Queen Mary 2 - the space (Copy)
Alright - now with all the stuff on the ship, I’m going to go through the spaces. I didn’t do everything, but for people who are at risk for motion sickness, this is what I did.
More on the restaurants are available at this post. The spaces I will get into a bit though. For the main restaurant, make sure to ask to me more central - I would enter on level 2 instead of level 3, as there are more options. I would NOT recommend sitting next to the window unless you know you can handle it.
The buffet (King’s court) dining space is an absolute zoo - I very infrequently saw tables get cleaned beyond new silverware and cups placed. There wasn’t sanitation in between. Not until the very last night, did we have a server ask us if we needed anything - literally, not once. They were simply attempting to keep up with all the dishes. There were so many people that we occasionally, took our food down to our room to eat (it was just below the buffet, so was easy to get to). The larger area to sit in is in between the buffet and the chef’s galley area - take something to leave at your table though, otherwise you will lose your seat when trying to get a drink refill or food.
Britannia restaurant area was nice - got crowded quick. When we booked, we weren’t able to select a time (we would have selected the early seating anyway) and that was what we were assigned. We only ate there twice, as I noted previously, the food options for vegetarians weren’t great. I did see some people using this space as a work area between meals and there were a few activities here - painting and some crafts.
No experience with the Britannia club - I don’t even remember seeing it and we weren’t in the Queen or Princess levels.
Given that we didn’t have a drinks package, we did spend a lot of time in the bar and lounge space. As noted previously, either before or after breakfast (depending on the weather) we would walk out on the deck. After this, we would spend time drinking tea and reading books or doing the crosswords. Here is the order I would cycle through them.
Carinthia lounge - great early and had some lovely breakfast options or mid morning snacks. This lounge does get busy as morning trivia starts at 10:30 - so I wouldn’t stay here past 9:30 or so.
Chart Room - this was a fairly quiet space all day and very comfortable seating. Downside is that it is far away from any of the free drinks. Generally, there was water available at the bar. It IS just across the way from Sir Samuels - that had nice snacks and fancy coffee/tea - so if you got a package for drinks, I’d pop over here and take things over to the Chart Room.
Golden Lion - we spent a lovely morning here - the seas were relatively calm and we got a nice window seat. It got busy quick with a darts tournament that started around 11. We did eat here and really, it was quite nice - the veg burger was for extra $$ though :( If you want to eat here, go early or bring a lot of patience. You will just roam around hunting for a seat…which may or may not open up. They don’t take names down or anything, so all up for grabs.
Champagne bar - nice, not really a spot I’d hang out in, but I like bubbly :)
Pavilion pool bar - by the pool and only drank some water and spent time reading in a lounger in the sun. Was nice, but loud.
Commodore club - front of the ship, but they close the blinds at night. Decent chairs but slow service.
Terrace pool bar, cigar lounge, grills lounge, and G32 - we didn’t experience.
We spent a lot of time on the outdoor promenade - mostly walking, but a few days were nice enough to sit out in the sun and read.
Walked around on the observation deck/lookout area a few times, but did not try out any of the deck games up there. While I spent some time in the glass enclosed pool, I didn’t swim. It was loud and kinda full - both the pool and the hot tubs. It was far too cold for me to use the outdoor pools/hot tubs, but I did see people use them!
Fitness center was nice and well appointed - finding a place to lift some free weights was challenging. I’d recommend skipping day 1 and 2 - after that it gets A LOT less busy. The last day, there was no one in there.
Didn’t use the spa or beauty area or golf simulator.
The sun deck wasn’t set up - it was January after all…
Skipping shopping, sorry, we didn’t do any.
Went to each of the illuminations, royal court theatre, and the queens room each once. All were packed for each activity - so get there early! Of note, the lectures do get rebroadcast on the TVs after they are finished. Issue is there isn’t a menu or schedule that we could find. We did catch a few things that we wanted to see.
In the Queens Room, we saw a pianist who was very good and stayed for the formal afternoon tea. Both were worth it once, but I probably wouldn’t do them more than that.
Library - yes, I spent some time here, but the seats fill up early and the one time I got one, the group of people there were talking loudly, so I left. I did read 3 long books during my 8 days…so yes, I do love a nice library.
