Pegase90

Well . . . we've recently booked for Alaska out of Vancouver, and Cunard quoted flights as follows:

£1000 per person economy return from LHR.  Business class upgrades were quoted at the full airline fare PLUS the £1000 economy fare. 

When I queried this, Cunard said it was to cover the cost of the airport transfer!    

Anyone who thinks The Grills are snobbish and class ridden has obviously never shared a table with me in the Queens Grill restaurant! Perhaps I'm lucky to have only shared with some of the nicest, down to earth people I've ever sailed with.

Nothing whatsoever to do with 'class'.

You pay your money and you make your choice, and only you can decide if you've received value for money.

Agreed - please don't spoil it. Dining and the table companions one meets on a Cunard ship is a lovely experience, and one of the reasons we keep returning.

Last year, a couple at our table were doing it, and were very pleased with themselves for fooling Cunard. Our wine waiter wasn't fooled - he mentioned to the Maitre'D that it appeared some cabin glasses had been mixed up with the restaurant and bar stock!

Etiquette is not about being 'posh', but about respecting other people, and providing easy rules for us all to abide by - wherever we're from.

So please, if you want to consume your own drink, don't embarrass your fellow guests and wait staff - bring the whole bottle and pay the $20 corkage.

Interesting thread. Many people book cruises a year or more in advance, and the amenities advertised and the price thereof can change substantially between deposit and final payment time - and even from final payment to boarding.

So are P&O in breach of anything e.g. material differences? Would we be able to cancel without financial penalties?

Cunard's corkage charge is $20. You have to look hard to find anything below $30 on the wine list so there's still a potential saving if you take something reasonable on board with you.

 

Despite some slightly ambiguous wording of their drinks policy, in practice Cunard currently allow passengers to carry any amount on board. Their drinks prices are also far higher than P&O's so presumably they're making enough profit to not bother too much about in-cabin consumption. The cheapest room service gin is Gordon's at $60 (including 6 mixers) so Cunard is way more expensive than P&O in that respect too.

Interesting, we were charged $15 in August 2017.

Yes, Cunard drinks are v. expensive wherever you buy them from, and you can rack up a healthy bar bill if you like a cocktail or two.

Cunard charge a $15 per bottle corkage fee for wines purchased ashore for consumption in the restaurants. This allows guests to go off-piste and sample local wines at dinner and lunch.

We don't drink enough to need a bottle in the cabin and one in the restaurant!

We really need our next Cunard sailing to be a success - otherwise we might just be moving our loyalty elsewhere; so we'd like to not be given a 3 tier cake stand with a selection made by staff - we'd like what WE want, afterall, that was what we understood would be the situation when we booked and paid for our next sailing.

 

I understood that the service in the Grills Lounge would be 'as normal' with waiters offering us a selection at our table. A pre-selected 3 tier cake stand would leave us with very little choice and a load of waste - and most importantly a waste of our time.

 

So, we'll give it one chance, and then if that's no good we'll diy it; at least then we won't be let down and our time won't be wasted.

 

We've never been in PG, and then only times we've been in the Queen's Room is either waiting to go off on an excursion or for a 'drinks and nibbles' affair. Whilst I think that the musical accompaniment would be lovely, I suspect that there might be just a bit too much background noise in there for us.

Well, best of luck with your next Cunard trip - let us know how get on. We too have watched the gradual erosion of the QV experience (not just QG), so we'll probably go straight to a different supplier. We work hard to make the money for our QG level holidays, and we're unwilling to risk it on yet more service pruning - and inaccurate advertising!

None of this is in any way a criticism of the on board staff, who have always been Cunard's best advert.

On previous QV cruises we've really enjoyed the personal service of afternoon tea in the Grills lounge, and were disappointed in August this year to find that it had been replaced by a tea plate stand of sandwiches served in the Princess Grill restaurant.

I've just received an email from Cunard stating that:

"Our chefs create hand-decorated cakes served daily as part of the Grills Lounge Afternoon Tea" and

"Your exclusive lounge provide the perfect setting for a pre dinner drink or an indulgent afternoon tea"

So are there any recent travellers who can vouch for this advertising?

You can't order off menu in PG, and the a la carte menu in PG is very different to QG. There is lamb and dover sole in PG, but no lobster thermidor or chateaubriand etc. The a la carte menu is half the size. Obviously, the food offerings are going to be cheaper items in PG. IMHo, you get what you pay for.

This is generally correct, however this summer in PG we asked for - and were served - chateaubriand.

So if you want something, just ask. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Although we were affected by the return flight last weekend we are very disappointed at lack of fly cruises to the med over the next few summers, and not much on offer to the sunshine from Southampton during the summer holidays. I would have preferred Cunard to source a better chartered flight specialist rather than cut the option out.

 

Titan was ok for us last year as it happens, but we were unlucky this year.

 

With the increased drink prices and lack of choice of itineraries for next year we are finding ourselves looking at alternative cruise lines. If there's a chance that there's a change to the timings of evening shows as indicated by someone on QE then a change will definitely be happening.

 

 

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No med cruises/price hikes/cutbacks/etc. mean we'll be jumping ship too. DW has the Oceania brochure . . .

We're just back from a QV trip in Grills.

Although the lounge is open all day, the staffing hours have been reduced so there will be times when drinks are not available.

