Queen Mary 2 (QM2) Review

Winter crossing

Review for Transatlantic Cruise on Queen Mary 2 (QM2)
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alc13
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2017
Cabin: Queens Suite

How to explain the appeal of the North Atlantic in December - enormous skies, a vast gray ocean (sometimes roiling, occasionally serene), short days and cozy evenings, and the time-suspending experience of not seeing land for a week. This was our second time on a mid-December crossing and likely not our last.

First the good: The ship looks beautiful since the remastering last year. New furniture, carpets, and color schemes are lovely and very well done. The new Carinthia lounge is attractive at all times of day, and old favorites like the Commodore Club still please. We enjoyed some absolutely stellar lectures (ha, an accidental pun - one of the speakers was an astronomer); and heard several concerts from a wonderful classical pianist. Overall it was the best enrichment/entertainment selection we've had to date on any ship.

One major quibble. We were in Queen's Grill thanks to favorable mid-winter rates, and although the stateroom was fabulous and the restaurant was very beautiful, we felt let down by the quality of the QQ restaurant food. The menu choices were limited and heavily skewed towards beef. The beef itself looked pretty but was strangely lacking in juices. The same potato dish (a sort of gratinee) was served at nearly every meal, and steamed cauliflower and broccoli appeared too often. One day we asked for spinach at dinner, and it was quite delicious, so the kitchen was capable of more. The best dish I had was a fish curry at lunch. The overall impression was that Cunard emphasized status foods (beef tenderloin, lobster, etc) that would satisfy people's concept of elegant dining, but didn't care enough about the actual preparation to please the palate, too. A couple of meals in the King's Court were frankly mediocre.

Cabin Review

Queens Suite

Cabin Q5

Large and comfortable space with good seating. No good reading lights (?!) but the ceiling lighting was sufficient. Forward location is convenient to the Commodore Club and theaters.

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