Roll Call Jan 29, 2005

[foosing]

The snow here is incredible. It looks like a frozen wasteland. There are two feet in the flats and drifts up to eight feet. I imagine things will be better by the time we're scheduled to travel on Friday; although, they are now predicting more snow for mid-week. I [u]really[/u] need this cruise.

I also have a query. Can one use one of those debit cards with a Mastercard logo on the ship?

[imacruizer]

Jennifer, I think you will be fine on deck 12. There are not a lot of cabins on that deck, so it should be quiet.

Sara, I cannot answer your question about the debit card. I'm sure you know that you present a card as you are boarding the ship for your onboard charges. However, I don't know if it can be a debit card. I would call your travel agent or Cunard and ask.

Hope everyone has a great week.

[imacruizer]

Hope everyone is having a great week and the packing is going smoothly. We are not as far along as we would like with our packing but hope to finish today. One post that I read about the January 15 cruise indicated they also had three formal nights.

Just saw Boston on the Weather Channel. Looks like you are getting MORE snow! Sara and Steven, are you flying out on Friday? Hope the traveling goes smoothly for everyone affected by the Blizzard of 2005 and of course, everyone else, too.

See everyone on Sunday.

Beth and Jerry

[atticus]

I just got off the phone with Cunard and they said there would be two formal nights and the rest would be casual. This is terribly confusing as the reports back from earlier cruises said there would be three fomals, three casuals and one informal. Anyone else hear anything different? This is really throwing my packing into a tailspin! And I swore I would not overpack this time......

[FROZEN CANNUK]

At this point, if there are 3 formal, I will one underdressed lady. I am only bring 2 long dresses, and if there is a third, it will be a top with long black pants. I'm now packed and not changing a thing as we fly out tonight to Ft Lauderdale at midnight. So if you are packing for 2 and get caught you won't be the only one.
Is anyone staying at the holiday Inn the night before the cruise. That's what we got from priceline and will be there. If anyone else is maybe we can meet for a drink!! Otherwise its sunday 11am Champagne bar. Hope everyone gets good flights and the snow let them go.
Jennifer

[foosing]

The Boston area received another ten inches of snow yesterday. However, today is beautiful and sunny, even if the temperatures are in the teens and they are predicting the same for tomorrow. There is snow everywhere, but I think the airport will be back on its feet by tomorrow. Fingers are firmly crossed.

Is anyone spending Friday night at the Ramada Inn near the airport in Ft. Lauderdale? If so, maybe we can meet. We should be there by about 7:00 PM. If not, Ill definitely meet everyone on Sunday morning.

I hope everyone travels safely and comfortably.

Sara

[atticus]

Sara - I will also be staying at the Airport Ramada but arriving around 9pm. Maybe I will see you all on the shuttle from the hotel to the ship? Hotel staff suggested signing in for the shuttle the night I arrive. Guess I'll be on the first shuttle out after check-out time. My ship check-in is at 2pm but I can't imagine they are going to be sticklers about the time difference.

I know you can't wait to get away from this frigid weather!

[imacruizer]

Hope everyone had a safe trip home. Posting after the cruise is not nearly as much fun as posting before the cruise!! The get together on Sunday morning was wonderful. It was lovely to meet everyone. We missed a couple of you at the get together and hoped our paths would cross during the week but that did not happen. I think we saw everyone else a couple of times during the week. We thought this cruise was even better than our cruise in March and our cruise in March was delightful. We could see several positive changes. Our only complaint about this cruise was that 7 days is just too short. Happy cruising to everyone.

Beth and Jerry

[wrahn2002]

We wanted to meet the people on this Roll Call, but some how we got the schedule messed up. Hope you'll had fun.

Wes and Peggy

[Fang]

It was nice meeting all of you.

Cami and I had a great time. Based on other reviews are expectations were low. We could not have been happier with the ship. Only downer was the service we had at dinner.

The ship was stunning and crew were very cheerful and wonderful.

I wish QM2 did more 7 day cruises out of Florida. Hopefully in 2007.

[bmct]

Hello to all. Unfortunately, we are back on land.

The cruise was marvelous, but too short! We're getting tired of 7 day cruises, and hope our next one is more than 10 days.

I was surprised at how rocky it was. I thought that a ship of that size, and with stabilzers would be smoother than it was, but there was considerable side-to-side motion, and we were down on deck 4! I wonder how much more motion was felt on decks 11 and 12?

We were a bit hesitant about the Brittania Restaurant, after reading several disappointing reviews, but found it to be fabulous. Table 45, lower level, with Jhun as waiter, Claudiu as assistant, and Fermando as sommelier.

The service was as good as any we have had on Celebrity, Crystal, or Radisson. The food was about as good, as well, with a few exceptions. Everything is pre-plated, so if you want just the vegetable from one dish and the meat from another, it is next to impossible. Bob ordered the beef one night, and wanted a side order of lobster, but they had to bring the whole plate. On a smaller ship, they would have just added the lobster to the beef plate. And I had wanted the garlic spinach one night from another entree, but it was preplated and I couldn't get it. Not an earth-shattering problem, but one faced on all large ships.

