Caronia recently?

Has anybody sailed the Caronia recently and can tell me about?

I sailed her twice and defintely enjoyed the cruises very much. Now I am looking forward for a last one before she leaves Cunard yet I am little bit concerned due to the many negative experiences people had on the QM2.

How has the service on the Caronia been lately?

Any signs of deterioration?

How about the quality of food?

Elegance of passengers?

Also, does anybody know who will be captain, cruise director, hostess and international hostess for the last cruises in September and October?

Thanks for the sharing of any new experiences or information.

Hello,

I cruised Caronia last May, a two-week western Med. cruise. It was my first time on Caronia, I wanted a chance before she left Cunard for the age restricted Saga Cruise line.

I found Caronia to be a wonderful ship. Very clean and well mantained, the food was good, the service was always good, and the staff and crew always friendly. I did hear from a couple of long time Caronia regulars that the service has declined somewhat, but as I had nothing to compare with, I found it all perfectly fine. The decline in service is probably a result of the "Carnival" factor.

Carlmm,

I did a Trans Atlantic in January - it was my first, and sadly will be my last trip on Caronia - but she's wearing very well. A lovely ship with a very friendly crew. As to Stowaway2K's comment about the 'decline in service due to the "Carnival" factor' all I would observe is, No Carnival = No Cunard, No Carnival = No QM2. The one thing I wish Carnival weren't doing was letting Caronia go - but if you look at the fleet Caronia is clearly an anomaly, so its probably best she finds a safe home with people who will look after her in the long term (by the way, Saga already own her & she is now leased to Cunard so I'm sure they are taking good care of her). As to other comments about things not being as they were....have you noticed how the Officers keep getting younger? :)

Peter

Thank you for your insights! I am looking forward to see how she does.

Just wondering if anyone can answer the questions raised earlier about who the captain, cruise director, etc. will be on the Sept./Oct. Caronia cruises? Thanks for the info!

We just got back from 15 days on the Caronia and it was terrible. The passengers are about 75% British and about 80% of the passengers are over 70. There is no internet access for anyone whose browser needs software more recent than 1997. The food is bland and overcooked. The staff is extremely concerned that they will not have jobs after November and regularly voice this to all who will listen. The maintenance on the ship is fair at best. The windows were never washed for our entire cruise. The lectures except for those by Terry Waite were not interesting. They were mostly about entertainment figures from the 40's and 50's particularly British. The water is very overclorinated and generally undrinkable; there are even warnings on the washers that it may damage your clothes. The captain is Andrew ?? and the Cruise Director is David Pepper. I think this is his first cruise director assignment. The captain is never around except for the receptions of which there are many but mostly only for those who frequently sail Cunard. There was not even an opportunity for those who booked the penthouse to meet the captain. There are no bridge tours or commentary from the bridge about the ports or other locations. This was clearly our poorest cruise experience. I would suggest you consider passing on a "final" trip on the Caronia.

I am sure you did not intend to imply that 75% British and 80% over 70 was a problem for you on Caronia. When I was last aboard the cruise was superb with none of the problems you mention. Things must have changed in her last few months with Cunard.

David.

I must disagree with the comments made above about the Caronia. We sailed on her for a 10 day cruise in late June and early July. Though it is true that 75% of the cruisers were 70 and above and that Americans made up a small percentage of the passengers (10% tops) the people were the friendliest and most knowlegeable cruisers I have ever met. I have sailed on Celebrity,RCCL,REN and others and this was one of the best cruises we have been on. My wife and I are in our early 50's and there were plenty of people our age on the cruise. As a matter of fact we were seated with 3 other couples all in that age category. AS for the food it was almost as good as Celebrity and better than any other line we have been on. The service was the best we have ever encountered especially in the Dining room. I did not encounter any worries or negative comments from the crew. I will agree with Techy that they did cater to the 70 and over crowd but that did not detract from the overall experience of the cruise. As far as the water-it was fine-and my wife and I are big water drinkers. The ship itself was in tip top condition for a ship her age and I would compare it with ships that are around 10 years of age. The cruise director's name was an Australian named Andrew but he will not return in this role until the last cruise and Until then David is the cruise director. I am sorry if I did not answer all your questions but if you want to sail on a ship that reminds you of the way cruising was and should be then this is your ship. Also most people that sail on her are well aware of the demographics and ages of the passengers before they sail. Someone who sails on a Carnival ship would expect the ship to cater to the (25-39 crowd) and with the Caronia it is the 50 and over.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

techshark, that sounds very scary. I am sorry for you. Some of your points would not bother me personally but some indicate that what I liked about Caronia is not there any more (excellent service, good food, many older people, but also a fair share of people in all other age groups from their twenties on). So, rodan, your comment gives some hope back.

After reading these posts, I called Cunard and aked them directly about. The representative responded very polite and considered but still had to say:

It is difficult to motivate the staff/crew in the last season, especially when most people will lose their job. Many were supposed to move to Queen Victoria which is obviously not going to happen.

Some of the best waiters etc. have been transfered to the Queen Mary to raise the level of service there.

Those who applied for a transfer but were denied and have to stay on the Caronia are especially frustrated.

The key positions (captain, cruise director, chef de cusine) will be staffed with new people even unknown to the veteran Cunard representative I talked to. Thus, I am afraid, they might not be familiar to the special Caronia feeling and not be able to create the typical atmosphere.

Yet, of course all the negative is not supposed to happen, Cunard's official aim is still to provide a great traditional cruising experience.

