Queen Mary 2 - 16/05/2024 TA Review

[ICEX21]

Having completed my very first Transatlantic crossing back in May 2022 whilst also having a magical time on my very first journey on a ship, I was so eager to get back on board I booked this crossing bringing some friends along with me.

 

While I still had a fantastic time on board the ship, there were a few things I was really disappointed with and I was shocked at the decline of the service compared to when I was last on the ship.

 

Embarkation was definitely an improvement from the first time I was on board, it was painless and fairly quick, I was quite disappointed that we didn't get to sail out of Southampton during daylight hours but that was due to maintenance issues which couldn't be helped. However, the dining experience in the Britannia restaurant was horrendous, we waiting 30 minutes to have our order taken, the starters didn't arrive for another 30-40 minutes, drinks took over an hour to be served to us and we only received our wine after we had finished the main course. The staff also seemed to have mastered the art of pretending not to notice you which seemed to be a common theme  in the Britannia restaurant throughout the journey.

 

The following morning we had breakfast in the main dining room, we thought the service couldn't be as bad as the previous night...we were wrong.

We sat down and once again it took over 30 minutes for someone to take our order, another 20 minutes to be offered any drink and then another 10 minutes before we received the drinks and even then we were 2 drinks short in our order. It took over an hour and multiple complaints from myself before we finally received our food which was cold and extremely disappointing once received. 

We found the service did improve in the evening, but only once we moved from our regular table to a table on the upper floor where the staff were far more attentive and actually cracked a smile.

I suppose this was my biggest gripe throughout this trip, 90% of the staff we encountered just looked absolutely miserable and it showed in the level of service they provided. One example was during afternoon tea, one of the staff whilst pouring tea hit the table and spilled tea everywhere, when I asked for replacement plates so we don't have to put our sandwiches in tea the response was "Do the wet plates bother you?" I replied with "yes" at which point the waiter just walked away and didn't replace them. The table next to us witnessing this were utterly shocked as well. 

I believe part of the issue with the staff was 

 

Other things I noticed:

• Sir Samuels chocolate bar was removed just prior to this voyage with no explanation given,
• gone were the little canapes in the Chart Room bar and these were replaced with some weird glazed nut mix,
• the main dining room soups were pretty much all the same. I'm pretty sure all they did was change the name from one consommé to another with no difference in the ingredients.
• The Boardwalk cafe didn't open on any day, much like the last time I was onboard
• Lots of cocktail ingredients were apparently out of stock, strange considering you would have thought they restocked at Southampton. An example being when I ordered a Dalmore cigar edition whisky on the first day in the cigar lounge, only to be told they had sold out, another example being when I ordered a Pina Khul-ada (Cunard's version of the Pina Colada) only to be told they had run out of the mixture.
• The planetarium was closed throughout the journey which was annoying as I was looking forward to experiencing this again without a broken seat

 

On the whole, as much as I was disappointed in some aspects of this journey,  there were lots of positives and for me and my friends we had a fantastic time and didn't let the issues above spoil the journey for us. We met some really nice people, our team won the progressive quiz with what the lovely host said was the highest score she'd ever seen and we had a very successful bingo game!

I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to do another Transatlantic on the QM2 but I certainly hope they make some improvements in regards to their customer service onboard and maybe take a proper stock inventory before leaving on a 7 day journey across the Atlantic!

[Bell Boy]

Whilst there is NO excuse for poor service are you aware the QM2, as is the rest of the Cunard fleet operating with a reduced compliment of crew,  many have been transferred to the new Queen Anne .

 

It may take some time to recruit more staff and get things back to normal ( hopefully by the time I embark QM2 in August for my Transatlantic crossing) 

I do have to agree with you it's a poor show ! - Cunard at the moment are being very greedy across their fleet of four ships - one would expect a reduction in the  booking capacity of guests in line with a reduction in crew members .  

