canoncruiser

One of the things which make make Cunard wine and liquor pricier than others - there are MORE wine waiters and bar staff on Cunard.

On RCL and Celebrity the wine waiters in the restaurants are fewer in number and  career around holding multiple bottles for different tables -absolutely no style-nice folks but no style! Despite high demand at certain hours often there are too few bartenders-not good. Finally, the Cunard wine lists are far fuller that the other two which I have experienced. Once on Caribbean

Princess the best wine on the card was $25.00 !!!!! We also had a table mate who came to dinner in a black “T” shirt with a white bow tie painted on-and sneaks!!!! Whoa!🙄

It’s a matter of style-Cunard has it -most others do not.

My two cents-I was on the Jan. 3rd W’bound on QM2. Because of two medical evacuations-one a stop at Halifax and the other by helicopter in a blizzard off Newfoundland we were six hours late into Southampton. I had booked my return air through Cunard-really cheap!-who used BA. I was rebooked on a later flight on BA and Cunard handled the whole thing flawlessly. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. 😊

WHEN IN DOUBT DON’T !😒

Hattie, This may not be quite the proper place to make this enquiry- but does anyone know why Buenos Aires is not a port call next year??? When I cruised there I found a beautiful, dynamic and exciting city.Does anyone know what’s up????🤨

I was on the Jan3-10 TA. I had a ball as I always do. Some of the menu choices in Britannia were odd, and some portions rather small but the ship is still grand and gorgeous. Service  overall was excellent. There was constant maintenance- even outside during some typical Atlantic winter weather! With metal being lashed by rough salt air and water-rust is a reality that on QM2 is dealt with promptly when possible. We had two medical evacuations which delayed us - and being a real liner - we roared along at 24-25 knots and were only six hours late reaching Southampton. I booked my air with Cunard and they handled my rebooking and transfer flawlessly.  You will have a great time.  Bon Voyage!😁

Hi all, 

I'm on QM2 now. We are banging along at 24.5 knots in order to reach Southampton by Noon tomorrow. We had the Halifax stop-med evac- and then we had a long circle around in a blizzard and then a helicopter evacuation-those Canadian air-sea folks are amazing!

Seas are churning but we are steady on-we had some real rocking and rolling during this crossing-it was fab!

On another topic; the menus in Britannia have gotten bizarre-odd mixtures of selections, small to miniscule portions-some poor quality meat,very different from last Fall when I sailed Westbound to New York; Veranda lunch was excellent and Corriander was superb, Don't know what's going on.😕 All else excellent. 

Oh well, as they say-half a loaf is better than none.☺️

That’s what they told my TA-🤨

To chime in in another direction, I’ve just gotten the new brochure and I’m booked in 2021 on QE from Tokyo to Sydney. They are now showing a continuing trip from Sydney to Auckland; but my excellent TA says she can’t even get me on a Waitlist because presently Cunard is limiting sales to the Australian market!😠 Je suit tres annoyed!😠

Why is she not calling at Buenos Aires??? Currency? Safety? Politics??? Shame because that city is vey rich and exciting. 

Hooray!!!!! Glad the hot canapés are back in the Commodore Club-my fave pre-dinner spot. Sounds like things are being sorted properly. I’ll be boarding in 3 weeks for a Winter E’bound crossing -FAB!!!!😊😊 

Thanks for your review; I just read an article in the Telegraph by a writer who was extremely positive about a recent crossing she made on QM2. She was very very positive and only mildly criticized the state of maintenance of the health facility-she said she would do cross again.

. Yet the headline for the article suggested that the whole ship was in need of an ‘upgrade’! Very strange in light of her positive review. 🤨

As former practicing attorney I appreciate the resistance to legal ‘mumbo jumbo’ But-that is your CONTRACT and governs your rights and limitations as well as those of the shipping company in the event of those ‘UNLIKELY’ events mentioned at ‘boat drill’.

No there is not. 😋

Colin, 

Thanks so very much for the QM2 Maiden TA videos. They were excellent. 

I sure did on both ship’s Maiden TAs. We were rocking and rolling-and waves were slamming against the rear windows in the restaurants. Commodore Warwick and his beautiful wife were at a big table right up against the window on QE. There were some staff contretemps and crashes with trays and orders! There is a photo which many bought showing the QV with her entire bow section - up to the base of the superstructure- under water. One night, a section of the ceiling came down in the Commodore Club; as a friend and I were leaving the Britannia after lunch on QE a bit of ceiling also became alarmingly disloged- just as the Captain came on the PA system to assure everyone that the ship was OK! There was a lot of laughter when the captain on QV said she did not ship water. We  were crossing with QE2 and there were a few times when QE2 pitched up such that you could see under QE2’s keel. Woo Hoo!😃

In Mark Chirnside’s book about White Star’s ‘Oceanic’ of 1899-a lavish lunch was served to newspapermen in New York after the Maiden Voyage; the menu included oysters- I wonder whether they were part of the ship’s stores-she carried fresh fish and vegetables- or whether the oysters were sourced in New York, which had an enormous shellfish market.🤔 

I had a booking on QM2’s Maiden TA-I changed it (drat!!!!) and sailed on her with a friend from Piraeus after the 2004 Olympics.

