groryjm

My apologies for being so verbose but I promise my next post will be a little lighter.. Oh and one of our pluses was the discovery of a glorious white Calvados that our Sommelier Stalin introduced us to in the QR… The bottle I ordered in the UK on our last day on board with internet, Stavanger, arrived today😎😎😎 Today is a good day and thank you Stalin for introducing my Gastrognome to this treat

Parking Embarks and Disembarks We have over the last few years started to cruise fairly exclusively out and back from Southampton and it has become our preferred port. We are only an hour and a bit away so it is very convenient, it saves the cost or air which can be quite a lot as we try to fly business whenever possible due to the increased baggage allowance and it saves on a hotel pre cruise. Also as the years have progressed our days of flying for over four hours are very definitely in our past. For us it is easiest to drive to the port and park with either ABP, for Celebrity, or as this time with CPS. Cunard seem to sail in and out of different berths which as far as parking is concerned means that the car will need to move from one end of the port to the other which is a couple of miles. CPS (Cruise Parking Services) it seems rent carpark space from ABP (Associated British Ports) and have a team of drivers that park your car for you and then move it to your arrival berth for your return. This was a new experience and one we were a little unsure about. With ABP parking as used by Celebrity one drives the car to the designated carpark, which is usually next to your ship. Hands your luggage directly to the porters straight from the boot (trunk) of your car and they load it straight into a van. This van moves from car to car as they arrive and when full takes the bags to the ship for the cruise line to load. One walks with just your hand luggage to the terminal building. The distance is minimal, maybe four or five minutes at the most. For CPS we drove the car slightly nearer to the terminal building and once we had checked the car in and handed over the keys we had to unload our cases on to trolley and wheel all our luggage to the terminal. Not quite as easy as ABP but not too much of a hassle as when we got there the Cunard porters took our cases before we entered the building. One thing we did miss that we get with Celebrity is the priority luggage drop off. With this service given to upper suite passengers my Gastrognome would drop me and all our cases at the designated point and while she parked the car and had an unencumbered walk back, that usually is less than five minutes, I would be greeted the lady with a clip board, our check bags whisked away and moments later when my G returned we would be escorted to a check-in desk and then directly to our suit with only a brief pause to scan our carryon’s. Since the pandemic we have done this four times at Southampton and have been in our suit in ten to fifteen minutes of are allocated time . In April we had a check-in time of 11.30-12.00 we got to the Priority a tad early at 11.15 but were in our suite by 11.45. Pre pandemic it was generally nearer 11.00 that we arrived in our suite. The Cunard experience was a little different. Once in the terminal building at about 11.50, a tiny bit early as our check in time was 12.00, we were very quickly checked clear to board and escorted to the far end of the terminal building to what I think was the front of the line. We were given a set and then along with all the others there left to wait. I did notice others waiting next to us had check in times of 12.15 and even 12.30. So we waited …. And waited…. I recognised a couple of the ABP port staff who I recognised from the City Cruise terminal a few months before and in return was greeted as a regular visitor to the port. We had spoken on probably two or three embarkations at the port in the last nine months or so. She did say that the captain of this ship never let anyone boards before 1pm. So if the captain says 1pm why allocate a time slot of 12!!! At five past one we were ushered in to the security checks behind those in wheel chairs and a very slow boarding commenced. On previous cruises at our suite level on other lines, besides a wait of over an hour being extremely unusual, we would have been offered tea, coffee and pastries but Cunard expects everyone to just wait… That said we were probably the first on the ship and from then on the experience was on a par, or given the grills food, slightly better. …….. Disembarkation however was almost a dream. We had our tags sent to the room a couple of days before arrival at Southampton and were given our chosen time of 9am. Disembarkation was directly from our room rather than the forty minute wait we experienced from Michael’s Club, the Celebrity suit lounge, last month. And we were able to have a pleasant, if reduced, breakfast at the QG before return in to our cabin to collect our bags before debarking. On Celebrity rooms need to be vacated by 8am which means if you have a later flight and want to leave the ship at a civilised hour and want breakfast you must take your carryon’s to the restaurant and the to the lounge. Collecting the car was about the same as X the only pause being to collect ones keys and get directions to the cars location. One thing I have found useful in recent trips is that we wrap our cases with rainbow gaffer tape which makes the very easy to find.