[MylesS]

7 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

It may take some time to recruit more staff and get things back to normal ( hopefully by the time I embark QM2 in August for my Transatlantic crossing) 

Likewise. With the final payment being a week ago, I was very much considering letting it be cancelled given recent comments on here as well as other platforms.

That being said, QM2 is very special to me and I will go for the ship. However, if things continue in the direction they are I don't think the ship being special to me will be an excuse for me to part with my money.

[ICEX21]

4 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

Whilst there is NO excuse for poor service are you aware the QM2, as is the rest of the Cunard fleet operating with a reduced compliment of crew,  many have been transferred to the new Queen Anne .

 

It may take some time to recruit more staff and get things back to normal ( hopefully by the time I embark QM2 in August for my Transatlantic crossing) 

I do have to agree with you it's a poor show ! - Cunard at the moment are being very greedy across their fleet of four ships - one would expect a reduction in the  booking capacity of guests in line with a reduction in crew members .  

Yes I was aware of them transferring staff to the Queen Ann, but this is something they had long time to prepare for. It's not like the ship launch was just out of the blue, they had plenty of time to hire and train staff, or make accommodations for a reduced level of staff on the other ships.

Like you say, they got greedy and kept the customer capacity high, even though the service suffered.

[Clewgarnet]

I was on the QM2 back in October, and was disappointed with the service then. We often had to pour our own wine, because the sommelier was nowhere to be found, and on a couple of occasions, my sister ordered drinks that never arrived. On the one day we ate breakfast in the Britannia, her drink arrived just as we'd finished eating and were about to leave.

 

It was my sister's first Cunard experience, and she's not coming back.

[Winifred 22]

I’ve posted a summary on my recent QM2 experience on the QM2 Itinerary Change thread

[Pushpit]

Not good to hear of the poor service on QM2, I hope that gets fixed soon since that can end up spoiling plans for the evening. The Deck 3 level of Britannia is usually Open dining, and so I wonder if they had misjudged the Deck 2 staffing levels / moved too many people to QA.

 

Broadwalk Café doesn't open on Crossings, as far as I know, it's for when she goes around the Caribbean / Med at a nice sedate speed. The issues of the Planetarium and canapés have been noted elsewhere, so they are clearly missed.

[D&N]

I've seen a few recruitment agency videos on YT.

There seems to be a Final Interview Event for chefs and other kitchen staff in Bali from June 6th to 9th.

[S1971]

Understandably there will be a period of transition with more experienced members of staff being transferred to QA.

 

But given more recent reviews and comments on these boards, Cunard do really need to get their act together, obviously QA's launch is highly important, but it shouldn't be to the detriment of the other ships in the fleet, more especially given some some of the other cutbacks mentioned in the opening post.

[Jim_Iain]

Thank you for taking the time to write a review.    We will be taking our first QM2 cruise in October and hoping things improve with staffing and service by then.

 

There are so few reviews here leaving us wanting to hear more about current conditions - especially in Queens Grill.

 

Hoping we will not be disappointed as we have 2 crossings booked.

[ICEX21]

Another thing that's just came to mind which is quite trivial but I just found strange, was ordering room service. Twice I asked for a club sandwich and twice the sandwich came without bacon but egg in it's place. I called room service the second time around and asked them why there was no bacon in the sandwich and their response was "because we don't have any bacon". I then questioned this as they cook it on a daily basis and it's always there at the buffet but room service just told me it was out of stock. I couldn't be bothered arguing but yeah, I found it so strange 😕

[s.s.France]

My last voyage in Britannia on QM2 was in 2014 and I remember the breakfeast service in the main dining room to be extremely slow. So definitely not a new thing. Since then , only grills, and always happy to return. Some small issues here and there but nothing to discourage me.

