QV May 2023 Princess Grill Cut-Backs and General Impressions

[WantedOnVoyage]

Still a superb product, but for what it's worth and compared to QE September 2022, QV to the Baltic 9-25 May 2023 presented some noticable cutbacks and missing options and features in Princess Grill:

 

Dining

Virtually no tableside preperations or flambé of any dishes. That "smell" is completely gone from the room now. Sad. 

No Dover Sole

We had escargot precisely once in 16 days and caviar(ish) once as well

The impressive domed cheese trolleys are gone

No special orders that we witnessed or heard and sure no encouragement to try, either. 

The third commis waiter is gone, each table has two stewards only. Ours were ace. 

Some long... long intervals between courses

Occasionally the food was tepid

A la carte menu substantially reduced and in 14 days was updated just once (turbot replaced by cod)

Overall, the cuisine and choice remains exemplary and attention to special diet (my wife is celiac/gluten free) best afloat. 

 

Grill Deck

Substantial and noticeable reduction of deck service... it was almost impossible to find a steward and I had to go to the lido (heaven offend!) twice to get a drink

Tea deck service has been severely diminished in terms of offerings and it resembled deck teas in Tourist Class on QE2 back in the day. If you're looking for all those tempting platters of sandwiches, cakes etc, you will be searching in vain.

No water or juices in the Deck 12 landing

If they brought sandwiches, fruit or ice creams around, I noticed ice cream offered once in 16 days

 

Cabins

Everything extra is gone: atlas (which we missed on this trip), umbrella ( surely missed in Stockholm!), sewing kits, bar soaps, shoe cleaner etc.  This is not new but anyone thinking these are coming back... nope.

No fresh fruit unless requested

Pol Acker is GONE (hurray!) and replaced by something vaguely drinkable on embarkation and something rather not on Day 14.  Not served in the ice bucket either.

 

Grills Lounge

Busy and often overwhelmed but service was still good.  The nibbles are terrible.... 23 stale peanuts and 21 stale crushed crisps per table.  It all tastes like it was leftover from CUNARD PRINCESS.  Weird when elsewhere everything is fresh and generous. In the old days, you'd accuse the bar tender of being on the fiddle here. 

 

Grills Drink Package (for US passengers)

Worked like a charm on this trip... every single steward and our superb wine steward eager to "game the system" in our favour.  And it's still a $12 limit and the current wine/drink lists throughout the ship pose no real issues keeping to this limit, either.  No accounting issues either like QM2 in Jan 2022. 

 

Yacht Club

Our favourite room has been sadly diminished by no live entertainment, down the road pub execrable "Karaoke" evenings and worse, some imbecilty called "Silent Disco" that is so lame, so silly one is too embarassed to even explain it.  It did manage to empty the room by 10.30 p.m. Still the best bar on the ship though... the negronis are to be recommended and takeaway service is offered when "Silent Disco" begins, too. 

 

Commodore Club

Has a very earnest Bar Manager now and he circulated regularity asking about the service. It can be very busy but the service is pretty exemplary. If you like them (we don't) there are hot nibbles offered con gusto.  This remains a great room at any hour.  The staff is excellent. 

 

Hosted Cocktail Parties

Are Back!!  Exclamation point only for those who even missed them (we did not) and we were invited to two, attended the second which was hosted by "Senior Officers" during which only the otherwise charming Captain put in the most perfunctory appearance imaginable. I did not spot a single other officer of any rank above Jr. Asst. Purser.  Oceans of "free" flat, warm sparkling something or rather but if you ask, you can get a real drink. And need one. 

 

Ballroom

Another great Cunard venue, unique to the line, which seems to have been more or less killed in atmosphere. Either by the bands or the music or possibly both... it just seemed dead most nights. Surely they can find something like an old fashioned British dance band instead of what sounds like a Bulgarian wedding reception. 

 

Veranda Restaurant

After an especially dismal dinner in QM2's in Jan 2022, we enjoyed a delightful luncheon this trip... superb, personable service and delicious.  And they still have sole although not served off the bone. We definitely will make more use of this come October. 

