WantedOnVoyage

I do also realise that it was quite possible to take a cruise without one of those, too... it was called a key.

Easier still is settling in a proper wood steamer chair with a good book and view over the rail of the vistas of ocean, spray and a boundless horizon. How or why one needs "IT" or any of these silly nonsenses to savour the delights of an ocean voyage is quite alien to me. Let alone to open one's cabin door.

Oh I don't know, it seems quite in fitting with the rest of QUEEN ANNE inside and out from everything I've seen and read of it.

I first "met" Jonathan when he was a youngster of only 151 years of age, back in 1983 aboard RMS CENTAUR, on the front lawn of Plantation House. St. Helena is wonderful and I've been privileged to visit there, gosh, it must be five times. Not sure what, if any effect, having an airport will have on its unique charm. And it wouldn't be the same not visiting there on "The RMS."

Maybe Cunard would be wiser to offer an "device detox" cruise experience.... sounds like its needed for some. Surely it is possible to actually travel in a ship for a few weeks without interacting with a piece of plastic let alone aspiring that one cannot get into one's cabin without it, be given an actual menu card and a printed daily programme without it. Enough!

Two months? My Cunard schedule shows QM2 transiting the Suez Canal in mid April. That's four plus months distant. That is a lifetime in world events and especially that region.

We are Pol Acker recyclers.... we tried it once. Never again. And always leave in its natural habitat: the fridge. The last oh three-four trips it seems to have been denied us in PG and replaced by numerous replacements, most of which are vaguely drinkable. In 50 years, I expect a bottle will appear in the Cunard "Heritage Trail" on QM3. Maybe one of our bottles passed on to a future generation.

Well one might point out that one Roger Moore was a model in the late 1940s-early 50s and, as shown here, used for photographs of the brand new CARONIA's public rooms in what was "smart casual" for those days... and still should be, too.....

Nor should you be... there is absolutely nothing untoward or noncomforming about wear a dark suit... blue, grey... instead of dinner dress on a Cunarder. Never has been.

Actually ARCADIA is QV without the provision of the Grills decks/PG accommodation block amidships that was designed for her from the onset. I think it was just a matter of market demand to complete a Vista for P&O before one for Cunard. Any Vista for Cunard was going to have grill accommodation and facilities. If you've been on one, you can make your way around all of these Vistas, regardless of their name, line or "heritage" without missing a beat. I personally this it the best overall cruise ship design in the last 25 years in terms of overall use of space, layout and ease of getting around. NIEUW AMSTERDAM/EURODAM were favourites before HAL went headlong into mediocrity. We were right next to COSTA DELIZIOSA (good grief, these names!) at Santorini aboard QUEEN VICTORIA and it was like looking at a mirror image.

I do relish these dress code discussions.... it makes one think Cunard passengers are watching their mothers sew in or stencil their names on their cricket kit and remembering to put in two extra collars before packing off them off to the station to some severe boarding school. It was true in 1910 as it is now: every gentleman over the age of 14 need only a smart navy blue suit, a crisp white shirt and presentable pair of shoes for any worthwhile endeavour after 6:00 p.m. Today, alas, the tie seems subject to bizarre angst driven confusion. But the rest, at least for gentlemen.... how difficult can it be, really?

The QM2 Promenade Deck is one of the treasures of the ship, indeed among present day passenger ships. Not just the dimensions, the shade, the traditional pleasures of proper steamer chairs and an open railing to the sea, but the superb real teak wood decks. That smell alone is worth the price of a ticket. And it must confound those designing new Cunarders just how popular this deck and those on QVQE even with their plastic decks are... people actually enjoy these traditional, enduring ocean liner features. And will continue to put their money where their preferences lie. No wonder they ensured QA is the only Southampton based ship.... I suspect run head to head against QV, the latter would attract more bookings.

I even remember back when grill passengers would always be invited to visit the grill galley even cruise or crossing on a special tour... when it really was impressively small and separate. You got to meet the grill chef and even some of the staff and see the menus, recipes etc. They have not done that for years now and one surmises the reason.

Hopefully nothing less than it was aboard RMS FRANCONIA in 1911

Comply with the dress code? Like inflatable plastic machine guns and plastic derbys? You could and people did wear precisely what was suggested (dark jacket and trousers) in First Class on FRANCE and RAFFAELLO which, I might suggest, threw QM2 into a cocked hat on every level. It was not common but it was certainly accepted. What a strange sartorial world Cunard is now: one night it's dinner jackets and silly dress up "themes" and the rest of the evenings, it's dress like the 19th hole. I'd much rather they go back to the c. 1974 code where there was no code at all except jacket and tie at dinner. Every night.

Navy blue jacket, grey dress trousers, tie and dress shoes... I cannot imagine anyone would object to that. Do also appreciate that if you have black dress shoes and bring a bow tie, you can also hire a complete dinner suit on Cunard (I think it's about $80 a night) except for those items. United mislaid my luggage last May and I had no clothes save what I flew in (jacket and tie, of course!) and Cunard provided me with dinner clothes... they have a pretty decent range of sizes, too.

