At the end of my last post, me and Mr R had been to our muster station to get ticked off the list as showing that we knew exactly where to go in case of an emergency. We hoped that if an emergency did arise, it wouldn’t happen for the next day or two as we doubted that we would ever find our muster station if the ship got hit by an iceberg soon after sailing. As icebergs are not known to float around in the North Sea in August, we could be pretty confident that such a calamity wasn’t going to happen. On the other hand there are a lot of oil rigs to pass on the way to Norway. It would only take a moments lapse of concentration by the chap steering the ship at night, and ….well, lets not even go there!

So, we found our stateroom and I’m pleased to say that our initial impressions were very good. Of course I had watched a shed load of Youtube reviews of the accommodation onboard since deciding to go on the cruise so had a very good idea what our sheltered balcony stateroom number 4170 was going to look like and offer. I even knew how many British plug sockets there would be, which was one! Of course there is a difference between seeing somewhere on a video and actually being there in person. Our cabin (sorry Cunard, but it’s easier to type cabin ) was a good size for the two of us, traditionally furnished in neutral colours with accents of royal blue. The bed was king size and got a thumbs up when we did the obligatory bed test. A thumbs up for great pillows and bedlinen too. We discovered that the bed was two singles pushed together, but this wasn’t a problem for me as I tend to sleep perilously close totheedgeof the bed anyway. A luggage cover is put on the bed on embarkation day to protect the bedlinen from being marked from cases when you unpack. Once unpacked the cases can tidily stow away under the bed. The cover is removed at evening turndown and stored away.

There was ample storage in the way wardrobes and drawers. The coat hangers are those annoying ones that prevent you from stealing them because they are in two parts. I mean, who steals coat hangers? (Okay, so I won’t mention the coat hanger from a hotel in Monte Carlo that somehow found its way in my ex husband’s suitcase in 1992 ). There’s a kettle and tea and coffee, although being fusspots we bought our own. Mr R only drinks Lapsang Souchang so it meant that our cabin smelt like a bonfire for a week. A hairdryer can be found in a drawer. It seems that Cunard have trust issue with their passengers as the hairdryer is sort fixed to the drawer. Not only can’t you nick the coat hangers, you can’t sneak a hairdryer into your case either. Of course, I’m not suggesting for one minute that taking Cunard property is in anyway acceptable. Absolutely not! I didn’t use the hairdryer anyway as I’d taken my own.

There’s a fridge the contained a half bottle of fizz and was useful if you wanted to keep fresh milk in rather than use those sachets of UHT milk. Robes are provided as are slippers. The television was mounted on the wall opposite the bed and was a decent size. The safety drill instruction video is playing when you arrive and that was the only time we actually watched it. We never felt inclined to turn it on during our week long cruise but could understand that an evening in with room service and watching the telly might be nice if you are cruising for a long period of time or had a busy port day and just can’t face ‘going out’. We had a small sofa and a little coffee table which I used a lot. Mr R preferred to lounge on the bed which invariably lead to a little nap.

I’d been a bit concerned about the size of the bathroom or to be more precise, the size of the shower. Mr R is a tall chap and takes up a fair bit of space. He’s quite fussy about showers and can be an unhappy chappy if he can’t move in one, or the water from the shower head comes out in a trickle rather than with a force that can compete with the Niagara Falls. The shower cubicle though was roomy considering the size of the bathroom and we found that the shower curtain didn’t wrap itself to us when showering. Don’t you just hate that when it happens! There was ample storage in the bathroom and Penhaligon toileteries that smelt very nice.

We were very impressed with the size of the sheltered balcony. It was very roomy. It’s sheltered because it doesn’t have a glass wall and is less open to the elements than a conventional balcony. Let me try and explain it better. Think of a metal box with a lozenge shaped aperture cut out. Any help? We loved sitting out on our balcony and as we were on deck four, we were close to the water and felt more connected to the sea. There were two comfortable chairs and a small table. Perfect for popping your glass of fizz on.

I can’t move away from our cabin without mentioning our steward Robert who looked after cabin so brilliantly. Not only is your cabin serviced in the morning but there is an evening turndown service. The lamps are lit, towels refreshed and the next day’s ships programme popped by your door. Of course there are chocolates to be found on your pillows. Many cruise lines are doing away with an evening turndown service to cut costs. I hope that this isn’t a trend that Cunard follows. It is a treat to return to your cabin that looks all cosy.

