Just returned - Eatbound Transatlantic

[UK Geoff]

I am not one for great detailed reviews of my cruises, but I thought I would make a few points on my holiday experience on QM2

 

I can honestly say I have never been treated so wonderfully on any holiday in my life. From start to finish the entire Crew were friendly, helpful, and went the extra mile.

 

You might recall i originally booked an inside Atrium cabin. That was upgraded to da Deck 8 Balcony cabin before the trip. Once at the pier, they upgraded us to an A1 premium on deck 12. Words failed me. A quite wonderful room - I can only dream as to what the "grill" accomodation offers, because room 12040 exceeded all our expectations. We were invited to the Captains cocktail party - We had the Chief Engineer as host on our (wonderful) dining table. Our waiters were the best we have ever had at a sea.

 

A brief list of the main sapects of the holiday.

 

 

NYC - Sheraton hotel - despite some mixed reviews the hotel met all expectations. The location was great, and as for NYC - I WILL be back - I thoroughly loved the place.

 

Transfers - all with a minimum of fuss

 

Embarkation - straight through, with barely any queues - with the highlight of the additional upgrade

 

 

Cruise highlights

 

The sailaway - slightly delayed but this meant Manhatten was lit up - very special moment for me and my wife.

 

Sailing under the narrows bridge - how the funnell didnt hit the bridge I'll never know!

 

Won the Bingo 3 times :D

 

Met some wonderful people on our Table

 

The meals - my seat is creaking as I type!

 

 

Downers

 

Very few to be honest, but I must just mention the smell of cigarette smoke which billed out the Golden Lion pub and down the Corridor to reception. Yuk!

 

The cruise director - way too smarmy and full of himself!

 

The pianists - PLEASE dont try and sing in the bars. The one called Brian was tone deaf!

 

 

Overall though, my Cunard experience was on I WILL be repeating. The QM2 is a wonderful ship, and the staff and crew mirror that.

 

Well done to all

[guernseyguy]

Geoff,

 

Thanks for posting your thoughts and delighted you had a great time!

 

Did you have any 'weather' on your crossing? I've wondered about the higher up cabins and whether they would feel the motion more - I know the Queens Grill penthouses on QE2 are not the favoured location in a North Atlantic storm.

 

Peter

[capegirl]

Thanks Geoff! You have made my day - cruising to Caribbean for Christmas and was extremely worried due to bad threads! But will look forward to it now after your excellent report!

[UK Geoff]

Geoff,

 

Thanks for posting your thoughts and delighted you had a great time!

 

Did you have any 'weather' on your crossing? I've wondered about the higher up cabins and whether they would feel the motion more - I know the Queens Grill penthouses on QE2 are not the favoured location in a North Atlantic storm.

 

Peter

 

We were on a millpond for the first 3 days, but the swell picked up on day 4. Force 8 winds according to the captain.

 

At no time did we feel uncomfortable with the motion of the ship.

 

The cabin was central, and the gentle rocking sent me to sleep wonderfully every night.

 

Thre stabilisers worked an absolute treat

[bonni99]

 

The cruise director - way too smarmy and full of himself!

 

 

We thought this on our May crossing- we had hoped that by the time we went on the Explorers Caribbean on Dec 8, that Cunard may have had the sense to replace him!! No such luck seemingly!!

[whylion]

I am incredibly jealous -- I NEVER win Bingo and had to give it up due to extreme frustration.

Congratulations

[cruiseskeptic]

We were also on the Oct. 20, crossing, and largely agree with the points made by UK Geoff. We were fortunate enough to travel in Queens Grill, and thought we would offer some additional thoughts.

 

The Queens Grill cabin itself is spectacular. Don't know how we will return to the smaller balcony cabins we normally book on cruises.

 

Queens Grill dining was truly wonderful. We had a variety of special requests during the week -- all of which were overfulfilled by wonderfully attentive staff.

 

The concierges for Queens Grill passengers were a total loss. My wife had a variety of requests regarding reservations and menus for the dining in Chef's Galley, etc, and no one ever had the information -- or ever got back to us. Inexcusable.

 

Room service breakfasts were lousy (the egg dishes long since had died, and were brought to us ready for burial at sea) until we directly involved our butler, who personally took charge both of the ordering and delivery to the room.

 

Entertainment on this crossing was far better than generally encountered on ships. The singer Jeri Sager was by far the best talent we have ever seen on a cruise.

 

The three performances by RADA (particularly the Chekhov) were as good as anything to be found either in the West End or on Broadway.

 

The ship's casino is a very pleasant room in which to gamble.

 

The overall decor of the ship is extraordinarily tasteful and attractive, in an understated way.

 

The cigarette smoke in the lounges was bad enough to keep us from settling down to listen to the pianists, but perhaps that was okay -- since the one we did stay to hear was at least as bad as UK Geoff suggests.

 

But overall, this was certainly the best six days we have spent at sea -- and ranks up there among the best six-day-periods of our lives. We unhesitatingly would sail the QM2 again -- anywhere.

 

If any of you have questions you would like to pose directly, feel free to email me at milt@savvy-cruiser.com.

[sean of the seas]

I am incredibly jealous -- I NEVER win Bingo and had to give it up due to extreme frustration.

Congratulations

 

hi on our first cruise after 6 days crossing the pond we won £1800 on the last game of bingo, were also invited to the captains table , and to top it all when we arrived in barbados concord flew over us and dipped its wings what a start to cruising.

 

cheers sean

[travel-to-go]

<LOL>

Eatbound?

May have been a typo, but I rather think it fitting description to most cruises I have been on!

 

Too bad about the smoke. You would think they would find a way to adjust the ventilation to pull the smoke up and out- It can be done! I am seriously sensitive to it- Had a complete respiratory failure a number of years ago that led me to my first (Cunard) cruise. I decided "life could be short..." Always wanted to go on a cruise. Been doing one every year since!

 

Great review

Will avoid the pianist's singing and the smarmy CD- Everyone seems to think he is "not the hilight of their trip" to put it politely!

 

Thanks

[robken]

Love to hear about the trip really loooking forward to the crossing in April

 

Tks

Ken