Illuminations on Queen Mary 2

The primary location for the guest lecturers. Show up early if you want a seat. They need to create new planetarium shows. After four crossings, the “night skies of the North Atlantic” show gets repetitive. However, it did take me two voyages before I saw a planetarium show in it’s entirety (it is easy to fall asleep during the show).

This is a very nice auditorium, and the planetarium dome is a unique asset that was, on this trip, underutilized. Sadly, the reclining mechanism on the seats under the dome are badly in need of maintenance, with perhaps a third of them collapsing to full recline as soon as one sits. Test the seating before makign a selection, and watch your knees!

Great programs

The "Illuminations" theater was really unique. It turned into a Planetarium several times a week. The seats leaned back so you could see the ceiling better. There were several different shows showing different planets and stars and how the skies are different all over the world.