QM2 Cutbacks

[57eric]

Cutbacks were evident on my recent voyage, but let’s begin on a positive note with some areas that exceeded my expectations:

·         Embarkation – My expectation from entering the terminal to being seated in the waiting hall – 45 minutes to an hour.  Actual – 8 minutes.  At that point there was a fair wait, but I was on board by 1:30 – no complaint.

·         Open Dining – I never thought I would do open dining on Cunard.  Without getting into how this came about, it was a pleasant surprise.  Wait times were minimal, regardless of what time I arrived.  Service was variable, but in some cases outstanding.

·         Roaring 20s Night – On previous voyages I had only seen nominal participation on the theme nights.  Not the case here!  There were loads of women, and not a few men, who went all out.

·         Sequence Dancing – Apparently near extinction earlier in the year, sequence dancing was back with a vengeance.  So much so that by the end of the voyage, supply was in danger of exceeding demand.  Kudos to Cunard for listening to feedback on this.

·         Laundry – I don’t know if Cunard gets any credit here, but the laundry rooms seemed far less competitive than on the identical voyage in previous years.

·         Disembarkation – My group was called off ahead of schedule and the wait at CBP was less than two minutes.  However, the luggage hall had been reconfigured so that the once orderly process of queuing for a porter was chaos.  I gave up.

Now, on to the feature topic.  Numerical comparisons are to my 2019 voyage:

·         Buffet Hours – The buffet was scheduled to be open 15 hours a day, down from 19.5 hours.  The issue here is not “How much is enough?” but “What is being offered vs. what was previously offered?”.

·         Music – No live music in the dining room.  Saw live music in the atrium once.  No Dixieland concerts, until, surprise, the final night, while everyone was busy packing.

·         Dance Hosts – One man and one woman, down from five and one.

·         Karaoke – Not offered.

·         Pub Lunch Menu – Five choices, down from seven.

·         Cocktails – This may not exactly be a cutback, but I received pushback in multiple venues when ordering cocktails that weren’t on “the list”.  I prevailed in about half these cases and got my original order.  In the past the only issue was if a venue lacked a required ingredient, which was rare.

·         Gym TVs – Previously a number of TV stations were available on the bikes, steppers and ellipticals.  There’s still a menu option for TV but it doesn’t work. 

 

I'm not giving up on Cunard, but for the first time in many years I have booked another line for my next voyage.

[Host Hattie]

Apologies if you have mentioned it but which sailing was this ?

[exlondoner]

Was there any particular cutback that was the last straw?

[57eric]

42 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Apologies if you have mentioned it but which sailing was this ?

Nov. 26, 12 nights.

[57eric]

41 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Was there any particular cutback that was the last straw?

It wasn't the cutbacks but the virtually unchanging Caribbean itineraries.  QE's projected 2025 schedule is more of the same.  My wife and I want to visit some different ports.  I'm also anticipating better food, although I didn't mention food quality in my post.

[Pushpit]

Thanks for giving your impressions. Karaoke was offered on QM2 in G32 on the Crossing just after your trip, though not every night.

 

The one "cutback" I wish to comment on relates to a TV visibility on the gym machines - Cunard appears to have recently installed brand new TechnoGym equipment on the 3 ships, and as you say on the machines such as treadmills and bikes there is a big screen, with radio and TV options, but the TV doesn't connect (nor the radio but that's understandable). Now I'm personally pleased with this since one problem with people watching TV is that they get so swept along with whatever they are watching that they don't consider other users. But as it happens I suspect TV will get connected up at some point (unfortunately) since it can be done quite easily via the new wifi service. That said, I think Cunard should get some credit for spending a quite considerable sum of money on this new equipment (close to $1m on QM2) rather than a whinge about the lack of TV service.

Edited January 3 by Pushpit

[D&N]

12 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

That said, I think Cunard should get some credit for spending a quite considerable sum of money on this new equipment (close to $1m on QM2) rather than a whinge about the lack of TV service.

Have you read/heard that they bought the new kit?  Mildly surprised if that is the case.

 

I thought TechnoGym's model was to supply kit on a lease/maintenance contract with renewal periodically. But maybe they sell it along with a service/repair contract.

Our local gym has the old stuff, which is very reliable. But it's obviously easier to get a service technician to a land based gym.

[Pushpit]

Just now, D&N said:

Have you read/heard that they bought the new kit?  Mildly surprised if that is the case.

 

The $1m came from the CWC party, but I don't know if that's lease commitment or outright sale. In the round it should be about the same I suppose. I did some engineers working / checking the machines when in Southampton.

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, 57eric said:

It wasn't the cutbacks but the virtually unchanging Caribbean itineraries.  QE's projected 2025 schedule is more of the same.  My wife and I want to visit some different ports.  I'm also anticipating better food, although I didn't mention food quality in my post.

 

So, were you disappointed/unhappy with in the food? I definitely was in Britannia on QV. The Lido had much better/varied options than Britannia.

