CUNARD vs HAL

[NorthernNeighbour]

We took the MS-AMSTERDAM eastbound early in May (transatlantic) and are now on the QM2 headed westbound back to New York.

 

I cannot help comparing CUNARD to HAL (and vice versa) although when I boarded I had no intention of doing so.

 

The good news is that the beds are more comfortable and the food in the main dining room better on CUNARD. Almost everything else is better on HAL -- better entertainment, better shipboard activities, HAL ship was cleaner (although the QM2 is clean), better staff attitudes, better cabin layout and better cabin bathrooms. In addition, parts of the QM2 decor can only be described as tacky -- which CUNARD can get away with by living off their past reputation.

[Bramcruiser]

Hmmm, interesting. Food is always subjective as I've heard people say both good and bad about HAL food. I thought it was pretty good on my HAL trip so looking forward to Cunard.

 

As for the bedding, wow! HAL has a reputation for the best bedding on the high seas so am really surprised at rating Cunard as better. I remember on my last HAL trip thinking this was the greatest bed on a ship I ever have and then finding others rating HAL the same way. In fact, HAL even sells their beds online on their shopping page as this is an industry onto itself that HAL is capitalizing on.

 

Entertainment is one of HAL's weak spots. It has a reputation for the mundane and not-so-spectacular. I would actually rate Carnival as being the best in the entertainment category. So rating HAL's entertainment as being better than Cunard is actually worrysome. Still, I found entertainment just as subjective as food. One woman over on the HAL boards rated the HAL entertainment the pits simply because the comedienne was fat and had purple hair while another person turned around and said the comedienne was funny. So, go figure!

 

HAL does have a reputation for having larger and more spacious cabins on average than the rest of the industry.

 

Now for the most important thing? Did you enjoy/are you enjoying your cruises overall?

 

While I take every review with a grain of salt - because we all look at things differently - i thank you for your honest review.

[travel-to-go]

I wonder if the Amsterdam, being older has not yet finished her conversion of the bedding. While we thought the bedding on QM2 to be fabulous, we consider the bedding on the Westerdam to be downright heavenly! And the duvets made me want to go out and buy one!

 

I have had good and bad food experiences with HAL. I do feel, and several other passengers echoed my opinion, that the food and service on our Christmas 2004 cruise was not up to the standards we had come to expect of HAL. While I don't think Cunard is quite as good as it once was, it is still better than most other ships on the sea today!

 

Taste in entertainment is, of course, quite subjective. I found the QM2's entertainers to be less scintillating than others I have experienced. For me, the bar was set with our first four Cunard cruises- I am thinking that the Ray Kennedy Entertainers may have been the company that provided the entertainers, but I may be mixing that up with HAL. Whoever they were, they were great. They were also personable, mixed with the passengers, and did not do the same routines over and over. Further, they were troupers, in more ways than one, when we had a rolling, pitching experience during one show. Never once lost their footing on high heels with energetic dancing, although I can't say the same for the passengers!

 

On a whole, with variations on each individual trip, I would rate HAL and CUnard as pretty closely equals, giving maybe just a slight rise to Cunard- although one pays more with Cunard also.

 

Karie,

Who still misses the "old" pre- Carnival Cunard, and I have been on through the last two administrations

[Mustangs]

Hello,

 

We have also sailed with both Cunard and Holland America, and enjoyed both lines.

 

I have the impression that Cunard likes to think they have a superior product. However, I don't really know if they are after the same market. It can be shown that both lines have a very high repeat passenger ratio (World Club/Mariner Society). We noticed that most HAL passengers are a wee bit elderly.

 

Concerning onboard comparison, again it is a very subjective issue. We found the Holland America bedding superior. Dining was better with Cunard (HAL's food is bland, but good). Dining room service superior with Cunard, but room steward service superior with Holland America Line. Entertainment???

 

Enjoy your transatlantic!

 

Alan

[coy860]

I have sailed HAL 16 times. I will do my first with Cunard in January. I already have low expectations as to stateroom. I have never sailed on a modern cruise ship that did not have a minimum of 6 dresser drawers, and a roomy, well lit vanity area.

