July 18 Westbound - review/comments

[tartegnin]

We returned a couple of weeks ago from our July 18 Westbound, and I wanted to repay the many helpful people on this board by providing a review. I’ve organized it by topic rather than a day-by-day. It’s long, so I’ll put it in several postings. For background, we’re a couple of lawyers in our mid-forties, one US, one UK, and our seven year old daughter was with my parents during our crossing, so this was mostly an opportunity to relax, sleep late (!) and celebrate our ten years of marriage. We booked an A-category cabin, and were in 8009, conveniently placed near the library and spa.

Embarkation: First, I should point out that this crossing was part of the QM2 Hamburg sailing, so when we embarked in Southampton, 1000 passengers had already boarded in Hamburg. Probably, this made a difference to the registration, but I’d guess even with a full complement joining in S’hampton, it would have been efficient. We had booked a car to pick us up at Heathrow, and thanks to this board we used Woodford. The pickup was smooth, but I was surprised to hear the driver was not local to S’Hampton – one of the reasons I had used a S’hampton based service was to ensure the driver would get us to the docks without fuss. My slight concerns on this were allayed, however, when he drove us straight there. The car was clean and comfortable, and the driver very professional. I endorse other’s recommendation of this company. We arrived at the pier before our appointed time, but it was quite quiet. Someone immediately whisked away our luggage and we entered the large terminal. We had booked with Amex Platinum and weren’t sure whether to go to the VIP line (the Amex site suggests special boarding privileges) or the “regular” line. We asked a nice lady who was there to direct people, and she wasn’t sure, but told us to go to the VIP (not called that, but don’t recall what it was called) line anyway. I had my card out, but the registration people didn’t really ask for it, other than to register it for shipboard expenses. I should add that the “regular” line wasn’t very crowded, so it would have been maybe 10 minutes longer had we used it. The whole process was very quick, but they do take your photo for your id card and don’t give you much warning, so if you care about these things, best to freshen up before you register! We went up an escalator, expecting to join the masses waiting for their appropriate boarding time, but instead were shown right on the ship. It felt like we were the only ones boarding, it was so quiet. I think this may be due the Hamburg pax, and also our arrival time, which was at about 1pm – after the initial early bird crowds, probably. We went right to our cabin to drop carry on and on to the spa to book appointments (more on that next).

[tartegnin]

Canyon Ranch Spa: I cannot praise this facility highly enough. I use spa services pretty regularly and have been to some famous and fancy ones. I had medium expectations of the services on board, but still happy to have them. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of each of the services I used (manicure, pedicure, hair cut, hair up-do, massage, facial). They really rated up there among the best I’ve had. And the service providers (what’s the politically correct term?) were also very pleasant – largely from South Africa or Australia. My husband also used a large number of services and was equally pleased, especially with the Bulgarian masseur (I think his name is Mikhail) whom he thought very skilled and very strong. We both used the aqua therapy pools and steam rooms which were very nice, considering we were on a ship. They were also relatively quiet. You have access if you book a service (but no salon services like hair/manicure) or you can buy access by the day or for multiple days. If you like this kind of thing, it was worth it. We meant to book things before we sailed, but just didn’t get around to it. So, we approached the booking desk at about 1:30 on embarkation day ready to beg our way into appointments. To our surprise and relief, it was no problem to book any service for any day. Some time slots were filled, but mostly, we were able to arrange everything we wanted. The young lady at the desk said that this was a bit unusual, especially since 1000 people were already on board, but did make the general characterization that German passengers tended to spend less overall on the ship and didn’t make a lot of appointments. So, I don’t know if it is always this easy to book on the first day. I think we were also lucky because the signs generally said the spa was only open at 2pm on embarkation day, so perhaps we also were ahead of the crowds to book. Still, we managed to book extra services during the crossing as well, so even though the place was always busy, I guess they weren’t up to full capacity on this crossing. A hint which may or may not help: spa services (like massages) were offered at half price the afternoon of embarkation, and aqua therapy access was 2 for 1 on the last day. Other offers were also available, like discounts on products. These were all announced in the ship’s newsletter, so maybe worth watching for, or maybe worth having a friendly conversation with the spa personnel to get some idea of what they’re planning to offer on your crossing. They had a spa tour, but I wouldn’t bother, unless you’re really curious. The facilities are nice, but not unusual. One last thing I quite liked and appreciated was that no one pushed products at all. Two therapists had useful recommendations to fit some hair and skin care into my lifestyle (essentially, busy working mom), but were not particularly pushing the spa products.

