Queen Mary 2 - Caribbean Celebration from New York
Cunard's legendary Queen Mary 2 departs New York for a 14-night Caribbean Celebration cruise, calling at Tortola, St. Maarten, Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Basseterre. As the world's only true ocean liner still in service, QM2 combines White Star heritage, Grill-class dining, and transatlantic pedigree with a deep Caribbean voyage featuring six port calls across the Lesser Antilles.
Price Range
$$
Mid-Range
*Prices vary by cabin type, sailing date, and availability. Confirm rates with Cunard before booking.
Ship Details — Queen Mary 2
View full Queen Mary 2 details
Year Built
2004
Tonnage
149,215 GT
Passengers
2,695
Crew
1,253
Decks
13
Class
Ocean Liner
Itinerary & Route Map
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Where this cruise calls, day by day
8 ports and 7 sea days over 14 Nights.
- Day 1New York, NY port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
New York, NY
United StatesDepart Day 2 · At sea
Day 3 · At sea
Day 4 · At sea
- Day 5
Tortola
British Virgin IslandsPortRoad Town is a small administrative capital that empties into Tortola Pier Park, a purpose-built shopping village at the dock. The town itself is thin, and it clogs when two ships are in. This is a call you leave: most people cross the ridge to Cane Garden Bay, or take the ferry to Virgin Gorda for The Baths, which is the best thing in the British Virgins.
- The Baths on Virgin Gorda, by ferry
- Cane Garden Bay
- Smuggler's Cove at the west end
- Sage Mountain National Park
- Getting ashore
- Docked at Road Town beside Tortola Pier Park; Cane Garden Bay is about 20 minutes over Ridge Road by taxi, and the Virgin Gorda ferry runs 30-45 minutes.
- Best months
- Dec-Apr; Aug-Oct is hurricane season
- Day 6
Philipsburg
St. MaartenPortA one-street town on Great Bay: Front Street for duty-free liquor and jewelry, Back Street behind it, and a boardwalk of bars on the sand. The island's real draw is elsewhere — Maho Beach at the end of the Princess Juliana runway, where arriving jets pass a few dozen feet overhead, and the French side at Marigot and Grand Case for lunch.
- Maho Beach plane spotting
- Great Bay boardwalk and Front Street
- Orient Bay on the French side
- Loterie Farm zip line and hiking on Pic Paradis
- Getting ashore
- Docked at the A.C. Wathey pier; town is a 20-25 minute walk around the bay or a few dollars each way by water taxi.
- Best months
- Dec-Apr; Sep-Oct is the hurricane peak, and damage from Irma in 2017 is still visible in places
- Day 7
Bridgetown
BarbadosPortBarbados is bigger and more developed than most Eastern Caribbean calls and works less like a beach stop than a country with its own economy — a capital with a UNESCO-listed Georgian core, a calm west coast for swimming and a wild Atlantic east coast that surfs. It is also a major homeport, so calls frequently coincide with turnaround crowds.
- Snorkeling with sea turtles and the wrecks in Carlisle Bay
- Harrison's Cave tram tour
- Bathsheba and the east coast
- Mount Gay rum tour or St. Nicholas Abbey
- Getting ashore
- Docked at the deep-water port about a mile from Broad Street — walkable, but the route runs through a working port, so most people take the short taxi.
- Best months
- Dec-Apr dry season; Jun-Nov is wetter, though Barbados sits far enough east to be hit less often
- Day 8
Castries
St. LuciaPortCastries burned down repeatedly and was rebuilt in concrete; almost nobody comes for the town. The island's draw is 90 minutes south at Soufrière — the two Pitons rising straight out of the water, a drive-in sulphur crater that genuinely stinks, and Diamond Falls. That drive is the day, and the road is winding enough to matter if you get carsick.
- The Pitons and the town of Soufrière
- Sulphur Springs drive-in volcano and mud baths
- Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens
- Marigot Bay
- Getting ashore
- Ships dock at Pointe Seraphine across the harbor from town (small ferry or a 15-20 minute walk around) or at La Place Carenage on the town side.
- Best months
- Dec-Apr dry season; Jun-Nov is wetter with Aug-Oct hurricane risk
- Day 9
Roseau
DominicaPortDominica is the anomaly of the Eastern Caribbean: it has very few good beaches, and that is rather the point. The island is volcanic, steep and covered in rainforest, with hot springs, gorges and a boiling lake in the interior. Roseau is small, tin-roofed and a bit ragged, and the pier is right in it. Wrong island for a beach day; the best one in the chain if you want to be in a river by ten.
- Trafalgar Falls and the hot springs above Roseau
- Titou Gorge
- Emerald Pool
- Champagne Reef, snorkeling over volcanic vents
- Getting ashore
- Docked on the Roseau bayfront in town, with most sites 20-40 minutes inland by taxi; some ships instead use the Cabrits berth at Portsmouth, an hour north.
- Best months
- Dec-Apr is drier, but Dominica is wet in any month; Aug-Oct is hurricane season and the island took a direct hit in 2017
- Day 10
Basseterre
St. Kitts and NevisPortThe pier lands you at Port Zante in the middle of Basseterre, a working Caribbean capital rather than a mall. What sets St. Kitts apart is the scenic railway: a narrow-gauge line built to haul sugar cane, now running double-decker cars around the north of the island for about three hours. Expect firm sales pressure from photo vendors with vervet monkeys at the scenic overlooks.
- St. Kitts Scenic Railway
- Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park (UNESCO)
- Timothy Hill overlook across the Narrows
- South Friars Bay and Cockleshell Bay on the southeast peninsula
- Getting ashore
- Docked at Port Zante with Basseterre at the gate; the southeast peninsula beaches are 20-30 minutes by taxi and the Nevis ferry takes about 45 minutes.
