Queen Victoria review

[Mbett1]

here is my review of the Sept 3rd Athens to Venice cruisehttp://click.email.cruisecritic.com/?qs=01bf4469c70367c276b11cf28e9c2b7f088bbcda1066f5e989e12a68e6f510506c10042d017a0d7f6ad4a545f6ae6f6b

[pepperrn]

So sorry, my fault I'm sure; I can't get that link to open :confused: .

[DreamflightPat]

here is my review of the Sept 3rd Athens to Venice cruisehttp://click.email.cruisecritic.com/?qs=01bf4469c70367c276b11cf28e9c2b7f088bbcda1066f5e989e12a68e6f510506c10042d017a0d7f6ad4a545f6ae6f6b

Can't get it to open.

[Adammara]

Try the review section, its there! Just hope QE is a good!

[Mickb]

We have long wanted to cruise the Eastern Med and in particular visit Ephasus, so when we saw a 7 night cruise on Queen Victoria, a favourite ship, embarking in Athens and disembarking in Venice & calling at Santorini, Kusadasi and Katakolon, we jumped at it. We booked a P2 stateroom on deck 4 which has the larger balcony. In the event, unrest in Turkey meant that Kusadasi was substituted by Sarande in Albania - not in my mind an equitable swap but we did not let it spoil our voyage.

 

We flew to Athens a couple of days before the cruise and stayed at the Athens Hilton which was fine. We found Athens to be lacking in civic pride and covered with Grafitti, which is perhaps unsurprising given the political events and problems of the last few years.

 

We had a private transfer down to the ship in Piraeus and enjoyed the fastest embarkation I have ever experienced. We were aboard 5 minutes after arriving at the terminal. Our luggage was in the cabin 15 minutes are that. The P2 cabins on the QV have been well described elsewhere so I will not review them other than to say that there is no light over the bath so one showers in the dark - annoying but otherwise they are very comfortable.

 

We had an great table for 2 by the window in the Princess Grill and our excellent Latvian waitress was called Olesja. She delivered high quality service with a wonderful dry deadpan sense of humour and we liked her very much. She quickly learned our likes and dislikes and we wanted for nothing.

 

The food in the PG was uniformly good and we did not have one meal that missed the mark, except perhaps a CauIiflower pannacota starter that really had no right to be on the menu! I noticed that there was less flambé cooking cooking than on previous cruises, however the traditional a la carte menu was available on all nights except the gala evening. On one evening the maitre d' created a special flambé strawberry dessert for us which was outstanding.

 

Wines were pricey and I felt that our wine steward, whilst charming could have been more knowledgeable. There is an expanded wine list which features wines from many more countries, but we enjoy French white Burgundies and surprisingly the choice was limited. The 15% service charge is a rip off!

 

We are sun worshippers and enjoyed very fine weather on this trip. We spent a great deal of time on the grills sun decks and the service here was outstanding. The chaises were thickly upholstered and supremely comfortable. Stewards delivered coffee, drinks, chilled fruit skewers, ice cream and full afternoon tea directly to our beds - one felt truly pampered!

 

The entertainment was better than on previous Cunard cruises, we watched 2 resident company shows, a dance orientated show which was so so and an excellent song and dance show which was complemented by a 9 piece live orchestra - live music lifts the whole production. Lord Howard delivered a lecture on 'The aftermath of Brexit and the Rise of Theresa May' which I found very disappointing as he was very partisan and like everyone else has no idea how things might pan out. I also attended a riveting lecture on the Air France Concorde crash which was delivered by a retired BA Concorde pilot.

 

We called at Santorini which was beautiful. We went ashore and wandered around in Fira returning to the ship in the late morning. The next day we were in Katakolon and we took a tour to Olympia which was excellent. Sarande in Albania was our next port - I had visited previously on business and had no wish to repeat the experience, so we stayed aboard.

 

After that we had a sea day and then an overnight in Venice. We were staying on in Venice for 3 days after the cruise so once again we stayed aboard and enjoyed the facilities of the ship.

 

We had an outstanding cruise, Queen Victoria is a happy ship and this transmits through the crew who, without exception were cheerful and efficient, one felt truly pampered.

 

We can't wait to go again!!!

[Midsomer Madness]

We were on this cruise and had a fabulous time...we did get off the ship in Sarande and are glad we did, we found a lovely taverna for lunch with drinks which came to 13 euros! We did partake of the local raki, we had 3 large ones each, they didn't charge us for any of them! Uncommericalised and friendly...we hope to go back before it gets spoilt!

 

Agree the ship and crew were very happy...we are booked to sail again, same time next year and also took advantage of the low deposit and extra OBC they were offering to pre register for 2018.

[Host Hattie]

Try this link

 

Mbett1's review

 

Thank you so much for posting, I'm glad you had such a great time & I'm looking forward to being back on board myself soon.

Edited September 21, 2016 by Host Hattie

[laktex]

Sitting on our balcony on The Promenade des Anglais (Nice), the Queen Victoria sailed by as I read this review - small world isnt it.

[easyboy]

Thanks for sharing your experience Mickb, Mbett1 and Midsomer Madness

[Mickb]

Mickb and Mbett1 are actually one and the same - somehow I seem to have gained 2 monikers! No sure how!

very jealous of sitting on the Promenade des Anglais watching QV sail by - perfection!

[Syzygy2002]

We did the Gjirokastra excursion in Sarande and thought it was wonderful!

[rakkor]

That's good to hear - we're in Sarande on the Elizabeth next month and I quite fancied that shore excursion. Were there issues with Mozzies,the VP does suggest there might be a problem?

Edited September 22, 2016 by rakkor

[Midsomer Madness]

I never got bitten in Sarande when we were there, I did however get bitten to pieces in Venice during our evening ashore....I then seemed to get an infection in the bites and couldn't use my right arm for a week, antibiotics sorted me out and thankfully it was our last night when it happened...next year I will cover myself in repellent!

[Mbett1]

Try 'Skin so soft' from Avon. Although it sounds improbable it is really effective - and cheap!!

[Syzygy2002]

That's good to hear - we're in Sarande on the Elizabeth next month and I quite fancied that shore excursion. Were there issues with Mozzies,the VP does suggest there might be a problem?

 

We didn't have any problem with mosquitoes in Gjirokastra- I didn't see one- but I did wear long pants because of the warning. It may depend on the time of year/time of day, though...

[Midsomer Madness]

Try 'Skin so soft' from Avon. Although it sounds improbable it is really effective - and cheap!!

 

I had some with me, hubby said I wouldn't need it...he may be receiving divorce papers shortly! :D