QM2 Mixed Review: Some deferred maintenance, poor food, but a delight otherwise

[escrick]

I have a question for Bitob:  What is the entertainment like on luxury smaller ships these days?  I am looking forward to taking our first cruise on Cunard because of theatre shows and their lecture programs.  Forgetting the size of staterooms, I found the entertainment on smaller ships more like cabaret than anything else.  Please, I would like to hear a tad more about entertainment.  FYI, on our Cunard cruise we will be in a QG Penthouse, certainly not massive but big enough for this short person🙂.  Comments welcome about size as well as shows.  Sorry if I am off topic too much.

 

 

 

 

[bitob]

59 minutes ago, D&N said:

But do they have dancing every night with a dance floor even half the size of the Queens Rooms?

Is it not more of a smart casual country club? Would anyone be put out if I dressed in tux and my wife in gowns/glitzy cocktail dress every night?

Every line is different. Silversea has formal optional nights. You will see tuxes and gowns. same on seabourn.  Regent is resort casual. All lines have dancing to live music but not to be compared to Cunard. no need for a large ballroom with fewer than 1000 guests. Crystal has dance hosts 

regent has marvelous tea daily 

All have entertainment and interesting lecturers 

 

These lines are not comparable to Cunard

some overlapping elements 

many differences

food far superior on lux lines with several specialty restaurants, most with no charge

 

you choose what elements matter most to you

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bitob]

1 hour ago, escrick said:

I have a question for Bitob:  What is the entertainment like on luxury smaller ships these days?  I am looking forward to taking our first cruise on Cunard because of theatre shows and their lecture programs.  Forgetting the size of staterooms, I found the entertainment on smaller ships more like cabaret than anything else.  Please, I would like to hear a tad more about entertainment.  FYI, on our Cunard cruise we will be in a QG Penthouse, certainly not massive but big enough for this short person🙂.  Comments welcome about size as well as shows.  Sorry if I am off topic too much.

 

 

 

 

Ph is larger. Great

entertainment varies by ship and by cruise

old crystal was known for entertainment and lectures but when it went under we tried the other lines. Not much difference. Lots of talent everywhere. Often same people

 

Singers. Comedians. Musicians. Limited production shows. Smaller but a lot of talent

every cruise is different 

 

as example on my queen eliz ta the shows were worthy of west end ( i am a Broadway baby. I know what’s good) I went to see one production show here on qm2. 2 female singers ok. 2 male singers ghastly. Dancers amateurish. I was shocked

[bitob]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Undoubtedly true, but what does that tell us about QG?

Tells us to check the size of suite when you ask for queens grill. 

[escrick]

2 minutes ago, bitob said:

Ph is larger. Great

entertainment varies by ship and by cruise

old crystal was known for entertainment and lectures but when it went under we tried the other lines. Not much difference. Lots of talent everywhere. Often same people

 

Singers. Comedians. Musicians. Limited production shows. Smaller but a lot of talent

every cruise is different 

 

as example on my queen eliz ta the shows were worthy of west end ( i am a Broadway baby. I know what’s good) I went to see one production show here on qm2. 2 female singers ok. 2 male singers ghastly. Dancers amateurish. I was shocked

Thanks for answering my question.

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, bitob said:

Tells us to check the size of suite when you ask for queens grill. 

I would never dream of doing anything else, helped by the brochure which has helpful pictures of nearly all categories. Why would anyone not?

[bitob]

57 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I would never dream of doing anything else, helped by the brochure which has helpful pictures of nearly all categories. Why would anyone not?

Because someone posted that qg suites are 2000 sq feet. Lol

[techteach]

We love QM2 QG. We’ve been in QG5 and QG4 and loved the penthouse. But we want to have other options so we’re sailing next week on Oceania, a short 7 day, close to home (2 hour flight) cruise. We have a suite over 750sqft. Making it close to the penthouse on Cunard. Unless there is something special for the entertainment that isn’t a deciding factor for us. Food is critical. I’m looking into Silversea, Regent, and Seabourn for 2025. I am appreciating the information and tone of this discussion @bitob.

[bitob]

58 minutes ago, techteach said:

We love QM2 QG. We’ve been in QG5 and QG4 and loved the penthouse. But we want to have other options so we’re sailing next week on Oceania, a short 7 day, close to home (2 hour flight) cruise. We have a suite over 750sqft. Making it close to the penthouse on Cunard. Unless there is something special for the entertainment that isn’t a deciding factor for us. Food is critical. I’m looking into Silversea, Regent, and Seabourn for 2025. I am appreciating the information and tone of this discussion @bitob.

We used to sail Oceania. 15 cruises. Then we moved to the true luxury lines. You will enjoy Oceania. The food will be better than qm2 and the specialty restaurants are excellent. It is resort casual 

 

don’t expect much from entertainment and you will not be disappointed

 

im told the 2 new ships vista and Allura are spectacular 

 

 

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, bitob said:

Because someone posted that qg suites are 2000 sq feet. Lol

Some of them are. But surely even a moron in a hurry would realise there might be some differences between a Q1 and a Q6, given the different names?

Edited September 22, 2023 by exlondoner

[bitob]

58 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Some of them are. But surely even a moron in a hurry would realise there might be some differences between a Q1 and a Q6, given the different names?

Maybe. But I recall being on an Oceania cruise where a woman brought 6 ball gowns and had no idea that she would have to pay extra for shore excursions.  Never underestimate how clueless some people can be!!  No one on these boards, of course. Lol

[D&N]

8 minutes ago, bitob said:

im told the 2 new ships vista and Allura are spectacular 

The person who is going to make our booking in a few weeks was on an agents preview of Vista recently and posted lots of photos on Facebook. It looked absolutely beautiful.

