Cunard... first time and last time

We took our first Cunard cruise last month on the Queen Victoria, for a trip around the British Isles. We have previously cruised with Celebrity (great), Royal Caribbean (not so great) and Princess and hoped we would enjoy Cunard's ambiance.

The good: The food in Britannia and Lido was of excellent quality and varied. The ports were interesting and Cunard provided free shuttle buses where necessary and the ship offered sufficient venues for entertainment. We did like dressing up for the formal nights and liked that most passengers did the same.

The bad: We felt like we had landed in a funeral home. We are around 70, but we felt way too young for the ambiance on this ship, especially at night. The casino, the bars and public areas were empty after 10 and really were only busy right before and after Britannia dinner times. The entertainment was mediocre at best with the exception of a Circe du Soleil type performance and a band playing sixties and seventies hits. The service was stiff compared to other cruise lines. It seems most of the service personnel comes from countries where people are not naturally friendly or happy and they did not seem to enjoy their jobs. Certain areas of the ship had a sewer smell and the flush system in our bathroom often did not work well either.

I guess we will stick with Celebrity in the future.

What a shame your voyage was so disappointing. I can only assume the problem must have been the itinerary as we have been on QV numerous times - though never around the UK - and that has never been our experience and we are a little younger than you.

Crew have always been unfailingly polite, helpful and very friendly we have found, so I can’t imagine why they would have been different on your trip, but rest assured they are usually fantastic. Many come from the Philipines where they are well known for their happy, outgoing personalities.

Hopefully your next cruise will be better, whichever cruise line you choose.

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the ambiance, we are a lot younger than you & enjoy it very much.

I haven't cruised with any of the companies you mentioned but I understand that Cunard service is more formal and reserved.

It's good to hear that the food was good as there have been some negative comments recently.

Thank you very much for reporting back.

Sorry to hear your cruise did not meet your expectations. We've been on the QM2 a few times and found the service to be very professional, efficient and pleasant, but more reserved and stiff than other cruise lines. This does not bother us as my husband and I like our privacy. We like to eat without our server chatting us up the whole time. We also like Celebrity where there is more interaction between officers and guests, and the staff seems more friendly. Depends on where we're cruising.

Did you go to the balls in the Queens Room? Some don't start until 9:45 pm so that may be why it seemed there weren't a lot of people around. We usually do the balls until bout 11:00 pm and then we go to the buffet before we retire for the evening.

11 cruises with cunard and 3 more booked and NEVER exeprienced any of the the disappointing issues you cite - shame you werent completely happy

We are MUCH younger than you and will only cruise with Cunard. So very sorry for your experience. As the previous person said it might have been the itinerary.

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We were are the same Q.V. British Isles cruise and enjoyed wonderful service and the standard Cunard ambiance. Funeral home? Really?

As for the staff, how did you treat them? We’ve found that on Cunard if you open up to the staff, smile and respect them they are quick to open up to you. This has always been our experience and we have about 15 Cunard cruises under our belt.

Always disappointing when anyone's holiday is not to their expectations. And one should speak as one finds.

Personally, one of the reasons we have liked Cunard over many years is the service we have received. I can still name many stewards who have made my crossing/cruise experience since.. well since 1977. QE in August was no exception.. we just enjoyed superb, personal and friendly service from everyone.. including lots of open sitting breakfasts and lunches (we avoid the "lido" at all costs) and had an exceptional team in the Britannia for our assigned table. The crew seems to be Filipino or Indian mostly but our favourite bar steward in the Commodore, Colin, was Irish. We do make an effort (and wrong word as it sounds forced) to interact with staff on all our cruises. And yes, we found the deck "service" on QE to be... absolutely, positively horrible on every count. Maybe they transferred them to the QV after my not so subtle comments!!

I've never sailed Celebrity (but have with their predecessors Chandris), but would never even contemplate it given the reports of horrendous, loud "music" blared out in every venue, every deck 24/7. Nothing is a bigger turn-off to me. I just won't tolerate it.

We took our first Cunard cruise last month on the Queen Victoria, for a trip around the British Isles. We have previously cruised with Celebrity (great), Royal Caribbean (not so great) and Princess and hoped we would enjoy Cunard's ambiance.

 

The good: The food in Britannia and Lido was of excellent quality and varied. The ports were interesting and Cunard provided free shuttle buses where necessary and the ship offered sufficient venues for entertainment. We did like dressing up for the formal nights and liked that most passengers did the same.

 

The bad: We felt like we had landed in a funeral home. We are around 70, but we felt way too young for the ambiance on this ship, especially at night. The casino, the bars and public areas were empty after 10 and really were only busy right before and after Britannia dinner times. The entertainment was mediocre at best with the exception of a Circe du Soleil type performance and a band playing sixties and seventies hits. The service was stiff compared to other cruise lines. It seems most of the service personnel comes from countries where people are not naturally friendly or happy and they did not seem to enjoy their jobs. Certain areas of the ship had a sewer smell and the flush system in our bathroom often did not work well either.

