tacticalbanjo

It was a bit rough overnight and I felt like I was about to be rolled out of bed at any moment. There were also two massive bangs at one point. I took a precautionary sea sickness pill and tried to go back to sleep. By the time we got up things were a lot calmer but the promenade deck was closed due to the high winds. On our way to breakfast we noticed that the dreaded bags were out. Unsurprisingly breakfast at the Lido was pretty empty as people slept in due to the time changed and being kept awake by the movement of the ship. After a little while in the kids club I headed to the Chart Room for a coffee. Then straight onto lunch. We tried for a pub lunch but didnt manage to beat the crowd coming out of the Claire Balding talk so had to settle for the Lido which was also packed. Again the food was good and there was plenty of variety. All that eating led to a nice nap for me and the toddler then onto the craft meet up while husband and toddler went to kids club. There were some new faces and the craft meet up and we all had a good chat. The hour went by very quickly. Being on early dinner means you feel like you are heading for a meal every 5 minutes so before we knew it was time to get ready for dinner. I had vegetable samosa and a vegetable biryani which were both delicious. Unfortunately my sticky toffee pudding was missing its ice cream but we were close to a toddler tantrum so we put up. The wait staff are incredible with my little one and her dinner is brought out early so she doesn’t get hangry and they make sure mummy and daddy get all the way through to the petit fours before the toddler gets too tired to be in public. Night nursery was successful (until now at least!) so we’ve swapped the toddler for a pager to enjoy the Newfoundland Folk Duo in the Golden Lion.

There were 7 crafters and 2 observers yesterday. No mention was made of me being a dreaded crocheter! 😂

Today was a nice slow day for me on QV. We had a nice breakfast in the Lido which the toddler promptly stole from me because it was much better than Weetabix then headed to the Chart Room to await the kids club opening. Unfortunately we were sat in the other half of the Chart Room and couldn’t attract the attention of the one waiter who appeared to be working so we went caffeineless as nothing else was open at that time. Husband went to kids club where he enjoyed plastic food cooked on a plastic barbecue while I went to the Commodore to work on my crochet and enjoy the sea views. Then it was time for lunch. We stick to the Lido for lunch because it seems unfair to ask a 21 month old to sit through two 3 course meals in one day. We both enjoyed the duck stirfry. All the sea air meant that me and the toddler were in need of a nap and we both had a wonderful sleep with the North Sea to rock us gently to the land of nod. The husband sampled the delights of the Golden Lion instead. Then onto more kids club for him and the hobby and craft meet up for me. I really enjoy these meet ups where I can chat to fellow crafters about what they are making. This was in the Admirals Lounge which is a much cosier venue than the Yacht Club which is where it used to be. Tonight was the Black and White ball so we all dressed up to enjoy a delicious if beef wellington followed by baked Alaska. The waiters kindly brought the toddlers dinner with our starters to avoid a meltdown. She also had a beef wellington and particularly enjoyed the potatoes. Food is very subjective but we’ve always enjoyed the food on Cunard. Our beef was cooked to perfection and we both commented on how much we enjoyed the baked Alaska. But no doubt someone will come along to tell you how horrible it was! Night nursery was not successful for us tonight (I’m sure it was absolutely nothing to do with the ice cream!) so I’ve headed for an early night while the husband enjoys the Golden Lion. The clocks go one hour forward tonight so an hour less sleep for everyone except us because the toddler doesn’t know about time zones. Here’s hoping for another great sea day tomorrow.

