Normandie_Nostalgic

If you ask for the grilled elephant ears, be sure to specify African or Indian to avoid confusion and possible disappointment.

Hilarious. Thanks. You made my day ! :D

I think that you are absolutely right. 7 days is not enough !

In fact I am contemplating getting back on board QV in Istanbul for another 7-day cruise, while we are still in Europe at large. A bit extravagant, maybe, but why not ? That should give us ample time to experience the QG further.:)

Believe me if a city revenue department decided if the amount collected it was worth their time they would go after it.

Of course they would, and probably they will. It does not have to be fair, or particularly subtle. All it takes is to have the power to enforce the collection of the tax, a prerogative that many governments and local authorities certainly do enjoy.

If it is a tax fiddle, as indeed it seems to be, then it might go away one day. Governments around the world are going after uncollected taxes, loopholes and untaxed income. Once they have sorted out the Googles and the Starbucks, they very well might go after cruise ship crew members, repeal their tax breaks and force cruise companies to pay their fair due.

We are booked on a Rome to Trieste 7-day cruise in July. I would have a few questions for the members of the forum.

Our stateroom will be 8166, a Q6 on deck 8. It looks like a fabulous location, on the highest accommodation deck, and right in the axis of the ship facing astern. There may be a bit of noise due to the passenger deck overhead, but I am not worried by that. On teh QE last year, we were just below the pool area, and we did not hear anything. However, I wonder about the actual size of the stateroom, and especially of the balcony. Web-available data disagree, and I was unable to find any photo or video of such a cabin on the web either. The Q5 on each corner, or which there are videos on youtube, seem totally similar, albeit with a larger wrap-around balcony.

Also, it will be our first Queen’s Grill cruise on a contemporary Queen (my last QG experience dating from the beloved QE2 - those were the days). We are naturally looking forward to untold culinary delight, and being a bit of a foodie, I am planning to try off-menu ordering, that is one of the main attractions of the QG. Cunard marketing states that no request is too much trouble, and I am sure that the waiting staff and the chefs will do their very best, but I wonder though how far one can practically take them. Do they have suggestions, the culinary equivalent of a FAQ ? Or can one ask pretty much anything, with a good chance of getting it and being happy with it ? Will they humour repeated off menu ordering, or is it something to indulge only occasionally ?

Could anybody share some insight ? Thanks in advance.

We are living in a free market, Cunard would not be able to realize higher prices because most of the people would only look at the sticker price.

 

All Cruise Lines operate like that - if we like it or not.

That's quite true, but it's okay. Then all Cunard needs to do is to keep the tipping scheme, but simply remove the possibility to opt out from it. Airlines have a fuel surcharge, that sounds nearly as outrageous as the cruise industry's tipping policy.

It is the silliness of having a charge that is essential to the business model of the cruise industry, but that is presented as being optional and open to the interpretation and benevolence of passengers, that creates all the confusion and frustration.

So the situation is worse than I thought. Cunard is deliberately underpaying its staff, and has the passengers make up the balance of a fair wage, but has the irresponsibility of making it optional ? This is a system that is unsustainable. If more passengers were opting out, whether they still give tips, or they just cheapskate, then it will collapse under its own weight.

The crew is not made of galley slaves. If they cannot make ends meet with the salary alone, and the source of tips becomes too erratic, or their particular job puts them out of reach of the tips, then they will just stop working for Cunard. That will force the company to revise its policy, increase the salaries and get rid of that hellish tipping system.

That’s a very fair point, that I have made to the wife at the time. Her view is that all staff on board are doing a good job, which is true, we never had any ground for the slightest complaint, and are being paid by Cunard hopefully properly, with no need for a tip as an incentive. After all, there is middle management to keep staff doing their job properly. Passengers do not need to bribe the crew to entice good service. Her logic is rather that the thing that she wants to reward is the personal touch, the extra mile, the attention, the rapport, that unfortunately those crew members away from passenger contact do not have a chance to demonstrate. Also, who can trust Cunard ? They deliberately maintain opacity and secrecy about their tipping scheme, as this kind of thread is a proof of.

