Cunard Cruises, Queen Mary 2 Review

Travelled American Airlines Business Class to JFK from Heathrow and transferred to Hilton Hotel. Separately pre-booked tour of New York - 'Onboardtours.com' from UK independently (cant do this through Cunard). Flight fine, though noisy in front seats. Transfer to Hilton by private taxi and hotel room spacious and clean. Breakfast worked out about a third more than menu by the time local taxes and tip added. The tour was a nightmare. Bone-shaker bus, air-conditioning worked from the back of the bus and constantly sprayed the back passengers with water - bunged up half way through the tour with dirty duster and tape! The windows rattled and the tour guide had to use the strength of his voice to convey information. Tour lasted from 10.30-3.30 pm and stopped at various well-known places with a short trip around the bay - total cost around £114 for two. The Queen Mary is an impressive looking ship, but the signage is poor. The ship map on each floor does not inform you that some decks span two floors and you have to go up and across to reach some rooms. The entertainment is out of the 1980s - old fashioned and no sign of anyone well known. The food was good and you could order anything you wanted in advance. However, the service and making you feel special was not up to that experienced on the Victoria and the vegetarian options has a lot to be desired. The cabin was spacious and very well serviced by the cabin boy. There were quite a few options to go to such as bridge, water-colour painting, acting, talks, bingo and the casino. However, many of the most unusual and interesting such as painting, needlework, bridge, dance lessons, computing and acting were put on at the same time, so you had little choice - painting incurred about $35 cover charge for the materials and was on every day for two hours with some additional drawing lesson in the afternoon. Poor satellite signals led to a lot of frustration when using computers and people were constantly asking for re-credit of time paid for. Concierge room pleasant and full UK newspapers and refreshments, but could do with a couple of computers in there to save people in Grills going elsewhere for their email. Disembarkation was smooth at Southampton. Preferred the Queen Victoria - service, quality of food and cabin design superior.