Jack E Dawson

Germancruiser, We were on the "Fog voyage" leg with you. Our experience was very similar to yours and Miss G's. We have never done an east bound crossing and wonder if you would mind comparing/contrasting the experience of losing an hour at noon verses gaining an hour at 2:00AM. This has been our big block in doing an east bound Crossing on the QM2. Thanks Jack

Joe, Just 2 weeks ago we also arrived into NY Harbor 4 hours late on the QM2. It was not a mad house but here are a few tips: Arriving late allowed us to pass under the Verrazano Bridge at 9:00AM and the by the Statue of Liberty at 9:30AM. We went up onto of the top of deck 13 cabins for the bridge experience. NOT TO BE MISSED. I suggest getting there around 15 minutes early. Take the A lifts, then go out of the port side stairs and up top. For the Statue of Liberty we had a port side cabin so we viewed the passing from there. There had been an announcement that everyone needed to be out of their cabin by 9:00AM but our steward told us that 9:45 was fine. So after watching the Statue of Liberty go by at 9:30AM we left the cabin. We had applied for and received Fast Track departure early in the Crossing. By the time we left our cabin and got to Deck 3 (around 9:45AM) the Fast Track line went from the Grand Lobby, all the way down the hallway and into the Britannia Restaurant. We took a seat there and eventually the line went all the way into the Queens Room then back through the MDR, down the main hall way and back to the Grand Lobby. The good news is that once the ship docked and disembarkation started, we were off in 10-15 minutes. That line moves very fast. The staff did a great job communicating to the passengers and keeping the line orderly. We were at Laguardia Airport and through security at about 11:45AM. Bottom line, just stay calm. Jack

Miss G, Since I don't have experience with any other cruise line, I wonder if you would comment on how the QM2 felt to you when it came to crowdedness. It seems to me that many, if not most, of the passengers are not event oriented. After 4 Crossings, I'm still amazed how many people are spread out over the ship in various nooks and crannies curled up with a good book. Thanks Jack

Germancruiser, I also looked out of our sheltered balcony opening shortly after the shipped stopped but only saw fog. We were on the port side of the QM2 and had a narrower field of view than those with a glass fronted balcony. As to the U-turn, I believe that had more to due with the ocean current at that point, which I think flows west to east, therefore pushing us "backwards". We did travel back to the east a significant distance. Looking at the map on channel 45 on the in-cabin TV, i'm guessing 20 miles or more. Jack

MAYBE 6 inched Kordy Jack

Those days are gone OldBear, for sometime I think. We had Anytime Dining on the QM2 two weeks ago. Never a line. The first 2 nights we had the same table and staff. The third night they just gave it to us permanently. M'd said to not even bother stopping at the front stand. Jack

Don't hold out on us Joe

Your photos do an Outstanding job of capturing what a specular day it was. They are far better than mine. As previously mentioned, Dee and I were very happy with the 4 hour delay that allowed us to steam into New York harbor standing on top of the Queen Mary 2 in her full glory in the brilliant sunshine rather than sneaking in under the cloak of fog at first light. We will always remember this arrival. I like to think that it was our skilled use of Body English that once again allowed the QM2 to squeeze under the Verrazano Bridge with what could have only been INCHES to spare. Jack

Good news, canapés are being served in the Commodore Club on Gala nights. That was the case on our QM2 Crossing 2 weeks ago and was posted by others as well on their Cunard cruises. However, we were in PG on the QE this past September and canapés were served in the Grills lounge every night. Jack

RK-NC On west bound TA's the clocks move BACK at 2:00AM. On east bound TA's the clocks move FORWARD at noon. This happens 5 times on each Crossing. Jack

Jolly, I would recommend that you speak to your steward about the issue. When we were on the QM2 two weeks ago, we had an issue with our cabin being hot despite the AC controls being on the coldest settings. I spoke to the steward about it in the morning. He first tried to rectify the problem himself but when that didn't work he got maintinance on it. By the time we dressed for dinner the problem was resolved. Jack

I noticed that when Joe posted today's QG menu on the QM2 that lobster was on it. LIVE (almost) from QM2 Transatlantic June 23 to June 29 Jack

Joe, I couldn't help but notice that lobster is on today's menu. That is a welcome surprise. Jack

Jolly, I dislike those coat hangers as well but they were very common in hotels in the States about 20 years ago, about the time QM2 was built. Your cabin steward will be happy to provide you with nice heavy duty chrome wire coat hangers with the standard hook. We just got off the QM2 one week ago and had no problem getting 20 of them. Jack

Dee says to tell you YES, ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!

Thank you ECC866. We started to feel better yesterday and are much today. I'm confident that we will be 100% by the end of the weekend. We took a 30 minute walk today and it felt so good. Thanks to all who have inquired about our health and wished us well. Jack

Well, I was wondering if we had crossed paths on the ship and it appears we came close. My wife and I are in your G32 picture. I never would have caught it if you hadn't mentioned that it was during Captain Chris' lecture. We are down stairs in the picture and can see the back of our heads. Two thousand people sounds like a lot but it is surprising how often we meet the same people over and over on a Crossing. Jack

You are right e&mcruise. I went back and looked at our pictures and the night we went to the QM2 Commodore Club for predinner drinks had the canapés was on a Gala night. Jack

We were on the QM2 last week and only went to the Commodore Club 1 night for predinner drinks but they did have canapés. My wife and I were each served a small tray of 3 canapés. If I remember correctly they were foie gras, a thumb nail size pizza and some kind of sea food. the sea food and pizza were yummy. Didn't try the foie gras. Jack

That's funny Frank because we were at the lecture too. I believe it was the featured speaker, Jeffrey Weinberg. We did go to the Commodore Club but left at 2 minutes till when no other CC members had showed. We thought Mr Weinberg was excellent. We also very much enjoyed Captain Chris, Seth Gopin and Jean Fullerton. I completely agree with about the cruise. I think that if you do more than 1 TA on the QM2 it is because that first one was magical. So our first TA will probably always be our favorite but this one was a very close second, it had a lot of magic too.

Here is the receipt for the corkage. The cost is $21.88 and the tip is 15%. It looks like to me they were trying to get to a total cost of about $25. Jack

Pete, It was a pleasure to have met you on the ship. I just wish it hadn't been in the MDR queue on disembarkation day. How did the voyage go for you? Did you feel like you got good advice here regarding what to wear? Thanks Jack

I was on the same Crossing as you Miss G, yet I can hardly wait for your next posting!!!!!

I thought I had kept the receipt but I can't find it. The corkage fee was an odd amount, around $22, and I don't think the tip was actually 15%. I'll keep looking. I think the fee has gone up in the past year and they are trying to have at $25 including the tip. Jack

I wanted to post one more bit of information that I forgot to include in my review.On one evening we had a bottle of wine that we had brought onboard served to us in the MDR. The total cost of the corkage fee, including the automatic tip, was $25.16. Earlier that day I had brought the bottle of wine to the MDR and gave it to one of the lunch time sommeliers. He recorded my room number, table number and seating time. At dinner our sommelier brought the perfectly chilled bottle of wine to our table without me having to ask for it. We drink about half of the bottle that night and the next night he served us the rest. I don't think he even made a reference to the fact that we had brought our own wine although I did have to sign the bill. This was a $20 bottle of wine so probably not a wise move on my part but it is one of our favorite wines and we certainly enjoyed it over the 2 nights. Jack