Embarkation and disembarkation was relatively smooth. Don’t expect much hospitality. Employees are not excited about their jobs so don’t expect many smiles either. We spent much extra to stay in a (PHS) Penthouse Suite and was advertised our own personal Butler, (which was shared by many other suites so personalized is the farthest from the truth.) He is given too many rooms to service. We also understood we would have preferred tendering, (which we were first to get tickets, but told we would be last. Yep, last to tender.) We almosted missed our excursion. Does the ship care? Nope! If you book through them then you are first to tender. *Know b4 you go! Next the food. Why does everyone rave about the food? Ugg! My wife got sick on the fish. It was not cooked though enough. The Caesar salad is soaked in dressing every time! It was gross! Our friends lobster was over cooked. The buffet breakfast is pretty good but basic. We ordered room service breakfast. The scrambled eggs were runny, boiled eggs inconsistent. The fruit was mushy & over ripe most of the time. If you wear a hat to dinner, be prepared to be kicked out!! We were late for almost every port with little time anyway. Then paying extra to be in a PHS and having to be last to tender. What a slap in the face. Bottom line: a PHS gives you nothing extra really! The laundry service is terrible it took four days to get 20 items back! Four tiny washer & dryers for the whole boat so get ready to stand in line!! Now Entertainment: (———.) that describes it. VERY limited, basically nothing. The butler &/or staff is always pressuring you to buy something like an excursion or wine tasting or martini tasting (they must be getting a commission!) It just sucks!!! The rooms are small and closets are too. We have sailed other cruise lines and not had such a terrible experience. Oceania is not for me. Read Less

We booked a 50 day cruise with Cunard Queen Mary 2 primarily to visit Petra, Rome plus about 20 other countries. The cruise departed Feb 23 from Shanghai to April 14 in South Hampton. While boarding in Shanghai, I was bumped by a luggage handler and my knee was scratched. The scratch became infected by Feb 27 and I had to take antibiotics for the whole cruise, so we never saw any of the sights we intended. After the cruise, we submitted our claim to a Cunard cruise claims adjuster because I needed to continue antibiotics April 15 to June 12. The Cunard claim adjuster gave us a runaround and distorted facts to avoid paying any fair compensation. I wrote the President of Cunard asking to be treated fairly in compensation, and were emailed in return indicating since we purchased our cruise in the USA he could do nothing! I wondered why they are marketing in the USA if they cannot treat folks that book in the USA fairly in compensation. I must say the Cunard medical staff is excellent, but their onboard antibiotic selection is limited. The exercise facilities are limited for a person with a knee infection caused by Cunard. The pools are beautiful and clean, but someone with a leg infection can not use the pools or hot tubs. From the stern from the 11th floor or above, one can see 3 pools on 3 different levels. Dining room food is limited quality but good variety; and deserts are for a European palate. With my leg infection we were forced to do things we normally would not do, viz. painting, read and gamble. The casino has really nice folks working there and the odds aren't bad as my wife and I bot one several times. The art classes or lessons was a fantastic experience. On level 2 at the pursers desk or level 3 at the shops the central foyer is a classic 0 the flowers display is the nicest we have ever seen on any ship. Read Less

Loved the itinerary - many locations we had not visited. However a horrible cruise overall. Booked our flight through Oceania as part of the cruise package and arrived at the airport to find out that our flight was cancelled the day before. No notice received from airline(Austrian Air) or Oceania - frustrating way to start a vacation. Thank goodness we arived early at the airport and was able to find a substatute flight. Booked a Penthouse suite and expected suite service. We entered our suite after the 10th floor suites were released to find out our bathroom had not been cleaned. Towels were changed but shower was littered with previous guest used ammenities and toilet was plugged. Butler service was all smiles and no service. With all the advertising bosting the "finest cuisine at sea" and endorcement by Master Chief Jacques Pepin, cuisine in main dining room was very ordinary and the specialty dining venues were not much better. Tuscan Steak house and Jacques are not worth going to, Polo Grill was just OK and the best cuisine was at the Red Ginger. The Terrace Cafe had the most consistant reasonablly good cuisine. On the last night in the main dining room I had a Ceasar Salad only to find a "fingernail" inbedded within the salad. I complained to the Mater'd who notified the chief. The chief had a "it happens" attitude and was upset that he was asked to make an appearance, suggesting the foreign object was a piece of plastic! Entertainment was non- existent. Would not recommend Oceania to a friend! Read Less

