I, too, sailed on the May 10 cruise with my wife and son who is almost 2 years old. My wife and I had previously sailed on QE2 in 2001. We found the QM2 to be, without question, beautiful and beautifully constructed as well. Like others, we found that the service was very spotty. I'll start with all the negatives, but then elaborate on the positives as well.First, the sounding of the general alarm was shocking to us. We had left our son in the Play Zone so that we could eat dinner. With people fleeing the Brittania restaurant as the alarm did not cease, we could not make a safe and easy exit to get to our son. There needs to be a better defined rear exit via the kitchen. Also, we were never told it was a small kitchen fire, but rather a false alarm that had no good reason to be sounded. I'd sure like to know the truth.
Second, I had one of the Chinese cooks in King's Court during lunch refuse to add chicken pieces that were uncooked and laying there into the stir fry. He actually said "no." I couldn't believe it.
Third, the menu on Brittania can be limiting to those people who do not eat seafood. I'm fine, but my wife does not eat seafood and pheasant isn't going to cut it for her. While they did prepare a sirloin steak beautifully for her, the waitstaff or menu should indicate that certain items are always available. QE2 staff communicated that information to us initially, but not
QM2.
Fourth, on the last day at sea, QM2 staff must've been burning or incinerating garbage via the funnel or doing something that completely made all of the aft decks stink of the smell of rotten garbage for HOURS. It totally ruined our last chance at getting sun...it was appalling and I'll be contacting Cunard expecting a sufficient credit on my next booking for ruining that last day.
Fifth, it was chaos in the NY Terminal. Try to get a porter. Shame on Cunard for being so disorganized. They were disorganized as well in informing us of times of debarking and meeting for our LaGuardia transfer as they made us exit the ship almost 45 minutes than had been previously arranged...significantly damaged my wife's ability to eat a farewell breakfast.
Sixth, there needs to be an information desk separate from the Purser. It's foolish to make people wait in those kinds of lines for non-monetary issues.
Seventh, I agree that the photograph charges were usurious. Just outrageous but we have a 21 month old so we had to buy them anyway!
Eighth, the splashing pools are apparently salt water pools that are drained while in port. It would've been nice for there to be some kind of splashing pool available for small children while at port.
Ninth, we let Cunard know that we need whole milk for our son and after the first few days all that was available was calcium enriched milk from a Spanish company that my son would not drink..not good for a cranky child.
Now for the mostly good news: I'd definitely sail her again. The food that I would elect to eat in Brittania was prepared perfectly - portions a tad small - but delicious. We ate at the carvery..best prime rib of beef at sea. Breakfast in Brittania..delicious. Lunch at the Boardwalk Cafe...grilled American food, but very fresh and friendly, wonderful service. French fries weren't ready to be served..I told the server/chef that I'd be back later to get some and he brings them to me at my table outside the Boardwalk Cafe. That's Cunard service and that fine gentleman knows what to do...he should be serving in Brittania instead. King's Court food was fresh but redundant as there was no daily variety.
Royal Court theatre is beautiful with some sight line problems in the balcony and near the pillars. Great stage and generally great shows with the exception of the "First Lady of Wales." She was a caricature of that ld Saturday Night Live routine of the female lounge lizard sisters. Dreadful. Illuminations is beautiful and the show was informative. Queens Room..beautiful with nice entertainment..the Royal Ascot Ball was a hit. I was surprised that G32 was as "tacky" as it is...Yacht Club on QE2 is so much nicer.
Lots of good public restrooms, reasonably fast elevator service, lots of great pools, beautiful carpeting and finishing..the ship is a joy to the eye. The bars were wonderful and staffed by nice people (including the Winter Garden). Speaking of drinks, I like the soft drink package for $69 for 2 persons unlimited drinking. The shops onboard were well maintained, well stocked and contained very friendly staff. The art auctions at sea were well done by the auctioneer and consisted of the finest art that I have ever seen on any ship at any time. Finally, the interactive TV was a great feature although it would've been good if the posted menu on the Television was consistent with the menu being served at dinner time. On a couple of nights we might have made other arrangments but relied on the posted menu that proved to be incorrect as to certain available entrees that were subsequently removed.
All and all, I give the ship 10 out of 10 for its beauty, public rooms, and its wonderful Play Zone program (Katie and her staff deserve much praise for dealing with my little monster, Jack). Food is about an 8 out of 10 (very good nonetheless) in the dining room, 9 out of 10 in the Boardwalk Cafe, and a 6 out of 10 in the King's Court daytime. Service is about a 7 and needs radical improvements in Brittania (sometimes the waiter cut corners and didn't even approach my wife to ask her what she wanted to eat, but rather took the order across the table). Cabin is a 10 out of 10..well laid out, nice, perfect. Library and Bookshop are a clear 10 out of 10. Keeping the passengers well informed as to issues onboard - i.e. the sounding of abandon ship and the horrible stench on the last full day at sea - dreadful...2 out of 10 and that's being generous.
[ 05-19-2004: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]