This crossing was the right choice.  After an intense month traveling in the Balkans and Central Europe, getting on and off planes (transiting Vienna airport three times), moving hotels, and mostly spending time with people with whom we had shared so much in, as the old Chinese curse puts it “interesting times” (I will post more about this later) we needed to decompress.  A seven night crossing gave us a soft reentry into the United States.

This was not our first voyage on Cunard. Suzi and I have done other crossings and when my mother was alive, we cruised with her on Cunard.  We sat in the lounge when mom got her 100 day Cunard pin.  But we generally cruise on Holland America.   Some of you have asked how they compare. 

While both offer ocean voyages and both lines are classed as “premium” they are different products.  And a crossing is different from a cruise.  The informality of Holland America is more to my taste than the Cunard style.  The Staff on Cunard is friendly but reserved.  I only really “connected” with one of the Cunard staff, a Matre’d from Serbia.  Holland staff are more approachable.  Fellow cruisers on both lines are convivial, the Cunard passengers we met were more European, especially British. I enjoyed that, especially attending a Rotary meeting on QM2 with representatives from clubs in the US (two of us, me from Alaska and a woman from Texas), four from the UK, and one each from Egypt, Canada, France and Germany.  We got talking about different ships and no one I spoke with who had been on Queen Anne liked it.  The best thing I heard was “She would make a fine Princess ship.”  That gentleman (from Liverpool) was not far off the mark as two weeks later Cunard announced the QA leaving the fleet.  Anne of a thousand days.

I enjoyed the entertainment on the QM2, with live jazz and folk.  Holland would do well to consider folk in their lounges or bars.  The production shows were similar but on HAL the cast was more energetic, but that is based on only two shows on QM2.  As you would expect tea on the Queen was more of an occasion than on Holland, but on Holland the sandwiches and cakes were better, actually so was the tea.  Overall, the food is a notch or two better on Holland, especially in the buffet.  On the QM2 there was nothing that was as much fun as HAL’s Orange Party.  HAL is just better at parties. 

Physically the QM2 is ready for drydock.  The toilet stopped working once and our door did not close tightly meaning that we had a constant whistle when we first got under way.  However, repairs came more quickly on QM2 than similar requests for repairs on HAL.  In general, the Purser’s office on QM2 was more responsive and better informed than Guest Services was on any of the HAL ships we’ve been on.  QM2 has a viewing space behind the bridge where you can watch bridge operations.  It is not on the deck plan and is not always open but if you ask you can find it.  I respect their no “photo” request.  I wish Holland would make it possible for us to “visit” the bridge from behind glass rather than charging us for their “behind the scenes” tour.  QM2 still leaves chocolate on the bed each night.

As I wrote in an earlier post, the Cunard website is a mess. I NEVER thought I would miss the HAL Navigator app.  I dislike the HAL app, it is clunky, non-intuitive and often does not work but it an order of magnitude better than what passes for a phone app on the QM2. 

So, which is better?  It depends on your tastes.  I prefer HAL, but not enough to write off future crossings or cruises on Cunard.  I like them both.  We did not use up our onboard credit on the crossing, largely because Cunard kept gifting us bottles of wine that we took down to the dining room.  They gave us three during the crossing. 

But also, because their photographers only took one picture of us on the entire crossing and that was with the captain at their “World Club” recognition cocktail party.  We bought that photo but there were no others for us to buy.  That is a positive because photographers did not approach us at dinner or on gala nights.  We had to seek them out, we didn’t, and that was fine.  I find the photographers annoying although I often consent to having our pic taken and I usually buy more pics than I had intended to.  At the reception the Irish captain welcomed me back to “the family” (my Irish grandfather was a White Star Chief Steward on one of their “lesser” liners.)  Cunard is trying to snag us as future loyal customers. 

Our next two cruses are booked on HAL, two segments of the 2027 World and the 2028 World, but I would consider another Cunard cruise if it went somewhere I want to go, and definitely another crossing, especially if the price remains competitive with business class airfares.  We’re retired and have the time.