QV......Never Again

Upon boarding the QV in Southampton, the first thing we noticed was the lack of any Christmas decoration. There were twin Christmas trees in the Queens Room and one smaller in the atrium, but that was it. A bigger shock awaited us when we entered our cabin, a non balcony outside room. It was a small sterile looking space, no pictures or mirrors to enhance the space, two nightstands with a single drawer apiece and the desk with a drawer containing a hair dryer. In the closets were two shelves. That was it. There were passengers keeping their clothes in their suitcases under the bed. The bathroom was the size of a telephone booth with a shower that you could barely turn in. Again no shelves or storage space with a rather small counter top. There were problems; our toilet sometimes did not flush. Some complained of no hot water and I overheard one passenger complain to the desk about dirty water coming up in their shower. One lady told me of no electricity in her cabin for two days. Even the telephone was in the wrong place, not on the nightstand but on the desk. The only plus to our cabin was a great bed.

The public rooms aboard were very attractive although the Queens Room where a good deal of the social activities occurred is too small to accommodate the crowds that were generated. The theater is the most beautiful we have encountered on some twenty different ships that we have been on. Unfortunately the entertainment was at best mediocre. The cruise director and staff did an outstanding job in providing activities all day long especially on the many sea days we had due to the storms encountered.

The Britannia Dining room while attractive did not have the scope of the QM II. The food did leave a lot to be desired. The first thing we noticed was that the first course was eliminated from the dinner menus. You received an appetizer, entrée and desert. Soups were quite good as were the bread and rolls. The deserts were dry and tasteless. The ice cream made aboard was tasteless colored ice. The beef if ordered medium rare came out raw. When we switched to medium it came out blood red. If you did not like the entrees, there were not standbys on the menu. It was necessary for the waiter to speak to the captain to order something else. Service was uneven. The third table that we finally were seated at, we encounter an experienced and skilled waiter and assistant. The ones we had at first were useless, it was impossible to get a roll or water glass refilled. Service up in the Lido was also uneven. My wife asked for a glass of water and received it in a coffee cup. During the storms with the ship rolling heavily, elderly passengers were struggling with their trays; personnel were standing by talking or looking at the ceiling.

Seven formal nights or $27.50 pictures do not make a luxury liner. For all the hype and talk of “White Star Service” or “White Glove Service”, Cunard will never be a Crystal, Silversea or Regent. QV is at best a very expensive Carnival ship that needs a lot of work.

Im pleased we are only on her for 5 days in may, I dont think my loyalty to the wonderful QM2 will be challenged.

I hope that problems are well sorted by then though, I did in the virtul Qv that the walls are bare, how odd, Im sure they will put that right as well, and add extra draws as well.

rob

Is this for real? It sounds like a bad dream. Threader

It's amazing the amount of negative reviews from QV but sadly they all appear to come from Britannia. We had friends on the Christmas voyage, a couple in Queens Grill and a couple in Princess and they came back raving about the food and service - they especially also enjoyed the extra private spaces put aside out of the way for Grill passengers.

It does not surprise me that the QV Grills are just about sold out for the next few months with long waitlists vs the Britannia class which seems to always be available. It's also a matter of something like 100 passengers dining at one leisurly sitting vs almost 2,000 passengers spread out over two seatings, that = mayhem. That is 'one' thing I don't like about Crystal - two seatings - get'em and get'em out - that to me is not relaxed dining.

Cunard do go 'overboard' promoting their 'white star' and 'white glove' services, however that seems to only reign forever strong in the Grills. Sadly and unfortunately Britannia can be very under whelming at times.

Again, I guess the old saying applies here: "you get what you pay for".

Pat.

Cunard do go 'overboard' promoting their 'white star' and 'white glove' services, however that seems to only reign forever strong in the Grills. Sadly and unfortunately Britannia can be very under whelming at times.

 

Again, I guess the old saying applies here: "you get what you pay for".

