Queen Victoria November 24 GLBT Roll Call

Just checking to see who else might be on this cruise.

Hey Neighbors! Just down I-10 in Houston and we are on this sailing too. Should be an interesting voyage. I hope/expect to have a proper Thanksgiving dinner!

Sky High's partner here. Thought I would chime in - hopefully we will hear from a few fellow passengers.

Rob't.

New to this cruise board and it's so confusing. I read that there is another thread in Cunard Roll Call but having difficulty finding where other FOD have posted. I see Capitalflow is in Commerical Real Estate. My partner and I are in residential real estate in the French Quarter and Garden District of New Orleans.

I don't they think that they specifically used the term FOD, but rather the word partner or such. I'm wondering if there is a FOD happy hour on the sail away day. We arrive into Rome that morning and are probably heading straight for the ship so will get there early and have lots of time to explore before sailaway. The other board is having cocktails at 6pm at the commodore, one of the FOD said he would be there. have you booked any onshore excursions?

Hi, Simon and I (Nick) are on this trip. I doubt there is an FOD meeting in the CC on the day of boarding, but we will be at the bar for the meeting on the first sea day.

Sorry we are not into real estate, so can't help that conversation flow. We won't be doing any shore excursions, but will probably call into a couple of bars in Barcelona and possibly lunch and the casino in Monaco.

I am sure we will have great fun whatever.

Hi Nick, how come you aren't doing any shore excursions? Have you been to all these places already?

Are there any bars open in Barcelona while we're in port? Things got going pretty late both times i was there before.

Give you give us any insight for what to expect on QV vs. QM2?

Cheers,

Jim

Hi Jim, sadly I travel on business for about 260 days a year, and as a result I am very jaded about travel, so sightseeing doesn't really do it for me. That is one of the reasons I enjoy cruising. It really does take a lot to get me off the ship and then it is normally only to stretch my legs and have a couple of glasses of beer or wine. I am certainly not a good guide to ports of call. [as an aside, we are in Malta at present and had the pleasure of being invited on the QE on Saturday and QV yesterday].

In Barcelona we will either go to one of the bars/cafes which is open all day (if we are feeling adventurous) or more likely amble along to the Hotel Arts, head for the pool bar, have a swim, a few glasses of something, maybe a bite to eat and head back.

Asking anyone on here the difference between two ships seems to spark great debate and every instinct I have tells me to avoid it, however as this is a quiet thread this is my very personal take on the difference between the QM2 and QV:

In very simple terms everything that 'works' on the QM2 has been enhanced on the QV, sometimes this means a loss of character in my opinion. The Commodore Club is a good example, it is bigger on the QV and much more accessible (not as tucked away), this detracts from it being the intimate tucked away bar it is on the QM2, although it is still my favourite bar.

Next to CC is Hemispheres, which replaces G32, again it is much more accessible than G32, which means it has much more footfall and seems to attract an even more eclectic mix, but has more of a lounge feel and less of a nightclub feel.

The Wintergarden on both ships is a non-space as far as I am concerned.

Continuing the trend on QM2 (compared to QEII) the Golden Lion on QV is much more of a food venue than a bar, the actual bar is very small and segregated from the main room. Golden Lion on QV simply isn't as big a deal as it was on the prior ships. However, the other key bars are more centrally located and pick up the slack (Midships and Chartroom are both strong spaces in my opinion, with the Chart Room being improved compared to either the initial or revamped version on QM2). The Champagne Bar is baron most of the time, although I quite like this level of intimacy for the occasional pre-dinner drink.

The Cafe on QV is a great location and feels much more bar like than Sir Sams on QM2. We tend to play backgammon there in the mid-morning whilst sipping espresso, and very enjoyable it is.

The QG and PG restaurants are much better in terms of decor, location and service than on QM2 (the fact there are no open decks or walkways blocking your view is a great improvement). The QG lounge is more central (harping back to the QEII) and therefore attracts a much stronger pre-dinner crowd than on the QM2, where it is largely by-passed, sadly the actual bar is much smaller, which can cause frustration if you are a bar-fly like me (if you see two glasses of coloured water on the bar at about 8pm holding a space for two customers yet to arrive, that is Simon and I having arranged for a place hold!). There is no separate Concierge Lounge on the QV, which I miss only for the occasional coffee run.

Overall I think the QV is a much more intimate ship, with a more clubby feel than QM2. Service seems more personal and precise - sadly she isn't a looker!

The best piece of advice I can give is treat everything as different to the QM2 (even though the names may be the same) and try everything in that spirit. I think the people who complain are the ones who go automatically go to say the Commodore Club expecting it to be the same as QM2 and become disappointed, but don't try the Chart Room because they do not like the Chart Room on QM2. If you board early in Rome (bearing in mind the late sail-away time we have), do a bar crawl. You will have a good idea of the venues and facilities that suit you before the ship has even sailed.

Nick

Thanks for the insight Nick. I will try to go in with an open mind. It did seem like the QG lounge was extremely underused on QM2 and i will miss the concierge lounge. It was about 20 feet away from our room so it was extremely nice to duck in for quick nibbles.

That much travel would get tiring I'm sure. My partner used to travel a lot and now the pendulum is swinging my way. Well only 1 more week to go!

See you soon in the CC :)

Jim

Hey guys-Looking forward to meeting everyone. We are Harry & Gary from New Orleans and we will have a female friend traveling with us so we shouldnt be hard to miss. We too will check out the bar crawl on the first day. We're flying into Rome this Saturday and are looking forward to a great week.

Well all, we are departing Saturday for Rome. Plan on spending Sunday through Wednesday morning there before making our way to the ship. Please fill us in on the "bar crawls" etc going on so we can hopefully meet our fellow FOD on board. We are still trying to plan our time on shore and seem to be leaning on doing our own thing rather than a structured tour.

We hoped for an upgrade after booking a balcony cabin but alas, according to our rep, the boat appears to be full. SIGH. Still, we plan on enjoying ourselves tremendously.

Also spending a few days in London post cruise to stretch our trip to two weeks rather than one.

Hope to see you all there !! Bon Voyage !!

Bon Voyage! See you on board!