Queen Mary 2 is the first purpose-built passenger liner for trans-Atlantic service in 35 years. Her predecessor, the half-the-size Queen Elizabeth 2, started service at about the same time as the first jumbo jet took to the skies. And to compare the venerable Queen Elizabeth 2 to the new Queen Mary 2 is like contrasting an early Pan Am Boeing 747 with today's oh-so-forward new Airbus A380 (like QM2, it will be the largest and most expensive of its kind ever to be built).

Indeed, perhaps Queen Mary 2 would have never been built if Carnival Corporation had not acquired Cunard Line from the Norwegian-based Kvaerner group in 1998. In the years prior to Carnival's acquisition, Cunard had been steered with a lack of clear course and imagination resulting in a fleet of rather mismatched vessels while still trying to hang on to its hallowed reputation.

What interested Carnival Corporation wasn't Cunard's past as much as its future. While the concept of a splashy (and is it ever!) new ship to be called Queen Mary 2 was well beyond drawing-board stages at Cunard prior to the aquisition, it was Carnival's interest and finally support, that made the $780 million investment a reality.

The construction of Queen Mary 2 took place in the French shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique. The same yard had previously built other famous liners, such as the Normandie and the France (today known as Norway) not to mention more contemporary vessels like Coral Princess and Celebrity Millennium. The ship was built in almost-record time and was delivered to Carnival Corporation just prior to Christmas of 2003. She was christened with penultimate hype and fanfare on January 8, 2004 by Queen Elizabeth II, and four days later the brand-new Queen Mary 2 embarked on her maiden voyage.

Passenger experiences aboard Queen Mary 2 in the early days of 2004 were quite mixed. Reasons varied; certainly Cunard's own hype machine created high expectations. As well, as a prototype ship the only one of its kind, ever a shakedown period should have been anticipated. There were many passenger complaints about service and staffing, though few about the ship itself. Check out our virtual from Queen Mary 2's inaugural sailing (a Cruise Critic correspondent sailed the inaugural, and filed daily reports). And those issues continued to recur during Queen Mary 2's first few months, according to news reports and Cruise Critic readers.

But now that Queen Mary 2 has gathered six months of sea miles, we wanted to know: Has the ship smoothed out its rough edges? We sailed on a recent six-night trans-Atlantic crossing from Southampton to New York in a Britannia-class cabin. By and large, the ship's service has definitely improved and the ship's public facilities are simply outstanding. But it's important to understand that Queen Mary 2, like Queen Elizabeth 2, is a two-class ship. Onboard, a Britannia-category Queen Mary 2 experience is a high quality trip that's akin to, perhaps, that of a cruise on Celebrity or Holland America. Had we stayed in a Queens- or Princess- category stateroom we may well have had a more sumptuous story to tell.

Public rooms

Queen Mary 2 differs greatly from regular cruise ships in terms of its layout and public room design. Being the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built, the designers have come up with interesting solutions in terms of traffic flow and public room design. If you don't find today's smaller mega ships easy to navigate well, you may need a little extra time to figure out Queen Mary 2!

From sea level to promenade deck, Queen Mary 2 has the tallest hull of all when compared to other cruise ships and for passengers this means there are up to 14 decks of accommodations and public rooms.

Most of the public rooms, such as the reception area, the Royal Court Theatre, Illuminations (Planetarium), Britannia Restaurant and the Queens Room (ballroom), are located on Deck 2 and Deck 3. The ceiling height on these decks is awesome. At 3.8 meters that's basically 1 1/2 decks! Such expansiveness (not to mention fabulous art) contributes to an elegant ambiance.

Deck 7 can be described as the ship's daytime/outdoor activity center and it's where you'll find the very popular encircling promenade deck complemented by comfortable lounge chairs and the Canyon Ranch SpaClub.

There are four different main staircases and these are marked A - D. The ship's daily program (inventively called "Daily Programme") offers, as a convenience, the deck number and stairway for each place of event or public room, so pay attention to this.

Many of the public lounges are in a class of their own on QM2. Queens Room is the largest-ever ballroom on any passenger ship, and also features the largest dance floor afloat. This space is used regularly from horse racing to captain's cocktail parties, High Teas and ballroom dancing. All beverage service is taken from tables (there is no bar). Strangely unobtrusive is the ship's two-level disco, G32. It's tucked behind the Queens Room (you actually have to cross through it to get to the disco). Regardless of its tricky location, I have never seen such a popular disco on a ship. It was packed every evening (maybe because of its sleek steel-inspired interior, or perhaps more probably because passengers heading west on crossings get an extra hour of sleep five evenings in a row!).

In addition to regular bars such as the Golden Lion Pub, Sir Samuel's Wine Bar, and the Chart Room Queen Mary 2 features the first-ever Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar at sea. It serves seven different Veuve Clicquot champagne labels, prices starting from $7 per glass. Although the place was popular, the execution of the outlet could have been better. The barkeeper was also responsible for handling bills for the neighboring Chart Room (so service was intermittent) and champagne was often poured into warm glasses. Nevertheless, it was one of my favorite spots.

Apart from the regular melange of public rooms featured on all cruise ships, QM2 offers a few "extras." Illuminations is the only planetarium at sea, and it is used for lectures, movies and of course planetarium films all of which proved to be very popular.

