Cunard playing silly buggers with CONFIRMED dining

You may need to rethink plan "B" (table for 2), since they are very popular and seldom available after embarkation :(

 

Bob

Thanks.

New plan B: Discuss the details of the surgery to repair my anal fissure until we have a table of 8 to ourselves :D

Hi Ben. I don't like to see age restrictions either, but from what I've read, there are legitimate reasons ...

Only a certain number of children can be accommodated in the various day/evening care facilities for children and teens.

There are also limited cabins for passengers with limited mobility.

Even our faithful friends have limited capacity in the kennels (and only for trans-Atlantic crossings).

Not to mention us Rowers are delegated to Deck 6 or below:)

 

Anyway, it's a big ship and there's room for us all (if we book early, apparent$y).

 

Cheers,

Salacia

(bold is mine). Come on now, be fair. They let us go up to deck seven for a few laps to stretch our legs before we take up the oars again!

I wonder if the idea that Cunard limits the number of children comes from the limit on the number of cabins that will accept extra passengers on the sofa bed? Usually, extra passengers in a cabin will be kids.

Please do post whilst on board if you can. We have 2 voyages booked in the next 5 months and would be devastated if there has been a huge downtown in service and ambience.

 

 

We are avid cruisers on several lines and will be on Elizabeth on 25th and as Diamond members sure know what things should be like

So will post what we find

 

My sister and her husband then get on on 8th Sept for 17 nights they are new to Cunard but have been on several Princess cruises so their take on things will also be interesting

I always thought late sitting was the most popular, can't understand anyone wanting to eat dinner at 6pm. Each to their own I guess.

 

OP when you say those who want early got late and vice versa, has this happened to everyone and they have just got the whole ships reservations backwards? If it is a just your family then as others have asked did you book a saver fare? I was under the impression dining is only confirmed when you get on board with saver, irrespective of what the voyage personaliser may say. It isn't about the amount paid, it is about the terms and conditions of the rate booked.

 

Whatever has happened you are correct that nothing condones rudeness from the Maitre D.

:D Aren't people funny!! And I mean in a good way :') I have requested early sitting as I am travelling alone, and 8.30 is too late, I'd end up having afternoon tea every day and overeat! I generally eat around 7. And what's with 'early saver' what's that? I booked my April 18 cruise over a year in advance, simply to make sure I got a single room, and believe me I wasn't offered any sort of saver! Maybe it's. because I booked from Australia? Anyway, my seating time was confirmed immediately.

Just logged into my own voyage personaliser to check, it shows 8.30 dining but it doesn't say anywhere that is is "Confirmed", however my understanding from when i booked is that it is confirmed due to paying the Cunard Fare.

 

It does have a section about saver fares which I have copied below:

 

Early Saver Bookers

 

Early Savers receive 2nd priority for dining. We will attempt to accommodate your request but this is not guaranteed. Dining will be allocated on board and cannot be changed. To register a dining preference please click on the below link.

Seems likely that while the voyage personaliser may have shown early seating, this was just showing your preference and wasn't a confirmation. Cunard's website is imo fairly terrible and riddled with mistakes/out of date info.

Mine is confirmed on my booking confirmation, not on the voyage personaliser

:D Aren't people funny!! And I mean in a good way :') I have requested early sitting as I am travelling alone, and 8.30 is too late, I'd end up having afternoon tea every day and overeat! I generally eat around 7. And what's with 'early saver' what's that? I booked my April 18 cruise over a year in advance, simply to make sure I got a single room, and believe me I wasn't offered any sort of saver! Maybe it's. because I booked from Australia? Anyway, my seating time was confirmed immediately.

Nothing wrong with a bit of afternoon tea :)

To clear up what I meant by "early saver". In the UK Cunard offer 2 fares generally for advanced bookings, the Cunard Fare and the Early Saver fare. The Cunard Fare comes with a choice of either onboard credit, port parking, airport parking on fly cruises or coach transfers to the port, you also get confirmation of dining time (although this may not happen if you book close to sailing) and you can select your cabin (although I have been informed this fare can also be offered as a guarantee as well). The Early Saver fare is slightly cheaper but comes with no added benefit, you can specify dining preference but it isn't confirmed until you are onboard and while you select your cabin grade you can't pick a specific cabin. When the early saver is offered and when it stops being offered seems to vary and i guess is based on how fast it is selling. I understand the way Cunard sells its product changes from country to country so I thought i would clarify.

The OP stated it wasn't a saver fare and dining times were confirmed so the stuff about saver fares doesn't really apply.

:champagne-toast:Thanks for the explanation. Those booking categories aren't offered here but I have got onboard credit. And I am looking forward to the odd afternoon tea!

Doesn't sound like any cruise I've been on. Maybe I'm just lucky. I'll report back after boarding QV tomorrow for 2 weeks x

 

 

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Me neither.

Sometimes expectations run amok.

I always thought late sitting was the most popular, can't understand anyone wanting to eat dinner at 6pm. Each to their own I guess.

 

OP when you say those who want early got late and vice versa, has this happened to everyone and they have just got the whole ships reservations backwards? If it is a just your family then as others have asked did you book a saver fare? I was under the impression dining is only confirmed when you get on board with saver, irrespective of what the voyage personaliser may say. It isn't about the amount paid, it is about the terms and conditions of the rate booked.

