Jeanne/David Lowry

Age: 40/53
Occupation: Education/Chemical Instrustry
Number of Cruises: 15+
Cruise Line: Cuncard
Ship: Queen Mary 2
Itinerary: Journey to the Norway Fjords (Ireland, Scotland, Norway)

Background: Before beginning, let me give a quick overview of our cruise history, which may help clarify the review. My husband and I are from New Orleans, LA (USA) and cruise about3-4 times a year (53 and 40 in age). We pick our cruises based on the itinerary strictly, however, we made an exemption this time because we wanted to cruise on Queen Mary 2 and this tour was not doing the transatlantic. Having said that we were not that excited about going to Europe, but rather we wanted to see the “mother ship” of all ships. In addition, we realized before leaving that the majority of the guest would be out of our age group and that we would probably not be in the their social group. We were right! However, it is a cruise experience any avid cruiser needs to experience once.

The Itinerary: The cruise was an 11-night roundtrip from Southampton via Waterford, Ireland; Ivangorden, Scotland; Alesund, Norway; Helleyslt and Geiranger, Norway; Bergen, Norway and Stavanager, Norway.

Transfer/Embarkment: We opted to arrive a day before in London (highly recommended on any cruise) and so therefore elected to purchase Cunard’s hotel and transportation. Highly recommended as the transportation was waiting for us at the airport. My husband and I did not lift one piece of luggage and was shuttled off to our hotel in a private car. The service was extremely professional. We stayed at the Thistle Marble Arch (arranged by Cunard) and the hotel was nice and in a great location (Oxford Street). The rooms were small, but that may be the European standard. The next day we were taken by bus to the berth in Southampton and again we did not take our luggage off the bus. We had no problems getting on the ship (35 minutes in all). Our luggage was in our room within 30 minutes (best ever) and so our cruise was off to a beautiful start! No complaints.

The Ship: Wow! The ship is all class and very impressive in any setting. She was well received in every port we arrived and was immaculate inside. The design of the ship could be confusing, but once one learns the way around the ship, she is beautiful. It is the only ship where I did not visit every room. She is just too big to see everything unless one purposely takes an afternoon to visit.

The Service: The service was second-to-none and there was not an individual on the ship that did not go out of his or her way to please. If one has a complaint on this ship, then that individual cannot be satisfied. Outstanding service in every department.

The Cabin: We had an inside cabin which had plenty of space for clothing and misc. items. The room was pleasant with beautiful linens and pillows. One could have a good nice sleep in such a beautiful setting.

Room Stewart: Our room stewart was extremely professional and was able to get us anything we wanted in a minute’s calling, including a rubber band, more robes and towels. We were both very impressed with our room stewart. Service was outstanding.

Room Service: We order room service one night at 2 in the morning and received our food in less than 30 minutes. Even the room service and food was elegant and well presented.

Dining Room Service: The head waiter, waiter and assistant waiter were unbelievably professional. We did not have one complaint about service as all of our needs were immediately addressed. The head waiter was always available. Beautifully done by all.

The Food: The dinners were well prepared including the meats. It is one of the few ships I have been on where the meats were up to standards of a higher-class restaurant. The food in the Britannica Restaurant was well-presented, well-seasoned and offered a variety of cultural dishes. The diversity of the menu extended itself to please the many regions of the world. The buffet had a variety of food but we opted not to eat in the buffet as we prefer the service and the relax-setting of the restaurant. However, be careful to watch the hours of operation in the restaurant as they vary in each port. We did not have any meals in the other restaurants (Todd English, etc) as the food in the dining room was excellent and up to our New Orleans standards. However, we did not hear a bad review from Todd English.

The Cruise Director and Social Staff: Mr. Price, David and his social staff did an outstanding job! Mr. Price was extremely professional and David (assistant cruise director) always greeted my husband and me by our names. Nice touch and well organized, just lacking in day activities.

Mixture of Passengers: There were 51 different nationalities on our cruise. Of the 2300 passengers on this ship, 1000 were from United States and Great Britain. Average age was about 65-75 with very few families, mostly couples. I saw only a hand full of minors the entire cruise. My husband and I meet some very nice couples which we have continued to stay in contact.

Evening Activities: The evenings were always exciting and offered many activities. We were not able to participate in all activities, so plenty to do in the evening. One would have a hard time being bored in the evenings. We had the late sitting and would recommend the early sitting as one would be able to go to more of the activities with the early sitting.

The Nightly Entertainment: Personally felt all ship-produced evening shows were lacking. The entertainment included flutist, pianists, British and American comedians, singers, etc. The production shows looked not rehearsed at times. Again, the shows were probably geared towards an older crowd; however, I have enjoyed production shows in the past on other cruise lines. The shows lacked a sense of excitement. My husband and I did enjoy the band XTASEA in the night club. Excellent band!

