This was our second Transatlantic crossing on the QM2 this year, following an eastbound crossing in April (see "Royal Wedding at Sea"). After a total of three voyages on this ship, I have to say it has become my favourite. In this review, I will only focus on what was different from our April crossing.

The adventure started off badly. There was a miscommunication between my travel agent and Cunard (will never know who was at fault), and despite our having purchased a transfer from Gatwick to the pier at Southampton, no one from Cunard was at the airport (South Terminal) to greet us, and after waiting for 90 minutes and some frantic phone calls, the Cunard rep finally came over from the North Terminal and informed us that all passengers had now left for the ship. But he pleasantly agreed to hire a private car to get us there, and we arrived alongside at 1:45 pm. The check-in lines were long and slow, and it took us just over an hour to get on the ship.

Once on the ship, things improved substantially, with one exception (well, maybe two!) noted below. We had purchased an A3 cabin on Deck 8 back in the summer. Within a few weeks, we had been upgraded to an A2 on Deck 11. Then just before we left for England, one week before the cruise was to begin, we got another upgrade, this time to an AA Britannia Club cabin on Deck 12. I was more than delighted with this upgrade. When we got to our cabin, everything was fine and our luggage was already there. One problem - some other guest must have had a bottle of red wine in his/her luggage and it had broken. The red wine seeped through my wife's suitcase and stained a number of articles of clothing. We called our excellent room steward Richard right away and he took the items off to be cleaned at no cost to us. They were returned the next day absolutely spotless. We eagerly anticipated our first meal in the Britannia Club dining room - a new experience for us. For those unfamiliar with this category (AA), it gives you access to two small private rooms at the rear of the Britannia Dining room (separate entrance off Stairway A). Here you have your own table for the entire cruise - all three meals) and you can arrive any time you want for dinner between 6:30 and 9). There are many two-tops, which is always our preference, and it was so nice not to have to fight for one for breakfast and lunch like you do in the big dining room. We ate all of our meals there, and were totally pleased with the service and the food. After the second day, the Maitre D' even moved us to a better table location by the window. Read more