buchanan101

The only time we saw anything crowded on our crossing was the Carinthia lounge on a bad weather day and that merely looked a bit busy.

Turned my 8 in to 😎... For and aft on 4,5,6 are ocean view - just a non opening porthole. Sheltered balconies are more midships. Seem a pretty good compromise to me on a winter crossing (having said that we went QG in October 22 but made sure it was south facing - and was very pleasant - a sun trap whilst the other side was cold). In summer I'd probably do the opposite All well laid out on the Cunard deckplans https://www.cunard.com/content/dam/cunard/inventory-assets/ships/QM/9/QM2_accessible_deckplan_Feb2022a.pdf

Sheltered is in the hull (decks 4,5,6) So you have a window like opening in the hull on the balcony and below the opening is metal. These are lower down (obviously) so you can look directly down to the water, and on a bad weather crossing you get more protection. Some people swear by them - enough open air, but sheltered more.. Balconies are in the superstructure so have a more open balcony and it's glass fronted. Partially obstructed are balconies (so glass fronted) but with lifeboats in front (deck 😎

Agree - in UK I pay TA (who don't even take Amex). I can't get ,my Amex points or Avios that way, but a 5% discount is worth more. I can't see how legally they could use my card details to pay Cunard direct

The 25 hours also allows more food to be consumed... trying to fit 3 or 4 meals in to a 23 hours day must be tricky

Don't know - maybe one would think they are after a younger demographic, but do you *have* to be younger to appreciate a more modern design? Design is design...

The QM2 outside the restaurants has virtually no distinction by cabin class. Grills get a rather ordinary lounge and a small dark (interior) concierge room and a smallish deck area - and priority embarkation and disembarkation. Everything else is open to everyone and you cannot tell who is travelling in what cabin. Clothes - don't have to be fancy, just smart enough - there are endless arguments on here about what the dress code actually says, but on board no one really cares that much - sounds like you won't be trying to dine in jeans anyway, so you'd be fine. You may think QM2 is a modern day class ridden Titanic but in reality it is nothing like that

I'm very happy that portion sizes aren't that big. with 3 (or 4 meals, including tea) I want tasty food in smallish amounts. As you say, you can always get more. QA not copying the other Queens is a good thing for the company as it has added 45% more berths so needs to expand who it appeals to, though I hope that both QA and QM2 appeal to me. Was a little tiresome to see comments on here complaining that it wasn't like other Queens, especially by one person who was criticising things.... then saying that they only ever go on QM2 on crossings. Why come here and comment in the first place...?

Waiting for yours 😉

Yes that is a bit suspicious. Could be simple finger trouble though…

I did find it in the end. All the reports from the message boards seem to be good though.

Is the Grills deck area still unpoliced?

I've not seen anything but positive comments on the boards I have no mixed feelings for June - looking forward very much to it where are these reviews as there isn't any section for Queen Anne yet?

Ah! That set menu must be the option I have with the Luxury Gift Package I bought - includes a meal at Sir Samuels or Aji Wa. I think we'll go Aji Wa. Given that the package was in a sale for ~$400, that's a third back there!

How busy is the ship in general? We are in PG next month - and the Grills Terrace was part of the attraction (and the infinity hot tubs). You can get afternoon tea on deck?!

Suspecting mixing nationalities is part of it. Our very near neighbours in QM2 QG (effectively same table, but 30cm away) were British and Swiss. Got on better with the Swiss - there's more to talk about with different nationalities...

I don't know, with the money you are paying for a drinks package...

From what I've seen on VLogs the tiles don't *look* plastic; many comments about the quality of tiles

One slight tweak to this is if you are travelling Grills tea and coffee are free in the Grills lounge (and Grills and BClub have reasonable pod coffee - Illy - in the rooms). And I believe you can get specialty coffees with any meal in any of the main restaurants (haven't tried but I think it was in a Gary Bembridge Vlog).

I get that aspect...and the cocktail comment....so I thought let's go and look how much it costs for next month as i might be tempted $1008 for the two of us for 7 days Even though the $/£ rate has improved since the days of my last Cunard (just after Liz Truss did her stuff - which made NYC even more expensive than normal), it's still £800 so I think we'll do it piecemeal! They don't have prices for the two wine collections online any more - 6 bottles of wine - I may ring up and find out what that costs!

You'd still need to do the maths - some of the pricier drinks I don't think are included (cocktails above a certain value). Still that's not the main decision you have to make!!

We are off at end of June this year on QA, so be interesting to see how many children on board. I'm sure @Surprise50th there will be plenty of comments on here about how many children there are on a Cunard QA June cruise The 3000 has concerned me, but no one yet seems to have said that the QA seems crowded, and there is loads of topside deck space and a lot of lounges etc. I wish they'd get rid of all 3rd party shops though - they are a waste of space. 3000 is still fewer than most P&Os. Iona currently in fjords: 5206+. Britannia 3647+. Ventura and Azura have marginally more passengers than QA, but i couldn't go on them as they have to be amongst the ugliest cruise ships at sea...

Drinks packages - you have to both be fairly heavy consumers of drinks to get the value from a Cunard drinks packages. Others have done the sums, but too much for me and OH! Some of the fjords will in theory be out of bounds to any cruise ship after this year - that's why we bought forward our planned trip to this year, but seems that it's 2026 - UNESCO World Heritage. Not sure if the locals at Flam etc will be too happy. Of course this doesn't affect your choice of P&O or Cunard as no one has eligible ships though there now seems to be some sort of offsetting possible https://www.dnv.com/expert-story/maritime-impact/latest-updates-on-proposed-rules-for-zero-emissions-in-Norways-World-Heritage-fjords/

Indeed. On our crossing we went to Steakhouse once, but ate every other meal in QG. Will do one or two options on QA in a few weeks. @Liao I think you'll be fine in QG restaurant; I think the first timers are given tables that are "separate" but are only apart by about 30cm. It worked great for us - we could chat with others when they or us felt like it, but you don't have to as you are on your own table. Grills in QA looks a bit less cosy

QM2 QG restaurant has tables for 2 close together.. at least ours were. We were effectively on a table for 2 but also on a table for 6 when we wanted to be (chatting to the tables on either side). Best of both worlds and sounds exactly what you are looking for. Ask the maitre'd for a table in the middle of a row of tables for 2...