lucky white heather

Just checked my bank statement and yet again Cunard have slipped a post cruise charge through, one day after disembarkation,this time for £3.34, which I assume is going to be attributed to mini bar usage- we didn’t touch the mini bar. This is now the third cruise that we have come back from and have had either an additional disputed charge or a refund not credited. Anyone else experienced this?

a long correspondence ensued until they admitted they could not actually tell me what the charge was for except it was related to our stateroom. i was annoyed as i had left the ship assuming my account was accurate and accepted therefore paid in full. i had checked the account items on the sheet slipped under our door with all receipts, before leaving , altthough they did say it was too long since we left the ship to find out what the charge related to but as you only find out about the additional charge once your next monthly bank statement comes to your home something which is out of your personal control, we felt that this was unacceptable and as you must sign for things aboard and i had all my receipts to hand none of which applied to anything in the stateroom. we never even used the minibar as we do not drink so it could not have been applied to that that.we also actually had the pol acker taken away by the steward since we never even opened it.nor did i take any of their towels, bedding, dressing gown and slippers home.nor have anything delivered to the stateroom either like breakfast for example so no tip was outstanding so it was a mystery to both them and us.apparently you have to take their word for it that you owe them but it left a very bad taste in our mouths.although we have cruised with them since then, it has only happened once.however if it happened to me again i would begin to wonder what on earth was going on and demand a more acceptable explanation /outcome . it has never happened with any of the other cruise lines we have sailed with.

It really is such a sad ending to your cruise!

My husband and I have different attitudes to what to do with precious items on last mornings...he confidently leaves his wallet etc in the LOCKED safe while we breakfast , but I still check it for anything possibly left behind even after he says he has taken it all out , and before we leave the cabin for good.

I prefer to carry EVERYTHING precious to breakfast .. money , passports , airline tickets , jewellery I don't put in my "big" luggage......and it is a hassle carrying EVERYTHING but to my mind the cabin steward/ess can't do it all and keep the cabin door shut 100% of the time while you are away, to prevent anyone else going into the cabin while your other bags are still there. If the door is left open even for a moment or two while they work elsewhere, it is an opportunity for something as gut wrenching as this to occur .

I am so sorry your things have gone missing and hope you will be recompensed at least, but I do understand how much this will sadden you.

I have just been searching for something I knew I had taken on our last cruise but could not find anywhere in the house even although I was certain it was definitely unpacked after our cruise!

Checking the suitcases was a last effort to see if by chance it had been left in my case....which I was utterly convinced was wasted effort ...and there in the corner unseen by me during the unpacking, mixed up with the internal elastic straps, was the lost item.So you can find a surprise later on.

We have to assume you have absolutely checked every possible place the missing items could have been placed without success , so it is indeed a sad ending to your holiday. I am so sorry for your loss.

The second male singer that usually was " attached " to the QR orchestra on QV ( from our experience) was Canadian, Paul Christopher and as far as we understood from talking to him , he moved with the relief band going to whichever ship when "his" band leader was substituting for another resident bandleader during time off. The musicians individually can easily be substituted and you would probably never realise it was a different guitarist/ trumpeter/ pianist onstage as they are all excellent musicians able to play whatever is required . Obviously it is much easier to spot a different vocalist/ band leader.

If Paul Ritchie went on a vacation break from QV ( prior to him being moved to QE) we usually had Paul Christopher . Then Cunard thought of this new development of using female vocalists on QV. Both QR female vocalists we heard every evening on QV recently were also Canadian.

The QE Queens Room dance floor is relatively large for a ship (although it is somewhat smaller than on the Queen Mary 2) and seems to be well maintained. The QR orchestra has 7 musicians, which is much larger than the usual cruise ship dance bands, and a male vocalist. The dance floor is usually crowded while the orchesta is playing. However, there is usually plenty of room during the orchestra breaks while the so called "strict tempo" recorded music is played.

