Cruise 49 First with Cunard

This is our first Cunard cruise, and I hope it works out well. We are doing the January 3 Caribbean trip, and we have a few questions.

Due to the size of the QM2, I noticed that they tender almost everywhere. With over 3000 passengers, how difficult is the tendering process (wait wise etc.)? We have never taken a ship this large and have always found tendering a bit of a nuisance when we had to in the past.

I know the ship is much more formal than the other trips we have taken (celebrity, sea dream etc). Have you found this makes the trip somewhat stuffy, especially in the evening?

Is seasickness a problem? We are in an A3 near the stern, and wondered if the "higher up" location would be a problem?

Lastly for anyone who has taken other cruise lines, how does the cabin size and storage really compare to other lines, specifically princess, celebrity, HAL etc., in our category of cabin?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

This is our first Cunard cruise, and I hope it works out well. We are doing the January 3 Caribbean trip, and we have a few questions.

 

Due to the size of the QM2, I noticed that they tender almost everywhere. With over 3000 passengers, how difficult is the tendering process (wait wise etc.)? We have never taken a ship this large and have always found tendering a bit of a nuisance when we had to in the past.

 

I know the ship is much more formal than the other trips we have taken (celebrity, sea dream etc). Have you found this makes the trip somewhat stuffy, especially in the evening?

 

Is seasickness a problem? We are in an A3 near the stern, and wondered if the "higher up" location would be a problem?

 

 

 

Lastly for anyone who has taken other cruise lines, how does the cabin size and storage really compare to other lines, specifically princess, celebrity, HAL etc., in our category of cabin?

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Can't answer about tendering as we have only done crossings. QM2 is certainly not an ideal ship for the Caribbean.

Stuffy in the evening? No, we find the atmosphere (in the dining room) elegant and classy. I am sure some do find it stuffy and they tend to dine in the Kings Court where the dress code does not apply.

I know that you will be told that you are less likely to get sick in particular areas of the ship. I don't think this has much effect either way. Some people are sick in quite gentle seas; it's a personal thing.

Cabin size, what class of cabin are you in. We have never sailed Princess, Celebrity or HAL, but other lines P&O, Saga, Swann Hellenic and even dear old Fred Olsen have cabins that are very similar to QM2.

Have a great cruise.

David.

You are going to love QM2

The dining and ambiance is very similar to Celebrity- but the furnishings and high ceilings make it more regal.

The formal dress at night is very nice but you don't have to dress to the nines. There were men in suits and tuxes and women in gowns but a nice black pant suit or a men dark suit are fine too. Pretty much like Celebrity.

Tendering will be a pain IMO. There are 3000 people to tender. But I only did a TA so can't speak from experience.

Absolutely no motion will be felt. This ship is built for the TA and I never felt motion even in very big waves.

Storage space was fine. I would say the cabins are very similar to Celebrity in the layout. The square footage is bigger though.

The cabin size and storage is fine. We have only had suites on HAL and although they are much larger than an A cabin on QM2 the space is just fine for us. I very much doubt you will "feel" the ship sea sick wise. Tendering is very organized, you wait in a lounge with numbered tender tickets which you pick up outside the lounge when you are ready to go ashore. They call your numbers and off you go! We never had longer than a five minute wait.

You will love the ship and the cruise!:)

B.

Due to the size of the QM2, I noticed that they tender almost everywhere.

Hello,

You should only have two port to tender: Tortola and St. Lucia. The QM2 can dock in Barbados, St. Kitts and the new Crown Point pier in St. Thomas.

Enjoy your cruise!

Alan

I just checked the passenger site (immigration forms etc), and it shows us tendering in Saint Thomas as well. I suppose the one plus to that is we may be tendered to the center of town, rather than having to take a cab. there.

I guess it is almost time to break out my old Tuxedo and see if it still fits, as well as whether it looks too dated to wear. I last wore it a number of years years ago when I used to play with some local musical groups. I never worried about it then because I was well hidden behind my horn!

We tendered in St Thomas and this was the low point of the cruise.

It was a pain, very poorly organised, maybe things have changed but getting 3000 people into tenders is never going to be easy.

The ship is beautiful, but I wouldn't visit the Caribbean on her again due to the awful tendering experience we had.

