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Login Queen Mary 2 is a remarkable flagship, and her style and elegance are legendary. Above all, it‘s the space she offers and the luxury for you to do as little or as much as you wish which set her apart.
Welcome to a true icon. Our flagship is a truly astonishing liner and you’ll find an incredible sense of freedom from the space she offers. Whether you’re in the mood for complete relaxation or something more active, you can find it. Immerse yourself in enthralling entertainment, be indulged in the on board spa, or simply relax with a book in her vast library. You’ll discover remarkable craftsmanship in the elegant staterooms and suites and savouring her many sumptuous restaurants and bars is always a pleasure.
This review is an account of our trip in a Queen’s Grill cabin on the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York in June 2026. First, why take a ship across the Atlantic? Well, it seemed like something we should try after years of jet travel. We took the Trans-Siberian across Russia years ago (another long, slow journey), why not try the Queen Mary? We also have the time for a week-long voyage now that we are retired, so 'why not'? Embarkation in Southampton was not as chaotic as we'd feared, and read in these pages, but checking in and handing over our luggage was done in a huge shed. There's probably a better name for the shed (departure terminal?) but 'shed' seems to describe the structure well. Strangely, we didn't get a good view of the ship before we boarded. It was raining heavily as we scuttled from the taxi into the shed, and once inside the shed we couldn't see outside. We only had a good view of the QM2 when we disembarked in New York. The QM2 carries about 2,500 passengers and 1,250 crew. The passengers can choose from various levels of accommodation. We chose the Queen’s Grill as we thought we might never do the crossing again. We had a cabin on the 9th deck fairly near the front of the ship. It was the QM2 equivalent of Business Class rather than the Economy cabins on the lower decks. Once onboard (after zig zagging up a long gangplank), I thought I was being clever by heading directly to one of the laundry rooms to do a load of dirty laundry before the other passengers arrived. Wrong! The laundry rooms were already busy with other 'smart' people having the same idea. In fact, the rooms were busy with people washing, drying, and ironing clothes for the first few days. Oh, well, off to the cabin then. Our cabin was excellent with loads of storage space and dozens of hangers for shirts and jackets. Once everything was unpacked and hung up we had lots of space and didn't trip over suitcases and other clutter. We even had a good sized balcony. There was a coffee maker (one of those pod things), a kettle, cups and glasses, a mini-bar, and two bottles of our chosen tipple. There was also a bottle of champagne on ice waiting for us and a plate of strawberries dipped in chocolate. All this made up for my failure with the laundry. The ship set sail at about 4 o'clock and we opened the champagne and took our glasses up to the 11th deck to watch the departure. It was fun to see the dock and piers slowly move away. We were off! The QM2 is pretty big, and some passengers find it confusing, but I found it quite easy to get around. On most of the decks there is a long corridor running from front to back (forward to aft, rather) with doors to cabins. Walk one way to get to the bow or the other way to the stern. As you walk along the corridors you meet stairways A, B, C and D. These, obviously, take you up or down from the deck you're on. There are elevators/lifts too but we didn’t use them. Deck 7 is the promenade deck with a wooden deck lined (rather optimistically) with deckchairs. One circuit of this deck is 620 metres and 3 laps equals 1 mile. We made the mistake on the first day of using deck 7 (inside) to walk from the stern to the front. While outside on the promenade deck is fine, inside on deck 7 is not. There is the King's Court buffet which was packed with people munching away when we walked through. It was a typical high-volume cafeteria/buffet. Not pretty. The Queen’s Grill dining room is also on deck 7, towards the stern. How was the food? Good, but not great is the answer. The kitchen was obviously better at some dishes than others. Meat dishes were always very good, desserts were great, but some of the other offerings were rather 'ho-hum'. The lobster thermidor was particularly disappointing as it appeared to have been cooked several hours before and then warmed up slightly before serving. Not recommended. We were allowed to order 'off menu' and one night we decided to order Indian food to spice things up a little. We ordered at lunch time for dinner expecting a feast of Indian food but what arrived, although tasty, was little more than 3 different curries with the same basic sauce. Ah, well. One of Cunard's specialities, at least in the Queen’s Grill, is 'table side' food preparation. It's not only a good way to ensure that your meal arrives hot (one of our pet peeves is warmish food) but provides a little 'dinner theatre' as you watch your meal being cooked. I ordered sole meuniere and crepe suzettes this way and both were delicious and piping hot. Another speciality is afternoon tea in the Grill’s Lounge (deck 7 again) with cakes and scones, jam and clotted cream. More calories. We enjoyed this every day and chatted to several of the friendly waiters. Many were from the Philippines, of course, (what would the world do without the Philippines?) but several were from Zimbabwe. In addition to all the free booze in our cabin we also had a 'drinks package' meaning all drinks (alcohol, coffee, juice, etc.) under $13 were included. We are not heavy drinkers and usually only have a glass of wine with dinner but having the drinks package meant we didn't need to worry about ordering or signing chits. Other passengers, however, might take more advantage of the package than we did. It would be easy for the trip to pass in an alcoholic haze, and combined with all the food available at the buffet a trip on the QM2 may not be good for your health or waistline. One oddity in the Queen’s Grill is that passengers can only order drinks from one of the sommeliers, not from a waiter. This can be inconvenient as the sommeliers are busy and it is often difficult to flag one down. We avoided this by pre-ordering our evening drinks at lunchtime. This worked quite well but does require some forward planning. We are a fairly active pair and it was easy to follow our morning gym routine on the QM2 as there is a large gym with treadmills etc. on deck 7. Is everything useful on deck 7? Swimming was more difficult though. There are 3 pools on the QM2, two outside at the stern (decks 6 and 8) and one inside midship on deck 12. The pools were heated but the outside pools required a speedy dash through the chilly North Atlantic air–and we travelled in June, remember. We saw very few people in the outdoor pools, however, the indoor pool was popular. Well, the pool wasn't that popular but the hot tubs and loungers around the pool were popular. We were surprised that some people seemed to spend hours soaking and chatting in the hot tub. During the crossing there were daily talks (mostly politics and art) and several performances of a “Whodunnit” style show. The speakers were okay but some of the talks were linked to shopping outlets onboard and people were encouraged to visit the outlet if they were interested in shopping. Passengers also received flyers promoting the products in their mailboxes outside their cabins. For us, the information in the talks was interesting but we did not buy any of the products. We realize that other passengers may have taken advantage of this shopping opportunity. On this topic, before our departure date we received multiple emails from Cunard mostly about upgrading or booking extra services such as spa appointments. We understand that Cunard needs to maximize the revenue it gets from passengers but we had already paid for our Queen’s Grill cabin and a drinks package and had no intention of using the spa. It would be useful, in our opinion, for passengers to be able to ‘opt out’ of receiving these emails. There were some noticeable differences between the passengers. This was one of the surprises for us although it shouldn't have been. On previous trips on ships (Antarctic, Galapagos) everyone had been fairly similar. They were interested in the same thing (going to Antarctica or seeing the wildlife in the Galapagos) and although there were different types of cabins, everybody seemed to be roughly similar. On the QM2, however, there were bigger differences. Some people seemed to want to eat and drink their way across the Atlantic, others wanted to gamble in the Casino, and some just wanted to sit quietly in the library and read a book. We belonged to the 'active' group and walked multiple laps around the promenade deck (windy and cool in June), and took ballroom dance classes, in addition to our regular gym and swim routines. The passengers were mostly American with a good percentage of Brits and some Europeans thrown in. Maybe 40% American, 30% British, 15% European, 15% other. It may be different sailing west to east. We didn't see any Chinese groups. Was it boring? No, there was always something to do but the 7 days on the ship seemed like a long time to me, longer than the 7 days on the Trans-Siberian. Why is that? Not sure, but it could be that there wasn't anything to look at. On the train there were always trees, small towns, bridges, stations and lakes to see, but on the ship there was ... the sea. It didn't help that we had fog for 3 or 4 days and couldn't see the horizon. It was quite exciting when the fog cleared and we saw the horizon, and even more exciting when the sun came out and we saw another ship! So, you can imagine what it was like to sail into New York after 7 days of fog and nothing much else. It was worth getting up at 4:30am to see the Statue of Liberty and the skyscrapers of Manhattan as the sun came up. I probably enjoyed it more than my wife did but I have better 'sea legs' than she does. It wasn't as rough as the Drake Passage but don't believe any reports of the QM2 that say you will hardly notice the ship is moving. Not true. Even on days when the sea looked fairly calm we could still feel the ship rolling, and people walking along the corridors from stern to forward never walked in a perfectly straight line. There was always a little movement that kept the walkers snaking down the corridor. On rougher days the handrails along the corridors were useful. My wife did enjoy the ballroom dancing classes (even with me as a partner, poor thing!) and, on gala nights, the opportunity to wear some of the fancier clothes she rarely wears. Will we do it again? Doubtful, but if we did we would choose one of the Literary Festival crossings when authors read from and discuss their new books. Unfortunately, Cunard has these crossings in November (colder weather and lumpier seas) and only from west to east which means you lose an hour a day instead of gaining an hour as we did. Overall, it was a good experience and worth doing at least once. Is the Queen’s Grill worth it? If you can afford it, yes. Could the Queen’s Grill be better? Yes, especially some of the less successful menu items. And Cunard could give passengers a chance to ‘opt out’ of receiving promotional emails before setting sail.
