The Queen Mary 2 entered service in January 2004 as the first true ocean liner built since her older fleetmate Queen Elizabeth 2 came out in 1969. Completed in France and measuring more than twice her size at 148,528 tons, the QM2, at 1,132 ft, is the longest passenger ship ever built.
She now undertakes the trans-Atlantic schedule that the QE2 held for 34 years. In most years 20-25 six-night crossings are scheduled. Additionally, she undertakes cruises, from New York and Fort Lauderdale and Southampton (her home port of registry). Some of these itineraries include thoroughly mundane Caribbean ports of call. Because of her size and draft, the ship's tenders must be used in most cruise ports. Repetitive launch ports can be tiresome, especially in the Caribbean. With far more outdoor space than her sibling, the QM2 is also a much better warm-weather cruise ship. Her high-tech features and splashy amenities are designed to attract a younger passenger list. The double-occupancy capacity is 2,620, and her mostly British officers and international crew number 1,253.
The Cunard Line, started in 1840, remains the only line making regular Atlantic crossings and it initiated the first regular world cruises in the 1920s. In 1998, Carnival Corporation took over Cunard and currently the brand operates under Princess management.
The Queen Mary 2 attracts all ages because of her notoriety, with older passengers on the off-season transatlantics and on longer cruises. Families come aboard during the school holidays, especially in the summer months. British and Americans are fairly evenly distributed over the course of a year, while Germans make up the third-largest nationality particularly on the Atlantic crossings that call at Hamburg. The traditional Cunard ocean liner atmosphere comes across much more strongly on transatlantic crossings than on the shorter cruises with many ports and few sea days. Passengers are charged per-diem tips according to their restaurant allocation, higher for the grills than for the Britannia Restaurant.
Cunard company's 167-year history is attractively touted with images throughout the ship. Several forward views can be had from the library and bookstore, the Commodore Club piano bar, the card room, and from an open observation deck below the bridge. While most public rooms are located on the lowest passenger decks, large picture windows connect passengers with the sea, which in rough weather dramatically piles up at eye level. The most spectacular lounge, the two-deck-high Queens Room, recalls the main ballroom aboard a 1930s ocean liner, with perhaps too much glitter added. A formal, white-glove afternoon tea, cocktail parties, cabaret acts and big-band dancing take place here. For pre-dinner drinks, the Chart Room is a kind of traditional ocean-liner smoking room with a sit-up bar, without the smoke. A band plays here before dinner, and passengers can enjoy the same music across the way at Sir Samuel's, a less atmospheric wine and food bar. Veuve Clicquot lent its name to the Champagne Bar, opening onto the atrium; passengers also partake of caviar, foie gras and smoked salmon. For pub-style imbibing, the Golden Lion has a huge selection of beers and an all-day menu featuring fish and chips, cottage pie, and bangers and mash.
Stage entertainment, including players from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, takes place in the Royal Court. The Radio-City-style Illuminations hosts a top lecture program along with intriguing planetarium shows. Name-brand shops include H. Stern, Dunhill and Hermes. The Canyon Ranch Spa is the largest ever mounted in a ship, with a staff of 50 to perform a vast array of services. Movies are shown on the highest deck under the stars on occasional warm nights. Deck space includes the longest promenade deck at sea, mostly sheltered under the lifeboats and sporting over 300 wooden deck chairs. Five swimming pools, some with adjoining whirlpools, are available in the open and under a Magrodome. Sports facilities include a paddle tennis court, golf-driving range, basketball practice enclosure and shuffleboard. Children's facilities are excellent, and the ship offers individually arranged babysitting.
The cabins are matched with one of three assigned dining venues. Most categories, B1 to D6, are allocated to the soaring Britannia Restaurant, a spectacular space with three tiers. It operates mostly on a reserved seat, two-sitting basis with the best tables on the lower level under the dome or on the first tier. The highest tier affords a view of the sea. Breakfast and lunch are open seating, and service has greatly improved since the first two years. A new reserved section for the top Britannia cabin categories called the Britannia Club offers one sitting where passengers keep their table for the entire voyage. The higher P and Q categories dine in the mirror-image Princess and Queens Grills, one-level dining rooms facing the open deck to starboard or port. While attractive rooms, these dining venues have some crowded sections, and neither has the individuality of its counterparts aboard the QE2. A nothing-special Queens Grill Bar with piano serves both grills. Todd English, the Boston restaurateur, established the ship's signature restaurant, an attractively designed space aft on Deck 8. It offers a change from the main restaurants and gets mixed reviews. A service charge of $20 per person at lunch and $30 at dinner applies and reservations are required. Some say it's worth it, some not. For informal breakfasts and lunches, the Kings Court is a multisection, multistation buffet, sprawling and somewhat utilitarian in atmosphere. Try to secure a bay window table to get away from the traffic flow. At night, a transformation takes place to include an Asian restaurant called Lotus, offering a sampler menu; The Carvery for prime ribs, chicken and fish; La Piazza with an Italian menu; and the Chef's Galley, for cooking demonstrations—after which guests enjoy the results. All require reservations, but only the Chef's Galley carries a charge. The outdoor Broadway Cafe has a hole-in-the-wall buffet set-up and limited menu. A limited breakfast and lunch menu is also available at Sir Samuels. On a trans-Atlantic crossing, formal nights number two, down from four on the QE2.
Spaciousness and elegance are apparent along the central public room corridors, in the elevator foyers and in many of the lounges. The ship's vast size is most evident in the seemingly endless, arrow-straight, and far too-narrow cabin corridors. The ship's vertical height is not so apparent, because four efficient banks of elevators swiftly carry passengers from deck to deck. Older passengers find the long walks a wearying exercise, so it is well to consider one's cabin location. An aft location is near the restaurants and major public rooms.
The standard inside and outside cabins are the same moderate size; 73% are balcony cabins spread over eight decks. To safeguard against North Atlantic wave damage during severe storms, the three lowest balconied decks are recessed into the steel hull. Some prefer these because the thick partitions make them very private but the cabins' interiors get much less natural light. For those with unlimited budgets, grand suites include duplex apartments overlooking the stern and others stretching across the front of the ship. Interactive TVs provide an endless array of services, from exchanging e-mail, checking your bill, watching a documentary film, ordering room service or calling for maintenance, to seeing the weather ahead from the bridge cam.
