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.Review of world cruise sector to Sydney 2018


Alanxx
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Here are the good points and bad points of our journey.

GOOD.....the staff were as excellent as ever.Hard working and pleasant even when under pressure.The room steward always had a smile and said hello,as did the other room stewards in our area of the ship.The table waiters and bar staff were happy to chat when they had the time.The food in the Britannia we found of a good standard.As with any journey of 45 days there was some repetition. Some of the entertainment we thought quite good and some poor.As Cunard cannot please all of the people they probably pitched it right.

BAD...... The main problems started when we reached Australia.There were so many comings and goings of passengers,with some only spending two nights on the ship that we,and many others,felt the atmosphere change dramatically.On occasions we felt as if we were on a ferry.It appeared many new passengers had no idea of what to expect on Cunard.The dress code went out the window for many.One night we had two tables of Australians next to us and ONE man wore a jacket.EIGHT didn't.One of the women had a woollen grey zip up hoody and another had a leather bikers jacket.We saw people walking through the dining room wearing shorts and flip flops.In the theatre many wore denim jeans,others shorts sleeved shirts and even a bright red pullover.However,the most interesting was a man who sat three seats away who had on boots,denim jeans,a tee shirt,a scarf and a flat cap.... we thought he had got lost on the way to the engine room !!!?On leaving the theatre my wife asked the Cunard representative on the door why people were allowed in and she replied "I didn't see them" When some staff spoke to us off the record it was apparent that a blind eye was being turned to the dress code once we arrived in Australia.

The other bad points we found centred around the Pursers office and the tour office staff. With the exception of the port presenter I think the other members of staff of these departments had received a personality bypass !

I don't care how people dress but if there are rules then either obey them or choose a different ship where you can do what you want

We will never again use Cunard for a journey to Australia.All that interested them was getting as many Australians as possible to try Cunard and in order to do that they alienated many of the World cruise passengers we spoke to

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If Cunard sell the short segments, well you can’t blame people for booking them.

 

And the short segments always attract a different demographic, anywhere in the world.

 

If Cunard (seemingly along with every other line) refuses to enforce the dress code, well who is at fault.

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We experienced the same phenomenon on QE W/C in 2016-while I enjoyed the Australian stops, the “day tripper” feeling during our time in Australia altered the atmosphere. They were generally nice folks but had NOT A CLUE about what longer term cruisers were expecting. Just saw the 2020 QM2 itinerary-Cunard will probably do the same thing between Brisbane and Fremantle-Buyer Beware!;)

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I was on Queen Victoria last August greek islands cruise very lovely and very hot. One night I forgot to put my jacket on and in the Golden Lion was told "sorry sir I cant serve you without a jacket after 6pm. I went and got mine on straight away, came back and asked the barman (overweight and unpleasant were his best features) why he hadn't got one on? No answer just whistled to himself and scuttled off without an answer. Bloke was a joke.

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I was on Queen Victoria last August greek islands cruise very lovely and very hot. One night I forgot to put my jacket on and in the Golden Lion was told "sorry sir I cant serve you without a jacket after 6pm. I went and got mine on straight away, came back and asked the barman (overweight and unpleasant were his best features) why he hadn't got one on? No answer just whistled to himself and scuttled off without an answer. Bloke was a joke.

A joke???

 

Because he enforced the rules:confused::(:rolleyes:

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I was on Queen Victoria last August greek islands cruise very lovely and very hot. One night I forgot to put my jacket on and in the Golden Lion was told "sorry sir I cant serve you without a jacket after 6pm. I went and got mine on straight away, came back and asked the barman (overweight and unpleasant were his best features) why he hadn't got one on? No answer just whistled to himself and scuttled off without an answer. Bloke was a joke.

 

 

 

jacket is almost certainly not part of the barman's uniform

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We experienced the same phenomenon on QE W/C in 2016-while I enjoyed the Australian stops, the “day tripper” feeling during our time in Australia altered the atmosphere. They were generally nice folks but had NOT A CLUE about what longer term cruisers were expecting. Just saw the 2020 QM2 itinerary-Cunard will probably do the same thing between Brisbane and Fremantle-Buyer Beware!;)

 

We were on QM a few years ago for Capetown-Perth and many Australians were on board for the run home. The first few days were certainly an eye opener but it was just a case of going with the flow and, boy, can they party!:D

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Hi,

 

I did a short seven-night segment of the QM2's 2017 World Cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore. In my experience, people complied with the evening dress code. I didn't really notice any difference between this segment and the five prior times that I have sailed aboard this ship. The atmosphere of the ship must change when it is in Australia.