 

Overall

QUEEN VICTORIA remains the pick of the Cunard litter: beautifully maintained (lots of deck maintenance and revarnishing in evidence... she looked spiffy), Capt Hoyt, her American (!) captain is utterly charming and doesn't hide in his cabin. Lots of crew turnovers and you know the whole operation is about to collapse any moment over staffing but everyone we encountered was professional, knew their job and most seemed to be enjoying it. Fellow passengers were just about the quietest, Old School Cunarders imaginable with a good number of Canadians and Americans. 

 

 

 

[NE John]

Interesting….

Do you have copies of a pared-down PG menus? How were pax adhering to the dress code?

[WantedOnVoyage]

No, sorry did not manage to get copies of the a la carte menus... just the daily ones.  Most of the main entree selections are only for couples and only one, duck, was noted "carved tableside" so a big reduction from previous.  The other change is no more changing every week... it is now 14 days so for most, there is no change. I think the only change... in the fish option... was more to do with stock than variety. Of course, the choice is still impressive by any standards and no one goes hungry but the general impression is that they want to reduce PG in relation to QG in terms of dining. And they have.  I fear cutbacks in QG might be in the offing too.  They cut until the customer notices and takes his business elsewhere. 

 

I may have been wearing the same pair of socks for eight days sans luggage but compliance with the dress code (such as it is nowadays) was pretty good with the usual jawdropping exceptions. My favourite was the leather motorcycle jacket and the baseball cap... both of which fall within "the code" and what can you say about that?   As I said, this was a pretty staid "Cunarder" passenger profile and with so many regulars, the dress code was often exceeded. Eighty per cent or more wore jackets on "Smart Attire" days although fewer ties in evidence than I remember from a few years ago. Formal nights was near total dinner jackets/gowns but less "showy" perhaps than previous cruises. 

[ballroom-cruisers]

Certainly on our last venture on QV recently the orchestra in the Queens Room was somewhat better than we had a year or so ago, but still some periods of really quite oddball music - and then that happened the room cleared within about half an hour.  Equally when the party disco started the room which was initially quite busy with both dancers and people watching while having a drink also cleared, including us when we headed up to the Commodore Club and didn't go back the rest of the evening. The non-ballroom events in the evening in the Queens Room were clearly not the room fillers that Cunard must have hoped they would be, and neither people disco dancing, nor anyone wanting to watch came in any significant  numbers. Also on party nights there were more staff on the floor trying to get people onto the dance floor than passengers wishing to participate and gradually people filtered away to other parts of the ship.

 

Shame that food and service in the Grills seems to have changed so much.

[Mr and Mrs A]

Silent Disco - is that the weird thing with the glow-in-the-dark headphones?  Does everyone listen to the same music?

[Colin_Cameron]

1 hour ago, Mr and Mrs A said:

Does everyone listen to the same music?

No. Not necessarily even you and the person you're trying to dance with!🤣

Edited May 28, 2023 by Colin_Cameron

[NE John]

I’ve been reading and experiencing cutbacks everywhere. One cruise line now charges $15 per bottle of wine to bring onboard and the pictures of food At specialty restaurants look like they were taken from a casual fast food restaurant. 
 

[david,Mississauga]

These cutbacks are considerable. Last year we noticed some minor issues in PG on the QE, but nothing like this. What excuse is there for doing away with flambée items and downgrading the cheese trolley, one must wonder?  On a QM2 Québec-NY voyage last October in Britannia Club there was a flambéed dessert every night as usual. I wonder if this has been downgraded. 

 

We are considering a crossing in autumn of next year and dithering over Britannia Club or PG, both of which we have experienced several times.  It sounds like PG is not worth double the cost of the Club. 

Edited May 28, 2023 by david,Mississauga
typo

[Sue-B]

Sorry to hear about the PG food cutbacks this year - we went on a short trip last November in PG on QV and I definitely had dover sole twice on that trip, and 2 or 3 tableside prepared desserts as well, so I wonder whether they’ve only just changed their a la carte offering?  
 

