Bennybluehat

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

I don't see the point in it really, but I am partial to a shandy bass...

I will have a cup of tea with you instead.

Andy

Preferably with finger sandwiches & cream scones somewhere at sea! 

8 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

That is a surprise...

If it is non alcohol, surely that just makes it grape juice.

But I bow to your greater knowledge.

Andy

Seems crazy doesn’t it?! Any drink with more than 0.5% ABV is classed as alcoholic, but I think it would take a vast amount to get you merry. Personally I would rather have a cup of char instead!

4 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

I guess this would be classed as a soft drink, so she could take as much on board as she wanted for cabin/balcony consumption?

I know it's not the same, but might be better than just water.

She could probably drink it in the restaurant for the corkage fee?

Andy

 

 

I think it would be best to contact P&O about their non/low alcohol policy regarding taking it onboard. I work in the wine industry and it has the same rules and regulations as full alcoholic wine surprisingly enough.

4 hours ago, Clodia said:

I was on Aurora last month and found that shows and entertainment now reach as far as the 80s!

They are pretty accurate on 60s and 80s, but I don't know where they were in the 70s. I was 14 in 1970. P and O's 1970s and mine are 2 different universes!

The 80s will do me just fine!

3 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

Surprisingly, the entertainment was fantastic, something for everyone.

The headliners destination dance was really good plus their Queen tribute. They also did songs from the shows which was not for us.

We saw a good comedian, Phil Melbourne twice, both different shows and very funny.

Soul Kinda Wonderful were brilliant as were the Base Tones.

There was plenty going on for the 'oldies', classical concerts etc, but plenty of options if not your thing.

The only real disappointment was the house band, boy can they kill a tune.

Timings of shows was an issue and some of the entertainment team didn't seem that interested. The DJ was reading her kindle and sighed every time someone made a request.

Overall, much better than our last cruise on Aurora in December.

In addition, forget the horror stories about it being full of oldies now adults only. I know this was only 7 nights and it will differ on longer cruises, but there was a very good mix of ages. The eight on our dining table were 45/55 and there were plenty of other similar.

Quite a few younger and plenty older, but definitely not overrun.

There was a great vibe on the ship.

Andy

 

I’m glad to hear there’s a good mix of ages onboard & that there are things in place to entertain us 40 somethings! Fingers crossed it stays like that for our next cruise. We seen the Queen tribute onboard Indy & thoroughly enjoyed them. I always liked the atmosphere on Aurora & was concerned that would change. Thanks for putting my mind at ease. Won’t bother taking the travel scrabble now!!

Sorry to drag you away from the washing! We are back on Aurora in November & have cruised on her twice as a family ship which we enjoyed. We also cruised on Oriana which was adults only as Aurora is now. On Oriana we found the entertainment was only orientated towards the very senior cruisers, nothing more up to date than the 60s. Did you find this was the case on your cruise or have they kept it a little more up to date like Aurora used to be?

16 hours ago, wowzz said:

Without being rude,  I can't see the rationale in  replying to a post that is almost  a month old.

  Just replying to old posts is like picking at a scab - there is no point to it.

Sorry i didn’t know there was a time limit on replying to posts??

On 6/9/2019 at 7:32 PM, majortom10 said:

We will also be on the QM2 on our roundtrip TA let us hope that Cunard plan something as a remembrance to those that fought and gave their lives for the better for the rest of us.

I really hope so too and I can’t imagine Cunard would ignore it. We are doing the BTB also. The return journey could prove to be interesting having the Olivier Awards onboard. 

Not sure if anyone else has seen the news that the May Day Bank holiday in 2020 has been put back from the Monday to the Friday to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day so the whole on the British Isles can celebrate. We will be onboard QM2 on route to New York that day so does anyone think or know if Cunard will be doing something onboard to honour VE Day  aswell?

Found a couple of my food pictures, the 1st is of the desserts in the buffet & the 2nd is of the fish & chips in the Golden Lion. The pub lunches are delicious but you need to get in there either early or near the end of the serving time to get a table.

I can safely say I didn’t have a single bad or even mediocre meal onboard QM2. All the food was lovely & the meals, especially desserts, in the main dining room were scrummy! The only niggle I have, & its not unique to Cunard its been the same on every ship I have been on, is the complimentary coffee is always average at best. The service was also fantastic. Wish I was onboard right now 🍰🍨🍮

The coffee sold onboard isn’t as good as going to a Costa cafe but it’s a lot better than the other coffee served that is complimentary, I always take my own with me. As regarding the cakes you must have the Victoria sandwich if it’s available, it is worth buying the coffee for on its own. I think that’s why I always return a good few pound heavier than when I arrived!

1 hour ago, Monorail Orange said:

Well far as I know it is true. I'll be disappointed it its a typo in the brochure! 😄

 

Its a fun decade for the Ents. Department to work with. Plenty of options for dancing and other things, such as quizzes. (Wouldn't it be great to see a P&O version of Blockbusters?)