 

Chuck

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Very sad that the world cruisers could not adapt to the casual attitude of the australian cruisers and actually get to know them. With regards to wearing a jacket, I would doubt many of the cruisers would have had a jacket, let alone wearing it in summer. Short sleeve shirts are the standard dress here and that would include polo tops. I think it is more important to judge them by their behaviour. Cunnard do not advertise their short cruises as "dressed up" and as all the other cruise liners are more relaxed I suspect people were not aware of the expected dress codes.

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Thanks to the OP posting his views. We were on QM2 this time last year - sector: Sydney to HK. About 500 Australians embarked in Sydney and Brisbane and there were a few who adopted similar dress standards around the ship to those the OP described. I blame the pax concerned and the QM2 staff for the non compliance. I just don't think the staff wanted confrontation. I too heard several murmurings from world voyaging Brits re the Aussies code of dress. I recollect being in the ship's pub, Golden Lion I think, at 6pm when a couple of tables of Aussies got ejected re dress and behaviour generally. At times I felt embarrassed to be a 'Colonial.':halo:

 

These bogans (the Brits call them Chavs I believe) so dressed should have stuck to P&O Australia or Carnival Cruise Lines where their mode of attire is/was probably acceptable.:evilsmile:

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Very sad that the world cruisers could not adapt to the casual attitude of the australian cruisers and actually get to know them. With regards to wearing a jacket, I would doubt many of the cruisers would have had a jacket, let alone wearing it in summer. Short sleeve shirts are the standard dress here and that would include polo tops. I think it is more important to judge them by their behaviour. Cunnard do not advertise their short cruises as "dressed up" and as all the other cruise liners are more relaxed I suspect people were not aware of the expected dress codes.

 

I disagree, even for a short voyage, the passengers should have perused the contents of the web site re dress codes and in their booking summary 'black tie nights' are listed. Surely those people are not that silly they could not interpret what a formal night is? It is written in the Queens English !! And us 'colonials' do speak that language:halo:.

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I disagree, even for a short voyage, the passengers should have perused the contents of the web site re dress codes and in their booking summary 'black tie nights' are listed. Surely those people are not that silly they could not interpret what a formal night is? It is written in the Queens English !! And us 'colonials' do speak that language:halo:.

But there is also the lack of enforcement.

 

Though when I was on they seemed to be on the ball.

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We did Sydney- Kobe on the QE last year and most people adhered to the dress code. I did notice one or two ladies with visible tattoos wearing formal wear dancing in the Queens room.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited by cruisine21
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But there is also the lack of enforcement.

 

Though when I was on they seemed to be on the ball.

 

Mr Gut, sir, I think re enforcement of dress codes thet QM2 staff gave up on our sector, Syd-HK, mind you not only some Aussies shabbily dressed, quite a few from the Far East not complying.:evilsmile:

 

Certainly the vast majority of pax complied, but those who did not stood out like the proverbial.

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I really don't think it is enforced sufficiently by Cunard itself. I know it is in the paperwork but it is not made out to be a rule but more of a guideline, in addition people are not told that if they are not dressed to standard, then they will be turned away. This must come from Cunard and reinforced by TAs when people are booking.

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I really don't think it is enforced sufficiently by Cunard itself. I know it is in the paperwork but it is not made out to be a rule but more of a guideline, in addition people are not told that if they are not dressed to standard, then they will be turned away. This must come from Cunard and reinforced by TAs when people are booking.

 

Exactly, the Line must get their act into gear or they will lose many of their loyal traditionalist Cunard clientele. Pax are not going to spend thousands travelling the word in the company of those who want to walk around the Cunard ships regimentally undressed. Some of the other Lines who have poorly enforced dress codes, i.e. Princess and RCI should also wake up.:halo::o

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Very sad that the world cruisers could not adapt to the casual attitude of the australian cruisers and actually get to know them. With regards to wearing a jacket, I would doubt many of the cruisers would have had a jacket, let alone wearing it in summer. Short sleeve shirts are the standard dress here and that would include polo tops. I think it is more important to judge them by their behaviour. Cunnard do not advertise their short cruises as "dressed up" and as all the other cruise liners are more relaxed I suspect people were not aware of the expected dress codes.

I disagree entirely with cruise collector and so did four Australians at my breakfast table who embarked at Melbourne for a short cruise and were amazed at some of the dress of their follow Australians.They had especially bought some evening clothes to dress up according to their booking information.The information is available but many just chose to ignore it.

Having paid a great deal of money for our cruise can anyone give me a reasonable argument as to why WE should change and NOT the people who are on the ship for 2or 3 days.If people do not own a jacket why on earth would they go on a cruise where it states "Jackets to be worn" Are they not able to read ????

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...................If people do not own a jacket why on earth would they go on a cruise where it states "Jackets to be worn" Are they not able to read ????

Aussies read"dress codes" as a very loose suggestion only. They are not used to being told how to dress and, actually, the more people complain about it, the more an Aussie will non-comply. If I'm paying for this holiday, I'll dress how I like. It's just the way it is.

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