And the Pol Acker was onboard in April this year - we had a few half bottles placed in room towards the end of the cruise - made me giggle - I wondered what we’d done wrong or who we had offended in order to get more than one half bottle 🤣🤣🤣

[WantedOnVoyage]

Yes... it was quite a surprise from QE in September 2022 for sure.

 

There is still an impressive (in offering) cheese board brought around but nothing like the epic trolley. Stilton is just a few hunks not the big tub etc.  My wife was the one who noticed by the second night the complete (and it is, too) absence of tableside preperation and flambée dishes.  Those are truly gone although watching the maitre d' attempting to carve the a la carte duck (the only one on that menu for which this is done), one night, perhaps for good reason!  The days of Jamie in CANBERRA's Pacific Restaurant are long gone...

 

We've never done BG... sure would not on QM2 and I still want my quiet and private outdoor deck space.  We did the opposite aboard... booking QG for QM2 for her wonderful ANDES like West Indies cruise from Southampton in Jan 2025.  Worth every cent for 35 days or unless they dumb that down, too.  You know they are working on it, too. 

 

BTW: I was thrilled that there was NO awful canned "music" around the pool decks... bliss! I just hope this wasn't owing to a technical issue. It was very welcome. 

[foodsvcmgr]

Thanks for your excellent review, we will be aboard QV British Isles in August and are glad to hear the World Club party is back, also the canapés in Commodore which were missing on our crossing in 2018.

We will be in a regular Britannia balcony this time, late seating, hoping the menu cuts there are not too dramatic.

[QuestionEverything]

Very distressing to hear. 

It appears the downgrading is happening on all cruise lines.

No wonder I got a significant price reduction in my Oceania voyage in August, there were still many staterooms not booked.

Tells me that regulars are fed up with the increased price and downgraded service And that consumers are not booking cruises due inflation and other costs.

Either way - cruising is on my pause list until such time as I am convinced there is consistency in the product offering. I will move my travel $ to land based vacations with my new vehicle.

[godfreyb]

We witnessed the cutbacks in the PG on a recent QE cruise. While I wrote a detailed report on my review for Cunard (not that they are interested!) the poor state of the cheese trolley annoyed me, in particular that there was NO Stilton - on a 'British' line!  I made such a fuss that at one Asian stop they sent someone ashore to buy some.  They asked me to keep it quiet as it was just for me, but my wife soon started telling people.  The food cutbacks were not smart ones - pork encroute which was inedible as the pork was so tough, inferior cuts of steak masquerading as better cuts by misleading descriptions, etc.

[ballroom-cruisers]

I do think that sometimes a single review may not reflect what always happens on a regular basis. There are always risks that supplies may vary in quality over time.  We were on QV around the start of this month, and I must freely admit that the food quality in Britannia Dining Room was excellent, and way better than it was last year on the same ship. The steak, venison and duck entrees were superb, both in the quality and tenderness of the meat, as well as how they were cooked, and pretty much faultless.  Equally some of the desserts and starters were excellent would have been highly regarded at some of the best fine dining establishments on land. So perhaps the post above on the reduced quality of food was an unlucky couple of weeks on a particular voyage. One evening my favourite dessert - lemon souffle - was perfect with the exquisite spearing of the top with a knife by our waiter, and the pouring in of the lemon sauce to gently 'lift' the light and fluffy and warm interior ready to gently slide the spoon in and enjoy eating it was about as good as a dessert can be.  So for that voyage the food was wonderful.

Hopefully there are more voyages with a corresponding passenger dinner experience as we had and that voyages where it was bad are a minority.

[WantedOnVoyage]

Yes of course.  One should speak only as one finds. And ones experience is coloured by so many things, "reviews" are not decisive or enduring. They often say more about the reviewer than what is being appraised.  

 

Personally, I thought the actual cuisine and service superb... my wife had one appallingly tough hunk of "roast beef" one night... otherwise, it was nothing to complain about.  The hotness of the dishes more so. And yes, the ceremony and occasion flambee and tableside service imparts. It's important. And missed. 