[tartegnin]

Food: We had requested early seating at a table for 6 and were surprised to see on the seating chart in our cabin that our table was early seating but a table for 4. I was quite unhappy, as I think dining with one other couple puts a lot of pressure on the conversation, where as dining with four other people opens it up. I thought we might change it, but when we went to the dining room, the table was indeed for 6 and the numbers on the tables didn’t correspond to the map in our cabin. So it all worked out fine, but seemed an unnecessary confusion. We were on the upper level by the railing, which was a wonderful location. We were very lucky with our table mates: a Canadian couple who were relocating home after several years in Brussels, and a Bermudan couple who were sailing back after he had been awarded an OBE by the Queen. He was so modest about it, we didn’t actually find out until the last night. I probably would have let everyone on the ship know within the first few minutes of boarding and then worn the medal on formal nights! We had very nice conversations all around, and we shared a bottle of wine with the Canadians each evening, taking it in turns to order and pay. The sommelier was very quick to understand our tastes and recommend good wines and to keep the prices relatively even amoung us. He even found us at lunch one day to get our ok on a bottle he wanted to open early to decant and breathe. He opened a bottle on the other couple’s night to do the same one evening without asking them, which was a bit cheeky, but the wines were good!

We ate four of the six nights in the dining room, one night in Tod English and one night not much at all (a bit seasick, I’m afraid). The food generally was better than I had expected, considering the number of people they need to feed. The service in Brittania was quite good, the menus always had tempting choices, and the presentation was very attractive.

We ate most of our breakfasts in the dining room as well, where it is open seating. The maitre d’ deserves credit for managing to seat by language, which was an issue on this crossing due to the large number of German passengers. The breakfast menu was good and the breakfast food ok. It was hard to get toasted anything at the same time as the other food, but still, it was quite nice. We ate one or two breakfasts and most lunches in the Kings Court, which was all fine, if a bit confusing. We didn’t experience long lines or trouble with tables there, but it’s a bit of a free for all. There is table service at night, while one of the four stays a buffet for convenience. They also take turns serving tea and snacks, and I don’t think there is one hour of 24 when there isn’t food available somewhere.

We ate at Tod English one evening – well worth the supplement of $30 per person. The food is cooked to order, unlike Brittania, and it shows in the quality. The service is also that much better (since the waiters don’t have so much running around to do) and the décor is very nice. One hint is to get a table NOT near the windows which look onto the deck, otherwise, there you are, dressed up and ready for a nice dinner, and you have a view of people swimming or lounging! We had almost no trouble booking a table, but probably the earlier the better.

I had tea in the Queen’s Court one day – nice sandwiches and scones, but not worth making a special trip for.

We ended up not using room service, but the menu was very nice – not many selections, but a nice variety among them. We appreciated the small fridge in the cabin which was stocked with soft drinks.

[tartegnin]

The stateroom: Not much to say here. It was a reasonable size and comfortable. The bed was particularly good. We really enjoyed our balcony and used it a lot. Oddly, there were no throw blankets available anywhere on the ship, and you really needed one even though it was July and relatively mild weather. I had a pashmina, which was just right, but I always think of plaid throw blankets as part of a trans-Atlantic crossing.

 

The bathroom was also fine – shower, no tub, but good water pressure and lots of hot water. Good storage under the sink for toiletries but not much counter space. The Canyon Ranch products in the cabin are very nice, but stingily replenished! Oddly, only one soap, so we moved it back and forth from shower to sink. To be fair, we never asked for more, but still …

The cabin steward was fine. We didn’t ask for much, so not much to say. We had ice in the bucket every day and nice fresh sheets and towels. Sometimes it took quite a while to have the cabin made up, which was a bit annoying, but again, we didn’t do anything, and I’m sure had we called housekeeping it would have been done promptly.

Cabin temperature was very comfortable and easily controlled by a panel near the bathroom. There was good hanging storage and drawers – plenty for a one week trip. Suitcases would fit under the bed if they’re not too high – our biggest one was too big, but fit in one half of the wardrobe without problem.

The tv in the room was small but good, and had a wide range of news, ships info, documentaries, movies and sit coms.

We used the ship’s laundry/dry cleaning, which was fine, not too expensive, and relatively quick. I did one load of “smalls” in the ships laundromat – one on most decks, which was nice, since we were travelling for ten days after the cruise. The Laundromat on our deck had only two washers and two driers (maybe the same on other decks?) which was a bit difficult, since you had to time it all correctly. I did have to make a few trips back and forth, but otherwise, it was pretty convenient. There is laundry powder provided, which is nice. These are also nice big US washers and driers, so you can do a nice large and quick load!

By the way, a nice bouquet of roses/orchids sent by a friend was waiting for us in the cabin, and the arrangement was attractive and the flowers stayed fresh the whole week – just thought you’d like to know that the florist seems a decent quality.

[tartegnin]

Ship Activities/Entertainment: I will disappoint you here as we didn’t do much (by our own choice – there were MANY activities all day every day and loads of entertainment). Didn’t use the casino at all, but it looked fun – but very smoky as we walked past – ditto the pub. My husband did attend a number of lectures and rated them highly. We went to the planetarium one time – quite good. I attended one of the RADA shows which I rate a mediocre. One night for big band music – very good band, a bit too crowded in the room, though. One movie – very enjoyable. That’s about it!

