My wife and I embarked on Queen Mary 2 for a 29 night Southampton to Southampton Christmas and New Year voyage entitled ‘Grand Caribbean Celebration’.
The itinerary of this voyage included two 6 day Atlantic crossings which may seem a little daunting to many cruisers. However, Cunard have a pretty unique mix of activities and entertainment aboard the QM2 and, generally speaking, there is something for everyone to fully occupy these sea days. There was one change to the scheduled itinerary, the call at Grand Turk was replaced by a call to St Lucia.
Regular readers will recall our previous Queen Mary 2 cruise…
along the East Coast. In between these two cruises Queen Mary 2 had undergone a mini-refit with considerable changes to décor and interior design of both public areas and staterooms. We were anxious to make a comparison.
In addition to this makeover the ship had been tastefully decorated for the festive season. Its understated elegance greeted passengers as they entered the ship via the Grand Lobby…
imparting an immediate ‘holiday’ atmosphere.
As always with Cunard, accommodation is available to all guests on embarkation.
Our chosen accommodation for this voyage was a Q5 Queens Grill stateroom, 9048,…
…which we were very pleased with and proved to be a most comfortable home for the next 29 days.
The areas that had undergone the scheduled refit , (I would prefer the word ‘refurbish’) included her staterooms, clubs, restaurants, bars and play areas. It effectively refreshed and enhanced those areas ensuring the continuation of the Queen Mary 2’s elegant and stylish image.
The refurbishment replaced the equivalent of 10 football fields of carpet and 18 miles of fabric (according to Cunard) while the oceanliner’s 1,310 staterooms and suites were redecorated with new carpeting, curtains, bedspreads and furniture.
Here are a few examples of the newly refurbished areas we enjoyed…
The Commodore Club…
The Chart Room…
The Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar…
Sir Samuels coffee shop…
The main thoroughfare on Deck 2…
and, in my opinion, the most impressive of the refurbishments, The Golden Lion Pub…
our favourite pre-lunch venue, particularly for the live jazz sessions…
Cunard has a reputation for quality activities and entertainment, particularly on trans Atlantic crossings. There is always something for everyone particularly during the day. From their ‘Insights’ lecture programme covering subjects from Politics to Cinematic history, to dance classes, from RADA classes and performances to Bridge classes and matches, from the Planetarium to the Canyon ranch health spa, no passenger should experience a dull moment.
Evening entertainment on this particular cruise ranged from the musical artistry of Kenny Martin to West End vocalist David Shannon, From Roger McGuinn, founder of the Byrds to probably the top Four Seasons tribute act in the world, ….The Unexpected Boys.
Being Christmas and New Year there were also many seasonal themed events and one particular item that should not miss attention was the traditional Gingerbread Village laid on by the ship’s chefs…
The Itinerary
Our first port of call after the Southampton departure was New York…
where we spent most of the day enjoying the Christmas atmosphere around Central Park. A more detailed account of our day can be found at…
https://solentrichardscruiseblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/one-way-to-do-new-york-christmas-edition/
That evening we sailed out from the Brooklyn terminal and set a course for the Caribbean where our first port of call was St Thomas. We had signed up for a ship’s snorkelling and Beach BBQ excursion which gave us a great afternoon at Honeymoon Beach…
followed by Curacao…
Grenada…
Barbados…
St Lucia…
St. Maarten…
Tortola…
and for the second time, New York…
…where we spent part of our day visiting The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on West Side Manhattan.
This second visit to New York was our final port of call before our return passage across the Atlantic.
This had been a most particularly good cruise, packed with good entertainment, a fair amount of Caribbean sunshine and beach time and traditional Christmas fayre. Christmas is always something special on a cruise ship, as are those passengers that make the effort to join at this particular time of year.
Christmas day of course is traditionally spent at sea and evening dinner tends to replace the home lunch more associated with Christmas – simply because when at home one doesn’t have the Caribbean sun to bask in…
…while a Caribbean Band entertains.
I hope this thread has been both informative and of interest to those who may be considering such a cruise. My advice? Go for it, life is too short not to experience the pleasure.
Solent Richard's Cruise Blog 
What a great trip.
They have chosen some really vivid patterned carpets on QM2!.
Thank you for your informative blog. After almost having to spend this Christmas with no power, the thought of Christmas aboard my favourite cruise ship is now doubly alluring.
Thank you for explaining to us Aussies what to expect as we board QM2 on December 15th 2015 for our holiday of a lifetime. With just 13 weeks to go before we head to Brisbane International airport. Can’t wait.