Travel agent recommended and literature posted to our home looked good so we booked the cruise $26,000 AUD ....TOTAL RIP-OFF Food constantly served tepid and unappetising. Constantly returning food as not acceptable Bed mattress was burst and I had to sleep on the small double seater until they finally replaced it (approx 12-14 days) Argumentative security personnel, they issued new keycards halfway through the cruise , we got them AFTER we had left for the day. They were placed in our room.... Food in most meal areas dried out under heat lamps. I wouldn’t recommend this cruise to my worst enemy Ended up eating off the ship ( at addition expense) to be sure of HOT food. We want the only ones very disappointing with the food, many others expressed their concerns Wrote to the company but got the usual corporate fob off and a pathetic offer of $300 AUD credit to another cruise. To,d them, politely to “shove it” Will never go with them again..... Read Less

Booked this cruise for two reasons, the itinerary and to see for ourselves if Cunard is what they say they are. The itinerary was great, Cochin excepted but we expected that. We had three complaints about this cruise, first of which was the visas for India. We had no plans to go ashore in Cochin but was told that we must have full tourist visas otherwise we would not be able to embark the ship in Singapore. Due to a lack of time we had no choice other than to use Cunards intermediary CIBT visas, at a significant cost to us. Due to a lack of communication it turned out the visas were not required pre cruise. We watched people board the ship who had no visas. Cunard have since agreed to reimburse us, but only because we complained. If you were on this ship and had a similar experience then complain, they won't contact you! Secondly the stateroom------ We were in 13024 which is a club balcony cabin. The room itself was very nice with a roomy balcony and was well maintained by the steward, thanks Salvi.There is tea making facilities in the room which is always a bonus. Further to the stateroom there is significant vibration most of the time which is apparent to both port and starboard. Theses staterooms were a recent addition made during the last refurbishment. Cunard of course are aware of this and I'm told by a guest services executive that they are looking at ways of factoring it into the brochure stateroom descriptions. Too little to late for us, Cunard got our money, my wife got no decent sleep. As a matter of interest the vibration has nothing to do with sea conditions as it was present when the ship was on its mooring lines. Finally, the food--------I was served raw ( yes you read it right, raw) chicken with bloody juices running from it! As you can imagine there was mayhem, the servers, maitre d, chef and executive chef all arguing amongst themselves as to who was at fault, with fellow diners looking on in disbelief. I left the dining room and went for a meal. The outcome of this was that I was not allowed to make a formal complaint at the pursers desk,I wanted a case number so that I could take the matter up when I got home but was refused and told to drop the matter.I was given a complimentary meal in the Italian specialty restaurant, special it wasn't. Since being home Cunard agree that we have had a shocking experience with the three complaints and have offered us 20% of the cost of the cruise plus reimbursement of the cost of the visas. Is this commensurate with the cruise experience ? The service in the dining room was, we found, fine. The food in general in the dining room was adequate, but no more. A bit hit and miss. The service in the bars was, at times dreadful. Gone are the days of being escorted to seat and waited on for a drink, like it used to be. More often than not I got my own drinks at the bar and carried them back to where we were sitting. Staff work hard enough but there just isn't enough of them. The experience made me that I was at home in my local Wetherspoons. The entertainment for us was a mixed bag with no hint of a wow factor. The two productions shows were very poor and most certainly the entertainment was geared toward classical recitals and ballroom dancers with some jazz thrown in. The resident orchestra was very good as was the dance band. All in all we found the entertainment to be low key and not to our taste. Some of the sea day lectures were good though, as was the planetarium. Shore excursions were robbery but they are everywhere. The price of drinks was also robbery but we have seen worse, can't remember where. In the end we were glad to get home. Would we cruise Cunard again? Highly unlikely. For the life of me I can't see any evidence of a White Star experience, perhaps it's reserved for the grills? As for us we will continue cruising but methinks we will body swerve Cunard in the future. Read Less

