QE2 18 July Med Cruise Report

I had a great cruise on QE2 from Southampton to the Med.

Having not been on board for 11 years it was nice to experience QE2 once again, I thought the ship was looking very nice indeed.

I travelled in 3048, dining in Caronia restaurant. From boarding until the end of the cruise, the staff I encountered were all extremely pleasant and helpful and I have to say that I think the standard of service is the best I have experienced on board - this was my 4th time , the first being in 1976.

Now to cover a few of the points which have been raised on the boards lately regarding QE2.

Silver Service 2 Pasta dishes were prepared in the restaurant by the assistant Maitre D's as well as Crepes Suzette one evening. This was not, however, "tableside" cooking as such since the waiting staff went to the Maitre D's cooking trolley, rather than the trolley coming to your table. Certain main courses were presented on platters, nicely sizzling from the meths burners, and these dishes were then presented "Silver Service" by the waiters. Otherwise, all mains were presented plated ready - and in most cases - beautifully presented! As for starters - I failed only once to choose a starter that came without a strawberry for decoration!

Carpets & Decoration Saw no signs of carpet relaying "in action" though I did notice many rolls of carpet in the rubbish skips next to the ship when we were docked at Livorno so work mustve been going on unseen! QE2 was looking good externally-there was "touch-up" painting going on at each docked port of call except Gibraltar-although the external wooden handrails were not varnished as I seem to remember them - might be the memory playing up though.

Butter No US calls so their Health Regs dont enter into it here. Butter in Caronia served on silver dishes with ice underneath - Breakfast & Lunch in foil prepack- Dinner in open pats.

Afternoon Tea

Queens Room : White Glove service but tea poured for you - not your own individual pot unless you ask for Earl Grey or other speciality tea when a pot will be provided for your table. Scones - all preprepared. Nice and varying range of other cakes too - I particularly enjoyed the excellent fruit cake. Sandwiches - crusts cut off and there was cucumber every day along with other choices which varied. Although some of the waiters were a bit hazy on what the "meat" or "fish" sandwiches actually contained we rapidly made the connection with the previous nights menu! Tea served 4.00 till 5.00 so it was not necessary to jockey for position at 2.30pm! Music played daily.

Funnel Bar : No white gloves of course, but you did get your own pot of tea regardless. Otherwise as above.

Lido : As per Queens Room minus the white gloves, music and more dignified ambience! Service good however.

If anyone has any questions on other matters I'll be happy to relate my experiences in more detail.

Hi there Red Rover, we are off to the Med on QE2 in Sept 05. With such a short stay in Gibraltar is it worth while trying to sightsee (with arthritic knees)?:)

Hi Redrover,

Glad to hear you had a enjoyable cruise, would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the changes and how this compared to previous cruises? How did you find the entertainment on board? any big name stars?

Managed to see QE2 sailing off from Invergordon on Monday, as always she looked stunning !!!!!! cant help but think a year for me is along time to wait for my cruises.

best wishes,

Myles

Was the dress code enforced? How many tuxedos in formal nights? Etc.

Redrover - Thank you for that report. Have you any comparison to offer re QE2 service etc. now and when you first sailed on her. I have sailed QE2 some number of times in recent years and will be on board again in November. Love the ship.

David.

Hi Redrover,

Glad to hear you had a great trip. Which ports did you visit? Which excursions would you recommend? Did you stop in Vigo, Spain? Go to Santiago de Compostela? Lisbon, Portugal? Gibraltar? Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated as we are trying to plan our port of call days. Thanks.