We're spoiled because we had 6 wonderful cruises on QM2 during her first 8 years at sea when she was at her most glorious, elegance and exceptional quality of service and food in MDR and buffet. We were shocked at the changes on our July 2022 cruise. Service and food definately not up to QM2 old standards. But we feel the same has changed on other cruise lines we've been sailing on since 2010, except for Celebrity which has maintained excellence in service and food for our cruises since 2010. We've been sailing on the Celebrity Summit out of Bayonne because we found same quality as QM2 for less money (meaning more cruises for us) and the convenience of sailing out of Bayonne as we only live 45 minutes from that port. We love the QM2 but sad of her decline. Guests who sailed on her in her glory days notice it the most. We read about the refit so we've tentatively booked for November 2024 because we love going to the Caribbean on the QM2 and hoping that the reviews will show that service and food have improved, in addition to getting that awful rust off the balconies and elsewhere. Also from reviews and our experience, too, embarkation out of Red Hook Brooklyn has been disastrous since 2019. Seems to be the only port with hours of waiting to board with nowhere to sit and people passing out from standing so long.
Still, the QM2 is a beautiful and unique ocean liner and would hope many will enjoy having a chance to sail on her.