exlondoner

9 minutes ago, MylesS said:

After a busy few weeks and freezing today in my office, I've decided something needs to change! So tomorrow I'll be breaking my nearly 3 year British Airways "boycott" and flying to Rome to join Queen Anne on Sunday.

Good for you. How long a voyage? What grade? How many weeks since your last trip in Annie?

25 minutes ago, LEESRE said:

Has no one been into the Spa on Queen Anne, seems odd that no one has replied.??

Sorry, wouldn’t ever set foot in the spa, if you paid me. I think @3rdGenCunarder used it.

25 minutes ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I was disappointed in the service I experienced in Britannia on QM2 in June. It was very slow if cheerful. I have to say that my stateroom steward was excellent and our stateroom was always immaculate. Bar waiters were good everywhere. I had a great time on the QA maiden even if there were the inevitable hiccups in service you expect on a maiden. And sure, I wish the menus would get a refresh because they are a bit tired.

 

Would it put me off booking again? Absolutely not. I have 3 Cunard trips coming up and I'm very much looking forward to them. Just 24 days until I'm on QV but who's counting?

Refreshing the menu is a tricky one. I remember some years ago when they made major changes to the QG alc, both its format and some contents. Throughout the cruise people were moaning that it no longer featured Scampi Provençale, strange indeed when you can order whatever you want anyway.

1 minute ago, Host Hattie said:

It's still pretty shallow, much less than the posted depth.

One of our table sharers uses the Panorama Pool for that reason. 

Yes, that is what I did.

9 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

We've spent holidays in Barcelona so Mr HH got off to do some shopping but I stayed on board. Had a pleasant float around in the Pavilion pool.

The Captain has threatened us with some bumpy weather overnight.

When I was aboard the Pavilion Pool was not really deep enough, so it was quite difficult to swim without banging the bottom. Is it better now?

2 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

NowVoyager2 , we have been sailing with Cunard since 2011 and can find very little difference in the service we have received or the quality of the menus.

 

I don't 'do' costume jewellery, my clothes have been known to be 'designer' and believe me, the food we eat is most definitely NOT what we eat at home, even from my caterers M&S and Waitrose, and I will not be alone in these respects.

 

If you find it's not worth booking anything 'above' a mid ships balcony, I'm hard pressed to know how you can evaluate food, cabin, service etc BC.PG and QG without having tried it...recently!

In Covid when we weren’t sailing, I did try and create a Cunard dinner a couple of times, minus flaming, you’ll be relieved to hear. I didn’t come anywhere close.

24 minutes ago, s.s.France said:

One observation, on the QE though, was last October, that it took longer than I was used to until the suite was made up after breakfast. I remember when returning from breakfast it was normally finished. Last year not so. I heard, or read, that a butler now has more suites to care for than pre-cov. That would explain it. Otherwise, everything was up to usual standards.

On all our voyages on various ships for about the last ten years, we have found our cabin ready fairly soon, but not immediately, after breakfast. I think it partly depends on when both you and other people breakfast and probably where you are in the butler’s tranche of cabins. On the Vistas we usually spend a pleasant twenty minutes in the lounge looking at the view and doing the crossword. Not, alas possible on QA, so we had a walk to the Commodore Club as well.

7 minutes ago, King Amo said:

We had a thread asking this question a month or so ago. My view is that if it means that I don't have to sail with the miserable bunch who take issue with kids enjoying themselves, when there are already adult only areas of the ships, it gets my vote. 

I didn’t notice any adult only areas on QA, but may have missed something.

Apparently, it was not so easy to reinstate all old crew after lockdown as they had found other things, which meant a higher proportion of relatively inexperienced crew. This may have been exacerbated by more crew being transferred for the introduction of Queen Anne. However, having been on all four ships since 2022, I have encountered no problems with service, except on QA, but this was her second voyage, where they were clearly still sorting themselves out and evolving systems. In the restaurant, service the second week of that voyage was very much better than the first. Everyone seemed agreeable and contented. All my experiences relate to QG for what it is worth.

14 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Reminds one of an old joke… Do you like children? - Only if they’re cooked correctly.

Or my husband likes children, but can never manage a whole one.

But Cunard children are almost invariably very nicely behaved.

20 minutes ago, alc13 said:

Verdict?  Looks delicious. 

 

How on earth is the a martini, by the way?

I was wondering that. I thought a martini was something involving gin or perhaps vodka and, er, Martini.

Incidentally, those two lifts in the B stairway also service the children’s facilities on Deck 10, so would also be needed by people going there with pushchairs, etc, putting more pressure on them. Not too much of an issue perhaps in Alaska.

