Dining on quen Mary 2?

[Sandifer]

My husband and I are thinking of doing a transatlantic on Queen Mary 2 this summer. I am confused about the dining options. Are there categories and is the food different? We usually cruise on Celebrity, sometimes Holland America. We like nice dining and a quiet cruise environment. Will we like Cunard? Any advice and information will be much appreciated.

[majortom10]

There are different restaurants to match the stateroom grade you book, the higher the stateroom grade the better the restaurant. There is also speciality restaurants which you have to pay a supplement and there is the buffet restaurant which is included in the price.

[Darcie2]

We have just returned from the Queen Mary 2 and we loved it. We dined in the Brittania and ate in the buffet have to say we were a bit disappointed in the Buffet area not the food but the area however that is going to be upgraded in May ! So all good. We have also sailed on the queen Victoria which was delightful with slightly better food. All in all they are both lovely enjoy

[Pennbank]

My husband and I are thinking of doing a transatlantic on Queen Mary 2 this summer. I am confused about the dining options. Are there categories and is the food different? We usually cruise on Celebrity, sometimes Holland America. We like nice dining and a quiet cruise environment. Will we like Cunard? Any advice and information will be much appreciated.

 

There are The Princes Grill and The Queens Grill which you can eat in if you book the relevant suite duplex or penthouse. You may also eat in The main Britannia Restaurant if you wish after making arrangements with the maitre d.

 

Then the Britannia Club Dinning, Included in the fare, a section of The Main Britannia Dining room were you have any time dining, You have to book a Britannia Club stateroom.

 

Lastly there is the Main Britannia Restaurant, included in the fare, consists of Early or Late sitting for Dinner with a set table , Breakfast and Lunch you are seated at any table. This is where most people dine.

 

The Buffett style called Kings Court is available to all for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and late snack up to 2am and included in the fare. It is worth walking around this area as each station serves different food, One Roasts, One Spicy food, etc

with each night a small section of this is sectioned off and table cloths etc used with waiters serving you to provide, Lotus (Asian) Coriander (Indian) or Le Piazza on different evenings at a surcharge of $15pp.

 

Todd English soon to be The Verandah is the speciality Restaurant at an up charge

 

Then there is The Golden Lion Pub for lunch where any one can eat in included in the fare.

The Grills have slightly better choices and more items off menu for the guests dining.

 

You also have the Chefs Galley, open to all for a Healthy Breakfast and juices, For lunch it coverts into a Burger and light bite area with Sandwiches. Open to all included in the fare.

 

The Broadwalk Cafe only open in sunny weather out on Deck 12, Burgers and Sandwiches. Included in the Fare.

 

Queens Room, Afternoon Tea served with Cakes and Sandwiches open to all, included in the fare.

 

All Guests have access to 24hr free room service.

 

see

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/life-on-board/cover_charges

Edited December 30, 2015 by Pennbank

[babs135]

My husband and I are thinking of doing a transatlantic on Queen Mary 2 this summer. I am confused about the dining options. Are there categories and is the food different? We usually cruise on Celebrity, sometimes Holland America. We like nice dining and a quiet cruise environment. Will we like Cunard? Any advice and information will be much appreciated.

 

If you book a Britannia grade stateroom you will be allocated seating in that dining room: the Grills eat in a different dining room. Can't help with the Grills, but rest assured the food is excellent and you won't go hungry :D Someone else will no doubt explain what to expect in the Grills.

[Toffeegirl68]

Note: Tea and coffee served as inclusive part of meal in formal restaurants.

 

You can always help your self at any time of day to tea and coffee and (basic) cold drinks in Kings Court.

 

Kings Court also lay on sandwiches, scones and cakes for a self serve afternoon tea - as opposed to the silver service tea in the ballroom (all at no extra, unless you order a 'champagne' tea...)

 

Don't forget room service if the need or fancy takes you.

 

The food in Britannia for dinner is excellent - we have only ever not dined there once - one evening we tried Todd English (for the chocolate pudding!) whilst on a 17 night voyage.

 

Hubby prefers Kings Court for breakfast and lunch - he has total control over the portion size and doesn't have to wait!! Others, like my dad, prefer the formality of the main dining room...

