Remastered Balcony Cabins

I was down in Southampton to watch the three Queens arrive and depart. After seeing such a wonderful sight I had to book Queen Mary 2. We have not cruised on Queen Mary 2 or with Cunard for a while. We have booked a short cruise at the start of November.

Part of the reason for choosing Queen Mary 2 was to experience the remastered ship. Please could I ask if all of the Britannia Balcony cabins have been remastered. I know the plan was for them to be done over a period of time. I currently have a balcony guarantee booked but could change it to guarantee a new style cabin.

Thank you, Stephen.

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Yes no problem, all have been refreshed/remastered. My only disappointment or observation with the remastering , some of the new carpeting in the public areas, (the Grand Lobby for example) is such poor quality 'for a ships carpet', not a very deep pile so it shows every foot print or mark. The carpets can often look grubby, but in-fact it's the shading in the pile.

No wonder the utility crew members are out with their vacuums ( several times a day) trying to bring the pile back up.

I love the new lobby carpets but I have to agree with you about them ‘looking’ dirty. My husband noticed it straight away. (I’ve added a photo so hope it works!)

On the whole, the remastered QM2 is fabulous. It looks modernised but without being too modernistic. A lovely update to a beautiful ship.

Our sheltered balcony had been ‘done’ and as far as I know they all have.

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The cabins are beautifully redone, but the pull out drawers leave a lot to be desired. The tiny knobs make it difficult to pull them out.

Sadly, nothing has been done to the bathrooms. Perhaps there was a reason, other than financial, why the shower curtains were not replaced with a door. Even the QE2 in its later years had glass doors on the showers, at least on the modest cabins we occupied.

The new Britannia Club cabins on Deck 13 have gorgeous bathrooms with a swinging glass door on the shower stall. Although they are the same size and layout as those in the original Britannia cabins, it shows what can be done.

The cabins are beautifully redone, but the pull out drawers leave a lot to be desired. The tiny knobs make it difficult to pull them out.

I'm thinking about bring some replacements :p

The cabins are beautifully redone, but the pull out drawers leave a lot to be desired. The tiny knobs make it difficult to pull them out.

Those finger-jamming knobs are the worst! I'd trade the new carpet and wallcoverings to get the old knobs back!

We're about to embark on a roundtrip crossing on her and are looking forward to spending another two weeks in a comfortable balcony cabin.

One thing that I just bought for the trip - a cordless motion-sensitive magnetic night light for the bathroom. Since cruising Celebrity, we've missed a night light in the loo. Although, the door opens to the wall of closets and not directly into the sleeping area of the cabin, it still floods the room with light when one gets up in the middle of the night to use the facilities. (And plug-in night lights are useless since the plug doesn't work with the light off.)

- Mark

Thank you for the information. It is good to know we will have a new style cabin.

I have never minded the shower curtains but that is just me. We had a very small bathroom on Royal Clipper but it was all marble. It felt bigger and more luxurious than it was. I will reserve judgement on the drawer handles. Looking on The Cunard website it appears that the television are opposite the bed. A funny angle for watching from the sofa. Not that it matters as we probably won’t turn it on. The general look seems very luxurious.

The new carpets do seem very light in places and a shade that looks dirty naturally. I am sure that does not help.

Less than three months to my cruise and I cannot wait.

Thank you and Best wishes, Stephen.

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My perception of the problem with the curtains is that they seem to be fixed at the wrong end - the fixed end of the curtain should be toward the shower spray (behind the wall separating the shower from the counter & sink) so you could open the curtain fully behind the wall (as long as the curtain was long enough to span across the opening from the fixed point). As it is the opened curtain hangs in the middle of the opening.

I haven't had any real issues with the curtain billowing which would generally be the other problem with a cloth curtain.

I was down in Southampton to watch the three Queens arrive and depart. After seeing such a wonderful sight I had to book Queen Mary 2. We have not cruised on Queen Mary 2 or with Cunard for a while. We have booked a short cruise at the start of November.

 

Part of the reason for choosing Queen Mary 2 was to experience the remastered ship. Please could I ask if all of the Britannia Balcony cabins have been remastered. I know the plan was for them to be done over a period of time. I currently have a balcony guarantee booked but could change it to guarantee a new style cabin.

 

Thank you, Stephen.

 

 

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A poster on here named pepperrn1 has some fantastic pictures on Flickr here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pepperrn/sets/

Those finger-jamming knobs are the worst! I'd trade the new carpet and wallcoverings to get the old knobs back!

 

We're about to embark on a roundtrip crossing on her and are looking forward to spending another two weeks in a comfortable balcony cabin.

 

One thing that I just bought for the trip - a cordless motion-sensitive magnetic night light for the bathroom. Since cruising Celebrity, we've missed a night light in the loo. Although, the door opens to the wall of closets and not directly into the sleeping area of the cabin, it still floods the room with light when one gets up in the middle of the night to use the facilities. (And plug-in night lights are useless since the plug doesn't work with the light off.)

 

- Mark

Thank you. Good idea for the bathroom.

Best wishes, Stephen.

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A poster on here named pepperrn1 has some fantastic pictures on Flickr here

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pepperrn/sets/

Fantastic photos.

Thank you, Stephen.

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Sadly, nothing has been done to the bathrooms. Perhaps there was a reason, other than financial, why the shower curtains were not replaced with a door. Even the QE2 in its later years had glass doors on the showers, at least on the modest cabins we occupied.

