QM2 Mini Cruise

I’m back from my first ever Cunard sailing. Recently returned from a 4 night Mini Cruise from Southampton to Hamburg on the QM2 and I have to say I was rather impressed with Cunard.

Having been recently refurbished you could see it was fresh in places and the décor looked new.

I had a sheltered balcony and although a nice clear glass would have been nice I couldn’t complain. The balcony was still spacious just unfortunately we left the nice weather at home and had a couple of miserable days at sea. But it happens and you just get on with it.

The food was fantastic, a good selection in both the buffet area of the Kings courts and the main dining restaurants. Entertainment was good. Rhythm of the night being the new show was particularly good and will go down well on future sailings. I have to say I’m not really a fan of buffet and I do prefer the table service. However the Kings Court which has been refurbished was just beautiful. Nicely decorated and such hot and fresh food all the time. Normally I visualise a buffet like a canteen,  a bit like the experience I had recently on the new Thomson Discovery. But this was nothing of the sort. I was very impressed. Thumbs up here because they’ve certainly done a good job and it was nice to sit by the windows and a pleasant atmosphere.

We had our meals in the Britannia restaurant upper level and it was really nice.

Quite simply the best buffet restaurant I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. Others take note, this is how it should be done. Having not seen the previous Kings court but spoken to some customers with lots of experience, they too told me it’s come a long way and improved immensely.

Working for an internet based company you don’t get to meet you customers so often like you would do having the face to face interaction in a high street shop. On this particular cruise I had booked a couple of customers and one particular couple Mr & Mrs Kendal, experienced and regular cruisers, were on board and I had the privilege to meet them in person. Which was a little strange as I build a rapport with my customers over the telephone.

A lovely couple to meet in person, I introduced them to members of my family and we enjoyed a couple of good Karaoke nights in the Golden Lion Pub. Of course they weren’t to get up and sing, they left that to me and I also had to show them some of my magic tricks so out came the deck of cards. Showing off my talents, I don’t just sell cruises! I couldn’t have met a nicer couple on board and I look forward to looking after them for many years to come.

Now the main reason I booked this cruise in the first place was for my Grandmother. Being 90 years old this year and never cruised before we really wanted to take her on a traditional ship that she’d always remember and I Certainly think we picked the right ship for the occasion.

She absolutely loved it and I’m sure she’s still talking about it now that she’s been on the Queen Mary 2. At 90 she’s waited a long time for her first experience of cruising and has already told me she wants to do the Caribbean next. We’ll see Gran!

The 4 nights was perfect for a mini cruise and a great way to experience the ship to see if you would like to sail further afield and for a longer duration. Of course the QM2 is very popular for transatlantic to and from the States. Overall I had a great time and pleased to tick off another cruise company to compare with others. Roll on November when I’m off on my first transatlantic with Royal Caribbean. Looking forward to that.