 

And I agree with your disappointment in QE's Caribbean itineraries. I was hoping for some variety. Interestingly, their Alaska itineraries for 2025 are all pretty much the same. I'm glad I'm going this summer, on an itinerary with some new ports. 

[57eric]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

So, were you disappointed/unhappy with in the food? I definitely was in Britannia on QV. The Lido had much better/varied options than Britannia.

 

And I agree with your disappointment in QE's Caribbean itineraries. I was hoping for some variety. Interestingly, their Alaska itineraries for 2025 are all pretty much the same. I'm glad I'm going this summer, on an itinerary with some new ports. 

I never chose Cunard for the food.  I'm not sure I felt the quality was down, although the selection definitely was.  But to repeat, food didn't make my cutback list.  However, I am hoping (expecting) the food will be better when I switch lines.

[Red Ray]

On 1/3/2024 at 5:26 PM, Pushpit said:

Thanks for giving your impressions. Karaoke was offered on QM2 in G32 on the Crossing just after your trip, though not every night.

 

The one "cutback" I wish to comment on relates to a TV visibility on the gym machines - Cunard appears to have recently installed brand new TechnoGym equipment on the 3 ships, and as you say on the machines such as treadmills and bikes there is a big screen, with radio and TV options, but the TV doesn't connect (nor the radio but that's understandable). Now I'm personally pleased with this since one problem with people watching TV is that they get so swept along with whatever they are watching that they don't consider other users. But as it happens I suspect TV will get connected up at some point (unfortunately) since it can be done quite easily via the new wifi service. That said, I think Cunard should get some credit for spending a quite considerable sum of money on this new equipment (close to $1m on QM2) rather than a whinge about the lack of TV service.

QM2 has a gym??

[Host Hattie]

On 1/3/2024 at 10:54 PM, 57eric said:

I never chose Cunard for the food.  I'm not sure I felt the quality was down, although the selection definitely was.  But to repeat, food didn't make my cutback list.  However, I am hoping (expecting) the food will be better when I switch lines.

Which line are you switching to ? There are complaints about food on lots of cruise lines boards.

[Pushpit]

6 minutes ago, Red Ray said:

QM2 has a gym??

Don't worry, it's not compulsory.

[RICHARD@SEA]

5 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Which line are you switching to ? There are complaints about food on lots of cruise lines boards.

How many of the lines are Carnival Corp owned????

[BklynBoy8]

1 minute ago, Red Ray said:

QM2 has a gym??

 

Yes, the Bow of the ship by A Staircase/Elevator

[Red Ray]

1 minute ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Yes, the Bow of the ship by A Staircase/Elevator

Maybe I should have included a winking face in my original post!

Edited January 8 by Red Ray

[57eric]

Just now, Host Hattie said:

Which line are you switching to ? There are complaints about food on lots of cruise lines boards.

Princess.  OK, maybe I'm being too optimistic.  I do see plenty of complaints on the Princess board.  (Are there any boards without food complaints?)  But again, it's the itinerary, not the food, that is the driver here.

[exlondoner]

15 minutes ago, Red Ray said:

QM2 has a gym??

Yes. I know this only because on two occasions it has been my muster station. It took me much of the voyage to recover.

[kitkat343]

On 1/3/2024 at 12:02 PM, 57eric said:

It wasn't the cutbacks but the virtually unchanging Caribbean itineraries.  QE's projected 2025 schedule is more of the same.  My wife and I want to visit some different ports.  I'm also anticipating better food, although I didn't mention food quality in my post.

We just sailed the Christmas voyage.  It had been 6 years since we last sailed Cunard, so the cutbacks didn't affect us (we didn't remember exactly what happened last time and we've been sailing less expensive lines for our kids so we were very happy with the voyage overall) the fact that the itinerary is exactly the same on next year's Christmas voyage makes it much less likely that we would chose to sail it again.

[57eric]

Hattie, thanks for the Great Review badge.  I didn't submit my post as a review because I felt it was lacking most of the key elements thereof: cabin, food, staff (except peripherally), entertainment and ports.

[Host Hattie]

1 hour ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

How many of the lines are Carnival Corp owned????

I've no idea but not all of them. 

[BklynBoy8]

2 hours ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

How many of the lines are Carnival Corp owned????

The company's portfolio of global cruise line brands includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Yes. I know this only because on two occasions it has been my muster station. It took me much of the voyage to recover.

 

I was very disappointed when the gym was my muster station. It broke my streak of never setting foot in one.

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I was very disappointed when the gym was my muster station. It broke my streak of never setting foot in one.

It did make me wonder why passengers intent on sweaty and unpleasant exercise should be given a space with such a wonderful forward view. Seemed very unfair.

[D&N]

14 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

It did make me wonder why passengers intent on sweaty and unpleasant exercise should be given a space with such a wonderful forward view. Seemed very unfair.

The views aren't great. You have the heavy fairing protecting the walking track immediately in front of the windows then the cufflinks, and the bow raises a bit. Depending on where you are you might see the horizon move now and again.