard cruisers told me - never gonna happen.

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Can any one tell me which months are good for transatlantic cruising? I don't want to get seasick during cruising because of high waves in the Transatlantic ocean.

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Thank you for your wonderful blog. Just to address the two minuses that you mentioned: no room service on disembarkation day is the norm for most lines. Otherwise everyone would use it and all at the same time. (Passengers who are continuing on with the ship however can get room service breakfast.)

Also, the cabin vacate at 8:30 is necessary so that it can be prepared for the next passenger. Your previous experience was on HAL? I'm told that passengers can stay in their cabin until their disembarkation group is called BUT one cannot go direct to their cabin on boarding. Passengers who just boarded have to drag around their overnight bags as they wait for their cabins to be ready.

Thank you for your wonderful blog. Just to address the two minuses that you mentioned: no room service on disembarkation day is the norm for most lines. Otherwise everyone would use it and all at the same time. (Passengers who are continuing on with the ship however can get room service breakfast.)

 

Also, the cabin vacate at 8:30 is necessary so that it can be prepared for the next passenger. Your previous experience was on HAL? I'm told that passengers can stay in their cabin until their disembarkation group is called BUT one cannot go direct to their cabin on boarding. Passengers who just boarded have to drag around their overnight bags as they wait for their cabins to be ready.

HAL has cabins ready by 11:30 on the cruises I have been on. Can't speak to them all.

On HAL most people vacate cabins by 8 anyway so there are enough cabins vacant early to keep the cabin stewards busy until the late people leave by 10 to 10-30 which gives them plenty of time to turn around the last few cabins.

I spoke with a few people on HAL and they like being one of the few lines with these features. They also explained that they have a different system on turn-around days to speed things up.

I love having room service delivered at 8:30 then saunter off the ship at last call around 10:30. Once I forgot something after I left my room but before I left the ship. I came back 15 minutes after I left and my room was already ready to go for the next passengers.

Don't get me wrong - this is minor nit and I look forward to my next voyage - but I know they could pull it off with a different approach. They would also have to sacrifice silent disembarkation too.

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Can any one tell me which months are good for transatlantic cruising? I don't want to get seasick during cruising because of high waves in the Transatlantic ocean.

 

 

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Your question may get buried in this threat, CruiseLady88---start again on a new thread, if you want a number of people's opinions.

(My opinion is that weather can be unpredictable---more trends than absolutes----Also, I was very afraid of seasickness before first transatlantic. Never happened! Stablizers work well and the QM2 is a great vessel).

Happy Sailing, Jimmybean

Your question may get buried in this threat, CruiseLady88---start again on a new thread, if you want a number of people's opinions.

 

 

 

(My opinion is that weather can be unpredictable---more trends than absolutes----Also, I was very afraid of seasickness before first transatlantic. Never happened! Stablizers work well and the QM2 is a great vessel).

 

 

 

Happy Sailing, Jimmybean

QM2 has 4 stabilizers instead of two. We sailed into the last of Hermine -smooth. As a general trend summer smoother than winter, but she was built for this route and is probably the most stable ship I have experienced.

Agreed - the QM2 is extremely stable, as actually was the Diamond Princesss in an Asia typhoon and my transatlantic in 2014 on the RCI Oasis Of The Seas through the edge of a hurricane. I found the HAL Rotterdam to bounce and bump around in very calm seas on Canada / New England last week.

Thank you for your wonderful blog. Just to address the two minuses that you mentioned: no room service on disembarkation day is the norm for most lines. Otherwise everyone would use it and all at the same time. (Passengers who are continuing on with the ship however can get room service breakfast.)

 

Also, the cabin vacate at 8:30 is necessary so that it can be prepared for the next passenger. Your previous experience was on HAL? I'm told that passengers can stay in their cabin until their disembarkation group is called BUT one cannot go direct to their cabin on boarding. Passengers who just boarded have to drag around their overnight bags as they wait for their cabins to be ready.

This is incorrect; cabins are ready upon boarding on Holland America.

Agreed Chelsea. I've actually been in a typhoon on Diamond Princess as well and while we were heeled over, she rode much steadier than her narrower beamed Grand Class step-sisters.

Thanks for the response. So, summer months are better than winter to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Jan till March, no good?

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I was in Saguenay yesterday. Saw this wonderful model of the QM2 in the cruise terminal.

More about Saguenay on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com