My husband and I were on the QM2 on her inaugural transatlantic crossing and have just completed our 7th. What a comparison! The first one was great. Since then the service and entertainment have constantly deteriorated. It appears as though nothing is up to the standard the Cunard name implies ever since Carnival bought the line. The last one was worst of all.

The Good: The ship is lovely, no getting away from it. The cabins are well laid out with lots of storage room. The library has a good selection of books and the laundry facilities on many decks are very convenient even if one has to wait a while.

The Bad: The food was quite mediocre. Overall it should have been much better. If you like good cheese,forget it. There should be a decent selection, but we had what I call "mousetrap". The waiters in the Britannia Restaurant were poorly, or not at all, trained. They seemed always in a rush, charging from table to table in an effort to keep up with the demands. May be short staffed? None of them appeared to care a lot. Of course they do work terrible hours but that should not interfere with the passengers enjoyment.T wo of the wines we ordered were unavailable,and that was the first night out! Were they on the menu to impress us with the big selection offered? The Maitre D' stopped by several tables including ours. During our short conversation he found out that I had ordered frog legs.  He commented that he would never eat such a dish. We ate one meal in the Carvery where my husband had to show the wine waiter how to use the cork screw. At another meal our lamb chops arrived well done instead of rare. The waiter's comment was  "I'll tell the chef". No apology or offer to replace the dish. At one "Afternoon Tea" only decaf tea was available. These are just a few of the things that should never happen on a first class ship. The [almost] Horrible: The entertainment was really pathetic. As we were on two crossings, going east in May and returning in June we had quite a few to choose from. One was a banjo concert that should not have been on any stage. Never mind the QM2. Another was the bar pianist who was roped in for a "recital". Some of the lectures were truly boring and must have been selected because the presenters could be hired for a small fee. All in all, you had the feeling that the company was trying to save money. We understand Cunard is being sold again. Could it be any worse?