Consultation on Queen Mary

[travelberlin]

Dear CC members,

My husband and me are considering a transatlantic with the Queen Mary 2 from Souht Hampton to New York. We will not book any cabin higher than inside cabin. I have read that we will then only have access to brittania restaurant.

Could you please let us know how is the food quality at this restaurant? We will also like to know how is it with access to common areas on this ship if we book inside cabin. Are we allowed to the same common areas like other passagiers, for example Gym, swimming pool, theater or is there also here a discrimination because we are not booking a suite?

Thanks in advance and enjoy your cruises.

[kizelpop]

There shouldn't be any distinction between inside cabins and any other Britannia-grade accomodations (as opposed to Britannia Club or the Grills suites). It is myunderstanding that everyone has access to the gym, theater, pools, etc. While there are private areas for those in Grills suites, an inside cabin has access to everything else.

[rafinmd]

About 85% of the passengers on QM2 dine in the Britannia Restaurant. The ONLY areas of the ship you would not have access to are the Grills Restaurant, the Britannia Club section of the Britannia Restaurant, the Grills Lounge, and a SMALL concierge lounge. The rest of the ship is pretty much open to everyone, theaters, lounges, spa, library and probably 95% of the open deck. I find it more egalitarian than most other ships, with no reserved seats in the theater for premium cabins, and few if any other distinctions. Of the 1300+ cabins, there are about 10 that get priority tendering, the rest of the passengers have equal access.

 

Dining choices you would have would be Britannia Restaurant (roughly 6PM and 8:30 fixed seatings), other meals open seating and closed for lunch embarkation day. My cruising history has little in common with yours but I think Britannia dining is significantly better than RCCL. Other dining options you would have would be Todd English (roughly $20 lunch, $30 dinner), Golden Lion Pub for lunch, and Kings Court (Think Windjammer). Kings Court has 4 sections, but at dinner 1 is a buffet and 3 are sit down waiter service with a $10 charge.

 

To be clear, there are differences between the Grills and Britannia. You will NOT have a butler, but pretty much all the extras for the premium categories come from Cunard, not taken away from other passengers.

 

Roy

[Thaxted]

As Roy and kizelpop have said, there's no need to be concerned about traveling in an inside cabin. Nearly the whole of this magnificent ship will be yours to enjoy, and unless you crave a butler for your journey, you should be very comfortable indeed, as my wife and I discovered on our two crossings this summer.

 

As for Britannia, we thought that the food very good. Not everything was to our liking, of course, and there were a few times when the service was a bit perfunctory, but we always looked forward to dining there.

 

So don't hesitate to book your cabin, and have a wonderful voyage!

[pepperrn]

My husband and me are considering a transatlantic with the Queen Mary 2 from Souht Hampton to New York. We will not book any cabin higher than inside cabin. I have read that we will then only have access to brittania restaurant. Could you please let us know how is the food quality at this restaurant? We will also like to know how is it with access to common areas on this ship if we book inside cabin. Are we allowed to the same common areas like other passagiers, for because we are not booking a suite? Thanks in advance and enjoy your example Gym, swimming pool, theater or is there also here a discrimination cruises.

 

Hi

 

As a Britannia Grade passenger you will have access to almost all the ship (having an inside cabin makes no difference). The only small areas you won't be able to use are;

2 medium sized restauants and 1 small lounge on Deck 7.

1 tiny inside lounge on Deck 9.

1 small amount of deckspace on Deck 11.

As you walk about the ship, have a drink in a bar, sit in the theatre, use one of the several pools etc you will have NO idea what grade of cabin the person next to you has booked, nor they of you (on a recent transatlantic crossing I played a daily quiz in the "pub" as part of a team. Only on the last day did we discover that two of the team were in THE most expensive suite on board).

My parents didn't even realise on their first trip that there were parts of the ship they couldn't visit.

As has been mentioned you'll have choices of where to eat for most meals,

 

The Britannia Restaurant (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner).

 

The Carvery.

Lotus.

Piazza.

Chef's Galley.

(as Buffets Breakfast/Lunch. Restaurants in the evening)

 

Golden Lion (Lunch)

Todd English (Lunch/Dinner).

The Boardwalk Cafe (Lunch [if open]).

Queens Room (Afternoon Tea).

Room Service.

 

I have ALWAYS found the food to be excellent (others may have different opinions).