The Queen’s Room: The grandest room of all was the Queen’s Room which includes a full-length dance floor. The Queen’s Room hosted the Black and White Ball, Captain’s Party, Masquerade Ball, Pirate’s Ball, Caribbean Night, Ascot Ball and Champagne Tower. Each night the room featured a full orchestra and if one likes ballroom dancing, one would be in his/her glory. My husband and I do not dance, but we enjoyed watching. During the day, the Queen’s Room hosted afternoon tea which was very elegant and well done. Truly The Queen’s Room is something one would not experience on any other ship. It was the centerpiece of this cruise.

Day Activities: Again felt this area was lacking. While my husband and I enjoyed the trivia very much, there was not much to do during the days at sea. We did participate in the Karaoke which was very fun. The weather was too cool to go by the pool, so the element of the excitement by the pool was missing from this cruise. The days at sea were very long and boring!

Highlight of the Trip: No doubt the star attraction beside the ship was the cruise down the fjords in Norway. Geiranger, Norway was breath-taking and all that it was advertised to be. It truly is one of the most scenic views and ideal for cruising. One had scenery 360 degrees and every picture was different. A view not to be missed by anybody!

Ports of Call:

Waterford, Ireland: Beautiful port and people were very friendly. Not much at the port so would recommend a tour. We chose the “Dead-A-Wake” tour which included an Irish Wake, train ride, lunch, traditional songs and drinks. In addition we went to Waterford Crystal Factory. We enjoyed Ireland very much. (Good on our pocketbook as the Euro was more compatible to the U.S. dollar)

Ivangordon, Scotland: We meet our friends from Scotland at the port. They took us to Dunrobin Castle, Sutherland (past Ivangordon). The castle was beautiful. Then we drove the countryside (green and spacious) and went to the whiskey factory (Glenmorangeie) and took a tour. Very interesting and well done and I believe the tickets were only about 5.00 or less per person. If you bought something from the store (25.00 or over or something like that) your ticket was free. The town had a fair with the pipers performing. It was such a lovely day visiting our friends and seeing the beautiful country of Scotland.

Alesund, Norway: I personally loved this port. The town was very clean and different. There was a climb (Byparken, I believe) which took about 30 minutes (plenty of benches) and had a beautiful view of the city and ship. We spent about 60 minutes up there as there was a place to have a drink and take in the fresh air and beautiful sights. All the tour buses stopped there, but one could easily walk up the hill (if in semi-good condition). It was just beautiful. Norway in general is very expensive! Beer goes from 12-15 U.S. dollars (everywhere). We didn’t eat in Norway (ate on the ship) but a large pizza would run one about 35.00 U.S. dollars. Everything was high, so little shopping was done by anybody. I bought a nice Norwegian sweater for about 50.00—but I shopped and shopped. Average price was about 150.00----nothing is cheap in Norway. No bargains to be found.

Hellesylt/Geiranger, Norway: Of course the highlight of the trip was the fjords. They were everything as advertised. We took the tour from Hellesylt via the Jostedalsbreen National Park. This tour is highly, highly recommended as there were awesome sights and breathtaking views everywhere one looks. We did not take a bad picture that day and ever shot was different. Gorgeous scenery surrounded us. Do not worry about missing the fjords as one would see the same thing going back as one did going to Geiranger. The tour was the best of all the ports. By far the reason my husband and I took the trip.

Bergen, Norway: I could have done without this port. Tourist trap!

Stavanger, Norway: Smaller version of Bergen. Tourist trap!

Disembarkment: As organized as Cunard was with their tours, embarkment and activities, they lost total control on the disembarkment procedure. While I am about solutions and not complaints, Cunard could have easily solved this problem by having smaller groups disembark. Instead they choose to have about 200 people leave the boat every 10 minutes. We stood in a very close hallway for about 20 minutes in very warm conditions. Not a good way to leave a cruise. A cruise can be easily be judged by mistakes based on first and last impressions. The last impression of the cruise was not very impressive. Cunard can easily solve the problem. It was the worse disembarkment we have had on any ship. Needs to be addressed by Cunard as it can easily be resolved.

Overall: Mixed review. While the ship herself was grand, I am not sure if we will cruise Queen Mary 2 again (not even if we won the trip). While the service was excellent, food was excellent, the evenings were exciting, the days at sea were lacking. In addition, the cruise did not have a sense of excitement. We do realize that this cruise was geared towards a different clientele. Next trip to Europe, we will probably cruise the Mediterranean, which might be more to our liking. However, I think any avid cruiser needs to cruise on Queen Mary 2 at least once in his/her lifetime. Bon Voyage!

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