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This was our second time on QM2 (the first was 5 years ago in her maiden season) and we requested - and got - "our" old cabin. We had expected to see some signs of wear but this was limited to the cabin doors having settled a bit, allowing light to bleed through the bottom of the doorframe (easily fixed by placing a bolster across the doorway!). She remains a beautiful ship.
We were disappointed at the number of places where it is still possible to burn tobacco and had to breathe in the fumes even outside the main entrance to the Britannia restaurant on Deck 2 Stairwell C, where it reeked of old ashtrays. Hopefully Cunard will follow P&O's lead on this disgusting habit and confine it to more limited areas.
The food was excellent, as always, but the entrees at dinner were now of a proper portion size. Five years ago, they were very small (even our waiter then commented on one particular meal and brought us another portion to bulk it up) so well done to Cunard for sorting that out.
I think they've dropped the surcharge on the Chef's Galley for the evening sittings - we couldn't get a table at all, so make a booking as soon as you board if you want to try and get dinner here. We didn't go to Todd English on principle, there are plenty of other places to eat well without paying again.
We didn't experience any of the problems that travellerqueen experienced regarding afternoon tea. We enjoyed this twice in the Queen's Room and didn't have to wait more than a couple of minutes for a table, and didn't see any queues to get in.
We ate in King's Court four times and the only time we had to queue (for no more than 5 minutes) was at the servery doing the Canadian thanksgiving meal. Yes, you have to jockey for a table if you are not prepared to walk more than 10 feet from the servery, but if you're not so picky, the only problem we had was choosing which table to sit at.
Some of the bars seem to have an exclusive drinks menu but we found that you can still order drinks advertised elsewhere at the same prices. We'd recommend the Chart Room and the Commodore Club in particular.
We felt that the entertainment in the theatre was nowhere as good as 5 years ago, but if you get the chance to do the "backstage tour", do it! As a part of this, they play Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody while demonstrating the capabilities of the stage and lighting equipment - fantastic.
On our last voyage, we had to queue to get into the Planetarium (once for an hour, but given the popularity of the attraction and the number of seats available, this was no big deal). However, they've now changed to a ticketing system, and tickets are available behind the Illuminations theatre from 0900. Even late in the afternoon, there seemed to be plenty of tickets left.
The higher up the deck levels you are, the more you pay for your sailing. We saw inside a cabin on Deck 11 - it was identical to our cabin on Deck 5 (which, being lower, also is affected less by pitching) so why pay more?
Speaking of pitching, we sailed through a Force 8 practically the whole time (it went down to Force 6 for a few hours). There was no rolling and little pitching. We actually had a bumpier ride on the flight over to New York!
We passed through the art gallery several times and recognised several original pieces of "art" from the Oceana last year...... Apparently they're going to close the Winter Garden because it's underused - mainly only for the art auctions. Certainly we never saw anyone there outside of auction times.
One thing I would strongly recommend to everyone is a day pass in the Canyon Ranch Spa. Absolute bliss. All the treatments are ridiculously expensive but you can just sit by the spa pool and use the saunas all day for much less than a 4-hour ticket to Bath Spa.
We can't wait for our next voyage!
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