 

Once again, let me stress, almost all of QM2 is open to EVERY passenger.

There are photos of Britannia Grade Cabins and the interiors of QM2 via the link below.

 

Hope this helps, have a great crossing, Bon Voyage!

[travelberlin]

Thank you all for your answers! I am glad to hear that we will have access to most of the public areas of the ship with exception o those few mentioned in your posts.

We will not miss a butler, we had one in Oceania and one in Azamara and although nice it is not something we look forward to. Good food however is always a pleasure. We are glad to hear Roy, that food at Britannia will be better than Royal Caribbean. It would be dissappointing otherwise since a Transatlantic crossing with the Queen Mary 2 in an inside Cabin costs much more than a TA with Royal Caribbean (promenade inside with royal for 13 nigths US 700 per person and atrium inside with Queen Mary for 7 nights Euro 2000). At least those are the prices we have access to.

[Underwatr]

Royal Caribbean (promenade inside with royal for 13 nigths US 700 per person and atrium inside with Queen Mary for 7 nights Euro 2000). At least those are the prices we have access to.

Was your USD pricing on RCCL obtained through a US travel agent? I ask because there are significant market differences in pricing for the same cruise. For an A2 on my upcoming QM2 crossing I paid less than half the price you mentioned for a QM2 inside (roughly $1000 per passenger); I know that inside cabins were on offer for about the same price you mention for RCCL (either 700 or 750 USD).

[coulbill]

As Roy and kizelpop have said, there's no need to be concerned about traveling in an inside cabin. Nearly the whole of this magnificent ship will be yours to enjoy, and unless you crave a butler for your journey, you should be very comfortable indeed, as my wife and I discovered on our two crossings this summer.

 

As for Britannia, we thought that the food very good. Not everything was to our liking, of course, and there were a few times when the service was a bit perfunctory, but we always looked forward to dining there.

 

So don't hesitate to book your cabin, and have a wonderful voyage!

Pepper,

Thank you for some excellent advice and your picture gallery is wonderful. We are sailing QM2, first time 16 Sept. We were upgraded to Balcony Deck 8 but with obstructed view? any idea how obstructed the view may be?

coulbill

[pepperrn]

Pepper,

Thank you for some excellent advice and your picture gallery is wonderful. We are sailing QM2, first time 16 Sept. We were upgraded to Balcony Deck 8 but with obstructed view? any idea how obstructed the view may be?

coulbill

Hi coulbill,

 

Thanks for the compliment, glad you liked the pictures.

 

How obstructed your view will be will depend on where it is in relation to the lifeboat's position (don't post your cabin number on a public forum, security).

From all Deck 8 balconies you'll be able to see down onto the Promenade Deck below your balcony, if you're lucky you'll get a gap between boats and be able to see the sea. It's great to have a little private out-of-doors space even if you don't use it much mid-Atlantic mid-October (wrap up warm if you intend to sit out!). I get off QM2 as you get on! I'll look after her for you!

Be sure to try the Commodore Club Deck 9 in the evenings, use the outside scenic lifts, visit the Bridge Viewing area Deck 12, and walk the "wrap-round" Promenade Deck, 3 times 'round is over a mile!

 

QM2 is an amazing ship, have a great crossing, Bon Voyage!

[Ray66]

We were upgraded to Balcony Deck 8 but with obstructed view? any idea how obstructed the view may be?

coulbill

 

Cunard's website gives photos of some of the obstructed view cabins

 

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/qm2_obs

[travelberlin]

Was your USD pricing on RCCL obtained through a US travel agent? I ask because there are significant market differences in pricing for the same cruise. For an A2 on my upcoming QM2 crossing I paid less than half the price you mentioned for a QM2 inside (roughly $1000 per passenger); I know that inside cabins were on offer for about the same price you mention for RCCL (either 700 or 750 USD).

 

Hi, Royal caribbean price was internet price. Unfortunately from South America we do not have access to the price you mention for the Quenn Mary. We have to book through a travel agent in Europe and those were the prices given. It also depends when you want to do the crossing. There seems to be cheaper prices with the Queen Mary in november and december when other cruiselines are doing the TA. We wish to to the crossing in June. No other alternative as the Queen Mary.

It will be great if somebody can advice us on how to get better prices with the Queen Mary. We wish to do this crossing not only because we enjoy cruising but because for health reasons it is better for us to travel from Europe to America per ship and not per plane.