I'm a regular Cunard cruiser but this was my first cruise in Britannia Club on Queen Mary 2 and with a friend rather than my husband. We stayed overnight in Southampton on a Cruise and Park package. Our taxi was early and the roads were quiet so we were at the QE2 terminal before it opened! Once embarkation started it went smoothly and we were onboard in the Golden Lion before 12. After lunch we checked in at muster and my friend checked out the gym. She was impressed with the quality and newness of the machines. We went to have a look at our Deck 13 stateroom, I liked the shower with glass door and the sliding balcony door. Luggage arrived quickly and we went to the Pavilion Pool for sailaway. Between the soft voice of the Captain and the chatting of fellow passengers we didn’t hear the news that the Zeebrugge harbour pilots were on strike and best case was that we'd be there at 11am. As it happened our call was cancelled the following morning. This moved our sea day forward by a day and gave us an overnight stay in Le Havre. We had a very nice table for 2 in the "overflow " section of the starboard side Britannia Club Restaurant. Service was excellent from both waiters and our Sommelier. Our Deck 13 had an interesting vibration and there was a surprising amount of movement overnight on the sail to Le Havre. It wouldn't stop me booking that area again though. We had mixed weather in both ports but managed a walk in the sunshine. We enjoyed several shows in the theatre, especially Kev Orkian, comedian/pianist who did 2 shows. We enjoyed watching the dancing in the Queens Room and cocktails in the Chart Room and Commodore Club. We even managed to win a quiz in a team with our table neighbours. Disembarkation ran ahead of schedule and we were soon on the way to the hotel to collect the car. Overall it was an excellent introduction to cruising for my friend. QM2 is still an impressive ship both inside and out and the number of people who came out to see us sail away from Cherbourg was impressive.
First time on Cunard after many cruises on P and O. I think Cunard beats them in every way, in fact I am completely converted. I just love this ship the interior spaces are amazing especially the Queens Room and Britannia Restaurant. The food in the MDR was very good and the service throughout was excellent. I loved the chart room and commodore club bars. Buffet was really the best I have been to at sea not crowded and plenty of seating. Entertainment could do with being updated I think. The ballroom could vary the events a lot more as ballroom dancing for a small number of people is a bit of a waste for the rest of the passengers just watching on the side lines. The Music was 60’s and 70’s focused and could be updated to include 80’s I think. I Enjoyed the house band, the Motown show and symphony. Kev OrKian was really funny comedian. I didn’t like Ukrainian acrobats. But everyone likes different things I guess. Gala night was special with everyone making an effort. Loved it. Overall I love Cunard and QM2 and I will definitely sail on her again. Highly Recommended.
