My wife and I took this trip with our 3 children (aged 8,10,13) their grandmother uncle and aunt. This ship was everything I expectedit to be, the service was excellent, the crew freindly, and the food fantastic. Having so many family members aboard and all in different cabin grades meant we got to see more of the accommodation than most people. We had a 4 birth inside cabin in midships which was not cramped at all for 2ad+2ch. Their aunt and uncle had a balcony which I think I would have paid the extra for if it was availiable as a 4 berth the pictures I took for there were stunning. Their gran was in a 2 berth cabin at the front of the ship which she shared with one of my sons and it was much the same as our 4 berth without the bunk beds. Being my first time on this ship I was amazed at the sheer size of her compared to her predecessor the QE2 and felt that while this did take away the more personal feel of the QE2 whilst on board the standard of service was unchanged. I would have like to have seen more interior lounges looking at the water as these are at a premium do to the large number of balcony cabins. The childrens zone was well used by us and the children loved it. If I had to pick up on one negative it would be the live entertainment on board it was what i would call Butlins type standard and definitley more focused to older people 65+. That being said we enjoyed our trip tremendously and look forward to the next one.

We arrived late, when the crew were doing emergency procedures however we got a sheltered cabin which was more than adequate with lots of storage. The ship (sorry liner) was such a pleasure with excellent staff. Believe me when I say you walk down a corridor and the cleaning staff stop, what they are doing… stand up… say hello and let you pass. The food started as expected but then got even better during the week. The martini's in the Commodore club were fab and they even bring out hot canapé’s during the early evening (get the later sitting for dinner). It was fab to dress up (DO IT DO IT DO IT) and well worth the effort not that everyone bothered. Cunard! Cunard! Whenever we docked the other cruise ship peeps were more interested in the Queen Mary docking than the island trips. Experience it, buy in to it and you will be on an experience rather than a cruise. Cruising out of Brooklyn, New York with a helicopter flying up and down the ship gives you goose bumps.