Reflections on a TransAtlantic Crossing

[Bigmike911]

I got home tonight from a twelve day voyage, which included a two day Southampton to Hamburg voyage and a ten day TransAtlantic from Hamburg to NYC with stops in Southampton and Le Havre. To sum it up it was a wonderful trip. To Hamburg and back I traveled with two wonderful English friends. We were able to enjoy four dinners and other meals in the Queens Grill and drinks at various venues around the ship. They are such fun to be with.  We also did a tour around Hamburg and got to see a number of interesting sights including the Miniatur Wunderland which the kid in this 75 year old got a real kick out of.

 

From Southampton home I was solo. It was my first solo, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the freedom. I particularly enjoyed having the whole Penthouse to myself for 12 days, and with a wonderful butler and team.I met new friends, enjoyed wonderful food and did a couple of meals that I would not other wise have done. Fish and Chips in the pub, a hot dog and fries at the boardwalk cafe and a light lunch in the Carinthia Lounge as well as several off menu items in Queens Grill.  In Le Havre, I visited Honfleur and had a wonderful time and ate some great seafood. Am I going to do it again, Yes, in July of 2020 and 2021. Hamburg to NYC and in 2021 with another stop in Le Havre,  I will probably go to the American beaches. Those who went to the British beaches thought it a very worthwhile trip.

 

Finally thanks to Delta for a great trip from LGA to IAH in a brand new Airbus 220 (built by Bombardier) a great flight and great food. United are you listening, you need to up your act and match Delta. 

 

 

[T5LHR]

Glad you had a great time! 🙂 

 

And gosh, a Penthouse all to yourself, what a dream that is! 

[bunkrest]

Sounds like you had a great time, out of interest did you go along to any of the solo get togethers or just happy doing your own thing.

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for reporting back, it sounds like a wonderful trip.

Was this the "Space" crossing ? Did you go to any of the special events ? If there were any !

[Bigmike911]

Yes, this was the Space Week, and Cunard did very well with speakers related to space. On my 25th Birthday, fifty years ago we landed on the moon for the first time, so I grew up around the space story. I was very interesting to get other perspectives from professionals to augment my own vicarious experience. 

 

I didn't seek out any of the solo meetings, but did meet a couple of other solo travelers. For the most part folks around me in the Grill Restaurant seemed to go out of their way to be kind to me, say a few nice words and that was very appreciated. 

 

And yes, Hattie it was a wonderful trip. 

[MCC retired]

We enjoyed this same crossing this week .

Our lowly Britannia Balcony was on the starboard ,( northern ) side , Not normally the best side (sunny) for a westbound crossing but ended but a great location as there was little sun this trip anyway .

Starboard side was away from the strong winds making the balcony usable most every day.

Space Week theme was interesting. 

We found great improvement in food choices and quality in the Kings Court for Breakfast and Lunch , over all 5 previous QM2 sailings we have been on.

Service excellent as usual.

Crew was always out there handling the rusty spots but it is a losing battle .

Heard the QM2 is going into a needed drydock  Nov. 2020 , none too soon.

Edited October 5, 2019 by MCC retired

[TheOldBear]

We did the Brooklyn to Brooklyn round trip - sheltered balcony, deck 5.

 

i don’t recall seeing the Boardwalk open, at least I never noticed any tables on deck 12.

 

We chose this round trip as the eastbound crossing was the National Symphony, the space week westbound and Steve Payne on the Hamburg legs were nice. It did seem that Steve Payne was the only other person wearing a QM2 tie.

 

Our only disappointment was that we both picked up a nasty sinus infection - still working through the medication from my third medical center visit. 

 

[FritzG]

We were on the Southampton to NYC portion of the cruise.  We were in Princess Grill, and we loved every minute of the cruise.  It would have been nice to have better weather as we were on the port side, and we could barely open our balcony door some days because of the winds.  We had such a wonderful trip that we booked a 27 day NYC to Southampton to Norway to Southampton to NYC next year.