 

A few Gold level dancers may not find the Queens Room orchestras to their liking, but most social dancers find the music selection and tempos quite acceptable. The QR orchestras are one of the reasons we keep coming back to Cunard.

 

Bob

I hesitate to correct you Bob but on the last two cruises on QV we have taken, female vocalists have replaced the male vocalists who used to be pretty regular on the ship alternating performing with the "resident" and the fill in "relief" bands.

Having been on fairly friendly discussion terms with both male vocalists because we are regular cruisers who go to the ballroom every night we did hear the plan was to replace the male vocalists on QV with female performers and in all honesty it has not been a good musical change we have enjoyed. We would prefer it to go back to what it used to be for one good reason...the male singers actually sang in tune with the orchestra. Neither of the two ladies we heard performing every night on these two cruises managed that , sad to say.

I presume you know that the lido is open for refreshments you make yourself TEA/COFFEE/ HOT CHOC etc so you can sit and socialise if you feel like doing that after you leave the dancing in the Queen's Room every night.

That's our routine............early dinner , the show (if it attracts), then dance the night away till about 11pm then upstairs to deck 9 for a cup of tea / sandwich (or whatever you want from the choices up there) in the lido , usually till late.

Most nights it can be very sociable with other people doing the same thing....you can get another "fix" of conversations with other people besides your dining tablemates if you have a mind to.

I have received the link for the latest survey twice and have filled it in both times.

 

It seemed to me to be mainly about getting rid of the chart room on QV, which in my opinion, would be a tragedy, and changing the decor in the staterooms. I may have got QV specific questions as that was the last ship I was on.

My survey had errata in the heading and explained there had been a problem before when first sent out so was being re- issued.

I also felt the survey was trying to find out if we wanted the chart room maintained ....... I stressed that I did along with other areas we like as well. I assume they might be testing out if it would be off putting to future cruisers to change the chart room to another dining area but revenue will be the deciding feature I' m sure.

Well, my boardname is Cruachan but I'm not a mountain in Scotland!

 

:D:D

 

J

I saw the photo of Cruachan the 3rd who has just retired from regimental service and been replaced presumably with Cruachan the 4th ?. I toyed with the idea of posting the newspaper photo for you , but assumed you would probably already have your hoof on the pulse.

I definitely understand your frustration having had my toes stepped on, a piece of flesh gouged out of my foot, and a hole torn in a dress by stiletto heels. I did not want to make a generalisation regarding the nationalities of offenders, but at the Officers' Ball it was easy to see as military uniforms are good identifiers.

 

You are quite right that most young(er) people at least in the UK, and probably elsewhere, too, have not had much social dancing experience. Leading and following are skills that take time to develop, and many people focus too much on their feet to pay attention to where they are going. I mostly grew up in the UK (Dad's a Brit), but my mum is Austrian/Bavarian, and in Austria young people still learn how to dance. They attend special classes where they get to waltz, foxtrot and cha cha their way around the room. My mum signed me up for my first ballroom class at the tender age of 14 or 15 - this was in the 1990s.

 

I do envy those in the "well over the biblical allowance of years allotted to your expected presence on earth " age group (love the expression), as they grew up with dance halls where one could dance informally. However, I am pleased to report that tea dances are making a comeback amongst the 20- and 30-something crowd, and the Blackpool Tower Ballroom is attracting uni students again - or so I am told (I am not in Lancashire). Perhaps things will improve in future. Happy dancing on your next cruise!

 

P.S. I love Edinburgh. My aunt lives in Balerno.

Persephone ... we'll be getting back on the dance floor in a couple of weeks back on QV .Where we live ...10 miles south of the city ....in Penicuik ....we don't have anywhere to practise between cruises.

Your aunt will know exactly where Penicuik is!

I haven't seen any tea dances advertised here but if there was something handy we would probably go along just for the opportunity to get the old legs working between cruises. Perhaps a visit to Blackpool and the Tower ballroom should be our next holiday plan!

