This was a second cruise for me on the QM2, and it began with a delay boarding in Southampton, surprising after literally walking right on the ship after my arrival earlier in October in NYC to travel to the UK. It proved to be a harbinger of other disappointments to follow.

After my initial cruise, I was eager for the daily offerings onboard QM2, but was soon dismayed. Corny space/astronomy speakers, a talented flautist not a good match for the ship's band, RADA performers - meh. Some acts seemed thrown together without much thought or rehearsal beforehand. There was a cooking demonstration with two cooks demonstrating at the same time, which made it confusing, especially as one had an accent that made understanding difficult, and there were no overhead cameras with displays, so it was impossible to actually see what was happening in their pans, elevated as they were on tables set on the stage. Their corny jokes were more appropriate for an audience of thirteen-year-olds.

On the plus side, a classical pianist who was exceptional delighted us. A speaker with an interesting talk about spies (should have tossed the sycophantic NASA and hokey Astronomy speakers and spent all my lecture time with him), and the harpist, Magdalena, who I also enjoyed while crossing from NYC to Southampton some weeks earlier, were both enjoyable. A planetarium presentation was also enjoyable. Read more