Theft on the QM2: A Cautionary Tale
 

I had great expectations of the Transatlantic crossing between Southampton and NYC, fueled by all the novels and historical accounts I read. I should have taken into account that he 19th and 20th centuries are long gone.
After convincing my water-phobic husband and reluctant elderly parents to join me in London, I placed them and our luggage in the Cunard transfer bus to the docks on June 14th, 2015.
When we arrived in our staterooms, I found that my bag had been broken into: the lock was gone and some of the contents had been taken. Unfortunately, the missing items were of sentimental as well as monetary value.
I know, I know, packing valuables is not safe, but I thought that Cunard's reputation would hold true. On top of that, the items were sharp sterling silver skewers intended for tableware, and I did not want them to appear as potential weapons in my hand luggage. My mom had insisted that I keep them and use them for our July 4th BBQ.
When I reported the theft I did not expect to be reimbursed, but I did think the Cunard Security Officer would investigate the matter, since it had happened on their bus or on their ship.
Instead, I was rudely dismissed with a "claim form". The officer showed no sympathy: he quickly dismissed my concern by saying it was "impossible: must have happened at the airport" (But we didn't fly!!!).
No investigation took place. The cold refusal to acknowledge a simple fact, is, in my mind, beneath subpar customer service. A modicum of kindness, a simple apology or sign of concern would have been enough for me.
That was only the beginning of the trip. What followed continued to be extremely disappointing. Service was average. The food in the Britannia Restaurant and the King's Court Buffet was less appealing than other cruise lines (I have sailed extensively with Norwegian, Carnival, Celebrity and others); the Afternoon Tea (I so looked forward to it) was skimpy at best-they always ran out of scones! No Devonshire cream and no lemon curd. It is really sad to hold a cucumber sandwich with no cucumber in it...Oh, well.
My father and husband loved the Cliquot Champagne Bar, though they found it very annoying that all bar seats were occupied by non-drinkers and they had to wait.

Since this is a review, I want to be as objective as possible, so I will mention all the positive features I observed on the QE2, in spite of my bad experience:
1. Great ship, wonderful stabilizers: a very smooth ride even in rough seas;
2. I enjoyed the RADA workshops and shows as well as the 3D Opera, the Planetarium and the musical entertainment;
3. As usual, most of the crew (staff) is extremely hardworking and kind, unlike the officers.

If you are considering traveling with the Queen Mary, please know that it is wonderful and full of history, but it is permanently docked in Long Beach, CA.
The currently working ship is, indeed, a distant number 2 for those of us who are dreamers and experienced travelers. To sustain their pompous, smug attitude, Cunard officers who deal with the public will need to base their attitudes in present substance, not past assumptions. Otherwise, the last remaining, feeble connection with history will completely dissolve in salt water.

I am sorry to hear this happened to you and your family . Not only the Saft but the extremely poor follow up is not up to any standards . Again I am sorry to hear this happened and thanks for a well-written and objective review .

Voice recognition fails again ! I meant to say and actually did say "theft"

I meant to say the positive features I observed on the QM2 (not the QE2!).
Safe travels, everyone! c

We once experienced theft at a hotel in Ajmer, India, the Mansingh Palace. What was so distressing was absolutely no response from them despite three emails. However I'm dismayed that Cunard of all companies behaved like them.

Claire,

A very long shot but is there any chance the skewers were removed because they could be weapons?

The reason I suggest this is because on a Celebrity transatlantic in April we were bringing back a fancy wood plane and a hammer (don't as) for a friend. They were in our luggage we turned in at the curb.

We got to our room and bag # 1 and # 2 arrived quickly. Two hours later we phoned the steward about bag # 3 who asked if the bag had any contraband in it. Turns out the wood plane looked like a knife blade and the hammer, well, like a hammer. We had joked about this at Home Depot, then forgot. Husband had to go down, remove the plane and hammer and check them until departure.

Where this theory doesn't hold water is why would Cunard break the lock? So, theft is most likely and most likely occurred after security x-ray which imo makes Cunard responsible.

sorry to hear of your loss.

Thanx for the heads up.

((I))

I was sorry to run across this review as we are leaving on the QM2 on Tuesday. Sorry to hear of the theft - we will be careful when packing our bags.