DaisyUK

Thank you! I think I will switch after all as I like the sound of the updated suites. Any/all info very welcome, but understand it may well be TMI for those not interested.

Thank you Victoria2. Actually, I do have a question I'm sure you can help with. We are in a Q2 on the QV sailing, but have been offered a Q1 aft for a very reasonable supplement. We like the mid-ship position of the Q2 (stayed in a similar suite on the QE2 last year) but are tempted to try the Q1. What, if any, are the advantage/s of the Q1 over the Q2?

We are relative newcomers to Cunard, having been on one very brief (4 day) trip on QM2 and one 14-day sailing on QE2 in the last year. For context, we have cruised many times previously with Oceania, Crystal and Regent. We enjoyed all 3, with Crystal and Regent being our favourites. So, here goes… Embarkation etc Our cruise was Southampton-Southampton, which I absolutely loved. What a joy to be able to drive to the port, leave the car and walk into the cruise terminal. Our embarkation time was 12 noon and we arrived right on time. We went through check-in and security in a matter of minutes and were asked to sit and wait to be called to the ship. After about 10 minutes, we were invited to embark and we were in our room by 12.45 pm. Suite We were in a 2-storey Q2 aft. It was very spacious, comfortable and had all that we needed and then some. In my opinion, the suite does show its age in terms of design/layout and also a few maintenance issues. For example, there is a large butler’s kitchen (not sure how often and under what circumstances this would be used) but a relatively small balcony for such a large suite. Upstairs, there is a bedroom (very comfortable bed, pillows and linens), dressing room and 2 bathrooms, one with a shower and the other with a bath and shower over. Again, I think the space available could have been used to better purpose as the shower could not be described as large and the bath was just weird, with steps up to it which restricted access to the sink. These are minor comments in the scheme of things though, and we would book the suite again. Restaurant/Food Overall, unbelievably good and exceeded our expectations by a margin. We had 2 disappointing dinners in 14 days, and they were not dreadful, just not great. The remaining 12 dinners were, in our opinion, exceptional. Menus for the following day were delivered to our suite each evening, and we took advantage of the a la carte menu several times, where we ordered at breakfast for that evening. We also ordered off menu on several occasions – and were actively encouraged to do so. We enjoyed having ‘our’ table with the same wait staff each evening. Any fears that this would become boring were laid to rest by the advantage of having everything just as we like it. Small preferences were noted and acted upon without having to ask. Service Service generally was beyond criticism. Every single member of the crew/staff whom we encountered was helpful, friendly and a pleasure to be around. Ship layout/decor I think we finally found our way around the ship the day before we left! We had many a giggle over trying to find somewhere and ending up at the wrong end of the ship. It was a running joke that we’d better ‘set off’ because who knew how long it would take us to reach our destination. QM2 is certainly quirky in terms of layout, but it didn’t cause us any particular problem and at least added to our step count each day. I’d have to agree with some other reviews that some parts of the ship are looking a little tired/dated/in need of maintenance/repair, but I can’t say that this particularly affected our general level of enjoyment too much. Itinerary One thing I’ve noticed about Cunard itineraries is that they seem to be much less port intensive than the other cruise lines we’ve been on. I did wonder whether we would get bored with so many sea days (8 out of 14) but I needn’t have worried. Lectures/Activities/Entertainment We enjoyed several of the lectures, finding them for the main part interesting, well presented and informative. We didn’t participate in many of the organised activities, but enjoyed sitting listening to music, playing board games in our suite, or just chatting in the various lounges. We also enjoyed the casino, the game tables on deck 2 and watching the ballroom dancers from time to time. We don’t often bother with going to the shows on cruises, but we did go to most of them this time and we found them to be very enjoyable on the whole. Definitely better than those on the other cruise lines we have experienced. Perhaps because it’s a bigger ship, with a higher entertainment budget. Excursions The excursions were a bit hit and miss, no different to any other cruise we’ve been on. Actually, the worst excursion was one I arranged independently to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I think the most enjoyable one was the visit to Villa d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli. I was surprised that Cunard don’t offer more in the way of tours – Regent seem to offer a much greater selection in each port and I would have thought with the Cunard ships being so much bigger, they would have offered a similar, or better, selection. Spa I thought the spa was expensive, but good. I was very pleased with the hairdresser, the nail technician and the facialist. I do wish they wouldn’t continually try and sell me add-ons and products though! Debarkation As others noted in HH’s live report, debarkation was a bit slow. Once we managed to get off the ship, everything was well organised. Our luggage was waiting, and it just remained for us to reclaim our car and head home. Final thoughts I think this is the most enjoyable cruise we have been on yet. I’m really quite picky(!) and yet the small negatives were outweighed by the positives and both I and my husband agreed that Cunard is top of our list at the moment. We have our first QV cruise to look forward to later this year, and it will be interesting to see how that goes on a more conventional cruise ship.

Yes, we went to the early show and it was similarly packed. Looking forward to Dominic Ferris tonight.

