The RMS Queen Mary 2 is the first of the Cunard Queens to enter service in the 21st Century and the largest ocean liner ever built - not the largest cruise ship, but the largest ship specifically designed for transatlantic crossings. She was named by HM Queen Elizabeth II and then began her maiden voyage in January, 2004 headed for Fort Lauderdale. She began her Southampton-New York crossings in April, 2004. The QM2 carries the Royal Mail ship (RMS) designation because she carries a token bag of mail across the pond.
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| Docked in Barbados |
Susan and I sailed on the QM2 in December 2009 on a 10 day roundtrip voyage between NYC and the Caribbean. Despite the cold rainy evening, it was a delight to sail past the Statue of Liberty and under the Verrazanno-Narrows Bridge. The QM2 was designed to pass under the bridge, but barely.
This ship has 2 public rooms that you don't find on most cruise ships. Like all Cunard ships she has the Queen's Room, a ball room where formal dancing takes place in the evening and where high tea is served in the afternoon. And she has a Planetarium - the only one at sea - in the Illuminations Theater, which is also used for lectures and movies.The planetarium shows are excellent.
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| The Queen's Room |
Her other public rooms are elegant - especially her dining rooms. We found the service and the food in the Britannia Restaurant to be excellent. Susan and I especially enjoyed the warp around Promenade Deck - 3 times around is just about a mile, and the custom is that you walk counter clockwise.
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| Promenade Deck at Sunset |
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| Britannia Restaurant |
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| The Britannia Restaurant |
We had a sheltered balcony stateroom on Deck 6 which was very comfortable and we got used to the small bathroom which is typical for cruise ships. The sheltered balcony was a good size and was covered.. Deck 6 is in the hull and directly under the Promenade deck - so we could enjoy the balcony even in bad weather.
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| Our Stateroom |
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| Sheltered Balcony |
The QM2 is too large to pass through the Panama Canal so that restricts her areas of operation somewhat. She operates primarily in Europe and Asia but does offer a couple of New England itineraries and 1 Caribbean cruise (over Xmas & New Year's. For more information about the QM2 check out the Cunard website at www.cunard.com.
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