on Reflection the wonderful Olympia in Michaels, on RF it's still called that, managed to source a botle of Woodford reserve and a bottle of Carpano Antica vermouth for my Boulivardiers😎

Think of Kahlua as a sticky sweet vaguely coffee flavoured lacquer at 20% by vol where as Mr Black is COFFEE on steroids at 23% by vol. Great in an expresso martini or as an addition to a boulevardier but great with ice

No it may not be on the list but they do have it on board. A new addition I think This is a shot of the Commodore bar... center of the front row😎

Just over a week ago a very Tallented barman in the Grills lounge took my challange to create me a drink to my some what twisted tastes... This is what Aaron made for me and we christened it "Aarons twisted Bombay sour" .... So now I am home I will try and reproduce Aarons creation Delicious. Here's the recipie. Feel free to enjoy

Thinking about it I belive they are but the menu I photo'd is the one on every table in the lounge with a price for coffee indicated. I was asked for a card the first couple of times we ordered in there but it could well have been for drinks. We did have the full drinks package so I can't be sure.

@Victoria2 I don't believe it was Julia. After that first initial meeting She was extreemly freindly and helpfull. I gathered later that at that pooint I had not been by any manner of means the only one to comment on the lack of internet. I suspect it had been a trying day as the internet at that point had been down for nearly two days and it was not just the guests having problems as the system in the US had gone down . I had been hopping for a refund of a pro rata rate for the lost service on the last few days but on checking my account on departure noticed we had been refunded the full $480. Touch annoying on check out day as it left me with $160 of unspent OBC which had I known earlier I would have tried to reasing as extra tips.

On our many of our sailings on Celebrity ships we have had the privilege of being given tours of the bridge organised by the suite concierge and on these tours I have often spotted little plaques and gifts given to the ship on their first arrival at a port. I have even taken sneaky pictures of these little glimpses in to ship life But on Cunard’s Queen Victoria there is a corridor at the front of the ship en route to the Commodore Club were these treasures not kept in the captains domain as on Celebrity but are on view to all 😎😎😎

This was posted on an elier thread by some on else on these boards from QE but mathes QVs Commodore Club QE Commodore Club 2022.pdf

@Jim_Iain some of the drinks menus Grils Lounge (not included as with Michael's 🙃 The Chart room The Lido Grill .... and an extra pic from Stavanger especially for @Jim_Iain

