In September 2011 my wife and I embarked on Queen Mary 2 for a 24 night Southampton to Southampton voyage entitled ‘Grand New England and Canadian Wonders’.

This was the itinerary…

 

 

We have in the past made many trans Atlantic crossings onboard QM2,  normally spending five or six days in New York before returning home on the same ocean liner.

However, on this occasion we remained onboard Queen Mary 2 while she sailed along the Eastern seaboard of the United States and Canadian coast, calling at Newport Rhode Island, Boston, Bar Harbor, Halifax and Quebec before returning to New York for the voyage home.

The itinerary of this voyage included two 6 full day Atlantic crossings which may seem a little daunting to many cruisers. However. QM2 and Cunard have a pretty unique mix of activities and entertainment onboard QM2 and generally speaking there is something for everyone to fully occupy these sea days.

The ship itself is also well suited to trans Atlantic crossings: having been specifically designed for this kind of voyage…

 

 

For this cruise we had booked a Princess Grill Suite on Deck 10, Stateroom number 10078…

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Passengers accommodated in Princess Grill Suites have exclusive access to The Princess Grill Restaurant…

…and we were delighted to have been allocated our favourite table, Table 36….

…for the duration of the cruise.

One of the main attractions of dining in the ‘Grills’ is that there is open seating dining for all meals and your chosen table remains yours for all meals throughout the cruise. This has the particular advantage of retaining the same staff throughout…

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She is a unique Ocean Liner and the regal flagship of the small Cunard fleet. She offers many unique innovations including the world’s first ocean going  Planetarium…

…and the largest ballroom at sea…

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Apart from Ballroom and Latin dancing every evening the ballroom is also the venue for the famous White Star Service Afternoon Teas and on two occasions the Ballroom orchestra played for Afternoon Tea Dances….

…as well as numerous Cocktail Parties, usually hosted by the Captain and his senior officers….

Cunard is famous for it’s ‘ballrooms at sea’ and certainly QM2’s is put to considerable use during the day. Dance lessons on this particular voyage included tap, line, Latin and Ballroom the latter two using professional instructors who have competed at some of the highest levels.

Queen Mary 2 also has more available deck space for use on the finer crossing days…

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Cunard’s ‘Insights’ programme offers rare opportunities to attend an exceptional line-up of distinguished individuals and personalities as well as specialist lecturers on all subjects from politics to astronomy and naval and maritime history to medical sciences. The Insights programmes are generally held in Illuminations, a purpose built, state of the art, 500 seat auditorium which is also home for The Planetarium, the first at sea, and the 3D cinema.

On this particular cruise the three most popular speakers were undoubtedly Lembit Opik, who needs little introduction, ITN Cameraman Phil Bye MBE and Roger McGuinn, the founder of the Byrds Rock Band.

There are three separate Planetarium features on each voyage and each presentation is run four time a each day.

There are fourteen bars on Queen Mary 2 and seven galleys serving 10 dining rooms and eating venues.

There are four main dining restaurants and access to individual ones is dependant on the level of accommodation a passenger has booked.

The four restaurants are The Britannia…

…which operates a two sitting dining system for Dinner each evening (Table allocation in the Britannia Restaurant is for Dinner only)  and an ‘Open’ seating system for breakfast and lunch.

It can seat upwards of 1,350, is three decks high, and spans the width of the ship.

The Queens and Princess Grills which are open for passengers in Grills Accommodation for dinner from 6.30 till 9.00 pm each evening…

One particular advantage of dining in either of  the Grills or Britannia Club restaurants is the fact that the passengers allocated table is available for all meals with the same waiting staff.

Britannia Club, for passengers in the 46 staterooms graded AA Club Balcony,   also enjoy dinner seating between 6.60 and 9.00pm…

Buffet style dining is available to all passengers at the Kings Court Buffet…

 

It is open for all meals almost around the clock.

Queen Mary 2 has one speciality restaurant called ‘Todd English’… 

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Based on William Todd English, a celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, entrepreneur, and television personality who is based in Boston, Massachusetts but has restaurants in Los Angeles, New York, Florida and Las Vegas.

Having acquired a decent status level on Cunard’s World Club loyalty programme, one of the perks was a complimentary lunch in the Todd English restaurant…

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Onboard Queen Mary 2 there is a wide selection of bars and other drinking venues, most of which have live music…

The Commodore Club

 

The Chart Room…

 

 

…and the Golden Lion Pub…

 

 

…to name but a few.

When it comes to entertainment it is the evenings at sea that make Queen Mary 2 so special.

Cunard, by tradition, have a large number of ‘Formal’ evenings and the standard of dress is always very high.  Whether your interests lie in theatre, dancing, classical or cocktail piano music, there is going to be something for you. That of course is in addition to the grand dining occasions in the main restaurants.