 

 

The new Britannia Club cabins on Deck 13 have gorgeous bathrooms with a swinging glass door on the shower stall. Although they are the same size and layout as those in the original Britannia cabins, it shows what can be done.

I agree completely about the deck 13 cabins. We had a week in them last year and have booked a round trip next year

Those finger-jamming knobs are the worst! I'd trade the new carpet and wallcoverings to get the old knobs back!

 

We're about to embark on a roundtrip crossing on her and are looking forward to spending another two weeks in a comfortable balcony cabin.

 

One thing that I just bought for the trip - a cordless motion-sensitive magnetic night light for the bathroom. Since cruising Celebrity, we've missed a night light in the loo. Although, the door opens to the wall of closets and not directly into the sleeping area of the cabin, it still floods the room with light when one gets up in the middle of the night to use the facilities. (And plug-in night lights are useless since the plug doesn't work with the light off.)

 

- Mark

The knobs and handles are great as far as safety goes when the ship is rocking. There is very little protrusion so if you fall into one no big deal. I'm sure that was the primary reason for selecting them. Of course that also makes them more difficult to open. To me personally not a big deal or even worth mentioning, but everyone has their pet peeves.

I've stayed in one of the new Deck 13 balcony cabins. While the refit was very well done, both my cabin mate and myself said we probably wouldn't book one again. Just too remote of a location, and the only access is via the A Staircase. Yes you can walk outside but on a winter crossing the deck is often closed or it's too cold or windy. So that leaves the A Staircase as your only access point.

I do wish Cunard would have replaced the shower flooring in all the standard cabins. It's the one area that is looking very worn and dirty. Some of the shower floors look better than others, but all are getting a bit dark and dirty looking in color.

 

I've stayed in one of the new Deck 13 balcony cabins. While the refit was very well done, both my cabin mate and myself said we probably wouldn't book one again. Just too remote of a location, and the only access is via the A Staircase.

A couple of questions about deck 13. DH, and I have booked 13014 on an upcoming TA.

How was motion on this deck? DH has been making jokes about safety belts on the beds.

And, about accessibility? Is it really so remote? Is there no lift up to the cabins on 13? I can't imagine that being possible! Maybe I just misunderstood the English of the post above.

If anyone has had the cabin we've booked, I would especially like hearing from you. We're so looking forward to our journey.

There are lifts up to Deck 13, don't worry !

I think the poster above meant that the only access to the cabins without going outside is via one set of lifts/stairs.

The issue with the A lifts is that they're fairly remote from the Grand Lobby. On 2 and 3 you have the half decks around the Royal Court Theatre to contend with plus the diagonal passageway forward of Illuminations (not to mention the upward sloping deck on 3).

It's probably easier for the mobility impaired to go up to 7 via the B lifts and then forward thru the Spa lobby to the A lifts.

It's probably easier for the mobility impaired to go up to 7 via the B lifts and then forward thru the Spa lobby to the A lifts.

Or even better, for the mobility-impaired, avoid the crowds on 7 and use a cabin corridor on 8-11 to go all the way forward to the lifts on A. (or as we refer to them - the Commodore Club elevators)

- Mark

 

I love the new lobby carpets but I have to agree with you about them ‘looking’ dirty. My husband noticed it straight away. (I’ve added a photo so hope it works!)

The carpets can often look grubby, but in-fact it's the shading in the pile.

It's not the shading of the pile or them being dirty, anytime you have a solid area you run the risk of what is called "carpet pooling", it happens to about 1% of solid color carpet, there is no known reason for it to happen, or any cure, to those of us in the hotel business it is a major pain in the butt.

We just laid new carpet in one of our casinos, the walkways are a solid red, in a couple of spots you can see the pooling, it looks horrible and those parts will get ripped out and fingers crossed the new new carpet will not have the pooling.

Or even better, for the mobility-impaired, avoid the crowds on 7 and use a cabin corridor on 8-11 to go all the way forward to the lifts on A. (or as we refer to them - the Commodore Club elevators)

I had thought the wider passageway on 7 would be preferable even given the increased crowding in the Carinthia lounge (there generally isn't much of a crowd forward of Carinthia).

A couple of questions about deck 13. DH, and I have booked 13014 on an upcoming TA.

 

How was motion on this deck? DH has been making jokes about safety belts on the beds.

 

And, about accessibility? Is it really so remote? Is there no lift up to the cabins on 13? I can't imagine that being possible! Maybe I just misunderstood the English of the post above.

 

If anyone has had the cabin we've booked, I would especially like hearing from you. We're so looking forward to our journey.

QM2 is probably the most stable passenger ship afloat, so you're in good hands even on Deck 13, but the higher up you are the more motion you will feel. That is true of any ship. Personally I found it no worse than cabins I've had on 12, 8, 5, 4, etc.

There are lifts to Deck 13, but only those located in the A Stairtower which is the forward most set of stairs and lifts on QM2. Great for the library, gym, and Commodore Club ... but not so great for the rest of the ship. If the weather is good you walk directly outside from Deck 13 and stroll towards the aft which is nice, but you can't always count on good weather.

Anyway I think you will quite enjoy the cabin and dining in Britannia Club is also quite nice. Bon Voyage!

Using deck 9 as a corridor to walk along to the A stairway is a great route...well, we enjoyed it as it is smarter than the other decks being QG (somewhere we can only dream of right now!). It was fun glancing into the rooms where the door was propped open to sneak a peak at their size! The corridor had smart wall lamps and nicer paintings in the wall - with the bonus of the commodore lounge at the end!

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