Just back from the QM2!

[LGNYcamper]

I take a little offense to those that said these cruises were for lower class people. In our situation, we actually spent close to the equivalent of what we would have paid for a longer cruise on some of the other lines adding in transportation costs and hotel fees. True, the rates for the QM2 were lower but remember, just four days and one stop.

 

Linda, I agree with you on this point. I think the comment regarding lower income was a bit over the line.

 

As a teacher, I'm not breaking into the "upper income" bracket anytime soon, and I don't believe I fall into the "slob" category that was mentioned. While walking around during the day, I felt that I was dressed more appropriately in my skirts and twinsets without any jewelry than the woman walking around in the bathrobe and slippers dripping with jewelry, or the man walking through King's Court in his white golf shirt and Queens Grill towel wrapped around his waist. At night, again, I felt that I was dressed correctly, and made better clothing choices than some others I saw. So sorry if my choice to not wear jewelry upsets you bobbisbobbles, but it doesn't always make the outfit! I had many people stop me on Friday night to comment on how nice my gown was, and guess what - no jewelry! And the kicker - the dress only cost me $30 at David's Bridals. Gee whiz, I guess some of us from the "lower class" can actually pull it off!

 

The attitude of "I have money, I'm better" is what put me off this cruise from the start, and it is giving the QM2 an undeserved air of arrogance because of other comments on this thread. I hope attitudes change in the future, and that everyone is given a fair chance on board, regardless of dress, jewelry or income level.

[keelhauled]

Linda, I agree with you on this point. I think the comment regarding lower income was a bit over the line.

 

As a teacher, I'm not breaking into the "upper income" bracket anytime soon, and I don't believe I fall into the "slob" category that was mentioned. While walking around during the day, I felt that I was dressed more appropriately in my skirts and twinsets without any jewelry than the woman walking around in the bathrobe and slippers dripping with jewelry, or the man walking through King's Court in his white golf shirt and Queens Grill towel wrapped around his waist. At night, again, I felt that I was dressed correctly, and made better clothing choices than some others I saw. So sorry if my choice to not wear jewelry upsets you bobbisbobbles, but it doesn't always make the outfit! I had many people stop me on Friday night to comment on how nice my gown was, and guess what - no jewelry! And the kicker - the dress only cost me $30 at David's Bridals. Gee whiz, I guess some of us from the "lower class" can actually pull it off!

 

The attitude of "I have money, I'm better" is what put me off this cruise from the start, and it is giving the QM2 an undeserved air of arrogance because of other comments on this thread. I hope attitudes change in the future, and that everyone is given a fair chance on board, regardless of dress, jewelry or income level.

Hello all!

I'd really like to add a little something about this "lower class" business. As an Englishwoman, perhaps the term "lower class" means something different to me than it does in the American dialect. To the English, class has very little to do with money and income, and much more to do with manners, social propriety, etc. A person from a lower income level can have loads more manners than a millionaire, and this is frequently the case. Thus, the people to whom I am referring regarding the 4 day cruises are people who I consider to have bad manners and little regard for those around them. I hope this clears up any misunderstanding.

[rebeccalouise]

On all three of my QM2 cruises I saw people conforming to the dress codes. In fact, I felt underdressed on elegant casual night. I was wearing a sundress with a sweater. Hope I didn't "offend" anyone. I did dress formally for formal night but ate dinner in the Chef's Galley and got nice attentive service there from the German sous chef. Was great! Better than the treatment we got in the diningroom.

 

I didn't really encounter many people with bad manners. I didn't see many smiling faces and certainly no "good mornings" from fellow passengers. Stand-offish crowd for the most part. Did meet many nice people in the Golden Lion as usual!

 

QM2 really took my breath away on our TA. It was new and exciting. It is definitely the prettiest ship I have sailed. But overall, I feel more at home on Celebrity. I have enjoyed Cunard though but I like Celebrity better in the following areas...

 

Service across the board.

Attentive waiters in the buffet and main diningroom.

More variety of food choices.

The Lido deck has the buffet that goes out to an open aft deck and also out to the pool. Much better for Caribbean and Meditteranean cruises IMO.

Fun Factory on Celebrity is the best youth program at sea (I've tried RCL, Carnival, Norwegian, Disney and Princess also). I say this because the facility itself is fantastic and creative. Kids can go at 9AM and stay until 1AM if they so choose. No real breaks in the schedule. My son says that the "Millenium" was his favorite cruise.

 

Things that were better about QM2...

 

Cabins are larger and have great storage. Newer and more luxurious.

Public rooms are spectacular.

There is a feeling of "luxury" on Cunard.

For a Transatlantic I think QM2 is the best choice with a great spa, freshwater heated pools, an indoor pool for adults and kids, the planetarium, enjoyable entertainment, a well-stocked library, and lovely lounges, the Queens Ballroom for dancing. It is a lovely ship.

 

Now Cunard- just get your DR together!

[Rocky123]

I have sailed on the QE 11 12 times and the QM2 3 times. At the last minute I booked the NCL Gem out of NYC Easter week. It was between the QM2 or the Gem. The Gem was a seven night cruise for less money than the 5 nighter. I had a ball and loved the ship. The food and service were outstanding. It was like the QE11 in the 90's. They have specialty restaurants that after 9:00PM cost between $5-10. I am tired of hearing so many excuses for new and inexperienced workers.

[pinchosalt]

We too just just got back from the Easter cruise. The ship was beautiful, and we enjoyed our cruise very much. We had an A1 balcony room, and were very pleased with it. We sat at table 42 for dinner, and was more than happy with our dining experience. The waiter was there with our menu within a few minutes after we sat down, and we had no unreasonable wait for our food between courses. The quality of the food was as good as any that have had on any of our previous cruises on other cruise lines. The cruise met our expectations, and our only disappointment was the fact that quite a few people did not conform to the dress code. We love to dress up, and was looking forward to people watching and seeing all of the beautiful gowns and jewelry. There were some nice outfits, but not much jewelry, and quite a few people that were totally clueless on style. For some reason, some women think that if an outfit does not have legs, then it is a dress, so if you have on a dress, you are dressed up.:eek: During the day, lots of people looked like real slobs. We were appalled. Maybe because this was a short cruise and the price was considerably less it attracted a lower class of people or something??? All in all we had a wonderful time, and think that the ship's crew did an excellent job. The only thing that would keep us from giving this cruise a 10 would be the fact some of the other passengers were not quite up to the high standards of sophisticatation and class that you would expect to find on a Cunard cruise, so it took away from the elegant event that we perceived that we would experience. Maybe we should try a trans Atlantic?

 

Hi

Yes I know what you mean about the shorter cruises. I think the crew see them as do most of the guests, party cruises. It is hard work as the turnaround is so quick and mostly I think the waiters etc. don't have as much chance to get to know you. People only have a few days down to Princess Cays so they make the most of it. Yes I recommend you try a transatlantic mostly guests make more effort dressing.