This was an Atlantic crossing starting in Hamburg, Germany with a stop in Southampton, U.K., eight days total in the Atlantic along the Titanic route to New York. No icebergs on this trip, only a lot of sea days with plenty of activities available on the ship. QM2 is due for the dry docks in 2018 and there will be plenty to do in terms of technological improvements. The sound system in the theatre is in need of help, the computers available to passengers are running on Windows 8 (that is not a typo) and the electronic displays around the ship are not displaying a critical piece of information, namely the "Ship's Time". A scrolling display on the cabin T.V. Channel 45, shows the ship's time on one of seven pages of information shown about sea conditions, ship speed, and location and a couple versions of mapping. The reason the ship's time is particularly important is the fact that each day of the crossing warrants a one-hour change in time zone. [The benefit of crossing the time zones from U.K. to U.S. is every day is 25 hours long.]
Other aspects of the crossing worth mentioning are entertainment and food. [Who doesn't count these as important elements of a cruise?] The entertainment was excellent with one exception, a rather dated English comedian. Dancers, singers, guitarists are all top-drawer professionals. The ship's orchestra was very good.
I'll break down the food as "Presentation" = A++; "Service" = B+ with some A+; and the food itself was "not hot", ingredients so-so. "Menu Choices" = A++
A highlight of the trip was the dancing in the Queen's Room. The dance floor was always full of accomplished ballroom dancers, passengers and crew.