Tea and coffee are complimentary in the lounge, all other drinks are charged to your account. In Queens though, you have free drinks in your stateroom.

Afternoon tea is no longer served in the lounge, but in the Princess Grill restaurant.

The lounge is a lovely place to sit, and it has easy access to the grills terrace.

I hope this helps.

Sorry to hear that the afternoon tea was terrible, were they serving in the restaurant because the lounge was full ?

No. The lounge now has limited opening hours. consequently it is rarely busy. The staff are assigned elsewhere on the ship, and afternoon tea is served in the Princess Grill. On previous trips, the waiters brought selections of sandwiches and pastries for us to choose, but now pre loaded multi tiered plates are delivered as follows:

Plate one - 5 finger sandwiches (no choice), one each and a spare!

Plate two - 4 scones

Plate three - 4 pastries (no choice).

We were told that if we wanted more, all we had to do was ask.

Afternoon tea in the Grills Lounge has always been a highlight of our previous trips, and the new presentation and delivery left us feeling cheated. It doesn't match what is shown on Cunard's website and in their Grills sales literature.

No doubt we could have complained, but that misses the point.

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Hello everybody

Just off the Adriatic trip, here's what we thought:

Grills food and staff - excellent, no change there.

All other staff we met - excellent, no change there.

Tea & coffee in the cabin - really good, especially the Illi coffee machine.

Refit - really good, the ship looked fine, and absorbed the additional passengers easily.

Lido buffet - really good, no cause to complain about content, quality, or presentation.

Dress code - average, many people ignored the after 6pm rule. Formal evenings were better.

Live music - average, in that there didn't seem to be as much as there used to be; subjective I know.

Grills Lounge - average, reduced staffing, reduced opening hours

Drinks - average, overpriced for what is delivered. The bars were quiet - Laffers principle?

Piped music - awful, unnecessary, turn it off.

Grills afternoon tea - terrible, delivered in the Princess Grill restaurant, poor content and presentation.

Commodore Rind said there were 893 crew on board, I think there used to be over 1000.

Overall, our impression is that the standard has been allowed to slip, with cost cutting clearly evident, and price increases with no discernible improvement in quality, quantity, or service.

Previously, booking Cunard Grills was a "no brainer" for us, but we'll look for better value for money in 2019 - even if it means paying more elsewhere.

I'm on the QV right now and spirits have certainly shot up. Yesterday in Spain I just had a coke and with tip and Spanish vat it was almost $5 for a piddling little bottle of the stuff.

 

And $9 for 2 very poor quality cappuccinos in the golden lion did rather annoy me somewhat.

Oh dear. All this with rude staff and canned music as well - might have to jump ship next year, despite the refit.

We'll find out in August.

Ice maidens can be found at the Purser's desk on QV as well.

Apart from them, we've never had less than outstanding service from all on board.

For the informal nights, chinos and a sports jacket/blazer will be fine. Up to you whether to add a tie.

Nonio

Although you've paid a 5% deposit, I believe Cunard charges UK pax the full 15% deposit in the event of a cancellation.

Others may know better.

We had a Q4 on deck 7 this year, and a Q3 on deck 8 last year.

The rooms themselves seemed identically sized, but the Q4 balcony was twice the size of the Q3 (you can see this on the deck plans).

The in room table in either room isn't really suitable for dining, but the Q4 balcony is a great space for breakfast, with the table beautifully laid by the butler.

Hope this helps.

Current and future deck plans are available in the Overview section of the 'Our Ships' tab of the Cunard website.

Oops, trying again.

All the info is here, on the Titan Airways web site:

http://www.titan-airways.com/passenger-information/tour-operator-series-

flights.html

I'm recently off QV after my first ever cruise. According to the Captain, the ship was full, but it never seemed like it; there was plenty of space.

Formal nights were great fun, and smartening up on the informal nights provided a change of pace and a punctuation in the day. We liked it, but a few didn't - they were with the wrong cruise line.

There were a few children on board, occasionally boisterous round the mid-ships pool, but well behaved (invisible!) elsewhere.

Food, service, accommodation, and entertainment were all delivered to a very high standard.

It wasn't cheap, but it was very good value for money. Cunard and QV exceeded all expectations, and we'll be back next year.

Yes, spread thinly on buttered toast. Or as part of a cheese, ham and Marmite sandwich.

But that was many years ago, in a previous life.

Oh dear, this has degenerated hasn't it?

Tipping - Gratuities are automatically added to everyone's bill, to be shared amongst the crew, including I believe, the customer facing staff. If passengers choose to reward individuals on top of this automatic gratuity, then that's up to them, but it should be earned, not expected.

If staff expect additional tips as a matter of course, and treat passengers differently because of it, then it is most definitely a training matter to be addressed and monitored by the ships managers, as it negatively affects the customer experience.

Changing attitude - There is absolutely no reason for the staff to treat customers as 'last week's news' - regardless of how busy they are. This is a training matter to be addressed and monitored by the ships managers, as it negatively affects the customer experience.

The customer experience is all Cunard has. It doesn't matter how new/big/fancy the ships are, if people don't enjoy the experience, they will go elsewhere. Last impressions linger, and cannot be undone.

I will be a first time cruiser in a few days time, and these points will certainly influence whether I become a returner.

Hoorah!

Thanks.