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Cunard Line

Queen Elizabeth 2

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Les Abre
# previous cruises: 3
Date of Trip: April 19, 2004
Itinerary: Transatlantic

I couldn't resist a bargain fare for the QE2's penultimate crossing. Came close to missing the boat due to the infamous "signalling problems" at Clapham Junction. Upon arrival at Southampton we were pleased to find a Cunard shuttle bus which we were invited to use, even though we hadn't booked it. Due to the late trains we waited at the station for quite a while, and as a result were among the last 50 to board. Boarding at Southampton was much better than boarding at NYC. There was more of a sense of "occasion" and the terminal is much nicer. And it is much easier to deal with gaining an hour every night, rather than losing one.

The public areas had held up well since my last crossing in 2001. Some of the armchairs were starting to show signs of wear on the arms and there was slight carpet wear on the stairs if you looked closely for it. During the crossing we passed through two storms, which had us going through Force 10 winds and 11m waves. This led to some water coming through the ceiling on Quarter Deck, just forward of the Chart Room. A couple of large windows seemed to have cracked on the upper decks as well. As always the QE2's staircases are a challenge, and I could never remember which ones accessed which decks. Still, that's part of the charm. I did manage to find the well-hidden Princess Grill Bar, but it is only open between 7-9 pm.

This time we chose Caronia class, as compared to Mauretania last time. I highly recommend moving up from Mauretania if you can. Even though the menu is nearly identical, there wasn't the same sense of rush in Caronia. Service was friendly, without being overly familiar. The food was excellent, the wine list extensive and reasonably priced. The wine steward also knew what they were talking about (not the case on NCL!). A travelling companion was a former purser for RCCL and was very impressed with the food and service. The Caronia dining room was much nicer than I had expected from previously looking in. Despite being a large room, it never became noisy, and was designed in such a way that the areas seemed much more intimate than you'd expect.

Cabin C 4006 is one of the few for four. We had four adults in it, and it seemed to work just fine, though one had an upper berth. Being well forward there was quite a bit of pitching during the storm. Unfortunately the deadlight had to be closed over the porthole for 2 days due to the weather (note to Cunard: this possibility isn't mentioned in the brochure for 4 deck, only 5 deck).

The cabin was kept very clean by Edina, and the furnishings were all in good order.

I didn't watch the evening shows. John Davidson was the feature entertainer and by all accounts gave a good performance. The Grand Lounge is not the greatest venue, a limitation of the ship's original design. I did attend the lectures by Hugh Canning, opera critic for the Sunday Times and they were very good. I also recommend catching a film at the Cinema, as it's fun to be in a full-fledged movie theatre, in the middle of the Atlantic!

A crossing has it's own relaxing rhythm. No rushing, just bring a good book or check one out from the excellent library. The Ocean Bookshop has a great selection of ocean liner books and prints for sale. There is bingo, ballroom dancing lessons, and lectures as well as the daily quiz which kept my partner busy! There were several children and teens aboard, and they seemed to have plenty to do.

The crowd is older, but not as old as the last time I crossed. There seemed to be fewer Americans this time as well, with more British, German and Canadian passengers. This was the last leg of the 2004 World Cruise so there were also passengers who had been onboard for several months! Sadly there will be few opportunities for a QE2 transatlantic in the future. It was exciting to berth alongside the QM2 and hear the two Cunarders exchange blasts on their whistles. However, the QM2 does not have the grace and elegance of line of the QE2.