We ate at Todd English one night, and were disappointed in the service. The private room was full -- a party of 12 or so -- plus two tables of 8 near us.
We waited ten minutes for the waitress. Then another 15-20 for the appetizer. They could not handle such large groups at once. That was quite disappointing. The food was incredible, but the slow and inattentive service nearly ruined the evening. When we got the bill, they asked for a tip separately -- not included in the $30 surcharge. What a bummer.

We had a "standard" cabin with hull balcony. The decor was light and soothing, but the cabin was smaller than I had thought it would be. It was billed as 194 sq ft, but was about 8'8" wide by 21' long. The balcony was deeper than on most ships, but when sitting on the loungers, you can't see the ocean. The brochure also states that the inside cabins are the same size, 194 sq feet, but the ones on our deck were considerably smaller. Instead of having a love seat, they had only a single chair. I would say there were 3-4 feet shallower than ours, and not quite as wide.

Drawers in the desk/vanity were too shallow to be used for much except magazine storage, and the hair dryer was bolted into the drawer under the TV. The cord was much too short, I had a terrible time trying to dry my hair standing up, and the dryer would only work when I kept my finger on the "on" button.

The other big complaint was the cost of the photos. Welcome photos were $27.50. They were billed as being 8 x 10, but were 5 x 7 or 4 x 6 surrounded by a very large margin with "logos" and advertising. Very disappointing.

The entertainment was great. We didn't care for the comedian/juggler, but we don't care for juggling acts on land, either. The lounge entertainment was very much to our liking, and the production shows the best/most opulent we have seen.

All in all, a satisfying experience. We're hoping to do a crossing, maybe next spring.

Shipahoy!

[Smoochiepuddin]

We really enjoyed meeting all of you who were able to attend our Cruise Critic Party. We loved our second time on the QM2 as much as the first. By the last day we always want to go around again instead of getting off of the ship. Hope you all had a safe trip home!

Trudie and Bill

[DAVE & MARY PASCHEN]

Mary and I are still suffering from post cruise depression. The cruise was great and it was great fun meeting all of you. Well Fang ,my Cubs have done everything possible to ensure that they don't win a game against the Cardinals. I'm still toying with doing a Trans-Atlantic crossing in October. Maybe a Valparaiso, Chile to LA cruise in 2006? I'm afraid Mary will never want any other stateroom class other than PG or higher, so every cruise option on the QM2 will be more costly than I like. Like I have heard on this board ;the only cure for PCD or PCS is planning another cruise. Is that why so many of you have done multiple cruises? Well until we meet again on another cruise, so long------Dave & Mary

[Fang]

Dave,

It would be very nice to know that the Cubs would not win another game against the Cardinals. However, it seems as though no matter how bad each team is they play very well against each other.

Cami and I would love to sail the Hawaii cruise next year from LA to Hawaii and then back to LA. It's a great cruise itinery.

Please let us know how you like the Princess Grill. In looking at the menus on other sites it looks like you had about the same menu as we had. Cami and I were in a B2 stateroom. In looking at the balconies on deck 10 it appeared that they were about half again as big as ours.

I hope the QM2 does one week cruises in late 2006 or 2007. I would love to take the Hawaii cruise but 10 or 11 days is just to long for my family to take care of my kids.

If you have a chance please give us a detail about how the Princess Grill was.

Thanks,

John

[atticus]

Sorry to have missed you all at the CC gathering, but I was tending to some much needed "me time" as this will be my last solo cruise.

Greatly enjoyed this cruise, although not as much as my first time on board - maybe it was too short. I made great use of the bars in the disco, pub and Terrace Bar. And enjoyed the mild(er) weather poolside on deck 8! Isn't that what a cruise is for now?

Glad to see so many of you are now hooked!

[DAVE & MARY PASCHEN]

John,
We loved the PG accomodations. I think the balcony was about a third larger in the PG. Mary loved the walk-in closet, I have no opion on that as it was off limits to me. It is stretching it abit to say that we had a separate sitting area as Cunard says in their brochures. We had a full size couch more or less and a cocktail table that could also serve as a dining table for room service. I'm not sure if that is any differnt than your B2. I was impressed with the size of the stateroom and balcony, but remember I'm comparing it (in my memory) to a Deluxe stateroom on the Crystal Harmony that only had about 200 sq. ft. of room not 381 sq. ft. including the balcony as on the QM2.

The menu for Princess Grill was very similar to that of the Britannia. I think there generally was one or sometimes two additional main dishes. It appeared to me that the main difference was that the waiting staff in PG was waiting on a maximum of 180 people. Mary loved the extra attention afforded her by our waiters, and PG dining staff and so did I. The PG food came out of the same serving area as QG, but again the PG staff was only waiting on 180 not the 230 the QG staff was serving, so I think we probably got the best dining service on board. It was nice to have our waiters ask "Are you dining alone for breakfast", and remenber my name and ask about Mary's where abouts. In the artifical world of the QM2 cruise it was nice. As Mary is saying while we withdraw from cruise bliss "reality really s--k's" If there is Any more you want to know about PG or my crappy Cubs let me know. Dave.

[imacruizer]

It has been a lot of fun to read all the posts from everyone on our cruise. Seems hard to believe that one week ago we were enjoying our last dinner on the QM2 and packing to go home.

Yes, Dave, the only way to prevent post cruise depression is to book another cruise. Some of the QM2 cruises for 2006 are certainly interesting.