I’m currently onboard the QV with my husband and daughter. We’re seasoned but unusual Cunarders in that we are both in our 30s and are travelling with a toddler. Day to day we dress pretty casually so we don’t see eye to eye with the people who claim that no jackets mean the world is caving in but we do enjoy making an effort on our Cunard trips. We had a 2.30 embarkation time which normally we would mutter about but with a toddler this was ideal for a leisurely morning, lunch then a nap in the car. Our trip was very smooth and we sailed down the motorway and all the way through Southampton. The traffic was so smooth that my husband managed to sail past dock gate 10 simply because he was used to getting stuck in a queue of passengers. Embarkation was smooth. There was no queue at check in but a bit of a queue for security. The security queue kept moving though and we were on board swiftly. Annoyingly when we got to our room we discovered that we had been assigned open dining. Since our toddler has some allergies we prefer to have a fixed table so we had to run down to the dining room to see if we could swap. This wasn’t a problem and we were giving a table on first sitting right away. I’m certain that we would have booked early dining and we booked full fare a year out so I was a bit irritated but it was sorted easily and with no fuss. I don’t mind the odd hiccup as long as the customer service is right when it happens. After a trip to our muster station we headed to the Lido in search of a snack for the toddler. She was very pleased with her slice of pizza! After some unpacking we got ready for dinner. Our table is right at the back of deck 3 so not idea if the toddler is grouchy but we are by a window and if it was light out, it would have a wonderful view out of the rear of the ship. Toddler highly approves of Cunard food and tonight was no exception. My husband and I felt like the menus are a little tired - it feels like we have seen these ones a lot and it would be nice to see some new menu items. But the quality of the food is always good. The toddler was distracted with ice cream so the grown ups got to have tea and coffee and petit fours. Unfortunately the toddler decided that she liked chocolate mints and stole my husbands so he had to make do with a piece of shortbread. There’s no night nursery tonight so while most of the ship is eating dinner we’re headed for an early night. Which given that we often have a 5.30am wake up call is no bad thing. Here’s hoping for a wonderful day at sea tomorrow!

I'm going on the 12th and your post has made me hopeful that we might see the lights too. I don't have a proper camera but I did get the latest iPhone Pro in hope and the night mode is pretty good. Do you thinking waterproof walking shoes will cut it (will probably want them just for strolling around) or am I best off trying to find room for my hiking boots too if I'm doing a lights chase? Thanks for the tip about the cold! I'd forgotten to take a look at the weather forecast now we've got a bit closer and see it's much colder than I was expecting. I'd better take another look at layers for my toddler.

See the Maitre'd as soon as possible when you board. If in Britannia then this would be in the afternoon or if that's not possible, as you go into dinner. If not let your waiter know about your allergies as soon as you get to the table. The first night they will do their best to get you something suitable but after that you will be given the next days menus so you can choose something which will be made specifically for you.

Of course. But it still amounts to Cunard selling a product that it knew it could not fulfil if it has waited until it had a replacement itinerary before announcing the change. Did Olden Adventures supply you with an appropriate child restraint? I'll have my 2 year old and I'm not keen on taking her on vehicles without a car seat.

Cruise ships have been docking outside the city centre since June though (and calls presumably rearranged in advance of the 2023 season) so you'd have thought that Cunard would have known some time ago that they wouldn't be able to call at Oslo.

I'm also booked on this and a bit miffed. Sure it might have been billed as a fjords cruise but it was the overnight in Oslo I booked for. I've been to Olden and Zeebrugge before (and Bruges more times than I can count) so it's a fairly boring itinerary for me now. I probably won't cancel because I don't want the hassle of finding another trip at that time of the year for the right price but I am disappointed.

Another one over from the Cunard boards who is enjoying reading your trip report. I think you are the same age as me, I've just turned 36. I've always enjoyed a Cunard cruise so I hope you continue to have a good time. I'm on board the QV in 30 days and your report is getting me excited for all my usual Cunard favourites - especially the donuts, when they get it right they are really good.

Well it did take the first Cunard trip to realise that we did actually quite enjoy dressing up now and again. Before that first TA we did have quite a bit of nerves about it and lots of people asked us if we were sure that a TA for first cruise was the right thing both because of the dress code and because of how many sea days we'd have before we were able to get off.

I liked the look of it. I've always thought that the Golden Lion on QM2 looks less like a pub than those on the QV and QE but feels more like a pub in spirit. Hopefully that will carry on to QA. I actually like the fact that Cunard is trying modern design again. The QE2 originally had modern interiors and the art deco stuff was all retrofitted.