All I see is a tiny desk like thing in the stateroom.

We are on Deck 11, premium balcony.

[guernseyguy]

I have sailed HAL 16 times. I already have low expectations as to stateroom.We are on Deck 11, premium balcony.

 

I have one question.....given your expectations....why are you sailing Cunard?

 

Peter

[patwell]

Coy86...I have not sailed HAL, tho I plan to maybe next year, and I will take my first QM2 cruise this Dec. I have very high expectations for it based on the many helpful threads I've read here. I too will be on Deck 11 and have read nothing to indicate a problem with storage in one's cabin. Perhaps one of the more experienced QM2 folks can answer this more specifically. All I know is I am eagerly awaiting this trip and a chance to experience this great ship firsthand. I wish you a pleasant journey. Cheers, Penny

[NorthernNeighbour]

I have one question.....given your expectations....why are you sailing Cunard?

 

Peter

 

We are going westbound on CUNARD back to New York and that is the only ship sailing that direction at this time. Going eastbound last month, we had a choice of four different ships leaving the same week and did not choose CUNARD mainly due to ship size (not knowing at that time about CUNARD service since it has been 35 years since our last CUNARD sailing).

[Mickb]

We have sailed 3 times with HAL and twice with Cunard. With HAL we had a Minisuite on the Maasdam & Veendam and an SS Category on the Prinsendam.

On the QM2 we had a P1 & P2 grade Cabin. The HAL ships are much smaller than the big lady but we enjoyed the Maasdam & Veendam. It was before HAL upgraded their bedding, we thought the food was good but not exceptional, the ships were clean and the crew attentive - even if there were occasional language difficulties. It was disappointing that the HAL shows were performed to 'clic' tracks and not a live orchestra. The Prinsendam was a different experience - in my opinion a tired ship with scruffy cabins and indifferent food.12 nights aboard her was more than enough!

It is however difficult to compare the QM2 to these ships. The transatlantic crossing is a voyage and not a cruise and is a travel experience - possibly one of the greatest in the world and maybe it should be viewed as that. The food and service in the Grill is exceptional - more akin to the Pinnacle on HAL.

personally I thought the enetertainment was excellent - there are not many ships which have a 12 piece orchestra accompanying the shows. I thought maybe the comedian's humour was a bit 'English' and possibly not appreciated by some of the US passengers. It is just a pity that they haven't changed the headline shows for the last couple of seasons. The Oxford lectures and the RADA programmes are in a league of their own.

So for me - despite the odd tacky element of decor, its the QM2 anyday.

[Lurker1]

We took the MS-AMSTERDAM eastbound early in May (transatlantic) and are now on the QM2 headed westbound back to New York.

 

I cannot help comparing CUNARD to HAL (and vice versa) although when I boarded I had no intention of doing so.

 

The good news is that the beds are more comfortable and the food in the main dining room better on CUNARD. Almost everything else is better on HAL -- better entertainment, better shipboard activities, HAL ship was cleaner (although the QM2 is clean), better staff attitudes, better cabin layout and better cabin bathrooms. In addition, parts of the QM2 decor can only be described as tacky -- which CUNARD can get away with by living off their past reputation.

 

 

I'm going to add to what I posted on the HAL board (which is this):

 

My best comparison is the QM2 (last year) and the O-dam (this year).

 

Both ships are beautiful, but I was more comfortable with the size of the O-dam. The food and the entertainment were about equal overall. The Lido for lunch and breakfast on the O-dam is a much better set-up than the King's Court, but the special venues at night in the King's Court were very good (we tried the Asian Fusion). The beds were better on the O-dam, but QM2 was bedding was better than our first HAL cruise on the Statendam (before the SOE upgrades).

 

What the QM2 has is that wonderful history of cruising and ocean liners on the walls in the various hallways, etc. What the O-dam has is one of the best crews in the industry. In general, I've found HAL service is always consistentently very good to excellent, on the QM2 it varied from excellent to passable.

