Cruising on the QM2 was such a treat! It was exciting to be on such a large liner as the moments of boredom were few and the wonderful experiences memorable. Overall I would say I'd be thrilled to sail on the QM2 again and look forward to the opportunity. The food was mostly of a very high standard and the entertainment more hit than miss. We loved the atmosphere of the Britannia Restaurant -but we didn't like the fact that you eat with the same people for the whole cruise. Why do some cruise ships do this? We were lucky, as after changing tables once ( the whinging from one perpetual whiner became unbearable!) we settled in with a nice crowd for the rest of the trip. The table and wine service were wonderful. No complaints in this restaurant. We loved the 'speciality' Lotus 'restaurant' too and the maitre 'd's in both restaurants were simply marvellous! The only complaint would be the design and layout of the 'family' restaurant -the "King's Court". What an ugly mess this is! It looks more like some tacky shopping centre cafeteria and sadly there were times one had no other option for a quick bite but to try here. There is no excuse for the ordinary design of this large area and with a little imagination it could me made so much more stylish. There is little to make you want to hang around...it's strictly self service in every sense of the word. It really is an awful atmosphere! The 'Winter-garden' area near this is also a design nightmare! Like some creepy forest where Hansel may have strayed from Gretal deliberately! Still, when the main options are so grand one can largely avoid these two yukky areas.

Accommodations are as you would expect - stylish and well presented with wonderful cabin service. Avoid rooms on the 4th floor above the Queen's Room as you will be kept awake until 1am by the dance band music which permeates the floors and goes right into your stateroom. An unforgivable design fault that should be brought to passenger's attention before they book. Having been allocated a new room for the second leg I had to endure this for over a week and since the ship was full there was nothing they could ,or would, do about it. I found this fairly shocking for a newish ship. The entertainment was largely excellent, though the movie options were very dated and , again, this is hard to fathom why. We loved the Planetarium and suggest that on port days more entertainment options be made available as many chose not to get off.The Commodore Club was a wonderful haven in which to enjoy pre or post dinner drinks, which, thankfully, were not over-priced. For Gay and Lesbian readers you may be pleased to know that, as with most cruises these days, there is a social hour - the traditional 'Friends of Dorothy' and this was also held in the Commodore Club, though at the ridiculously early time of 5p.m. Surely it would be more appropriate to make it closer to dinner times.

The Royal Court Theatre lives up to it's name and is truly sumptuous! Some of the shows were fabulous. A couple a bit rough around the edges, but with acts flying in and out at various ports I suppose it's hard to ensure consistently high standards. Read more