Cunard Crossing review.

Since it doesn't seem to be getting posted properly yet I will put it here for the time being.

It is quite long I'm afraid.

This was our fourth Cunard voyage, our third trip on the QM2 and our second transatlantic, our first having been some five years earlier on the Queen Elizabeth 2.

We sailed from Brooklyn which was so easy to get to as we had chosen to stay out at La Guardia. We booked a car service which was clean, early and really good value. We arrived early to the dockside as we had both jetlag and a 13month old to wake us early! Although it was Marathon day we had no problems getting to Brooklyn although I believe some passengers coming out of the city were a bit disrupted.

The new Brooklyn terminal is great, so much space for private cars, coaches, taxis and car services. It never looked crowded. The inside of the terminal is clean and comfortable; the toilets are very clean too as are the baby changing facilities. We had a short wait before check in began but it was only about half an hour. We joined the check in queue and the supervisor (I assume) asked us to come forward to the shorter queue as we had the baby with us. As far as I could tell every desk was manned and check in was smooth until it came to printing our sign and sail cards out, I have that effect everywhere, machines do not like me.

We were assigned boarding number seven and headed into the departure lounge which had vending machines and a little table selling tea and coffee, etc. There were cleaners keeping the carpets swept and the gentleman we chatted with was courteous and polite. I had barely had half my tea and we were called forward for boarding. After the usual boarding picture it was a walk up the clean and glassed in jetties and we were being welcomed onboard! We were greeted by white gloved staff and one of the nursery staff who explained when to come and register and when they were open that evening.

We quickly headed to the cabin to drop our valuables in the in room safe before heading out to seven for a stroll. The view over Ellis Island and across to the city is fantastic. We took advantage of being early on and went for lunch in the king’s court. The food was excellent and varied. There have been definite improvements here from the last time we were on. The area now “flows” instead of jamming up and there definitely appeared to be more seating.

We then headed around the ship to reacquaint ourselves with her. It honestly felt like putting on an old pair of comfortable, familiar slippers. We had a quick drink in the pavilion bar and then headed down to the Golden Lion to see if it had changed. It hadn’t!

At four o’clock we had lifeboat drill which was thorough and intensive. Our little man was less than impressed with trying his jacket on though! They do provide different size lifejackets or life cribs depending on the size of your child.

After lifeboat drill we headed to the nursery down on six and registered our little man. The nursery is fantastic. I can’t express how thrilled we were with it. We had to complete an A4 sheet of paper with questions about our little man and his requirements, you are also asked to sign to say the staff can take them to the medical centre if it should ever be necessary and also that the staff can put on band aids, etc, the staff will change little ones, just make sure you bring your change bag. The nannies are all British and qualified to the very highest level. Upon chatting with one of them I discovered she had been an early year’s worker for the government before joining Cunard. Every time you entered the nursery you had to sanitize your hands to help keep it clean and free from infection. The area for children up to the age of six has a soft play area, a ball pool, a crafts area, a TV/radio and a general play area with plenty of lovely clean and well looked after toys. They also have plenty of books as well. The TV is only used at the end of the session or sometimes they read a story to the group whilst waiting for the “Mummies and Daddies”. The windows have pull down blinds to shield delicate little ones or to have open on duller days. The view is across the back of the deck which has a child’s pool and also a play area outside with trikes and slides. This wasn’t used during our crossing! There is also a dark room for naps and sleeping in during babysitting at night. It has three proper wooden cots and four travel cots, it also features a white noise which just about guarantees that your child will get a good nights sleep. To get into the nursery you had to ring the bell as the door was combination locked and only the staff on the inside could open it. Everyday had a different theme, one day was “pirates”, another “a day at the zoo” or “teddy bears picnic” and so on. Opening hours are 9-12, 2-5 and 8-Midnight, however they will take your child earlier as long as you let them know before 5pm that day. This worked well for us as our little man was out like a light by 7pm. We even dropped him off at 6:30pm one night as we had a cocktail party to attend. Whenever you left you small child you were given a beeper so that you could be contacted quickly and easily, you were also given a card with the phone number on so you could call up and check you little one was ok. Don’t worry if your child has an accident as they do give spare clothes in the nursery. We brought the ones we had been leant home by accident. (We sent them back) The nursery is closed on the last night as it has to be cleaned for port health in the morning. This is no problem though as we found out. We just ordered room service from the Britannia. Strictly this isn’t allowed but out Maitre’d arranged it for us. We spent the evening eating rump steak and drinking champagne whilst watching British TV! All in all, the Nursery was amazing; I cannot thank the staff enough for making our cruise so much more enjoyable!

