QM2 vs Noordam and Crown Princess?

[ss475]

Having sailed the Noordam twice and the Crown Princess four times, l love cruising out of New York and Brooklyn.

I am considering booking the Feb. 2nd 2008 QM2 cruise.

How do the ships compare in crew, service, food, entertainment and accomodations?

I have never been on Cunard before, but we are Copper with Holland America and pushing toward Elite on Princess.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I have not been on Noordam, but I was on Crown Princess recently. Everything is better on QM2 than Crown Princess with one exception, and that is the Kings Court buffet, which is a difficult area to negotiate. The food is good, but the layout is confusing and it's hard to find a table.

 

I don't want to get this thread pulled because I blasted another line, but I have to say that I found the service on CP to be very bad. The pursers couldn't give an accurate answer to anything--they just made stuff up to get rid of us. The travel desk people were rude. The waiters at open seating at breakfast were disorganized. (Our assigned-dining waiters were excellent, fortunately) ALL of this will be much better on QM2.

 

And if you like afternoon tea, the way it's served on QM2 in the Queens room will impress you. What passes for tea sandwiches and service on CP doesn't come close.

 

If you prefer the open-seating (anytime?) dining on Princess, you may not like the fact that QM2 has assigned dining times unless you go up to the Britannia Club level or higher. I don't mind the assigned dining, I prefer that to the chaos of a different waiter at every meal.

 

QM2 will be more formal than CP on formal nights. Not that people dress up better/fancier (although there will likely be more men in tuxes), but that everyone dresses up. On CP, we found that formal night was not formal for everyone.

 

For entertainment, I think CP might have more variety in what they offer by way of small groups playing in the atrium, etc. But for production shows, QM's are better and the theatre is larger. I found that CP's production shows were so over-miked that I had to cover my ears at times. (And their show concepts were not to my liking, but that's an issue of individual taste)

 

For accommodations, it depends on what cabin you take. I think QM2 cabins are larger. If you like a balcony, be aware that the lower balconies on QM2 are 'sheltered,' which means they're inside the hull. I like these, but people who are used to a glass balcony may not.

 

I hope this is helpful.

Kathy

[ss475]

Thank you for your input. We appreciate your thoughts. We are in a guaranteed P-6 Balcony obstructed. We have taken second seating and also prefer fixed dining.

[Namvet4]

Having sailed the Noordam twice and the Crown Princess four times, l love cruising out of New York and Brooklyn.

I am considering booking the Feb. 2nd 2008 QM2 cruise.

 

Welcome ss475.. We sailed the Noordam last Jan and found her to be a wonderful ship! Now we are looking forward to the 2 Feb cruise on the QM 2....If you decide to join in there is a roll call link in my signature. I hope you will look forward to being on the QM2 as much as my wife and I do!:)

(Others who have sailed QM2 will surely share their thoughts.)

[Kindlychap]

Thank you for your input. We appreciate your thoughts. We are in a guaranteed P-6 Balcony obstructed. We have taken second seating and also prefer fixed dining.

 

It's a B6, for what it is worth.

 

Obstructed view - lifeboats in the way. You'll almost certainly be upgraded to the B5 grade - which is exactly the same. It's a revenue thing - B6 is a created category.

 

You may be upgraded to B4 to B1 - various levels in the sheltered balconies - essentially you stand for a view, but unlike the B5/6 you don't look out at a lifeboat. On the other hand, the B5/6 cabins are fairly well blessed with light.

 

A3 to A1 gets you the more typical glass balcony without the lifeboat (although the cabin is the same as the B5/6).

 

I've not travelled in a B grade cabin, but have seen a B5. It is worth pointing out that the balcony is much more sheltered than the AA grade balcony that I had on deck 12! But this was a crossing, not a cruise.....

 

You've chosen a very impressive ship. If you want to know more what I thought, then click on "Reflections on QM2" in my signature.

