Back on Queen Victoria

[Victoria2]

We’re back on our home from home for a relaxing two weeker to the  near Baltic, and back. Passengers on the two night portion of the cruise disembarked a couple of hours ago and it’s been lovely to see how well dressed most of the passengers have been of an evening, so far.
 

Having been on the British Isles trip in May where the average passenger age was incredibly high, on this one, it was/is lowered by beautifully dressed teens, twenties and thirties, having a great time. Sure there are a few passengers who wander the ship in their own, definitely down market, version of the advised Smart Attire, but they really stand out as luckily they are so few in number. 
 

I'll add to this as and when, but any questions, just ask

[BklynBoy8]

35 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Sure there are a few passengers who wander the ship in their own, definitely down market, version of the advised Smart Attire, but they really stand out

 

Bon Voyage.....

 

Maybe during the voyage they will get a hint what travelling on a Queen means.

 

Sore thumb version...huh....

[exlondoner]

Lucky old you. We are on again next month, hopefully without the benefit of Covid.

 

As there is another thread about this, do let us know what the party position is, even if you don’t attend.

 

How was embarkation?

[Host Hattie]

Have a great time and thanks for posting. 

[NE John]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

beautifully dressed teens, twenties and thirties, having a great time.

Have a great trip in your favorite ship! We look forward to following you. 
That is so great to hear about younger pax embracing Cunard. Many younger people ask me about my Cunard experiences and they have a high interest in going onboard to a more elegant environment, getting dressed up and looking sharp. Many also say they are turned off by the mega/resort ships. 

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Lucky old you. We are on again next month, hopefully without the benefit of Covid.

 

As there is another thread about this, do let us know what the party position is, even if you don’t attend.

 

How was embarkation?

We were amongst the first onboard after arrival at terminal around 11.30 ( disabled assistance got us in the terminal immediately) and onboard at 12.20 pm but we were in the first tranche which for the first time post Covid was announced all green carded passengers, eg. those in Q1s and 2 s.

 

We won’t be attending any do's but will try and report. 🙂

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Bon Voyage.....

 

Maybe during the voyage they will get a hint what travelling on a Queen means.

 

Sore thumb version...huh....

Sadly, I don’t think so but you would have been pleased with the majority of passengers. 🙂

[DaisyUK]

This was a nice surprise. Will look forward to your updates as and when. Am looking forward to our first sailing on QV later this year so will be very interested in your comments. Hope you have a great time!

[Pushpit]

6 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Passengers on the two night portion of the cruise disembarked a couple of hours ago and it’s been lovely to see how well dressed most of the passengers have been of an evening, so far.

 

And I was one of those disembarking at Hamburg Altona this morning.  I thought I would add some photos. This was QV in Hamburg this morning - I got this on the Hamburg public transport ferries, the Dockland station is right next to the QV and services run to Landungsbrücken in Hamburg city centre every 10-15 minutes or so. Great views of the QV from the top deck of the ferry.

 

 

Victoria2 is quite right about some of the younger people on board, it looked like quite a few groups of well behaved, well dressed Sixth Formers and young passengers in their early to mid 20s were onboard. I had not noticed so many younger people on a previous Cunard trip.  It was almost like a floating Prom night as far as I could tell. Which was great to see and the Cunard way will rub off on to at least some of them. One young couple, sat next to me in the Britannia restaurant, made me laugh - one of them said they had polished their nose piercing specially for the evening!

 

It did bring one thought to my mind. I know we get quite aerated about dress style and whether Cunard should relax dress standards to attract Zoomers and Generation Alpha on board - I really don't think that's the issue, they seem quite capable of taking in their stride, and the effort is definitely not lacking, piercings and all.

 

No, what I would think is more important is the entertainment. Yes, some of them were giving it a go in the Cha-Cha-Cha for Beginners yesterday with Victor and Linda. But this is the generation that listens to Stormzy-Fender-Sheeran-Dua Lipa, not Petula Clark or Édith Piaf. That's not really represented on board at the moment (and to be clear, despite being a pensioner myself, I greatly prefer Stormzy to songs from the Musicals).

 

5 hours ago, exlondoner said:

How was embarkation?

In my case I walked into the Mayflower terminal at 1:58pm and was in my statesroom by 2:07pm. Until I got onboard, I thought I was the only passenger, and the three security screen lines were all vying for my services.

 

The slightly longer version is that I walked to the Mayflower from the city centre. I had a bite to eat at The Place To Eat, on the top floor of John Lewis in Southampton, and from my window seat I had a view of the Queen waiting for me there. It's further than from the station, it took me just over half an hour to get there from John Lewis.

 

 

 

And for those who want to travel virtually on this trip, this is your virtual dinner tonight in the Britannia Restaurant (though obviously I was sadly elsewhere).

 

[safarigal]

Thanks for the info. We will be boarding Queen Victoria on August 20th. I am counting down the days 🙂

 

[Victoria2]

11 hours ago, DaisyUK said:

This was a nice surprise. Will look forward to your updates as and when. Am looking forward to our first sailing on QV later this year so will be very interested in your comments. Hope you have a great time!

I thought of you and although not knowing precisely which grade you’ve booked, I have a couple of observations  to make, cabin wise, which hopefully will help you later in the year.

Sea is quite lively this morning, especially at the back here. Whatever, the rocking and rolling helped to a great night's sleep. I slept like a log but according to our lovely butler 'this is nothing'. Hmmm. That’s the Magellan Straits out then!

Apparently, seven hundred passengers embarked yesterday and we are sailing full. It’s the easiest of Gala 'themes' tonight if anyone wishes to follow.  Black and white. Hopefully, some of  those who were less than 'smartly attired', and there were quite a few more last night, will join in.