 

Whatever has happened you are correct that nothing condones rudeness from the Maitre D.

Good afternoon Ben.

Wow, I really missed a debate by taking a weekend off to enjoy a good footballing weekend.

I'm with you and against you here.

On the subject of choice of sitting I've always been aware that the early sitting, for some odd reason, is the more popular.

Perhaps it harkens back to those older days when 'midnight and chocolate buffets' were popular and folk wanted to give their dinner time to settle prior to taking on a late replenishment. (I paid for it and I'm going to eat it :evilsmile: )

But I'm certainly with you on your understanding regarding eating at 6.00 pm. The mere fact that you're almost guaranteed to miss a sailaway or indeed, have had to rush back onboard to get ready would deter me period.

Hence I've never, on the odd occasion I've booked a guarantee, worried that I wouldn't get my choice of timing: indeed, in all my cruising I've never needed to approach the Maitre d'to change anything.

Incidentally, Ive never experienced a Cunard Maitre d' who has been rude though have often thought they should have been when faced with obnoxious passengers requests.

My goodness! Now that I've been accused of ignorance, it took forever to find what I was referring to about children. Always read fine print.

Under "Frequent enquiries": "Are children welcome on CUNARD"...

"...the number of children in a specific cruise may be limited. Please contact CUNARD for details,,,"

Good afternoon Ben.

 

Wow, I really missed a debate by taking a weekend off to enjoy a good footballing weekend.

 

I'm with you and against you here.

 

On the subject of choice of sitting I've always been aware that the early sitting, for some odd reason, is the more popular.

 

Perhaps it harkens back to those older days when 'midnight and chocolate buffets' were popular and folk wanted to give their dinner time to settle prior to taking on a late replenishment. (I paid for it and I'm going to eat it :evilsmile: )

 

But I'm certainly with you on your understanding regarding eating at 6.00 pm. The mere fact that you're almost guaranteed to miss a sailaway or indeed, have had to rush back onboard to get ready would deter me period.

 

Hence I've never, on the odd occasion I've booked a guarantee, worried that I wouldn't get my choice of timing: indeed, in all my cruising I've never needed to approach the Maitre d'to change anything.

 

Incidentally, Ive never experienced a Cunard Maitre d' who has been rude though have often thought they should have been when faced with obnoxious passengers requests.

Good afternoon Richard,

I like you have never encountered a Cunard Maitre D' who was anything other than polite.

I also avoid guarantees, the difference between early saver and cunard fare on my next trip was so minimal that when you factored in the onboard credit you get with cunard fare it made no sense not to book it.

At home I normally eat any time between 6.30 and 9.30 depending on work and how we feel that day. On a cruise I like to have a sit down 3 course lunch and after that possibly enjoy afternoon tea, eating again at 6pm would seem rushed to me.

Ben

My goodness! Now that I've been accused of ignorance, it took forever to find what I was referring to about children. Always read fine print.

Under "Frequent enquiries": "Are children welcome on CUNARD"...

"...the number of children in a specific cruise may be limited. Please contact CUNARD for details,,,"

I am sorry if you read my post as accusing you of ignorance, I have reviewed it don't believe I did. I simply disagree with you, which is fine, we are both entitled to our differing viewpoints. You stated in your earlier posts that you don't believe it is a cruise for the under 18s and that young children don't belong at formal occasions. Not views I agree with for the reasons outlined in my earlier posts.

As to the policy of limiting children, my understanding is that these limits are to do with the number of rooms that can accommodate additional people, kids club capacity and spaces on lifeboats. Not really different than any other line that allows kids. While this may put a numbers limit on the amount of kids on board it isn't really different than the limit on the number of disabled access cabins, Cunard aren't trying to 'limit' disabled people, they just have a certain number of rooms. As Salacia mentioned in an earlier post the number of dogs is also limited in this sense, to the number of spaces in the kennels.

Have a great time, please let us know how you get on. Reports from QV this summer have certainly been mixed. My ex-boss was on board recently and seemed to have a wonderful time (not a CC member).

Back from QV yesterday. I can honestly say, hand on heart, we had no issues whatsoever.

The food was exceptionally good, probably the best I have had before as a veggie, the entertainment better than I have seen for a long time. Bar prices have shot up, but we ordered as usual every evening and if we had maybe one drink less per person, per day, well that's better for our livers! There were children nearby in the QG restaurant, all of whom were very well behaved and looked after extremely well. The internet was surprisingly fast, it never took longer than 5 seconds to connect and pages loaded pretty speedily.

On the occasions we had to visit the Purser's desk, we were treated respectfully and efficiently. Bar and deck service was fast. We did meet a few moaners, but as usual spoke as we found.

The transfers from both airport to port and port to airport were again in private vehicles for six, which was nice and meant we were on board very soon after arriving at Trieste. Having the luggage bonded was great on the way out. It was checked in as usual on the return.

All in all, a great cruise and at a standard we have come to expect and enjoy. No compliants from us!

That's very good to hear, thanks for posting.