 

Matthew

[We2Cruzers]

Hi - We've sailed to the Caribbean on both the Noordam and QM2. We live in NYC and find sailing in and out of NY fabulous. Both ships are beautiful and both have their strong points. From our personal experience and impressions - we found the dining room service better on the Noordam than on the Queen Mary - but on both ships the room stewards were wonderful. We've been on the QM twice and the first trip loved the food, on the second not so much. On the Noordam I really enjoyed the food. Accommodations - both ships had beautiful rooms - I think our balcony room on the Noordam was slightly larger. Entertainment is so personal - but we went to most of the shows on the Noordam and none on the QM2 - but on the QM we enjoyed the jazz at night in the Chart Room and watching the ballroom dancers in the Queens Room. Both ships have nice libraries - but I love the Queen Mary's and think they have a better selection. The Queen Mary has a planetarium which is pretty neat and they have lectures as well as planetarium shows and they screen the movies there.

I'd sail again on either of these ships - and in fact am happily booked on the Queen Mary again in March.:)

Hope this helps.

LK

[ESLO]

Having sailed the Noordam twice and the Crown Princess four times, l love cruising out of New York and Brooklyn.

I am considering booking the Feb. 2nd 2008 QM2 cruise.

How do the ships compare in crew, service, food, entertainment and accomodations? I have never been on Cunard before, but we are Copper with Holland America and pushing toward Elite on Princess.

 

Dear ss475,

Hello and Welcome To The Cunard Board.

 

Yes, Please Do Join The Roll Call For Your Upcoming Cruise In Feb. I know that Namvet4 (Andrew) will be a very good host onboard as we wishes to welcome all those CC'ers sailing on that cruise.

 

I agree with Namvet4, you will be happy making the QM2 your next choice and maybe for years to come. We unfortuately were not too impressed with the Noordam during our cruise on her for personal reasons. Maybe we missed the QE2 (Cunard) during that 3-4 year lapse and now found QM2 our new sailing home. The Rotterdam was a pleasure for 2 trips. It did have a feeling sort of like a Cunard ship per say.

 

I agree totally with you, we very much enjoy leaving from Brooklyn as it is only 12 minutes from our home. Easier then tackling NYC traffic to the Manhattan Terminals. Also the modern setup can not be compared to Manhattan that should take an example. But, old terminals are very expensive to alter these days.

 

We really don't find a problem with Kings Court. As in everything in life, you must learn to adapt and we did during the last 2 cruises.

 

I have also heard from others that were not pleased with the Vista Style ships coming out on HAL. They are even questioning what the Signature Style due out with the Eurodam will be like. Also, several were 1/2 -1/2 with the Crown Princess. They now like the QM2 also.

 

One of the things to experience beside pages of activities to do should be noted a Tea Time in the Queens Room.

 

We also like as one of our preferences while cruising, is the Traditional Set Dining Times. We are not really Free Style People.

 

Going on the QM2 you will want to experience that Golden Ages of Sailing with Formal Nights. The ship takes on a different atmosphere and air during those nights if all do abit by the Dress Code. Some don't, the the rest still wants to set the tone. You will feel like you are in one of those Cunard pictures in their brochure on Formal Night.

 

The taste of the theaters on both the QM2 and Noordam were almost the same. It something what stages can do while on the open seas. Liking to go to Broadway shows in NYC, I always look forward to each evenings presentations. Honestly, sometimes we like to see the shows onboard again.

 

There is nothing like having a balcony on a cruiseship as we found when experienced on the Caronia. From then on, we went from Outside Cabins to Balconies. From Morning to Evening, what a special feeling to look out to this vast open sea whenever you wish and the evenings are undescribable. Also, those special times when coming into and out of a Port Of Call. It's like your own private balcony in a theater, with the world in front of you as the show.

 

The cabin choice is a personal preference. To what you are going to use the cabin for, the amount of space you wish, the style of cabin you wish to experience, the amount of time you will be using it for and if you wish to remain indoors or access to the outdoors. Oh yes, which restaurant you wish to dine in also.