 

Now to add: The Oosterdam is one of HAL's "Vista Class" ships, around 1800 passengers. There are 4 of those. All their other ships are smaller. The O-dam had a very good live band. It does not have as many public rooms as the QM2. Our two cruises on HAL were at the end of the school year and during the early part of spring break, so there were a sizeable number of children. I think on the O-dam there were between 200 to 300 total.

 

DW and I had a great time on our three total cruises. We will sail HAL again, but also intend to sail the QM2 again, probably a crossing.

[coy860]

Originally Posted by guernseyguy

I have one question.....given your expectations....why are you sailing Cunard?

 

Because we wish to do the full World Cruise, the QM2 does it in 81 days, and the itinerary is better than HAL, IMHO. I would not feel comfortable spending 3 days in 3 different ports in Israel, because of the current climate there, and HAL has those 3 ports included.

[Betsy's Mom]

There are built in drawers in the closet of Deck 11 cabins, you will have no problem with storage unless you overpack.:)

Enjoy, B.

[guernseyguy]

Because we wish to do the full World Cruise, the QM2 does it in 81 days, and the itinerary is better than HAL,

 

Ah, the advantages of a fast ship! I see HAL have yet to put one of their Vista class ships on a World Cruise, relying, as other Vista-owning lines do, on their faster tonnage......step forward, Queen Vic, newest and slowest Carnival corp World Cruiser.......

 

Peter

[PBrown]

There are built in drawers in the closet of Deck 11 cabins' date=' you will have no problem with storage unless you overpack.:)

Enjoy, B.[/quote']

 

LOL! How do I know when I've overpacked?:D

[Pincus]

We took the MS-AMSTERDAM eastbound early in May (transatlantic) and are now on the QM2 headed westbound back to New York.

 

I cannot help comparing CUNARD to HAL (and vice versa) although when I boarded I had no intention of doing so.

 

The good news is that the beds are more comfortable and the food in the main dining room better on CUNARD. Almost everything else is better on HAL -- better entertainment, better shipboard activities, HAL ship was cleaner (although the QM2 is clean), better staff attitudes, better cabin layout and better cabin bathrooms. In addition, parts of the QM2 decor can only be described as tacky -- which CUNARD can get away with by living off their past reputation.

 

I've sailed both -- and love both!

 

For me, it comes down to one distinction: HAL operates cruise ships; Cunard's QM2 is an ocean liner. IMHO, there is a difference.

 

Aren't we fortunate to have both?

 

Pincus

[NorthernNeighbour]

We took the MS-AMSTERDAM eastbound early in May (transatlantic) and are now on the QM2 headed westbound back to New York.

 

I cannot help comparing CUNARD to HAL (and vice versa) although when I boarded I had no intention of doing so.

 

The good news is that the beds are more comfortable and the food in the main dining room better on CUNARD. Almost everything else is better on HAL -- better entertainment, better shipboard activities, HAL ship was cleaner (although the QM2 is clean), better staff attitudes, better cabin layout and better cabin bathrooms. In addition, parts of the QM2 decor can only be described as tacky -- which CUNARD can get away with by living off their past reputation.

 

We have now dis-embarked and are in the "post cruise" mode at the NY HILTON. I made notes during the cruise on the good, the bad and the truly ugly and will try to get them organized to make a really long posting here in the coming days. I gave a copy of my notes to CUNARD with the cruise critique form I filled out -- so they know my concerns. CUNARD are constantly promoting themselves as the "finest afloat" which of course leads passengers to a certain sense of entitlement -- often CUNARD meets or exceeds expectations but in several key areas, they definitely do not.

[dougnewmanatsea]

I see HAL have yet to put one of their Vista class ships on a World Cruise, relying, as other Vista-owning lines do, on their faster tonnage......

Actually, PRINSENDAM, the most recent HAL world cruiser, is slower than a Vista-class ship.

 

The fastest ship in the fleet, ROTTERDAM, did three world cruises, 1998-2000. Then she was replaced by her newer but slower sister AMSTERDAM, then by PRINSENDAM, and beginning in 2007 it will be AMSTERDAM again.

 

Of course these ships are all slower than QE2 or QM2 though I have heard that ROTTERDAM can do 28-29 knots so is almost as fast as QM2.

