Just returned from 10 day Caribbean

[RnD]

My wife and I left worried about what Cunard would offer. After 50 cruises we thought we had some high benchmarks however.... Cunard was probably the nicest cruise line we have taken. This includes, Raddison, Seadream, RCCL, Celebrity, HAL, Princess, and Carnival.

 

The ship was magnificent. The service exceeded our expectations, the food though not gourmet compared favorably with any other cruise (and we were in an A2, not a grill class cabin). As near as I could tell the high cost difference for the grill class may not be worth it.

 

Though the ship was huge, we never had to wait for an elevator, due to the many available. There were always seats for the buffet, as well as many food choices. Even the tender service was well run. With six tenders in service here was rarely a wait. The entertainment was the best we have experienced. We noticed the musicians actually knew how to play, and the singers really sang versus all the shows being lip synced as has been the case on other lines.

 

I still do not like getting dressed up other than perhaps two formal nights in the Carribean, however the service and experience more than offset that minor inconvenience(for me at least).

 

We woke up at 4:30 to see the three Queens sail under the VZ bridge at 5:00 and it was cold on deck (and dark). There were a lot of other braving the cold for this experience, but I must see seeing three ships in the dark may not have been worth the early hour or cold temperatures.

 

At any rate to sum it up, it was a terrific experience. One we will repeat.

 

As a side note, with the exchange rate being awful, a trip to from London to London was ridiculously expensive, however, all of the Brits we spoke to( and I think the ship was over 50% European) were loving it and shopping like crazy on Saint Thomas.

[VirginCruiser II]

My wife and I left worried about what Cunard would offer. After 50 cruises we thought we had some high benchmarks however.... Cunard was probably the nicest cruise line we have taken. This includes, Raddison, Seadream, RCCL, Celebrity, HAL, Princess, and Carnival.

 

The ship was magnificent. The service exceeded our expectations, the food though not gourmet compared favorably with any other cruise (and we were in an A2, not a grill class cabin). As near as I could tell the high cost difference for the grill class may not be worth it.

 

Though the ship was huge, we never had to wait for an elevator, due to the many available. There were always seats for the buffet, as well as many food choices. Even the tender service was well run. With six tenders in service here was rarely a wait. The entertainment was the best we have experienced. We noticed the musicians actually knew how to play, and the singers really sang versus all the shows being lip synced as has been the case on other lines.

 

I still do not like getting dressed up other than perhaps two formal nights in the Carribean, however the service and experience more than offset that minor inconvenience(for me at least).

 

We woke up at 4:30 to see the three Queens sail under the VZ bridge at 5:00 and it was cold on deck (and dark). There were a lot of other braving the cold for this experience, but I must see seeing three ships in the dark may not have been worth the early hour or cold temperatures.

 

At any rate to sum it up, it was a terrific experience. One we will repeat.

 

As a side note, with the exchange rate being awful, a trip to from London to London was ridiculously expensive, however, all of the Brits we spoke to( and I think the ship was over 50% European) were loving it and shopping like crazy on Saint Thomas.

So pleased to hear you and your wife had such a great time. We did that cruise last November and isn't the QM2 the most fabulous ship in the world?

You were so lucky to be part of the three Queens arriving in NYC, I do envy you!

[cruiserbryce]

glad you had a great cruise...we are looking at doing a QM2 Caribbean cruise in 2009 and are glad the reviews are greatly positive. The experience of seeing the other ships would have been great but being in the dark and cold may have drawn a little away from the experience...

[Brit and proud]

Thanks for that, we leave New York on 10th March, on our first cruise.. really looking forwards to the experiance

 

Brian

[henleycruiser]

At any rate to sum it up, it was a terrific experience. One we will repeat.

 

We'll save you the trouble - we'll repeat it on your behalf next week.

[exlondoner]

So glad that you ignored your former misgivings and went ahead and had them proved mistaken.

 

I totally agree about the quality and quantity of live music aboard all Cunard ships. Probably not enough is made of this.

 

Jane

[Wadadli1]

...The experience of seeing the other ships would have been great but being in the dark and cold may have drawn a little away from the experience...

 

Not at all. You expected the cold and planned for it, and the dark made the ships appear as if they were sparkling. And the dark also created a kind of intimacy, like "it's just us".

[Slow Foxtrot]

....The ship was magnificent... the entertainment was the best we have experienced. We noticed the musicians actually knew how to play...

 

 

Reference your praise for the Cunard musicians; the Q.M. 2. is noted for featuring some of the world's best cocktail pianists. Was that your impression from your recent cruise?

[eigig]

this was our third cruise on the QM2 and it was the best!! We had an A3 cabin (needed HC) on deck 8 and we loved it so much we rebooked the same cabin for next year on board.

Food and service was wonderful as was the entertainment. Though we had seen all the shows twice before, it seemed that everything got "stepped up" this year.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and if anyone has any questions regarding HC access I would be glad to help.

Our best wishes that all of you enjoy yourselves as much as we did.

Eileen

[Ginger11]

Hi I took a 10 day Carribean cruise on the QM2 in November. I also thought that overall the service was quite good.

 

The reason I am posting is to say how happy I was with their children's program. My son who is 3 1/2 loved going to the Playzone as it is called. There were lots of toys and and a ball pit that he loved playing in. The staff is amazing, well-organized and obvioulsy used to dealing with small children. The manger during my cruise had worked in a pre-school in London for 7 years before joining the chip. Another staff member was a pediatric nurse. I felt always felt very comfortable leaving my son there.

 

We'll be going again.

 

Ginger

[exlondoner]

Hi I took a 10 day Carribean cruise on the QM2 in November. I also thought that overall the service was quite good.

 

The reason I am posting is to say how happy I was with their children's program. My son who is 3 1/2 loved going to the Playzone as it is called. There were lots of toys and and a ball pit that he loved playing in. The staff is amazing, well-organized and obvioulsy used to dealing with small children. The manger during my cruise had worked in a pre-school in London for 7 years before joining the chip. Another staff member was a pediatric nurse. I felt always felt very comfortable leaving my son there.

 

We'll be going again.

 

Ginger

 

Praise for Cunard's children's programme seems almost universal. Many say they do it much better than more obviously child-orientated lines. Jane