First morning aboard and the QM2 is well out to sea. Only one other ship is spotted all day: A tanker making its way west, no doubt in time to fuel the great Cunard liner next time it pulls into Brooklyn.
Technically, the Queen Mary 2 is not a ship, it is a liner. A cruise ship is designed for fair weather and entertainment. 
An ocean liner is designed primarily for transport and can weather most anything the ocean dishes out. 
A liner is usually capable of faster seeds than a ship.
Three basic levels of service are offered on the QM2: 
The Britannia, The Princess Grill
and the Queens Grill
. All of the dining rooms are beautifully appointed, the latter two being a quarter of the size of the grand Britannia.
The food is very good, sometimes great 
(the restaurant, Todd English
, is available to any passenger for an additional $30 per person surcharge
) The wine list offers a variety of well-priced wines of good value.
The staff, at least in the Princess and Queens Grill restaurants, are extremely accommodating. If it’s not on the menu they will produce it if they possible can. We asked for Steak Tartare one afternoon for lunch. It was assembled table-side 
and was one of the best I have ever eaten.
Unfortunately, for the staff, we were not the only ones in the restaurant who possessed a taste for the dish. The result was a run on chopped sirloin and an extra fuss and flurry in the dining room daily, as more and more guests requested the specialty.
Note to self: Make the special requests invisible (no fuss or flourish) or save them for the last day—just to keep the dining room n an even keel, so to speak…