Kynance

Mr K is not a fan of a lot of savoury sauces either, though he likes a good peppercorn sauce. Depending on what the sauce is, he will ask for it on the side or to be left off altogether. There are also a lot of vegetables he really doesn’t like either, so sometimes asks to swap the vegetables that go with the protein he has ordered with those from another main course. He won’t eat mushrooms, shellfish or cheese (unless on a pizza) either but has never gone hungry in the main dining room - the bread rolls, consommés and desserts will pad out his evening meal if necessary - and he will have demolished a bowl of crisps in one of the bars beforehand!

I think I’m on the same sailing as you in June as I have just had the email about booking now being open too. I’d love to try it but suspect that the menu won’t appeal to Mr K, so I am not really keen to risk $400 on something he might not really enjoy. I suspect it will be completely booked out before we board but I would consider it if I had a better idea about the menu. We do have the Nordlys pop-up as well, which I might persuade him to try, because at least he’ll have a choice then. Hope you have a great time though - do let us know afterwards what you thought!

Mr Kynance & I ordered afternoon tea on a couple of occasions for consumption on our balcony when on QV last June whilst doing the one week northern Spain & Cherbourg trip. If I remember correctly, the selection varied each day but always included sandwiches/rolls, cakes and a scone each. For some odd reason, we always got 3 cakes rather than four but since I prefer the savoury items and Mr K has a sweet tooth, he got a second cake and I ate whichever sandwich he didn’t want. We also ordered the extra charge Prosecco on the second occasion. You do need to make extra tea using your kettle though but that wasn’t a big deal. Altogether, I did think it was a great idea to introduce afternoon onto the room service menu & I’m sure we will order again when we are on QM2 to the fjords this summer.

@Doug fh - I hope both you & your daughter enjoy the cruise. In view of the problem you have described and the advice you’ve already had, I think the situation has a better chance of working out to both your satisfactions if you drop the surprise in favour of breaking the news to your daughter now so that you can both explore options for resolving the dining issue (and any others) before you’re onboard and it is possibly too late. Good luck.

Happy new year to everyone too. We have also had a quiet night in - pizza and a film. Fireworks have been going off intermittently since about 6pm. It’s nearly 1030pm UK time as I type - I’ll be going up to bed soon and Mr K & I will see the new year in, tucked up with our books. Mine is the new Poirot novel, written by Sophie Hannah, with the blessing of Agatha Christie’s literary estate. It’s called Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night, which will probably be something of a misnomer come midnight! (I do recommend all the books in this series if you are a Christie fan.)

Merry Christmas to everyone, especially anyone feeling under the weather today (and it has been a typically damp although mild one here). We had the quiet, pleasant day that, for various reasons, I didn’t think we’d be getting a few days ago, so that was the “gift” I most appreciated today. Not perfect, but a quite nice time, with lovely food, including turkey sandwiches this evening, my festive favourite.

@Pushpit - I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts. Thanks for taking the time to share your journey with us. Have a safe and good trip back home (certainly a less stressful one than you had on your return from Hamburg in September).

I’ve never watched Strictly - but I am enjoying the latest series of Shetland, though the glitz and glamour levels are not the same! I”m also enjoying Masterchef the Professionals - mainly for twinkly-eyed Marcus Wareing, who is definitely on my fantasy dinner party guest list… … as is David Tennant, retuning shortly to Dr Who, which I am very excited about. Hands-down the best doctor of the modern era. (Tom Baker was my favourite childhood time lord.). I also really like the reboot of All Creatures Great & Small - very pleased to see that Oscar the cat has been introduced as a new character in the most recent series. 🐈

Do please share a photo of the finished cakes - I’d love to see how they turn out!

I’m seeing what you’re seeing for Cunard’s UK site, Blue Marble. Maybe they removed most of the questions because they realised members of this forum do a much better job of answering the questions?! 😉🤣

For the original poster - “dress shirts” don’t have to be plain either, patterned shirts are very popular now and Mr K has quite a collection. Those in the UK will probably know what I mean when we say we refer to them as his “James May” shirts. However, unlike James he always tucks them in (and wears a jacket!). I think the key bit is the “smart firm collar” Bell Boy mentioned. I know we had a question on here before about whether Hawaiian-type shirts were ok - that might be pushing the definition of a dress shirt a bit far but I personally wouldn’t be “upset” if I saw someone wearing one, especially if it was worn under a nice jacket or with a suit, though they would be very much in the minority, along with those wearing polo shirts.

