Review Of Our Qm2 Double Transatlantic/mediterranean Cruise 5-4-05 To 5-28-05

[mncyclist]

Kitycaty:

 

What a coincidence that you had Barna and Laurence (Fifi) as two of your three waiters! The two of them, plus their former teammate, Annika from South Africa, did a wonderful job serving us in QG. It was largely because of them that we had every dinner of the crossing and every other meal but two there. Annika was just about to leave service on QM2, but the three of them signed our menu packet, which I am still referring to from time to time. I would also agree that Senior Maitre d'Hotel, Beniamino Acler, was also very nice and warmly welcomed us every time we entered the restaurant and checked on us several times during the meal. For us, the Queens Grill was the highlight, and the vegetarian and spa menu selections, as well as the excellent side orders of things like freshly steamed asparagus kept us very happy. One small touch that I personally enjoyed was the candied ginger, available with the After Eight dinner mints, positioned by the entry. I love ginger (it's supposed to aid digestion, too), so I grabbed a large handful after every meal!

 

I'll take your word for it about the occupancy as you seem to have unusual connections. Even though our experience was different than yours, I still enjoyed your review. It must have been nice to have spent so much time on board, as our six day crossing went by too quickly.

 

Charles

[Kitycaty]

Likewise, mncyclist, they really made our trip and we were happy to be their guests for a month! Laurence so funny and clever and Barna so dead-pan and serious, and all of a sudden he'd crack a funny joke and break us up!

Both really a joy to get to know! :)

B.J.

[JPEvans]

I'm not sure why people snub thier noses at discounts. Most Americans are driven by a "good buy" that's what our society has become. How many people on the message board wouldn't love to get a crossing for $799. I don't think anyone would not book because it's beneth them to take a discount. Also a transatlantic crossing has a very narrow appeal. Most mainstream Americans have to desire to go to Europe. Most of them are happy sailing the Caribbean. Of course the Cunard is going to have discounts to fill the ship. No ship sailing isn't offering somesort of discounts.

[guernseyguy]

I'm not sure why people snub thier noses at discounts. Most Americans are driven by a "good buy" that's what our society has become.

 

JPEvans,

 

Not 'become' - it has long (always?) been thus. On the original Queen Mary the staff used to reckon that the 'best' people travelled Cabin Class at Tourist Class prices - never mind all that dreadful 'new money' up in First class! As one of the vieux pauvre I heartily agree!

 

Peter

[Paul NH]

JPEvans,

 

I would agree that there are positive effects - to our wallets - from discounting.

 

However, this system, in my opinion, has dumbed down America in many ways. Service is mediocre to downright bad at a majority of places, and chain-run businesses have taken over Main Street to take advantage of economies of scale - making one town look the same as the other.

 

It would be nice if QM2 did not fall into the same mass marketing mode (Will we be greeted as we enter every public room with "Hi, how are you today? ... sound familiar?).

 

Paul

[bonni99]

Listen 2Moose, how dare you find it necessary to post your insults here? The purpose of this board is for people to share their cruise experiences with others, both postive and negative. Kitycaty took an inordinate amount of time to share her views of her cruise with all of us and your ignorant bullying tone is just what it takes to deter others from sharing their honest experiences. In the future keep your ignorance and inuendo to yourself!!!!!!!!! I too was on one of the transatlantic sailings Kitycaty was on but in a standard Britania balcony cabin so I cannot comment on Queen's Grill accomodations. We found most everyone quite courteous and accomodations quite comfortable. And I for one am certainly glad I did not meet YOU or anyone like you aboard.

 

Here here i couldnt agree more!

[mtbny7]

I had her as my server (w/ Steven) in the Britannia Grill on QE 2 in 2001... they were both AMAZING. I am thrilled to hear she is still working for Cunard!

 

Michael

[decocamp]

Kitycaty,

 

Fascinating review! We were on the Mediterranean Explorer also and I enjoy reading what you experienced. We had better luck with the steward for our B-6 cabin. However, we were very impressed by QE2 Caronia Restaurant staff on a previous crossing and find the Britannia dining room service lacking.

 

We are book on the Constellation for 2006 and I would love to hear your thoughts on their food and dining room service.

[Kitycaty]

Hi Decocamp!

 

I think you'll enjoy Celebrity's Constellation. We took her for a two week "British Isles/Norwegian Fjords" cruise when she was brand new, and loved her. Because of her turbine engines, there was very little vibration on the ship, unlike QM2. Beds and pillows were much more comfortable than QM2's, and much more variety in the pillow menu.