But it's not a liner and I don't think it does non stop trips from Europe to New York and then return immediately.

They were on Explora recently too. Again the photos were lovely.

 

But it's certainly not what we want from a ship. Nor is QG. We spend as little time in cabin as possible so larger cabins are just a waste of space to us.

Like I think you said earlier; depends what you are looking for.

[bitob]

1 hour ago, D&N said:

The person who is going to make our booking in a few weeks was on an agents preview of Vista recently and posted lots of photos on Facebook. It looked absolutely beautiful.

But it's not a liner and I don't think it does non stop trips from Europe to New York and then return immediately.

They were on Explora recently too. Again the photos were lovely.

 

But it's certainly not what we want from a ship. Nor is QG. We spend as little time in cabin as possible so larger cabins are just a waste of space to us.

Like I think you said earlier; depends what you are looking for.

And there are so many good choices. I cruise regularly with a bunch of friends I met years ago on Oceania. No one will join us on Cunard. They refuse to dress up and don’t like the “class system”

 

important thing imo is to recognize that every cruise line is different and there is a need to do research before you book. Thankfully there is cruise critic for that

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, bitob said:

And there are so many good choices. I cruise regularly with a bunch of friends I met years ago on Oceania. No one will join us on Cunard. They refuse to dress up and don’t like the “class system”

 

important thing imo is to recognize that every cruise line is different and there is a need to do research before you book. Thankfully there is cruise critic for that

It is indeed most important to avoid misapprehensions, as about cabin size, or the rather bizarre idea there is a class system on Cunard, whatever that may be.

[bitob]

57 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

It is indeed most important to avoid misapprehensions, as about cabin size, or the rather bizarre idea there is a class system on Cunard, whatever that may be.

It’s a “you get what you pay for” system I tell them 

[Whipsnade]

You don’t go on Cunard for the food, even in Princess or Queens Grill. Pretty mediocre. And due to their size they can’t get into great ports like Hong Kong and NYC. Getting on snd off more like a cattle or sheep ship. Take a number and wait!

On the entertainment front hard to beat the talent or venues. Spectacular. And then there is real ball room dancing every night. We were on a QM2 cruise. Never again. But we would do a crossing anytime it fits our schedule. 

[Victoria2]

2 hours ago, bitob said:

Because someone posted that qg suites are 2000 sq feet. Lol

LOL as much as you want bitob but that 'someone', was me and yes, my reply to you re size of suites not being large was to tell you the size of our suite on Victoria. Granted, not all are anywhere near that size but it shows you that there are cabins of size

so

want a large suite on Victoria? Then book a large suite on Victoria. 🙂

 

[Victoria2]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

No but there is a big difference between a Q1 and Q5. It's difficult to generalise.

It is and that's why it's not a terribly good idea to do so.

[exlondoner]

56 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

You don’t go on Cunard for the food, even in Princess or Queens Grill. Pretty mediocre. And due to their size they can’t get into great ports like Hong Kong and NYC. Getting on snd off more like a cattle or sheep ship. Take a number and wait!

On the entertainment front hard to beat the talent or venues. Spectacular. And then there is real ball room dancing every night. We were on a QM2 cruise. Never again. But we would do a crossing anytime it fits our schedule. 

Certainly the food is one of the reasons I go on Cunard, and I have never felt I have been treated like an animal. Perhaps my standards are too low to be worthy of mention, but I don’t think you should assume what others might do.

[escrick]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I would never dream of doing anything else, helped by the brochure which has helpful pictures of nearly all categories. Why would anyone not?

Oh, dear.  Did I say I had not checked the size?  If communication can fail; it will, eh?

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, escrick said:

Oh, dear.  Did I say I had not checked the size?  If communication can fail; it will, eh?

You didn’t say that and I did not assume it was the case.

[bitob]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

LOL as much as you want bitob but that 'someone', was me and yes, my reply to you re size of suites not being large was to tell you the size of our suite on Victoria. Granted, not all are anywhere near that size but it shows you that there are cabins of size

so

want a large suite on Victoria? Then book a large suite on Victoria. 🙂

 

My point is that some are and some aren’t. We don’t want to deceive people into thinking that if they book a qg suite it will be 2000 sq feet

i knew the size of my suite when I booked it.  

[escrick]

10 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

You didn’t say that and I did not assume it was the case.

Sorry, I misinterpreted you.  I need to read the posts more carefully.

 

[bitob]

2 hours ago, Whipsnade said:

You don’t go on Cunard for the food, even in Princess or Queens Grill. Pretty mediocre. And due to their size they can’t get into great ports like Hong Kong and NYC. Getting on snd off more like a cattle or sheep ship. Take a number and wait!

On the entertainment front hard to beat the talent or venues. Spectacular. And then there is real ball room dancing every night. We were on a QM2 cruise. Never again. But we would do a crossing anytime it fits our schedule. 

I think we agree about the food because we both cruise luxury lines where food is really great. By comparison Cunard food is mediocre. I agree as well that these ships are perfect for a crossing. I do no want to disembark with 2900 others in some port

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, bitob said:

My point is that some are and some aren’t. We don’t want to deceive people into thinking that if they book a qg suite it will be 2000 sq feet

i knew the size of my suite when I booked it.  

I don't think  'we' will be deceiving anyone.