[NE John]

Friends of ours just got back from a 30+ night Seaborne South Pacific voyage (these two are serious world travelers) and said they will be writing a formal complaint to Seaborne management about poor communications, messed up shore excursions, and middling food. 
This was not an inexpensive journey…they were not happy at all. 
I’m not sure what to say about the state of travel these days except that cruises, resorts, etc need to do a better job of managing our expectations and communicate better. 

[canoncruiser]

I have travelled on QM2 every year that she has been in service-sometimes multiple trips or a cruise. I am always in Britannia. She is my favorite  ship.  I am booked for a WB in July. From what I’m reading and hearing, things seem to be unraveling to an extreme degree. This is very very bad. What the H is going on?

Given the long gestation of the QA, and presumed institutional experience of Cunard-there appears to be a total collapse of administrative oversight and care. 

They’d better get their act together - and PDQ!☹️

[ex-koelner]

It's interesting, or bizarre, I was on the eastbound crossing prior to OP's westbound crossing and I never encountered slow service at Britannia restaurant during dinner time, neither on deck 2 (but I gave up fixed dining after 2 nights) nor on deck 3. Moreover, I always had the impression that they do the service in just the right pace, it was never too long to place the order, to receive drinks and to be served, nor was it rushed or so. I was very happy with the service and the staff performance, therefore, I'm surprised that it changed in a matter of days.

I agree that service for breakfast is mostly way too slow and too cumbersome... why do I have to order bread or pastries or juices and wait for them? They could walk around with these items on a tray. And I also agree that Cunard sometimes have a strange interpretation of some dishes... a 'classic Waldorf salad' and no celery on the plate... come on 😁

[WantedOnVoyage]

Distressing to hear and no, the "Oh but the QUEEN ANNE..." excuse doesn't cut it.  Cunard/Carnival decided to build the darned thing and should have ensured they had the sufficient staff trained to man her from day one. Not ruin everyone else's experience on their existing ships, let alone the flagship, when they are scrambling to do what should have set in place six months ago.  Stop resting on "180 years of blah, blah..." and prove you are not a start up cruise operation.  

 

Having said that, we had superlative service aboard QUEEN VICTORIA earlier this month for three weeks and no complaints.  Lots and lots of familiar crew too. 

 

But yes... after the first week, the waits between courses even in Princess Grill had assumed 20-25 mins. between starter and mains and that is simply unacceptable, indicating the real shortages or training lapses are behind the scenes, at least on QV.  

Edited June 2 by WantedOnVoyage

[Carnevale]

Hmmm…this is making me second guess the booking we have for Nov on QM2. Our FP is in early July so I think I will start looking at other cruise options as what is described here is a level of service we would not enjoy and a cruise should be fun, not frustrating. What we have booked is a Caribbean sailing so there should be lots of good options other than Cunard.

 

I won’t bail on our booking too quickly in the hope that Cunard gets itself sorted on the service front but I will now follow the reviews much more closely so we make an informed decision before we make our FP. To that end I greatly appreciate all the recent guests on the QM2 who are sharing their experiences on this board. Thank you!

[Germancruiser]

We will be boarding QM2 Sunday next for a double TA. I am really looking forward to those two weeks on board my favorite ship. This beeing my 15 th or so time on board that magnificent ship.

I never experienced the like of the OP- but for one evening last October.

When i sailed the QE2 many moons ago- I experienced that worst service and food in all my voyages- the QE2 being my first Cunarder- and the last for some year to come.

I complained at guest relations at once- from then on it got better. As for the last evening on board QM2 last October- I did not leave the dining room before I seriously complained to the Maitre d! Who handled it like professional- even the guy himself was not my favorite Maitre d´! The last thing a Maitre d´should have is an attitude!

[Jules.]

I’m sorry to hear of these issues on QM2. I’m booked to sail on her next month to Norway and I specifically chose my annual leave dates for this particular cruise. I’ll be travelling with my husband (we’re both 50 something), my parents, who are about to turn 80 soon and friends who are a couple who are in their 80’s. The man in the couple has had a diagnosis of vascular dementia for the past three and a half years and recently needs to use a wheelchair on occasion, which his wife will be bringing on board. All Cunard paperwork is in order and they have an adapted cabin booked. They have never cruised before and I want them to have a wonderful time. 