We also loved the huge, well-stocked library (and there are, in addition to terminals in the regular cyber-center, a few extra Internet-connected computers here). It has some wonderful nooks and crannies. Adjacent is a fantastic book and souvenir shop, specializing in all things maritime (not limited to QM2); you can buy books, postcards, posters and other collectibles as well as writings by author-lecturers sailing onboard.

QM2 does not accommodate Bridge visits, but it has opened, on a trial basis, a viewing gallery behind the bridge. The facility is open on most (but not all) days, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and only eight people are allowed to enter at the same time.

If you simply enjoy watching the sea the white caps and the endless horizon venture forward on Deck 2 where there are wide windows (almost at water level). Here you can really appreciate QM2's speed (up to 26 knots).

The best place to enjoy the horizon (and/or sunset) is to go in Commodore Club on Deck 8, which offers also piano entertainment during the evening.

Entertainment

Regular trans-Atlantic passengers are generally good self-entertainers, but today's cruise passengers expect the same types of programming from the trans-Atlantic voyage as from a sea day on a typical Caribbean cruise.

One of the distinctions on the trans-Atlantic voyage is that Cunard has enticed famous folks to give lectures. During our June cruise, one of the celebrity lecturers was actress/novelist Carrie Fisher, while actress Jane Seymour auctioned her art for charity causes. On the previous voyage, actor John Cleese talked about running the fictitious "Fawlty Towers" hotel. There was also a guy who was traveling by bicycle halfway across the world, and was also running a full marathon onboard 71 times around the promenade deck.

Apart from lavish evening shows, daytime champagne art auctions and bingo sessions, QM2 really sets itself apart with its extensive enrichment program, offered in conjunction with England's Oxford University. Prepare to broaden your mind via topics such as "Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl" (by Terence Hughes), or "Technique, Aesthetics & Historical Context of Photography" (by creative arts photographer Andrew Bordwin), just to give examples from my crossing.

Queen Mary 2 also offers an extensive computer learning program with something for almost everybody. Classes include "Computers for Absolute Beginners," "First Steps with Word Processing" and "First Steps With Windows XP."

Fitness and Recreation

One of the nicest pleasures of a crossing is the luxury of time. And that means time to indulge in spa sessions or exercise. Even with high expectations, I was wowed by its fitness-oriented facilities! In Canyon Ranch's first-ever at-sea spa, there are 20,000 square ft. of space on two different decks.

The Canyon Ranch SpaClub is divided in three different areas. The Fitness Centre is located foremost of Deck 7 and is fitted with latest gym equipment each of them have individual TVs. The Fitness Centre is open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. daily, and its use is complimentary. However, if you want to use any lockers or showers, you have to buy a SpaClub Passport, costing between $25 (one day) and $79 (five days).

The Beauty & Skin Care Centre is located foremost of Deck 8 and it offers lovely sea views as well as treatments. It is open from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. daily. It is, alas, very popular; on my crossing, for example, a week's worth of pedicures were sold out by departure day. As far as prices are concerned, a woman's designer haircut costs $69 and men pay $39 ($10 less on port days). Manicures start from $39, and pedicures from $69 (again, $10 less during port calls). Canyon Ranch SpaClub features an expansive Aqua Therapy Centre. To use any or all of these facilities, you can buy a one-, three- or five-day pass, costing between $25 and $79. The use of the centre is complimentary with the purchase of any Health & Wellness service, massage or body treatment. The Aqua Therapy Centre is equipped with an aqua therapy pool, a whirlpool, reflexology basin, sensory showers, Finnish sauna, aromatic steam room, herbal sauna and ice fountain.

In the Canyon Ranch SpaClub, all prices include gratuities. The therapists also do not try to sell any body care products after the treatment, which is not the case in many other cruise lines' shipboard spas. Another plus? There's no faux "health" questionnaire, either, that passengers are required to fill out before their first treatment.

Sports facilities include a basketball court and a paddle tennis court on Deck 13 and a single (and sad looking) Ping-Pong table in the Pavilion pool area. The basketball and paddle tennis courts themselves were nice, but being located forward of the deck the place was normally too windy for an enjoyable game. There are also golf simulators, called Fairways, but they were already booked in the beginning of voyage.

Family

During the school holidays there are a lot of children onboard. Queen Mary 2 employs nine nannies, which keep children busy during the crossing. There is a dedicated children and teens' area on Deck 6 including an outdoor pool area.

Fellow passengers

Queen Mary 2 attracts a wide range of passengers in addition to English, German and French can be heard widely spoken onboard. As a result of its size and truly unusual amenities, QM2 attracts many first-time cruisers (not to mention virgins to the trans-Atlantic circuit). During summer school holidays, there are also more children and teenagers onboard this voyage accounted for up to 200 kids.

Dress

A trans-Atlantic cruise is more formal than a cruise in, say, the Caribbean. During the day, people definitely tended towards country club casual. At night, even when it wasn't a formal-designated evening, people dressed anyway. A six-night crossing will typically feature two casual nights, two formal nights and two informal nights the last of which is optional, either formal or informal. The dress for formal evening is a tuxedo or alternatively dark suit for gentlemen and evening gown or other appropriate attire for the ladies. While dress codes are enforced in Britannia and Grill restaurants, passengers can relax a bit when dining in the Kings Court.

Gratuity

Cunard charges a minimum $11 a day to your shipboard account. While making purchases in the bars and lounges, a 15 percent tip is automatically added to your bill but, oddly, you have to fill in the total amount (and there's a space for an "extra" gratuity). Treatments in Canyon Ranch SpaClub include tips, but you can add more there as well.