After unpacking it was time to explore. We decided to start at the top and we would take the stairs. So that meant climbing from deck four to deck twelve. After two decks we gave up and took the lift. We never ascended them again. Why walk when you can take a lift! I know, the height of laziness but you’ll be pleased to hear that we often walked down the stairs! Talking of lifts, there are lots of them and we rarely shared one. They are also rather lovely with art deco doors.

At the top of the ship we discovered wide open decks with deck games. Observation decks, a golf simulator and kennels. Yes, you did read that right. You can take your dog or cat on your cruise! Remember that the QM2 is a trans Atlantic liner and passengers often go one way to or from New York and then travel onwards and might want their pet with them. The dogs have to stay in the kennels but owners can visit and take them for a walk on their own outside space complete with a lamp post for the British dogs and fire hydrante for their American cousins. Isn’t that just cool!

We decided that it was about time we had a drink. We had opted for a full drinks package which cost us $70 each a day. One drawback of opting for a package is that everyone in the cabin has to have one and it has to be the same package, so it wouldn’t work if one person enjoyed wine, beer and cocktails and the other person didn’t. $70 does seem a lot and that only covers drinks that cost up to $13, although the majority of drinks cost below this. If you do choose a more expensive one, you don’t pay the difference, you will be charged the cost of the drink minus 20%. The full drinks package includes soft drinks and speciality hot drinks. If you choose to pay as you go, a beer would cost roughly $6, a glass of wine between $8 and $14 and a cocktail between $10 and $14, but you have to remember that a 15% gratuity is added onto every drink that you buy on a Cunard ship, and that includes soft drinks and speciality hot drinks. Did we make the most of our drinks package? Probably not but it was convenient to have and it was good to know that there was no big big at the end of the cruise as we had already paid for it, but we probably drank more than we would have done if we had not had a package. You can get free tea, coffee and juice in the buffet and you can take your own drink on board to be drank in your cabin.

One word of warning. The cocktails are very good and there’s lots of choice. In the evening there’s yummy canapes to go with the cocktails. We wanted to try them all!

So, where was I? Oh yes, looking for a drink. We found the Pavillion pool and bar on deck 12. This pool has a retractable roof so you can swim when the weather isn’t very good. When we got there it was busy with children making the most of it. A lot of people would think that the Cunard ships are more geared for older passengers and I can understand why. There’s none of the theme park elements that the mega cruise ships have. Cunard have children’s clubs and a minnow pool, but that’s about it. As our cruise was only a week long, there was quite an age range on board and a fair few children. The children we saw looked as though they were having a fabulous time without the waterslides, go-karts, ziplines and arcades on the huge family orientated ships. They were also brilliantly behaved too. I personally like a good range of ages on a ship, but I know that Mr R would prefer adults only. He can be a grumpy old bugger and has zero tolerance where children are concerned!

Mr R was a bit confused by how the drinks package worked. He went through the drinks menu asking the poor bartender “can I have this drink on my package?” as he went down the list. To which the patient bar tender answered yes to every one. I meanwhile rolled my eyes to heaven and mouthed “sorry” behind my confused husband’s back. By day three I’m pleased to say that he had got the hang of it.

The hour of the sail away was fast approaching so we made our way to the pool deck on the aft. Crowds of passengers were already assembled, enjoying a drink and the live music. I spied Linzi and Mark who have a brilliant cruise review Youtube channel called Suite Natured enjoying the hot tub. It was watching their review of their cruise on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth that sold the idea of a Cunard cruise to me. Since then I’ve been an avid fan of theirs and watch their live streams and belong to their Facebook group. I’m also a member of their Youtube channel. I knew that they were going to be on our cruise so I was very excited to finally meet them. If you ever contemplate going on a cruise do watch their channel. They are a lovely couple and their reviews are fun and very informative.

Unlike being on a plane where you definitely know that you are moving… still grab that arm rest as we hurtle down the runway… you hardly notice the ship moving. It just seemed to silently glide down Southampton Water. It would have been nice to wave flags but I don’t think they do that anymore. We decided to escape the crowds celebrating the start of their holiday and made out way to the promenade deck. This is a walkway that goes right around the ship. These are sadly disappearing from modern day cruise ships which is a great shame. Queen Mary’s promenade deck is a beauty. A wooden deck with rows of steamer chairs to enjoy sitting on and watch the land glide by or on sea days watch the waves. We sat and watched and it was just so relaxing. We could have stayed there for a long time but the deck hands were packing away the cushions and folding the chairs. We got the hint and besides it was time to get ready for dinner.

I’m going to stop there. I know that in my last blog post I said that I would write about dinner and our first sea day but that would make this post far too long so I’ll leave it to next time. I hope that you’ll carry on reading my rambles, so until next time…..bonne soiree mes amis!