QM2 Nov Caribbean Cruise & A2 Club Cabin -- Our Thoughts.

Just returned from our 19th Nov--15th December QM2 Caribbean cruise and thought readers might like to share our experience.

Cabin

Regarding our A2 Cabin. Small issues included an intermittent vacuum problem with our toilet not flushing on seven or eight occasions but resolved itself within a few hours. The only other thing was whistling wind when at sea through the sliding patio door seals but the thick curtains helped. Our cabin was one of the new cabins on the 13th deck and a great improvement over standard cabins. The Club cabin living area looked similar in floor area but more luxurious than a standard Britannia balcony cabin. Our cabin had extra framed pictures and a very attractive bevelled mirror made up of six segments above the desk area. My wife did laugh though as she thought this was designed by a man because when she sat down for makeup and to dry her hair, her head reflected right into the bevelled areas of the central mirror segments. She looked like something out of the hall of mirrors and had to therefore stand up to do this which proved more than a little tedious throughout the cruise. The wall mounted television was central at the end of the bed and in a good position to view from there though we had to be a little careful passing the end of the bed as the screen protruded a few inches from the wall. From what I can remember there were mainly a few movie channels, BBC & Sky News and BBC HD and channel with soaps including East Enders, Coronation St, Emmerdale & White Chapel that might be welcome especially for longer cruises . Despite the recent dry dock there were still no movies on demand so we usually ended up seeing part of a film rather than all of it despite the programme times advertised in leaflets. We found the on board itinerary made it difficult to catch up for the start of films. Many of the cabin surfaces on our 13 deck cabin were roll tops of a luxurious marble look and very attractive. The bathroom surfaces were again of a marble look and the shower had large attractive light beige stone style tiling with a clear shower door that opened inwards or outwards, there were clear rubber seals on the door edges that prevented any water from escaping into the main bathroom area. We thought the doors also opening outwards very sensible for larger people. The shower itself was lovely! A light touch on the button on the shower head delivered four different settings! The bathroom itself had plenty of storage both under the basin and corner shelving.

The Ship

We felt the Carinthia Lounge was a great improvement over the old Winter Garden. Clearly much thought had been made to the new furnishings and dividing spaces where we sat in comfort while listening to the harpist or pianist. The area where snacks were served seemed like a good idea too. The newly improved Kings Court proved much easier to navigate and the new seating was very comfortable on the few occasions we used this.

The films we saw in Illuminations were mostly very recent releases, and interesting films too (well done Cunard!) films like Dunkirk, Churchill, The Mountain Between Us, Kingsman II The Golden Circle etc.

There were plenty of piano recitals. Our favourite past time was listening to the young talented harpist and pianists in the Carinthia and Commodore Lounges.

The Theatre

The newly boarded singers and dancers were in our opinion not worth watching, perhaps they will improve given time. Other acts seemed to be far more entertaining. Many of the speakers we found fascinating.

Speakers

Popular talks included the Costume Designer for The Greatest Showman and other well know films, the well respected author, actor & historian Joshua Levine talking about the blitz and Dunkirk; and a Canadian Astraunaut talking about his International Space Station experience. Such interesting speakers is one of the reasons why we book with Cunard.

The Club Restaurant

After an initial hiccup in the starboard side Club restaurant we asked if we could move to the Port side Club. This was because we felt the atmosphere was very tense, a couple of servers really did appear not to be team players and seemed disinterested to the point where my lovely DW was afraid to ask for another tea for fear of constant rolling eyes. A very unusual occurance and thankfully the Food and Beverage manager and head Maitre' D got back to us straight away and this was quickly dealt with. After the move we found Dominic and his team truly wonderful, his flambé seemed regularly available at table for customers who asked and Bruno our sommelier knew all the wines and gave us invaluable advice to the point where we left him to choose our preferred non EU New World wine selection. A suitable wine is an important part of our Cunard holiday and Bruno completed the 26 day challenge very well. Our table servers were lovely too, Carlo & Gonzalo were courteous and extremely capable. Overall we found the anytime dining experience suited our needs and the tables were spaced out well but close enough in many cases for neighbouringt ables wanting a quick chat.

Food

The food in the Club mirrored Britannia with the addition of the back page A La Carte section which remained the same throughout the trip but provided welcome additions such as scallops and beef tornados, the latter being my favourites. We found the quality and selection of the dinner menu very good indeed. The food in Kings Court was a little hit and miss, the minute steaks weretougher than my old boots but the succulent chicken kebabs were a hit with us. Late night KC offerings included savaloy hot dogs but I noted gone were my beloved KC late night burgers, oh how I mourn for them!. We also found that on occasion for lunch when there might be nothing on the Britannia Club lunchtime menu or KC to our liking, a better alternative was the in cabin food service. The sirloin steaks were OK and the club sandwich and delicious burgers were of a very good quality and delivered hot. Also Rose who answered our in cabin orders was always polite and helpful.

Itinerary

Amber Cove and St Kitts seemed a reasonable replacement to the islands of St Martin & St Thomas that had suffered the recent storm damage. Just a couple of observations though regarding the anchor tender ports. We noticed announcements for independent passengers disembarking were not made until 11am. Not a great deal of time to explore when the last call for tender was in some cases 4.30pm though I guess not entirely surprising for a ship with so many passengers. Something to be aware of if not on a ship excusion. Also Antigua the last port of call, an anchor port, happens to be our favourite was cancelled. The captain made an announcement that the anchor was dragging on the sand bed and with the 15mph on shore winds this left the ship at risk of drifting towards the shore. It was announced that a handful of passengers had already got off so the ship would have to maintain position using thrusters etc until they could be brought back on board which transpired to be not until 5.30pm that evening which left the ships passengers we spoke to rather disappointed to say the least! Nothing was offered for this disappointment I would add, not even a drink!

All in all we very much enjoyed the trip; the itinerary experience of missing out on the last port was really the only downside. I Hope this will help anyone who is thinking about booking a similar cruise.

What a great review. I really appreciate you taking the time to post, especially about the Club dining room.

The last time we were on QM2 we were in Princess Grills and lost our beloved assistant head waiter to the Britannia Club. I believe he is still there as the Maitre D. If he is QM2 Club dining is in good hands and I am sorry that you experienced a hiccup at the beginning of the trip, but very glad it was corrected.

I promise I will post either a "live from" when we are on QE World Cruise or at least take the time to write a review. I will not be reviewing the ports but I think that it is so enriching to read about someone else's experience.

Thanks again.

Thanks for reporting back

We were in an A2 Club in September from NY to Southampton and thought that the starboard side Club restaurant staff were all great.

We were in an A2 Club in September from NY to Southampton and thought that the starboard side Club restaurant staff were all great.

Excellent. Glad you had a great time.

Thank you Robbie for your review.

Always glad to hear positive and informative comments about the new Deck 13 cabins and Club dining as we shall be trying both next October,

Thanks for the review!

 

I saw the ship after the "remastering".

I like some changes (the Grand Lobby, Cafe Carinthia).

50/50 about the buffet.

Adding cabins into public spaces is crime.

So nothing could disappoint me more than those mercyless implants.

I think the ship was screaming in pain when they were doing it to her....

Unfortunately uglifying famous ships is a common thing nowadays.

Even this most outstanding ship afloat happened to be "nothing so divine,

just next in line"...

Agree , taking public space away for more cabins is a crime . Especially Deck 2 & 3.

Making the Casino smaller makes no sense . It is now too crowded in the evenings , that we skip it (save $$$ ).

The new cabins on deck 13 are not such a crime as they replaced a rarely used bar and wading pool.