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. Read more