I'm hoping the bad service was a fluke!

[Victoria2]

4 hours ago, Peckishpixie said:

Sorry, I checked with my table mate. The onboqrd account had a 200 per person limit on it. She doesn't know why. It was fixed, but I don't think she was the only one with the problem. 

You can certainly ask the moderator to take down my post, but I kept notes and have the dates, times and locations of each incident. 

I really wish this was made up. Every time I sat down people and made small talk people told me the problems they were having. It didn't all happen to me, but it happened and watching it happen to other people is really awful too. I kept thinking "this can't very happening"

Was my personal experience awful? Not really. But it certainly wasn't Cunard level. 

My only comment here would be when I make an observation about onboard experiences, the experiences are mine, no one else's, That way I can be sure they are accurate.

 

I'm glad your holiday wasn't awful.

[escrick]

Actually, I am sorry that the cruiser had such a terrible experience.  My husband and I returned to the UK last year after having lived in the USA.  We have experienced many problems.  I think the problems have a lot to do with the COVID pandemic.   There are extreme staff shortages, and so I feel sorry for many who are working under duress.  Also, there are lots of hiccups that are sometimes  related to technology.  

[BigMac1953]

I am not doubting the OP's report in any way.

 

However, through experience in 25+ Cunard trips (almost all in QG), there have been times when I've been convinced that there are 2 versions of each ship.

 

I've read really bad reports about some of the trips that I've been on and can only think "Really?".

 

For example, many, over the years, have complained about the attitude of the Purser's Desk staff, whereas I've only found them to be courteous, polite and very helpful. In 2009 on QV I had to make an urgent call whilst at sea after receiving a message. They did it for me and I discovered that I had just become a grandad. I asked them to put the rather expensive call charge on my room, but I was told that due to the circumstance, there would be no charge.

 

Of course minor things can happen, but I've made mistakes as well, like rushing off the ship at after lunch whilst in port, forgetting that I had ordered dessert. The head waiter thought there must have been a problem, but I assured him it was just a senior moment and I apologised profusely to our waiter (and gave him a few dollars for a beer).

 

I'll be back on the "good" ship QV in October, unless the "bad" one turns up.

 

Stewart

[Host Hattie]

Fingers crossed 🤞. I've been lucky and always had the good ship as well but I know not everyone has the same experience. At the end of our first (& supposedly last) cruise I made the mistake of asking someone if they'd enjoyed it. I'd loved it and just assumed everyone else felt the same.

The answer was they'd hated it, felt trapped and couldn't wait to get off.

 

So I hope the poor service described here was a fluke as well. 

[sandancer]

We sail on Elizabeth on 9th August. My first reaction on reading this thread was an “oh no” but on reflection, we will go with an open mind and anticipation that we will have a wonderful cruise. If we have problems at all, we will report them right there and then and expect a resolution. We certainly won’t wait until after the cruise is over. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

17 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Card on iPad and also, like Hattie, next to bag clasp, meant multiple trips to the concierge or Front Desk.

Card in sleeve, no trips. Is it just the sleeve or is it the RFID component? Can't help with any technicalities as I have no idea of these things but I gave it a go and it seems to work. 

 

I have fried a key card with a magnetic catch on a purse and with with my cellphone, even when the phone was turned off. I'll try using a sleeve for my card next time.

 

I didn't have as many problems as OP had on QE, but I did think service at the front desk was poor. It started out when there was an issue with a smell in my cabin. In all my past cruises, I have never asked to be moved, but since I knew they weren't full (this past June), I went down to ask. They weren't sure if anything was available, but they would check. A woman called to say there was another PG on the same deck, and would I like to see it? She came up to my cabin and we walked to the one she was offering. She used her passcard to open the door. The first thing I noticed was that the bed looked smaller than the one in my PG cabin. The second was that somebody's tote bag and other stuff were on the sofa. This was NOT an unoccupied room. It was also not a PG cabin. Do they not have a deck plan????? Fortunately, the smell went away and I stayed where I was.

 

I got strange and stupid answers at the front desk when I had other questions. For example, ArriveCAN was all confused because "they didn't think Canada was taking it seriously."

 

I heard one of the people at the tour desk outright LIE to passengers asking about tours. "There's nothing to do in these towns. Towns in Alaska are small. There's a Diamonds International and that's about it." 

 

I asked this same guy about airport transfers and he didn't know but took my info and would get back to me. he never followed through. Tours were cancelled on very short notice. Tendering in Juneau was a mess. One hour wait if you weren't on a tour, and this was with a ship half full! 

 

I would shrug off any one or two of these issues, but it was an ongoing parade of incompetence. 

 

Like OP, I chatted with other people who had complaints. There were a lot of first-timers on my cruise saying "never again with Cunard."

 

On the plus side, nobody I spoke to had a complaint about food, cabin steward, or waitstaff. So it wasn't all bad. But what was wrong could have been better if people just THOUGHT about what they were doing. 

 

To the OP, watch your email for a post-cruise survey. The one I had was quite long and in addition to the typical 1 to 10 rating questions, there were places to give reasons for your ratings. 

[Craigrlewis]

My tuppence is after getting of a cruise peoples reactions are alway ying and yang.

Our very first transatlantic cruise we thought was amazing from beginning to end BUT 2 people had posted reviews and we read them and throught “wow,were we really on the same cruise?”

I think sometimes minor niggles (& I dont mean what Peckishpixie has cited in her post- Im talking in general) can add up and then it becomes to that person the whole thing was a “nightmare” and one can apply that to a cruise, a flight a trip to the theatre etc.

We have done 15 cruises now with Cunard and have had some minor niggles and we have had some irritations.

Sometimes Im guilty of setting the bar too high-you have a great waiter or room steward one cruise then not so great the next time and its easy to say “meh service has gone down hill”.

 

[Victoria2]

Worth giving a try  3rdGenCunarder  and  if it works, great.

We've had tour office issues, one of which wasn't sorted to my satisfaction as the tour I was booked on in '19  and then somehow removed, [payment was still on the account] from was limited to a very few so I couldn't go and as we'll likely not  be back to the port for years, if ever, was really annoying.

 

The cabin issue was incompetence as you say. As there were ongoing issues, did you take any up with a senior officer from the Front Desk towards the end of the cruise? I would have done. 

 

 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Worth giving a try  3rdGenCunarder  and  if it works, great.

We've had tour office issues, one of which wasn't sorted to my satisfaction as the tour I was booked on in '19  and then somehow removed, [payment was still on the account] from was limited to a very few so I couldn't go and as we'll likely not  be back to the port for years, if ever, was really annoying.

 

The cabin issue was incompetence as you say. As there were ongoing issues, did you take any up with a senior officer from the Front Desk towards the end of the cruise? I would have done. 

 

 

 

 

No one thing was so bad that it was worth the trouble. It was the cumulative effect. I was very happy on my cruise as long as I stayed away from the front desk and tour office.