 

Fyi, we went "Conceirge Class" which just fit our bill, (pun intended). We found the main dining room service just fine, the food was very good, and we dined 3 or 4 times in Ocean Liners (the premium restaurant) which was simply terrific, and well worth the surcharge. Their buffet (Seaside Cafe), was terrific, plenty of choices, and staff to help you to your table and set you up, which wasn't occurring in the King's Court on QM2, and a fantastic view with views also through the floor via large scooped out areas you could see through, and, most important, it was clean! Wait 'til you see it!

 

Our stateroom was always kept neat and clean, and the room and steward service actually exceeded that which we got on our recent Q-5 class QM2 cruise discussed above. Room service breakfasts were always delicious which was not the case on QM2. Of course, the dining room service in the San Marco restaurant was not as good, having only one waiter (we had 3 in Queen's Grill), but Constellation's San Marco Restaurant is not a "Queen's Grill class" dining room. Still, our waiter managed quite well and was very likeable. However, service and food quality in Ocean Liners equalled or exceeded the Queen's Grill. There will not be the "perks" afforded to Queen's Grill class passengers en suite, but Celebrity came pretty close, i.e., fresh flowers, fruit and welcome bottle of champagne. They even replaced the champagne at no charge when we praised the quality of it and we found a fresh bottle in our stateroom every night thereafter! We also found the variety of canapes better on Celebrity (they were the same every night on QM2) and became boring after awhile. Same amount of caviar in them on Celebrity, surprisingly, (guess operating costs have gone up too much for Cunard, as they were very stingy with their caviar, which was unexpected). However, you will not receive a liquor menu offering two free bottles of your favorite whiskey, champagne or wine on the Constellation, but we brought all of it home anyway.

 

If you can do it, the best value on the Constellation is a "Conceirge Class" stateroom, but if you can spring for a "Sky Suite" you'll be more comfortable, as they have more room and equal the Princess Grill class stateroom on QM2, imo.

 

Excusions were handled extremely well and as stated in my review of QM2, I was given a wheelchair and pusher to disembark for excursions on Celebrity, and the chair was very happily placed in the "hold" on the bus for the bus driver to unload, and my husband subsequently to push.

 

My feeling regarding Cunard and British Air is that they are totally inflexible, and virtually impossible people to deal with while traveling, to the point of extreme frustration! They have always been this way whenever we've traveled with them, and we were sad to find that nothing much has changed (we had severe problems dealing with British Air on our Celebrity Cruise) and they gave us a very difficult time about almost everything, coming and going. Because of this, we would hesitate before taking another Cunard Cruise or ever flying British Air again!

 

The only negative thing I've heard about the Constellation since our voyage, is that they now are in partnership with Cirque de Soleil who have taken over the "Reflections" lounge with their scenery, props, etc., which blocks the fantastic view from this terrific lounge, but I've not personally experienced it since we were onboard before this partnership, so you'll have to report back to me, as I'm curious to know if they've obstructed the lounge's fabulous view, as many people have reported back. I can tell you that there was nothing like getting up at 6 A.M. and entering the Fjords, watching from this lounge. Simply awesome! I'd hate to see it lose any part of it's viewing area!

 

We also felt that in general, the crew and staff on Celebrity's Constellation were much more cordial, savvy and sincere than the Cunard QM2 staff, and we sure wish that their ships did transatlantic voyages. The line is known in the industry for the sincerity and cordiality of their crew and staff.

 

To sum it up, we'd definitely cruise with Celebrity again, but not on Cunard, sadly...

 

Feel free to ask anything else that crosses your mind before you board...I wish you a wonderful voyage on this great ship!

 

All the best,

B.J. :D

[decocamp]

Kitycaty,

 

Wow! That's a lot of good information and certainly more than I had hoped. Having experienced QM2, I especially appreciate your detail comparisons. I can almost see it in my mind's eye...

 

We booked a Baltic cruise Dover return so will visit some of the ports you covered. I managed to get a Concierge Class cabin with the large aft balcony that many on CC recommended. So you can see I am very happy that your review reconfirmed our choices.

 

Cunard gave us BA returns on our crossing. We certainly did not enjoy the experience. BA seems to have the tightest economy class seat on transatlantic flights compared to others. It took way over an hour to get through the long check-in line at Heathrow. We too have avoided BA eversince.

 

Best regards,

decocamp

[harrodsfan]

recently returned from a qm2 cruise in the grill cat.MAGNIFICENT!!! FOOD, SERVICE EVERY THING WAS PERFECT!! COULDNT BE BETTER!!!! I TRULY BELIEVE SOME PEOPLE CANNOT BE SATISFIED, COULD THIS BE YOU ?????????? I'M GLAD WE DID'NT MEET PEOPLE LIKE YOU ON OUR CRUISE!!!!

Did Cunard write this???