[tartegnin]

Library/book store/shops: I lumped these all together. The library is FANTASTIC – can’t rate it highly enough. The facility is quite nice and in the bow of the ship, so you can park yourself in a comfy chair (or take the hidden little elevator up one deck straight into the Commodore Club, which also has great views/chairs, plus cappuccinos!) The selection of 8000 volumes was carefully made to cover as wide a range as possible. Plenty of current best sellers, classics, biographies, history, art books, cook books and more. A reasonable foreign language selection (German, French, Italian, Spanish and Japanese). Numerous magazines. Computer terminals. A friendly librarian. You can check out two books at a time. There is a shelf not clearly marked which is full of donated books or for a book swap, where you can take the book home with you. I left a few and took one for the plane – very handy. Nice librarian. Altogether, a great facility!

 

Next to the library is the book and gift shop. This was fine, if not spectacular. A good selection of maritime books. A small selection of popular fiction. Post cards, some posters, some QM2 souvenirs, a nice gift selection –including for children. There is a nice wooden puzzle with a picture of the ship, which was the nicest of the branded stuff we saw.

As for the rest of the shopping – YUCK! I don’t know who decided on the selection, but it wasn’t good for me, at least. I don’t know how many people spend in Hermes, Chopard and H Stern – all shops you get in NY or London. Hermes did have a nice QM2 silk scarf which was vaguely tempting, but otherwise – boring! One perfume/cosmetics shop, which I suppose might have some in handy. One general store with a small but decent selection of toiletries and pharmaceuticals, and some clothes in case you were stuck for something. The QM2 branded stuff was so disappointing, we didn’t end up getting anything. The kids stuff is downright ugly. The adult stuff is over branded for the most part – the size of the logo is so large – it’s kind of tacky. There were some ok coffee mugs and key chains, but someone needs to use better imagination on all this. There are some Harrods items, including some created for Cunard. Ho hum.

Also, I absolutely miss the point of the hallway sales of gold by the inch and costume jewelry and reject branded items. Not to mention the diamond and art auctions. Tacky! Also, if Cunard is so concerned about the environment (vis the ability to have them not change sheets/towels every day), then stop stuffing flyers for these things in my cabin!

[tartegnin]

Crossing with Kids: I add this because we realized how much our daughter (aged 7) would have loved this crossing, so we looked at the whole thing, imagining her with us, since we think we’ll take her along next year. So, for what it’s worth, a few comments: the dining is pretty child friendly. Depending on the child, no problems in the Brittania, where I even saw a children’s menu at the table next to us. The buffet set up is ideal for families with kids. There is also a separate children’s “tea” (dinner) in one of the places each evening at 5:30. There is a pool for children which looked nice. We looked in on the children’s facilities which are quite nice for her age group, but also looked good for even smaller kids. A lot of activities on the schedule. There’s no in-cabin babysitting, but you can drop kids off from 6pm-midnight for supervised movie/sleeping. The planetarium shows would be good, too. Overall, we know she’d love it, but it’s maybe not for all kids. The ones we saw on board were pretty well behaved. A bit of running in the hallways, but not too much. I think you need a child or children who are good being around a lot of adults and with good imagination and inner-life. The ship is accommodating to children, but not marketed to families, so it’s not overly set up for them like some are. We also gave some thought to cabin arrangements, and there are Brittania level cabins with a pull out sofa. I think this would be a bit cramped and we prefer some space. We thought about interconnecting cabins, but I’m not wild about the separate hall and balcony access, so I think we’d go up to Princess or Queens level so we could all share a room in some comfort.

[tartegnin]

A few final thoughts: We loved this crossing. It was everything we wanted. I think different people could get different things out of it. We were looking for relaxing. But you could be busy all the time. I think this is a great ship for most people, but I would be concerned about anyone with high expectations of 5-star luxury and level of formality. It’s a mass market ship and it does a great job. If I were comparing to hotels, I’d say it’s more like a good Marriott than a Four Seasons. Maybe the higher levels are more like that, but they mostly use the same facilities, so I doubt it. If you go with your expectations in check, though, this ship has a lot to offer for a lot of different people. We’re definitely booking for next summer.

In closing, thanks to all the CC-ers who made the planning and anticipation almost as fun as the actual sailing!

[Therapst]

Thank you very much for the great review! We are planning a voyage on the QM2 next year, so we really appreciate reading your impressions of her.

 

Thanks again!

[N.Y.Cruiser]

Hello - thank you so much for a wonderful and informative review of the QM2. We will be on the October 24th crossing back home to England and your review made us very excited and answered a lot of questions. Thanks again.:)

Nicola

[tartegnin]

You're very welcome - just trying to put a little back in exchange for all I took from these boards. I guess I'm signing off until next year when we plan our repeat voyage - so all the best and smooth sailing to you all!

[mariefisher]

Thank you so much for your review. We are going 12/16/06 with our family, that includes 2 grandchildren. one is 6 and the other 21 mos. and I was concerned about the childrens facilities. So I really appreciate your imput. Glad you had a great time. I hope some day, when the baby is older to take them both on a crossing. For now I am thrilled to be going to the Caribbean.

[lannp]

Thanks for the review. I leave in 14 days!!!! Can't wait to go back aboard.