We wanted to see the Maldives and Indian Ocean islands, thought we would snorkel every day in beautiful water. ( Water was beautiful) However this did not happen, excursions were not planned well, so we spent most of our days on an old ship with little amenities! we got to snorkel 2 times, for 45 minutes. Nothing for the other 9 days. Food and service was good. We had OBC to spend, but there was nothing in gift shop to buy ! The fitness center is a cubicle, they offered massages in an empty guest room, only 5 people could use pool at any one time, only 10 lounges for 90 plus guests. Total experience was very poor when supposed to be 5 Star Luxury cruise and we were charged a 5 Star price. Even though we bought our air and transfers from Silver Sea, they did not make arrangements for us to be picked up from the hotel to get to the ship. We (and 12 other couples ) had to transport our own luggage in the pouring rain onto and off the public pier and public ferry to get to where the ship was picking us up. Never have we been treated like this. There was no apology or reason given for our poor service, our tour leader just said, "he was having a bad day!" Read Less

We booked a Sea Breeze suite on deck 9 in mid 2017. These suites were created when the ship was refurbished in October. 14 days before we were due to step on board our agent was told by Crystal that due to electrical problems the Sea Breeze suites required repairs and we had been upgraded to a Penthouse Suite on Deck 10 under the pool deck. Our agent knew that after 25 years of regular cruising there are locations of a ship that we would not accept even if free. Under the pool deck is one area. Upgrade rubbish - suite size the same, fare the same and services to the suite the same. We asked if we cancelled would there be a penalty. Yes there would be no refund and read the small print we,Crystal, have the right to change the suites. We had also taken a 3 day pre cruise hotel package in Mauritius. Two days before flying out to Mauritius we checked the weather to discover the island was about to be hit with a category 3 (severe) cyclone and all air travel was cancelled to and from the island. We telephoned Crystal in Sydney and identified ourselves with the booking number etc. The voice at Crystal told us that they had no official notice of any Cyclone and they would only talk to our travel agent. Hello a cruise ship capable of holding 848 passengers heading into a cyclone forecast area and they did not know that fact. Does anyone in Crystal tell the truth? The coach from the hotel to the ship was a shambles. We arrived after 1.30 pm so lunch was not available - part of the service was suppose to be a champers lunch, which no one knew about. When we arrived on board we were told that deck 9 was closed due to flooding. Hello the ship must have great scuppers (drains) if only deck 9 was effected. When we told the Concierge that our concern with the Penthouse Suite was noise from the pool deck we were told they had never had a complaint about noise. Hello again. The now have one. For the next 14 days we had foot steps over our heads from around 7 am to 10 pm or later. Furniture was dragged across the deck. From time to time heavy trolleys trundled across the deck. At 5 pm the staff rearranged the sun lounges by moving them into position and dropping them. We complained to the Concierge and the time moved to 9 pm. When the deck was hosed down in the early hours of the morning we had the benefit of an early wake up call. On the second day we became aware that there were only 380 passengers on board, so that really explains why deck 9 was closed. The climax of the treatment we received came on day 5 when we discovered that the on board of US$1200 was not on our account. You had to spend that on board. Yes, we do read the fine print. After a meeting with the Chief Accountant it took another 2 days before the credit was put onto our account. Although the web site sets out the service to the suite we had to ask for such service each time. We only have a butler because we select the better accommodation and the butler comes with such accommodation. On the ship the Butler did not offer any service. On day one there were no canapes. Afternoon tea was never suggested etc. Service in the dining areas was initially very good but fell away in the last 7 days to poor. Read Less

This was a honeymoon cruise and expectations were high. On the third night of the cruise our shower lost pressure only to regain pressure while gushing hot thick brown water. Thank God my wife was not in the shower, otherwise her being covered in thick brown water would have ruined our honeymoon. I was told by reception we would have a plumber address the situation right away only to have our cleaning person assure us that a "water test" had been conducted. This attempt at a solution was insulting. I asked reception if we could have access to any available shower to sanitize only to be told that there was nothing they could do. A plumber left an indecipherable message confirming a leak the next day, but at that point I had already sanitized myself with a cold shower and hand sanitizer (...and slightly regained my wife's confidence that I wasn't completely defiled by sewage). We were apologized to with a cheap bottle (also insulting since we don't drink). Providing a shower would have resolved the problem. Instantaneously being told no when asked for showering options was disappointing. We tried to enjoy the remainder of the cruise, however the open berating of staff by management, the repeated errors made by the Destination Staff and wait staff, and the chaotic disembarkation force us to consider other options for future cruising. We avoided the entertainment (lack of interest) and specialty restaurants. We had booked all the specialty restaurants but cancelled after Red Ginger staff consistently got our order wrong. Read Less