[DaisyUK]

15 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I thought of you and although not knowing precisely which grade you’ve booked, I have a couple of observations  to make, cabin wise, which hopefully will help you later in the year.

Sea is quite lively this morning, especially at the back here. Whatever, the rocking and rolling helped to a great night's sleep. I slept like a log but according to our lovely butler 'this is nothing'. Hmmm. That’s the Magellan Straits out then!

Apparently, seven hundred passengers embarked yesterday and we are sailing full. It’s the easiest of Gala 'themes' tonight if anyone wishes to follow.  Black and white. Hopefully, some of  those who were less than 'smartly attired', and there were quite a few more last night, will join in.

Great, thank you. We will be in 7150. Will be following along vicariously and looking forward to your reports/comments.

 

[tacticalbanjo]

Looking forward to following your trip. I'll be back on QV in November albeit down with the rowers. It will have been a year and a day since I was last on board, it seems like a terribly long time to be away but horrible work won't let me have unlimited time off!

[Victoria2]

2 hours ago, tacticalbanjo said:

Looking forward to following your trip. I'll be back on QV in November albeit down with the rowers. It will have been a year and a day since I was last on board, it seems like a terribly long time to be away but horrible work won't let me have unlimited time off!

Well right at this moment, there are quite a few folk taking to their cabins. The sea is very lively. Walking in a straight line is a bit of a challenge. We lost power for a couple of minutes but that was a respite for us at the back as the ship became less wobbly as it wasn’t powering through the waves. Engineers soon had us up and hitting the waves again. We could hear the boom of the waves hitting the ship when as we decamped to the restaurant. Captain's sensible warnings were to be very careful walking around and find a comfortable chair and sit down. Always ready to do as I'm told, (when it suits 😄) I think we will spend the afternoon in a comfy chair with a good book. 

[BklynBoy8]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

Well right at this moment, there are quite a few folk taking to their cabins. The sea is very lively. Walking in a straight line is a bit of a challenge. We lost power for a couple of minutes but that was a respite for us at the back as the ship became less wobbly as it wasn’t powering through the waves. Engineers soon had us up and hitting the waves again. We could hear the boom of the waves hitting the ship when as we decamped to the restaurant. Captain's sensible warnings were to be very careful walking around and find a comfortable chair and sit down. Always ready to do as I'm told, (when it suits 😄) I think we will spend the afternoon in a comfy chair with a good book. 

 

Hope the white bags aren't out for use.....

[Victoria2]

40 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Hope the white bags aren't out for use.....

You mean these? 😄

 

 

[Victoria2]

Now I def. know how to post photos, be prepared 😄, although no passengers will feature. Another photo for info.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

39 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Hope the white bags aren't out for use.....

 

Ah, yes, white bags in the elevators are a sure sign of rough seas. 

 

[Victoria2]

Apologies for the quality of the bar menu photo. It’s fine on my iPad. Need more practise, obviously. 
Luckily, the contents of the menu far surpass the ability of the poster to convey them.🙂

[3rdGenCunarder]

I'll be on QV for the first time in October. I haven't sailed out of Southampton in 5 years, and I don't remember which terminal it was. Possibly the Princess terminal, which I've always disliked. 

 

It looks like QV will be at Mayflower Terminal and two MCS ships at city terminal. Will three ships with the same access route cause traffic issues? Also, will there be priority boarding for WH diamond and platinum? 

[D&N]

38 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Apologies for the quality of the bar menu photo

Nothing wrong with it.

Opened in a browser and brought up to full size, every word is clear.

These forums automatically reduce the size of images as you post them.

[torsonwheels]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

Now I def. know how to post photos, be prepared 😄, although no passengers will feature. Another photo for info.

 

Just asking do these get replenished throughout the cruise as my friend has said she would struggle to pick just one so would like to have a couple if they do get replenished.

 

In a Q5 suite on the Med cruise in September but not only new to Queens Grill but also cruising as it will be our first cruise.

 

Thanks

[BigMac1953]

2 minutes ago, torsonwheels said:

Just asking do these get replenished throughout the cruise as my friend has said she would struggle to pick just one so would like to have a couple if they do get replenished.

 

 

You get any 2 litres of your choice.

 

Be nice to your butler and if you get low, the bottles will be replaced. Even on the last day!

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

It looks like QV will be at Mayflower Terminal and two MCS ships at city terminal. Will three ships with the same access route cause traffic issues? Also, will there be priority boarding for WH diamond and platinum? 

The Mayflower has its own route in so there won't be much difference, traffic wise, and 3 ships isn't unusual for Southampton - there was also a P&O and Seven Seas when we left on Sunday. Diamonds and Platinums get priority boarding, along with Grills and Club.

[Victoria2]

43 minutes ago, torsonwheels said:

Just asking do these get replenished throughout the cruise as my friend has said she would struggle to pick just one so would like to have a couple if they do get replenished.

 

In a Q5 suite on the Med cruise in September but not only new to Queens Grill but also cruising as it will be our first cruise.

 

Thanks

Yes, as BigMac has said but, some butlers seem more proactive on the replenishing stakes apparently but we have never had a problem. Butlers are not servants; they are founts of knowledge and there to assist and smooth your holiday and they have always done that for us. 

 

We order gin and Sauvignon Blanc to start with and depending if guests drink us out of gin, we then order another. The white wine miraculously appears in our fridge just before the existing bottle  'expires'.

We can change the choices any time we want if a replacement is due. Your mantra will be 'just ask', about anything, big or small. That’s what your wonderful butler will be there for.