We considered booking this short cruise after being notified that Cherbourg was being dropped from our Norway cruise itinerary later this year. Mulling it over for 3 weeks, oops, no Grills availability! I called Cunard to check and this was true. However, we could go on a wait list. Convinced that booking was unlikely to happen, we were very surprised to receive an email only 5 days later offering us a midships cabin. On embarkation day there were 4 large ships in port and the Southampton Echo contained warnings of impending traffic chaos (there was none). We were allocated an early arrival time of 11:30am and yet we were onboard and registered at our muster point located in the buffet by 11:45am, before heading up to our cabin. Couldn’t fault anything really on QM2. Any crew, right across the ship, would greet you with a good morning/afternoon, it had such a good vibe onboard. Service in the bars (Chart room, Carinthia, Commodore, Queens room) was excellent. The Queens Grill restaurant was impeccable. Although the ship was fully booked, it didn’t feel like it! Lifts came in an instant each time and usually we were using them alone or with a few others, at most. Yes, some bars were busy when the MDR dining changeovers occurred, but QM2 has the space to feel less crowded. The Gala Night was the usual glamorous event onboard. However, to everyone’s surprise this had been moved from the voyage planner Sunday (sea day) to the Saturday (port day)! Plus, it had now been given the black and white theme too! Unfortunately, industrial action by Zeebrugge port pilots meant that we would no longer be calling at the port and instead we would sail straight to Le Havre and spend 2 days there. So, Saturday did become the sea day for Gala Night, after all. Our main objective of this cruise was to visit the WW2 beaches during D-day week. The only Cunard excursions available, were visits to the American landing beaches on day 4 and 5 of the cruise. Both excursions were very well organised with full itineraries (a full day tour and a half day tour). You could easily spend 2 weeks doing this, so they really were whistle-stop tours with brief stops at each site. However, no time was wasted and to our relief both excursions came from different perspectives. Whilst it would have been good to have visited the British D-day sites, both tours give a poignant insight into the actuality of the beach landings. One of our best Cunard cruises, short, tiring but it delivered everything we wanted (apart from perhaps the irritating new wine list and the 'stateroom canapes from 1972' , but we were expecting those). One of us isn't good in rough seas, but despite one evening having very rough conditions, QM2 showed very little movement.
Selected this crossing to avoid a nasty red-eye flight from Cancun to London on BA, so we constantly reminded ourselves that for about the same cost as an economy transatlantic flight we got to spend 7 nights in a fully lie-flat bed, with food and entertainment rolled in. 3rd crossing, the two previous were both west-bound. The sail away from NY was fabulous. We love the ship, she truly is the last of her kind and splendid in every way. Yes one can find spots of rust here and there - but we saw crew constantly maintaining and cleaning. Above all, the stability of amazing, we had some rough and windy days and she takes it all in her stride. As others have stated the food can be hit and miss. We found the main dining room to be very good and enjoyed the small(ish) portions as we do not need 3 or 4 huge courses at every meal. Buffet was generally underwhelming. Specialty dining was very good and well worth the up-charges. Bar service and drink quality were very good indeed, especially in the Commodore which has to be one of the best bars on any ship anywhere. Room service was a massive disappointment that we dod not repeat, very late, food cold, poorly presented. We found all the staff to be lovely and hard working. Despite the obviously cost cutting by Carnival, it somehow still feels like a Cunard experience and we would definitely repeat. All the Insights lecturers were highly entertaining and interesting - shame that the planetarium is no more... that needs to be restored, always a wonderful experience. LOVE the fact that you can take your beloved pet, we didn't but we met several people who had. If you are looking for a glitzy, pool party vibe, this is NOT for you. QM2 was built from the keel up to cross the North Atlantic and she does it in great style - long may she plough back and forth. The promenade deck is the REAL thing and always highlight of our day, getting in our required steps to off-set all those essential calories. If you consider this as an alternative to air-travel, the Queen wins hands down, no contest. All you need is time!
From parties of one to families of four, you’ll find a variety of spacious staterooms and suites on board our ships to make your voyage as comfortable as possible.
A range of complimentary and speciality dining restaurants are available, with menus created by Jean-Marie Zimmermann, Cunard’s Global Culinary Ambassador. Tables for 4-8 are typical, with seating allocated prior to cruising. Limited numbers of tables for two are available on request.
If you're sailing on Queen Mary 2 and wish for a lively evening dancing to the sounds of a live DJ and resident band, head to G32.
This vibrant nightclub, found only on Queen Mary 2, offers the chance to let your hair down in a dazzling space full of like-minded guests, with a party atmosphere that inspires a genuine good time.
When what you feel like is a few drinks and a chance to show off your moves, this is the ideal place to end the night. G32 is a dual-level venue, so you’ll always be able to find a quieter spot if you’d like to sit down for a breather or chat with friends.
The bar menu offers an impressive range of drinks to suit every taste, including champagne and our signature cocktails as well as the usual favourites such as beer, wine, spirits and mixers.
G32’s resident band and live DJ are on hand to keep you dancing and make your night one to remember.
Our ships are ideal family holiday destinations, with plenty to keep our younger guests entertained.
Children of all ages are welcome on our ships, and our dedicated clubs offer activities and entertainment. These include arts and crafts, sporting activities, play areas, computer games and much more. They can make friends with other children at The Play Zone, for two- to seven-year-olds, and The Zone which is ideal for eight- to 17-year-olds. Our youth staff will supervise your children and organise events, activities and competitions.
Access to the children's clubs is included in your fare.