Around the ship, bars, art and entertainments The ships public areas are beautiful of that there is no doubt. Viscount Linley’s stunning mural and the amazing wood panelled interior hark back to a style of days gone by. A chic art deco feel and a celebration of the memories and traditions are what this ship is about. For the first few days we took it all in and enjoyed the feel of the ship. However after a few days I started to realise that in the public areas as well as the art deco carpets and panelling the majority of the art around the ship is Cunard and White Star memorabilia interspersed with pictures of bygone starts aboard the lines ships. Don’t get me wrong it is lovely feel to the ship but I did miss the Art displayed around a Celebrity Ship. I also felt the interiors were a bit enclosed and not as open and airy as an S Class Celebrity ship. Even the art in our suite was White star related On walking around the decks at night the ship was quiet which is only to be expected on a cold cruise but I did feel the lighting was a bit lacking in colour. The nest most important thing to me after the food is of course the cocktails. Now in comparison to X the prices for drinks seemed similar excepting a few high end cocktails in the Commodore club. The big difference however was lack of any included drinks package. On Celebrity a basic drinks package, gratuities and basic wifi are included for all passengers and for upper suite guests it is the top level wifi and premium drinks. To put it in dollar terms that is an extra $828 for the drinks package, $240 for the internet and $162 for gratuities. So in real terms while fares between lines may be similar an extra $2400 for two guests in an upper suite is quite significant. We could have paid for drinks as we went and I have read on these boards that people think they would pay more for the package than by the drink. For us the package worked out quite a bit cheaper and I would always prefer to pay up front than have a big bill at the end. . We tended to spend our time in the Commodore and the Grills Lounge. I visited the Red Lion pub but it seemed more of a sports / bingo / quiz night bar and not to my taste but certainly seemed to have its appeal to others. The Commodore’s drinks were excellent and well-made but I did miss an actual mixologist making my drink in front of me. Even sitting at the bar it was hard to interact with a barman as there was a constant que of waiters and the bar staff were working on a production line basis. There was a constant supply of bar snacks and canapes in the evenings which was nice but the entertainment was of the cocktail pianist variety not the more contemporary musicians one finds on Celebrity. This all added to the 1920s/30s ambiance but I feel after a long cruise it might have started to feel a bit, and I hesitate to use the word, stuffy. The one bar we walked through on many occasions but never stopped at was he Winter Garden. It looked lovely and the Bar well set but there was an aroma that seemed to linger there that put one off staying. May be from its proximity to the pool but I think I have also read in these boards that I am not alone in noticing it. Our favourite bar especially during the day light was the Grills lounge. It has fantastic views forward over the ship and is well served by the bar staff there. Aaron the barman and Reyland made our time there very good indeed. This is also the space for the Grills Concierge desk and I was surprised to not only not to have been sought out by her but also on day 10 of a 12 cruise when I approached her desk to complained about the internet to be treated almost with almost contempt until on asking for my cabin number twice her attitude changed completely. On Celebrity I have always been greeted by name before being introduced and have in fact quite enjoyed the curtesy. It was only recently I learned that the staff in the suites areas on Celebrity have the top guests pictures to hand as an aid. I did miss having musician’s roaming around the ship and a meet and greet cocktail with the senior staff in the Grills lounge. In fact I didn’t see any officers in the Grills lounge. I don’t know if that is something just not done on Cunard or stopped due to the pandemic. I also noticed the lack of helipad sailaways or sailaways with officers on the Suite/ Grills terrace as I would have expected on a Celebrity ship. There were also no invites to bridge tours or galley tours but I know that on Celebrity these have only just restarted and wonder if it is just not a Cunard thing The Shows…. The two shows we managed to get to were excellent and the singers a dancers of a very high standard . I did miss the aerialists and cirque du soleil type shows we have seen on Celebrity but again I suspect it is not a Cunard thing. I did find the show times very odd being 8pm and 10pm rather than the 7pm and 9pm on most other lines and that is probably why we only managed two shows. The theatre is however a beautiful venue and the in house band were on top form. Now to the Queens room. If you are a “Strictly” fan I am sure it is a venue with great appeal. It was interesting to watch those on the floor but my Gastrognome, who is an excellent dancer, and I prefer 1940s Swing. There seemed very few opportunities to jive and it was only at a “Big Band” night when my Gastrognome spotted one of the singers from the last night’s show. She asked him if there was ever a chance to jive and he kindly he went round the back to ask the band to play a jive number that we got our dance. Applauding loudly at the end of a show in the front row obviously gets you noticed. Honour duly satisfied we moved on to the Commodore. I must admit the huge crowds just sitting and watching surprised me but I am not a “Stickily” fan

Hi @Jim_Iain I'll post my next tranche half an hour or so and I'll be sure to include drinks price's for comparison. Sometimes I gather if you bok in the states you can get drinks included with the Grills. It is just us Brits they trust 😉

This our main reason for trying Cunard. We love the one hour drive to the carpark then straight on to the ship. We don’t enjoy long flights anymore. Celebrity is our comfortable fit but the Itineraries are getting too familiar so we wanted to start branching out.