 

Those wanting to avoid dressing for dinner (why?! :)) would dine in Kings Court or get room service.

 

Go for it - even if you don't get hooked, you'll have ticked something off your to do list.

[rafinmd]

As noted there are 3 dining rooms you get depending on the stateroom you book. Think of it as similar to Celebrity where Aqua dines in Blu, except that the Grills are open for all 3 meals. The Britannia dining room for standard cabins is very close to the same experience as the MDR on HAL or Celebrity.

 

QM2 has one specialty restaurant (Todd English now but I think it will be replaced by the Verandah after the drydock). The buffet is divided into 3 sections. Each (or at least most) nights one of the sections becomes a sit down restaurant with a theme (called La Piazza, Corriander, or Lotus). Sample menus are here:

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com/menus/m524menu/

 

Sorry, just Britannia, I've never sailed in the grills

 

Roy

[keithm]

My husband and I are thinking of doing a transatlantic on Queen Mary 2 this summer. I am confused about the dining options. Are there categories and is the food different? We usually cruise on Celebrity, sometimes Holland America. We like nice dining and a quiet cruise environment. Will we like Cunard? Any advice and information will be much appreciated.

Food on the QM2 was generally very good, especially when we dined in the Grills for 2 trips. The QV was good, but definitely NOT as good as the QM2(at least in Britannia) We found our last 2 trips 2014 & 2015 on the Celebrity Eclipse to have better food than in Britannia(especially QV) You should find the food to be very good. I especially like the "Celebrity Favorites" (kind of an Al a Carte menu)which was better than anything similar on Cunard(exception the Grills)

[tv24]

Since you are familiar with Celebrity and Holland, it would probably be most useful to make comparisons to those lines. Dining in the Britannia on QM2 would be comparable to the MDR on both Celebrity and Holland in terms of quality and variety. However the dining room is huge and very beautiful, way more grand than anything you would find on X or Holland. Britannia is where you will be assigned for dinner unless you pay for an upgraded stateroom to Britannia Club or one of the Grills. We have been very happy with the food in Britannia. As others have indicated, there are other options on board, although IMHO, Kings Court is to be avoided except to grab and go, go, go. In my dreams that will improve with the retrofit in summer, 2016.

[Winchester Ranger]

I just sailed on her and the only definite advice I would give you is that you avoid King's Court which was simply terrible.

 

Personally I would have a full English breakfast in my stateroom, skip lunch, take afternoon tea in the Queen's Room, and then a late sitting for dinner in Brittania - or the Princess/Queen's Grill of course if you are booking a suite. I did try the Golden Lion a couple of times and the food was great but it is a bit like a rugby scrum at times in there.

 

Enjoy your cruise :)

[DreamflightPat]

Queen Mary 2 is going for a refit in May and they are completely reorganising Kings Court. From the photos on Cunard website it looks as if it is going to be great. Have booked to go Southampton to New York on 17th July and really looking forward to it.

Edited December 31, 2015 by DreamflightPat

[david,Mississauga]

... The Britannia dining room for standard cabins is very close to the same experience as the MDR on HAL or Celebrity.

 

...

 

Roy

 

The dining experience is subjective, of course, and we have had only one recent cruise on HAL, but we find the experience of the Britannia Restaurant is far superior to the equivalent on HAL.

 

Both offer elegant china and silver, but there the similarity ends. The food on Cunard was somewhat better, especially at lunch. The lunches we had on HAL were very poor, but dinners were mostly acceptable. We find Cunard's service far more efficient. HAL'S crew was very friendly and smiling, but sometimes items ordered did not appear and one time the table was cleared without dessert and tea or coffee being offered. We like the string quartet or harpist in the Britannia restaurant, although you may not hear the musicians if your table is far from the entrance. Perhaps I shouldn't get into the dress code which, on HAL, is essentially a rough guide.

 

The HAL ship we were on had a very similar layout to Cunard's QE and QV and I couldn't help but wish we were on a Cunard liner. Just days after our return we booked our next Cunard voyage.

 

We have enjoyed Princess and Queen's Grill several times, mainly thanks to upgrades and sharply reduced fares, but for the fare paid we were very happy with Britannia.