 

I found on QE2 on some cruises there were more complaints from the Grills. Those of us in Mauretania dont seem to have such problems, (maybe the fact that its a hosted table) In fact lv always found the service to be top notch in there, and the few times iv been in Britannia, its been nice But not that nice that l would pay those kind of fares.

In response to curlyQ there were 135 people in the Grills and 1800 in Britannia. I take exception to the statement, “you get What you paid for” we certainly did not get what we paid for. I have booked a mini suite on Princess for next Christmas for the same length of time at about two thirds the cost and I won’t have to spend thousands on air travel.

. If you did not like the entrees, there were not standbys on the menu. It was necessary for the waiter to speak to the captain to order something else..

:p :D :p :D :p

Please tell me you mean the Maitre'd?

Curly Q

I always thought that 'getting what a I pay for' re always booking Queens Grill & after an superb 3 week Autumn Colours cruise in Sep 2006 to the US & Canada was expecting the same first class food & service back onboard in Oct last year for a 2 week med cruise. Instead i received still very good food, a ship full of very unhappy crew for whom it was an effort to talk or interact with guests, poor service in most bars except the Queens grill lounge bars & crystal bar + a poor Caribbean band in the Yacht Club who finished at about 11.45 pm each night & sections of the ship closed to passengers for crew use!!!, & the list goes on, etc. I am already looking at Silversea for 09 & have a long P & O cruise booked to the Caribbean for this Sep & am so glad I did not book a long cunard cruise this year - the QV sounds like another disaster even though I would like to try her in the Queens Grill grade & really liked the ship when I went on a tour last month.

Kind Regards,

RJMS74

Curly Q

I always thought that 'getting what a I pay for' re always booking Queens Grill & after an superb 3 week Autumn Colours cruise in Sep 2006 to the US & Canada was expecting the same first class food & service back onboard in Oct last year for a 2 week med cruise. Instead i received still very good food, a ship full of very unhappy crew for whom it was an effort to talk or interact with guests, poor service in most bars except the Queens grill lounge bars & crystal bar + a poor Caribbean band in the Yacht Club who finished at about 11.45 pm each night & sections of the ship closed to passengers for crew use!!!, & the list goes on, etc. I am already looking at Silversea for 09 & have a long P & O cruise booked to the Caribbean for this Sep & am so glad I did not book a long cunard cruise this year - the QV sounds like another disaster even though I would like to try her in the Queens Grill grade & really liked the ship when I went on a tour last month.

Kind Regards,

RJMS74

sorry about my double post,

Kind regards,

RJMS74

:p :D :p :D :p

 

Please tell me you mean the Maitre'd?[/QUO

 

The dining room has one Matre'd and 5 or 6 captains.

:p :D :p :D :p

 

Please tell me you mean the Maitre'd?[/QUO

 

The dining room has one Matre'd and 5 or 6 captains.

:p :D :p :D :p

 

Please tell me you mean the Maitre'd?[/QUO

 

The dining room has one Matre'd and 5 or 6 captains.

 

 

LOL

 

Whos driveing the ship then??????????????????:)

Curly Q

 

I always thought that 'getting what a I pay for' re always booking Queens Grill & after an superb 3 week Autumn Colours cruise in Sep 2006 to the US & Canada was expecting the same first class food & service back onboard in Oct last year for a 2 week med cruise. Instead i received still very good food, a ship full of very unhappy crew for whom it was an effort to talk or interact with guests, poor service in most bars except the Queens grill lounge bars & crystal bar + a poor Caribbean band in the Yacht Club who finished at about 11.45 pm each night & sections of the ship closed to passengers for crew use!!!, & the list goes on, etc. I am already looking at Silversea for 09 & have a long P & O cruise booked to the Caribbean for this Sep & am so glad I did not book a long cunard cruise this year - the QV sounds like another disaster even though I would like to try her in the Queens Grill grade & really liked the ship when I went on a tour last month.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

RJMS74

I have flip-flopped between PG and QG many times on QE2 and QM2 and I have always found them excellent both for service and food. I have found little faults here and there but nothing that can't be corrected. I have been so spoiled by the Grills that I am afraid ( for lack of a better word ) to try Britannia or Mauretania. I would also not go on a new ship until it has been in service for at least 4 months - to go on a maiden voyage is simply asking for trouble.