Maybe it's unfortunately similiar to the situation on the QM2 (as derieved from the many posts on this board): It's luck of the draw. One can get great service and have wonderful experiences and another person, just seated a couple of tables away, gets lausy service? I guess Cunard has to decide how to approach the future.

But for my upcoming cruise I decided to stay optimistic, hold to my positive experiences and those of rodan and others, and hope that Cunard learns from the negative feedback they got from techshark and others whose vacations they messed up.

It must be a weird situation as the months and now weeks tick off to the end of Cunard with Caronia. I am very suprised at the comments you got from the Cunard rep. A reprimand from head office for that response?

David.

I hope there will be nothing like this. I definetly appreciate the courtesy and honesty of the representative. That's an important part of what I call good customer service.

Any decline in service is not necessarily the result of Carnival's influence. Saga Shipping does not just own Caronia, but since late last year Saga Cruises has been responsible for the management of the ship as well. The officers and much of the crew are now Saga employees.

I still can't understand why Cunard- a line that sells itself based purely on British ocean liner tradition would get rid of a genuine British ocean liner. Especially one that consistantly gets five star ratings, is popular on the UK market, and was just throughly refurbished only 5 years ago. Instead of a genuine classic ocean liner- Caronia- Cunard will now have an apartment block style mega cruise ship- Queen Victoria.

I had the good fortune to be on the same cruise as Rodan - what a pleasure it was to meet him and his lovely wife - and can only agree with the sentiments he expressed about our time aboard. The service was very good to excellent in all departments and the food generally was superb.

When the weather turned nasty in the Bay of Biscay the staff, from the captain (Nick Bates) down went out of their way to ensure that passengers were comfortable.

While a number of the crew would obviously be stranded after the ship finishes its tenure with Cunard, many of the people I met aboard had already had some time working or travelling on QM2 and the general feeling amongst both staff and passengers was that it was such a pity that Caronia would be going.

As for older passengers on the cruise - many of these were fun , outgoing people who enjoy cruising as much as the next person. And there were younger passengers aboard as well.

So to all those out there who might want to take just one more cruise aboard the dearly beloved Caronia - go ahead, and enjoy the fast diasappearing experience of travelling on a true ocean liner.

Tiger the Teacher

As a matter of interest Caronia/Saga Ruby will be undergoing a £17 million refit once Saga take possession of the ship. I understand all cabins will be refurbished, the Lido extended and more deck space created aft. It will be interesting to see how many of the over 50s will follow the ship to Saga.

Derek

It's sad to hear that service has fallen off. The Austrailian Cruise Director, "Andrew" is Andrew Graham and he's a terrific guy, with a sharp wit and a big heart. He's also takes on the role of dance instructor, usually, and he could teach a Rottweiler to fox-trot--he taught ME and my wife to dance, so that proves it!

The crew HAS been hit hard by the changeover--particularly the delays to moving to QV. The original hull was tasked to another ship and a NEW hull was designated for the QV--delaying it further. We know a couple of crew members and keep in touch year 'round, and this has been an issue for them.

But there's never any excuse for bad service. They are paid to do the job and should do it. For years it was a much warmer and more collegial crew than QE2.

NPP.

Anyone know what is happening to Andrew. He sure is a great guy, friendly and very approachable. One of the best Cruise Directors I have had the pleasure of meeting.

Derek

We disembarked from a Baltic cruise on Caronia two days ago and had a very enjoyable experience. Our food was very good, the service impeccable, and I heard no complaining staff members, as someone earlier on the thread stated. While it is true that the passengers are about 3/4 British, and it is mainly an older crowd, I found the passengers to be friendlier than on any other cruise we have taken and very well traveled-altogether quite an interesting group of people. The entertainment that we saw was on the whole quite good, and the crew was very attentive to the passengers' wants and needs. It is true that you cannot take bridge tours now on the Caronia, but then again, that has been the position of all ships that we have been on post September 11 for security reasons, and I do not think that Caronia should be singled out for criticism in that regard. The drinking water seemed fine, although the toilet and bath water were a bit odd on occasion. We are in our mid-fifties, and there were plenty of people in our age group on the ship, although frankly speaking the people we found to be most interesting were a bit older than that. I am sure that there were people who found things to be unhappy about during our cruise as well-there customarily are wherever you go and whatever you do- but we found the cruise to be an overall lovely experience.

As a 32 year old American I have been on the ship 3 times. I have always had top notch service and the staff has been great. Sure if you want to find problems you can find problems on any ship. I have been on Crystal and Cunard many times and will see it as a sad day when Caronia no longer sails as a Cunarder.

As a younger person on the ship, I rather enjoy that the ship does get quiet at night after the shows. During the day and at the cocktail hour, I love to chat with the very seasoned British travelers and yes...they tend to be in the older ranges. But I have also found that there are some pockets of younger guests on the ship. I guess the real question for me is why I get on any ship. I like top service, a nice cabin, a wonderful movie theator with current films, a good casino (Caronia has a very nice Black Jack Table) and some nice ports of call.

Caronia has always offered all of the above for me and anyone that fails to enjoy the stories and history of the average "Seasoned Cunarder" is missing out on a lot! This yank says "Give me a boat load of older and well traveled Brits any old day over a "fun ship" full of uptight Americans that don't know what real travel is about. Caronia will always be special to me for many reasons. I will miss her as a Cunarder indeed.

Well said, Solosailaway! Some younger passengers tend to forget that one day they will be middle-aged and then - gasp! - elderly!!

One of the pleasures of travelling aboard a liner is the luxury of time to meet people, become friends and swap yarns of the sea.

Tiger the Teacher