1straveler Posted February 19, 2013 #1 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Being a long time Seabourn loyalist, the more I read about experiences on Cunard, the more I fear we will really miss Seabourn. We have booked a Princess Grill suite on the QE from Ft. Lauderdale to Southampton next month. It appears that Cunard charges extra for everything. Do they even provide bottle water in the Grills? Any experience you can share would be appreciated since it is to late to change back to Seabourn now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby1119 Posted February 19, 2013 #2 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Being a long time Seabourn loyalist, the more I read about experiences on Cunard, the more I fear we will really miss Seabourn. We have booked a Princess Grill suite on the QE from Ft. Lauderdale to Southampton next month. It appears that Cunard charges extra for everything. Do they even provide bottle water in the Grills? Any experience you can share would be appreciated since it is to late to change back to Seabourn now. Bottled water is provided gratis for PG cabins. There are additional amenities in Queens Grill. While the onboard experience will very likely be quite different from what you've experienced on Seabourn, Queen Elizabeth is, nonetheless, a very lovely ship. I did a crossing from Southampton to New York last January in Queens Grill. It was very, very good. Post a review here when you've completed the journey. Bon Voyage, Bobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1straveler Posted February 19, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks Bobby. We cruised Southampton to New York in 2004 on the QM II, but have really enjoyed the smaller ships since that time. We wanted to spend some time in Paris but Southampton worked much better for us than the Seabourn TA ports of Lisbon or Barcelona. I'm sure we will not be disappointed. We have just been spoiled by Seabourn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted February 20, 2013 #4 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Being a long time Seabourn loyalist, the more I read about experiences on Cunard, the more I fear we will really miss Seabourn. We have booked a Princess Grill suite on the QE from Ft. Lauderdale to Southampton next month. It appears that Cunard charges extra for everything. Do they even provide bottle water in the Grills? Any experience you can share would be appreciated since it is to late to change back to Seabourn now. You'll find some simularities. Overall,however Seaborn is more luxury. Kind of like the entire ship being PG/QG. You will find in Queens Grill the ability to really go "off menu" Some requests are allowed in PG as well, but not as often. Caviar is free nightly in QG, but only once per cruise in PG.Some staff do accomodate pax more in this fashion than other staff. I base my extra gratuity on how accomodating the staff is. I am NOT demanding of the staff..I just inquire what they can do & tell them I really appreciate it when they do. Being in the catering field we like to take care of the staff, when they take care of us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1straveler Posted February 20, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted February 20, 2013 One of the things we have enjoyed on Seabourn is having whatever dish you like whenever you like. If you give the chef 24 hours notice he will prepare literally any dish you can imagine. We have also become spoiled by the caviar as a snack and especially the caviar in the surf events. I gues you make certain sacrifices to gain different experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balf Posted February 20, 2013 #6 Share Posted February 20, 2013 . We have also become spoiled by the caviar as a snack and especially the caviar in the surf events. I gues you make certain sacrifices to gain different experiences. The caviar served on Cunard lately seems to be something called Hackleback, which is not what I call caviar. Do you know what is served on Seabourn. Thanks. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted February 20, 2013 #7 Share Posted February 20, 2013 The caviar served on Cunard lately seems to be something called Hackleback, which is not what I call caviar. Do you know what is served on Seabourn. Thanks. David. Pretty much the same thing. It's still a sturgeon, just not the better type. If they switch to Paddlefish..well that's something different. It looks like sturgeon caviar but it's NOT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted February 20, 2013 #8 Share Posted February 20, 2013 One of the things we have enjoyed on Seabourn is having whatever dish you like whenever you like. If you give the chef 24 hours notice he will prepare literally any dish you can imagine. We have also become spoiled by the caviar as a snack and especially the caviar in the surf events. I gues you make certain sacrifices to gain different experiences. Yes, that's about the same as the Queens Grill. I feel you should give 24 hr. notice. I know some pax demand off menu items that day. I think that's wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1straveler Posted February 21, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Seabourn uses ossestra sturgeon caviar, which as they explain it, is a Siberian caviar that is farm raised rather than from its natural element. It tastes very good to me and certainly different from the paddlefish I believe they once served. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted February 26, 2013 #10 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Seabourn uses ossestra sturgeon caviar, which as they explain it, is a Siberian caviar that is farm raised rather than from its natural element. It tastes very good to me and certainly different from the paddlefish I believe they once served. The Paddlefish is one seriously ugly fish. It's NOT a Sturgeon. The Hackle Back is. Just not as good as the Russian variety. They do have a large Sturgeon in the Snake river. I've had some of that Caviar. It's pretty close to some of the Russian varieties out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitemarsh Posted February 26, 2013 #11 Share Posted February 26, 2013 You'll find some simularities. Overall,however Seaborn is more luxury. Kind of like the entire ship being PG/QG. You will find in Queens Grill the ability to really go "off menu" Some requests are allowed in PG as well, but not as often. Caviar is free nightly in QG, but only once per cruise in PG.Some staff do accomodate pax more in this fashion than other staff. I base my extra gratuity on how accomodating the staff is. I am NOT demanding of the staff..I just inquire what they can do & tell them I really appreciate it when they do. Being in the catering field we like to take care of the staff, when they take care of us! Keith, caviar is not free in the Princess Grill anymore. It hasn't been for years. In my experience, going off-menu in the Queens Grill is exactly the same as going off-menu in the Princess Grill. You still have to give notice and if they can, they'll do it for you. I haven't noticed any difference between the two restaurants (with the exception of caviar & foie gras being free in the QG). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted February 26, 2013 #12 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Keith, caviar is not free in the Princess Grill anymore. It hasn't been for years. In my experience, going off-menu in the Queens Grill is exactly the same as going off-menu in the Princess Grill. You still have to give notice and if they can, they'll do it for you. I haven't noticed any difference between the two restaurants (with the exception of caviar & foie gras being free in the QG). They no longer have it one night in P-Grill? We had it in '09. I've heard that some staff "accomodated" some of the pax with more than that, but I was not one of the chosen few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitemarsh Posted February 26, 2013 #13 Share Posted February 26, 2013 They no longer have it one night in P-Grill? We had it in '09. I've heard that some staff "accomodated" some of the pax with more than that, but I was not one of the chosen few. They no longer offer free caviar in the Princess Grill. I got it in 2010 but by 2012 it was available only at a cost. I believe they phased it out in 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted February 27, 2013 #14 Share Posted February 27, 2013 They no longer offer free caviar in the Princess Grill. I got it in 2010 but by 2012 it was available only at a cost. I believe they phased it out in 2011. Rather cheesey of the bean counters. It's not like it was Ossetra(though it was in '09)The hackleback is pretty cheap as far as Caviar goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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