"Strictly" the TV show has done its part in reviving interest in ballroom but of course it doesn't really show you how to do the dances or how to manage in a full ballroom, but we do enjoy the show.

Hopefully the next trip you make to EDI will allow you to see the city as it should look ..we've had the saga of "the trams" for 4 years or so , and perhaps by then we might even be able to use the ones they currently are trialling... they had to employ a man to keep driving them round and round because they had been standing so long waiting for the tracks to be prepared for them their wheels were going square with the weight! Can you believe that ?

I wish you plenty of opportunities to keep up your dancing..it's a great " sport" to enjoy...you can do it for years and years.... we still try to keep working at it despite the problems with people on the floor who don't understand ballroom etiquette!

Enjoy!

We didn't encounter this problem on our Cunard cruise, but I do know what you're talking about. My dear husband and I, whilst not of a certain age, attend lots of balls, including many in Vienna, Austria, and the last time we were there, which was at the Officers' Ball 2013, we encountered several Americans who had apparently never danced a step in their lives, and completely went against the flow of traffic. They were quickly, politely, but in no uncertain tones told that dance floor rules mandate that one travels anticlockwise with experienced dancers on the outside and less experienced dancers on the inside. The Austrians are rather direct.

 

My generation (I am well under 40) can be very thick-skinned and unfortunately quite egocentric and entitled. It's very possible that they neither care nor notice that they are causing problems. You may have to take a page out of the Austrians' book: tell them, and if they don't change their behaviour perhaps a staged accident can change their minds?

Without checking individually on the couples who insist on dancing against the general "flow" of the dancers around the floor ( any floor) as to their nationalities, I reckon you don't have to be brain of Britain to see you are causing problems. If the woman partner is being pushed round by the man then it is his job to see where she is going really and try to keep both of them out of harm's way, and/or harming others by spiking the ankles of passing couples with backward movements of stiletto heeled shoes.He could steer easier with the "flow" if he was paying attention. A staged accident might work though!

We are in the "well over the biblical allowance of years allotted to your expected presence on earth " age group....if you get my drift.... but we can still get round the floor quite adequately and have never ( as far as I can recall anyway), caused a problem to others sharing the floor.I still believe it is the years of experience in frequenting ballrooms in our youth where we danced with many partners over an evening and became experienced in what was the right thing to do even if you didn't actually know you were following the specifics of floor craft.

The younger generations don't have that opportunity now because ballrooms died out...in our area anyway... the wonderful floors were sold, the buildings usually became bingo halls.The young folks had to find another venue to meet people , so IMO pubs became the new dance hall.

I look forward to the cruising on Cunard simply because we get an opportunity to dance with an orchestra/ singer and a great floor area . We do enjoy watching others , especially those who always go to a corner to begin, (obviously going to dance lessons) , and those who have got lots of routines to show everyone but usually go off and sit down when they can't get space to do them, and those who are not "freestyle" who have to start their carefully learned routine all over again from the beginning if someone inadvertantly gets in their way.

It's a joy!

laktex:

 

Another reason I love your country...common sense and so much less stress.

 

 

 

We've boarded a few ships following outbreaks of Noro and the staff looked so tired and were still working so hard to greet and make the ship welcoming. Wish I had a pile of $100's to spread around at that point. :-(

 

I"m sure you are a lovely companion for tea and if we are ever on the same ship together I will even treat you! :D

 

 

 

Lovely Heather:

 

I also liked the little cards and envelopes that were given to us to hand out to the staff saying that the tips were paid. That was Royal C. but they are not doing it anymore. Now I take little note cards and write the staff member's name and thank them and let them know the tips were pre-paid. I asked at the Purser's desk on QE and QM2 on our last crossings if the staff knew if you had pre-paid tips and they said they do. However, I've also read others asking and getting a different reply, so I just do the cards.

 

I do know that the comment cards (Star Cards on Cunard) really mean a lot to a staff member to receive and I remember that you have written that you take time to write those so that would be really appreciated by them.

