A Queen Elizabeth live report on the Carnival board

[Host Hattie]

Starting here

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Thanks for the mention 😀. 

 

There was a lot of positive feedback to keep it going over there and since this board is realitivly quiet I kept going over there.

 

If you want to follow along and skip all the Carnival stuff, start on post 1318.

[Host Hattie]

My pleasure, thanks for posting. It's always great to read a live report.

I hope you have a good time.

[jam19872016]

9 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

My pleasure, thanks for posting. It's always great to read a live report.

I hope you have a good time.

Having a great time so far.

[Victoria2]

I couldn't sleep last night so spent ages following  jam19872016 travels. Really interesting and it's great to get the insights from a young'ish [to me] cruiser who does not fit,  to some, the perceived 'traditional' Cunard passenger.

Just wish he could post on this board too ...hint hint. 🙂

[jam19872016]

5 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

I couldn't sleep last night so spent ages following  jam19872016 travels. Really interesting and it's great to get the insights from a young'ish [to me] cruiser who does not fit,  to some, the perceived 'traditional' Cunard passenger.

Just wish he could post on this board too ...hint hint. 🙂

Goodness that's a long read at this point 😆. 

 

Unfortunately I don't think I could keep up with two simultaneous reviews so I'm not gonna bite off more than I can chew and attempt to start a thread here.

 

Thanks for reading and hope you will continue to follow along 😀 

[tacticalbanjo]

5 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

I couldn't sleep last night so spent ages following  jam19872016 travels. Really interesting and it's great to get the insights from a young'ish [to me] cruiser who does not fit,  to some, the perceived 'traditional' Cunard passenger.

Just wish he could post on this board too ...hint hint. 🙂

I'm 36 and a jeans and a t-shirt kinda girl. My 38 year old husband refused a job he'd have to wear a suit to. We have a toddler. Very much not typical Cunard passengers but we fell in love with Cunard on our honeymoon. We love the relaxing feel on board, the excuse to dress up and how interesting our fellow passengers are. 

 

32 days until I'm on the Queen Victoria again and I can't wait. Maybe I'll take advantage of kiddo nap times and do a live thread if people want to hear from non-traditional Cunarders.

[Victoria2]

19 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Goodness that's a long read at this point 😆. 

 

Unfortunately I don't think I could keep up with two simultaneous reviews so I'm not gonna bite off more than I can chew and attempt to start a thread here.

 

Thanks for reading and hope you will continue to follow along 😀 

Understood and yes, I will continue to read your Cunard travels.

 

What I particularly smiled at was your comment which inferred the reality was a little different from perception from reading this board. Spread the word!!😀

Hope you enjoy the rest of your time on QE and this won't be the first and last Cunard experience.

[Victoria2]

8 minutes ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I'm 36 and a jeans and a t-shirt kinda girl. My 38 year old husband refused a job he'd have to wear a suit to. We have a toddler. Very much not typical Cunard passengers but we fell in love with Cunard on our honeymoon. We love the relaxing feel on board, the excuse to dress up and how interesting our fellow passengers are. 

 

32 days until I'm on the Queen Victoria again and I can't wait. Maybe I'll take advantage of kiddo nap times and do a live thread if people want to hear from non-traditional Cunarders.

Yes please.

 

edit

although the fact you include 'excuse to dress up' would exclude you in some minds from the non trad passenger profile. 🙂

 

The beauty of the evolving cruise market is  the perceived trad Cunard cruiser will gradually disappear as more and more folk of differing ages and outlooks take to the line.

This does NOT automatically mean the basic Cunard usp will completely disappear. It will just be available to a wider market as folk realise Cunard is not the stuffy and starchy holiday experience some would have it be believed.

 

Edited October 11, 2023 by Victoria2

[techteach]

@Host Hattie Thanks very much for the link. It’s a great read.

[NE John]

They’re not kidding when they said the Carnival boards are busy!!

I guess those boards mirror the energy of their ships. 

Edited October 11, 2023 by NE John

[jam19872016]

7 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Understood and yes, I will continue to read your Cunard travels.

 

What I particularly smiled at was your comment which inferred the reality was a little different from perception from reading this board. Spread the word!!😀

Hope you enjoy the rest of your time on QE and this won't be the first and last Cunard experience.

It definitely didn't fit the stereotype. I think it works both ways. A lot of people (on all cruise lines) have a belief about how awful Carnival ships and pax are. Sadly the pax is becoming true since covid but I do see an improvement recently with the higher fares.

 

The food while not great is better and more varied than any other cruise line I'd sailed until Cunard. Better than celebrity which sends those folks into an uproar if you tell them that 😆. 

 

It's also an interesting point you make about the line evolving. The fare I paid suggests trouble filling their ships. Now that I'm experiencing it I see it's a wonderful product but it's reputation is hurting its ability to fill beds.

 

It needs to find a way to balance catering to their traditional loyal customers and attracting new ones at the same time. It will be interesting to see how they go about walking that tight rope. 

[alibabacruisers]

I am on my way over to check out your blog.  One quick question.  We will be heading to Barcelona soon and wondered which Barcelona offline maps app you downloaded as we think that is a great idea!  Thank you in advance!

[tacticalbanjo]

23 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

edit

although the fact you include 'excuse to dress up' would exclude you in some minds from the non trad passenger profile. 🙂

 

Well it did take the first Cunard trip to realise that we did actually quite enjoy dressing up now and again. Before that first TA we did have quite a bit of nerves about it and lots of people asked us if we were sure that a TA for first cruise was the right thing both because of the dress code and because of how many sea days we'd have before we were able to get off. 

[jam19872016]

13 hours ago, alibabacruisers said:

I am on my way over to check out your blog.  One quick question.  We will be heading to Barcelona soon and wondered which Barcelona offline maps app you downloaded as we think that is a great idea!  Thank you in advance!

I responded on the Carnival thread but in case anyone else was wondering whose not reading the other page, I used Google maps offline maps option.

[alibabacruisers]

Thank you!

 

[tiggis]

Also on this cruise. Here are just a few comments from a QG passenger (having bid successfully for an upgrade). Generally everything is fine but we are low maintenance. 
Boarding was very efficient and we boarded exactly at the time we were given. Surprisingly there was no health questionnaire and more generally there isn’t any pressure to use sanitizers on entering restaurants.

 

Stateroom champagne is actually an Australian wine! In-room canapés seem somewhat improved from when I last experienced them.

 

Spanish VAT is levied throughout the voyage, so all drinks have 25% added (including the service charge). The Commodore Club was very quiet last night, which might be a consequence. 

 

Dress code observance is a bit patchy, especially in public rooms on formal nights where the code is supposed to apply. And at least one man on the first formal night was not wearing a tie in QG.

 

In the launderettes there is now a notice (apparently very recent) entitled launderette etiquette!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[techteach]

I finished reading the thread from @jam19872016 and hopped over to Crystal to read the thread from @rafinmd. They are such a contrast in style. Both are great!