 

In the long term, I don't think QV will make a bad world cruise ship. I only question the decision to make her third cruise a world cruise, when the glitches may not yet be ironed out. (Never mind that QE2 is 37 years old and her glitches aren't ironed out yet ;) ...)

[travel-to-go]

I gave a copy of my notes to CUNARD with the cruise critique form I filled out -- so they know my concerns. CUNARD are constantly promoting themselves as the "finest afloat" which of course leads passengers to a certain sense of entitlement -- often CUNARD meets or exceeds expectations but in several key areas, they definitely do not.

 

I, too, have notes from my last cruise. Of course in typical procrastinator's fashion, I have yet to send my letter detailing my suggestions.

 

However, I will do so before my next cruise. I find that if you are already booked on the next cruise, it is seen more as constructive criticism than just kvetching. So I will get that letter off soon.

 

Karie,

Who me? Procrastinate? Well, maybe some day I will!

[NorthernNeighbour]

As promised, I have gone through my notes of the two transatlantic cruises we recently took, the first one being eastbound on the MS-AMSTERDAM (voyage of 9 May 2006) and the second one being westbound on the QM2 (voyage of 29 May 2006). So here goes!

 

I have chosen to do a comparison and contrast of the ways in which the two lines (owned by the same parent company) execute things that all cruise lines should perform well. However, since CUNARD has always styled itself as the finest afloat (or words similar), I hold them to a slightly higher standard when critiquing their service that might otherwise be the case. I do realise that the two lines cater to different market segments, so I have tried to avoid where possible what they do and concentrate on how they do what they choose to do. However, in some cases, I will comment on what CUNARD does (and not how they do it) for reasons which I will explain.

 

It seems appropriate to start at the beginning so I will go through the CUNARD cruise just finished and compare/contrast it with the previous cruise of three weeks earlier on HAL.

 

The embarkation for CUNARD was slower and busier which is perhaps understandable since the QM2 is a larger ship. Both lines gave us a 1 PM embarkation time. HAL made it clear that we could come earlier (from 11:30 AM) and wait in the lounge to embark. CUNARD implied that if we showed up earlier we might be sent away and refused check-in. However, we found -- upon arriving at CUNARD at 1 PM -- that most passengers had ignored their appointed check-in time and had, in fact, arrived early. The check-in lines were long but not unpleasant for the “steerage” booking we had made. Lines were very short for the Grill passengers and, to CUNARD’s credit, they did direct lower class bookings to the Grill check-ins when they were unoccupied.

 

Both HAL and CUNARD holding lounges were fine -- we did not wait an inordinate amount of time. However, both lines could improve the embarkation greatly if they would provide a separate queue for passengers who do NOT want to be photographed. One of the great annoyances on any cruise is being pestered by photographers that you do not wish to have anything to do with. To HAL’s credit, once onboard, the photographers were much less pesky. The CUNARD photographers do not understand the word NO from any passenger not travelling in first class. (Yes, I know CUNARD calls these GRILL passengers -- it’s still first or cabin class and BRITTANIA is still third class. It‘s just not desirable for marketing people to call anything third class.)

 

CUNARD gets hands-down the best marks for their muster procedure in terms of comfort. Passengers are directed to the Promenade Deck where they have a seat (indoors but close to the muster stations) and go through listening to how to put on the vests and what to do. HAL does it the old-fashioned way by having everyone stand up on deck until the last passenger arrives for muster. Not a problem for anyone not of a “certain age” but on these voyages almost all the passengers were not young and many could not stand for extended lengths of time due to bad knees or other assorted ailments. On HAL, one passenger obviously thought it fashionable to show up late for the drill -- she made an “entrance” as late as possible and paraded herself down the line to find a place. (Tacky but not HAL’s fault.) HAL does give somewhat better explanations of the lifeboat boarding procedures should there be an emergency. The CUNARD attitude is more “we are unsinkable”. I seem to recall they said that about the TITANIC or so my Grandfather told me.