 

 

best regards,

seasidegal

Yes I still do try to do the Star cards. Last trip in August our steward was the best room attendant we have ever had but was leaving the ship the same day that we disembarked for his trip home for his break . He had been with QV from when it was first launched. He really was excellent so I wrote the Star card as well as giving the extra tip over and above the auto tip for his exceptional service to us, and hoping that when he returned to the ship he would get proper recognition for his efforts.When you don't know the internal promotion routine of the ship you can only do the best you can to make it known to those further up the ladder how well someone is doing their job.

We're back on QV in a couple of weeks but he'll still be on his break... and since we still don't know our allocated cabin ( we're on Getaway again ) we 'll just have to hope for another hard working room attendant, but having said that we've really never been disappointed to date. We've always been pretty satisfied with the cabin staff.

On our recent two cruises we've had table companions who chose not to auto tip like we do . On another cruiseline we've sailed with ,if you choose anytime dining, pre- payment of tips is obligatory.

On yet another cruiseline of choice (pre- Cunard), we actually were given nice little cards with envelopes we could hand to staff at the end of the cruise to say thank you for attending to us during the cruise and noting we had pre paid our tips. We don't get that with Cunard and it may have been withdrawn by the other cruiseline by now as it was probably deemed an extravagant cost to the company, but it was something we liked.

Now, we always feel very awkward on the last night when other tablemates hand over their envelopes and we have nothing to give because we've prepaid /auto tipped . It always seems to disappoint the staff but we have no idea of course of what amount of cash is contained in those other envelopes......maybe less than we 've paid through our auto tip for all we know ??? Their contribution is always an unknown.

If tips were included in the overall cruise price, then you would be saved any concern on the last night when you have no envelopes to hand over.

Auto-tipping also saves the extra hassle of having to count out note by note who's worth what amount , depending on what you thought of the quality of service each member of staff had offered you.

I sure hope to travel alongside you one day! :D

 

(and not just because of the $100 bills):)

 

best regards to you,

seasidegal

 

and to Lovely White Heather also.

Thanks for your comments seasidegal... it is a lovely gesture to try to help everyone less well off than yourself who is suffering from being undervalued , but if , in the case of tipping amounts, you give what has been deemed the required amount .... worked out by the financial people of your cruiseline..whatever cruiseline..not just Cunard... since some cruiselines profess " no tipping required or expected "as part of their sales technique ... I think it has been worked out very methodically how to cover every predicted cost attached to your cruise before you even think about booking your holiday.

Just my "take" on all this .

Lucky white heather, I agree with everything you said. We have, at various times removed the auto tip. But we do it when we feel the service is exceptional rather than the other way around. When there is a good repoire with various staff, I prefer to hand them an envelope personally on the last evening with the full amount designated for them.

 

What about:

 

The laundry workers washing your sheets and towels

The cleaners keeping the ship nice and clean

The chefs and other kitchen staff

The staff in Kings Court/Lido

 

etc. etc. or is it put of sight out of mind?

 

No , it is never out of sight out of mind , but prior to auto tipping I never actually went to the laundry to hand out any envelopes, or to the kitchens or gave any envelopes to Kings Court or Lido staff either.I don't believe many cruisers pre -auto tipping ever made that effort if it was even possible to do .

I follow the auto tipping routine because it appears to be a system which rewards everyone . front and back office alike, at their going rate( I assume?).....even the maître D we might never see .in the D/R ....the sommelier we never use....the cleaners employed to do the cabin along with those we don't.

 

If I am paying the going rate decreed by the cruiiseline in order to use their ship, I expect them to do the jobs I am paying for, without needing to ask me for more than that.They have obviously decided the sum you are asked to contribute for tips at a figure they feel is going to be acceptable to the punter. I agree to that and the contract is then accepted by both parties. I should not need to pay over and above this agreed cost if I choose not to.

