We sailed back to NYC on the Queen Mary II. If you’ve only cruised on one of the other lines you don’t know what you’re missing. The QMII was quite elegant compared to other ships that I’ve been on. On our trip over we were on a Princess. We had a little tiny room, and it wasn’t cheap. No place to sit except the desk chair and the beds. This was our stateroom on the QMII:
The food on the Princess was mediocre at best, and you can believe me when I say I know what good food tastes like. The meals on the QMII were excellent. There were two formal nights wherein the ladies got all dolled up and many of the gentlemen wore monkey suits. I was a little embarrassed in my coat and tie. The entertainment on the Princess was mediocre. There were seldom seats available in the theater unless you got there at least an half hour ahead of show time. For example the big extravaganza was dancers dancing to canned music, and, not all, but a lot of lip syncing. On the QMII there was always space in the beautiful theater:
The entertainers were fabulous. They danced and sang to a live orchestra. The solo performance by the violinist blew me away. I thought I was listening to Isaac Stern. Ditto the pianist was like Horowitz. There was a huge ballroom where the orchestra played grown-up music and so many people danced. I had tea there one afternoon. Check out the ship’s library:
This was just one row of the bookshelves. As I recall it held about 8000 books. No kiddie slides or goofy golf or basketball courts. But a very serviceable swimming pool. And they even had a planetarium.
Of course, The QMII is a Cunard vessel. They also sail the Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Anne and The Queen Victoria.
Finally back to New York after seven weeks away from home:
No place to sit? I think I can see a sofa in that pic 🙂