5 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Stalking the cruise planner pricing for any last minute deals.

 

Premium beverage package is down to $72.99. Tempting, but I always end up regretting it when I purchase a drink package. Classic is $62.99 but that is a pretty useless package for what's included.

 

The one I am really wanting to try is the Unlimited Dining. Cost is $256.99. Please help me make this make sense. I could book specialty dining each night for $212.96. It says it includes lunch on sea days, so one extra lunch valued at $30 bringing the total cost to book separately at $242.96. I truly thought that despite the verbiage that I could eat lunch every day not just sea days as that is how Royal does it, but I saw a post on here of someone complaining they could not get lunch, and it was post after post of flaming that they did not read the rules.

 

So why would anybody book this? And that math is like this on every cruise I have booked, worse on the three days which do not even have lunch included since there are no sea days and I would drop La Petit Chef from the rotation since there would be more restaurants than days and that is the most expensive choice. Who is buying this and why?

 

I don't need that much food anyway, just like the drink package, I end up regretting buying the dining package, although I can say I ALWAYS get my money's worth on the dining package 🤪

Surely all packages are like this, as cruise lines must offer them to benefit themselves, not the passengers, but even so this seems pretty blatantly a waste of cash.

You couldn’t escape me this time and here I am already. I look forward to your cruet and pineapple surveys along with all the rest.

Very pleased to hear your ma has dates for her eye surgery. I too still wear glasses after cataract surgery because of my astigmatism. It is not a big deal.

Hope you have an excellent time.

16 minutes ago, LadyL1 said:

QG always go first at around 12.30 as said, directly followed by PG. Your time will be on your boarding document, 21 days before departure.

The suite will be ready for you to drop of anything you are carrying or want to put in the safe, and then you are able to go for lunch in your dedicated restaurant.

Enjoy.

Lunch doesn’t usually start until 1, so you may have time for some unpacking.

9 minutes ago, King Amo said:

I have to say that they do a very good job of masking it, as I've never once got the impression of this on Cunard, either in my interactions with staff or while watching them work (which as someone from a hospitality background, both academically and experientially, I probably do way more than most as I find it endlessly fascinating). I've seen some hugely efficient staff, so additional sales and tips are naturally the by-product, but I can't recall seeing someone who looked to be chasing the sales and the tips, or seeming to try and lead people out of their (financial) comfort zone.

No, as far as it goes, that is my experience too.

16 minutes ago, SwankPooch said:

I would like to pre-book transportation from London hotels to Ocean Terminal.  What is the approximate time for priority boarding for the grills?  Thanks.

Check in, say, about 12.30 or earlier, boarding when the ship is ready. You may stroll straight on, or you may have to wait a bit.

38 minutes ago, tv24 said:

We go for non-alcoholic beer at lunch, and enjoy coffee drinks in various venues, including Sir Samuels.  Nice to not feel drunk all of the time.

Best not to feel drunk any of the time - and I speak as an alcohol drinker. 😀

3 minutes ago, smblueyes said:

Greetings, fellow cruisers. 
 

My partner and I are sailing on a QM2 November sailing in a QG Suite. I enjoy gin and would love others’ opinions on which of the 4 Queens Gin to order. Also, is Fever Tree tonic provided?

 

thanks in advance for sharing your expertise!

I have had Britvic, Schweppes, and Fever Tree indiscriminately. I should think you could ask for your preference.

Don't know about the gins as I always have Gordon’s.

5 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

She [he?] has polished off his P.A.! 😁

I’m not sure whether that is an indication of being a wine lover or of desperation.

Are all Cunard bears wine lovers?

4 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

It might be easier if two viewpoints are consolidated onto Hattie's thread which she started a couple of days ago.

That's what exlondoner and I did. We both used her thread as 'our' thread! 🙂

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3026946-notes-from-queen-anne-to-the-mediterranean/page/4/#comment-67893456

Aided by the fact that while our experiences were a bit different, we tended to agree on the ship, except for…I’ll leave the rest for people to fill in.

11 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Berth in Ajaccio is available so we will tie up tonight around 2200 instead of tomorrow morning, giving a bit of a break from the rough weather.

Is everyone feeling OK?

3 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Perhaps the children's clubs are already fully booked. 

But again, it seems strange, as it is not a German or UK public holiday, as far as I can see.

6 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

As an aside…. Noted Cunard treat “children” as young adults.

And generally the children reciprocate in terms of behaviour.