However IF I choose to offer more to specific people that have rendered a service over and above what I have assumed I actually paid for, then I can offer them more. I don't want to feel pressurised that I MUST feel sympathy for any personal difficulties of the members of staff.

Because they all have families to keep elsewhere is not really part of my concern..If they want to work away from home then that is their decision..they know the terms of their employment before accepting the job...I assume. I never expected anything more than what I was contracted to receive in my former places of work nor did I expect anyone to make up my lack of monetary reward from their personal pocket either no matter how sympathetic they were towards my problems.

It is everyone's own decision how they choose their employment and I am not responsible for poor judgements.I may sympathise but I am not on the cruise to do that..I saved up and paid the going rate to cruise and enjoy what is offered by the cruiseline in return for my payment.

I had to work to get the money together for my cruise...it never fell out of the sky . The cruiselines all have financial wizards advising them on all aspects of what they need to offer to get your booking. They have already decided what is the going rate I need to pay to cover ALL costs. If I didn't get what I assume I have paid to have, then I reserve the right to argue the point, give them the chance to explain the situation as they see it, but would refuse to pay the tips if it came to the wire if I still had not got a resolution I thought acceptable..but that has never happened yet.

Hi lucky white heather,

 

I agree with your highlighted line above, whenever I've been to the Purser's Desk (not, so far, to ever remove the autotip), like you I've not had to wait for a long time (either because I'm lucky or because I try to go there when I think it will be quiet).

 

However, there have been several posters over the years (some still posting regularly, others not) who have reported that they overheard passengers, within hours of boarding, in the queue at the Purser's Desk, mentioning that they were there to remove the autotip, sometimes while the ship was still at the terminal, boarding further passengers.

Not because they've received poor service (they've not had any service yet, good or bad), but just that they won't pay the autotip on principle, or so it would seem.

 

Now, the OP has reported " ... As for the Pursers staff making a "public announcement" concerning the deleting the auto, and requesting that any passenger wishing to do so should "step forward ... " this indicates to me that there are so many people lined up, waiting and wanting to remove the autotip, that they start a separate queue dedicated to this purpose. They do this because experience has shown them there is a need. If it was one or two passengers, they'd let them queue along with everyone else.

 

This act alone would seem to verify and confirm the reports posted here by other members, at least to me.

 

All best wishes,

If there is such an announcement then I have to admit I haven't heard it but then I'm only really interested in what would apply to me and this wouldn't be, so I may have not taken it in.

I know from my last voyage in August, tablemates did not pay their auto tip..but from what they said , they normally choose to pay the people with whom they interact personally in cash.I've always thought the discussion on CC makes it look like those who take off the auto tip are not paying any tips at all..which I think is the wrong impression that readers on here may get .

I would consider not paying the full auto tip, if for example, I can't get the dining sitting I want and am forced to use the self service Lido for my main evening meal because it would be self service and not waiter service or the full tip if the cabin service was so bad I was forced to make the point if complaints were not resolved. This has never happened in over 50 cruises so I don't feel it even warrants discussion. I still maintain most people do pay their tips whether it be the auto tip method or alternatively by handing out cash. But the inference I read here in all those discussions about people not wanting to reward the staff and removing their auto tips by the hundreds the minute they get onboard is just false.If you are going to remove the auto tip in part or as a whole depending on your circumstances/ choice, eg. as I would if I was not getting my chosen dining and having to use the alternative self service facilities , it makes sense to tell the desk early anyway, so why not do that...I would ! I wouldn't feel bad about it either.

It's my cruise , not anyone else's, so I would never feel pressurised into doing whatever those who constantly complain about auto tip removal behaviour decides is the more acceptable choice to follow , as if I had no common sense of my own to decide what is best for me.

'nuff said.

I've been to the desk at guest relations for various reasons , but none of which was to remove the auto tip.I get fed up hearing that is why all these queues of people ( that I've never seen ) are waiting in turn to remove their auto tips.

