A Shock Review of the QM2

[babs135]

We've recently disembarked from the Mediterranean cruise and these are my personal thoughts.  A little background information first;  this is our first time back on the Mary after an absence of 5 1/2 years and our first non-transatlantic voyage on her.

Our first shock was the number of pre-teens and teens on board.  We are not used to seeing so many, over 150 apparently, and although they were largely invisible/well behaved one did wonder why choose Cunard when there are ships with more facilities available sailing out of the UK.  I'm assuming that school holidays and lots of intergenerational groups was the reason.

The second shock was the old chestnut - the dress code.  As this was a cruise rather than a crossing I'm assuming that is why there were a number of raised eyebrows at how people were dressed.  On the whole, people in the MDR dressed well (there are always the exception to the rule), but out of the dining room..... After 6 pm and I saw a youngish lady going into Sir Samuels in what I initially thought were floral designed knickers - they were in fact the shortest pair of shorts I have ever seen!!!  Is it really that difficult for people to pack a pair of decent trousers/skirts, etc?

Our feeling, and that of others we spoke to, is that Cunard is struggling to work out where to position itself;  stick rigidly to the dress code or relax it?  If you relax it, where does it stop?  Perhaps the answer is to make the QM2 the formal ship and the other 3 more relaxed?

We had a fab time and I must compliment Captain Hall on his swift decision to replace Villefranche (forecast of bad sea conditions) with Alghero in Sardinia.  This announcement was made within a couple of days of sailing.  The only grumble we had was that on the morning of our arrival in Sardinia we had a very long wait to be tendered.  Poor communication by Cunard as to the delay led to one gentleman asking why ALL the tenders were not being used (I'm sure maritime law would say that some tenders need to remain on the ship) and then in a loud voice to those around him he called out the Captain as a liar!!  He brandished his phone which showed the weather for Villefranche and announced that the weather was good and why weren't we there.  I did ask him if his forecast showed the sea conditions but was ignored and when I tried to explain the difference to the couple sitting next to me they were not interested, just simply lapping up what Mr. Bigmouth was saying.  Later in the day the Captain informed us that the sea conditions had actually been worse than forecast and I later learned from a reasonably reliable source that a Royal Caribbean ship had unsuccessfully tried to dock but failed and had not been able to port elsewhere so had merely had a sea day.

All in all, it was a great cruise with good table companions, good food (portions seemed to get bigger as the cruise progressed)! and for those people who grumble about the state of the ship - mainly on another social media website - I didn't go round looking for rust spots, tired furnishings, etc - I went on a magnificent ship to have a good time and we did.

 

 

 

 

[NE John]

As I mentioned in another post, the various port authorities, harbor pilots, coast guards etc make the decision of whether any vessel can enter their harbor or use a tender. I wish people stop blaming Cunard for decisions that are very much out of the Captain’s control. 
Thanks for your review and it’s great to hear if so many well-behaved children onboard and that you enjoyed your voyage. 
 

[sandjango]

Our opinion is ...we like to see the younger generation on Cunard ships...they are the future of Cunard..we are oldies and dont want a ship full of oldies like us 🙂 we like the mix of young.. less young and older

[Thaxted]

5 hours ago, sandjango said:

Our opinion is ...we like to see the younger generation on Cunard ships...they are the future of Cunard..we are oldies and dont want a ship full of oldies like us 🙂 we like the mix of young.. less young and older

I agree. We were delighted by how many young people and families were on our August 11 crossing to New York. As far as we could see, they were well behaved, appropriately dressed, and having a wonderful time.  

[babs135]

Just to clarify our thoughts re the younger generation. We have absolutely no problem with them, it was just a shock to see so many on Cunard. We have normally just done transatlantic crossings which, by their very nature, don't seem to attract many youngsters.  I have to add that those we've seen on crossings certainly seem to enjoy themselves.

[exlondoner]

Indeed, had it been a possibility when I was a child, I should have adored Cunard, with its caring but understated child facilities, and much preferred it to things like rock climbing walls. And getting to stay up for dinner in the restaurant in my best dress would have been splendid.

[tacticalbanjo]

My 18 month old has 4 cruises under her belt, 2 with Cunard and we've found the children's facilities and the youth staff to be really good. The teen facilities looked as good as the stuff I saw on P&O which is pitched as very family friendly. In fact, they're run by the same staff in a very similar way. You'd just never know that the kids stuff was there unless you happened to walk past it as its a bit out of the way.

 

We're all looking forward to our next 3 Cunard trips including the Queen Anne maiden.

[Victoria2]

 

Cunard might be seen as an 'old fashioned' way of cruising with regards to children, by some [not us I hasten to add]  but there were quite a few children and teens on our July trip and they were having a marvellous time.

Bring it on! They are our Cunard  future.

 

 

 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

11 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Indeed, had it been a possibility when I was a child, I should have adored Cunard, with its caring but understated child facilities, and much preferred it to things like rock climbing walls. And getting to stay up for dinner in the restaurant in my best dress would have been splendid.

 

I'm sure your behavior would have matched the occasion, as I have often seen with kids on Cunard. I love to see families all dressed up for formal nights and having their photographs taken.