Embarkation Day Lunch QM2

[agathasmum]

We will be on QM2 in a couple of weeks, boarding in Hong Kong.

 

We were originally assigned a boarding time of 2:30, then got upgraded to a Britannia Club cabin

with a boarding time of 1pm.

 

Would Britannia club dining room be open for lunch for us the day we board, or do we have to head to the buffet

for lunch?

 

Are the boarding times set in stone, or are we likely to be allowed to board early if we show up at say noon?

We were thinking of heading straight to the terminal after our hotel checkout.

 

Thanks for any assistance.

 

Susan

 

 

[cruiseluvva]

I know the Grills are, though Britannia restaurent is only open for guests already on board. I really am not sure about BC. Hopefully someone will be along that knows for sure.

 

The Golden Lion is usually open for a pub lunch.

[Bigmike911]

I seem to recall that the Britannia Dining room was not open when I boarded (at about 1 pm) last time in Hamburg, and we had to walk through the corridor leading to it to get to the lifts. The Kings Court Buffet was open as were the Grills. 

[Host Hattie]

My experience in Britannia Club on Queen Victoria last year is that the restaurant wasn't open for lunch on embarkation day. That was in Southampton, things may be different on a World Cruise.

[agathasmum]

Thanks,

 

We will plan for the buffet then.

[Underwatr]

Golden Lion is open for embarkation lunch, but only their usual hours (12:00 to 2:30).

[Bell Boy]

From QM2 world cruise;  The Britannia Restaurant is only open for 'one hour' at lunch time on embarkation days of  a 'new sector'. Presumably this is to accommodate those guests who wish to stay onboard rather than go off in port.

 

It is unlikely that any new guests would have checked- in on time, however, I expect they could use the dining room if they had managed to embark early. There is no check at the restaurant door if one is a new guest or not. 

 

Just to add;

Always available items , Britannia.

A notice to this effect is 'now printed on the back of the daily programme'  (under  the Britannia restaurant evening opening times).      

"Should the evening dinner menu choices not appeal to you, please ask your waiter about our Always available options"  

 

I've never seen this 'in print' before,  although many of us  on here already know about it.  ( not to be confused with Britannia club dining) 

 

 

 

 

 

[MarkBearSF]

On 2/11/2019 at 5:36 AM, Bell Boy said:

...Just to add;

Always available items , Britannia.

A notice to this effect is 'now printed on the back of the daily programme'  (under  the Britannia restaurant evening opening times).      

"Should the evening dinner menu choices not appeal to you, please ask your waiter about our Always available options"  

 

I've never seen this 'in print' before,  although many of us  on here already know about it.  ( not to be confused with Britannia club dining)

Baby steps. Not actually on the menu, and they don't list the actual items. But getting closer...

[Bell Boy]

9 hours ago, MarkBearSF said:

Baby steps. Not actually on the menu, and they don't list the actual items. But getting closer...

Ah !  but they do Mark, 😉 a bit different from our last trip on  QM2  ( 2018) ...The waiter now brings over 'another' printed leather/plastic bound menu 😉   Hi lighting these Britannia optional items.  Not too sure if this is for world cruise guests  or if it will become standard practise on regular crossings ....I'll let you all know. 

[Underwatr]

If the Secret Menu isn't secret it will no longer be a Secret Menu.

[AussieVoyager]

I don't know if it's always the case, but I'll throw in my own experience:

 

I boarded QM2 in Sydney a few years ago and sailed the Sydney - Hong Kong leg of the world voyage.  I arrived at the terminal quite a bit earlier than my allocated time and was waved straight through, moving from terminal to my cabin in less than 5 minutes.  I then went straight to the Britannia dining room and it was open for lunch.  I was swiftly seated at a shared table and enjoyed embarkation day lunch within 15 minutes of arriving at the terminal.  And as an extra special bonus, when I chatted with my neighbour at the table I found I was seated next to none other than Stephen Payne, architect of the great ship!

[Gary999]

On 2/13/2019 at 7:22 AM, MarkBearSF said:

Baby steps. Not actually on the menu, and they don't list the actual items. But getting closer...

Here is the Britannia Restaurant menu of the everyday items from QM2 as of 26th January 2019. 

[Jack E Dawson]

AussieVoyager, I am soooooo jealous! I'm not sure I could have contained myself from just peppering him with questions. 

On our very first Cunard voyage, a crossing on the QM2 in Britannia Club, we received a last minute invitation to dine at the Captain's table with the Deputy Captain. It was a very serendipitous stroke of good fortune and I don't think I ate a bite of my meal. The poor man could not have been more gracious in answering all of my questions about the ship but suspect he drank a bit more wine that night than usual. 

[AussieVoyager]

10 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

AussieVoyager, I am soooooo jealous! I'm not sure I could have contained myself from just peppering him with questions. 

On our very first Cunard voyage, a crossing on the QM2 in Britannia Club, we received a last minute invitation to dine at the Captain's table with the Deputy Captain. It was a very serendipitous stroke of good fortune and I don't think I ate a bite of my meal. The poor man could not have been more gracious in answering all of my questions about the ship but suspect he drank a bit more wine that night than usual. 

It was a great experience.  And I didn't even realise who I was talking to until about 5 minutes into the conversation when he asked me what I thought of the ship...