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Grills Afternoon Tea - in the Lounge or the Restaurant?


Pegase90
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On previous QV cruises we've really enjoyed the personal service of afternoon tea in the Grills lounge, and were disappointed in August this year to find that it had been replaced by a tea plate stand of sandwiches served in the Princess Grill restaurant.

 

I've just received an email from Cunard stating that:

 

"Our chefs create hand-decorated cakes served daily as part of the Grills Lounge Afternoon Tea" and

"Your exclusive lounge provide the perfect setting for a pre dinner drink or an indulgent afternoon tea"

 

So are there any recent travellers who can vouch for this advertising?

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Just got back from QE to Canaries in a Q1.

Afternoon tea now served in Princess grills restaurant.

Served on an individual cake stand. No sandwich or roll choice given

( until asked for), then we were begrudgingly given a choice.

Scones were served cold.

Got the impression they would prefer us to go to Queens room.

Obviously they are trying to reduce service further.

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Just got back from QE to Canaries in a Q1.

Afternoon tea now served in Princess grills restaurant.

Served on an individual cake stand. No sandwich or roll choice given

( until asked for), then we were begrudgingly given a choice.

Scones were served cold.

Got the impression they would prefer us to go to Queens room.

Obviously they are trying to reduce service further.

 

We have also just returned from the same cruise and thought the afternoon tea in the Princess restaurant was excellent 4 different sandwiches, 4 cakes and a scone each with clotted cream, not whipped as in Queens Room. Served on a 3 tier cake stand and tea of your choice from very attentive staff.

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Frankly, we preferred the afternoon tea as served in the Princess Grill restaurant on our recent Canaries Island cruise. The cake stand approach is what is now offered in many of the best hotels. My only memory of the Grills Lounge version (admittedly a single cruise back in 2011) was an unreliable service of the various components so that we didn't always see everything and sandwiches which, although "fingers", were more bread than filling and qualified as "doorstops". We thought the new version a great improvement. Which just goes to prove that different people see things differently!!

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Very disappointed. We are on Queen Victoria for Christmas and enjoyed our afternoon teas in the Grills lounge. We too are vegetarians and would enjoy the egg, cucumber and the odd salmon sandwiches. A cake stand with ham, beef or whatever would be of no use to us. As we daily have afternoon tea in the Grill wonder if it is possible to arrange for a vegetarian selection. Think I’ll contact Cunard.

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Very disappointed. We are on Queen Victoria for Christmas and enjoyed our afternoon teas in the Grills lounge. We too are vegetarians and would enjoy the egg, cucumber and the odd salmon sandwiches. A cake stand with ham, beef or whatever would be of no use to us. As we daily have afternoon tea in the Grill wonder if it is possible to arrange for a vegetarian selection. Think I’ll contact Cunard.

Why contact Cunard before your cruise? I say this with QG conviction rather than from experience as I rarely bother with afternoon tea as such apart from a mug of tea on deck but surely, this is what the Grill's service is all about. A quick word to the wait staff or the Head Waiter in charge on the day will ensure you'll be offered a veggie selection.

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A quick word to the wait staff or the Head Waiter in charge on the day will ensure you'll be offered a veggie selection.

 

I would be confident that a vegetarian option of some sort would be available. The scones served to us at first were fruit scones with sultanas. Our preferred plain scones swiftly appeared on request. And just to prove once again that we are all different majortom10, we prefer cold scones. Warm scones melt the clotted cream and result in a soggy mess!

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Froxfield. You should put the jam on first.

 

Touche. ( Help, I can't find the accents!!!!)

 

Well, now, that has always been a matter of opinion and a never ending debate:). In the south-east, it seems jam first may have a majority and in Cornwall. But in Devon (and Dorset as far as I can observe) it is cream first. Of course, for the truly "wicked" there is always butter, then jam, then cream.

 

I find that if the scones are truly warm it doesn't make much difference: all ways, it becomes a soggy mess. But then I am a messy eater!

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If accommodated in the Grills I've always preferred afternoon tea while onboard Queen Mary 2. The grills Lounge is more spacious and lends itself more to the occasion than does the 'limited' Grills Lounge on either Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.

 

Indeed, on a number of occasions on the latter two Queens I have noticed they've been in danger of 'queuing' to get a seat.

