PASSENGER REVIEW # 2: AUG 2002 CROSSING
This is the 2nd review I found online written by travellers who ahve been on a crossing.
This one is also on the fabulous Cruisecritic.com site. It was left there by "LADAV" who was on the August 2002 crossing from NYC to Southampton in an M3 cabin.
She wrote:
"I really appreciated all the excellent information found on [Cruise Critic’s] board before our QE2 crossing. So, I’m sharing my thoughts and observations and would be happy to answer any questions or comments.
We just returned from the Aug. 14 crossing from New York to Southampton. (We spent a week in London and the rest of the time in Scotland and the English Lake District before returning to London and then home on Monday 9/9.) This was our first crossing. We’re 60 and 64 y/o married travel junkies from the Midwest and occasionally travel by cruising.
* Embarkation Arriving in NYC the afternoon before, we spent the morning of the departure day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We arrived at the pier at 12:50 –10 minutes before the longshoremen return from lunch to take the luggage. We took that time to take pictures of the ship. Having long admired photos of her, reading Capt. Warwick’s book, and my husband building a model, it was great to see her—up close and personal! We turned over the luggage at 1pm and were checked in within 10 minutes. Then we were directed to an area in the terminal with rows of folding chairs where we waited until boarding began promptly at 2pm.
* First impression: It truly does look and feel like a real ship—not a floating hotel like the newer ships.
* Cabin Our cabin was 3179—an M3 on 3 deck near the launderette and florist. This was a very good location. 3 deck is the only one, I believe, where the corridor runs the entire length of the ship, so almost all stairways were easily accessible from and to it. Also, I believe the ceilings are higher on 3 deck than on 4 or 5, giving a more open feeling. The cabin was cozy but perfectly adequate. Room to walk around, decent sized bathroom, and enough storage space (after we requested and promptly received more hangers for the closets). We got a floral arrangement the first day to make the cabin seem more festive and it was still perfectly beautiful when we left. We’ve had balcony cabins and mini-suites on other ships, which were great. But for a crossing, a small inside cabin proved just fine—and did we ever sleep well! We found the duvets too warm much of the time, so our great steward, Tommy, promptly produced and kept a top sheet on for us also.
* Internet This was a different and great setup. Email is sent to passengers at QE2@CRUISEMAIL.COM with the passengers name and cabin # in the subject line. This is printed off and delivered to the cabin at no charge for text messages. There is a fee for attachments. To send email, it can be composed off-line in the Computer Center and then copied into the email format and sent.
* Food We dined in the Mauretania Restaurant. A couple of times I noticed Caronia and Princess/Britannia menus that appeared virtually the same. Anyway, the food seemed comparable to that on other ships---some things very good, some mediocre. The first night out, the servers seemed really stretched, but after that the service was flawless. Also, on the first night, one of our dining companions asked for salad dressing and the waiter brought a bottle of Kraft, I believe, --anyway it had a brand label and was in a plastic bottle!! It turned out to be a real bonding experience for our dining group as we all stared at the bottle and then at each other and said, practically in unison, “I don’t believe what I’m seeing!” However, after that, we never saw plastic bottles in the dining room and had some really good, unusual dressings. The Lido: Breakfasts were fine and we never had to wait in line. Some said they did, so maybe our schedule was out of sync with the majority. I didn’t care for the lunches at all there, although I only went once. The lunches in the dining room had wonderful soups and salads. Afternoon tea there was very good with great service, wonderful scones and a good assortment of sandwiches. It was also served in the Queen’s Room with music and an opening parade, but was the same food. Great both places!
*Activities My absolute favorite was sitting in a real, teak deck chair on Boat Deck, reading a book or just relaxing with a drink and staring at the Atlantic and listening to the foghorn. Next was the Cunard Heritage Trail—the organized tour and just stopping by to admire all the treasures. There was all the usual spa demos, art auctions, bridge, dance lessons, movies, etc. Plus lecturers: Gen. Alexander Haig, authors Harold Evans and Elizabeth Sharland, a former Concorde pilot, on oceanographer, etc. These were all rerun on the TV, so you didn’t have to meet a schedule if you wanted to hear them. And, yes, there was scarf tying! After reading so much about it here, I did go. If you don’t have some with you, they have loaners. There were some clever ideas—especially one for a draped jacket out of a large scarf.
* Entertainment Some were really lame (Irish comedy and music of Geraldine Doyle)--left after 10 minutes- –maybe she improved--others were absolutely wonderful (Jordan Bennett, vocalist, former star of Les Mis). The theme was “Stomping at the Savoy”, so there was the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra. This was in addition to the QE2 Orchestra and the band Logic, both of which were excellent. Don’t be misled by Logic’s title of “Caribbean Band”. They play all kinds of music. We generally preferred the dancing to the Grand Lounge shows.
* Weather High 90’s and sunny leaving NYC. Next day warm and sunny. Most other days were foggy and calm. One day, midway, there were Force 7 winds, which made being on deck uncomfortable, but the ship motion wasn’t bad at all.
* Passengers There were 395 from the US and 1297 from the UK with the rest a mix. The ship was full. Most of the British had boarded in Southampton and were doing the roundtrip via Quebec and NY. All seemed very pleasant, nice, friendly, and considerate.
* Thallasotherapy Pool This was a big disappointment. I had loved the one on the Millennium and was really looking forward to this. They charge $15 a day, I believe, to use it which would have been well worth it except: It was way too hot--hotter than a hot tub--not the 96 degrees it is supposed to be. And the jet I was most looking forward to --for the neck area--was not even working. So, I never went back.
* Dress Everyone I saw was dressed appropriately on the four formal nights. The last informal night seemed more informal than the first. During the day, very casual was the norm.
* Time changes We found that losing an hour each day seemed to take its toll—or else we just became incredibly lazy and sleepy. In hindsight, sailing westbound would probably be a better choice—having an extra hour each day!
