We were on the 8/3, 6 nights Eastward Crossing on Queen Mary 2. In summary, I'll say that we loved the experience and would repeat it again in a heartbeat.The Queen Mary 2 is a huge , but very classy ship. It has 150,000 tons and carries 2,600 people, which is not that many considering her size. I didn't find it at all like my prior experiences aboard mega ships of Royal Caribbean or Princess. IMO, she is in a class by itself.

Embarkation:


According to our cabin number , we were supposed to embark at 3 PM for a 5 PM departure. However, past QM2 cruisers in CC suggested we arrive earlier so we would be able to have some lunch. So, we arrived around 1:30 to the Brooklyn cruise terminal. As soon as our van parked , there was a porter who took our luggage and we proceeded to the embarkation line. Not surprisingly, it was long , but it moved fairly quickly. They took our CC info , took our pictures and gave us our ID/ key card. I would say the whole process took no more that 20-30 minutes. Once inside the ship we were directed to the elevators and were able to go to our cabin.

Cabins:

We had 2 cabins. An inside cabin for our kids and my sister and one balcony cabin for Bob and I. Our balcony cabin was their standard balcony cabin ( they call it "premium balcony") which measures around 269 sq feet, including balcony. The balconies in these cabins are "sheltered". What that means is that they are built into the hull of the ship. You have glass doors to the balcony but to see the water you have to stand up as the bottom half of the balcony is solid. There were two lounge chairs and a small table in the balcony.

The inside cabin was smaller (approx 160 sq ft.) and in retrospect I wished we had reserved a connecting balcony cabin for them.

Closet space and storage was plenty. Suitcases were stored under the bed.

Bathroom was tiny. It only had shower, no tub. The shower curtain was opaque and since there was no light in the shower area it was somewhat dark while taking a shower.

Dining:

There are 3 main restaurants, depending of your level of accommodations:

Queen Grill- This is the restaurant for passengers in the big suites, which range in size from 500 to 2,200 sq.ft. This restaurant has single seating. Passengers in this category also enjoy a private lounge a sun terrace. They have the services of a butler

Princess Grill- This is the restaurant for passengers in the Princess suites, which measure approx. 380 sq. ft. This rest. is also single seating.

Britannia Restaurant- This is the restaurant reserved for those of us in "steerage". It is a beautiful restaurants in 2 levels. Very elegant, but not "stuffy". Lots of woods and subdued colors. There are 2 sittings : Early: 6:00 pm and Late 8:30. We requested and got Late sitting. Technically, you were allowed to come as late as 9:00 but we noticed at times people arriving later and they were served with no problem.

You have an assigned table for dinner and it's open sitting for breakfast and lunch. Food and service was excellent!

There is a category called Britannia Club balcony ( these are the balcony cabins on the highest deck, deck 12) that dine in a separate area of the restaurant and enjoy single-seating. My table was near the opening to this area and to me it looked too enclosed and claustrophobic. I wouldn't pay extra for that.

In addition the ship has an alternate restaurant called Todd English whcih everybody seems to rave about. They charge a "nominal" fee of $30 PP for dinner and $20PP for lunch. We were so happy with the food and service of Britannia that we didn't try it.

There is also the informal restaurant, which they call "Kings Court" . It is open in one form or another for 24 hours. During the day is divided in 4 sections: Italian, Oriental, Carvery (meats , roasts) and Galley ( burgers, hot dogs, etc). At night it still has these 4 sections, but they change things around to make them more cozy, dress up the tables , and provide table service. We didn't try this area at night, but during the day it was chaotic!! The area's design is like a maze, totally confusing. We just went 3 times , twice for lunch , once for breakfast. More than once we had near collissions with other passengers walking around with their trays, trying to find an empty table. A number of the tables are in the center of the area or in corners, with no views of windows. If you are seated at one of thsoe tables ( which we were twice), it seems like you are seating in a basement! This area IMO is a disaster. After our less than stellar experiences there, we decided not to to go anymore. We had breakfast and lunch in Britannia or in the Golden Lion Pub (traditional English food for lunch).

Between 3:30 and 4:30 Afternoon tea was served in the Queens Room. This was a treat. The room is beautiful and it has a big dance floor in the middle. While tea was served, with scrumptious little sandwiches, pastries, and scones, ballroom type music was played by the orchestra and people danced.

Lounges/ Bars/ Entertainment:

As can be expected from a ship of this size, there was a variety of bars and lounges. Some were more casual, like the Golden Lion Pub where they had trivia each afternoon. One of our favorite was the Commodore Club whose specialty are Martinis.

The show lounge is spacious and occupies two levels.We only attended 3 shows . These were adequate but nothing exciting, although their dancers were quite good.