Who stands there counting these "auto tip removers" anyway to be able to give us this numerical statistic and is happy to spend their cruise days doing this service? What vital clue am I missing that is obvious to the "counters" but not to me, that this is the main purpose of those visiting the desk ?

If anyone is there to remove their auto tip, I think they must have their own reasons ..... and it would be their own business and not mine .

I've always been remarkably lucky when I've been to the desk...must have always hit a quiet spell...no squillions of cruisers taking off their auto tips so far !

I guess to change the subject, during last month's QM2 crossing I was impressed that there were 5 or 6 gentleman dance hosts aboard, working the Queen's Ballroom. Dutifully every dance, these fellows would step out to find/ask a lady to dance. That certainly is a nice service Cunard provides many dance-starved ladies.

 

No, never danced with these fellows. My wife and I were dancing ourselves, enjoying the very nice music. These hosts easily adapt to the skill level of the lady. Very cordial gentlemen.

 

So, my question is..... Does Cunard do Gentlemen dance hosting well?

 

I briefly talked with two Cunard Gentlemen dance hosts. One fellow is on a 30-day hosting commitment. I believe he said that Cunard picks up the cost of his time aboard (he doesn't have to pay any fractional per-day cost). When asked if they must attend other social functions (I mentioned Bridge, excursions, etc.) to entertain as requested, he said "no". A couple hosts were at the midday 'free' dance lesson, but guess that is not required. I believe the ship does their laundry, too. Bet they're bunking above the engine room.

What a deal, huh? I was told in order to apply as a host, one must go to a dance studio to prepare a video of yourself dancing 6 different ballroom dances.... send it in to somebody (dunno who?), and see what happens.

 

Oh, awhile back I ran across mention of a gentlemen dance host who has written a book on his experiences. Probably an interesting read.

 

Comments?

Because those who dance most evenings aboard the ship, get to easily recognise other regular dancers and dance hosts , it is easy to start conversations with each other.We often get to know the dance hosts pretty well for the duration of every cruise. They are usually pretty good company and have been around a bit , have done interesting things in their lives pre- dance hosting. They seem to have very few dancing skills to demonstrate but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of much better skills than we see around the cruise dance floor ...it depends on the partners they find amongst the willing!

Some of them are toiling to get someone to dance with and look busy , yet on other cruises Cunard could have employed half a dozen more.Every cruise is different. The take up numbers of their offer to dance seems to match the number of single ladies aboard who come to the ballroom , or those with a husband /partner who doesn't dance, but the lady wants to.

They have to be able to converse somehow with all nationalities and be generous with their teaching skills for complete novice dancers.

I think they do a great job which is why on most cruises we've been on . the dance hosts work their socks off every night and are required to take part in the dance lessons every day that these are programmed.It seems to be a contract situation for a required nuimber of days and probably suits most of them quite well.

Just my take on what we 've heard from the hosts we've spoken to .We think the cruiselines ( I include our former cruiseline of choice ) who did away with the hosts missed a trick and inadvertantly gave lots of business to Cunard and/ or the other cruiselines who still provide them.

We're lumping several different arguments together

- I've been asking specifically about recorded music in breaks. What Cunard is already doing on QV/QE is fine. If it's working, why are they so coy about saying "we'll keep doing it"?

- a large group, not just dancers, can do whatever the ship lets them. Have you been following the posts about QM2 out of Hamburg?

- it doesn't take a large group for bad floorcraft to impact others. That's been a major topic on many of the dancers' posts. I've found Cunard staff to be utterly useless for discreet suggestions when someone is interfering with others.

- most non-dancers are never going to notice whether Cunard is playing strict tempo music. And I think most dancers accept bands have to play "Feelings" and "Lady In Red" at some point.

I can't comment on the music in the breaks particularly on QM2 as we haven't sailed that ship for some time.

