This was our 4th trip on the Queen Mary 2. We traveled once each of the past four years on the transatlantic. Three of the four trips we went Queen's Grill (first class) including this one. Three of the four were westbound (Southampton to NY) including this one. The first trip was in June 2009, the second in January 2010, the third in October 2011 and this last one in November 2012. It was our final trip on Cunard (Carnival). Never again. This time we took a red eye from JFK into Heathrow (LHR)and had a car service pick us up at the airport and take us to Southampton. The embarkation area has not changed over the last few years and is unexciting. There is a roped off area for Grill guests to wait but the hard plastic chairs are no better. There was food and drink available for purchase. I would not recommend arriving early or well before your boarding time as it is quite boring to sit there and wait. The security process prior to boarding was worse than in any airport I've been through and I've seen quite a few as I am an Executive Platinum million miler with American Airlines. Many, including my husband, were frisked very closely and embarassingly. The staff was rude as if we were inconveniencing them by showing up.

Once aboard, we were happy with our cabin. Since our last trip, there was a minor refurb. Last trip the furniture and carpets, etc. were really showing their age. The bed was much more comfortable and the worn out furniture replaced. One negative was the TVs had been replaced with smaller ones. We feel the new TV is a little small for the size of the room.

The food and service at the Queens Grill restaurant was horrible - especially in comparison to our previous trips. Food was served cold when it should have been hot. My husband's steak ordered medium was served cool and was like shoe leather. We were constantly having to ask for our water glass to be refilled and for more bread. One positive note - they do have gluten free bread available that was some of the best we've ever had. We resorted to eating at the deli/pizza place at the King's Court many nights. The food and service must be a cost cutting measure for Cunard. We did complain nicely but the next night things were worse. We ordered prime rib. The cart came out and the maitre d served us himself because he knew we were unhappy. As he started to cut into it, you could see it was still frozen in the middle. He apologized and off to the deli we went in tux and evening gown - eating pizza and drinking wine. The food there was actually pretty good. We saw many of the ship's officers eating there as well. Read more