Every night there is dancing in the Queens Room and in two of the formal evenings they had 2 "themed" dances. One was a Black and White Ball and the other was an Ascot Ball . For anybody that loves ballroom type dancing, this cruise and specifically the Queens Room is perfect. Although Bob and I do not do ballroom dancing we enjoyed watching . Also the ship's night club/ disco is right next to the Queens Room so we would go there afterward.

The Casino is a good size. I enjoyed playing Roulette and my son was in heaven as the youngest player at their Texas Holdem poker table ( legal age aboard the QM2 is 18).

Disembarkation:

We were in the last group to disembark , but as we weren't in any particular hurry it was fine. They started with self -disembarkation ( for those that roll down their lugagge themselves) around 7:30 and we disembarked around 9:30-10. The line for the taxis was very long and it took us at least 45mins or more to get one. We went to the Southampton train station for our train to London, Waterloo station . We got a Group Save fare and paid 55 GBP for the 5 of us.

Other comments:

Our favorite pastime during the day was sitting on lounge chairs on their teak promenade and read. We also used the hot tubs. They have a swimming pool covered with a glass dome, in addition to other regular outside swimming pools which are heated. We were blessed with very good weather and we only had a little rain one day. We could barely feel the ship move!

Our 13 year old daughter was with us and she had a blast with her teens group. They kept them busy and we pretty much only saw her for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

In retrospect I wished we had done the cruise in reverse. It would have been a very relaxing way to end 5 hectic days in London. Also, we would have gained an hour every night , instead of losing an hour! I knew the latter going in , but I thought it wouldn't matter. It did! Another thing I would consider in the future, if time and $$$ are available, is to sail eastward from NY again, stay in Europe for 12 days ( the time it takes the ship to go back and forth) and then sail back to NY. We flew out of Heathrow and it was a zoo!! Taking the ship back is a much more pleasant way of traveling !

I haven't really covered all of the myriad of activities they have onboard but I brought the daily program, so if anybody has a question I can refer to those.

As I said before, we tremendously enjoyed the experience and would repeat it again if possible.

There are cruise ships that offer passengers every possible amenity, and then some. Virtual golf. Ice skating. Bowling. Tennis. Rock climbing. You name it and there's probably a cruise ship where you can find it. Tomorrow's vessels promise to tantalize its passengers with an even wider array of shipboard fantasies. And then there's the QE2. Decidedly different from all the others, this grand lady, who made her debut way back in 1967, makes a dazzling statement that is uniquely her own.

Built as an ocean liner when the cruise industry was still in its infancy, this "legend in her own time" never joined the pack to become something she wasn't. And for 35 years she's proclaimed what she was: one of the most elegant vessels afloat. She still is.

I boarded "The Queen" on January 9th as she set sail from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles on the first leg (12 days) of her annual World Cruise. Fellow passengers included some 400 celebrants who were booked for the entire 108-day cruise. Although this number is down from past years, occupancy on most of the segments will be relatively high. Of course, with lower numbers, passengers benefit from a better staff/passenger ratio.

Although the passengers, regardless of their booked category, are free to roam the ship as they please - more or less - the QE2 maintains a separation of the classes according to assigned dining room. But even those who are relegated to the Mauretania, enjoy fine cuisine, superlative service and a memorable dining experience. In fact, the basic menu for all of the restaurants is the same. The only difference is the number of choices which increase as you go up the dining ladder. In the Grills, you can also order something special that doesn't appear on the menu. The Mauretania is the only dining room aboard the ship where you can opt for main or late seating. All of the others, the Caronia, the Britannia Grill, the Princess Grill, and the ultimate, Queens Grill, offer one-seating service. I was assigned to the Caronia which allowed me to enjoy dinner any time from 6:45 to 9:00 pm - at the same table and with the same waiter/bus boy. The Lido, which offers a dazzling buffet, was my choice for breakfast an The QE2 offers a very civilized way to cruise: few announcements on the P.A. system; an upscale (and very English) afternoon tea service (complete with a tasty array of finger sandwiches, scones and pastries); terry robes for all Caronia and up passengers; daytime and evening concerts; tasteful entertainment; a library touted as the largest one afloat (and it really is, so don't weigh down your luggage with heavy reading matter - the QE2's library is more than adequate); and broad wooden decks for a classic promenade or a good read 'n snooze on a sea-bleached wooden lounge chair right out of the 30's. I could have done without four formal nights out of twelve, but many passengers enjoy dressing up. The dress code, even on non-formal nights, is jacket and tie for the guys. But that's my taste - I go for a more casual dress code. But even on formal nights, you could get by with a dark suit or blazer. And if you really don't choose to dress up, you could dine in the Lido - but that, I feel, would be a downe Although the QE2 is getting up there age wise, with some tell-tale dowager wrinkles she wears with pride, she's still a perky and vibrant lady who promises an unforgettable cruise experience every time. And although there are lots of newer, more streamlined and glitzier ships to choose from, most of them who deliver an excellent product, my money is on the Queen Elizabeth II.

