17th May QM2 Southampton to New York

[kpercy]

What a crossing this turned out to be. We left Southampton at 6pm with substantial downpours of rain. From then on it went downhill rapidy with force 11 gales with sea states officially at 9. Lots of pitching and rolling but apparently, according to the crew, the ship performed well. This weather carried on for about 3 days with a large number of passengers suffering from seasickeness. 2 days out of New York the seas eased a little ,but all of the outside decks remained closed most of the time.

 

Its now 12.30pm on the 22nd and finally the seas are calm with strong breeze. We are due in New York at 6am.

 

Looking forward to disembarking - BELIEVE IT !!

[QM2 Cruiser]

Hi kpercy, I am sorry to hear about the inclement weather. Please tells us more about your crossing when you return home. I am contemplating booking back to back crossings for next year and would be interested if you could give more details.

[kpercy]

Hi kpercy, I am sorry to hear about the inclement weather. Please tells us more about your crossing when you return home. I am contemplating booking back to back crossings for next year and would be interested if you could give more details.

 

Hi QM2 Cruiser,

 

Just returned home to the UK, having spent two nights in NY following the west bound crossing. For three or four days we had really rough weather. The captain said it was only the third time that the vessel had endured such strong gales ( force 11 at times ) and a sea state of nine since her launch.You wouldnt want to be on any other ship in those conditions. Although the pitching and rolling was causing a lot of distress on board the ship handled well. Decks were closed off most of the times for safety. I felt for the old folks and numerous sick. There were injuries from falls etc. I believe one person suffered fractures. This was not my idea of a holiday but we came through although 3 of our party of 6 were ill for 4 days despite injections and tablets.

 

Although we were asked to board at 2pm,we arrived at 1pm and boarded immediately. I was in my cabin within ten minutes of checking in.

 

I spent each morning on the closed sun deck on level 12, laid on a lounger. This help me overcome the dreaded sea sickness but spray was breaking over the roof.

 

We had cabin 11040 which is reasonably central but high. This is a glass balcony cabin A2 with great views but on this occasion wasnt used a great deal.The cabin maid was excellent.

We had tea and coffee delivered free to our room early morning.

 

We tended to dine in Britannia most of the time including breakfast and lunch. This is silver service and quite nice but busy. The Kings Court is a free for all, functional and in my opinion like a transport cafe. We didnt dine there at night though but it does transform into 4 themed dining experiences.

 

Facitities on board are excellent.Lots of themed bars with pianists, singers etc. We didnt see much of the captain ( Cpt Rynd ) or crew possibly because of the conditions although he did make noon time announcements.

We tried Todd English on the last night ( cover charge applies ) I was not that impressed with the food but the staff were excellent.

 

Most things on board are geared around getting you to spend money. The photos in particular are expensive at $27.50 per shot and in my opinion can be a little tacky.

 

We didnt see any of the entertainment as we had the 8.30pm sitting for dinner but the lectures we attended we good. Nor did we visit the large casino on board.

 

We have only been on a silverseas cruise prior and you do get spoilt on that ship,

 

but the QM2 is a great lady and overall we had a good experience and I would definately recommend. Keep your fingures crossed on the weather.

 

If there is anything else you would like to know just post. Incidently there is no problem whatsoever with a white dinner jacket.

 

kpercy

[Toffeegirl68]

We too were on the rocky May 17th crossing. We loved EVERY minute of it. :D

 

There was not enough time in the day to do everything that we wanted.

(There is nothing like a force 10 for learning the cha cha!)

 

We dressed up for dinner EVERY night and even bought a couple of our photos (sorry kpercy!)- its rare that I find a photo of me that I like and its even rarer that our parents see us dressed up to the nines, so they'll make fab presents.

 

We were even lucky enough to meet the Captain on the Friday afternoon (he spotted hubby's All Blacks shirt so stopped us for a chat - LOVELY chap)

 

We are in our 30s and had such a fantastic time that we intend to do the same trip again. I shall sit down and write a full review when I catch up with my in-tray...:)

 

Oh I do miss the Canyon Spa hydro pool.....

[Threadfin]

Did you guys happen to know if the soft drink sticker is still available for purchase? I believe someone said they discontinued its sale. Thank you-Thread

[bronbeth]

I was also on this crossing - and also loved every minute. Unlike many people aboard I didn't think the weather was rough enough!

 

Threadfin - the soft drink sticker is still available. I believe the cost was something like $3.95 per day + 15% service charge. You needed to purchase it for the entire cruise.

 

Beth

[Threadfin]

Thank you Beth! They should have a Stella sticker as well. Don't you think? Do you happen to know when you come out of the Holland Tunnel which route to take to the Battery Tunnel? I can't really make it out on my map. Thanks! Thread

[deej123]

I was also on the 17th May crossing - first time ever cruise and had been building up my excitement by very frequent reference to these boards!

 

Like Toffeegirl - we had a fantastic time. We are also (relatively!!!) young, as we were on to celebrate my husbands 40th birthday, and I think we were both a bit nervous that we wouldn't like it. Although I don't have anything to compare to, I can't think of anything to complain about. We liked the weather too (I did take SeaLegs tablets on first two mornings, more as insurance than as a result of feeling unwell) - but I was also glad when it settled down later in the crossing.

 

We were in the Princess Grill and had a wonderful time there - the staff were really lovely and the food, wine and service were all impeccable. Only complaint is that the breakfasts were so lovely we couldn't manage lunch - although we did snack slightly during the day in the concierge lounge just to see us through to dinner.

 

We found it very easy to relax into the experience - I hardly looked at all the books I'd brought to read. We did a few of the planned activities - particularly enjoyed the wine tastings which both seemed great value (more inexpensive range and then a better quality session). Didn't make any of the shows in the evenings - we really enjoyed a more leisurely rate of getting ready, time for lovely pre-dinner cocktails and/or champagne and then a relaxed dinner - but it was all there if you wanted it.

 

Overall - just loved the whole experience and would particulary praise all the staff we came across, nothing seemed too much bother for anyone.

 

A really lovely experience topped off by a perfect few days in New York - I'm still on a bit of a high as you can probably tell, but it really lived up to expectations of a 'holiday of a lifetime'.

 

Toffeegirl - glad to hear you also had a fabulous time, I'd read your posts before leaving so was glad to hear it all lived up to your expectations too!