Any advice on Cunard QM2 New York trip/ or honeymoon alternative

Angela84

Hi Guys,

I know this is not very MSE, but we are looking to book our honeymoon for June 2011 and one of the ideas we've had is to go on a cruise. Reasons for this are:

We have 2 children, and dont want to leave them for more than 7-9 nights max.
I don't sunbathe, and OH can't sit still for 10 minutes, esp on holidays, always likes to be in and out the pool or doing something other than lying down.

We also hope to have about £200-£300 Tesco vouchers to put towards it, so potentially saving us a grand. Tesco's has a set up with P&O, Princess and Cunard. P&O and Princess don't have any cruises that take our fancy, but Cunard do a 7 night Southampton to New York which we thought might be nice, with then one night in New York and then fly home.

So just wondered if anyone had been/knew anyone who;d been and thought how it would be for 2 26 yr olds. We're not really into bingo, or watching plays, but at the same time we aren't going to be getting really drunk and being sick in the plant pots!

Im just concerned we'll be the youngest on there, by about 40 years, and will get bored.

There are plenty of other cruises that look fun, with the other companies, that have surf machines, cinemas, etc, but they aren't with Tesco.

Unless anyone has any better ideas? We went to Cuba last year for 7 nights and the jet lag was pretty rough, so we don;t really want to go that far again.

Many thanks!

daveyjp

I would research some of the cruise specific websites about doing a Transatlantic on QM2 as a first cruise. No doubt it is a fine ship, but the average passenger age will be older than you and Cunard do still offer a more traditional and formal cruise experience.

6 full days at sea may be boring, unless you want to get inolved in the activities provided on ship which may be bingo and plays! The joy for us is going to a different place every day and it gives you a chance to escape the ship.

We have just returned from 7 nights on P&O Ventura to the Fjords- stunning - and have also been on a 7 night Iberian peninsular cruise taking in Spain, Portgual and France.

Tesco vouchers may not offer best deal either - they are only any good if you can pay for most of the cruise by using them.

You can save a few hundred pounds, get free car parking and on board credit by going through cruise agents. Tesco discounts may only apply when booking through the cruise company and these are rarely the cheapest.

If you can wait you can get good last minute deals too. In an e-mail I had today:

2 August 2010 QM2 Westbound Transatlantic 7 nights £1229 in Princess Grill with $1,000 on board credit.

The Iberian Peninsular trip we did was being offered for £400 a few weeks ago with a departure on 5 June - this was about half the brochure price.

moonrakerz

First thing to remember is that the QM2 is not a cruise ship, it is an ocean liner.
We took the opportunity to travel to Florida on it about 4 years ago to visit friends there.
10 hours in a 747 or 8 days in luxury on a wonderful ship - absolutely no contest.

The ship has a huge theatre, cinema, planetarium, library, you name it, it has it - BUT not a climbing wall, a surfing pool, etc.
Most of the higher decks were not usable for much of the trip: the ship was doing 28 knots into about a 20 knot wind - wind speed over the deck 50mph + !

Read up on all the different ships, decide what you want from the trip, don't just pick a ship by name and price.

Would agree with the comments about Norway - great place for a first cruise. All one currency too !

toffeegirl

We went on a transatlantic crossing to New York on the QM2 for my 38th birthday with hubby (who was 30) and had a FAB time. The average age of other travellers was higher but it didn't mean that it was like holidaying in an old peoples' home. There were some young honeymooners onboard both times.

We have no children but there is a childrens' club on board - Play Zone - and when we did see the little cherubs on organised activities they seemed to be having a good time.

Our first trip was motivated by my immobility after an accident (thats why we took the full hotel & transfers packgage with Cunard on this occasion) but we had such a good time that we did a 17 night trip on board for my 40th (South-NY-Halifax-Boston-NY-South) and are sailing next year on Cunard's new ship Elizabeth's maiden transtlantic.

We are hooked.

Its worth checking the Cunard forum on Cruise Critic for posts by people with children - including doing a search on "Play Zone"

Attached is my trip review from my FIRST crossing
http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=356706&highlight=

Don't worry about the age of other people, just decide if the trip itself is for you. We all think that we are still 26.

Mixing With the Oldies.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7569400.stm

richardw

Angela84 wrote: »

We have 2 children, and dont want to leave them for more than 7-9 nights max.

Some might say 6 nights is too long.

How old are they?

bcl999

My understanding of your post is that you are not taking the children.(Some of the previous answers have thrown me a bit).

My first question to you is "Do you (and hubby-to-be) enjoy dressing up?" On the QM2 6-night TA, there are 3 formal nights, 2 "semi-formal" and one informal, if I remember rightly. At my table, one of the men had a different tuxedo for each night, never mind the women and their different evening dresses. I don't know how they managed their baggage allowance if they were flying back. Yes, you can go to the buffet in the King's Court without dressing up but the Britannia restauarant dining is quite an event. I did see people in jeans in the casino at night but they were in the minority. As one of the ladies at my table informed me when I suggested I might go to the buffet one night (cos I fancied the American Deep South menu theme evening) "Oh, you can't ..... that's where the poor people go!"

There are lot of activities day & night so no need to go "stir crazy" but if I had done the package of 6 nights crossing and only 1 night in NYC, I'd have been very disappointed. I had 5 nights in NYC and loved every minute. I'd go back tomorrow but not on the QM2. I'd say if you fancy NYC, spend the money on that - you can use Tesco vouchers with different travel operators, maybe some do NYC trips - rather than the TA crossing (even though it can work out a good deal e.g. I couldn't have got a proper 4star hotel with full board for the price we paid for the crossing, about £650 each (cruise only) for a deluxe balcony). The flight isn't as long as to Cuba.

If it must be a cruise, I would suggest either a Med one or maybe a Baltic one (as you say you don't sunbathe). They mostly have a different port of call each day so you are kept as busy as you like visiting on-shore.

Incapuppy

Angela84 wrote: »

We also hope to have about £200-£300 Tesco vouchers to put towards it, so potentially saving us a grand.

From the additional info PDF by Virgin re: clubcard deals (on the Tesco clubcard website):

'Tokens cannot be used against Virgin Holidays Cruises or any other cruise product featured with Virgin Holidays brochures'

Angela84

Thank you for the responses, no we weren't planning on taking the children. This might be the last holiday we take on our own for some years so want to do something special.

I did read about the dress code onboard, and I did think it would be quite a hassle as OH doesn't own a Tux, so would have to buy/rent one for the week. I did think what someone else said might be true, that because I have to book on the dedicated 'Tesco Clubcard' Cunard hotline, I could probably find better discounts on other websites, and use my vouchers for something else.

I think one of these more casual cruises would be better for us, visiting places each day, fun swimming pools to keep the man-child busy, and the ability to wear shorts to a restaurant!

moonrakerz

Angela84 wrote: »

I did read about the dress code onboard, and I did think it would be quite a hassle as OH doesn't own a Tux, so would have to buy/rent one for the week.

You don't need one - a Lounge Suit, collar & tie are quite acceptable on "formal nights..

bcl999

moonrakerz wrote: »

You don't need one - a Lounge Suit, collar & tie are quite acceptable on "formal nights..

Well, when I went in 2007, the dress code in the Britannia was suit, collar & tie on the semi-formal nights, let alone the formal ones. I got away with a blazer and no tie on precisely one night - the so-called "informal" night.

daveyjp

Formal is dinner suit or dark suit and tie. Semi formal is jacket and tie, but not necessarily a suit.