My heart sank as I boarded Queen Mary 2 in Southampton for my first trip in around 8
years, a Transatlantic Crossing.
I spotted areas on the hull looking battered and rusty.
Was this evidence recent critics were right, and Queen Mary 2 was becoming rundown, and
her glory days were done?
I'm Gary Bembridge.
Join me as I look at how this famous ship stacks up today.
There is no doubt this almost 20-year-old ship has signs on a hull being battered by
the brutal North Atlantic crossings it does 20 to 25 times a year.
While most regular cruise ships spend five or six days a week in port, allowing the crew
to constantly touch up and keep the hull and hard-to-reach exteriors looking sharp, this
is not so easy on Queen Mary 2.
This liner spends almost all her time at sea, often in port just one day a week for 8 hours.
It’s challenging to keep much of the hull and hard-to-reach external areas pristine.
While that is understandable, what about the interiors and open deck areas of the ship
many had criticised?
The interiors today were much as I remember them.
A nod to the glory days of Transatlantic Crossings with an Art deco look and feel.
Little of the look has changed, though the carpets are jazzier, and it does look dated.
But it always has been, as it is a deliberate design harking back past liner eras.
There have been some updates like solo cabins added, the elevator has been removed from
the Grand Lobby and the soulless Wintergarden lounge turned into a much more comfortable
Carinthia Lounge.
However, despite hunting, I found few examples of the ship looking shabby.
I saw crew during the Crossing constantly out on deck painting and touching up areas
they could access.
They were also frequently in the hallways, fixing issues and doing general maintenance.
However, there were a couple of areas that did seem to be being ignored.
For example, the Deck 12 Pavilion Pool, which is the indoor pool, looked run down and unloved,
with one noticeably damaged area on the roof seemingly left to decay.
I visited a friend in their Deck 5 sheltered balcony, and there were rusty water stains
along the pipes, right along that deck, which was unsightly and odd they had been left like
that.
However, in terms of the overall maintenance and condition of the ship, I certainly didn't
see what many people have criticised.
I wonder if some focus on the decor looking dated versus modern crisp cruise ship décor
trends, as it’s not in poor condition at all.
One area that does feel dated to me was the bathrooms.
They are old-fashioned with some anachronistic features like an ashtray next to the toilet.
I don’t think travellers should worry so much about the ship being run down, but I
do think there are other things about the ship today that may be issues for some.
Over the years I have spent over 11 weeks on the ship, and on this trip, I still found
it baffling to find my way around.
Why?
Queen Mary 2 was designed as a liner to cross the Atlantic in the most stable and comfortable
possible way.
It does not follow the usual layout of regular cruise ships.
On regular cruise ships, the main dining rooms are usually at the very back of the ship,
the theatre at the very front and in the between, in the middle of the ship, are the bars, lounges,
casino, Guest Services, and shops.
The main pool and buffet are on the top decks, with most cabins between there and the decks
with the restaurants, theatre, and those venues.
This is not the case on Queen Mary 2.
The designer pushed the big public venues as low down in the ship as he could, many
within the hull, at the water line and more mid-ship, so they are in more stable areas
and less prone to movement.
The Britannia Restaurant, which is where most people dine is closer to the middle and right
down on decks 2 and 3.
The Queens Room, the massive ballroom used for dance classes, afternoon tea and evening
dancing is low down in the ship too on deck 3.
The theatre is also located more midship and low down.
Behind the theatre, toward the front of the ship, is Illuminations, which is where they
hold lectures during the day.
As it doesn't have to be as stable when sailing like the theatre for the dancers and entertainers
to perform.
Unlike regular cruise ships, there are huge numbers of cabins low down and within the
hull on decks 4, 5 and 6, including cabins with sheltered balconies cut into the hull
Even the open-deck pools are on lower decks than on regular cruise ships.
To achieve this means a slightly confusing layout, especially to regular cruise ship
travellers as it does not follow the usual rules, and getting from one venue to another
is less obvious, often requiring a diversion along lengthy passageways around large venues.
For example, to get to the Queens Room you must go along a corridor around the Britannia
Restaurant.
To get to Illuminations to go to the lectures you must find and go along a corridor around
the Royal Court Theatre.
Despite all that, there are some unique and magical places on this ship
The Queens Room, where the Balls, live orchestra, afternoon tea, and dancing classes, is magnificent,
enormous, and breath-taking.
The tiered Britannia Restaurant, with sweeping staircase and huge tapestry is a grand spectacle
of a dining room.
Illuminations, which hosts the only planetarium at sea, is a dramatic venue for talks and
those shows.
