Our Crossing on the Queen Mary 2
I’ve written about moving our dogs to the UK and their experience on the QM2, but the voyage is worth its own post for the humans out there too!
The first rule we learned about taking a transatlantic voyage is that traveling on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is not taking a cruise. It is a crossing. To say otherwise invites correction and some (good-natured) ribbing. We met fellow passengers who were on their second or seventh or in one case, thirteenth (!) crossing.
Most of the passengers we met were from the UK. We have a suspicion Cunard heavily markets to the UK more than the US. Many people take a southbound crossing to NYC, spend a week in the city, and then return back to the UK. It’s a 6-day, 7-night voyage.
Departing from New York City
Our onboarding experience was not typical since we had the dogs with us, but the normal experience looked fairly simple. You arrive at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, drop off your bags outside, go through security, and then where we were diverted to the kennel masters, normal passengers are queued in a waiting area.
For us, our onboarding took 45 minutes from dropping off our bags to dropping off the dogs in their kennel for the afternoon. We were shocked at how simple and fast it was. After we dropped the dogs off, we had free rein of the liner while other passengers boarded. Blake and I took pictures from the top decks, giddy with excitement as we overlooked sunny NYC.
Unlike the one cruise I’ve been on (many years ago so I’m not sure how they do it now), we didn’t have to gather at our lifeboat for a security briefing. Instead, we had a specified muster area on our ticket that we had to visit before departing. At the muster station, they scanned our tickets to verify we had done this. Thankfully for us, our muster station was right next to the buffet and we were hungry.
The liner pulled out of New York Harbor at promptly 6 pm. We ordered two glasses of Prosecco to cheers to our new life as we pulled away from land. There was something strange and bittersweet to be on a boat leaving the United States because, for both of our families, our roots are built on immigrants coming to the US via Ellis Island. And here we are, just a few generations later, leaving on a luxury liner just for the hell of it.
Most passengers gathered on the top decks to watch New York City slip away and we ended up talking with an 86-year-old gentleman and his wife for a bit. They were celebrating 66 years of marriage and congratulated us on our ten years. As we talked, we learned that when they got married they took a two-month honeymoon to Europe, “things were easier and cheaper back then” and they’ve loved Europe ever since. “Mykonos used to be better, of course, now it’s for the tourists.” He egged me on to ask him his favorite part of being old, “The freedom of course!” Then added, “But you would know, don’t you? To chase it so young.”
Later I heard him discussing various philosophers and the merits of the German education system and I will always wonder just who, exactly, he was.
Food on the QM2
While our days largely revolved around the kennel visiting hours, we did have time to explore a little bit of the QM2. There are several different dining areas, from the casual Kings Court buffet to the most popular dinner option at the Britannia. There are several other restaurants you can visit including a steakhouse, although ironically, we couldn’t find them when we were exploring.
Here’s my unpopular confession: I thought the food was very average. Some meals were good, but in general, I was underwhelmed. Especially at the Britannia. This may be my salty American pallet, but I found most of the food under-seasoned. We ordered room service a few times and it was…awful. I did hear other passengers comment on how good the food was so I can’t tell if I’m just a snob or ordered poorly.
We did have two favorite places by the end of the crossing. Morning specialty coffees at Sir Samuel’s and evening drinks at the Golden Lion pub.
Activities on the QM2
One thing about the QM2 is that you can make your crossing as eventful or restful as you please. Every night you get a daily program with the full schedule for the next day. This includes seminars, movies, fitness classes, various meet and greets, shows, etc.
We enjoyed some of the various onboard amenities and shows like the planetarium, the spa ($$$), the library, the fitness center, and the golf hitting nets (Blake). Oh! And in a fun turn of events, paid for our onboard expenses the last night by turning $30 into $300 at the casino. We don’t gamble in general but walked by the casino on our way to pack our bags and thought we’d give the slot machines a try and see how far $30 would take us. At $300 we called it quits and quickly walked away because both of us could feel the siren’s call of “just one more try.”
Overall Experience on the QM2
I’m not a cruise person, it’s not my preferred style of travel, but I enjoyed our crossing on the Queen Mary 2. I can definitely see the appeal if you’re a retiree or if traveling via plane is hard for you and you’d like an easy way to get to the UK.
However, the service was unparalleled. We loved coming back to our turned-down suite every night and getting to know the various crew members. Everyone goes out of their way to make you feel welcome. I loved that there was enough to do that we never felt bored, but we were also comfortable taking it easy and relaxing.
We have tickets booked to return to the States in December so I’m excited to see how a Christmas experience compares, especially since we’ll already be familiar with the ship.
Read more about our experience getting the dogs ready to sail.
Moving Our Dogs to the UK on the Queen Mary II: Part 1
Moving Our Dogs to the UK on the Queen Mary II: Part 2