I have just posted a gallery with more than 140 photos of Cunard Line's "Queen Mary 2", taken during a short 4-night cruise round-trip from Hamburg in May, 2011.

It can be found here.

Enjoy!

Best,

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Originally posted by r.fiebig:
Hello everybody,

I have just posted a gallery with more than 140 photos of Cunard Line's "Queen Mary 2", taken during a short 4-night cruise round-trip from Hamburg in May, 2011.

Best,

Raoul

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Great pics Raoul! Professional quality for sure.

How did you think the ship looked overall? When I was onboard last April the cabins were looking pretty worn. Public areas still looked quite good minus some excess wear and tear on some chairs. Perhaps a refresh is in order?

our cabin was in good condition with the exception of one bedside table which was almost falling apart. I have to agree about the chairs. Some of these are in need of a reupholstering.

A really unplesant surprise was Cunard's "White Star Service". Table service in the Britannia was technically fine but very, very impersonal. The only conversation our waiter made with us was on the last night when he handed us written instructions (!) on how and where to rate him "excellent".

I also made the "mistake" to buy a soda pass, which led to me being "blacklisted" in all bars and lounges, i.e. when I had used the pass once in a bar / lounge no waiter was willing to serve me another drink, afterwards. You had to walk to the bar in order to be served.

On a positive note, I found the food to be better than expected.

Best,

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Originally posted by r.fiebig:
The only conversation our waiter made with us was on the last night when he handed us written instructions (!) on how and where to rate him "excellent".

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Wow this is pretty tacky. It's doubtful he would be getting an "excellent" rating from me based on your description. It's a little disheartening to read this is happening on Cunard. Years ago this begging for excellent ratings was very common on mass-market lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean. I can tell you it's rare I encounter it anymore, and I've never been handed an instruction paper in all my cruises.

I don't know, based on the recent health inspection, the condition of the ship, and perhaps falling service standards perhaps QM2 was better off under the management of Princess Cruises, Los Angeles?

during our sailing in early May, an art auction was held in the Grand Lobby. The large corridors leading to the Grand Lobby as well as the lobby itself were "packed" with those tacky gift shop sales tables every single day. One had to do a "slalom" in order to get through these spaces.

Best,

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during our sailing in early May, an art auction was held in the Grand Lobby. The large corridors leading to the Grand Lobby as well as the lobby itself were "packed" with those tacky gift shop sales tables every single day. One had to do a "slalom" in order to get through these spaces

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Hi Raol, Thanks for the photos. Its sad to read your review. We sailed the QM2 in Nov 2008 and its was so excellent! the white star service in Britannia restaurant was Great, the best we expirienced till today (more than Celebrity) However, by your review its seems like they spoiled, and the class has gone. Its so emberssing that the waiter direct you to a form!!!

We just got back from Celebrity Eclipse Scandinavia Cruise 18jun11 and we also bought a soda package - was so excellent!!! nobody ever made us feel guilty of having more drinks and all waiters were happy (or seemed to be happy) to served us.

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Originally posted by elad:
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Cunard is now below Celebrity....who would believe it....

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It does not really matter but Cunard being 'good' was a rather recent 'anomaly' that occurred during the past years. For a long, long, long time Cunard was horribly overrated.

[ 07-10-2011: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Originally posted by Ernst:
Very nice photos. Are (at least some) of these photos HDR images?

For a long, long, long time Cunard was horribly overrated.

[ 07-10-2011: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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The worst cruiseship service I had was QE2 in late 2003 and QM2 in mid 2004. My 2006 cruise with Princess in charge was excellent!

I can only afford Britannia and led to believe that when things get chaotic, the attention goes to the grille classes and the mortals get the stepchild treatment.

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Originally posted by eroller:

I don't know, based on the recent health inspection, the condition of the ship, and perhaps falling service standards perhaps QM2 was better off under the management of Princess Cruises, Los Angeles?

Ernie

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Maybe that is the best solution. Back in the 1970s and 80s Princess ships sparkled (as they still do) while the grand and pricey QE2 was usually quite unkept-inside and out. I hope Cunard isn't reverting to their past poor maintenance/service standards all the while keeping the prices high.

[ 07-10-2011: Message edited by: lasuvidaboy ]

@elad: I was very disappointed with the service and the "mass-market way" some things are done onboard (such as the tacky sales). I have to say, however, that this was a short, four-night cruise with approx. 50% German-speaking passengers. I've heard from several friends who have done both short cruises and crossings on "QM2" that the atmosphere is said to be very different on these different types of sailings. Cunard apparently had major difficulties selling that cruise as it was offered at a "run-of-ship" rate of EUR 390,- p.p. for interior staterooms when I booked it. I had booked a D1 and was given a B2, so it was an excellent bargain. What drove me mad, however, was that you could easily see that the service could have been much better. The potential was there, but apparently a fairly large number of crew members, mostly bar and restaurant staff, were obviously unwilling to provide the level of service on can expect from a four-star vessel (I definitely wasn't hoping for more when booking a Britannia-class cabin).

Best,

Raoul

[ 07-10-2011: Message edited by: r.fiebig ]

I enjoyed ones of the Queens Room, the Grand Lobby, and the MDR.