 

The cabin layout onboard the MS-AMSTERDAM is superior to the QM2 for the similar cabins we booked (mid-ship on lowest deck in order to give best stability and value for money). On the MS-AMSTERDAM we had a full bath with cupboards on the wall to the side of the mirror. On the QM2, only a shower with cupboards under the sink -- not a problem unless you are an older passenger who has difficulty bending over. The HAL cupboards were definitely more convenient. The HAL bathrooms were spotless -- you have never seen anything so clean. The CUNARD bathrooms, while not dirty, were just not as clean as the HAL ones. Evidence of stains (not dirty, just unsightly) were present. But in the bedroom area, there were electric sockets on the QM2 that were dirty and obviously had not been cleaned -- the dirt having come from passengers repeatedly plugging and unplugging the hair dryers.

 

As for the staterooms themselves, we much preferred the HAL layout. Beds were closer to the windows and couch closer to the door -- much better for getting room service and looking out at the sea from your bed. More drawer space on HAL than on the QM2. And HAL had a nice curtain near the bathroom that could be used to close off the bath and cupboard area. This was very good for two reasons: we closed the curtain at night so that if one of us got up to go the bathroom or got up early to dress and go to breakfast, the other passenger could sleep better. Quite important for us since my wife is a light sleeper. Also, we authorized the cabin steward to enter our cabin every morning to leave the newspapers just inside the door (since another passenger had stolen ours the first few days). He was able to enter the cabin and leave the newspapers without seeing us in bed since the modesty curtain was drawn.

 

CUNARD gets the prize for the quality and comfort of their beds, particularly for the fine bed linens used (even for “steerage” passengers such as us).

 

As for the TV/Radio reception, HAL was slightly more convenient. We could control the TV/Radio from the bed better. Also, HAL lets you dial a certain radio channel to hear all shipboard announcements, if you wish. While I believe CUNARD also has this option, we could never figure out how to get it to work and our cabin steward was unsure.

 

The stability of the QM2 due to its sheer size is understandably better than for a smaller ship such as the MS-AMSTERDAM (although she is not really a small ship).

 

We found the design of the MS-AMSTERDAM more attractive than the QM2 as far as the public spaces go. Perhaps due to her being built in Italy (although I do not know if the interior designer was Italian), she has the feel of one of the classic Italian transatlantic liners but updated with more modern amenities and, of course, high tech goodies. Her design is not staid but also is not tacky. And clean, clean, clean everywhere like you have never seen. The Dutch officers do know how to insist on cleanliness.

 

On the other hand, the CUNARD ship public spaces are, in my view, just tacky in many respects. Lots of posters with publicity or bad photographs including glamour shots of the Hollywood stars from by-gone eras who have travelling on CUNARD. Who cares whether Marlene DIETRICH travelling onboard with 40 pieces of luggage more than 50 years ago? Or whether Cary GRANT was onboard with a society hostess and her daughter she was trying to marry off to someone rich or famous?

 

Oddly enough, however, the tacky wall posters on CUNARD worked in our favour. We could easily remember which tacky poster was on port side nearest our cabin -- so we used it as a “navigation aid” when leaving the lift on our deck in order not to go starboard when we meant to go port. Somehow, I don’t think CUNARD has this in mind when the posters were mounted, but who knows? No tacky posters or photographs onboard the HAL ship, just classic décor in very good taste.

 

For an housekeeping item -- some people just love to do laundry and ironing while on holiday (Martha STEWARD would be proud of them my wife says) -- the launderettes on CUNARD are somewhat better and are free-of-charge. On HAL, you have to trot to the Purser’s Office to get eight American quarters for the laundry. However, both lines do supply detergent and HAL only charges for washing not for drying. On board the QM2, the irons in the launderette on our deck were out of order. OK by us -- while we do wash our Pjs often, we don’t care to iron them. I found the washers on HAL are more the European type that go on for what seems like hours before finishing (reminds us of when we lived in Switzerland and had to endure long, long washing cycles with boiling hot water). CUNARD has North American style ones that can finish in 18 minutes flat -- more appropriate to travellers who probably don’t have dirty clothes from having played adult games in the mud (unless one is very kinky)!