After registering the baby we headed to deck 8 for our own sail away. The main sail away was taking place up on 12 deck in the pavilion bar, but there are no views from there. The bar on 8 deck was open so people could get a drink. We had our bottle of complimentary champagne so we toasted our departure with that, whilst our little man had milk that the bar staff had brought over for him. As we watched Manhattan and Lady Liberty drop away to the strains of “New York state of mind” everybody agreed that the money had been worth it just for that! The most thrilling part of the journey was sailing our under the Verrezano Narrow Straits Bridge!!! WOW! It takes your breath away! Just as you think the stacks are going to come crashing down on you she slips gracefully under and away! WOW! Even the bar staff said that they never tire of the thrill.

And now to the rest of the ship.

We had a sheltered balcony on six deck this time and it was just the thing as it kept the worst of the weather of us whilst still allowing us to get some fresh air. With the travel cot in the room it was cramped, but we put it down in the day which gave us ample enough space. The wardrobe space was more than adequate for the three of us, even taking into account the carseat we had stashed in the bottom of one of them.

We used room service for breakfast every morning; it was always prompt and delivered with a smile. Room service at other times was quick and efficient. We used it most afternoons for tea and toast and the toast was always warm.

Being on deck six we ate in the Britannia and were assigned table 34 which is in the small room at the very back of the restaurant for dinner. During breakfast and lunch a table is assigned by the head Maitre’d at the door, you are asked if you want to sit alone or with others. We were hugely impressed with this small area and would definitely request this table again. Our wait staff was waiting at our chairs every evening, we even varied the time a bit to see if we caught them out, but no! The staff from the Maitre’d to the busboy was pleasant, helpful and very friendly. The biggest improvement is the number of Sommeliers, there were plenty to go around now and you never waited more than five minutes to speak to one. Our Sommelier, Francisco, was very knowledgeable and helpful. Our waiters, Mel & Gerry, were great. Mel was very sweet and so polite! I loved him and wanted to bring him home! The menu was varied and tempting, so much so that I usually had two appetisers. One evening I had three, but that was only so I could try a dish. Nothing was too much trouble. The service was quick and such an improvement over 2004 that we were amazed at how fantastic it was. At the end of the week we were presented with our menus in a nice presentation folder, signed by our waiters. This is much better as we have had to ask before.

We only used Britannia for breakfast twice and lunch once, but again the service was efficient and friendly and the days we took the baby in with us the staff couldn’t have been better, although we called it a day during lunch when the baby was playing up.

The breakfast and lunch menus were varied and tempting. We never had a bad meal.

For the rest of the time we ate either in the Kings Court or the ever marvellous Golden Lion. The selection in the Kings Court was Italian, Carvery or Asian inspired. So there was always something for everyone. The Golden Lion pub meals are great. Over the course of the week we had the fish & chips, chicken korma, bangers & mash and ploughman’s. All of the meals were tempting and delicious. We also found it to be a good place to eat with the baby as he could pick at fish or ham or other bits from our plates. The Golden Lion also hosts daily trivia and darts contests run by the entertainment staff. We played darts most days and it was great fun and a good way to meet our fellow guests.

Afternoon tea is served in the Queens room, but get there early as it is amazingly popular and chairs go quickly. I shared with four other lovely people though. You can help yourself in the Kings court or for grill passengers tea is served in the Queens Grill lounge.

Entertainment onboard is varied and you will never be bored. There were Oxford lecturer’s onboard giving talks on many different topics. Many group meetings, including past passengers of the original Queen Mary. If you are a book worm then the library carries a brilliant selection and I have never failed to find the book I want. There are several pools, although only one indoor one. We made use of this when it was open, but due to bad weather all the pools were shut later in the trip. For the health conscious there is a gym, which I have never used, but I hear is very good. If you just fancied a stroll or a sit in the sun, yes really on a November cruise, then the promenade on 7 deck is for you! Three times round the deck = 1.1 miles, if you just fancy relaxing then the steamer chairs are far too comfortable and just invite you to nap. Lovely! There are many cosy spots to curl up on this ship despite her size. The chart room is lovely as are the chesterfields in the Golden Lion. Still bored? Then there is a cinema and onboard planetarium. There are board games layed out on deck 2, near connexions. There seemed to be very popular whenever I walked past. Still stuck for ideas then there is the Maritime Quest. Cunard’s Museum at sea! You can take an audio tour, headsets from the purser’s office and find out all about the companies heritage. Then you can look around for all the gifts that have been presented to the ship from her ports of call around the world!

