PASSENGER PERSPECTIVE
Round Britain on the QM2
Regular readers Elgar K and Patricia Williams offer their Passenger Perspective of a special family voyage aboard the Cunard fl agship
I
n January 2009, our youngest daughter Jill announced she was to retire from the Police Service after serving for 30 years. And, as a retirement ‘gift,’ she had booked us all on a round-Britain cruise on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2. You can imagine what a pleasant and unexpected surprise this was! The cruise was the ship’s 5th Anniversary
voyage and, as a coincidence, our 54th wed- ding anniversary. She would make maiden calls at Glasgow, Liverpool and Cobh, as well as revisiting Edinburgh and Cherbourg. Tricia and I have cruised more than 50
times, our fi rst being in 1989 on Carnival’s Holiday. Since then, we have enjoyed many ships, from 2 to 6-star and experienced most types of cabin/stateroom. We can honestly say we have never experienced a bad cruise. True, some have been more memorable than others, but the QM2 must register very high on our satisfaction list. Our journey from North Wales and
arrival at Southampton was seamless and, surprise, surprise, our luggage even arrived at our stateroom before we did. Our Atrium- view stateroom was comfortable, with all the facilities passengers have come to expect, and our Cabin Steward kept things in im- maculate order in a most unobtrusive way. The QM2 exceeds expectations and
truly lives up to her reputation. The profes- sional warmth of the welcome on board was fi rst class. The ship was quite hard to navigate but, after a few hours of wrong turnings and with the help of various crew members, we soon found our way around.
QM2 is really a ‘4-class’ ship, being
Queen’s Grill, Princess Grill , Britannia Club and Britannia Restaurant, which we dined in. In addition, there are 5 speciality res- taurants, the main one being Todd English. Here there is a small charge of $10 for lunch and $20 in the evening. There is also the King Room buffet, which is open most of the day and was to our mind slightly disappoint- ing for décor, soft furnishing and menus. There is a profusion of facilities, with an
‘It was A PLEASURE to see FELLOW
PASSENGERS dressed in EVENING ATTIRE on formal nights’
excellent Gym, swimming pools, Art Gallery, superb Library, Spa Club and Casino. The Planetarium is defi nitely worth a visit. In the Britannia restaurant, we enjoyed the company of friendly and interesting table companions. The cuisine was fi rst class and the service im- peccable. Wines varied in price but everyone on our table for 7 found one to their taste. The Royal Court Theatre is extremely well equipped but some of the sight-lines on both sides are obstructed by pillars for the balcony. The entertainment was also fi rst class, with excellent concerts by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and soprano Leslie Garret, plus shows by the resident Cunard Theatre Company that
matched many famous theatre productions. We enjoyed dancing in the Queen’s Ballroom and it was a pleasure to see fel- low passengers dressed in evening attire on formal nights, of which there were 4. Cunard do seem to maintain standards as- sociated with more traditional cruising and they do it with great success. The lecture programme was informative and entertaining and the shopping oppor- tunities offered on board were many. There were a wide range of tours at each port but we prefer to make our own arrangements. The welcome on arrival at Liverpool, with
fi reworks and more than 10,000 people to bid us farewell and bon voyage, was truly an im- pressive sight. The weather wasn’t the best but the ship proved a true liner and coped with the varied conditions without any discomfort. Oh yes, we do have one complaint – the cruise wasn’t long enough!
FACT FILE
Maiden Voyage: 2004 Tonnage: 151,400 Length:
1,132ft
Beam: 135ft Draft:
Speed:
Passengers: Crew:
32ft 10in 30 knots 2,620 1,253
Passenger Decks: 17
ITINERARIES: Transatlantic; Mediterra- nean, N Europe; Canada and New England; Caribbean; World Cruise.
Summer 2010 I WORLD OF CRUISING 71 QM2
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