There is no perfect system, as long as this infernal tipping is not abolished, but at least with this one, I do not feel bad because we are spending on tips exactly as much as we would if we let Cunard do it, and she feels good because she can reward directly, and quite generously in fact, those selected few who individually contributed to the enjoyment of our cruise.

I come from a non-tipping culture. My wife is from a very tip-friendly culture. The auto-tipping policy on Cunard ships satisfies neither of us. I do feel that Cunard should pay its people properly and spare us the hassle, and she feels that it is not good to let Cunard apportion the tips, as she’d rather do it herself. We used to leave the autotip on (and argue about it), but on our recent QM2 cruise, we chose a good working compromise. We opted out at the purser’s office (no question asked, they did not blink an eyelid about it) and handed out envelopes within the exact same budget as suggested by Cunard to those staff members with whom we had built a rapport (some genuinely do try much harder than others, in a genial way). We also commended some staff members, using the forms provided, as one additional way to convey appreciation and help their career progression in a way that a tip alone could not do.

Relative quality of food, and of dining experience overall, in the various restaurants of the Cunard fleet is a much debated topic. There seems to be consensus that there is a difference between them, but nobody really agrees on what the difference actually is, and consequently whether it is worth paying a premium for a better grade (keeping in mind though that the finer dining in the Grills comes with finer/larger accommodation and a few perks as well).

Having tried all of it, and being a bit of a foodie, my take is that indeed there is a ranking, as Cunard intended, with the Britannia MDR at the entry level, the Grills above, and the specialty restaurant (Todd English/Verandah) at the top. In terms of sophistication of the food being proposed, and of dining experience overall, I think that the Verandah on the QE offers some of the best dining at sea that money can buy (on the QV, it is possibly one little notch below, on par with Todd English), and therefore that the Grills, while very good, are not as good as they could (and should) be,

I am sure that this is intentional. Cunard is addressing its own passenger demographics properly. The basic Britannia is already really good, considering the sheer magnitude of the logistics involved. The Grills do add to this considerably, with similar menus but with more attention to detail, an extensive a la carte option, and a more attentive and personalised service, and for the discerning diner, the Verandah/Todd English is available, as often as one wants. Possibly the best value for money available on the Cunard fleet might be a Britannia stateroom (say an outside so that one has some daylight), and a few evenings of fine dining in the Verandah restaurant, preferably on the QE.

PS - what's with all these negative reviews of Cunard - I'm seeing lots of "rude crew members, lazy bartenders, bad shows, tired looking ships" type of remarks. I haven't seen so many negative comments since I visited the Carnival forum? Very unusual for Cruise Critic.

 

It's a bit off-putting, but to be honest not that much ;)

Nobody seems to have answered that part of your question, so I will.

We cruised on all 3 Queens in the last 12 months, with a Med cruise coming in July. I am quite demanding on the level of service and ‘customer experience’ overall, and frankly I noticed nothing whatsoever that would substantiate any of that nonsense. Staff is universally professional and diligent, polite and and friendly. I suspect that those people who complain about bartenders etc. are misguided in thinking they are cheap slaves put at their disposal by Cunard, that one can use and abuse as part of the cruise fare.

All 3 ships are very well maintained, certainly not tired-looking. The Cunard shows are what they are, not to everybody’s liking (not to mine, mostly), but there is enough choice between all the musicians performing in various bars and public areas to compensate for that.

I concur that a Westbound TA is a better choice, if possible. My impression is that on QM2, there is no compelling reason to splurge for expensive grade staterooms. Naturally, bigger is better, but restaurant-wise, Britannia Club is a relatively unexceptional part of the MDR, and PG and QG are not quite the special places that their counterparts are on the other 2 Queens. For a winter crossing, even a balcony might be overkill. A simple outside, with daylight, might be all you need, especially if you are on your own.

But naturally, it is a case of value for money.