Musings at the end of the trip.

0157 Homer Simpson from the North American Mural

0136 The One World Trade Center Building from the QM2.  Not quite finished yet.

 

July 21 to 26 – At Sea, Crossing the North Atlantic.  This crossing has gone extremely well.  It’s the 26^th and for the first time you can actually tell you’re on a ship.  Not that there’s much motion it that there any motion at all.  The 21^st thru 25^th the QM2 might just as well been a hotel on land.  No motion whatsoever.  I like a little motion in the late evening, it rocks me to sleep.  Maybe tonight.

 

Since the touring is over and I’ve talked enough about what I do on sea days this trip, I thought I’d jot down some general observations on the QM2 and the changes they’ve made for better or worse.  When I make comparisons the only other reference I have is Holland America.

 

Of course I’ve already mentioned the one thing that they should have changed and never have, the meeting places for disembarkation.  Some are good like the Golden Lion Pub but others are the worst I’ve seen, Illuminations and the balcony of the Royal Court Theater on deck 3.

 

Unless you are a very sound sleeper or early riser do not book veranda cabins on Deck 6.  Deck 7 has the wrap around outside deck and it’s the roof of your veranda on 6.  They have a prohibition against jogging before 8am so the thundering herd doesn’t disturb the people sleeping below.  Unfortunately this rule is largely ignored and the ship makes no attempt to enforce it.  I’ve seen people running there as early at 5:30am.  They run right by staff members and no one says anything to them.  There’s no reminder in the daily ship’s paper or announcements on the TV or anywhere that I could find.  The signs on the deck clearly mention the prohibition but who takes the time to read anything these days?  Apparently not the largely American group of early joggers.  When I’m sitting in the King’s Court on Deck 7 in the morning the floor shakes and the thumping is clearly audible.  I don’t know what that sounds like in the rooms below.

 

Speaking of the King’s Court.  I may have mentioned this before but I can’t remember.  Previously the King’s Court had three separate cuisines at lunch, Oriental, Italian and normal as well as the sandwich shop.  The Oriental buffet was my favorite and I ate there every lunch.  They still have the three buffet areas but now they are all the normal buffet.  They open and close sequentially and always in the same order.  This has one good result.  You can now get breakfast from 6:30am until lunch starts with no break in service.  As the last area closes for breakfast the first area is reopening for lunch.  They close sequentially also so lunch is available very late at the last venue to open.  From an operational standpoint I can see the advantages of this system.  Unfortunately since I like to get up and going even when we’re at sea I get no advantage from the availability of very late breakfast and the HUGE disadvantage that the oriental buffet is gone.  A minor inconvenience, it’s true.  I certainly have not ever put this on my voyage comment form because I understand why they did it and don’t really blame them for doing it.

 

In the evening the King’s Court used to host three specialty restaurants, oriental, Italian and a chop house style place called the Carvery that had a fixed charge of $10 per person.  They still have the same charge but now they only open one specialty restaurant per night and it varies between Indian, Oriental and Italian.  I don’t think they were getting enough business to justify the three at the same time so again this is not a complaint, it’s merely a change.  The charge is certainly reasonable as the food is very good and they give you plenty.

 

The Todd English Restaurant which used to be a fixed charge is now a la carte.  The fixed charge was about $30 per person but the food was fantastic.  We didn’t go there this trip but some of our tablemates did and reported that if you got all the courses and ordered the more expensive items the cost would be about the same as paying the fixed charge.  In other words, if you don’t get all the courses and order some less expensive things it’s actually less expensive to go there now than it was before.  This seems like a well thought out change for which management should be commended.

 

I didn’t think I’d ever say this but in general the food in the main dining room is now a little better than Holland America.  That is not to say that HAL’s food is not good because it is, in fact it’s great.  I used to think Cunard’s Britannia Dining room and HAL’s main dining rooms had very comparable food.  Lately the food on HAL has slipped a bit, especially deserts.  They still have some excellent deserts but many of them are not made on board anymore.  It used to be that 90% of their chocolate desserts were excellent, now only about 20% pass the ‘worth the calories’ test.  Their best chocolate desserts, the truffle cake and cappuccino bombe have almost completely disappeared from the menu, possibly because they almost have to be made on board the ship.  For me, these were the two best deserts they every served.  May they rest in peace.  By contrast, at least 80% of the chocolate desserts on the QM2 meet the ‘worth the calories’ test.  On HALs part this is probably the result of centralized purchasing for the combined Carnival fleet but somehow Cunard, also a member of Carnival, has avoided the reduction in desirability of their deserts so I may be wrong.  Keep in mind; this is just my opinion, although Diana holds the same viewpoint.  She was the first to put in into words but I’d been thinking it for a few years.

 

I’m sure I’ve mentioned that the QM2 feels like a very different ship if you’re sailing with a large group of French or German people.  In general the Germans are a happy lot as long as they know where the next beer is coming from.  They are polite and courteous and generally easy to live with.  You really only notice them because their language is quite strong to our ears.  The French on the other hand are table hogging, rude egomaniacs that always seem to be in the way.  Avoid sailings that go on to La Havre from Southampton if you can.  If the sailing is continuing to Hamburg, you’ll be fine. 

 

There’s another level to add to that.  If the sailing has been discounted, as mid-summer sailings often are, be prepared to be aboard with lots of kids and first time cruisers.  Unlike the French situation, this is not necessarily a detriment.  It just means that there may be a high percentage of people who are constantly lost, trying to rush everywhere and somewhat befuddled by shipboard life.  That’s how I was when I first started cruising.  Actually this has a lot of entertainment value and gives you some great opportunities to be a Good Samaritan.

 

Unfortunately among all these novice cruisers is a small but dedicated cadre of people who participate in practices that, if everyone did them, would lead to a steep rise in the cost of cruising.  I’ve seen more people on this crossing stuffing small containers with tea bags, artificial sweeteners and anything else they can conveniently carry off the ship.  I’m sure that some people will leave with 7 bottles of shampoo, conditioner, skin cream, etc. because they hide them every day so the cabin steward will replace them. 

 

Diana says that prices in the shops are a bit higher on Cunard but some things are the same or lower.

 

Another small thing that I find a little offensive.  Both lines have a paperback lending area in their library.  Both are on the honor system, on HAL the rule is bring one in and take one out on Cunard the rule is bring one in, we keep it, take one out but you have to bring it back.  No credit given for the one you gave them.  I find that to be a bit irritating.  I totally understand that if you just take one you should bring it back.  But if I give them one, I should be able to take one with me if I don’t finish it.  Oh well, not a big deal but it is a bit irksome for some reason.

 

DO NOT misunderstand.  I love sailing on the QM2 and Cunard does a fine job, if a bit stuffy for my taste.  I’m just a bit bored and since I’m already packed to leave the ship so I’m writing.  The stuffy factor has changed with the times.  On our first sailing on the QE2 every night except the last one was formal.  Now at least they let you lose the tie, but not the jacket, for 4 of the 7 nights.