LIVE from QM2 June 29 to July 6

[Kordy]

I boarded just as @Joe33472 got off. Great cruise so far.  Everybody happy.  The ship is 100% full so there are lines to Britannia for open dining for the 6pm seating but no line by 7pm. Great entertainment and staff are wonderful. Food is great.  Weather in Halifax better than forecast and the rain has stopped early on.  Going to Boston next for the July 4 fireworks. 
 

If anyone has any questions, I am here to help while I have the WiFi in the port.  
 

I can provide pros and cons and what worked well and what didn’t.  If anyone interested. 

[Host Hattie]

Nice to hear from you, I’ve moved your post to a new thread.

[Kordy]

This is my 4th cruise in my life so far. Did Princess, Celebrity, HAL and now first time with Cunard on the famous QM2.  So far, it's the best out of the aforementioned cruises and the service levels are higher and it feels more exclusive and luxury than what I experienced before. 
 

The food has been amazing so far. Lots of great choices with a more European focus.  The scones are done to perfection, something we don't have done well in USA. Food is not over processed and good balanced meals with veggies in addition to meats, even with steak. Entertainment is higher callibre than on other cruise lines I experienced. 
 

The weakness so far:
- the buffet upon boarding on the embarkation day was a little weak compared to the other days 
- for the gala night the 2nd day of cruise, too many people tried to come for the 6pm open seating and there was line well beyond the Golden Lion pub and they started turning people away, asking to come back at 8pm. It was disappointing for some who waited in line all dressed up. The cruise is 100% full and so it's interesting to experience that. 
- the dress code on the gala night doesn't seem to be followed or enforced.  I saw maybe 20% to 25% of people walking around in the evening dressed very casually and in t-shirts and baseball caps, even in Britannia restaurant and Queens Room. 

 

I really wanted to do the Behind the Scenes tour for $120.  But they cancelled the tour for some reason - claiming "too many port days".  But we have 2.5 sea days, so it was disappointing. 

Edited Monday at 06:40 PM by Kordy

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, Kordy said:

- the dress code on the gala night doesn't seem to be followed or enforced.  I saw maybe 20% to 25% of people walking around in the evening dressed very casually and in t-shirts and baseball caps, even in Britannia restaurant and Queens Room. 

That's indeed one perspective, here's another: 75% plus did follow the dress code, which is great. They are good guys and gals who deserve the focus. I suspect that if you add in "making a bit of an effort at least" you'd probably get above 80%. It's Black and White Gala night on QA, with many German guests, I would say it's about 80% plus over this side of the Atlantic tonight. I hope everyone has a good time.

[Kordy]

Yes. Agreed.  But I was under the impression that they are pretty strict with dress code, especially on gala nights.  But I observed no strictness at all, even if you came to Britannia for dinner during gala night wearing comfortable loose shirt and baseball cap, they would still offer you a seat.  No questions asked, just smiles. 

Edited Monday at 08:44 PM by Kordy

[leyland1989]

5 hours ago, Kordy said:

Yes. Agreed.  But I was under the impression that they are pretty strict with dress code, especially on gala nights.  But I observed no strictness at all, even if you came to Britannia for dinner during gala night wearing comfortable loose shirt and baseball cap, they would still offer you a seat.  No questions asked, just smiles. 

On my last crossing, we had a couple walking into the theater in literal PJ and tracksuit on a Gala night. 

There were 0 enforcement, I guess the time has changed. 

[ovccruiser]

Enforcement of dress code may only be applicable to certain areas of the ship and more relaxed in others. Not everyone want to dress up so some areas must be left "more relaxed"

[*Miss G*]

@Kordy, if you and your sailing partner both have iPhones, could you please connect to the ship’s intranet and try texting each other over iMessage?  I am curious to see if it works.

[Kordy]

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

@Kordy, if you and your sailing partner both have iPhones, could you please connect to the ship’s intranet and try texting each other over iMessage?  I am curious to see if it works.

We tried. It doesn't work sadly. We don't have the internet package. 

 

This works in other ships but not on Cunard. 

[*Miss G*]

17 minutes ago, Kordy said:

We tried. It doesn't work sadly. We don't have the internet package. 

 

This works in other ships but not on Cunard. 

 

Thanks for following up! Much appreciated.

[Kordy]

Boston turned out to be super hot, humid and sticky. Got back to the ship and it's lovely and cool.  I think Halifax had better feeling than Boston. I wish we did one more port in Canada and skipped Boston, which is just a big city with traffic and also the location of the ship is far far away from all the nice parts to walk to. With Halifax, we were so close to a nice Harbour walk and all the attractions as well as restaurants. 

 

The nice thing about Boston will be the fireworks - which we are all looking forward to.