One of
the strange things to get used to on the Queen Mary 2 (and perhaps
this is in common with most cruise ships, I don't know) is that you
don't need any money on board ship – not even a credit or debit
card. They scan your credit card at the start of the voyage, and
that's it; any drinks you buy, or purchases from the shop, you just
hand over your plastic-card room key.
You
don't need to tip anyone employed on board as an amount is taken by
Cunard from your credit card for tipping, and distributed among the
staff. The amount is about $80 or £50 per guest, and I actually
think that's fair for the service you get; the staff (and there are
over 1200 of them) work incredibly hard to ensure that the guests'
stay on the Queen Mary 2 is as enjoyable as possible. Staff training
must be excellent, because every member of staff goes out of their
way to help you, and always with a smile. You can choose not to have
this service charge deducted from your credit card, but I actually
feel it saves a lot of hassle. When we leave, we'll extra-tip one or
two special members of staff, such as our cabin steward, who's been
not only super-efficient, but friendly too.
It seems
that many staff have a 9 month or 10 month contract on board ship,
with 2 – 3 months off per year. The majority of the domestic and
catering staff seem to be from the Philippines.
It's
hard to describe in words the grandeur of this ship; there's lots of
shiny surfaces which reflect her status as a luxury liner. For
example all the lift doors (and there are a lot of lifts, several at
each end and in the middle of the ship) are mirror doors, with fancy
inlaid patterns. There's deep pile carpet everywhere, even on the
wide staircases; ceilings in vestibule areas are high, with
chandelier-effect lighting, and a magnificent, huge display of
flowers in the main vestibule, near the purser's office. Everywhere
seems to be immaculately clean; this is partly to look nice, but also
to avoid the possibility of a sickness infection spreading through
the ship, as did once happen apparently on the Queen Mary 2. There
are hand sanitisers strategically placed at various area of the ship,
particularly at the restaurant entrances, and near toilets.
The ship
itself is vast; a walk 3 times around the deck is just over a mile.
(Reg and I have done this a couple of times). I've already mentioned
in a previous blogpost some of the activities on offer – these take
place in various areas of the ship. There are 5 swimming pools, a
cinema (The Illuminations room, with a planetarium in the middle –
also used for giving lectures), the Royal Court Theatre, The Queens
room (where the “Black and White ball” and
“Ascot Ball” take
place, and where you can learn to ballroom dance, and join in a bingo
game). The Queens Room is also the venue for the exquisite afternoon
tea.
Other
venues include the Canyon Ranch Spa (fitness and beauty therapy),
Connexions Room (where you can learn to do things with your ipad &
attend lectures), Chelsea Room (the home of the Watercolour Art
Class), Atlantic Room (where you learn to play bridge), Chart Room
(seminars in the day , musical interludes, including a harpist, and
jazz in the evenings), Boardroom (Masonic Gatherings and other
clandestine meetings, plus book club), Empire Casino (where you lose
your money), Empire Bar (where you can get together for needlework
and knitting), Knightsbridge Room (indoor cycling), the Fairways
(complimentary golf competition). There's a beautiful, well-stocked
library on deck 8, with a bookshop next to it, and a various array of
gift/clothes/jewellery/perfume shops on deck 3. The purser's office
is situated on deck 2.
There's
also the Commodore Club (where gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transexual
people can meet up), and the G32 nightclub which stays open very late
indeed.
There
are various eating venues; the upper strata of guests (those with
suites on board) eat in the Princess Grill (other passengers can peek
through the windows of this restaurant as they walk around the deck,
and oggle the ultra rich). The majority of guests are allocated the
Britannia Restaurant, with waiter service, as their eating place –
but a no-cost alternative is the Kings Court Buffet, where food is
available all day, or the Golden Lion Pub, where pub quizzes and
trivia quizzes take place during the day.
Guests
can pay also extra to dine in the Todd English a la carte restaurant.
In
addition to this there are dog kennels on one of the upper decks,
games courts, and areas and rooms where children and teenagers can
get together. And I'm sure there are a few places that I've
forgotten to include.
Although
there are all these various rooms and activities, we've only dabbled
in a few – Reg more so than me. I've been to one “oldie” film,
2 concerts, and one drama presentation. The rest of my time has been
spent eating, sleeping (in bed and on a deck lounger), reading,
writing the blog, and looking at the sea. The Queen Mary has been a
brilliant, relaxing way to travel home to England, especially after
our hectic 2 months journey around America. We do realise that we
are very privileged to have had the opportunity to sail on this
magnificent ship. As the voyage progresses time seems to be passing
more quickly – we can't believe we have just one more day on board
the Queen Mary 2.
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