 

But from my eye, there is no doubt that the penny counters are running this show now more than ever... worrying possibly to those holding all of Carnival's epic debt. If the product is diminished, the value is, too.  The fact that someone vaguely associated with "Cunard" thinks "Silent Disco" is something of value to Cunard passengers is perhaps the most worrying of all. I suspect he or she "works from home" as they say. 

Edited May 28, 2023 by WantedOnVoyage

[ballroom-cruisers]

Aside from noticing there were no flambee dishes being cooked at the table, did you actually ask the maitre'd if they would do one for you if you would like one?  Or did you ask and were declined?

Of course with the huge cash burn that Cunard and all the other lines endured during lockdown it is not surprising that there is a management thrust to save money - after all cruise lines, like all businesses need to make a positive return after several tough years.  However let's see if your experience is repeated by the majority or if you just had an unlucky few weeks. I do agree though that the Silent Disco is a ridiculous joke and I can't imagine ever wanting to participate, and our friends are of the same view!

[Victoria2]

No problems in QG although fries were replaced the other evening when our waiter overheard me say they weren’t hot but if a few lukewarm fries has been the only issue so far, I think we can just about live with that!  😀

[WantedOnVoyage]

My wife adored the dover sole... indeed had it so often on QM2 in Jan 22, she asked that they NOT do all the ceremony. They insisted "That's what we're here for" and meant it.  Ditto on QE in Sep 22. She asked once on QV May 23 and the answer was a polite but firm no.  They didn't have the sole let alone the insistence to wheel out the trolley.  Ditto cherries jubilee which was served pre plated. Never seen that on Cunard ever save Tourist Class on QE2. 

 

We are not ones to demand or insist... one should never have to in anything called a "grill" in the first place.   But the general tone was "don't ask".  I think we counted maybe eight flambees in our section of the grill (in the middle) in 16 days. That is NOT Princess Grill of yore (or indeed of nine months ago). 

 

I think I missed the smell more than anything... QM2's PG used to smell like a science lab with all the burners going. 

[Victoria2]

7 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

My wife adored the dover sole... indeed had it so often on QM2 in Jan 22, she asked that they NOT do all the ceremony. They insisted "That's what we're here for" and meant it.  Ditto on QE in Sep 22. She asked once on QV May 23 and the answer was a polite but firm no.  They didn't have the sole let alone the insistence to wheel out the trolley.  Ditto cherries jubilee which was served pre plated. Never seen that on Cunard ever save Tourist Class on QE2. 

 

We are not ones to demand or insist... one should never have to in anything called a "grill" in the first place.   But the general tone was "don't ask".  I think we counted maybe eight flambees in our section of the grill (in the middle) in 16 days. That is NOT Princess Grill of yore (or indeed of nine months ago). 

 

I think I missed the smell more than anything... QM2's PG used to smell like a science lab with all the burners going. 

Must have been out fishing. QG Dover Sole was small but perfect apparently, last night.

[NE John]

It looks like my timing for first time in PG for next month’s TA is just perfect!
My problem is that Cunard over-hypes every ounce of “Grills” marketing that any deviation from their idyllic world they present to us could easily lead to disappointment. Expectation vs Reality. 
I still fully trust we’ll have a great experience in PG and really glad to hear the Cunard dress code is still strongly adhered to. 
 

[BklynBoy8]

1 hour ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

I do think that sometimes a single review may not reflect what always happens on a regular basis. There are always risks that supplies may vary in quality over time.  We were on QV around the start of this month, and I must freely admit that the food quality in Britannia Dining Room was excellent, and way better than it was last year on the same ship. The steak, venison and duck entrees were superb, both in the quality and tenderness of the meat, as well as how they were cooked, and pretty much faultless.  Equally some of the desserts and starters were excellent would have been highly regarded at some of the best fine dining establishments on land. So perhaps the post above on the reduced quality of food was an unlucky couple of weeks on a particular voyage. One evening my favourite dessert - lemon souffle - was perfect with the exquisite spearing of the top with a knife by our waiter, and the pouring in of the lemon sauce to gently 'lift' the light and fluffy and warm interior ready to gently slide the spoon in and enjoy eating it was about as good as a dessert can be.  So for that voyage the food was wonderful.

