buchanan101

It's only the recliner seats under the planetarium dome... And as the QM2 has the only planetarium* at sea then no other cruise line will have broken planetarium seats... so the comparison is somewhat moot (*same shows are in the NYC Natural History museum)

Likewise. I really don't get people who think it's close on falling apart. Was expecting it to be shabby given reports, but it was in excellent, not perfect condition. A bit of rust, but it's at sea 6 days out of 7, all year round (Some dodgy window frames on low down decks), but... Oh, and the broken seats in Illuminations - only some under the Planetarium dome On QA in 18 months time - that should be gleaming and spotless...

Just get there at 3:25; yes it's busy and yes the service is poorer, but we headed for seats by the windows (deck 3 on QM2 so low down) and had great views of the room and the sea

QM2 tea in October was either Grills' Lounge or Queens Room Lounge tea was better - the tea itself and the food and the speed of service, but the atmosphere in the QR is better. Did both (not on the same day, mind)

Mostly accidental - though I cropped using rule of thirds; no colour tweaking or anything

The lighting is great, and a total accident...just would have been nice to have had more resolution in the picture... It's no good as a PC desktop image so I will just have to stick with my skiing one...

It's a shame that the fading daylight meant that the resolution is rubbish

Just about the same as our experience back in October. Only asked if vaccinated (no proof required) and took a couple of minutes to check ESTAs Ridiculous numbers of staff! This was the QM2 on your day of departure in Southampton... (was unfortunately just boarding the IoW ferry at 16:30)

A general question - so maybe in the wrong place - is there a full range of shore excursions bookable before departure at exactly the same price - or discounted - as on board? (Thinking for Norwegian fjords - all i booked before travel on QM2 to NYC was a Verandah meal)

@techteach thanks. Am rather pleased. Wish I could take good photos that aren’t mostly accidents (I did use the “rule of thirds” in the cropped version. iPhone edit even puts the grid lines on for that. Works well)

No it really was just an accident of the light - it was pretty dim, so the camera adjusted. The resolution is poor - optical 2.5x zoom but then digitally zoomed.

Just an iPhone and the rapidly fading light. I should’ve cropped it. Shown it to OH. She said “no you didn’t take that”…

Just on the Isle of Wight ferry in Southampton and feeling very jealous…

Pre-buying OBC would stop the double-until-we-bother-refunding-it-two-weeks-later method of charging for on board spend Cunard use for any spend over OBC.

It’s strange that there’s a ramp part way down the central corridor- it’s like they didn’t manage to line the two parts up correctly

Yep. There’s only one liner in the world. Doesn’t mean QA won’t be an experience. Can still be luxurious.

23rd June for me... so presumably for OP

Isn't it warmer at sea?! (Yes freezing here in Cambridge, but lovely...) Enjoy!

They were out painting on the last two days of our late October crossing. OK, the rearmost port side window in Queens Room was badly rusted at the bottom, and had been leaking, but that's all I really noticed in the "run down" category that some seem to be a bit obsessed by. That and the planetarium seats. Oh, and a few lifts weren't working, but never had to wait more than a few seconds. Having said that, looking forward to a brand new ship in summer 2024, to see what the most modern take on Cunard style luxury is... assuming no major teething problems

Was on QM2 in October. This "facelift" stuff was mostly nonsense in my opinion; sure she is possibly due, but she looked mighty fine to me. The staterooms were revamped in 2016 (?) so they wouldn't be changed - I like the look of them compared with what they looked like before (from Youtube videos). The bathrooms are a little old, but fine. There's some rust, and there are chairs in the Planetarium area of Illuminations that are broken (the recline mechanism), but other than that?

Indeed it is right next door to the A2s - most of the difference is going to be dining and a few extras like coffee machine, priority embarkation (according to brochure received this week) so easy to see you are getting the BC benefits. The Cunard site shows the mirror room as being BC... Good choice then for the extra space, but I guess a bit more wind on your balcony... We are on same cruise, same deck (in one of the P1s) - yes, hope it is indeed ready

It can cross the Atlantic in as little as 4 or 5 days - but max speed is a lot more expensive in fuel. I think the crossings used to be fewer nights (anyone? Was it 5?). It’s faster than cruise ships (max ~ 30 knots v QV ~ 24 knots)

Surely the period is the same, but in anti-phase, just like noise cancellation Works fine with a steady noise, or wave period, but if the wave period varied could be problematic - but I guess that can't really happen QE, QV, QA only have two azipods don't they - do they also provide the steering?

I know they won't stop it - I was joking - also they are reactive I assume; predictive stablisers would be interesting. Rolling is more uncomfortable than pitching I think... (QM2 was also yawing a bit as the sea was from the starboard bow) All very interesting...I am now deep in to google and Metacentric height etc.. (I'm an engineer, so it's all very interesting) A blog post about the original QM before it had stablisers fitted 🤢 https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1265090-RMS-Queen-Mary-Prior-to-Stabilizers-An-Engineers-Story

Sounds worse than Ticketmaster with their Springsteen and Taylor Swift tickets...