Also RJMS, I have been on Silversea ( I see you mentioned them above ) but they are now nothing like they were. I enjoyed myself last time but have no desire to cruise with them again as they have lowered the fares which in turn lowers the experience from service to food. Also, not sure if you have been on Princess lately but they are nothing like they were in their heyday. Again with Princess, lower the fares and the standards slide in the same direction.

Have you considered looking at the new Seabourn Odyssey for 09? - she looks beautiful and you can't beat the Seabourn service/food. At 30K tons and 400+ passengers ( I refuse to use the word 'guest' ) she seems perfect.

In response to curlyQ there were 135 people in the Grills and 1800 in Britannia. I take exception to the statement, “you get What you paid for” we certainly did not get what we paid for. I have booked a mini suite on Princess for next Christmas for the same length of time at about two thirds the cost and I won’t have to spend thousands on air travel.

Hi there, I was actually referring to the price diff between Britannia and Queens Grill when I used the phrase " you get what you pay for". I was not comparing one line to another. Sorry you did not like Cunard and that you are going away with a sour experience, but I find it difficult to travel any other way these days other than Cunard and in Queens Grill . Cunard advertise and promo their ships as all first class and everyone builds up the illusion that all passengers, once onboard, are treated royally and equaly. However once aboard many people find a completely different experience than what they had been led to believe would be the case. It's a lot easier to pamper a couple of hundred compared to a couple of thousand as you might well understand. Anyway, good luck to you and happy sailings on all your future endeavors. :)

Upon boarding the QV in Southampton, the first thing we noticed was the lack of any Christmas decoration. There were twin Christmas trees in the Queens Room and one smaller in the atrium, but that was it.

A bigger shock awaited us when we entered our cabin, a non balcony outside room. It was a small sterile looking space, no pictures or mirrors to enhance the space,

Colin.

Have you considered looking at the new Seabourn Odyssey for 09? - she looks beautiful and you can't beat the Seabourn service/food. At 30K tons and 400+ passengers ( I refuse to use the word 'guest' ) she seems perfect.

I am afraid Cunard will never be the same great experience that it was.

I have switched to Seabourn and yes, I have booked The Odyssey in 2009 for the Month of August.

Never,ever book a maiden voyage on any ship/Liner you will always have problems.

I was not happy with everything about the QV but that was perhaps because I expected too much from a maiden voyage.

The cabins are rather "clinical"/straight from Ikea or MFI. However, the bed was comfortable and I had two pictures and a mirror on the wall in my C3 outside cabin. The people on my table had pictures too. The shower room was small - about the same size as a P&O ferry and smaller than in single cabins on the QE2 and certainly no storage space. As I have said elsewhere, we had no plumbing or electrical problems on Deck One and it was so quiet - I missed the creaking on the QE2. The space was adequate for one. The A deck balcony cabins are just the same with a balcony added.

The choice of food in the Britannia restaurant did not seem as good as the QE2 but I found the meat very good but then I did have an ex QE2 waiter who made sure you had what you asked for regading rare, medium etc. I gather he had an argument with a chef who did not cook my meat as I had asked. The bread rolls were excellent but I did miss the cold blueberry soup! What I really missed was the choice of chocolates after the meal!

I think the theatre is wonderful so long as they have the right acts to do it justice.

What will stop me from sailing on the QV (and the QM2) is the lack of single cabins. For this reason, I am giving Fred Olsen's "Balmoral" a try.I have a single cabin of 165 square feet and with a picture window for 14 nights plus two flights, for the same price I paid for 11 nights in a D8 cabin on QV. (I was upgraded to C3.)