 

You won't be disappointed. We haven't yet, going on our 3rd voyage on the Mary and many, many past cruises with Cunard.

[ss475]

We have attended the CC gatherings on Holland America where the Cruise Director, Captain, Hotel Manager, and Future Cruise representative was in attendance. At the CC gathering on Princess none of the above attended. We will be glad to join the role call...We will do it tomorrow...we are going out to dinner now....We appreciate all of the input. We agree that the Vista Class ships on Holland America are not like the Rotterdam and several others of Holland America fleet....gotta run...looking forward to meeting you in February....Carl and Diane

[jimandbevuk]

If you like a balcony, be aware that the lower balconies on QM2 are 'sheltered,' which means they're inside the hull. I like these, but people who are used to a glass balcony may not.

 

Would appreciate more info on this. What exactly is a "Sheltered" Balcony? I have an ominous feeling that it means you can't sit on your balcony and look out to sea. Is that right? Thx. Jim.

[3rdGenCunarder]

If you like a balcony, be aware that the lower balconies on QM2 are 'sheltered,' which means they're inside the hull. I like these, but people who are used to a glass balcony may not.

 

Would appreciate more info on this. What exactly is a "Sheltered" Balcony? I have an ominous feeling that it means you can't sit on your balcony and look out to sea. Is that right? Thx. Jim.

 

Right. You can't SIT and sea the ocean. But you can see the ocean if you stand. Because the cabins on 4, 5, and 6 decks are so close to the sea, they can't safety have glass balconies. Remember, QM2 does transatlantics, where the waves could hit that high.

 

Imagine that you have a cabin with a nice big picture window. Now, take out the glass, leaving an open hole in the hull, and put in a glass wall a few feet back, separating the open space from the enclosed cabin. That's an in-hull, or 'sheltered' balcony. If that description doesn't make sense, look at Cunard's website. There must be pictures of these balconies.

 

I like the location of these cabins, and I like the price. The obstructed-view balcony cabins are cheaper, but I'd reather have the in-hull balcony than look at a big orange lifeboat.

 

I've had one of these cabins on two QM2 sailings, and would do that again, especially for a transatlantic. The only thing that might make me move up would be to get the single seating of Britannia Club.

Kathy

[emileg]

We have sailed the QM2, the Noordam and the Crown Princess out of New York. All were wonderful cruises with very little to fault. I don't think you will have any regrets choosing the QM2.

 

It is interesting because different passengers on the same ship and same sailing may have very different experiences. They may have different expectations in terms of what constitutes good service, they may be serviced by different crew members or they may zoom in on one or two examples of bad service and let those couple of instances color their view of their entire cruise.

 

In our particular case, we had excellent service throughout on the QM2 with the exception of a poorly trained wine steward (she tried, but really didn't know her wines) and once hearing some snickering among crew members about "white glove service." On the Crown Princess, service was also excellent in all areas except for being trapped without breakfast in the Princess Theater for two hours waiting to go through immigration prior to a shore excursion. On the Noordam, I can't think of a single instance of bad service. On the Noordam they can't do enough for you.

 

I would describe the food comparable on all three ships: What I would call good institutional food in the main dining room. The Noordam and the QM2 had the best buffets. The single best meal was on the QM2 in the demonstration kitchen.

 

All three ships had good lectures.

 

On the QM2, the orchestra plays with the production shows (at least they did in January 05). On the other two ships, you have loud canned music accompanying the porduction shows.

 

The Noordam was probably the least attractive of all three ships. The Britainnia Restaurant on the QM2 was the most attractive main dining room, while the Crown Princess had the nicest looking atrium. The QM2 has a magnificent ballroom, something that the other two ships lack. And the library on the QM2 - WOW! Not to mention the planetarium on the QM2. Accomodations on all three ships are comparable.

 

In any case, we would sail again on the QM2 (booked 1/3/08), the Noordam and the Crown Princess in a heartbeat.