Do I have a drink problem?

[PunkiC]

Not 'worried' about the 'class' thing, just do not like it.

 

As pepperrn has pointed out, class distinctions are pretty ubiquitous. What's not to like? If people decide to pay for more service, privileges, etc., that's their business, not mine. We all decide what matters most to us and how to spend our money, points or miles.

 

We always book a balcony because I love a balcony. We once booked an ocean view to take a very expensive New Year's Eve cruise with friends. I hated not having a balcony, while our friends were happy as bugs in a rug in an inside cabin. It has never occurred to me to book a suite and I haven't enjoyed a suite any more than a balcony, on those occasions when we have been upgraded, although it was nice to have a jetted tub.

 

Conversely, I have never flown coach internationally and, hopefully, never will. It is just a matter of comfort and has nothing to do with "class". The thought of a very long international flight without a bed and good food and service is too daunting for me. I am old and don't like being miserable if I can avoid it.

Edited March 30, 2015 by PunkiC

[Moonraker7]

Sigh....why oh why. If you have the money and you want to be in a better area good on you, doesn't mean there's a class And why has the thread gone from a cocktail to class distinction?

Edited March 30, 2015 by Moonraker7

[sfb]

Sigh....why oh why. If you have the money and you want to be in a better area good on you, doesn't mean there's a class And why has the thread gone from a cocktail to class distinction?

Drift happens

Cheers.

[Dorset Cruiser]

Sigh....why oh why. If you have the money and you want to be in a better area good on you, doesn't mean there's a class And why has the thread gone from a cocktail to class distinction?

 

Thats the joy of Cruise Critic 😄

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Host Hattie]

Sigh....why oh why. If you have the money and you want to be in a better area good on you, doesn't mean there's a class And why has the thread gone from a cocktail to class distinction?

 

It's a pretty common theme on this board.

[brigittetom]

And why has the thread gone from a cocktail to class distinction?

 

 

There is only so much you can say about a cocktail. :)

[QuipMC]

And why has the thread gone from a cocktail to class distinction?

 

Perhaps too many drinks?

 

(And trust me, all discussion boards, almost regardless of subject, have a distinct tendency for discussion threads to veer off course. One of the joys of "forum life.")

 

But to sum up: There are people with class at all "price points" just as there are people without class at all income levels. :)

Edited March 30, 2015 by QuipMC

[pepperrn]

There is only so much you can say about a cocktail. :)

And after one or three... not much of what I say, makes any sense... ;) :D

[pepperrn]

But to sum up: There are people with class at all "price points" just as there are people without class at all income levels. :)

Excellent :) , Thank you.

[MicCanberra]

Excellent :) , Thank you.

 

Class vs Wealth, people shouldn't get confused.

As for the cocktail, that may be worth trying.:D

[Jim Avery]

I have been in and out of this thread so had no idea it had gone off the tracks into the old "Class Warfare" swamp. Cunard marketing promotes "class" far beyond realities onboard imo. As others have noted, more mass market lines are instituting "class" in a big way. We have availed ourselves of some of the Suite Life deals on Princess and HAL and have been given priorities that sometimes are a bit embarrasing and which would annoy me if others were allowed to cut in ahead of me. I have never seen that on Cunard other than the priority lines at checkin and we all know how good that works from time to time. In fact, again imo, it is the Grills passengers on QM2 that seem to be confined to their areas while the rest of us run wild all over the ship. Bigger cabin, sure-they paid for it. For the most part, my 60 years of Cunard travel (I started early thanks to having a Mother from England) were spent in inside cabins, more commonly known on this board as Steerage. Fun trips all. And Pepper, can I come to your bar????:D

[Dorset Cruiser]

I have been in and out of this thread so had no idea it had gone off the tracks into the old "Class Warfare" swamp. Cunard marketing promotes "class" far beyond realities onboard imo. As others have noted, more mass market lines are instituting "class" in a big way. We have availed ourselves of some of the Suite Life deals on Princess and HAL and have been given priorities that sometimes are a bit embarrasing and which would annoy me if others were allowed to cut in ahead of me. I have never seen that on Cunard other than the priority lines at checkin and we all know how good that works from time to time. In fact, again imo, it is the Grills passengers on QM2 that seem to be confined to their areas while the rest of us run wild all over the ship. Bigger cabin, sure-they paid for it. For the most part, my 60 years of Cunard travel (I started early thanks to having a Mother from England) were spent in inside cabins, more commonly known on this board as Steerage. Fun trips all. And Pepper, can I come to your bar????:D

 

Yes you can 😄

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[brigittetom]

If you really want to see suite perks, have a look at The Haven on NCL or MSC's Yacht club !

 

 

Looks like "steerage" will be making a comeback. :)

[pepperrn]

Don't forget me - we can work on our questionnaire ! :p

But of course not :) , the Commodore Club awaits...

[pepperrn]

I have been in and out of this thread so had no idea it had gone off the tracks into the old "Class Warfare" swamp. Cunard marketing promotes "class" far beyond realities onboard imo.

Hi Jim, Couldn't agree more.

 

Plus, because in the 60s and 70s all the other great names in North Atlantic shipping withdrew from the regular transatlantic market (United States Line, French Line, Italia, NAL, SAL, HAL... etc) Cunard were left alone to continue, in the public's mind, the time-honoured class structure on board ships in an otherwise increasingly "classless" age.

 

The fact that QE2 only had discrete signs (I believe no actual barriers) dividing certain parts into "First" and "Transatlantic Class" areas, and then only in North Atlantic service, not on cruises, was not generally well known. All the non-travelling public saw were tickets available in two classes. They assumed that unless you booked first, you were confined to the bowels of the ship. Moreover, this perception carries on today, press-releases trumpet the high cost of a vast Duplex Suite on board QM2 (talk of butlers, caviar, private this and exclusive that helps) while not mentioning that 85% of cabins are just that... Cabins (for mere mortals like me).

 

Dorset Cruiser mentioned the Titanic earlier in this thread, which wasn't a Cunard vessel of course. After being taken over by Cunard in the 30s, most White Star ships were retired, and the name White Star was quietly dropped (I think in 1950).

 

But Cunard revived the name (as in "White Star Service") after James Cameron's movie about the ill-fated liner achieved such astounding success, linking the current ships in the public mind with steerage passengers fighting to escape behind locked barriers (it has been said many times, without the film Titanic in '97, Micky Arison wouldn't have bought Cunard in '98, and ordered QM2 in '99).

 

The above is, in my humble opinion why, for historical and marketing reasons, the general public perceive that all white-hulled cruise ships offer casual "one-class" completely open ships (when they're not in many cases) and Cunard is perceived to have a rigid, well defined by physical barriers, thriving, know-your-place, Titanic-like, Class System (which it doesn't).

For the most part, my 60 years of Cunard travel (I started early thanks to having a Mother from England) were spent in inside cabins, more commonly known on this board as Steerage. Fun trips all.

60 years with Cunard? Have you any idea how jealous you've made me?

And Pepper, can I come to your bar????:D

It would be an honour to shake your hand and buy you a drink or three :)

 

All best wishes.

Edited March 31, 2015 by pepperrn