How Has QM2 Changed since 2004?

[eatsallinsects]

Love it if people repeat post twice in same thread. Just in case missed it first time. Very useful. Like TV repeats.

If they repeat same post five times in four different threads even more successful. Makes sure no one claim to have overlooked opinion.

In addition saves stress of having to write up to date post or have new thoughts.

Cheers.

 

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I just checked the stats mentioned in the above message and was "blown away" by the duplicates (and triplicates, etc.)!

[Salacia]

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I just checked the stats mentioned in the above message and was "blown away" by the duplicates (and triplicates, etc.)!

 

Yes, that is an issue. Favourable comments, including some 'live from' postings go on for a year or more after the voyage has been completed - provided the postings are laudatory, the thread just goes on and on... Not so much for negative comments which are shot down fairly quickly. But that's just my observation.

 

Personally, I accept that some passengers enjoy their voyage, while others may not have the same experience. But yes, it is curious that some beat the drum way too much, both on positive and negative experiences.

 

I suppose the remedy is not to click on a thread that no longer holds your interest.

 

Salacia

Je Suis

Charlie

[d23x06]

In response to the 'it's not the same as the QE2' posters, I think it's worth noting that the QE2 was a unique ship and therefore nothing will ever compare. How can it?

 

 

 

I find it somewhat ironic that the greatest complainers of Cunard are some of their most frequent passengers. If I felt I wasn't getting good service I wouldn't keep paying.

 

 

 

Of course QM2 has changed in the past decade. Everything changes. Even the liners of the golden days of ocean travel experienced change (more frequently than you might think). Mostly, changes were designed to maximise profits (yes, even in the 1910s, 30s, 50s, etc. profit was the prime goal of shipping lines). I think you'll find that like those who criticise QM2 sporting Hamilton as the registration port so too were there people who were critical of Cunard shifting their big liner services from Liverpool to Southampton after WW1.

 

 

 

Few things ever remain the same. Take another example in evening dress. Before the war dress tails were worn by the men, but this gave way to the evening suit following the war. There were some who cried 'falling standards' as a result, but people adapted in time. Even today, men wear jackets in the dining room on the least formal evenings - this is still far classier than the thongs, singlets and hole ridden jeans I came across in the dining room of the Princess ship I recently sailed!

 

 

 

Like fashion, so too does technology. Sure, interactive TV on QM2 is gone, but is it really necessary in the age of smart phones, tablets and laptops that weigh next to nothing? This is certainly a far cry from the need to send a telegram via the wireless room on the boat deck (a costly exercise reserved for First Class passengers).

 

 

 

Another creature comfort that QM2 certainly has over the QE2 in her earlier days is the fact that every stateroom has a bathroom - there is no sharing. The cashless card system is also a comfort, taking away worries about carrying enough cash and fiddling with pieces of paper throughout a voyage. Sure, you cannot check out via your stateroom TV anymore, but many people don't even need to check out at all due to the credit card number handed over on embarkation.

 

 

 

Speaking of less hassle, what about the ease at which you can book shore excursions, make changes to your accommodation and make requests via Voyage Personaliser? That certainly wasn't available during the QE2s glory days.

 

 

 

While I've only sailed on the QM2 in the last year, I found her to be perfectly fine. She was beautifully decorated inside and she looked nice on the outside too. There was plenty to do and, as a single/solo passenger, I was never bored.

 

 

 

She also wasn't a pretentious ship and that made the experience all the more enjoyable. I like to consider myself a man of good taste and I truly couldn't find fault with the ship.

 

 

 

If there is to be a fault it is those who talk her down incessantly and persist in comparing her to a ship of a different age, with different technology, more relaxed laws at sea (faux wood means less fire danger), and different social and economic circumstances.

 

 

 

QM2 is a great ocean liner. While I'm sure that not every single change has been for the better for all (I won't pretend that's the case, despite the more positive crux of my post), it's worth remembering that without Carnival's money there would be no QM2 and very possibly no Cunard on our seas today.

 

 

 

I'd rather have QM2 without the clotted cream and with stewards being seen in the corridors from time to time than not sailing on her at all.

 

 

 

So, QM2 'is not the same' as QE2 and that's a good thing. For one, it would take away the specialness of QE2. It might also mean the loss of a great shipping line for failing to move with the times. And that would be the greater crime.

 

 

Amen, sir.