Queen Mary 2 (QM2) Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,328 reviews

The Queen's star is losing its shine....

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Queen Mary 2 (QM2)
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pisces1
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Sep 2013

I sailed twice on the QM2 in 2004, a year after she was launched and our experience in the Queens grill category and the Britannia was excellent. Unfortunately, our most recent trip to New England/ Canada paled in comparison.

Embarkation - Brooklyn. This cruise terminal is not easy to get to and the roads are atrocious. We drove from Maryland with our own vehicle. Usually for cruises departing New York, we travel by train. The Brooklyn terminal location made that very difficult. To get from a station to the port would not have been easy nor inexpensive. It was so much nicer when she docked in Manhattan.

Everything seemed very business like and although we boarded almost immediately there was little fan fare and no personal escort to our cabin as we had in 2004. Not a big deal. Our Queens Grill Suite was in decent shape, showing just a tad bit of wear and tear. One of our first activities was to visit the restaurant to see which table we were assigned to. (Note: we booked this cruise a year ahead, and let them know we were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary). We were speechless when we were shown a table for two jammed in the corner next to the serving door to the kitchen. Really? It took an exchange of some bills to get a new arrangement. This would have never occurred in 2004.

Cabin Review

For the cost of a Q6 cabin on the QM2, you would get a pretty lavish suite on another cruise line like Royal Caribbean or Norwegian. The cabin was comfortable, with a seating and bar area, large closet and good sized bathroom. Let's just say it was a well appointed and a handsomely decorated "large" room. The term "suite" just doesn't seem to apply here because the meaning of the term for me always conjures up a vision of separate living and sleeping areas. This was not the case here. The balcony was the best feature.Sadly, this cruise's butler and concierge service which is a perk for suite guests fell flat. The butler was more like a ghost, and the concierge always seemed too busy to deal with the guests. The complimentary hors d"oeuvres (also a perk for suite guests) that arrived every evening were terrible. Neither creative, fresh nor particularily tasty, these sad snacks remained basically untouched for the duration of the cruise. This was my third tip on the QM2 and will probably be my last. Although Carnival promised that the experience on the ship would not change after they acquired the line, we beg to differ. It did change and not for the better.

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