Usually when I travel, be it a cruise, self-catering or even an hotel, I bring a selection of miniature bitters, my spritz bottles, simple syrup and my bar roll. The spritzes which usually sit on my bar are absinthe, crème de violet, green chartreuse and Maraschino. I use these when mixing drinks to spray a glass to give it a rinse or spray over a drink as an aromatic garnish. When it comes to traveling it gives me a few basic drinks too if I just add gin or brandy and perhaps citrus. On Celebrity in upper suites and Cunard in QG they provide two bottles of spirits and allow two bottles of wine for in suite consumption. So my wine choices are a bottle of Lillet Blanc and a bottle of Lillet Rose. My bar roll includes a pair of Bonzer Boston shaker tins, a hawthorne and a conical strainer, a weighted bar spoon, a citrus press and a couple of Japanese jiggers. To this I always ask our butler for whole lemons, limes and oranges, soda cranberry juice and suitable knife to cut the citrus. With this I can make us a variety of cocktails and spritzes for our pre diner dressing drinks and our post prandials. As Cunard have a very adult attitude to drinks in the room I also brought a half bottle of decent vermouth, Cointreau, Cognac and Mr Black. All we brought back besides my bitters and spritzes was half a bottle of 3 Qs Victorie gin, our second, some Cointreau, some vodka and a splash of Mr Black. We did get through about a dozen of each citrus which quite surprised our butler. My reasoning being We will never get scurvy 😊. My passion is mixology and I enjoy my passion to the full. Please don’t think we try to stint the cruise lines on paying for drinks. I also bought the full drinks package for us both. I even had an upcharge on that in the Commodore club for a Marmalade Martini but they waived the charge.

The beds are I beleive the Sealy "Cunarder" but it may be the one in our suite was older than prehaps it should be?

As I eat my single poached egg on carbohydrate free bread I have realised I haven’t mentioned breakfasts yet but here are a few pics. The one omission is the easy mention of alcohol at breakfast as it seems the nearest open bar in the morning is 8 decks down. But after I had arrived on a couple of mornings with a bloody mary I had collected myself they did start to offer to get them for me. We did discover late in the cruise the Lido Grill which has a slightly more extensive menu than the Mast Grill on Celebrity.

There is also the opportunity to order completely off menu, but you need to give 24 hours notice, and on one night we ordered an Indian banquet. There is one appetiser not mentioned but well worth asking for is we did on a couple of nights - Caviar. I also asked are sommelier Stalin for a Vodka to accompany it 😊 Over all the food in QG was excellent and there is always the opportunity to order whatever you fancy be it a simple steak or spaghetti and meatballs or something more exotic. There is a thread on these boards with some of the off book offerings others have requested and the list is endless

Now back to the reason the menus are given out in advance. Looking at PG and QG the menus seem fairly similar with only one or two omissions from the PG offering but there is an additional a la cart menu in QG that has some items that need to be ordered by lunchtime for the evening Menus and my food from 13th Our A La Carte choices on various occasions included the Dover sole, the Duck a l’orange and the Beef Wellington. All were excellent and we choose them on days the main choices didn’t seem as good. These all came with table side service which while fun it does seem a bit out of the 1970s. Although to be fair the same happens in Murano on Celebrity. The food despite the tableside flair was excellent My Gastrognome also tried the Lobster Thermidore on one day and was not as impressed as with the other dishes we tried throughout our cruise.