We had a lovely day in Tivoli yesterday. We've never been to Villa d'Este before and it was absolutely stunning. I'd post pics, but we're not great photographers and there are so many better ones online. We also went to Hadrian's villa which was interesting. It was a long, hot day but so worth it. Then back just in time to get ready for dinner, which was excellent and on to the show. By 9 pm we were pooped so, walked back to bed via the Queens Room to watch a little ballroom dancing and in bed by 9.30 pm.

Hope this works. I don't really understand download speeds etc. It doesn't look to be that fast compared with the link you posted from Mercruiser, but it seems plenty fast enough for us (2 devices).

We both tested positive whilst onboard last year, and were given some games from the library which helped to pass the time..

PS to previous notes - wifi (premium) continues to be excellent at all times, almost no difference to the speed we get at home. We only use it in the room though, so can't speak for around the ship.

Just popping in here to add my thoughts so far. Firstly, hope that you are feeling better today Hattie. Food in QG has been mainly excellent, with a couple of misses. Hits have been the dover sole (better than I remembered), lobster (cooked table side which was delicious) and peking duck. Misses were the chateaubriand and lamb rack (both quite chewy). We've been on 2 ship organised excursions, both of which were so-so. The first was from Vigo and was to a castle and 2 gardens, including a vineyard. The gardens were pleasant, but nothing special and the day dragged on (for us) as the guide described how beautiful the gardens usually looked when the camellias were in bloom, (the subtext I think being as compared to the rather raggedy appearance when we visited). The second was A day in Provence with lunch which started well with a very engaging guide and some spectacular scenery and pretty villages. It all went a bit downhill as 2 coach loads of us filed into a very bland communal dining room in a down at heel hotel and spent about 2 hours waiting for a school dinner type lunch to be served. At the end of it, we were told they had run out of tea and coffee - which was actually a blessing as it meant we could leave! However, so much time had been spent there that we had to forgo the next stop, other than a 5 min photo opp, and head back back to the ship which was disappointing. We often don't bother with shows, but have been to most of them this time and have been very pleasantly surprised. The night before last we had an amazing pianist (Dominic Ferris) who we enjoyed very much.

Adding my hope for a quick recovery and that you don't succumb. What a dreadful disappointment for you both

Here we are on day 4, and still trying to work out the layout of this ship! After breakfast, we armed ourselves with the ship layout and set off exploring. Bumped into several people who asked 'do you know if 'xyz' is this way?'. One evening we left the show a little early, tried to walk back to our room and found ourselves back at the theatre! Very confusing. Tonight (thanks to advice from another poster - Victoria2 I think - we are having Peking duck. Fingers crossed it is good.

Whoops - meant to quote Joe33472, not very good at this. Also meant to say that we've only used wifi in our room and that we have the premium package.

Wifi has been flawless since we boarded on Friday. Best wifi on any cruise ever- at least so far.

Hi HH, hope you enjoyed your day in Vigo. We're on this cruise also and did a different excursion which was reasonably enjoyable (Gallician Gardens, Castles and Wine Tasting). We're generally enjoying ourselves, enjoyed the show last night. A couple of misses (food-wise, service is universally excellent) in the QG restaurant, but overall pretty good.

Very interesting reading these reviews as a relative newcomer to Cunard. We are on QM2 later this week (and very much hoping the food will be up to par) and then our first QV in November. Hopefully the wrinkles will be ironed out - although I don't think we've ever been on a cruise which hasn't had a few minor irritations. I can empathise with exlondoner as both my husband and I caught Covid on our last cruise (on QE) and Norovirus on our last Regent cruise. Such a frustrating (and expensive) experience...

Oh that's a shame, I guess you were prepared for it though with the first sailing being sold out.

Brilliant, thanks all for this info!

I'm sorry, I feel sure this has been asked and answered previously but I have searched and come up with nothing specifically for QM2. Can anyone please advise the showtimes on QM2? Also, does the time vary, or is it the same every evening?

Thanks for that idea; I never think of pre downloading video but it's obviously a good idea to do so. I remember a recent Regent cruise, where we both got norovirus and it was really good to have their on demand TV to keep us from climbing the walls which is the reason for the question.

Thanks for the reply. I guess the youtube video was out of date. We had a very short QM2 break as a taster last year and I don't remember a DVD player either, although I wasn't really looking for one. It's no big deal, but would be useful in the event of one of us getting Covid perhaps!

Hmm, the larger table probably wouldn't work for us as we do intend to eat on the earlier side, but thanks for the info. Hope you are enjoying your cruise!

Interesting question and answer. We've wondered about this also. We tend to eat just as a couple and have avoided a larger table partly, but not wholly, because we weren't sure what to expect in terms of when we can and can't eat, or can and can't leave. We hate to hang around waiting for people but wouldn't want to appear rude by starting before others arrived or leaving before others have finished. We have done the same thing as the OP - enjoyed a table for 2 but chatted with neighbouring tables.

That's good to know (about Coriander). We love Indian food. Shame about the people ignoring the signs though.

Thank you Yaldi, that's most helpful. We've only been on the QM2 once, and that was for a very short break just to see whether it was our cup of tea, or not. I don't recall having seen these dining options, but perhaps they only have them on longer sailings. Good to know, and thanks again..