If you get the urge to splash the cash then head to the Mayfair shops, as well as some very high end retailers there is an onboard Harrods section, logo shop, duty free and gift store. Don’t worry if you forget your bowtie, we purchase a bowtie and cummerbund from the Hermes shop for USD45. Whilst we were onboard there were sales of items from evening bags to the usual inch of gold. The evening bag sale was extraordinary! It was all Bijoux Terner items and they were all USD10!! I spent far too much, but I did stock up for Christmas gifts at the same time! The last day saw a lot of logo’d items being sold off on buy one get one free, I have never seen this done before and assume it was Cunard having a clearout. Naturally this was like a jumble sale and did a roaring trade! The bookstore, adjoining the library, stocks a marvellous selection of maritime, guide and other books. It also carries posters, postcards and general gift cards. You could spend far too much here!

The onboard casino has plenty of slots and table games, roulette, black jack, craps and daily lessons are given to those who want to know.

After all that you’ll need to relax and be pampered, the Canyon Ranch spa on seven deck is for you. I had an aromatherapy massage this time and it was heavenly! I also took advantage of the aqua therapy centre, which is heavenly. I thought I may just float away on a cloud of bubbles. I have only two complaints one is the shortage of lockers, this seems to be particular to transatlantics as there are so many people using the spa at once and the other is that there is no milk in the relaxation room. You can make a cup of tea but not put any milk in it! Grrrr. I also used the salon to have a nail polish change and the staff was very friendly and extremely skilled at putting on varnish with no smudges even though we were sailing through some heavy seas at the time.

At night there is plenty to do, from the ever popular Karaoke in the Golden Lion to listening to a jazz pianist in the Chart room. There are themed balls and during our crossing we had black and white ball and the Ascot Ball, silly hats can be made onboard. The balls are held in the Queens Room, the largest ballroom afloat. The Commodore club is a really lovely area to relax with a martini and the next door Churchill lounge is a cigar lover’s heaven!

We found that the ship handled the force 9 we sailed through very well, yes she did pitch and roll but that is all part of the fun! We felt the pitching more because we were so far forward. People did feel ill, but a shot from the doctors or a dose of Dramamine was enough to combat the effects. My husband felt the movement more and was off his dinner, the staff was very solicitous of him, offering him dry crackers and ginger so he felt better.

The last night we packed our bags up and sadly put them outside our room for collection. Our assigned disembarkation time was 10:10am and we were actually a little late being disembarked, we didn’t mind! As she was headed for dry-dock in Hamburg as we were disembarking workmen and engineers and their tools and equipment were coming aboard. Despite this, disembarkation was smooth and effiecient.

We disembarked through the grand lobby and headed down to the dockside where we were directed to the lifts by the port staff and then directed to the baggage claim, which looked like a circus, but actually flowed very well. Once we had our baggage we walked through customs to the pick up area, we needed to take a taxi and there were plenty waiting so we were on our way within ten minutes. As we drove away we promised we would be back on her soon.

Two days later we booked for Jan 2008!

Thanks for this wonderful review. I have read many times your wondeful experience with the Cunard Nursery. I wish I had an itinerary to go on before my son (age 21 months) is too big for it, as we won't be having anymore children! (My son and daughter (age 5) are a handful!) Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Two days later we booked for Jan 2008!

Thanks for that great review. We are looking forward to our crossing next July.

Too bad you did not book your next voyage while you were on board. :confused:

They offer discounts and great on board credits for doing so.

Cusyl we didn't book onboard as I work in the industry so it works out better for me to go through industry agents instead.:p

But you are totally right about the onboard booking attractions.

Eskwire, the nursery takes kids upto age five, then there is another level of childcare (the details escape me, but they looked like they were having a really wonderful time, including launching rockets on the stern) and then there is a teenage programme. So that's our vacation plans sorted for the next, oh forever.:p:);)

Thanks for the review. Of course I knew that Cunard has children's programs, but I hadn't realized that Cunard was so infant-friendly. (I guess they're keeping it a marketing secret. ) About how many children & what ages did you see onboard?

There were probably about 100 kids onboard our crossing, not all of them used the kids club though. Ages ranged from 16 right down to our little one who was 13months, it was a really good mix! The nursery section, that our little man used, ranged from 1-6years, the staff made good sure that the bigger kids didn't ever get too boistrous (sp?) around the smaller kids.

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but I've not stopped over the Christmas period.:o

If you have never left your child with someone else and she is two- you don't know how it is going to go.

My older son was two almost three when he enterred preschool and he cried terribly- for the first four days - all two hours!

My younger son would go willingly with strangers because he was very used to sitters from 6 weeks old on.

So before your cruise, you might want to start letting your child get used to strangers.

Then again they may be terrible at being left on land and then ok onboard.

Toddlers the most contrary creatures on earth!:D