So now to the food…. One thing I have seen many times on these boards is how good the food is especially in the grills but also how subjective the topic can be. Ones tastes are very personal and this is written from my view point. We are however also on this cruise with some friends also from the same sleepy village just south of London. Our horses were stabled on the same livery yard a mile away but while we are in a Q2 they are in insides and had a late sitting in Britannia. We have kept in contact throughout the cruise meeting up in the Commodore’s Club or our Balcony and have been getting their feedback on the ship and food as well so I hope you won’t mind if I include some of their views too. We ate predominately in the Queens Grill and I have to say that the quality of the meals we ate in there was far in excess of Celebrity’s Luminae offering (the dedicated restaurant for suites on Celebrity). We have eaten in Luminae since its inception in 2015 and very much enjoyed it when it opened over the MDR experiences we had previously been offered. There are two grills restaurants side by side on deck 11 either side of the grills lounge. Both have wonderful sea views and the best tables by the windows appear to be assigned by rank of suite and loyalty status. We have no status as this was our first time on Cunard but being in a Q2 got us an excellent window table and the view is far better I felt than the tinted wake views in the Tuscan Grill or window tables in Luminae on Celebrity. The windows in Grills are floor to ceiling and let in a lot of light. Queens Grill is nearest to Celebrity’s Retreat suites with 66 cabins in each line. Princess grill probably equates better in cabin size to Aqua with 61 Princess suites to 130 Aqua suites on Celebrity Silhouette. Princess grill I feel would knock Blu into a cocked hat. We did have occasion to take high tea in Princess Grill so had a chance to view the restaurant’s layout if not the food. The PG is slightly larger than QG but there are slightly more tables so it feels they are a bit closer together... but nothing like as close as Blu One huge advantage over celebrity is that in both grills one is assigned a table for the entire cruise and can turn up at any time while the restaurant is serving. The menus, along with the daily and breakfast hanger and newspaper are delivered each night to our suite for the next day’s service. With the way British politics was evolving last week it was quite intriguing to have a daily paper of British news intended for reading with breakfast that was completely out of date by the morning 🙂 The daily’s give restaurant opening times on the reverse along the very few alternative dining venue times. The Lido buffet does have a separate section in the evening for their themed “Dinner at the Lido” which is an upcharge of $25 pp. On three or four consecutive nights the themes were Bamboo – Pan Asian Cuisine, Nordly’s – Norwegian Cuisine and Coriander – Indian Cuisine. We didn’t personally try any of these but our friends did and reported back that the two they tried Bamboo and Nordly’s were excellent. We did, on a couple of occasions, visit the Lido buffet ourselves and I’m afraid that while the food was good the choices seemed minimal. To clarify, the one breakfast we had there was a very similar standard to Celebrity and the couple of lunches we tried we found the food good but choices less. But at other times, like returning late from a tour after lunch or after dinner there seem very little choice. The menus at the Golden lion pub looked good and again we didn’t try but our friends did and reported back that the food was good and particularly the fish and chips. The food there was included and no up charge. There is a steak house and while the menu looked good we didn’t try it as we were reluctant to pay $45 pp when we felt we could have probably ordered similar at QG if we had wanted.

Before I go onto the next topic of my review, food, I want to briefly go back to the room and in particular beds. On a celebrity cruise the one thing we have always had is a good night’s sleep and have found the mattresses particularly comfortable. Celebrity even goes as far as to advertise their bedding for sale in the States under the brand eXhale (https://celebritybedcollection.com/). Now as I am, apparently, a somewhat prolific snorer, after more than thirty years we find that one of the secrets to a happy marriage is a good night’s sleep and a bed in a spare room does control my noise levels. This is one of the reasons we always book suites where there is a door rather than curtain between the bedroom and sofa bed. As a result I have much experience sleeping on sofa beds and I have to say that the one on Cunard is the most uncomfortable I have slept on. But on Celebrity I have found all the sofa beds extremely conducive to a good night’s sleep. My Gastrognome also sleeps well on Celebrity’s beds and we have also never had a problem getting a mattress topper on Celebrity which she finds improves the bed even more. On this trip we failed to get such a topper and both suffered with our backs. The pillow menu while in theory looks similar to Xs did not match in actuality and my Gastrognome failed to get a decent firm pillow but only managed a thin memory foam one.

@exlondoner The next bit I intend to cover is the food but the post after that is the ship, entertainment and art, so bear with me a day or two and I hope I'll cover what you want.

I just repainted our pebbledash a lovely sunnshine yellow 😎 but in some areas like the old town of Stavanger the colours of houses are probably guided by local rules. Like in Bergan or Tobemoray in the Isle of Mull

We tend to leave the bedroom door open but I agree it is personal thing. I suspect in calmer seas we would not have noticed it but with the seas we had last week the doors were definately swinging.

Hi @Jim_Iain I'm sorry not to have been posting here but my full Live from .... thread is on the Cunard boards. I have started the concluding comparison from post #161 . it may take me a day or so to finish but I hope you find it useful