Lakesregion

One can only imagine the angst should Cunard revert to the days of the QE2 with formal on all sea nights and tie and jacket for the gentlemen on all "casual" port days. As to change yes most everyone in the world of business has changed even though the addage "if it is not brokern do not try to fix it" is a solid statement and one The NewYorker Magazine has held with since its beginning 100 years ago. Same type style same layout same wondful criculation, even though the readers are not the sme people..

17 day QA NYC to SF in Jan 2025 lists five gala evenings out of 17, so it would appear that Cunard is all over the lot trying to decern what to do andwhen.

Having be in the restaurant business, one of the reasons for putting the two tops so close together is it allows for a fast change over to a four or six top with out having to carry chairs and tables all over the dining room.

I sense this as the ultimate plan for all Carnival owned lines. HAL will be in my opinion be all anytime dining within two to three years. With QA in the mix,Cunard has more room to experiment. What causes this shift is the adding of multiple dining choices and the daily uncertainty of who will show up in assigned seating and who will be gone in favor of an alternative venue. Such uncertainty wrecks avic on the wait staff and the kitchen. So buckle up folks, it may be two years or five years but look for the elimination of fixed seating somewhere down the line.

Give the lower level of attire most foks seem to enjoy these days, I find dressing a few notches above the norm gets me a better table, better service and on my travels better attention to luggage etc. And it costs nothing more than the usual tip. No bribbing just a little satorial effort.

I would say ask nicely while dressed in your best We do fit the image" without any airs attireand then go with whatever is allocated.

I have for most of my life said if Designers and Enginers had to live with the products they designed or enginered for six months, we would seldom have issues because the original people would realize how poorly they had made the dsign in the first place. and would correct it pre-production.

I ahvealways thought that one should expect the butler on board any ship would perform the same things that your butler at home does.

If you book a grills suite, you can dine down stairs so to speak in the main Britannia dining room at a table for one using the newish anytime dinig option (Reservation required) Ambiance is excellent, food good but not as varied nor will there be table side carving etc. But you will get the quiet table in a very fine dining space on a very fine ship.

How is the afternoon tea in the Queens room going given a smaller room and more passengers than the other ships? Do they continue to pass the sandwiches and the sweets throughout the time of the tea? White gloves? easy to obtain more tea?

If such a space also occurs on the deck above and below this deck then it could be a crew service elevator. If it only occurs on this deck then it might be a room service kitchen food warming etc. space.

Thank you for the quick answers. The reason I asked about the number of stewards was to plan on tipping. Both HAL and NCL use two person teams hence double the tips, even though only one person really works a cabin at any one time.

Couple of questons that have not be addessed. 1. Black Jack table minimum bet 2. Staterooms being serviced once or twice a day and by how many assigned stewards? 3.Chocolate on the pillow and turndown every evening? 4. What is available for lunch on embarkation day?

Beginning to wish I had waited to book my 17 days from NYC to SF in Janaury until the reviews were in. But such is life and I look forward to a full day in SF as I have never been there and then a restful ride back home on the train. I am far from Cunard's target market at the age of 85 so maybe the ride will be geat or maybe it will be a final episode in an otherwise wonderful number of experiences on the QE2 and the QM2 and let it go at that.

Seems that in the past the burger was always available no charge day or evening on the room servuce menus. As to no seats at the bar. That seems to be the popular way the younger crowd likes to consume their beverages by standing around the bar in large numbers. Have witnessed this on several other lines.

Wow, sure does have a hospital corridor vibe. Maybe by the time I board in Januay for the NYC to SF cruise it will have been toned up a bit. Maybe a picture or two on the walls . If the powers to be from Cunard are reading the reaction to these video tours they must wonder how they managed to get so much so very wrong. But then they did manage to do the same thing with the original roll out of the QE2. People hated it and they redid it on the first opportunity.

Well done review. Can't say the same for the cabin design. Not enough closet space for more than a 7 day cruise. Heaven forbid a world cruise. Tiny bath room and very narrow room. The HAL old Zaadam is much bigger for an inside cabin. And how does one sit on the sofa and watch the Telly?

Every cruise line has gone into up-sell and a million other ways to relieve the guest of additional coin. Pretty soon it will be "up grade from our standard horse hair pillows to something better for only $2 a day and so on. Not a great look but as long as the sailing public plays into the game it will continue to get worse.

Those photos are rather misleading as they look terrific for one or two people. However, that offering is for an entire table of 8 people. Everyone gets one finger sandwich and one sweet unless you are fortunate to drag a passing waitstaff member over and ask for additional items. Very far from any decent land based tea room and not even on the same planet as the Cunard aftenoon tea.

That is an asumption but not always a reality. On a January Zaandam cruise I could not find anything of interest on the regular menu and asked about the alternative items and chose salmon. Only to be told after about ten minutes that they did not have salmon available. Turns out they offered salmon on the regular menu the next evening and when queried about the lack of it on the aleternitive menu, the Maitr'd said it was frozen and they did not wish to thaw an entire salmon one day before they would be featuring it just for a single request.

Do keep in mind that if you wish to dine with a non-Grill Passenge or two or more you will have to dine in their assigned dining room as the lower cabins are not allowed to dine above the salt.

Did 30 days on the Zaadam in January and no one smelled bad nor were embaressingly poorly dress (JC Penny level on the FL to CA leg and Macy quality on the return trip)but the ship has certainly sailed on any thought of a dressy evening. One tux on each of two segments and besides myself very very few jackets on any evening (I alwayswear a blazer and fine slacks and shirts when dining in a linen table cloth establishment as it, to my thought, shows respect for the establishment's attempt at offering something better than cafeteria chow.

This is just part of HAL's long (or short) term plan to pushas many people to the lido or the extra charge restaurants for all meals. Shortly in my opnion they will liminate assigned dinner times entirely and thus be able to colse the upper dining rooms on many ships. The lidocost way less to operate than a fine dining room and from the comments on thisthread is would appear that most people would not miss a fine free dining expeience.

I would imaagine that some of the wait staff might try to accomodate but the arrival of the cocktail might be well after tea has left the Queens Room. First the waiter would have to recweive permission from his supervisor to leave the room and ry to find the nearest bar that is open at 3 pm, then wait for the surprise request and find their way back to the Queen's room. Best skip it.

Sailed 30 days on the Zaadam and asked for a sharing table and was assigned to one for each segment but on one leg only a fine couple from Canada showed up on the other leg no one showed for the saaring table even though the Maitr'd assured me that I would have a full table of lively people. So I got a single for the second 15 days and enjoyed my own company. Terrific service I might add. My observation is that people are more and more traveling as couples that are loath to share with strangers or in gangs of 6 - 10 and do not care to incluse an outsider. Also many of the assigned large tables are reserved by groups tat use them only on Dressy night or for a special occasion the rest of theime they are off at the income generating outlets or the cafeteria. This leaves the dining rooms lacking in ambiance and vitality and is hard on the staff as they never really know who is coming and when. Yes to answer your other question, thee is one solo single meet and greet on sail away at 6:30 pm. After that you are your own. Ladies will have a better time of it than gentlemen.