Southampton, Vigo, Barcelona, Cannes, Rome, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Southampton

We booked the QM2 for the first time this year.

Embarkation:
We booked a limo to Southampton from London and we arrived at about 12:30. There was a queue but it went fast. We were issued a cruise card with our picture on it and went straight to the ship. We stepped into the Grand Lobby and were amazed, it is so beautiful, one of the stewards asked us if we know where to go, we said yes, so she said welcome back! That was nice especially it was our first time on the QM2. Our cabin was in one of the best locations between the two sets of 6 elevators number 5133.

The Cabin:
Our cabin was a B2 (Premium Balcony). It was very similar to our cabin on board the Constellation. Both QM2 and Connie were built at by Chantiers de L'atlantique, so we felt immediately at home. The bed was comfortable, it had some cushions, the bedspread was very nice, there was a desk with refrigerator, some drawers, hair dryer, and interactive TV, soba bed which was good, wardrobe with a safe, 3 very nice wall pictures. The shower was big and comfortable and under the sink was a cupboard with some storage space. The toiletries were from Canyon Ranch. The air-condition system was very good. The balcony was in hull and very private, its door was a regular one and not a sliding door. The interactive TV was the best we?ve seen, it had a selection of music, we could send and receive emails - there was a keyboard on top of the TV, and a selection of pay movies, also there was information about the ship and the evening menu, which was great.

The Ship:
The ship is the most beautiful ship we?ve seen. The Grand Lobby is magnificent with wonderful chandeliers. The halls that ran from one end to the other on deck 3 and 2 where very wide with beautifully decorated walls. Decks 2 and 3 are the main public area decks with the Queen?s Room, the Britannia Restaurant, the Royal Court Theatre, the Chart Room, Golden Lion Pub, Champagne bar and Illuminations. All are lovely and very beautiful. Illuminations is also a planetarium which is a novelty. Our favorite lounge was Commodore Club on deck 9. The Winter Garden is also lovely. The library is the largest we saw on a ship and has a very good bookstore. The casino is large but full of smoke. Throughout the ship there are beautiful pictures of Queen Mary 2, Queen Mary, QE2, QE and all the other ships. This is the most beautiful ship in the world.

The Food:
The Britannia is very large and beautiful. Our waiters were Lisandro and Lara. They were great. The food was wonderful. The desserts were fantastic. The ?Peach Flambé? and the ?After Eight? were the best. Dinner was an occasion to look forward to. For lunch and breakfast is was open seating and there was a choice between the Britannia and the Kings Court. The Kings Court was OK but we mostly ate at the Britannia. Entertainment and Activities:
The Royal Court theatre is very beautiful. The Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers were very good, they did several shows, the singers Emma Sinclair, and Paul Emmanuel, John Martin a comedian and a pianist, flautist and violinist and a juggler. All in all the entertainment was very good. There were movies daily in Illuminations. Illuminations is wonderful with great sightlines, we saw there also a very interesting planetarium movie. There was also music at the lounges and bars.

There were many things to do, especially in sea days, quizzes, lectures, chef demonstrations, art auctions and more. There are several swimming pools and the spa therapy pool, which cost extra, Connextions internet café, there are two game rooms with tables set up with board games which were very nice.

The Itinerary:
Since we?ve already done the Western Mediterranean we didn?t go down in every port. The first one for us was Barcelona.

Barcelona:
We booked a limo to the Arts Decorative museum and afterwards to the CosmoCaixa science museum, both are very interesting.

Rome:
We booked a limo to Rome, had a nice breakfast at the Cavalieri Hilton. We went to see Villa Gulia, afterwards we went to see the new Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition in Piazza del Popolo which was very interesting, they built models from Da Vinci?s plans and it was amazing. Finally we paid a visit to Galleria Doria Pamphilj. Then we had lunch at Cavalieri Hilton before returning to the ship. A fantastic day.

Gibraltar:
We booked Gibraltar with elegant tea. After the tender experience, we had a guided coach tour in Gibraltar, and afterwards we went to one of the local hotels for tea and some cakes. It was very nice. Then we took the bus back to the port.

Lisbon:
We booked a shore excursion, which included the Maritime Museum. This is a fantastic museum with a lot of ship models, marine instruments and wall pictures, from the earliest vessels to the modern ones. It is the most comprehensive marine museum we ever visited. Afterwards we visited the monastery and then back to the ship. Lisbon is a beautiful city and we really want to return some day.

We had a wonderful cruise, the weather was perfect (about 22-25 C) in all the ports we visited, everything was perfect.
We really love QM2, it was very hard to leave her in Southampton.

See you next time QM2.