Hopefully there are more voyages with a corresponding passenger dinner experience as we had and that voyages where it was bad are a minority.

 

Ditto.....

 

We were on in Sept/Oct 2022 PG QM2 and were extremely happy with our 14 days sailing to the NE/CAN.

 

I was surprised with the Silent Disco being considered by Cunard on any of their ships. I saw it on TV. Passengers on board in the Disco bouncing around, bobbing up and down etc... with no visible music is weird. I hope there was music for others without phones.

 

We did have several small disappointments but no way did it disturb any part of our trip. Some issues with meat and chicken - corrected. Missing my Darjeeling Tea - just use other types.

 

But there was so many Flambe Tables in use, at one point there was a traffic jam. And no problem with the Cheese Trolley with about 8-9 choices available with accompaniments. And special requests were accepted with a smile all the time.

 

ballroom-cruiser ditto with you.........I carefully read individual reviews for ship as well as land base and see what to read it and what maybe behind it.

 

In 33 days I am expecting the same service as we have had in the past and Looking Forward to boarding her once again.

 

BTW... I must state to be fair, we have not had the opportunity to experience the QV or QE and sailed across the pond that may make a difference. 

[Windsurfboy]

The sole and rack of lamb were plentiful on our April PG cruise , used quite a lot when there was nothing we fancied on main menu. If no sole my wife would be very disappointed.

 

The cheese selection was abysmal throughout the ship. Very boring , cheddar , brie (far to hard)  ,Danish blue not Stilton. No decent soft cheeses, no Lancashire,  it was like a third rate chain restaurant. I complained but nothing they could do, I put it down to last leg of world cruise. This time in 10 days we are back to QG , if the cheese selection is as poor don't know what to do, will test it on boarding lunch. Dont think will have time to make a dash to nearby M&S food hall. Will let them know how I feel.

 

I thought Cunard had deliberately stopped flambes and off menu ordering g in PG to emphasise the difference with QG

Edited May 28, 2023 by Windsurfboy

[foodsvcmgr]

You make a good point NE John - overhype by cruise lines, Cunard in particular, tends to create unrealistic expectations, especially for those who are new cruisers.

Within the Carnival family, Princess is clearly pegged a notch below Cunard, yet frequently the maitre d’ will be cooking a pasta dish on a flambé table for the entire dining room, the everyday menu is in print, not “secret” as in Britannia etc.

But Cunard have hyped themselves into a corner by needing to show a clear upgrade and value for stepping up to Club, PG, and QG otherwise why do it?

[RJChatsworth]

We are currently on QV in PG and agree with all the observations.  In addition the pre-dinner tasters have gone but they had last November.  The a la carte section is much poorer, the service can be very slow at times.  There are only 3 tables for 6 or 8 as far as I can see.  There seem to be no tables for 4.  I’m told the vast majority of passengers want tables for 2 and they are now squeezed in with barely a hand width between them.  The maitre d’ told me at the first lunch on embarkation day almost everyone wanted a table change.  Certain areas of squeezed in tables looks more akin to a junk shop.  I know I am exaggerating but it’s not a good look.  The cabin steward told me they no longer deliver Britain Today to your stateroom unless you request it.

 

Last Thursday the Pol Aker was definitely back  on embarkation.  We had the World Club Party tonight for the top three levels only.  The 5.15 pm session was absolutely heaving in the Queens Room.  I suspect the 7.30 pm party was just the same.  It is only exclusive now to be not in the top three tiers.  There can’t be anyone on the ship not in the loyalty scheme!  The 5.15 party has the Captain speaking but he doesn’t introduce his senior officers like he does at 7.30.

[Jack E Dawson]

20 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

My favourite was the leather motorcycle jacket and the baseball cap.

Please tell me that someone was not wearing a baseball cap to the dining table at dinner. 

 

Jack