I don't think having more choices is a bad thing. Given how popular freedom dining is in the cruise marketplace it is safe to say that people want a choice of when they have dinner not to be stuck on one sitting. Personally I like to have the same waiter every night so I'll stick with traditional dining but its nice that those who like different things have a choice. I'm not that interested in wellness but I do know that Gen Z and to a lesser extent Millennials are increasingly choosing to stay sober and I suppose that cruise lines have got to generate on board spending some how to stay afloat. If making space for a yoga studio means that Cunard can live on then I'm happy. I'm looking forward to seeing what QA has to offer and I hope that my favourite Cunard things are still present. If Michel Roux messes with the Golden Lion menu too much I'll be most upset! But at the same time I've seen things on other lines that I wish were on Cunard. I was on Sky Princess earlier in the year and really liked the medallion both for tracking down shipmates and opening the door without fishing in my pockets for a card. I also liked being able to select an embarkation time and how good the WiFi was. On P&O I liked that they had wine pairings on the menu for people like me who have no clue. But I didn't feel as at home as I did on Cunard.

I'm 36 and a jeans and a t-shirt kinda girl. My 38 year old husband refused a job he'd have to wear a suit to. We have a toddler. Very much not typical Cunard passengers but we fell in love with Cunard on our honeymoon. We love the relaxing feel on board, the excuse to dress up and how interesting our fellow passengers are. 32 days until I'm on the Queen Victoria again and I can't wait. Maybe I'll take advantage of kiddo nap times and do a live thread if people want to hear from non-traditional Cunarders.

Can't dress like a slob if you want to take photos for the 'gram 😆

The booking still has to be put into Cunard's systems though. Alarm bells should have rung somewhere whether at the third party or at Cunard when three passengers were assigned a two berth. It absolutely should not be on the passenger to check that the room offered can actually accommodate all passengers on a booking. Luckily your Cunard spidey senses started tingling and you were able to correct the error before you got on board. I wonder what would have happened if you had trusted the phone operator and left things be.

You need to call back. None of those obstructed view oceanview cabins are a three berth. I seriously doubt that there will be a sofa bed in a room not designed to have one in it. We were told that even if we didn't need a bed we could not book a double occupancy cabin, it had to be a three berth so I'm surprised their computer system has allowed three people to book in a standard cabin. Actually I'm not surprised really!

We've booked Queen Anne for November 2025. Got the rooms we wanted - we're travelling as a multigenerational family so it was important to us to have three rooms next to each other so we can open the doors between the balconies. Hopefully we'll find she's up to snuff when we go on the maiden!

We've preregistered for a QA trip which looked good value. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my travel agent can get three rooms together with two of them three berths which might be a tad optimistic. Good luck to everyone!

I either change the clock manually on my phone which is then reflected on my Apple Watch or I set at timer on my phone rather than an alarm. Actually, now I do neither because I have a toddler and I'm up at the crack of dawn regardless.

As others have said Verandah is the only true speciality restaurant. It's definitely worth a try whether that's the lunchtime menu or the bigger dinner menu. My husband and I are looking forward to trying it again when we are on board in November. Of the Lido pop-ups I've only tried Coriander but I did enjoy the first time so much we made it a priority on our subsequent trip. The food was excellent and so was the service. Possibly helped by the flight of wine I drank alongside it!

I used a bandaid to disable it on Sky. I had my toddler in a pack and play in the closet so it was more than a bit inconvenient to have a spot light blasted at her every time we needed to use the bathroom. And a cushion was shoved in front of the bedside table motion light because it would turn the light on every time the ship rocked. It can't be too much of a health and safety issue because I sailed on P&O Britannia which is also a Royal-class ship and didn't have a motion sensor. I boarded with painters tape just in case!

My husband and I did a British Isles cruise in 2021 and we keep saying it was one of the best cruises we've taken. I'm only 35 but it appears that I prematurely have one foot in the grave!

Not my cup of tea really. I did notice that Clarendon Fine Art does seem to heavily promote Mr Brainwash so I wonder whether this is led by them rather than Cunard.

Unfortunately with a little one in nursery my budget is a lot more restricted than it used to be so if drinks prices keep going up I'll be priced out even if I would rather be on Cunard. I won't be the only one who has to reduce spending on luxuries to meet spiralling living costs.