Cunard 1st Timer….

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to experience my first Cunard cruise.  My husband and I cruised from Southampton on Queen Mary 2 on the 15th November for 4 nights visiting Le Havre and Zeebrugge.

Champagne sailaway on a windy November evening

My first impression when we arrived in Southampton was WOW. I have travelled on P&O Ventura and Ventura which are both large ships but Queen Mary 2 just seemed a lot bigger even though she carries 480 less passengers.

Once on board we were able to go straight to our cabin as they were ready for us and this too was a suprise. We had an outside cabin with a large porthole and the cabin was spacious with a sofa and small table in there too so we had somewhere else to sit apart from the bed ( somewhere for my husband to throw his clothes)

On Saturday we had a day at sea so after a lie in ( well we did stay in the nightclub until 3-30am) it was time to explore. We did the 3 laps round the deck which is approxiamately 1 mile (my exercise for the weekend) and then paid a visit to Illuminations which is the only planertarium at sea where we watched a showing of Cosmic Collisions. This was also the formal night so we paid a visit to the Veuve Cliquot Champagne Bar before dinner and treated ourselves to a glass of bubbly.

Pink Bubbles

The Royal Court Theatre is where the shows are in the evening and where RADA stage their productions. We saw a modern shortened version of Romeo and Juliet  here which was very good although I now know that I couldnt sit through a full production! The entertainment was very good throughout the cruise and if you like dancing there is dancing in the Queens Room every evening to a live band. For ladies travelling alone who like to dance there are also dance hosts on board so you should never be in your seat for long.

Queens Room

Spare propellers “The Captains Cufflinks”

On Sunday we were in Le Havre but as we have been here before we didnt get off and decided just to have a day chilling on the ship. And chill we did, and set off to the Library with our kindles and found a nice spot in front of the window to sit and read and proceeded to fall asleep!! Well it was another late night before! We also had afternoon tea in the Queens room which was lovely being served by the waiters with their white gloves on and of course we had to have a glass of champagne too!

Afternoon Tea in the Queens Room

On Monday we were in Zeebrugge and decided just to take the shuttle bus to Blankenburge where we took a srtoll along the promenade and along the pier. I must admit it wasnt quite the same as when we had visited in the summer as all the beach bars were all shut up and packed away and a lot of the shops were closed. At least the chocolate shop was still open!

On the pier in Blankenburge

We loved the whole experience and I would definatelty cruise with Cunard again and would also recomend it. I thought it may be a bit stuffy but I was most certainly proved wrong.