 

And hey, I wouldn't mind a 'Thirties Nite' either....

Get yourself on Oriana, every night & day is a thirties experience - 1830s 😪

Please let this be true! After having been on P&O ships where the most recent entertainment reached the 1960s this would be fantastic. On an Aurora cruise we suggested 80s music be played in one of the lounges which up until that point had no takers on the dance floor at all. As soon as Relax by FGTH came on, the dance floor was heaving & the lounge, for once, was buzzing! Not everyone onboard, including the more senior passengers, wants to be stuck back on in the 1930s!

10 minutes ago, FiftyOnePlus said:

 

Totally untrue.

We were recently on Oriana 28 transatlantic and there was a fantastic mix of ages, from 18 year old right up to a lady of 103 that I spoke to.

Myself, my partner, and large groups of friends are nowhere near our 60s!  LOL

How can you say that my experience was totally untrue? Unless you were onboard the same cruise that I was you wouldn’t know. You had a different experience to me but you were obviously weren’t on the ship the same time I was. 

10 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

On a recent Caribbean lunch we had the entertainment manager as our table host, and it was interesting to here him explain how they always try to tailor the entertainment to the age profile on each cruise, quite often suggesting changes that the guest artists might wish to consider based on the age spread.

So I can only assume that on your cruise you were very much in the minority, or the Ent Man. was not doing their job well.

We were very much the minority & it can’t have been a one off for Oriana because on a following cruise on Azura another comedian, Mike Doyle, described Oriana exactly the way had experienced it. This is why I worry that Aurora will now be the new Oriana.

I’m in my 40s and when you have been on an adult only ship and the comedian says to you his act must have been like a history lesson to you, I think that sums up what age group the entertainment was aimed at! Even an occasional break into 70s music would have been refreshing but there was nothing at all to entertain 40 somethings let alone anyone younger. I don’t want screaming kids or rowdy teens roaming around but having some well behaved youngsters would have been like a breath of fresh air. It was actually quite depressing.

I liked Oriana as a ship, what I didn’t like was that it was an “adults only” ship which in reality means adults over the age of 65. Fine, if the most modern music you like is  from the 50s and you enjoy listening to people snore whilst in the theatre. I’ve had many cruises on Aurora which always had a good mix of ages, now I fear the worst.

We had quite a serious issue with P & O which was dealt with swiftly and had an outcome that was satisfactory. We could have pressed to try and get more from them but a large financial settlement wouldn’t have solved this particular problem. I found their customer service adequate, not brilliant but not rubbish either.  It certainly hasn’t put me off using P&O in future. I’m not commenting on the specific case of the original thread but I think the likes of a P&O will have many customers who will never be satisfied with the outcome of a complaint whatever it might be.

26 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

docco

 

I think you would be surprised how many people in this category do complain, they just do it quietly and privately, and probably get a better resolution by doing so!

 

 

Absolutely correct. I work closely with customer services and those who are amicable, pacient and respectful do get better results than those who scream the loudest and cause the biggest fuss. I can catogorically say that people in the UK do complain but it’s how they go about it that causes the issues and believe me some of the complaints received are trivial to say the least. Companies must deal with genuine issues and should respond accordingly but I’m afraid lots of people cause much ado about nothing expecting to be given vast amounts of compensation. The few spoil it for the many.

27 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

 

We are booked on roundtrip TA leaving 6th May from Southampton and we booked it last October while on roundtrip TA and even though we are in an inside cabin there wasnt a lot of availability then.

We did the round trip last October aswell, was it the one with Anthony Inglis and the National symphonic orchestra? We had a brilliant time, our first time with Cunard and decided we would have to return sooner rather than later!

Sorry, yes it’s a round trip in May next year. We have had to take an obstructed balcony ( and it is very obstructed ) as it was the only cabin left in a good mid ship position.

Just wondering why Cunard only have a few cabins to choose from when you do the BTB transatlantic run on QM2? We recently booked a cabin we wouldnt have normally chosen because there were very few cabins left to pick from. I checked the cabins that were available if we did the same voyage in either one direction or the other and suddenly a lot more cabins became available. Feeling a bit cheated! 

Last week we booked the BTB transatlantic for spring next year & had to do so fast because there were hardly any cabins left, the only 1 that was vacant that was in a good position was on deck 8 with a view of the side of a lifeboat, basically it was that or nothing! We even rang Cunard who said people have been booking like crazy. Today I received an email advertising double onboard credit & 5% off. We couldn’t have waited any longer for a good deal because we wouldn’t have got a cabin. Makes me feel a bit bitter!

Regarding my previous post I have now spoken to Cunard & they told me that there are very few cabins left on that particular cruise as they have nearly sold out completely. So I have had to compromise on the cabin but at least we didn’t miss out altogether. I guess the moral of the story is to book as soon as the cruise is available if it is possible to do so!