WARNING, THIS IS VERY LONG***I have sailed on both, a week on QM2 during shakedowns in December and January, and Voyager of the Seas during her 4th voyage and again later. These ships provide a vastly different experience in my opinon.
Full Ship Experience:
QM2 - feels like an oceanliner...a grand hotel at sea. The decor is very elegant if a bit too understated for my tastes. The public rooms do not feel large and the ship does not feel large when inside a public area. However, space between the public rooms, and between cabins is massive. One must be in good athletic shape to take on her massive length.
Voyager - feels like a city at sea. The decor is elegant but has a much more scandinavian feel compared to QM2. In my opinion, the Explorer and the Navigator are somewhat more elegant, though not as special as Voyager. The public rooms feel large but have many many cozy spaces that reduce the size of each area very successfully. Again, I feel the Navigator has many more cozy spots than Voyager. The Royal Promenade allows this ship to feel large yet extremely accessible and the distances do not feel nearly as long as the QM2.
Public rooms:
I am only going to go over comparable rooms here because otherwise you cannot compare.
Atrium:
QM2 - QM2's atrium is anti-climactic. The space is very constricted and should not have been this way. The sweeping staircases end miserably close to the elevators, and this sets the tone for the whole room. It would have been far more successful if the atrium's width and breadth were as sweeping as the magnificent staircases. The colors of red, bronze, and white are striking, and the four deck high bronze of the ship is amazingly beautiful. However, at only 6 decks, with a ceiling peering into the King's Court, the space is not the regal space everyone expected. Furthermore, the ship is touted as the most luxurious ship afloat, which the atrium relates is not the case. For example, her massive marble colums are but painted knock-offs that do not appear the slightest bit real.
Voyager - Voyager has three atriums because the four deck high Royal promenade (horizontal atrium) is anchored at either end by 12 deck high centrums. Everyone knows about the RP, so I will focus on the other atriums. These spaces are far larger than the QMs, but lack the formality of hers. They are great viewing galleries, but neither serves as a focus. However, Voyagers atriums, with their large peices of art, natural light, beautiful pale woods and marbles strike direct contrast to the QM's faux finishings. These atriums do a far better job of providing orientation and movement throughout the ship than QM2. You often found many more people in these atriums than on Voyager's oceangoing counterpart.
Nod - Voyager
Showroom: QM2 - The stage is incredible, as are the shows. Sightlines are very good, but the seating is limited, and there is no ante-rooms preceding the space. Additionally, the room is not very grand and provides far more function than aestetic beauty. The room is not unlike that on the Costa Atlantica.
Voyager - Voyager's theater is IMHO the most beautiful afloat. With it's purple velvet curtains and the wacky chandelier floating beneath a dove's blue dome, the room is downright elegant. The stage here is also incredible, the sightlines are fantastic and the seats more comfortable than QM2. The shows are very good, but QMs theater troop are far more professional.
Nod - Voyager for physical room, QM for shows.
Dining Room:
QM2 - I can relay information regarding the Britannia. The room is beautiful and feels similar to the original QM. The use of glossy wood, the glass dome, and the huge tapestry are very elegant. However, the center of the room (the most important part for many) was very small, and the lighting was harsh many nights. The room is pretty but not IMHO better than any other restaurant at sea for decor. Furthermore, no live music plays here during dinner.
Voyager - Voyager's restaurant is even more oceanliner-like than QM2s! The restaurant feels straight out of Titanic and is far more luxurious and elegant than QMs. A 15 foot crystal chandelier, sweeping staircases, an ochestra balcony, and huge gold-topped columns and surround make this a magical place to be. Live music is also played here every night. This is heaven on earth for decor.
Nod - Voyager by far
Decks and Pools:
QM2 - She has loads of open deck space and her stern pools are beautiful and tiered. This also breaks up where people are when on deck. The covered pool is pretty and very understated. However, it is not easy to get to, and is far from any food other than the seldom open Boardwalk Cafe.
Voyager - Her pools are all at the center of the ship, and every body congregates here. This is a lively area. Her Solarium is not covered yet, with its Roman theme, is a very calming place to be. None of Voyager's pools are far from food, which is nice.
Nod - QM for non-caribbean voyages; Voyager for the Caribbean.
Alternative Restaurants:
QM2 - QM2 does not have five seperate alternative restaurant spaces, though she does have five alternative restaurants. However, four of these restaurants are made from dividing up the King's Court at night. Passengers must use the area as a through-way to get from one end of the ship to the other on the Promenade Deck; therefore, dinner is less than silent or cozy. The feeling is somewhat like eating in a hallway. Todd English has its own space at the stern, with a terrace by the pool. The room is pretty but not wonderfully elegant, and the lighting is dull. However, the food in every one of these alternative restaurants is fantastic.
Voyager - Voyager's alternative restaurant is the italian Portofino. This is a bland room, and the food is not very good. However, the Navigator also has a Chop's Grille. This restaurant is beautiful, with dark woods and stained-glass windows. The food here is wonderful.
Nod - QM2
Casino:
QM2 - The casino is small, garish, and impersonal.
Voyager - The casino is large, garish, and impersonal.
Nod - Voyager because of it's vegas feel.