 

I guess we will stick with Celebrity in the future.

My wife and I cruised on Cunard when we were in our 20's .The majority of passengers were close to 80 .We did not have a problem . No matter what your age is you can always find topics of conversation .We loved the cruise.

I hope, given the right circumstances of itinerary, companions, and price you give them another shot sometime in the future. Especially a transatlantic crossing on the QM2, a truly unique experience (It's a popular return option for Spring repo crossings on other lines.)

Thanks for giving us your report.

We always interact with the crew whenever we can and had no negative interactions, just not many sociable ones, except for the Philipine and Latin crew members. Some passengers told us that tipping is not required on Cunard and maybe that affects the crew?

Some passengers told us that tipping is not required on Cunard and maybe that affects the crew?

Tipping is always a contentious issue on this board. It depends what you mean by it. I always pay the full auto gratuities (which includes room service - I know that because I asked). Anything extra would be given for excellent service above and beyond the call of duty. Other people have different ideas.

Your informants are correct that tipping is not required or enforced, though it is expected to the amount of the auto gratuities.

Indeed. Tipping is even more contentious than dress code around here, primarily reflecting the differing attitudes toward tipping around the world. For better or worse, Cunard reflects the tip-dependent pricing of US lines. I had to check to make sure that you weren't doing an Australia itinerary, as I believe Cunard has started pricing their cruises with tips included (perhaps Japan as well). Furthermore, promotions by the line and some travel agencies often cover the gratuities for some passengers in some cabins.

So, while some passengers may have their tips covered as part of a promotion or special pricing, and you're likely to hear a variety of opinions on the matter - unless you're told that your gratuities were covered, you're expected to at least pay the suggested amounts as is deducted by the auto gratuities.

(....and we've always found the service staff usually reflects the warmth of the Filipino culture from which many come, but I suspect that the Purser's Desk staff are automatons programmed with British accents but no emotion.)

- Mark

As a barely (like four months) former J.A.P. (Jr. Asst.Purser), I am always amused at the consistent Ice Goddess personality profile that today's "hotel managers", or whatever they call Pursers now, must possess before they are hired. And not just Carnival Group, either. As long as you know you will never win an argument or crack a smile, you can survive your trip to the Bureau although often you leave wondering why you bothered. We had much more fun aboard R.M.S. ST. HELENA than these automatons.

The old 1959-built ROTTERDAM had the best solution to pesky passengers at the Bureau: the little brass sign screwed to the bulkhead "Ship Fully Booked No Accommodation Changes Available". Now, who is going to argue with that?

Our take on the style of service is that a server should be unobtrusive. That is what we've experienced on Cunard. We much prefer that to service staff (especially waiters) who joke, do magic tricks, etc. I never interpreted it as cold.

Some passengers told us that tipping is not required on Cunard and maybe that affects the crew?

Whether someone has paid the service charge or not makes no difference to the amount of pay the staff get so should have no impact on their service.

Horses for courses I suppose - I never really miss nighttime entertainment because I prefer to go to bed (relatively) earlier and get up earlier, I find the staff to be spot on, anything more would make them overbearing. If you wish to engage then they will usually do so quite merrily (provided they are not completely run off their feet) but if you’d rather they just unobtrusively performed their duties then they will also do so readily. They seem to take their cue from you in my experience - as it should be imo.

FWIW my first Cunard trip last month I found service to be very good but robotic. I used the word efficient in my review I believe.

Coming from Holland America, that was the biggest difference. I never had a QM2 staff member call me by name despite repeated servings. That always - always - happens on HAL.

I pin it on different training styles. Both are good, and some will prefer Cunard’s method.

...and I echo the desire that service staff primarily concern themselves with providing efficient, good service. I really don't want my waiter to sing or dance and I'd prefer that my room steward take the shift to service the cabins without taking the time to construct towel animals. (...and perhaps even take those minutes to help maintain a decent sleep schedule).

However, for those staff with whom we interact often, I do enjoy a more personal approach. For dining and bar service staff, I appreciate it when my waiter learns my preferences and when bartenders know my usual drinks. And I especially enjoy learning a bit about them.

There's a line in the spectrum between "French waiter aloof" and the perhaps pushy-familiar attitude of some family line dining staff and eager waitresses at chain restaurants - and often a difference between staff from Eastern Europe and the Philippines. While the warmth of the Filipino and Indonesian staff on HAL is palpable, we enjoyed our interactions on Cunard as well.

As a very broad observation:

RCCL & Carnival - staff trained to be very friendly and forward. More familiar than refined.

