Queen Mary 2 (QM2) Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,328 reviews

Deteriorating Standards

Review for Transatlantic Cruise on Queen Mary 2 (QM2)
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Puilly
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Nov 2015
Cabin: Queens Suite

We booked a Princess Grill stateroom aboard the QM2 for a transatlantic voyage to celebrate a significant wedding anniversary. This was our third time on the QM2 and we have also travelled on the QE2 and Queen Victoria. A short time before sailing we were offered a chargeable and discounted upgrade to Queens Grill and as it was a special anniversary we took advantage of this. We had also booked three nights at the Grand Hyatt hotel with transfers included as a precursor to the voyage; all arranged through Cunard. The overall experience was good BUT there has been a significant deterioration in the standards of accommodation and service since our earlier travels on QM2.

It started with there being no driver at the airport to take us to our hotel. Yes, there was a Cunard driver but he was waiting for other passengers, we were not on his list. Two hours after touch-down the driver's passengers still had not emerged so he kindly took it upon himself to take us which resulted in us dragging our luggage across and through the car park to his vehicle. The hotel was ok but 'bed and breakfast'? You get an allowance for breakfast. If you choose to eat in the restaurant instead of the 'sit in reception' market place then your allowance doesn't buy you much more than a bowl of fruit. A cooked breakfast with coffee will cost much more than your allowance. Cunard representative available? Yes, on the day of our departure. We raised the issue of the earlier transfer; the representative would make some enquiries and asked us to see her later. Her response was that the transportation people understood that our flight had been diverted so didn't send anyone. We were on the plane we'd been allocated and arrived at the correct airport at the correct time.

Then on to the ship: transport was fine. Priority boarding for Grill passengers and this was ok though the receptionist was a bit ruffled. Onto the ship, obligatory photograph then: nothing, we were just left there, no-one to give directions, no assistance. We found the lifts and arrived at our corridor where we asked a steward for directions. The room was very good, large and comfortable. The bathroom was not so good - broken tiles, drilled tiles where a fixture had been removed, scruffy Jacuzzi bath. After these initial disappointments the following seven days were generally good - good food, good entertainment, good lectures. The 'white glove' afternoon tea that Cunard makes a big play of was not as good as previous cruises: half the staff were not in white gloves, you had to attract the eye of a steward to get served, and there wasn't a lot of food to go round.

Cabin Review

Queens Suite

Main elements were clean, in good order and spacious. Bathroom had broken tiles, holes drilled in tiles and a scruffy Jacuzzi bath. Toiletries were not always maintained and we had to leave notes to get replacements. Fruit similarly was not always maintained and we had to ask for replenishments.

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