There is a vast Library which has over 10,000 books.
Up on the 12th deck, there are Kennels, which can hold up to 24 cats and dogs on the Crossings.
There’s the teak full wrap-around Promenade Deck, which hundreds walk every day on the
Crossing.
Go around it three times, and you've done 1.1 mile.
Because of its slightly strange layout, there are places and features many miss out on as
they don't know they exist – or how to find them.
There are two scenic lifts between Deck 7 up to Deck 11 tucked away at the front of
the ship.
They’re hard-to-find and impossible to see from out on deck.
On Deck 11, there's an open observation deck looking over the bow of the ship, a great
place to go when sailing in or out of New York to see the Statue of Liberty.
There's a Commodore Club and the Churchill's Cigar Lounge, which many forget and miss tucked
away on deck 9
There are also hidden, what I guess are called, Easter eggs and maritime nods that, again,
many people miss out on.
For example, there is a small Homer Simpson buried in one of the art deco style panels
just outside the Golden Lion pub.
G32, the nightclub, is the name of the hull of the ship when it was being built in the
shipyard.
Sir Samuel's, which has a partnership with Godiva chocolates, is named after the founder
of Cunard.
The Carinthia Lounge is named after the first Cunard ship to ever do a world voyage in 1933.
There is also then a magnificent maritime history walk dotted around the ship, which
tells the history of Cunard and the celebrities that have cruised on Cunard over the years.
But all is not perfect with Queen Mary 2, and there are some areas that show it is out
of touch with contemporary cruising and has some growing weaknesses as cruising evolves,
and passenger needs have changed over the 2 decades since launch.
First, Queen Mary 2 is a bit stuck in the past.
It doesn’t embrace that travellers are now connected and tech savvy.
I met more passengers who follow my YouTube channel on my Crossing than I have ever done
on any other cruise I've been on.
The ship is just not tech savvy enough.
They updated the Wi-Fi, which is poor.
You can't stream with the so-called streaming package and it's almost impossible in many
cabins to get a Wi-Fi signal.
There's no proper App.
There's half-hearted attempt at an App that is clumsy and hard to use.
The television's not very interactive.
You still must go down to the Purser’s deck to solve many queries, which means there are
always lines there.
Little things like there are no USB plugs in the cabin or plugs next to the beds to
charge devices frustrate.
Another issue, which I think is a big one, is I think they're slipping behind with their
Grills experience.
In their Grills, they have Queens Grill, the biggest suites of all who eat in the Queens
Grill Restaurant; and they have Princess Grill, which are smaller suites and eat in the Princess
Grills restaurant.
Cunard focuses the Grills very much on the dining experience.
And undoubtedly, the Queens and Princess Grill dining experiences are probably the best dining
experiences I've ever had anywhere at sea.
However, other lines have upped their suite experience beyond this.
Some have created ships-within-ships, like MSC Cruises Yacht Club and Norwegian Haven,
with an access-controlled area of lounges, bars, pools, hot tubs, decks, Concierge, and
Restaurants for suite guests.
Others like Celebrity have created The Retreat for suites with expansive plush lounge, and
a large deck with pool, bar, and snack bar as well as a dedicated restaurant.
On Queen Mary 2, there's a small and unimpressive Grills lounge, not the sort of place you want
to hang out in much.
There's a Concierge lounge, which is inside with no windows, a little bit dark and gloomy.
And a deck which is more of a thoroughfare and has one small hot tub.
All of these are dotted around the ship and not in one space.
The overall Grills experience and perks, while good, is not as good as suite experiences
on many more contemporary lines.
Another weak area is fitness.
The gym looks very unloved, has not been updated, and is pretty much ignored by the people who
run the spa.
There are almost no fitness classes and no studio to hold them.
There's a few yoga, stretch and meditation ones offered, but with limited numbers and
held on the pool deck.
Fitness is an important trend for modern travellers.
They don't offer much specialty dining on Queen Mary 2 either.
There is The Verandah Steakhouse, which is okay.
It's not a particularly great venue, and some themed evenings in the Kings Court Buffet,
but again the venue is not great.
They haven't really focused on specialty dining, which seems important with modern travellers
too.
However, saying all that, Queen Mary 2 is unique.
Much of its eccentricity is part of its magic.
The thing I love about Queen Mary 2 is it is different to any other ship I have been
on.
It is weird, it is strange, it is confusing, it's baffling, but it is a magnificent experience
and ship.
If you want to know more about crossing the Atlantic, like I've just done on Queen Mary
2, look at this video where I face the three biggest fears that people have and address
whether they need to be worried about them or not.
See you over there.