Disco:
QM2 - QM2's disco is fantastic. It's a futuristic room made of aluminum, brushed steel, wood, and portholes looking into the Queens Room, it has great sound, a very nice bar, and two levels. However, it's only entrance is via the ultra-elegant Queen's room and this is a big mistake.
Voyager - The disco is fantastic. With the dancefloor surrounded by a futuristic "core", and the crackled glass staircases and bridge over the dancefloor is very nice. It's is far darker than QM2's though.
Nod - QM2 for design
Pub:
QM2 - Unlike other people, I found her pub to be a great place to spend the evening, and so did the majority of my ship mates. Covered in wood, with lots on tap at a large bar, and lots of comfortable seating, the room is wonderful.
Voyager - Directly on the Royal Promenade, Voyager's Pub looks the part. It is quite a bit smaller than the QM2s and is frequented less by passengers.
Nod - QM2
Space and Passenger Flow:
QM2 - The ship is massive but never felt crowded. Very large (empty) hallways connect the public rooms and are covered in beautiful bronze and glass murals. The aura of Normandie abounds in these hallways. However, passenger flow is segmented, and the ship is difficult to get around. For lower-deck passengers at the stern, one must walk through the Britannia Restaurant to get there, and one must go up and down all over the place to reach areas such as the Queen's Room. There are not enough adequate signs, and many rooms could be missed. The Promenade Deck is taken up by restaurants, and many people must walk through the alternative restaurants to gain access to other areas. Additionally, several of QMs best public rooms are stacked at the bow. They are hard to miss. At the stern, it is very difficult for a non-Grill class passenger to use exterior stairways because one must avoid the off-limits Queen's Grill Terrace. Passengers space is great, flow is not.
Voyager - The Royal Promenade and atriums make the ship extremely easy to get around and signage is excellent. Flow is far better than QM2 and passenger space is plentiful. She never felt very crowded, though moreso than QM2.
Nod - Voyager for flow, QM2 for space.
Cabins:
QM2 - I stayed in both an Interior room and a Princess Grill Suite during the course of my voyage. The interior room has plenty of drawer space and is comparable to those on the Voyager. They are perhaps a bit more elegant, too. The Princess Grill Suite is huge, with beautful colors, a walk-in closet, and one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in. The balcony was large, though, as was the magnificent bathroom. However, the balcony was far less private than on the Voyager. However, note that like the Voyager's Promenade cabins, the Atrium cabins on QM2 do not have double glazed windows. Late one evening, I looked up and saw the curtains in a room bouncing furiously. Had they been open, one would have gotten quite a show.
Voyager - I have stayed in both Interior and Balcony staterooms. These are standard RCI rooms.
Nod - QM2.
Service and food:
QM2 - During the shakedowns, service was a mess. Meals would take hours, drinks would not be filled, one had to ask several times for various accompaniments, among other problems. However, this did improve as time went on. Food in the Britannia was not very good. The quality was clearly high but all the food was bland and scarce. This was the same in the King's Court. I continue to hear mixed reviews from passengers.
Voyager - Meals in the main restaurants are prompt yet leisurely, and service is fantastic. One never needs to ask for anything, and waiters are far more eager to please than on QM2. The food here ranges from excellent to terrible, but portions are perfectly sized.
Nod - Voyager for taste and service, QM2 for quality
I think this is everything, but I cannot account for activities on the QM2 because of the nature of the shakedown cruises. Our cruise was mostly leisurely and filled with our own activities. As a ship buff, this was exactly what I expected. However, the weather was pitiful and therefore, one could not lounge on the deck. At that time, there were not yet loungers on the deck, so these should now provide a wonderful place to pass the time.
Overall, the QM2 and the Voyager are two very very different ships. But two final questions remain.
1) Which ship takes the greatest advantage of her size?
Overall, the Voyager wins this hand's down. Every passenger space is designed to maximize the passenger experience. Everything is meticulously placed to ease passenger use, and she uses every bit of her 138,000 tons. On the other hand, QM2 suffers from a design in which she is filled with galleys and huge hallways. Hallways linking public rooms are the largest I have ever seen on a ship (as are the ceilings - a very nice attribute), yet they do not have any seating whatsoever. This is due to safety regulations, but end up great wastes of space. IMHO, the ship's designers explicitly did not make good use of her size.
2) Which ship provides a better experience?
This is awash. They are both wonderful ships that serve their intended purpose magnificently. For transatlantic voyages and cold weather cruising, QM2 is better choice. She is elegant and designed for those who wish to be inside. From what I have seen and read about the QE2, I think the QE2 would be a better choice for cruising in warm weather than the QM2. However, she is far from the most luxurious ship afloat.
The Voyager provides the most action-packed experience in the Caribbean, and is perfect for warm-weather cruising. While her focus is more interior-focused than her RCI sisters, she has far more to do with the sea than the QM2. She also provides far more to do in a setting nearly as elegant as the QM2.
I would not hesitate to sail on either the QM2 or Voyager again. However, my experience on QM2 was not the super-luxurious oh-my-god oceanliner experience I was expecting. The QM2 is NOT the Normandie, in any way shape or form. Yet, she is a wonderful addition to the world of oceanliners, and despite what anyone says, she will have the last laugh. In 40 years, QM2 will still reign on the seas, long after her equally (or more) elegant cruising counterparts.