Going out on a high

Adammara on QE, Really Hilary and Richard,first cruise on QE2 in 1991, a competition prize, an inside cabin in the bowelsof the ship! Now both well into 70s, and slowly falling apart. Booked this cruise after a wonderful cruiseon her last October in a P2. Booked a similar P2, only to see the price plummet to nearly half price, and after complaint we were upgraded to a Q3, retaining our free drinks and generous OBC. Hilary injured her leg just before cruise, and I have a dodgy shoulder! We knew what we could manage would be very limited but weredetermined to enjoy ourslves.

As its a 5-6 hour trip to Southampton, we always go the day before, and we stayed at the Hilton Ageas Bowl a modern hotel, booking an executive room with its perks, good helpful staff. As I had been told by my doctor to take life a lot easier, asked for a porter to bring the cases in, but I got two young ladies to do the job, and felt a bit guilty! One was joining Oceana as a receptionist in January.

Next morning off to the nearby M&S, as I had forgotten to pack a spare sweater, then off to Ocean terminal, arrivingat 11.10am. When the CPS lady saw that my wife has walking difficulties, she arrange for our car to be parked in the disabled car park, which was much appreciated. When we got in the terminal we were immediately offered assistance, but we manage as we were. There was no waiting involved and we were soon on the ship and in our suite, we did not see our luggage, butler or assistant butler until after lunch. No sign of any priority boarding forsuites, not that it worried us.

Went to the Queens lounge pre lunch, and were happy to find that the maitre' d was the one we had in Princess Grill last year, and we got a window seat, which we were not expecting. We had excellent waiters, and the sommelier is brilliant, and very helpful!. We though Princes Grill was fantastic, but within a day we have been converted, I can see why passengers love it.

We were very lazy on this cruise, spent alot of time reading and trying to do crosswords, with a lot of time spent in the Grills Lounge, getting to know the staff extremely well, and they soon got to know our likes. I have to say that the staff we had in all the areas we used were fantastic, certainly the best in our 41 cruises. All ports we had been to before, we only went ashore in Cadiz, tiring our selves out completely!

What can I say about our cabin, a Queens’s suite Q3, fantastic, a great experience. However, we found the air con a problem, and both got very 'chesty',

Dining in the Queens Grill was an experience not to be missed! I doubt we will ever be so well fed or looked after ever again, we had a window table for 2, one of 3 in a row, it was easy to talk to our neighbours who dined around the same time as us, but the far end couple came in later, and it was difficult to converse with them, mainly due to the table spacing. It turned out we were all ex P&O cruisers, all looking for better service. The only hiccup we had was being served the wrong bacon on the last morning, but we all know what a stressful day that is for the crew.

We had the free drinks under $12 deal, and the Sommelier was fantastic, found me a great wine just under the limit for asmall glass, and I never went short. He was very attentive and even found a wine to suit Hilary, which takes some doing!

My birthday is in October, and have had several birthdays at sea, but this is the first time Hilary's birthday occurred whilst on a cruise. It was nice to receive a card from the Captain in the morning, and all the staff we had got to know wished her a happy birthday. We thought no more about it (apart from buying her a necklace onboard!) and went for dinner. After the entree, I noticed the photographer at the waiters station, then the maitre' d and headwaiter, and the rest of our team, they all gathered round Hilary, presented her with a big sponge birthday cake, and wished her a happy birthday, and photo's taken. I was accused of organising it, but was innocent! The cake was served with icecream and was absolutely delicious. We shared with our neighours, and it lasted3 days. It was a very special night, and a have photo of us together, just like our first cruise on QE2 in 1991, we are just a little older! The couple next to us, regular Cunard cruisers, thought that the food and service was the the best they had experienced.

There were very few children to be seen,probably 4 or 5, and all well behaved, We only attended one production show,thought the male singers were excellent, but the ladies struggled a little IMO, One of the reasons we left Celebrity was the loud music everywhere, we hardly noticed it onboard QE

A couple of points that have been discussed lately, afternoon tea is now served in the Princess restaurant, and the al la carte entree menu has six items that can be order when you eat, and six items that have to be ordered at lunchtime. In all a choice of around 17 or18 entrees’, which was enough for us! I had a wonderful vegetarian Biryani on the Saturday lunchtime, enjoyed it so much that I asked the waiter if it was available again, and was referred to the maitre'd, who did organise it for me. There was no mention at any time off going 'off menu', although our neighboring table had on a previous cruise.

The Bay of Biscay was kind to us both ways,and we managed a little sunbathing on the balcony in Lisbon, as we had decided to stay onboard that day. Disembarkation was listed as 8.20, and was well organised and we left exactly on time, and we had a good journey home, even If it was snowing at times!

The only major problem we had was the ‘free’drinks being charged for, it was sorted out on the last sea day, but when the statement arrived the next morning, we had been charged for the drinks again. Reception said they would correct it, but they have now been charged to my credit card, so that no doubt will take sometime to sort out!

Sadly we have decided it was our last cruise, we have both got medical problems, and insurance gets more and more difficult as we age scoring you more points, its easy to book the cruise, not so easy to get travel insurance for us. Although we love cruising,we find that all the effort involved is now getting too much. We now plan to visit many of the places in the UK that we used take our children to when they were young . This time staying in a hotel, not a caravan!

What a lovely report, thanks for taking the time to write it. Sounds like we will be on a similar trip on QE boarding Saturday 23 December. We are really looking forward to Cadiz.

This is our first cruise ever, so really looking forward to our experience with Cunard. You have confirmed that we will have a great time. Hope you enjoy your trips around the UK in style. Enjoy life.

A really nice trip report, and poignant, given your decision to quit cruising. How nice that your last one was so memorable.

Thanks for reporting back, I am glad to hear you had such a wonderful time but sorry that it will be your last.

Lovely report. Sorry you feel you won't be able to go cruising again, but never say never!!

Sorry you are giving up cruising, but enjoy your nostalgic trips in the UK. They should be more comfortable this time around!

Hello Valentine and thank you for your interesting report.

We are about to go on our first Cunard cruise and know nothing about a "Below $12 free drink" offer. Can you (or maybe someone else on this thread) please advise me how to find this.

Hello Valentine and thank you for your interesting report.

 

We are about to go on our first Cunard cruise and know nothing about a "Below $12 free drink" offer. Can you (or maybe someone else on this thread) please advise me how to find this.

It's a very occasional and limited offer from Cunard - not virtually permanent as on Celebrity.

Stuart

Its an occasional offer that is offered to suite customers once in a while, often around this time of year, in our case it was in conjunction with our online TA. Whilst it sounds good, the total cruise price with this deal is usually higher than the normal. On our 7 day cruise last year we spent around $425 on drinks, and would have expected to pay around $700 if we were paying on this cruise. As it was we were just over $900, mainly as we had cocktails in the evening, something we have never done before.

We loved the 'PS I love you' which consists of Amaretto, Baileys rum and cream, delicious!

On our recent cruise on QE the "free drinks package" was offered for grill passengers. We had already booked a cruise in QG suite but the cruise fare increased £600pp to cover the so called "free drinks package".

Thank you all. We are in Queens Grill but no offer so far.