Maiden Season BUT not that glorious stormy Atlantic crossing, I did the Maiden TAs on QE and QV-Winter crossings-stormy and wonderful. Mind you the Maiden of QM2 was a cruise to the West Indies.  There are always ‘glitches’ - do it anyway. 😁 

Hi,

I did the full World Cruise on QE in 2016; NY to Soho’ton on QM2, then QE Soho’ton to Soho’ton, then QM2 home. Shall I use the work GLORIOUS because it was. Aside from the usual excellent Cunard levels of service, the land tours were beyond superb, the preparation for them was thorough and also elegant - drinks and canapés -along with thorough advice and instruction about every stage of the tour in preparation for each tour. My only -sort of regret - was having to miss Shanghai because our overland to the Terra Cotta Warriors , the Great Wall and Beijing which began in Hong Kong ended in Shanghai on the evening that the ship sailed from Shanghai. We had 2 stops in Hong Kong and five in Japan, two in Korea. There was a special lounge for full WC passengers with a delegated Concierge for said passengers. I had a Deck 7 balcony forward which was perfect for port departures, as well as sea days; night sailings from among others Cape Town, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore were magical.

SAVE YOUR PENNIES AND DO THE FULL WORLD CRUISE>😊😊😊😊

I guess I travel on a different QM2 because I find the new iteration of the King’s Court well laid out and the selection of food really rather good; esp. the varieties of smoked fish and condiments available in the afternoon. I’ve eaten in a lot of cafeterias over the years and KC bears no resemblance save that you serve yourself. My one complaint, the pizza, hamburger and hot dog arrangements need upgrading.  

Just a related note on availability -‘now or wait’. I saw a QE Tokyo to Sydney cruise in October 2021 that had me salivating when one of you kind folks found it on another website before Cunard released the later 2021 list. As a previous passenger I jumped on it this week (the 25th) through my TA- even though he was on the phone early AM, my desired category had already sold out and I was booked me in a more expensive category-which had only two staterooms left (by late that morning!😲) and got me on the Waitlist for what I wanted. Wow! He is super good but desirable things can move like lightening. BOOK NOW AND SECURE WHAT YOU WANT. As my late mother used to say-think long and you think wrong.😉

I’ve disembarked a lot at Brooklyn and I must say that our Immigration procedures are ‘getting worse and worser’. Three big ships came in that morning, Bayonne and West Side, and proceedings in Brooklyn were dreadful. The folks who were on transfers and tours were being jumped ahead because there were not enough Immigration staff, and there was proper concern that their connections and tours were being seriously delayed. I’ve no doubt the current hostile attitude toward foreigners has something to do with, it as well as the absence of subordinate senior staff in agencies which is intentional. Remember the war cry-‘destroy the administrative state’. Well it’s happening. Welcome to the USA. 

That 19 days really sounds odd if not bizarre. I started coughing recently on Celebrity - I had a post-nasal drip and knew that things were going right to my chest and trouble was afoot-I transferred to QM2 for my crossing home and continued coughing .The minute i got home I went to my GP who listed to my chest and prescribed Prednisone-not anti-biotics. He said i had a small chest infection but did not want me to in ant-bios. I’m fine now-I’m 76-. Your experience sounds bizarre and frankly rather irresponsible and offensive-I’d contact Cunard and relate the whole story. I do not think anyone in physical distress should be told to endure for over 2 weeks.😖

Hi all, 

I just completed a 2week Ireland and Iceland cruise on Celebrity Silhouette  and came home on QM2. I’ve read many comments about the food on both ships. The Celebrity offerings were varied and well prepared, the wine service was rushed and not one bottle I saw had a cork (all screw tops), and the Wine Waiters juggled several bottles at the same time.  The tours were really superb. Good service and very friendly staff ( sometimes over-friendly), the ship was well maintained, room steward was excellent-overall a good ship experience; I did not like the GA of the ship, I thought it confusing,  and the over amped live music-nearly everywhere- was often overwhelming; and indifferently to badly performed.  That said I’ll go back to Celebrity but on their smaller ships. 

QM2 was superb and the food and service were just plain great. I would also note that the menus in Britannia were very innovative and not a selection of ‘the usual suspects’-which was the case on Silhouette. They’re trying different menus and methods of preparation on QM2 - hooray for Cunard!

QM2 continues to be grand, beautiful and superbly managed and absolutely my fave.😁