2 Nights Southampton To Hamburg Cruise

The only ocean liner

As an American, nothing fully prepares you; life onboard is very different. Fellow passengers are mostly older, well-dressed, and very polite and considerate. No foul language at all, no yelling, no behavior or provocative dress that you would wish you could un-see. Ballroom dancing is a major draw, couples who dance gracefully, stunning gowns, with only one who resembled a sausage bursting out of a much too short casing. Surprises: Boarding took 1 1/2 hours. Dining room options are very old-school continental, Galantine and Ballotine and many other culinary terms to learn about. Flavors are not overpowering, wine helped. The North Atlantic is a very cold place to be in March, icicles formed. The cabin creaked constantly, affecting sleep till I got used to it. The ship rolled a lot. Disco Inferno in the nightclub was random pop music, not even close to being an inferno. There was a volunteer passenger choir that rehearsed all week and sounded fantastic. Disembarkation isn't too early, you can have a proper, relaxed breakfast. There is tea-making paraphernalia in your cabin, storing it in the closet top shelf freed up counter space. Room service breakfast is complimentary, your morning coffee magically appears. In closing, if your ancestors came across for a free and better life, or if your great-grandparents ever travelled abroad before air travel, here's the closest thing. Service was outstanding and I felt very pampered.

Great Crossing With Kids

We have had a great transatlantic crossing on Queen Mary 2. We thought the food and entertainment was great. The ship is in very good condition for being 20 years old, except perhaps some areas of the spa, which were fine but looked a bit dated. The staff were good. We have done the trip once previously about 15 years ago, and there are some subtle changes, but all things considered we had a great time on both crossings. I didn't see a significant decline in quality over the years. We had our children with us, ages about 10 and 14, and they had a great time too. There are very few kids on these trips, but our children were made to feel welcome nonetheless. The kids club was great and not crowded at all. Our kids like things like: shopping for nice outfits, dressing for dinner, seeing an evening show, and dancing in the ballroom-- so this was great fun for them. They also enjoyed the pool, table tennis, and family time together. If your kids like these types of activities, this can be a fun trip. The outdoor activity on a crossing is a bit limited-- walking around the deck in good weather is great. There are outdoor shuffleboard and other types of courts, but the cold/wind/rain make these types of activities less desirable on all but the best days. We booked two connecting cabins for the 4 of us and it worked out great. We also had the cabin steward open the divider between the two balconies. This was much nicer than I thought it would be. Lastly we bought a drinks package for adults and children and this was very convenient and helpful too.

Excellent first cruise

This was the first cruise by me and my wife. We had a Queens Grill penthouse Suite Sadly embarkation was a nightmare. Chaos.And long queues. However, having got to our suite we were delighted. A large lounge area, a lovely bathroom with a jacuzzi bath. (Mote on that later). A large walk in wardrobe had enough room for our extensive wardrobe. Luggage arrive quickly, within an hour and by the time we unpacked the butler had arrived and introduced himself. We went to lunch in the outstanding Queens Grill. I was a touch disappointed not to have a table by the window. I spoke to the Maître d'hôtel, the delightful Osman, he said it was unlikely but he would see what he could do. An hour later and a phone call saying we had a window table. Typically of the excellent service from the entire staff. The Head sommelier was quite exceptional, helping us choose from the extensive wine list and introducing me to the delights of fine wine culminating in a 6 course meal of fine food matched with outstanding wine with a running commentary on the excellent pairings. Having the same table and waiting staff, was ideal. They soon picked up our likes and dislikes and the service was beyond reproach. The variety and presentation of the food was like eating in a 5 star restaurant for 35 nights! The voyage did have its dramas. A member of the crew was taken seriously ill and we had to divert to madeira, this meant we did lose a Spice island visit. We did lose power for a few hours one night. There was another medical emergency with a passenger that resulted in a small diversion and an early hours ship to shore transfer. Give the average age of passengers appeared to be 70 this should be of no surprise. The entertainment was good to excellent. Sir Tony Robinson (of Blackadder fame) gave a couple of highly entertaining talks and the listening to the in-house group in the nightclub G32 was excellent. The vast majority of the excursions were good to excellent. One tour was poor, but Cunard gave all participants a partial refund. The interior of the ship was magnificent. Large corridors, interesting artwork, the grand lobby - quite excellent. The QM2 is an elderly ship and it show a little. The jacuzzi bath in our room did not work properly (although was still delightful). As noted we did have a power outage and occasional water issues - but nothing to dent the overall experience. The formal garla nights with black tie were spectacular harking back to the splendour of bygone times. A shout out to the ship photographers who took some of the best pictures of my wife and I that I have ever seen, and I am a professional photographer…. Disembarkation was a dream. No queues no immigration, no obvious customs. We were off the ship, reunited with our luggage (all 6 large cases) and with our driver within 20 minutes. Overall an outstanding experience and we look forward to our next trip on this elegant old lady of the seas.