GENERAL:

On boarding the Queen Mary 2 do not expect a Cunard experience but rather a Carnival experience. It is not an elegant sailing experience any more, thanks to the Carnival bean counters and the practice of deeply discounted last minute cruise offers.

Last August, we booked a cabin (Balcony Deluxe) on the maiden Transatlantic crossing of the Queen Elizabeth and then the cruise from New York to Cape Town on the QM2, through White Star Cruises in England. On the first leg of our voyage we met numerous passengers who had booked their cruise through English newspapers and were bragging about how little they had paid. Many had not paid for the transatlantic crossing (which we had) and received $400 onboard spending (which we did not). One passenger had booked the same trip, paid for an inside cabin, been upgraded to the same category cabin as ours on top of not paying for the transatlantic crossing. To add insult to injury one of these couples was upgraded to the Britannia Club on the QM2, while we were not. Read more