We decided on a short cruise to LeHarve/Hamburg on the Queen Mary 2 as precursor to a 9 day cruise on the Queen Victoria in October. we were a tad concerned about dress codes and formality but shouldnt have been as it soon became clear that you could wear just about anything.
Arriving at the Ocean Terminal in a shirt and jacket I soon realised I was overdressed. Fellow travellers seemed to have been dressed by Sue Ryder and Oxfam and a few maintained this look throughout the voyage. Only a few I hasten to add.
Embarkation was a breeze. The QM2 looked like a big tug up close up and there was certainly no wow factor (perhaps our angle was wrong). Inside the ship was more appealing apart from the slot machines in the Grand Lobby (dreadful). Our room was tucked away in a little cul-de-sac on deck 9. Apart from the continual bathroom odours in the corridor the room itself was perfect. The shower was larger than we previously experienced.
This was a basic cabin but it was big and spacious. The bed was fantastic. The room was kept spotless.
The corridors are very strange with a lovely blue zig zag on one side and a dirty light brown on the other. It gave the corridor a dirty tatty look. Some areas of carpeting would not have been out of place in a Travelodge.