From Onboard QM2 - 11-19-04

[J Cruise]

Welcome from onboard the Queen Mary 2, 11-16-04 voyage from New York to the Caribbean. My intention is not to do a complete trip report, but rather to try to input some thoughts as we cruise on things I have seen questions raised about over the last few months of following this board, in hopes that those on the 11-26-04 same cruise, and others, will benefit. I will uplink this every few days when I go online thru the ship's WiFi service.

By way of background, my wife and I are in our mid 50s, spend a lot of our vacation time on European ski trips, enjoy good food, wine and service, and do not cruise frequently, but cruise once every few years for 10 days or less. We are on this cruise with my 91 and 87 year old parent's who have cruised many times, and a couple that travel with them frequently.

Embarkation at New York - Our scheduled time was 3:30, but we got to the pier at 12:30. Wheelchair reserved in advance with Cunard for my father for embarkation. Grabbed a steward with an empty wheelchair and he took us to the front of the Queen's /Princess Grill line and so we were among the first group to board and in our cabin by 1:30. Go to the pier as early as you can

Is there food available upon boarding? Yes. All four venues in the King's Court were serving till 5:00.

Champagne on departing - We had a complimentary split of Champagne in an ice bucket in our cabin when we got in from Cunard. My parents are Cunard Gold Card members, and they had a full bottle awaiting them. On deck it is $9.00 per glass.

"Coke Cards" - They costs $3.75 per day, plus gratuity. Good for any soft drinks or bar juices by the glass at any bar or restaurant. Cans of Coke, Sprite, Canada Dry Tonic or Soda can be purchased at any bar to take to the cabin, or requested from room service, for $1.50 per can.

[cruise pup]

I was on the previous cruise and had a great time. I suggest trying Carvery and Lotus for dinner. They were both excellent. The tours I took were all great. In Martinique I took the 4X4 tour which went through the rainforest. Make sure to take a tour in Martinique. People who just walk into Fort de France complain about the island. Those who get out of the town and see it properly enjoyed it a lot more. At 3 pm there was a performance on the ship in the Royal Court Theatre by Ballet Martinique. It was terrific. Don't miss it if they offer it. On Barbados I took the landrover tour which, again was terrific. On St. Lucia I took the full day land and sea tour which included a Creole buffet lunch. This was a fabulous tour and I highly recommend it. The land portion is in a mini bus so it's not with a hoard of people. We made stops for photos and a visit to the town of Anse La Raye on the way to Souffriere where we visited the volcano and the botanical gardens (beautiful!!) before settling down to the buffet lunch at a plantation. We returned to Castries by catamaran which made a 30 minute stop for a swim at Anse Cochon and a detour into Marigot harbor which is beautiful. They served rum punch and other beverages on the catamaran.

 

Getting back to the ship, make sure to see some of the sky shows but don't knock yourself out trying to get into the first ones. They repeat all of the shows and it was easy to pick up a ticket at the Connexions Desk in the a.m. when we were returning to NYC.

 

And wait til you see the size of the lobster tails they are seving now!!!

 

Have a great cruise.

[jpm1919]

j cruise,

 

Thank you very much for starting this thread. We will be on the 12/6 sailing, and I look forward all your comments and suggestions.

 

Thanks!

 

Jan

[Phoenix cruiser]

Sylvia and I are also in our 50s and enjoyed our first cruise without kids. We were upgraded to a Q5 suite so our impression may not fit everyone, but for us it was the cruise of a lifetime. Embarkation was a snap, but the Brittania class line was considerably longer. Best to arrive early or late, around 2:00 that line was enormous. The food in the Queen's Grill was world class and the service umatched. We have eaten at a number of 5 star restaurants around the world, and this was definitely along those lines almost every night. The star performers (opera, comedians, violinists) were very good to excellent, the show's production numbers rivaled a very good high school production- very missable. The lectures were generally very interesting and the planetaririum shows were fun, not as technical as I would have liked as an engineer/scientist but good for a mass audience. Our shore tours on St. Marteen (Go Dutch, Go French), St. Lucia (Land and Sea, athough rough weather prevented the sea part) and St. Thomas (Magens Bay Beach) were lots of fun. The Martinique glass bottom boat was ok. All in all a stellar experience- be glad to answer specific questions.