After raising my concerns on Face book and twitter I was informed that they were experiencing technical difficulties at check-in so could only apologise for the inconvenience. To be assured they are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible however the port representatives should be able to provide further updates. We were sent into a reception centre with in adequate refreshments and space. After some 6 hours we arrived at our cabin. The theme continued on our 29 night cruise so. If you’re going on Cunard expect plenty of apologies and so sorry for any inconvenience. Patience you will need that too. I will go on another cruise with them Not. It took three days for them to finally get in touch. They clearly are not interesting in trying to resolve matters in favour of the customer. Just sweep them under the carpet which is very short sited and eventually they will go out of business, with such a narrow view. Dining was like a free for all on deck 7 little bit of a ruby scrum. The food was repetitive, cold at times. The Britannia restaurant was much better and the quality and service was pleasant. The ship had an atmosphere i would alike to a library at sea. Entertainment at night was ok up till 22.30Hrs then everyone would rush to bed. It’s the ideal floating care home maybe something to think about in later years but not at the moment. Wine was expensive like the drinks poor quality much better to buy off shore and take on board then you can buy quality. Read Less

Embarkation & disembarkation went smoothly, however the ship was so disappointing. Cunard market the Queen Mary 2 as the Flag Ship of their fleet. It was shabby and showing its age. In the Britannia Restaurant, The Golden Lion Pub and some heavy traffic thoroughfares their were holes in the floor which were carpeted over. If wearing high heels the shoe heel often would bury itself in the hole resulting in either walking out of your shoes or stumbling and almost falling over, surely this is a health & safety issue. The Kings Court Buffet felt grubby, the paint work was worn, marked and old fashion and the tables and chairs were cheap and nasty looking. It was also poorly designed, a long corridor with small eating areas duplicated on the port and starboard side with two self service buffets. After selecting your food the search was then on for a table which involved walking up and down the corridor in search for a table balancing a plate of food. Tea & Coffee was not served at your table as on other cruises we have been on. Again it involved walking back along the corridor to the self service coffee/tea station and retracing your steps to your table, quite often against the flow of the traffic. The food in the Kings Court was the virtually the same as the dinning room but tended to be hotter. In the Restaurants, generally, meals were not delivered on trays to a workstation in order to serve the whole table together. Meals were bought out individually and served, quite often with extraordinarily long delays resulting in guests either waiting for the whole table to received their meal or commencing when they received their meal so it would be hot, either way it didn't create a pleasant dining experience. It is widely expected wine will be more expensive than at home but the mark up was excessive. A cost of $47US was not unusual for a fairly ordinary bottle of wine. We had a Balcony Cabin. The furniture on the balcony was old & chipped, the paint work was patchy and peeling off. The Cabin was kept very clean & tidy by our lovely & cheerful Cabin Steward. The furniture was old and worn, the TV was old fashioned and small and reception and selection of programs poor. The hair dryer was pathetic, about a 1960s vintage, screwed into a draw restricting its use with extreme heat settings. The Cunard dancers and singers didn't seem to put on many shows compared to other cruises and certainly not spectacular or memorable. The comedians, magicians and guest singers were funny, entertaining and enjoyable. The Shore excursions were variable, generally good although a bit pricey. It was noticeable a lot of guest had coughs (dubbed the "Cunard Cough"), also during the cruise a Gastro Virus effected approximately half the guests. Average age of Cruisers about 80. We didn't experience the Speciality Restaurants as they didn't appear to be very special. A first for us, we usually enjoy trying these and have always enjoyed them on previous cruises. We have sailed on the Queen Elizabeth and enjoyed it however we felt so let down we will never sail Cunard again. Read Less