This year, apart from the Balmoral cruise, I am sticking to the QE2 even though the local Southampton paper said she was on her last voyage. I am joining her in New York in April - doing the opposite of the persdon who wrote in the blog about flying from New York just to go back again.

Maureen

:p :D :p :D :p

 

Please tell me you mean the Maitre'd?

 

The dining room has one Matre'd and 5 or 6 captains.

"Sir, table 30 wants Lobster"

"Tell them to bugger off, I am trying to steer a £300m ship here"

As you can tell, I am not taking this thread entirely seriously, as I think artistic license has already been used by the OP. :p

Still sounds like a bad dream. Threadknot

Still sounds like a bad dream. Threadknot

If this is a bad dream....don't wake me! Despite some growing pains, the Queen Victoria may just turn out to be the jewel in Cunard's crown.

Will elaborate when I'm home (am sailing all the way to LA on the QV) and don't have to pay for my words on the Internet.

Donna

dc-farer

I hope that when you return you will post a review on the members review page (stays in "plain sight, not like this page)

As someone who reads the reviews for information, it is helpful to know the cat. of cabin and the facts of actually being on board. I personally travel in an inside cabin, dine in the "lower class" dining room, buy my wine by the glass, etc.

When I wrote a "bad" review of another line, I got flamed by someone who claimed they had been on the cruise and "everything was absolutely wonderful" they failed to mention they were in the "top of the line staterooms", had a butler, dined in the equiv. of the Queens Grill, were wined and dined by by the Captain etc. Not knocking someone who is fortunate enough to be able to do this, but given the facts it is only to be expected their cruise experience was far different to mine.

Hope you are having a wonderful time, I will be on the NY to LA Jan 2009 cruise, could not book for the one you are on, as there were no inside cabins vacant when I tried to book.

Going on QM2 in March, time is going far too slowly until then

dc-farer

 

I hope that when you return you will post a review on the members review page (stays in "plain sight, not like this page)

 

As someone who reads the reviews for information, it is helpful to know the cat. of cabin and the facts of actually being on board. I personally travel in an inside cabin, dine in the "lower class" dining room, buy my wine by the glass, etc.

 

When I wrote a "bad" review of another line, I got flamed by someone who claimed they had been on the cruise and "everything was absolutely wonderful" they failed to mention they were in the "top of the line staterooms", had a butler, dined in the equiv. of the Queens Grill, were wined and dined by by the Captain etc. Not knocking someone who is fortunate enough to be able to do this, but given the facts it is only to be expected their cruise experience was far different to mine.

 

Hope you are having a wonderful time, I will be on the NY to LA Jan 2009 cruise, could not book for the one you are on, as there were no inside cabins vacant when I tried to book.

 

Going on QM2 in March, time is going far too slowly until then

Jimsgirl,

I will be happy to post a full review when I get home. As you may have gathered from my reluctance to spend Internet $ on doing so now, I am not one of the Grill people....am also staying in an inside cabin (solo), am dining in the Brittania, and buying wine by the glass! So, I am hopeful that my review may be helpful to you. I am on the ship for 24 days, so by the time I arrive in LA, should be able to give you the full run-down....at least from my perspective.

This is my 23rd or 24th cruise, so I do have some cruising history by which to measure my Queen Victoria experience. If there are particular areas that you're interested in hearing about, do let me know.

All the best,

Donna

I have just noiticed the date of the first postiong. (Not very observant of me!) The ship left on 6th January. It is traditional to remove Christmas decorations on that date.

Maureen

I have just noiticed the date of the first postiong. (Not very observant of me!) The ship left on 6th January. It is traditional to remove Christmas decorations on that date.

 

Maureen

Good point.

As I recall from a QE2 Christmas cruise several years ago, the directions started to come down in the last few days of the cruise. Each night after New Year's one or two trees would disappear in the night, so by the end of the cruise, the ship was pretty much de-Christmassed.

Kathy