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Overspill?

 

No new policy the restaurant was very quiet on most days during afternoon tea and was not served in the lounge. There was a sign on a table in the foyer between Princess and Queens restaurants stating that afternoon tea was now served in Princess restaurant.

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I have yet to experience afternoon tea in the princess Grill restaurant as opposed to the lounge and to me it seems a good idea. The lounge on QV is too small to accommodate the Grills passengers en masse so the space of the restaurant appeals. Also I'm not that keen on low tables (iirc) where food is involved. Will hold judgement until after our January cruise.

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We were crammed into the Lounge area on the QV. I was on a winter TA. There was no option for the deck due to the weather. You had to get there early. I did like the sense of camaraderie the tight quarters created. It made meeting your fellow shipmates a little easier.

 

My DH is gluten free. Tea is my great pleasure and his nightmare. They have GF cookies in the King's Court. We appreciated it.

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Oh well, when we're next afloat, if this new afternoon system comes across as yet another lowering of the standards of service, then we'll do our own thing. Hoping that we will get a kettle etc in our suite, we can easily beat a path to the self service and get what we want to go with the tea. ALTERNATIVELY, we can make our own hot drinks in the suite and bring our own much loved bikkies from home.

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Oh well, when we're next afloat, if this new afternoon system comes across as yet another lowering of the standards of service, then we'll do our own thing. Hoping that we will get a kettle etc in our suite, we can easily beat a path to the self service and get what we want to go with the tea. ALTERNATIVELY, we can make our own hot drinks in the suite and bring our own much loved bikkies from home.

 

There is no lowering of standards the afternoon tea for Queens/Princess suites is excellent and there are tea/coffee making facilities in all Cunards staterooms and if in QG they also have coffee machines.

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We're used to sitting in the Grills Lounge on comfortable seating for afternoon tea when we are on a Cunard ship. I get the impression that we are going to be provided with a selection of cakes etc chosen by somebody else, and sit on restaurant chairs at a restaurant table - that's not what we expect. If the changes are true, then it's another lowering of standards. I do prefer to make my own selection of cakes etc. Maybe my idea of excellent is different from yours. We'll have to wait and see, we'll give it a go, though.

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We're used to sitting in the Grills Lounge on comfortable seating for afternoon tea when we are on a Cunard ship. I get the impression that we are going to be provided with a selection of cakes etc chosen by somebody else, and sit on restaurant chairs at a restaurant table - that's not what we expect. If the changes are true, then it's another lowering of standards. I do prefer to make my own selection of cakes etc. Maybe my idea of excellent is different from yours. We'll have to wait and see, we'll give it a go, though.

 

It isnt a lowering of standards when the grills lounge is not big enough to hold afternoon tea which is very popular so therefore to avoid disappointing people by turning them away because of no available seating they have rightly transferred it to Princess Grill on QE. They serve you tea of your choice scones plain or fruit whichever you prefer real clotted cream not the whipped as in Queens room and a good selection of tea sandwiches and cakes which if not to your liking I am sure others would be offered. If you still insist on choosing your own sandwiches and cakes then there is nothing stopping you going to the Queens room.

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On our one voyage on the QE in PG I noticed that when the Grills Lounge was full the restaurant was used, but only if necessary. Often there were only two or three tables needed for tea. This made sense. But I admit most of the time I preferred tea in the Queen's Room, as I do on the QM2, when the string quartet or harpist is playing. The ambience is irresistible - even if we don't get clotted cream.

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The standard of service of afternoon tea in the Grills Lounge has been gradually getting lower - honest! We've had to wait for ages to get our hot drink/s, and also we've sometimes been provided with our hot drink/s in various stages, and then the drinks have gone cold by the time a waiter bothers to actually stop and serve food. The much celebrated clotted cream is served in a tiny china pot, and is in all truth about a level dessertspoon between two people, and if you want butter or spread that's a proper performance to get.

 

On other cruise lines like Celebrity, at least you get your tea etc brought direct to your suite, so that you have all the comestibles at the right temperature at the same time. We'll give QV one chance, and if the standard is poor, we'll do our own thing. I'd love them to get it right - but I'm not holding my breath.

 

In the past on QV only the late arrivals for afternoon tea have been directed to the PG restaurant.

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