@tacticalbanjo - I suspect quite a few of us who booked this trip did so specifically for the overnight in Oslo, so appreciate your disappointment as I was looking forward to completing my set of Scandinavian capital cities and this seemed to be an ideal way to do that. I agree about the hassle of transferring to another booking - I got a good deal in the September sale so I’d probably lose the benefit of that if I looked for another sailing and if I recall, the options for Southampton round trips next year are fairly limited, unless you look at the Queen Anne (I’ve decided to wait and see actual photos & the reviews before booking on her.)

Yes, whilst I have been to Olden twice before I’m looking forward to trying out the sky lift ride and Skjolden will be new. I have been to Kristiansand before but not to Skagen. I do agree with you that we probably have two very scenic replacements with Zeebrugge making up the numbers a bit. We are also there the day before we get back to Southampton and I would have preferred a relaxing sea day, but there we are, that’s really not much to complain about in the great scheme of things. Funnily enough - we all know how clunky Cunard’s website can be but when I checked last night they were still advertising the original itinerary - however, when you clicked on “list view” to see the ports, it showed you the revised schedule! I’m still happy to have a trip booked for next year - not sure how others who booked this may be feeling - perhaps if they drop out the elusive upgrade fairy may visit and reward my patience and understanding! 😀🤣

I received a very interesting email from Cunard this morning - in a nutshell, it said the QM2 was no longer able to call at Oslo on 5 & 6 June and that after “careful review”, the impact of the change means the ship will also be unable to visit Skagen & Kristiansand as originally planned. The replacement ports are Skjolden, Olden & Zeebrugge. We’ve lost a port day - this seems to have been replaced by a “cruise by” of Hardangerfjord. Cunard didn’t give a reason for the change so I don’t know whether it’s down to the same reason she is no longer able to call at Flam or Geiranger. They are offering each passenger $100 OBC as a goodwill gesture. Added to what we had already, that now makes $275 each for the week which isn’t bad I suppose. I did book this trip specifically for the Oslo overnighter so it’s a bit disappointing and Zeebrugge is a bit boring as a replacement but I guess these things happen and we are still going to Norway and on this ship, so at least it’s not the complete write off we had when we last intended to cruise to Norway - May 2020 was cancelled for obvious reasons. Anyway, I just thought I would share this info out of interest and ask the question - has anyone else ever booked a cruise with Cunard and then had a complete change of itinerary before sailing? I’m sure this must have happened before…

The additional cost per night for Britannia Club is usually less on a short voyage. I’ve done 3 nights in BC on QV and 4 nights in BC on QM2 - in November 2018 and September 2023 respectively, The rest of my voyages have been in standard Britannia grade cabins. The deck 13 BC cabins on QM2 are very nice - I thought the Art Deco accents very elegant and the shower room was great. The restaurant on QV was elegant too - I preferred it to the discrete starboard-side dining room on QM2 but I didn’t dislike that by any means. We had a very nice table by the window but some tables for two are still pretty close to each other. The atmosphere in both restaurants is calm and service unhurried. I would say this is one of the main benefits of BC dining. We found on both trips we didn’t eat much earlier than we would on late sitting. We did appreciate the additional offerings on the a la carte menu but to be honest after 4 nights we had tried pretty much everything which appealed. I did enjoy having our own table for lunch on the sea days too rather than having to queue and be allocated one in the main restaurant. On longer trips we always use the alternative dining at least once. We are never up early enough for restaurant breakfast and Mr K often prefers the menus in Kings Court or the Lido at lunch. My conclusion, for us at least, is that BC is a lovely treat for short trips but we wouldn’t get value for money or be able to justify the price uplift on a longer voyage. However, I would definitely recommend giving it a try out on a short break.