 

The sheer size of the QM2 gave many opportunities to explore different areas of the ship on different days. Onboard the AMSTERDAM it was more likely you could see every area of the ship in one day -- even without meaning to do so. It turned out that we appreciated that CUNARD placed the Queen’s Room behind the BRITTANIA Restaurant (a more out of the way place). That way we could avoid many of the pretentious activities that CUNARD holds in the Queen’s Room -- the main one being the Ascot Ball, the very idea of which must have been thought up by some Cruise Director having a day when he or she was fresh out of ideas. Tacky in the extreme to see ladies dressed on a formal night in gaudy hats some of them hand-made for the occasion. Luckily, most women chose to put them on only after dinner just before heading out for the Ball. (We were safely locked in our cabin by then but were told by out table mates the next evening.) Apparently, not all that many ladies chose to attend with hats -- but those who did either wore serious, professionally made hats or, alternatively, very silly hats.

 

About the only thing on HAL we found similarly tacky was their Mr or Mrs. Amsterdam contest where the crew pick two passengers (not necessarily spouses) at the start of the cruise to be Mr. and Mrs. Amsterdam, the object being for the other passengers to ask everyone on-board (as a social ice-breaker?) if he or she is Mr. or Mrs. Amsterdam. We were glad to learn during the course of the cruise that few people bothered to ask. HAL should dispense with this silly custom. If it worked and everyone asked, it would very soon get to be a real pain.

 

CUNARD has somewhat more of an attitude of “CUNARD is right, the passenger is wrong” than HAL. For example, many Canadians and Europeans were on-board the QM2 and asked for Dijon-type mustard with their luncheon sandwiches. We were told in no uncertain terms (and by a chef no less) that CUNARD would only serve English mustard, never anything else. Somehow, we suspect not -- there must be a jar of Dijon onboard somewhere, the attitude was “why would you question our judgement?”, when in fact we asked quite politely.

 

When it came to ship-board lectures, CUNARD gets kudos for their Oxford series of lectures on intellectually stimulating subject matter. All the speakers were professionals. The HAL lectures, while OK, were not great -- an American giving a lecture on European affairs with only the American viewpoint. We found this both sad and amusing. Whereas the CUNARD speakers almost always concentrated in their lectures on contrasting American and European viewpoints when the occasion demanded it.

 

As for the floorshows, HAL gets the credit for having better shows. The beginning show was (in our view) about of the same quality as the closing show on CUNARD and the HAL shows kept getting better as the cruise went on. Near the end of the cruise, by which time the AMSTERDAM had made a call at a Irish port and picked up an Irish comedienne, the show where she appeared was packed to the rafters with standing-room only and she had everyone rolling in the aisles with laughter. On the QM2, by the final nights, half the seats were empty for the floorshows and with good reason. Second rate entertainers that CUNARD, of course, billed as the latest London sensations and this fooled no one. Interesting note -- one evening when a short Noel Coward play was being performed on the QM2 (not his best work and a very dated one with jokes which were only shocking in the 1920s), ¾ of the seats were empty, the reason being that someone in the crew had forgotten to take away the “theatre closed due to rehearsal” sign from the front of the theatre.

 

All in all, we found the quality of the food in the main dining room better on CUNARD than on the AMSTERDAM, which tended to vary from night to night. However, the dining room steward service was better on AMSTERDAM, while not bad on CUNARD (except for breakfast where it was truly out-of-order). However, the buffet service was better on the AMSTERDAM -- more choices, better choices, stewards to help elderly passengers with their trays and re-fresh drinks. One evening on CUNARD we choose to skip the main dining room and use La Piazza (buffet style Italian dining) -- all three courses were made with green peppers and all one could taste of course were the peppers. We were amazed that they did not put green peppers in the dessert!!! Only a bad Italian-American restaurant would serve such stuff.