[Chuck & Phyllis]

What time did embarkation start? Was the line very long at that time? What would be the ideal time to arrive early?

 

Are there a lot of annoucements like on other ships calling for Bingo, Art Auction, etc.?

 

Is the late seating show before or after dinner? Are there two shows?

 

Is there 24 hour coffee and tea and snacks available in Kings Court?

 

We're planning on purchasing the spa passes for the entire cruise. Were the facilities crowded much of the time?

 

How efficient was the tendering? Much of a wait either way?

 

Would you describe your St. Maarten excursion and how much it cost?

 

Thanks

[gentlemancruiser]

Chuck & Phyllis,

Cunard tends to avoid making announcements for activities.

There is 24 hour coffee & Tea available from the Kings Court.

Yes, there are 2 shows one for the early seating and one for the late.

You will probabaly tender in most carribean ports.

You will be assigned a check-in time on your cruise tickets, these times are based upon which deck.

[Phoenix cruiser]

Although you are assigned an embarkation time, I saw no evidence that was ever checked. I heard that people arriving a little after noon got onboard with no problem.

 

Not only are there few announcements, they aren't piped in to your cabin, so the scheduled captain's updates are listed in the Daily Programme. This flyer, provided each evening for the next day's events, is very thorough.

 

There are always 2 shows for the early and late seating. Times were always 7:00 and 9:00 or more often 8:45 and 10:45.

 

Didn't use the Canyon Ranch Spa, we were happy with the pools and hot tubs, so can't comment.

 

If you go on shore tours you are pre-assigned a tender time, the most we waited was 10 minutes. One day we participated in the general tendering where you get an assigned number in the Queen's Room. That was at St. Thomas and our wait was about 35-40 minutes because they were still finishing up getting the shore excurions done. Of course we had breakfast in our cabin that day and wandered down around 10:30, so lots of people beat us to the punch.

 

Our St. Marteen tour called Go Dutch, Go French was about $29 each and we really got a bonus. The description said we would have a short scenic tour and then spend 1 hour on the French side in Marigot. Our driver gave us a complete circle tour of the island and our 2.5 hour tour actually lasted about 4 hours. I am cautious about recommending shore tours because everyone's tastes are so specific. If you enjoy scenery with timed scenic stops and some shopping in Marigot, this is a good choice. I recommend the Message Board specific to each island for a lot more detail.

[Jane Pond]

How is the lifeboat drill handled?

 

Jane in PHL

[rkacruiser]

Wearing your lifebelt, one assembles in your assigned Muster Assembly area. Attendance is taken. After some instructions on the P.A. and a demonstration of how to put on the lifebelt, dismissal then takes place. Very well done, I thought.

[Jane Pond]

Thanks, what time on Day 1?

 

Jane in PHL

[J Cruise]

Usually, the shows for late seating were after dinner at 10:45. However, on two evenings, the shows for late seating were during the early seating.

[rkacruiser]

Lifeboat drill is held around 4:15 or 4:30 P.M., I recall.

[Phoenix cruiser]

You are right about the lifeboat drill time. I was worried that we would miss the 5:00 sail from NY because of the timing of the drill, but our departure was delayed until 8:00 pm so there was no conflict.

[JoeWillie]

We had a full bottle of champers in our P category suite upon arrival.

[ladylms]

Hello,

We are sailing 1/8-1/15 at Q5 level. I need a bit of advice about my husband's clothing, please: on those nights that are "casual," does he wear a jacket and nice sweater/shirt, or should he wear a tie with his jacket?

Also, can you tell me how we tip? Do we add a suggested amount to our shipboard account, or do we use envelopes?

Thanks a lot!

[Phoenix cruiser]

We were also in a Q5 suite. I saw a mixture on casual nights in the Queen's Grill, but on our 11-16-04 Caribbean cruise I would say there were more jackets than not- probably about 70% of those had ties. So it is your DH's choice what he feels comfortable with.

 

As far as tipping extra- we choose the envelope route to be more certain the additional tip got to whom we intended. If you add it to your account it will be spread the same way as the standard tip. For example, given what our butler did for us we felt it better to give to him on the last night.