Princess & HAL - better trained and more refined than above but similar attitude (more based on US model)

Celebrity & Cunard - also better trained, but more oriented towards the European model and not as forward.

As I said, we've always had great waiters, and (for some reason....) we've had great, personal service by the bar staff in the lounges. It may simply be the luck of the draw or expectations. Whereas initiating conversation with the customer is considered being friendly with some people, for others it may be considered overly-forward and presumptuous. I hadn't really considered it before, and as a naturally outgoing person it didn't occur for me, but it may very well be that the service staff are trained to not initiate personal conversation, but will readily respond once the passenger does so.

Again, thanks for your initial report and for your patient responses to us Cunard defenders - and in this case, for giving me something to think about and take notice of on our upcoming crossing,

- Mark

DH and I are in our early 30s and have never had any problem finding young at heart people to spend time with, no matter what the average age of passengers. Some bars are quieter than others so you might need to move around to find the best place to be. And of course if you are on a port intensive trip people are going to want to head to be earlier to best enjoy the port the next day.

I've always found the staff to be unobtrusive but friendly if you want to chat. But if you don't indicate that you want to chat you'll be left alone. Talking to a bartender on QE last month, they are told that the ships are formal and not to do some of the things that are encouraged on other lines. Obviously that's not going to suit everyone but I does suit me which is why I've really enjoyed the six cruises we've done with Cunard.

As a barely (like four months) former J.A.P. (Jr. Asst.Purser), I am always amused at the consistent Ice Goddess personality profile that today's "hotel managers", or whatever they call Pursers now, must possess before they are hired. And not just Carnival Group, either. As long as you know you will never win an argument or crack a smile, you can survive your trip to the Bureau although often you leave wondering why you bothered. We had much more fun aboard R.M.S. ST. HELENA than these automatons.

 

The old 1959-built ROTTERDAM had the best solution to pesky passengers at the Bureau: the little brass sign screwed to the bulkhead "Ship Fully Booked No Accommodation Changes Available". Now, who is going to argue with that?

Absolutely nothing compares to the venerable, late RMS. The people in the Bureau weren't just mere figureheads like on the big corporate vessels, they actually ran the ship. There is a reason why one of the Pursers is now the manager of the new hotel in Jamestown.

Not to mention, that you were actually shaking the captain's hand when being greeted at the Captain's Cocktails and have a proper G&T with navy strength Plymouth Gin afterwards.

Actually, I served on the really "venerable" RMS, the ex-NORTHLAND PRINCE, original ST. HELENA. Pre-computer pursering, too. But glad the quality and strength of the G&Ts was carried over with all the other traditions and crew, too, to the new ship. Those, as they say, "were the days". All gone now and getting to St. Helena was indeed half the fun.

DH and I are in our early 30s and have never had any problem finding young at heart people to spend time with, no matter what the average age of passengers. Some bars are quieter than others so you might need to move around to find the best place to be. And of course if you are on a port intensive trip people are going to want to head to be earlier to best enjoy the port the next day.

 

I've always found the staff to be unobtrusive but friendly if you want to chat. But if you don't indicate that you want to chat you'll be left alone. Talking to a bartender on QE last month, they are told that the ships are formal and not to do some of the things that are encouraged on other lines. Obviously that's not going to suit everyone but I does suit me which is why I've really enjoyed the six cruises we've done with Cunard.

Couldn't agree more with what you say.

I've never really understood this urge to hold social engagements with the staff other than with the officers at a cocktail party or other formal function.

I can also only surmise that the OP was on an early sitting. I prefer late sitting or better still the Grills usually heading for a show ( second) after dinner followed by a dance till the orchestra finishes (around midnight) and then either the Commodore Club, Yacht Club or G32 for that late night banter.

PS, my wife and I are both over 65 years of age

Good luck with "banter" with the officers... the ones on our QE trip last August were as distant and disengaged as you could get. Indeed, I find this now quite typical on most ships. Back in the day, especially on P&O and BI, socialising with the officers, the private cocktail parties (including the famous one in CANBERRA's morgue usually sailing from Gib) and deck barbeques were part of the wonderful appeal of those lines. I still remember the names of most of the officers back then. Today, it's all very clinical and sealed off like the totally enclosed bridges on new ships. They even avoid eye contact if passed in the passageways.

But I found the crew on QE to be mostly very engaging and friendly, except for the deck crew. The bar staff throughout were wonderful and yes, the quality of the banter resulted in a stronger, larger measure, too....although I don't think Cunard stock Navy Strength Plymouth gin except in the Wardroom and that's of course now off limits to mere mortals.

We choose our cruises by itinerary and price . That way we get to enjoy the differences between

all of the affordable (to us) cruise lines and ships. There is not a bad cruise line or ship , just different. There may be just not so good sailings at times.