However we have sailed both QE and QV recently and this is just our opinion , but the taped music isn't too tempting although some people do get up but seem to use that chance to practice their various steps or routines they are learning.

Floor craft does't really figure with some younger guests as they probably haven't had much opportunity to learn it unlike many of us of a certain age and I mean my own age group who went to dance halls regularly and had to work with crowds dancing round. We often wonder how the ones dancing round in the wrong direction don't notice they are going against the "flow" and causing problems?

Every cruise has its own dancers group , usually with some experienced dancers who do demonstrate floor craft and some cruises are not so lucky. You have to take your chances when you get aboard....we are always happy to join in and obey the rules.It makes dancing aboard so much more enjoyable.

I would never be in your dance circle, but you sound like the reasonable type of individual we all enjoy me

 

eting! Good luck in arranging something that meets your needs.

I think you have misunderstood my original post...I commented on a strictly type cruise that was available / being offered on Cunard a couple of years ago...one of several offered I think.

I don't organise them.They were organised by a booking agency and Cunard must have agreed to offer 'facilities' for those who bought these cruises from that agency i knew the queens room was the only place large groups of dancers could've been accommodated so I enquired from Cunard how a large group of cruisers who booked on specifically via that agent would impact the cruise for those who were not part of that specific group.

The answers I got convinced me that as ordinary cruisers who enjoy going to the ballroom every night , would probably be a bit affected by such a large group of dancers who were obviously booking on to have the lessons, meet the pros taking the lessons etc and all that stuff...it would not have suited us as we are just regular dancers of no great ability who enjoy the opportunity to dance on the ships.

Hope this clarifies my position.

I certainly hope large dance groups would have no right to take over the ballroom dance floor. I am all for you enjoying your hobby. Putting on a show for each other is fine. Many of us do not care to watch "Dancing with the Stars" and don't have any interest in making a path for the roller derby. We do however expect high quality musicians and a lovely,relaxed opportunity to dance, however unprofessional we may look. Elegance requires respecting other people's private space, whether in loud talking, smoke, cell phones, or swinging arms and elbows as you speed around the ballroom.Perhaps a special reserved time for your group could be arranged. I just don't agree that it is appropriate or welcome when it intrudes on everyone else.

Which is why I didn't book ...We cruise specifically to have an opportunity to dance as we don't have anything near us at home , but if a large group with their own "events" aboard is booked on , whether it is offered by Cunard or another booking agent , it must surely impact other cruisers so we didn't feel we wanted to have to take a chance on that.However the Strictly cruises seem to sell very well so you have to assume most cruisers don't find it off putting or it is a surprise for them when they board?

I personally think that it's a very risky business for your TA to advertise and sell something that he has no control over.

 

Cunard advertises a ballroom, not the perfect ballroom dancers experience. Since when do the strict ballroom dancers feel that the Queens Room is designated only for them? I mean, isn't that room meant for the enjoyment of all passengers on board?

Cunard has in the past been part of selling cabins to a company who promoted"strictly"dancing cruise opportunities a couple of years ago (I think) .I phoned in to enquire what happens if the queens room "venue" was taken over by those who bought a "strictly" cruise experience and was told it would not impact on other pax.....knowing what I have already seen on the ship as we dance every evening, I wondered how this would be arranged as I could not see how those who had bought this type cruise ....dance lessons , meet the pros etc ,.....would not cause an impact on other cruisers.

Currently PandO are offering this type of cruise experience.

Hello everyone. I just booked cabins 7039, 7041 and 7043 on the Vista deck of the Millinium because those were the only three cabins available together. However, now I'm wondering if the noise will be a problem since we are right next to the elevators. There are cabins available away from the elevator that are not next to each other. Would I be better off changing locations? We've never been located near an elevator before.

Last time we sailed ML ....we had 8037....thought it would be noisy because of passengers joining /leaving elevators and chatting together// bursts of laughter etc etc late into the evening...as it turned out we heard very little except for the slight musical "ding" signalling elevator arriving .