exlondoner

I’m largely with V2. I don’t ever fly. If all four ships were sailing from Southampton on itineraries that were equally agreeable, I would choose QE, then QV, simply because they aren’t so long and the Grills facilities are better. On a cold weather cruise to Iceland and Norway, I might be more tempted by QM2, because who wants a Grills Courtyard in that weather, and the ship is so stable. But I am very happy we have two Med cruises booked on QA, and love many things about the ship, just not the Grills facilities. The Courtyard will be particularly missed on Med. cruises I might use a speciality restaurant if I got a freebie, which we didn’t on the last cruise, as I’ve always enjoyed the pop ups on the other ships, but I wouldn’t pay for one of them. Some nights the QG menu is quite boring, so I might choose one of those.

Very annoying, but I do think the upper decks are glorious outdoor spaces, with a surprising amount of shelter, and some good shaded areas, and great views.

The crowdedness was presumably compounded by the tendering difficulties, which must have all been a bit grim. And today would have been her first tender port.

I think people have wildly different tolerances. I once asked a couple who had a cabin at the back of one of the Vistas. He said he never noticed it, she said she couldn’t sleep because of it. I think I might be in the second category, but I love to watch it.

Do you find the wake noisy? From the back of Deck 9, it seemed very noisy to me.

I can think of almost no day time activity at sea which isn’t improved by a view. In fact I even leave some of the curtains open at night to see the moon on the waves. Cabin balconies are great but only give a view of one side, unlike the Vista Grills Lounges.

Incidentally the ship you saw at Tenerife is the La Palma of 1912. Sorry this is the wrong place.

I think she is a lovely ship, and can only say again that I’m so glad we didn’t cancel, even though we were very close to it, and the weather was disappointing.

We found the wardrobe space more than adequate, but neither of us have very many clothes, nor the need to wear a different garment every night. The laundry was $54 for 15 items, less 20% discount for WC discount. I think on a long cruise drawer space would not be more problematic. We did not have a banquette, but a table next door with chairs but with the same view. The service station was behind the one with the sea view, which meant a lot of clattering.

It would be nice if the Grills Lounge enabled this activity.

One other point, as I know it matters a lot to some. I thought the dress code was pretty thoroughly observed. On Gala Nights, most people seemed to relish dressing up, and the only person I noticed without a tie was a celebrity speaker. But it may have been less formal in other areas. On non-formal nights, at least in the QG, there were a lot of jackets, probably because it wasn’t terribly warm, and even a few ties. My husband occasionally wore one, largely so he could remind himself how to tie it.

I hadn’t actually realised it was five books each. As you say that is too much. No wonder the shelves looked depleted. I do often read more than one book at a time, but really two will do. Five is unnecessary.

Until she goes somewhere warm, this is not going to be much of an issue. Then…we’ll have to see. But the only person I saw walking through the door into the Grills area was…me. If a few people use it as a short cut, it is no big deal. If interlopers with glasses occupy the little pools, that might be. But I have great faith in the excellent Joy to sort it.

Surely at the very least the can give you some more hangars?

I was about to write mine, and saw you have written this, so I put off reading yours until I had done mine. I think we mainly agree. I actually liked the restaurant as such, because it was so wonderfully light, and every table got a view. I was reconciled to ours, when my husband said it didn’t make any difference to his hearing which way round we sat, so I only had to look at the wall every other meal. This cheered me up enormously. I still think it needs reorganising though.

As the floor is now stable, I thought I would write some comments. Good points. 1. The ship is pretty gorgeous internally. I adore most of the public spaces: the Commodore Club, the Grand Lobby and the rooms off it, the Pavilion, the Chart Room and Café Carinthia, the Library, the Cigar Room (peeped in at a nonsmoking time), and above all the heavenly main dining room, which looks like a great marquée of gold and glass. I even liked the QG restaurant though not the banquettes. 2. There is lots of lovely outdoor lounging space, to the extent that the lack of a proper prom deck matters much less. On Deck 14, the area ahead of the Skybar gives the most wonderful views, and is pretty well sheltered. In fact, they have done a pretty good job of providing sheltered outdoor spaces. But this ship is made for warm weather cruises, which ours was not. 3. The Q4 cabin was much nicer than expected, though would have been nicer still without the partition. The bathroom was smart, with a nice long bath, the bed was as always, supremely comfortable, and the balcony was a few inches deeper than on the Vistas. This meant I didn’t stub my toe on bits of furniture once! 4. The food was good, though sometimes the menu planning was weird. Why offer duck pâté and duck rilettes (which anyway were more or less identical) for lunch and dinner on the same day? Why have two chocolate deserts out of four some days? Nonetheless the food was very good, and almost invariably delivered hot, if it was meant to be. 5. The service was sometimes slow, but was warm, well-intentioned, and helpful. The service at dinner speeded up in the course of our voyage, so it looks as if they were sorting things out. Our cabin was well cared for. 6. Although I only attended one lecture by the estimable Val McDermid, the enrichment programme looked wide, varied, and interesting. There were alas no classical concerts. Less good points 1. Navigating the ship could be a problem. The ship is very long, so getting from our cabin, quite near the back, to the Commodore Club was quite a major expedition. The fact that there is no through route on Deck 10, or Deck 11, unless you are in the Grills or disobey the signs, is very irksome. 2. The Grills Lounge is a hell hole, with no real view, and proper daylight for only a limited area. As a result, I spent a lot more time in the mornings in the Commodore Club. 3. The Library, though a lovely room, does not (yet?) have enough books, and the librarian was pretty overwhelmed. 4. As has been said elsewhere, disembarkation was a shambles, made better, not worse, by the unwillingness of those in charge to break bad news. We were delayed 35 minutes, I imagine it was much worse for those behind us. Describing this as a slight delay is just fatuous. Explaining what exactly was going wrong might have been sensible too. 5. The lifts had carnivorous doors. After a few days, this was solved to a great extent, by the vast majority of passengers sticking their arm through the gap to prevent slow boarders being crushed. Although they were sometimes very crowded, after the first couple of days, I spent more time in lifts on my own than in ones with other people. We nearly cancelled this cruise the day before it started, and I am very glad we didn’t. I am also glad we have two more cruises, both to the Med., booked on this beautiful ship.

Is that a Roaring 20s theme sort of thing?

I suspect there may be or have been such enterprises where it was compulsory. 😀

Yes, I’ve had that once or twice too, once onboard QE2, when I thought it was seasickness, as there was a raging gale on. But, as I still had occasional problems weeks later, every time I turned my head one way, I think we must absolve the North Atlantic. I can’t drive, but Labyrinthitis must make it very difficult.

Ah, indeed, but that is a different thing. 😀

Why is there a difference between, say, having extra veg, and going and having extra stuff later in the buffet? Apart from having to do the carrying.

Yes, it did, I agree. But I didn’t mind that and it was only really evident when I got out of bed. I can see legs are a great help here. 😀

It usually takes several days. And, when on board, the ship hardly moved at all.

It is part of a three course meal, though, and there are also rolls. I know some people do ask for extra veg.

Why on earth did you think my genuinely surprised question was sarcastic?