:(

Hi we are also on this cruise. Never been to Caribbean on QM2 before but have been with Princess and P&O. Last of which was Crown Princess last year. Never had to tender ashore with the exception of the likes of Tobago. Can you tell me where on the Cunard site the tender information is as I have not been able to find it.

Kind regards, Emma

... Can you tell me where on the Cunard site the tender information is as I have not been able to find it.

 

Kind regards, Emma

You will get the most accurate information about tendering by checking the QM2 bridgecam on the day she is in each port.

Paul

This is our first Cunard cruise, and I hope it works out well. We are doing the January 3 Caribbean trip, and we have a few questions.

 

Due to the size of the QM2, I noticed that they tender almost everywhere. With over 3000 passengers, how difficult is the tendering process (wait wise etc.)? We have never taken a ship this large and have always found tendering a bit of a nuisance when we had to in the past.

 

I know the ship is much more formal than the other trips we have taken (celebrity, sea dream etc). Have you found this makes the trip somewhat stuffy, especially in the evening?

 

Is seasickness a problem? We are in an A3 near the stern, and wondered if the "higher up" location would be a problem?

 

Lastly for anyone who has taken other cruise lines, how does the cabin size and storage really compare to other lines, specifically princess, celebrity, HAL etc., in our category of cabin?

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

We were on the QM2 from Santiago to LA ... and found the ship huge, elegant and delightful. Generally, we did't experience it as stuffy. One of the aspects we loved was ballroom dancing in the Queens Room. Absolutely wonderful having a 9 piece band, an elegant room and dancing, dancing, dancing.

The food is varied. If you're eating in King's Court, you may need to make advance reservations (no fee) for some choices. Not a problem, but plan ahead. We had tender problems in only one port, and the problem was that the port traffic circulation couldn't accomodate commercial & QM2 traffic at the same time. We found QM2 is organized and orderly.

Overall, a wonderful experience. Try ordering room service late night for hot chocolate. You'll get a caraf of hot chocolat as opposed to a packet of Nestles and hot water on Princess, HAL & Celebrity.

Happy cruising.

Bob

If you go to the Cunard website and click on cruise personalizer, it will confirm you are registered, and give you the details. That is where we saw that it tendered in a several places unfortunately.

We have been to the Caribbean many times, and love Saint Thomas crowds and all. I suppose if we book a shore excursion it will get us off early.

We have always tried to avoid large ships in the past, but the idea of sailing from a port that is so close to us, and thus avoiding the airlines was very appealing. I guess we will al have to wait and see how we like the larger vessel and crowds.

The smallest we did was on seadream (110 passengers, 95 crew members) and it was great. Never a wait, and they even ran zodiacs for people who wanted to go to a particular place that others weren't interested in. I guess that won't happen here.

I guess it is time to look at a half full glass or the trip will be ruined before we even leave!

I just checked the passenger site (immigration forms etc), and it shows us tendering in Saint Thomas as well. I suppose the one plus to that is we may be tendered to the center of town, rather than having to take a cab. there.

I was on the Oct 31 version of the cruise you'll be on and we docked in St. Thomas. That's a place where they don't know if they'll be docking or anchored until the day before they get there because they never know if there will be room for them. But if it docks, you still have to take a cab to the center or town. The ship only tendered at 2 of the 5 stops, but I didn't go ashore those days because I didn't want to deal with tenders. But from watching from the deck, the tenders came and went constantly, and people said you didn't have to wait long at all to get on one.

And don't let anyone tell you that you won't feel ANY motion. Everyone is different as to their sensitivity to motion, but if you've taken 49 cruises you probably know how seasick you get! But I felt just as much motion in our cabin on deck 9 as I did in the lobby on deck 2, so I don't think the deck you're on makes any difference. We had rough seas one night because of Hurricane Noel. And the stabilizers only cut down rolling to a maximum of 6 degrees (which is still a lot), not pitching.

How was your trip overall? Did you find the "class system" at all disconcerting"

As I said earlier, we picked this trip for the convenience of a NYC departure. I have never gotten sick, though I did feel a bit queazy a few times when we pitched and rolled. The cAptain even apologized stating that the stabilizers could do nothing for the front to back motion which we felt.

Lots of people on deck as we answered an SOS and the captain raised the stabilizers to make more speed. It was exciting-more so than the time they lowered the lifeboats and we lined up to abandon ship. Oh well, it turned out to be a false alarm and we never did have to leave the ship-thank God!