I can assure you that my expectations definitely were not too high. Actually they were quite low as I had seen many unfavorable reviews of short "QM2" cruises before. Based on those reviews, I was positively surprised by the food, but also negatively surprised by the obviously unwilling and sometimes downright snobby bar and dining room service. Maybe some of the staff were "annoyed" by the fact that there were lots of German passengers onboard and I guess many of those don't speak English very well. The fact that passengers who had bought a soda pass (which I usually don't do but did this time since I considered it a good deal) were literally declared "personae non gratae" in all lounges and bars where they were known as "soda pass holders", was deeply insulting, IMHO.

Our cabin steward was great, on the other hand.

Best,

For what it's worth, the "best" and "worst" were both on QE2, same dining room (Caronia), two years apart. I suspect I am far from the only one for whom QE2 has had this quality of being able to be both spectacularly good and spectacularly bad. I hope QUEEN MARY 2 is not developing the same sort of "dual personality."

The food I've found consistently very good, sometimes excellent. (This is in Britannia/Mauretania/Caronia -- I have never had the opportunity to try the Grills.)

The tacky mass-market cruise elements are always there except the art auctions aren't on QUEEN ELIZABETH, or at least weren't when I sailed in her. Sadly, as far as I know, every English-speaking big-ship operator does this stuff.

What sets Cunard apart is one unique ship (you can figure out which one), certain itineraries, the passenger mix on certain itineraries, and the enrichment programs.

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I have no idea if Celebrity is consistently that good these days but if it is then I cannot help but conclude that objectively it is better than Cunard (and given that I could think of little to improve on, probably at least as good as any other big-ship line, too). But the unique aspects of Cunard are, well, unique, and still enough to make it worth going back, for me.

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As I mentioned, I just got back from Cekebrity Eclipse - Its was Fantastic, one of the best cruises I ever had. Comparing to Cunard, I found it almost equal quality:

Dining: QM2 main dining on Britannia was far better than Celebrity's (You can feel that Michel Raux is no longer at Celebrity) Speciality Restaurants on Celebrity were Excellent (but extra fare)

Service and Hospitality: Celebrity Service was much much better, allways with a smile and the hospitality was extremely perfect - they offer us with drinks and hot chocolate at the pier - QM2 never did.
They offered us with cold towls at the pool and at the pier and many other goodies.
Even the officers were very much friendly to the passengers.

Shopping: I found the Celebrity shopping expirience is better - there are 2 "boulevards" the deck 4 shops put out sales tables but the above boutiques did not and the class and chic of the whole space was preserved. Cunard is ruing all the Grand Lobby apperance with that tables.

Announcments: Celebrity - almost NO ANNOUNCEMENTS AT ALL. Cunard: Announcments of sales at the shops and many other annoying announcments.

Spa: QM2'S Cannyon Ranch was better than Celebrity's Aqua spa by all meenings. Even though Aqua Spa was fairly good.

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Originally posted by elad:
Dining: QM2 main dining on Britannia was far better than Celebrity's (You can feel that Michel Raux is no longer at Celebrity) Speciality Restaurants on Celebrity were Excellent (but extra fare)

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I do really like that Celebrity now has a very large "classic" menu along with the items that change every night.

On the other hand the dining room breakfast menu on Celebrity is too limited. (This is one thing that hasn't changed from the old days.)

BTW I'm not sure how many people realize that Cunard's corporate executive chef, Jean-Marie Zimmerman, came from Celebrity.

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Originally posted by elad:
Announcments: Celebrity - almost NO ANNOUNCEMENTS AT ALL. Cunard: Announcments of sales at the shops and many other annoying announcments.

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That really disappointments me -- I have never heard such announcements on Cunard. Just the noon announcement from the bridge with navigational information etc. HAL used to do have lots of announcements for bingo and such but I have not been on HAL recently enough to know if they still do -- but I thought it was very unsuitable for a "premium" cruise line.

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It might be that the situation has been differ. When we took the Cruise on QM2 (Nov 2008, Southern Caribbean) There were A LOTTTT of announcments, anyway too much for that kind of vessel.

P/S MSC's Announcments are the W-O-R-S-T! IMAGINE HEARING THE SAME THING NOT 1, NOT 2 BUT 4(!) TIMES! German, Spanish, English and Italian. I think that they use to announce whenever the Captain goas to toilet....too annoying, but thats the MSC Style...

What seemed really wrong to me was several patches of floor in the restaurant and main hall on deck 2 where there seemed to be holes in teh floor. It felt like an old house where the floorboards had given away under the carpet. It would have been enough to throw someone less stable on their feet off balance. I could only think that it might be access hatches that had given way, but whatever it is it requires repair.

Service was perfectly acceptable apart from in the (very poor) King's Court buffet. The staff behind the counters seemed clueless and quite happy to look on as people struggled to reach food at the back of the heated trays. Toast required a wait longer than my patience could endure and there was nect to no chance of an egg cooked to order. My waiter could have learnt a lot from the staff onboard Celebrity ships. He seemed rushed and only really took time to speak to us on the last night when he gave clear instructions on how to rate him highly on the guest questionaire.