This regular Grills passenger would much rather have the lower fares charged for the UK market and buy a drinks package that actually works for most drinks. With the considerable increase in the per drink prices across the board, $12 doesn't get you much at all. It used to be real benefit. No longer.

Except that QUEEN ANNE has the same machinery and technology as KONINGSDAM which entered service in... 2015 or just five years after QUEEN ELIZABETH. So QA is a nine-year old design. Her staffing requirements "behind the scenes" would be little different from the Pinnacle-class ships. That's the whole point of these standardised designs. If it makes people feel better, QA's crew numbers of 1,225 is an improvement on HAL's Pinnacles' 1,036 but I suspect that reflects that she has Britannia Club, Princess Grill and Queens Grill additional staffing needs. Existing crew on QV told us they had no choice in terms of ships they were assigned to... and several said they much preferred to stay on QV precisely owing to the anticipated workloads on a ship that simply carries far more passengers and fewer crew.

To be clear.... "grt" is gross registered tonnage. It is a measure of SPACE in the first place. Not of weight (displacement) or carriage (deadweight). So taking the number of people in a ship of so many grt gives you a pretty far comparison of how much room you have as a passenger one ship vs another. Ditto the number of crew per passenger gives you an indication of service levels. I am not quite sure how the age of the passenger demographic fits into all this.... do "young" people like less space and more people at sea? I made my first ocean voyages aged 16 in Tourist Class on FRANCE and RAFFAELLO... even as a dopey teenager I knew what cramped was and aspired thereafter to... spacious.

I don't think it's that hard to find the passenger capacity... QUEEN ANNE 2,996 pax, 113,000 grt = 37.71 grt per pax density QUEEN VICTORIA 2,061 pax, 90,000 grt = 43.66 grt per pax density QUEEN MARY 2 2,691 pax, 148,528 grt = 55.19 grt per pax density Them's the facts, so you judge if you prefer a higher density of passengers on your cruise ship or a lesser one. Carnival bean counters know what they prefer....

We are on the same cruise... our flights (to London) are when all the others are... midday to 1:00pm so the airlines think this is an ideal time or they would not have all their departures then. I suspect cruise traffic is their main midday market. We have yet to check if Cunard offer transfers... I would imagine so as they do for Heathrow from Southampton which is a longer distance... we have use the Cunard transfer often for that and they say you can book flights from 12:30 pm onwards... it leaves the quayside at 9ish. So I would imagine FCO is fine for 12:30 pm onwards. Thanks for the tip re romecabs.com

Well, Cunard have already severely diminished the entertainment aboard in anticipation of QUEEN ANNE, especially live music and the quality of what is left. They used to have a really good live band in the Yacht Club. No more. And really good pianists in the Commodore. No more. The evening "entertainment" in the Yacht Club is... wait for it.... "karaoke" like some naff pub on a Saturday night. Or some some nonsense called "Silent Disco." You couldn't get a seat in the place after 10:30 pm now it's a ghost town. QUEEN ANNE has gone one better... it apparently doesn't even have a Yacht Club. So the change is already there. I guess they figure if you squint hard enough, your hearing is effected too and you won't notice.

Squinting can cause horrible wrinkles... and will not disguise the fact... in configuration, in concept... that this latest "Cunarder" is no such thing. QUEEN ANNE is a Pinnacle-class off the shelf Carnival "platform". Now, you might argue that QUEEN VICTORIA and QUEEN ELIZABETH are also off the shelf Vista-class ships. And be quite correct. You can judge if you prefer a Vista to a Pinnacle but those of us who were once loyal Holland America Line customers know what happened to the experience that we liked and came back for. It was destroyed in five years. And can see precisely that QUEEN ANNE is the thin edge of the wedge to achieve the same with Cunard. A "Jumbotron" dominating the central lido deck may someone's idea of "updating" the Cunard experience. Not mine. A "promenade" deck of 6-ft width in places with no view of anything is no such thing. The fact they are dragging out Chris Frame, Bill Miller et al to impart some Cunard lore and history to this novo HAL retread only reinforces the desire to keep us squinting and squinting....

The Grills Deck "service" on two cruises in QV (May and September) was hit or miss... almost entirely miss in May and in September, it was present only enough to make you wonder who turns it on or off, seemingly at will on any given day. A big cutback in my opinion. I was not the only one to notice it, either. Love the size of these forward cabins but my goodness, no thanks... I am immune from seasickness after four months in ST. HELENA but not my wife... she could not last past Calshot in one of these. I would imagine in a headsea, you'd hear and feel a lot of pounding and shuddering, too.

Being able to does not equate with choosing to or having others endorse your choice. The cost, the label, the designer are immaterial.... jeans are jeans and the idea they constitute "smart attire" on Cunard is wishful thinking by those who have many other chances to wear jeans ashore or indeed afloat, sadly on the vast majority on cruise ships. Cunard is different precisely because of its more traditional standards (which I appreciate is a naughty word nowadays) and patronised by those who appreciate, abide by and derive pleasure and satisfaction for those who do share those standards.