For those who maybe averse to ‘dressing for dinner’ the Kings Court buffet restaurant turns itself into a number of themed restaurants, some with a cover charge, but where ‘Elegant Casual’ dress is acceptable.

Central to the entertainment has to be The Queens Room. The largest ballroom at sea and each and every evening a dance orchestra and vocalist will provide all the music and song that is guaranteed to get passengers dancing. Whether it be Ballroom or  Latin, if you dance then The Queens Room…

 

 

….is the place to be. For single unattached ladies there are usually around half a dozen ‘Gentleman Hosts’ to whisk and chassis you around the floor and many formal evenings are allocated a theme such as ‘The Royal Ascot’ Ball or the ‘Black and White’ Ball. These  glamorous events are generally hosted by a member of the entertainment staff and guests can also expect to see one or two amazing dancing displays given by the ship’s professional international dance instructors.

Queen Mary 2 also has its own theatre – The Royal Court Theatre – where production shows are regularly performed by the ship’s Theatre Company in addition to a variety of visiting entertainers  from comedians to solo musicians to ventriloquists.

The Royal Court Theatre covers two decks and accommodates shows twice an evening in order that guests on different dinner sittings will not miss a show.

 

 

On this particular voyage Cunard had arranged for the National Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Anthony Inglis, to sail for six nights on the New York to Southampton   Atlantic crossing.

One of the outstanding performances they gave was a rousing ‘Last Night of the Cunard Proms’ and recruited a large chorus from the ship’s passengers…

 

The Itinerary

The first  six nights on board were spent at sea crossing the Atlantic and we eventually entered New York on 27 September.

Queen Mary 2 berths at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and this is the view of the famous New York skyline passengers can expect…

 

With  just  the day in New York my wife and I took ourselves across to Manhattan. A full review and  report of our day out can be found by  following this link…

One Way to do New York – Brooklyn to Central Park via the Highline Walk

Having sailed from New York the previous evening, the following day we dropped anchor off Newport, Rhode Island…

 

 

…and took the ship’s tender ashore and had an excellent day. We made the magnificent Cliff Walk Trail…

 

…that took us…

 

….past some of the most opulent mansions along the Rhode Island coastline….

 

Our route to the start of the trail took us past Newport’s International Tennis Hall of Fame…

 

 

On the 29 September we berthed at Boston, Massachusetts and, despite the occasional rain showers, had another exceptional day visiting this historic (by American standards), city, making full use of this novel form of transport to initially ‘get our bearings’…

 

…and later taking in the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial…

 

…and the town’s most famous Quincy Market…

…renowned for its fresh seafood….

 

Another day and another port of call. This was to be our second ‘tender’ port, Bar Harbour…

 

…. in the State of Maine.

At Bar Harbour we were met by some outstanding American friends who hosted our visit. This included a drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain –  from where we enjoyed a spectacular view of Queen Mary 2 at anchor…

 

…before enjoying, as only Maine can provide, the perfect local lunch…

We had such a ‘fab’ day that it was sad to leave our friends…

…as they waved us goodbye…

 

Having had a full day in Bar Harbour we sailed early evening and headed north along the Eastern Seaboard arriving the following day at t Halifax, Nova Scotia.…

Halifax has a great Cunard tradition, Sir Samuel Cunard making his first trans Atlantic voyages to Halifax. So where better than to pay a fitting tribute to Sir Samuel…

However, it was another passenger line that we were most interested in for this visit. Halifax, Nova Scotia is synonymous with the sinking of  RMS Titanic and we quickly arranged for a private tour that would include a visit to the Fairview Cemetery….

…where 121 victims of the disaster are buried. From the above picture, taken at Fairview Cemetery, it can be seen that the headstones form the outline shape of a ship.

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Our private tour now took us to Peggy’s Cove….

….which featured heavily in the Cunard Excursion brochures

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On our return to halifax our driver kindly dropped us at the Citadel where we managed to squeeze in a self guided tour…

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From Halifax it took us two days to arrive, having sailed down the St Lawrence River,  at our next port of call, Quebec…

….where we enjoyed an overnight stop. On our approach it looked a little busy but, as fitting for Cunard’s flagship, we had a prime berth booked…

And viewed from a different angle ….

Day one we spent discovering the  Plains of Abraham, The Chateau Frontanac and the areas of Quebec on that side of the St Lawrence River.

 

 

While on the second day we actually crossed The St Lawrence River for a photo shoot of the ship with its excellent backdrop…

All very timely as we witnessed the arrival of another of our favourite cruise ships that we had actually circumnavigated the World on, P&O’s Aurora…

Our visits to Quebec, Bar Harbor, Newport Rhode Island and Boston will feature in the Port Review  section of this blog in due course.

 

Sailing from Quebec we returned to New York before completing the Eastbound crossing back to Southampton.

 

A truly wonderful cruise on a truly outstanding ship.