I do appreciate al of the information from all. Two months from now I hope to be saying how great everything was and that we plan to do a crossing next time.

How was your trip overall? Did you find the "class system" at all disconcerting"

We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go again! The service was even better than we were expecting, the ship was more beautiful than we were expecting and was very well-maintained and the food was about what we were expecting, it didn't "wow" us. But really, the service was truly excellent. We won't even consider another cruise line now (and this was our first cruise). Cunard is just what we want.

Now about that thorny class question, which I'm sure will start an interesting discussion: all I'll say is that we were in the Queens Grill and I'm so glad we were. It's the Grills or nothing for us! ;)

We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go again! The service was even better than we were expecting, the ship was more beautiful than we were expecting and was very well-maintained and the food was about what we were expecting, it didn't "wow" us. But really, the service was truly excellent. We won't even consider another cruise line now (and this was our first cruise). Cunard is just what we want.

 

Now about that thorny class question, which I'm sure will start an interesting discussion: all I'll say is that we were in the Queens Grill and I'm so glad we were. It's the Grills or nothing for us! ;)

There is no class system on Cunarders.

Some people pay more to get better food and cabins. But all the public areas that matter are open to all.

And don't write of AA grade - hugely cheaper than Queens' Grill, but most of the wow factor is still present at dining.

I'm normally in Queens' Grill - in point of fact, normally in the Penthouse on QE2. So I think my experience is relevant.

Matthew

She now pulls into a pier in St Thomas

steve

I just checked the passenger site (immigration forms etc), and it shows us tendering in Saint Thomas as well. I suppose the one plus to that is we may be tendered to the center of town, rather than having to take a cab. there.

 

 

I guess it is almost time to break out my old Tuxedo and see if it still fits, as well as whether it looks too dated to wear. I last wore it a number of years years ago when I used to play with some local musical groups. I never worried about it then because I was well hidden behind my horn!

Hello then!!:D

Sorry, brit joke

Thornbury ....

Bristol almost .

She now pulls into a pier in St Thomas

 

steve

Wow! Live commentary. This site gets better and better...........

Thornbury ....

 

Bristol almost .

almost, but not!:D

I never worried about it then because I was well hidden behind my horn!

OMG!!!!

thank heavens HS didn't spot that remark.

J

OMG!!!!

 

thank heavens HS didn't spot that remark.

 

J

I do believe he'd rather play Hide the Horn than Canapes and Cleavages, but I could be wrong...

I do believe he'd rather play Hide the Horn than Canapes and Cleavages, but I could be wrong...

Don't think so, but you might need a supermodel! :D

David

Don't think so, but you might need a supermodel! :D

 

David

I thought that they were in the kitchen cupboard.:D

Bettie

I was on the Oct 31 version of the cruise you'll be on and we docked in St. Thomas. That's a place where they don't know if they'll be docking or anchored until the day before they get there because they never know if there will be room for them. But if it docks, you still have to take a cab to the center or town. The ship only tendered at 2 of the 5 stops, but I didn't go ashore those days because I didn't want to deal with tenders. But from watching from the deck, the tenders came and went constantly, and people said you didn't have to wait long at all to get on one.

 

And don't let anyone tell you that you won't feel ANY motion. Everyone is different as to their sensitivity to motion, but if you've taken 49 cruises you probably know how seasick you get! But I felt just as much motion in our cabin on deck 9 as I did in the lobby on deck 2, so I don't think the deck you're on makes any difference. We had rough seas one night because of Hurricane Noel. And the stabilizers only cut down rolling to a maximum of 6 degrees (which is still a lot), not pitching.

There was a rough night? Which one? I never noticed!

QM2 rides so smoothly compared to other ships we have been on that I honestly do not feel ANY motion, much to my disappointment. Marc has always threatened to build me something to rock the house back and forth because I complain I miss getting rocked to sleep at nigh!

Hey History Grad- I assume you did not make either meet and greet? Would love to have met you!

As for tendering. I have tendered, docked at Havensight and docked at Crown Point in St Thomas. I'll take tendering any day! I have walked into town from Havensight (Usually stop at the A&P along the way for a few odds and ends) Took a taxi from Crown Point. I LOVE tendering. It's another boat ride, I have rarely had to wait (and HAVE had to wait getting on or off at docks sometimes) and what a marvelous sight as you cruise nearer to the ship!

Karie