- Best months
- Dec-Apr; Aug-Oct is hurricane season
Day 11 · At sea
Day 12 · At sea
Day 13 · At sea
Day 14 · At sea
- Day 15New York, NY port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
New York, NY
United StatesArrive
What to know about this sailing
Drawn from 35 traveler threads about Queen Mary 2 on Caribbean sailings (2017–2024), 122 about these Lesser Antilles ports on other ships, the route data and the port notes above.
Half of this voyage is open ocean: three sea days south from New York, six ports on six consecutive days, then four sea days home, so it reads as a short crossing on either side of a port-a-day week. The port order runs down the chain to Barbados, the southern turn, and back up through St. Lucia, Dominica and St. Kitts, with no sea day between any of the six. Threads on similar six-port Lesser Antilles weeks on other ships call that pace tiring even for adults and hard with young children, which is worth weighing because nothing on the ship's side eases it; the recovery is the four days after. The one traveler account that covers this leg directly is a first-time cruiser's December 2023 trip, booked as a 26-day combination, Southampton to New York, this Caribbean loop, and back to Southampton, whose first week on the crossing was rough in an inside cabin far forward and whose remaining weeks went well enough that the poster came back a month later to say so. The other dated fact belongs on the record: the December 2024 Caribbean departure from New York followed a crossing that arrived on 21 December with 138 passengers ill, and per a news thread that drew 578 upvotes the CDC-tracked outbreak on the Caribbean sailing that followed was larger; replies noted norovirus was surging nationally that month and that only cruise ships are required to report it.
Against the alternatives the trade-offs are clear. Norwegian Bliss runs a 12-night southern loop from New York that reaches Tortola, St. Maarten and St. Kitts at a much lower tier, and Odyssey of the Seas does 11 nights from Cape Liberty with four of these ports for less; both are big-ship sailings with sea days to match. Flying to San Juan opens the seven-night loops on Norwegian Prima, Norwegian Epic and Valiant Lady, which cover five of the same six ports in half the time with almost no sea days, and Viking Saturn's 11-night covers four of them at a higher tier. Within the Queen Mary 2 catalog this is the only Caribbean sailing, the crossing is about half the price, and the two Canada and New England voyages cost more per night. It suits someone in the Northeast who wants a fortnight of formal nights and sea days with a warm-weather week in the middle and no airport at either end, or who liked the crossing and wants the same ship somewhere with sun. A 2024 thread from a family considering Queen Mary 2 with children aged three and seven was told there are very few children aboard, that the club takes them from two but one reply thought three too young, that the activities suit older adults, and by one travel agent that they would not take their own four-year-old; seven sea days of that is the reason this is not a family sailing. Per the port notes above, Dominica and Castries are excursion ports rather than beach ports.
Questions about this sailing
Was there a norovirus outbreak on Queen Mary 2's Caribbean cruise from New York?
Yes, on the December 2024 departure. A December 2024 thread quoting CDC outbreak reports said the preceding transatlantic, arriving in New York on 21 December, left 138 passengers with vomiting and diarrhoea, and the Caribbean sailing that followed had a larger outbreak, in the worst case more than one in ten people on board. The most-upvoted replies assumed norovirus, pointed to a national surge that month, and blamed hand-washing; one noted that only cruise ships are required to report such outbreaks, so the comparison with hotels is not like for like.
Can you combine the transatlantic crossing with this Caribbean cruise?
Yes, and one first-time cruiser did exactly that in November and December 2023: Southampton to New York, this Caribbean loop, back to New York and on to Southampton, 26 days in all. Their account is the most useful in the archive for this sailing. The crossing week was rough, in an inside cabin far forward, which replies said is the worst place to be; the rest of the trip was what they wrote back to praise. Book midship or aft if the crossing is included, and expect the whole thing to run to nearly four weeks.
Onboard Amenities
Cruise Highlights
About the Ship
What Travelers Say About Queen Mary 2
Reviews of the ship itself — the same for every Queen Mary 2 sailing. Distilled from 208 traveler threads, passenger reviews and travel blogs.
Queen Mary 2 is not a cruise ship — she is the world's only true ocean liner in regular service, purpose-built to power across the North Atlantic on the historic Southampton-to-New York crossing. That heritage defines everything: a deeper, stronger hull that handles rough seas, a formal black-tie culture, white star service, and traditions like grand ballroom dancing and afternoon tea in the cavernous Queens Room. The vibe is elegant, civilized, and adult — a floating piece of Cunard history with the only planetarium at sea, a serious enrichment program, one of the largest libraries afloat, and even the only kennels at sea for guests crossing with their pets.
What People Love
- Genuine ocean liner built for the open Atlantic — far more stable in rough seas than a typical cruise ship, which makes the Southampton-to-New York crossing a bucket-list experience
- The only planetarium at sea (at Illuminations) plus a serious enrichment program with guest lecturers, a huge library, and a maritime history walk celebrating Cunard's legacy
- Princess Grill and Queens Grill dining are repeatedly called among the best food experiences at sea, with single-seating service and dedicated restaurants for suite guests
Common Complaints
- Technology lags badly — Wi-Fi is widely described as poor and expensive, there is no useful onboard app, and many cabins lack USB ports and adequate charging
- The Britannia main dining room and the Kings Court buffet get mixed-to-mediocre reviews, with complaints about limited variety and inconsistency compared to the excellent Grills
- The Grills 'ship-within-a-ship' concept feels weaker than rivals — lounges and deck space are dispersed rather than a cohesive exclusive enclave