Queen Mary 2 Southampton - New York July 21, 2024

[RetiredCruisingWidow]

This is my first time to cruise on a Cunard Line ship.  Can  anyone answer the following  questions.

- As a single cruiser on other lines there is the ability to dine with other travelers, does Curard offer that as well?

- As this cruise had only sea days, how do you meet others to play bridge / games?

 

Thanks for answering my questions.

 

[Victoria2]

Request a large dining table and you'll be able to dine with others.

 

Bridge

It's usually a hosted duplicate session in the card room [Atlantic room deck11 in my experience on QM2] at 2pm on sea days, of which you'll obviously have a 'few'.

 

It's an interesting session as there will be a mix of ACOL and Standard American. Luckily, if partnering one who doesn't play ACOL, we rub along OK.

 

Edit

Sorry, I was assuming you'd know, which as a newbie, you won't so Bridge will be posted in the daily itinerary so you'll know when and where.

Enjoy. 🙂

Edited January 29 by Victoria2

[TheOldBear]

The 'roll call' threads for crossings seem to usually be quiet - see https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2960181-july-21-2024-transatlantic-westbound-m422 for your sailing's roll call if you have not already joined it.

 

[Winifred 22]

There are also twice daily solo meets up. I have never been but you will find people to socialise with and play other games . They have 2 corridors with fabulous sea views and tables set out with all sorts of interesting board games and jigsaws too. Definitely you can ask to be on a table with others. I prefer to eat alone so always have a table for one by myself. 

[Pushpit]

6 hours ago, RetiredCruisingWidow said:

- As a single cruiser on other lines there is the ability to dine with other travelers, does Curard offer that as well?

 

Yes, you can either eat with others, or ask for a table for two, and there are plenty of those in Britannia, the main dining room. If you are on Open dining you can mix and match, so some nights you share, some you don't. On the Fixed dining you get the table allocated as you embark. There's a few hours available on embarkation day where you can check the table and perhaps negotiate an alternative if it's not what you want.

[MaineCruiser243]

I am also on this 21 July crossing. In one of the replies above it states "request a large table". I was wondering how dining times and table assignments work on Cunard. The "my Cunard" is very unhelpful as to details about the main dining room (Britannia). Does one need to request a specific time or is it arbitrarily assigned? Is there a way to change the time? Is one assigned to a specific table? Just not sure how things work on Cunard as this is my first trip with them.

 

Also are there sample menus for the Britannia?

[bluemarble]

@MaineCruiser243, in the Britannia restaurant you may choose fixed dining or open dining.

 

For fixed dining on a QM2 crossing you have your choice of early sitting at 6:00pm or late sitting at 8:30pm. You will have the same table and wait staff each evening. You may request a table size (2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 people) but not a specific table. There will be a card waiting for you in your cabin when you embark informing you of your table number.

 

For open dining on a QM2 crossing, you may dine any time from 6:00pm to 9:00pm but you won't have the same table or wait staff each evening. There will be a card waiting for you in your cabin when you embark indicating a time that has been reserved for you for the first evening. They ask that you make reservations for subsequent evenings using the onboard My Voyage facility but that's not strictly necessary. When you arrive at the restaurant for open dining there may be a queue until they are able to seat you.

 

You register your preferred dining arrangement in the "Your dining choice" section found under "Booking Summary" when you log in to your booking in "My Cunard". Here's a screen shot showing a booking where we have requested the early sitting of fixed dining at a table for 8.

 

[Pushpit]

12 hours ago, MaineCruiser243 said:

Also are there sample menus for the Britannia?

I put every menu for a Britannia crossing in this thread:

 

 

I've been on quite a few QM2s and the menus do change around a lot, even if you are onboard a long time you won't see much repetition, but that said, the menus in this thread are pretty much representative of what you will get, perhaps a few fewer hearty soups given the time of year.

[MaineCruiser243]

Thanks for the link to the voyage thread that was very useful.

One thing I wondered about - if you have a fixed dining time, what happens if you decide to eat somewhere else that evening, do you have to notify them that you won't be at the Britannia?

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, MaineCruiser243 said:

Thanks for the link to the voyage thread that was very useful.

One thing I wondered about - if you have a fixed dining time, what happens if you decide to eat somewhere else that evening, do you have to notify them that you won't be at the Britannia?

No, but if you are on a large table, it would be courteous to tell your fellow diners, so they don’t wonder whether to wait for you.

[D&N]

2 hours ago, MaineCruiser243 said:

Thanks for the link to the voyage thread that was very useful.

One thing I wondered about - if you have a fixed dining time, what happens if you decide to eat somewhere else that evening, do you have to notify them that you won't be at the Britannia?

If you have a fixed table with same waiters each night I would let them know if possible, perhaps if you plan a speciality restaurant in advance. That way they're not watching out for you and can concentrate more on their other guests.