We’re currently on a walkabout in Europe, after completing a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2. We have visited England, Greece, & Turkey on this trip. Next week we head home, again on the big ship. Here are a few pics from the Eastbound crossing.
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- At the Black & White ball…
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- Dolphins at play!
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- Rainbows at sea.
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- What’s dinner without a carved statue of butter?
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- Brittania dining room.
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- There’s a true spa on board the Queen Mary 2!
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- We passed within 70 nautical miles of the Titanic.
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- Massive wake of the QM2.
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- Our Dutch friend Dick during one of the formal dinners.
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- The food is excellent.
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- Dinners aboard the Queen Mary 2 are usually formal affairs.
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- Hydrotherapy pool in the spa – awesome!
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- More rainbows, & waves kicking away from the ship.
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- At the Golden Lion pub.
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- Passengers gathered to watch the sunset.
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- As seen on the room service tray. Room service is included on the ship!
Love the pictures! Looks like an amazing journey. Kristy, I love your dresses. You look beautiful! Safe travels!
Thanks Lani! If you have the luxury of time, crossing the Atlantic by ship is the way to go. It’s really quite a bargain when you consider that it includes transportation, food, lodging, and entertainment. We get back on the Queen Mary 2 tomorrow for the Westbound transatlantic crossing. Looking forward to the return trip because we gain 1 hour of time per day – 25 hour days, woo hoo! More details to come. Hope you guys are well, and safe travels to you too!
What an amazing trip! You both look great. Was the ship, Athens and Istanbul all part of the same package? I am looking into a trip with my mother and my husband on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express maybe next year or the year after. So much luxury to choose from…so little money.
Thanks Christina, but if I look great it is only due to heavy editing & special effects. 🙂
We are now back Stateside and once we recover I plan to do an extensive writeup of the QM2 experience.
We booked everything separately – Greece, Turkey, & even the two Queen Mary transatlantic crossings. I don’t know if this is the “best” way to go (probably not!), but we usually pull things together at the last minute.
Believe it or not, when we arrived in England we didn’t even know exactly where else we were going. We briefly considered Africa before settling on Greece & Turkey.
The big surprise discovery for me on this trip concerns the QM2. We had never done a “cruise” before but this experience was unique. Technically the transatlantic is a “voyage” and not a cruise because there are no ports of call. Furthermore, the QM2 is an ocean liner – it is built differently than the ships that chiefly sail the Caribbean so as to handle the North Atlantic in winter.
The real kicker is the cost – Cunard was running a deal on the Eastbound (apparently there are not a lot of people boarding a ship the week of Thanksgiving) so we scooped up a price of $499 per person! When you consider that the fare included transportation, lodging, food, and entertainment…. I can sincerely label this the best overall travel deal I have ever encountered.
The Westbound crossing cost significantly more than the Eastbound…. We paid more but I still feel it was a great deal….cheaper than the flights we priced! If you have the luxury of time then it’s a no brainer.
The challenge of the Queen Mary for those of us who like to travel light is the formal wear requirements. We had four formal nights out of seven on each crossing… I brought two suits, a sportsjacket, several ties, formal shoes, etc etc We were able to store our luggage in London at my brother’s place…we just brought our backpacks to Greece & Turkey.
On our first journey we met a young couple who were embarking on a 4-month trip, with the eventual goal of taking the Transiberian Express from Russia to China. So, it’s definitely possible to pack light and meet the formal wear requirements.
More to come as soon and I get a chance. 🙂
What an amazing deal and what a great find on a classy ship. Yes, my husband and I are not “cruise people” either. We once saw a monstrous cruise ship hook up to the power grid of the main town of Bonaire and drain the entire small island. We are also light packers and would struggle a bit with the formal wear…dressing all in black looks like the way to go!
I was a skeptic but QM2 and the old school Cunard experience quickly won me over. Truthfully, we had a blast. With no ports of call you might think you’d get bored, but every day was filled with interesting experiences (lectures, movies, musical performances, planetarium, theater, spa, & fine dining). It’s a wonderful way to cross the Atlantic.
QM2 is an impressive work of engineering. I don’t know how it compares to every ship out there, but QM2 generates its own power, fresh water, etc.
With regard to the formal wear, I probably brought at least one suit too many. A backpacking friend of mine did a transatlantic on the Queen Elizabeth 2. He brought a cheap suit with him that was literally disposable. One he arrived in London he ditched the suit!