First things first. Even in the time of COVID life on Queen Mary 2 is exceptionally great!

Secondly, I know that there is something very wrong with the featured image above. I’m still learning how to do things with this new site. Tomorrow’s lesson will need to be how to scale pictures so they don’t look like something from outer space. This is a work in progress.

We have not been on Queen Mary 2 since we were asked to abandon ship in Perth in March 2020 because the COVID pandemic was encroaching on us. So, it’s been a long time, but strangely enough as soon as we had unpacked and redecorated our stateroom, it felt like we had never left. It feels like home. But let’s look at the changes. Some are clearly COVID related, and hopefully will go away if the pandemic ever ends. However, some seem to be cost cutting, and may be here to stay alas.

Embarkation

Credit card information, photo, and health questionnaire are now all done online. Gone are the days of trying to fill out the Norovirus questionnaire and the cruise terminal when you can’t find your pen. Also, you get your room key card when you get to your room. No more waiting for this. Things really did seem to go quicker. I hope they keep this up.

My Voyage App

This is actually quite nice, and a great way to see what your on-board spending account looks like without waiting in line at the pursers desk. You can also book the specialty restaurants instead of having to stop by or try to do it on the phone. This is probably something that is here to stay and will be improved in the future.

Stateroom

The toiletry bottles are bigger. This cuts down on plastic waste, so I think it’s a great idea. However, the big bottles take up all the room in the shower shelf, no room for conditioner. And talking about conditioner, I use my own, but none was provided. Maybe you can ask for it. There is no cotton wool or ear buds, but you can ask for those, and we got ours the next day.

Gone is the ice bucket with the full bottle of Pol Acker and welcome back card. Instead, there was a half-bottle of PA, and 2 glasses in the fridge, and nothing else in the fridge. I went on a rampage to our poor room steward as to why there was only a half-bottle and not a full one (I don’t like the stuff, but it’s the principal that matters), but he had no idea.

No more sewing kits. We used to get really nice plastic ones, but a few years ago they were replaced with little cardboard ones. They were functional so I had no complaints. Now after a wardrobe malfunction I asked our room steward for one, and he said they were no longer available, and I should try the pursers desk. I went to the pursers desk. Same story, they suggested I should try the shops. No sign of sewing kits in the shops. Luckily one of the salesmen, James, offered to go to his cabin and get a needle and thread for me. Problem solved, but I still miss the sewing kits. More importantly I didn’t have to use the super glue we brought along to mend the problem.

Dining

The early sitting remains the same, but the late sitting has changed to anytime dining between 7:45PM and 9:00PM. You can book your table on the my voyage app or just show up and request a table. We have been doing the latter. We thought we really didn’t want to meet new people every night, so have opted for a table for 2. The dining room isn’t too crowded, so it’s easy to socially isolate, but on the second night we were placed on the uppermost-level right at the end of the dining room. We were the only people in that section, and it was a formal night, and I couldn’t hear the music being played, or see what everyone was wearing. It was a bit disappointing. We now tell the maître d’ where we want to sit, and it is working out better. Bring back the old-fashioned way with the same table, same dining companions, same time, same wait staff every night. The food is as good as ever, so I have no complaints! there

WIFI

No more paying for your WIFI by paying for a package of a defined number of minutes, now you buy it in 24-hour chunks or for the duration of your voyage. Instead of getting a World Club perk of a number of minutes, you now get a dollar amount. This works out great for shorter voyages – but I’m not sure how good it will be on longer ones. We will find out in June when we are on Queen Victoria for 2 weeks. No more help in the internet center in Connexions. You have to stop by the pursers desk for assistance. With the new system that no one seems to understand, and people having problems connecting, the pursers desk has been very busy. They don’t seem to be able to help either. It seemed to be much better when we had Adam troubleshooting the issues. I do hope he comes back at the end of the pandemic.

Parties

No more Welcome on Board, Cunard World Club, or Senior Officers’ parties. Instead on our first formal night we all got a glass of flat sweet previously sparkling wine. I also solved the mystery of the half bottle of Pol Acker on embarkation. We will be receiving another half bottle of Pol Acker as a World Club perk. Now I feel bad about interrogating our cabin steward as to why there was only a half-bottle. But as Brian says, half a bottle of Pol Acker is better than one (bottle). The Platinum and Diamond wine tasting will go ahead as usual, however. Instead of getting individual invitations to the Veranda Restaurant and wine tasting, the invitations come as one letter. No problems there, it saves paper.

Around the Ship

You are meant to wear masks when you walk around the ship, in Illuminations and the Royal Court Theater, and when dancing. Most of the guests are wearing masks, although quite a few are not actually wearing them to cover their mouth and nose, there are many just covering their chins or hanging their masks off their wrists. You don’t need to wear them in the bars or eating areas.

Only 4 people to a lift – that’s fine, it encourages me to take the stairs.

NO CHOIR!!!!!! That’s a real problem for me. I do miss singing my heart out in the guest choir.

There seem to be fewer insight speakers, and more speakers from the shops and art gallery. Not happy about that.

No gentlemen hosts 🙂

The string quartet is now a string trio. COVID or cost cutting one wonders?

You have to make appointments to meet with the Future Cruise people and the medical center, you can’t just pop in.

Disembarkation

You can apparently disembark straight from your stateroom. This certainly beats climbing over everyone’s carry-on luggage in the Royal Court Theatre as you attempt to leave the room and disembark.

There are probably other changes, but I won’t bore you anymore. The bottom line is that I think Cunard is making the effort to reduce the spread of COVID on board, but it is hard to know how successful they are. Does this detract from the overall experience? Yes, it certainly does. However, there is still so much to love about an Eastbound Crossing, and simply being on Mary. It would take a lot to spoil everything for me. I am truly in my happy place 