 

Onboard the AMSTERDAM, we got our International Herald Tribune printed on-board every morning very early (the way we like to receive news, when it is new). On the QM2, it rarely appeared before noon. HAL was very careful to give us a courtesy two-sheet page of Canadian news everyday (since we are Canadian residents, even though I am an American). CUNARD was supposed to do the same, but never did. I personally went to the Purser’s Office to request this; they promised to supply it but never did. We wondered which part of our Canadian address or my wife’s Canadian passport CUNARD did not understand qualified us for Canadian news? But the penultimate day, I gave up even trying to obtain this.

 

CUNARD makes a big point of providing French and German interpretation of the Captain’s noonday comments. We don’t know about the quality of the German -- but the French interpretation was “out to lunch” on at least a couple of days. For example, on the day when the Captain spoke in English to report we were south of Newfoundland (which even though he is British he pronounced as New Found Land, not as one word as any Canadian or Brit should know), the French interpreter placed us south of Nova Scotia (for which she did not even know that Nova Scotia in French is NOT Nova Scotia, but Nouvelle Ecosse as anyone could tell from just bothering to look at a bi-lingual Canadian map). Not to make too big a point of it, but if the Captain had been making a very serious safety announcement and the interpreter got it wrong -- this could lead to something tragic!

 

We were surprised at how limited the wine list was onboard the QM2. While they obviously have the largest wine cellar at sea, they do not have the most extensive list. The AMSTERDAM list was more than twice as long as the QM2 list -- and we never ordered a wine on the AMSTERDAM that was not available. Onboard the QM2, several selections were out-of-stock. However, the QM2 prices are more reasonable than the AMSTERDAM, significantly less for wines of comparable quality.

 

The Parade of Chefs onboard the QM2 left a distinctly bad taste (pun is intended) in a significant portion of the diners on-board. Not a single female chef among the parade -- this was much commented upon by the women on-board, many of whom declined to applaud. All the women at our table of eight noticed it immediately when 87 men entered in the chefs parade. I was told later that the QM2 does have one female chef (in pastry) but she as absent that night. Onboard the AMSTERDAM, while there were not any chefs parades, we did see several female chefs in evidence onboard (definitely more than the token one that CUNARD has).

 

One very unpleasant thing happened to my wife onboard the QM2 -- which we suppose could happen on any ship. On the penultimate morning at breakfast, she found a piece of broken glass at the bottom of her orange juice (not broken from the glass she used, a piece from a different glass). She had it in her mouth and assumed it was a piece of ice, until she luckily realised it was not before swallowing it. We reported it immediately to the chief steward and included this bit of unwelcome news on our shipboard critique.

 

All in all, we enjoyed the AMSTERDAM experience more than the QM2 one. While we do not regret having sailed on the QM2, we are not sure we would do a repeat voyage for a number of small reasons, nothing really bad (except for the broken glass, which could have been very ugly had my wife swallowed it). It seems to us that CUNARD raises your expectations of what to expect then fails to deliver in several respects. HAL is careful not to raise your expectations, then proceeds to exceed them. While both lines are owned by the same corporate entity, there are obviously different management styles and it shows.

 

I have some other items in my notes of differences I did not care for -- but they mostly relate to the CUNARD ship being somewhat class-ridden (a throwback to its British heritage) whereas the AMSTERDAM is more equalitarian. The Dutch officers were not anywhere near as “stuffy” as the British ones and were a delight. One of the ship’s officers on the QM2 told us he was a South African citizen born in South Africa but he “really was not South African”. Which part of being born in South Africa does not make you South African? We all know what he meant but did not exactly say. And we all know why he left South Africa!

 

One British Lady (while dining in the King’s Court as an alternative to the Queens Grill, who knows why?) had the nerve to insult my wife to her face about her Canadian accent in French (my wife has perfect grammar but does speak with a Canadian accent). This was a bit too much coming from a Brit -- I pointed out to her that it was not unusual to find a lot of Brits who do not speak with “received pronunciation”. (Would she have the nerve to criticize them to their face? Perhaps or maybe she only insults people who are not British.) Not really the fault of CUNARD (her attitude) but it does show the type of clientele CUNARD attracts. We never found anyone on HAL who was condescending, either among the passengers or the crew.

 

Needless to say, all of the above writings are my personal views -- others, I feel sure, would be perfectly at ease with things we were want with which to find fault.