Everyone has a bucket list and high on mine was a cruise. Not so much one of those floating mega resorts with water slides and lunchtime discos, more your silver service, nostalgic experience echoing the days when the word posh was on a luggage label and meant "port out, starboard home." Which was very posh back then as it meant you had one of the most desirable cabins on the steamship journey from England to India and back.
Turns out with a lifetime of manifesting dreams can come true and so we found ourselves booked on to none other than Cunard's flagship, the last remaining ocean liner Queen Mary 2. Neither port nor starboard but one of the inside cabins which it turns out is a good choice when you are travelling (as we were) to the land of the midnight sun.
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QMII Taken from halfway up the 418 steps on way to the Aksla Lookout, Alesund, Norway |
Our journey (on a liner it's a journey not a cruise) would take us from Southampton to a three port adventure in and around the Norwegian Fjords calling at Stavanger, Ålesund and Skjolden.
I'll probably do future posts focussing on food, dress codes, embarkation and disembarkation, destinations and top tips for first time cruisers but this is more of a general overview to give you a flavour so bear with.
In short embarkation was pretty stress free. We'd booked special assistance but to be honest compared to an airport Southampton's Mayflower terminal was a dream. You are given a boarding time which staggers the crowds. Helpful staff whisked away our copious luggage and after checking in and a very short security line where carry on was X-rayed we were astounded to realise all that was left to do was head on up the covered gangplank to be greeted by the first of the smiling staff members and the famous bellboys dressed in red. (FYI I did ask her permission to take and share this picture.)
We dumped our luggage, watched a short safety video playing on the TV in our "stateroom" and headed to the muster station to be clocked in then it was off to find food.
QMII has a range of restaurants and other places you can eat including a British-style pub, buffet, formal restaurants and coffee shops. We found the buffet which was quite busy and noisy which was a little jarring for us as neurodivergent travellers, but this was the only time it was so crowded and in future visits we always found somewhere quiet to sit and we never had an issue with queues at the food stations.
Mostly we ate at the Britannia Restaurant where we had booked open dining. There are three options but choosing open dining meant we could eat when we fancied and work meals round talks, shows and port stops.
You could end up at a different table every meal (which we didn't mind) and you have the option to have your own table or to share with other travellers. We did a bit of both and met some lovely people on sharer tables but had time to ourselves on our own table if we didn't fancy company.
Things are slightly different if you upgrade to Britannia Club, Princess Grills or Queens Grills - these all have their own restaurants and an upgraded menu but to be honest I thought the food in the Britannia Restaurant was mostly top notch - we had Chateaubriand one evening and you could also upgrade for a relatively small amount to treat yourself to half a lobster with lobster mac and cheese for instance. ($20 premium in summer 2025).
Cunard has a suggested dress code which is quite formal and the Facebook groups are fizzing with people who hate it and those who love it. If you live in activewear this is not the cruise for you. Jackets and collared shirts, smart dresses, skirts and trousers are requested in the restaurants on "normal" nights and shorts and T-shirts and similar casual wear is discouraged after 6pm. We did see a fair few people ignoring this request though.
You are particularly encouraged to dress for dinner, especially on Black Tie Gala nights which are usually themed. We loved it but if it's not your thing you could eat in the pub, buffet or chance the rage of the Cunard traditionalists and eat in the restaurant. You will be admitted but it does rather spoil the overall effect for those who have specifically chosen Cunard for this very traditional and nostalgic experience.
You mustn't miss Afternoon Tea in the Queens Room which starts daily at 3.30pm with a procession of white gloved waiters marching in with their teapots and ends at 4.40pm with me limping away holding my stomach berating myself for eating so many sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream and cakes washed down with copious amounts of tea sipped from bone china cups.
Grills passengers can enjoy afternoon tea in more intimate surroundings or you could opt for a buffet version. We also did Champagne afternoon tea (in the Champagne Bar of course) which cost $40 each but came with a glass of good Champagne, an even fancier menu, a proper tiered stand and personal service from our tea sommelier. And envious glances from people peeking in which personally I enjoyed muchly.
We could book restaurant sittings plus activities and treatments in the sports areas and spa via My Cunard, a portal which only works when you are onboard and doesn't require wifi.
A word on wifi. Some people like to disconnect on holiday but as a small business owner and mum to a disabled teenager, I needed good internet access so we used some of our onboard credit to buy the top tier of wifi access which allows streaming, video calling and more. We chose a multi-device package which came in at around £300 but that can be shared between four devices and you can log off one and log in to another with ease. This worked well between three of us even though we were in different staterooms.
On board there was so much to do we couldn't fit everything in. We attended an art history lecture, saw a classical pianist and a virtuoso cellist, laughed at a very good comedian and enjoyed a variety of music across the ship including folk, classical and jazz all performed by live musicians. We went along to a couple of enthusiastically performed all singing, all dancing shows which were entertaining as an after-dinner activity and my husband went along to the planetarium one evening. Sadly not working as a planetarium any more but converted to a cinema offering a variety of movies.
We were blessed with good weather so we used two of the three swimming pools and one of the jacuzzis and enjoyed hours in the traditional steam chairs snoozing watching the spectacular scenery glide past.
And gliding is the word! Even when manoeuvring there was almost no vibration. And in the north sea my drink didn't even ripple as the liner, designed for fast transatlantic crossings, cut through the waves. I'd bought seasickness tablets just in case but barely felt movement at any time. At times it was difficult to remember you were on a ship then you'd pass a window and see nothing but open sea.
I mustn't wind this up without a mention for the staff. Every stateroom has a steward who cleans your room, turns down your bed (leaving chocolates on pillows natch) and is available for any needs or questions. The waiters, sommeliers, pursers and everyone else we encountered were (99.9% of the time) smiley, friendly and helpful. I truly felt like a VIP throughout our journey.
We enjoyed all three ports - more on them in a future post-but actually we can see why people do the transatlantic journeys as there is so much to enjoy on the ship, including so much yummy food!
SO as you can probably work out I very much enjoyed life on the ocean wave. So much so we have already booked our next adventure aboard the Queen Anne next time to explore the countries along the Baltic sea where I will hopefully tick off another bucket list item - visiting the Abba museum in Stockholm.