We have anytime dining booked and I really hope that the service speed has improved by the time we sail. We are all patient people and really looking forward to our holiday so we won’t let any issues get under our skin too much. 

I work with the public in a face to face customer service role and I fully understand the pressures on the workforce when staffing is not at an adequate level to provide excellent service and the frustrations to both customers and staff. Having said that Cunard had had ample time to address this problem. 
I have wonderful memories of my other Cunard cruise which I took with my mum way back in 2013, on QE to Norway.  I hope to add many more lovely memories, especially now that time is ticking on. 

[RK-NC]

 

On 6/2/2024 at 9:15 AM, ICEX21 said:

However, the dining experience in the Britannia restaurant was horrendous, we waiting 30 minutes to have our order taken, the starters didn't arrive for another 30-40 minutes, drinks took over an hour to be served to us and we only received our wine after we had finished the main course. The staff also seemed to have mastered the art of pretending not to notice you which seemed to be a common theme  in the Britannia restaurant throughout the journey.

 

Knot forming in my stomach as I read this. Booked on M426A 30N British Isles RT from NY. We've had our Gala clothing prepared for a couple of months now and have looked forward to a level of service to match that elevated standard. I'm wondering if we should just skip the extra piece of luggage and plan to eat in Kings Court every night?  I am somewhat hopeful that the problems will be ironed out by then - this will be the 400th crossing. We would very seriously be considering cancellation if not past final payment.

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, RK-NC said:

 

 

Knot forming in my stomach as I read this. Booked on M426A 30N British Isles RT from NY. We've had our Gala clothing prepared for a couple of months now and have looked forward to a level of service to match that elevated standard. I'm wondering if we should just skip the extra piece of luggage and plan to eat in Kings Court every night?  I am somewhat hopeful that the problems will be ironed out by then - this will be the 400th crossing. We would very seriously be considering cancellation if not past final payment.

There is a new very positive review of an excellent TA voyage on QM2. I wouldn’t think about cancelling. Incidentally, our formal gear doesn’t take anywhere near a whole pice of luggage. 

[RK-NC]

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

There is a new very positive review of an excellent TA voyage on QM2.

 

Would love to read this! Do you have a link, please?

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

 

Would love to read this! Do you have a link, please?

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=716025

 

I hope this works.

[Jim_P]

Having been on both the QM2 and QE in the past few months I have to say that in terms of service Cunard definitely needs to lift their game and from what I can see its definitely down to simply a lack of staff and the staff they do have being overworked.  

 

Thats not to say it had any real negative impact on my cruise, I still prefer to cruise with Cunard than anyone else and have rebooked two more cruises in the future and would certainly not suggest anyone not go on Cunard because of it, it was more of an annoyance but one that isnt really acceptable for a line that advertises its quality of service so hard. On both the QM2 and QE getting any drink service in the buffet didn't happen, not once on either ship. The only way I could have a drink with my meal was to go to a bar first and take it with me. The MDR wasn't much better, usually I'd have to tell my waiter I wanted a drink and he'd find a drink waiter. I also noticed in the outdoor areas there was usually no drinks waiters walking around, unlike when I'd been on the QM2 a year prior and there always seemed to be a few drinks waiters walking around areas like the pools. Its kind of odd, since drinks are such a big earner for cruise lines, usually there are drink waiters everywhere on cruise ships. 

[D&N]

The review referenced in posts #21 to #23 covers the same voyage M412B that others have listed negative experiences on, and was the voyage taken by some YouTubers who seemed to have no end of problems in a sheltered balcony Britannia cabin.

 

It shows that people can have very different experiences in the same grade on the same sailing.