Suggest Jack123 looks at www.cruisecritic.com under the Cunard forum. MUCH MUCH more (and accurate) information there than has been provided to you herein.

Going across the Atlantic on a Queen (Mary or Elizabeth) would be called a Crossing (not a cruise). The Queens do cruises to many parts of the world, but the QE2 was built for Crossings. The QM2 will be doing the World Cruise in 2007 instead of her aging sister.

A Cruise vs a Crossing is a very different thing. With a Crossing you are at sea totally for the time and there are no ports. The ship has to be your home ... there is not much getting off on an island in the middle of the Atlantic. You need the entertainment provided onboard and the room to roam. I have heard wonderful things about QM2 .. there are many lounges and rooms to sit and read, or be active in a bridge game or in the Spa.

I am booked on the 09 Aug QM2 Crossing. Some of the topics that you have read from the other poster WERE true at one time .. when the QM2 first went into service .. and at the time Princess/Carnival took over Cunard. In the intervening months (18?) things have shaped up to be top shelf again. But someone out of all the passenger will NOT like their waiter or steward or the peas with dinner one night and go on some forum and blast the entire experience. [See how we BLAST the airlines for their food and other issues in FlyTalk!]

Everyone has their own tastes. I would never book an inside cabin. A balcony is becoming my minimal requirement in my opinion. When I booked the Crossing there are two base levels of Balcony staterooms available. The 'mass market' cabins with small balconies and then the Princess Grill level mini-suite with balcony. This gives you your own small restaurant to dine in also. I was told that for $x I could upgrade from a Princess Grill minisuite to a Queens Grill suite. Full Suite vs minisuite... larger balcony, butler and concierge service etc. BUT the real selling point was Queen Grill dining. Instead of one waiter/assistant serving up to four tables in Princess Grill the Queens Grill has one waiter dedicated PER TABLE. And you are able to order most anything in the ships larder... if it is on the menu or not. Caviar every night?? Fillet every night?? THAT made the choice far more appealing.

Some call it snobby to have a private dining room, bar, lounge and deck area assigned just to Queens Grill passengers. I call it that I am paying for better service. Some people fly Economy airfare, some people fly Business or First Class... it is your own choice of your personal requirements. I would never consider flying transAtlantic or transPacific in economy .. Business is my minimal requirement .. and I am willing to pay for it.

On many crusie ships, I feel like I am attending a convention and every night is an orchestrated banquet with very subtle changes. You want the beef or the chicken? A Crossing however is the last vestage of a formal atmosphere that is dwindling away. In the three story Britannia dining room (where 90% of the pax will dine) there are specific dress codes published but not enforced .. formal night SHOULD be Tux and Gown .. while casual night is most anything except jeans and shorts. The Princess Grill and the Queens Grill are far MORE formal than that. Casual night will be suit and tie for men and women will dress much smarter. The Formal nights essentially require a tux and gown .. When the Queens for Caribbean or Mediteranian cruises this standard is relaxed a but .. but a Crossing is a more formal (and for me FUN) event.

In addition there are several alternative dining venues .. if one should decide they wish something different. http://www.cunard.com/QM2/default.as...=diningoptions

NOW that I have vented .. to answer your other questions.

In 2005 Cunard offers airfare home to ship and home again. We are flying Chicago-NY then London back to Chicago. For MOST travelers the cruise included airfare is the best option for a Crossing (technically an open-jaw routing as opposed to cruises say Miami to the Caribbean returning to Miami). But since I have many miles on AA, I wanted to book my own air and use upgrades for the transatlantic return. It WAS a mistake but the only reasonable way I could get the upgrades. While Cunard credited me $400 on the airfare, I spent $1100 on the open jaw BUT am in business coming back home. [My traveling companion is on free business airfare thanks to my miles .. but I booked the ticket so I could GET miles back with the trip.]

There is a rumble that in 2006 on Crossings the airfare will not be included .. but I cannot confirm this. I probably would NOT ever take the air anyhow. I was looking at a Thailand to Rome cruise one year .. and yes the air (ecomony) would be included. I found I could fly AA/BA/CX for relatively few miles sort of round-the-world with the cruise being in the middle. Air IS an issue to be concerned with (tho no more than a Panama Canal Transit where you leave from Miami and end up in LA).

OTHER ships will do repositioning trips .. they come from Europe in the summer to the Caribbean in the winter. This is really just a 'different' cruise .. not a real Crossing as the Queens do the North Atlantic MANY times during the summer (in fact there is a day in September when both Queens will be in NYC harbor).

As you will note on cruisecritic.com everyone has a favorite line and ship. I am not certain what a 'better line' might be .. except one of the smaller ultra-luzury ships that typically cruise exotic areas (and are kinda small for storms of the north Atlantic in my opinion). A cruise, Crossing, Transit or even Round-the-Horn is all about WHAT you make it. If you want 5* dining expect to pay 5* prices.. if you want cheap and 'just getting there' there are many ships/lines that fit that market.

Hope this has helped with your thought process. If interested I can let you know my experiences mid August .. but CruiseCritic.com has MANY trip reports already in place.