Shuffleboard Dude
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Posts posted by Shuffleboard Dude
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Booze - Booze - glorious Booooze!
In reality I spend it on gratuities, as most of the people in Britannia Cabins do.
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I just had a look at a bottle of paint stripper I obtained in spring. It states "Produced in France by CFGV 67160 Wissembourg/France". Have a look at their Website http://www.caves-wissembourg.com if you like. One of their Blanc de Blancs would set you back about € 2.20.
By the way, Alsace is known for having the largest wine cellars in Europe - outside the Republic of Moldova. Having tasted Alsatian wine, I started to understand why Alsace is home to 75% of France's breweries. ;)
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Please take no offense, but there are Users in this very forum who get 1500 emails during a holiday (See:https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2642318). Just imagine how many emails the average CEO gets per day and how long it would take to personally answer them.
Unless it includes a problem that does not involve any criminal offense or presents serious threat to Cunard's reputation, I doubt your message will get any attention from the Head Honcho. It will be dealt with by Minions anyway (yes I do mean the yellow ones!).
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I am curious about this comment. With the new bar prices and measurements, I had a choice of one or two ounces of gin and the tonic was presented separately (as it should be) so I could make the drink to my liking. Perhaps the new mixed cocktails were watered down, but they didn't appear to be to me. The prices are indeed steep, especially for those of us who settle the credit card bill in a currency other than the U.S. $.
I can not agree on drinks being watered down. Au contraire, the 2.5oz Gin Martinis they do in the new Midships Bar will truly clean your clock, be it the metaphorical or the literal one.
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Excursions desk, first sea day. I got there at 8 (desk opened at 9) and was first in line, by 8:30 there were about 25 people behind me.
You fill out a form and get a letter a few days later if you were selected. Not every9ne can get in as it’s slot controlled but they did two tours on our trip (much to the staff’s chagrin).
I’ll be honest - the tour was inferior to what HAL offers on its larger ships.
Interesting, I nearly did the overnight camping (at least it felt like it) and turned up at 8:15. I was a lonely man until 9:00. Nobody else (in numbers: 0) turned up to make a reservation for the tour even at this time.
Did you queue when the tour was still advertised in the Daily Programme?
IMHO, they charge you exactly the expenses you cause in employees wages, drinks and souvenirs. Extra security staff and a photographer will accompany you on the entire tour, which lasts 3-4 hrs. Think of it as an excursion within the ship, not as a freebie.
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The Back of the House Tour tickets are sold at the Excursion Desk. I recommend to do some overnight camping in front of it. ;p
Seriously: Do check back with the Purser's Desk if this is different on TA runs and be there when the Excursion Desk opens in the morning.
The tour is $120 p.p. but you will get a glass of Champagne (not just the cheap paint stripper) and your photo taken with the Captain. The MDR kitchen also gave us a nice black apron, but I don't know if this is still the case.
Also, you can annoy the Captain, his Deputy, the Chief and a the rest of the top brass with stupid passenger questions. A truly priceless opportunity.
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Shuffleboard Dude, the problem is that we are not in Flam for very long, and people on the cruise tours take precedence on the train, so by the time we would get to the head of the queue, we would probably not have time for the trip. Those on ship excursions are guaranteed to be back on the ship by sailing time, although normally we would organise such trips on our own.
It's now over 20 years since I've been to Flåm and some of my information may be outdated, but this is still a regular train and part of the Norwegian public transport network. I guess that you are there on 21/6 and the website shows all trains as sold out. Every train that goes up also comes back down, as the Flåmsbana does not belong to NSB. The timetable looks like the train does a 15 min stopover in Myrdal and then travels back down.
You can still buy single tickets online at 390 NOK per leg & person from the Norwegian State Railways. The 12:20 departure should be available in both directions and bring you back to port at 14:25.
If all fails, travel on the Oslo to Bergen railway next year and do a sidetrip to Flåm. From Bergen you could then go up all the way to Kirkenes by Hurtigruten. They have a wonderful ship from the sixties named Lofoten and 13 modern ones. The Man in Seat 61 has some recommendations https://www.seat61.com/Norway.htm
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Maybe I'm too young to understand but: isn't getting away from the Internet exactly the point why one roams the Seven Seas?
I'd rather have other freebies than Internet access.
Nice font, by the way.
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Occasionally there has been waiter service in the theatre, but only before performances. The Midships bar is a place you wouldn't meet me, whilst I'm perfectly happy one deck below at the Chart Room. The Lido, however, has indeed some issues with clean tables at rush hour.
About the MDR: Provisions and cuisine are adjusted to the tastes of the passengers' nationality. That means, if they run a TA to Southampton they stock for Brits and Americans. But if they go to Hamburg and have a famous German artist on board, they will face a totally different demand. In other words: On one run the ship might be all British, on the next one all German. This also affects the bars. On one run the consumption gin by the guests equals the consumption of MDO by the engines, whilst on another a single bottle of Gordon's will cover all needs.
So whenever there's a difference between forecasted demand and reality, they have to adapt. Whether this task is passed on to the waiters or done by adjusting the menu, is out of my knowledge.
That said: Yes the atmosphere onboard a Cunard ship is traditional, although they have modernized greatly in comparison to the RMS St. Helena, which was the last functioning, true passenger ship. But I do like it this way and the quiet ship in the evening is one of the reasons why I keep traveling with them.
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The railway station in Flåm is right next to the pier. There is even a small railway museum.
The Flåmsbana is a regular passenger railway that connects the port to the Oslo - Bergen railway up at Myrdal. So just go there, get a ticket (NOK 550) and hop on.
https://www.visitflam.com/en/flamsbana/
I don't really see why you would need an organized tour for that. Does the tour offer any extras?
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As a barely (like four months) former J.A.P. (Jr. Asst.Purser), I am always amused at the consistent Ice Goddess personality profile that today's "hotel managers", or whatever they call Pursers now, must possess before they are hired. And not just Carnival Group, either. As long as you know you will never win an argument or crack a smile, you can survive your trip to the Bureau although often you leave wondering why you bothered. We had much more fun aboard R.M.S. ST. HELENA than these automatons.
The old 1959-built ROTTERDAM had the best solution to pesky passengers at the Bureau: the little brass sign screwed to the bulkhead "Ship Fully Booked No Accommodation Changes Available". Now, who is going to argue with that?
Absolutely nothing compares to the venerable, late RMS. The people in the Bureau weren't just mere figureheads like on the big corporate vessels, they actually ran the ship. There is a reason why one of the Pursers is now the manager of the new hotel in Jamestown.
Not to mention, that you were actually shaking the captain's hand when being greeted at the Captain's Cocktails and have a proper G&T with navy strength Plymouth Gin afterwards.
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I agree, renting a car in Tallinn is pretty pointless. Also, public transport in Helsinki is excellent, with trams going pretty much everywhere directly from the harbour. For Copenhagen I'd actually recommend renting bikes, this place is the cycling capital of the world. In Stockholm the old town is on an island - not much use for a car there. For getting to places like the Skansen or the television tower, I recommend a taxi.
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About preordering drinks. Only some of the bottles can be pre-ordered. The QM2 has the largest wine cellar (or wine cargo hold) at sea. So I would recommend to have a look at the entire wine list before ordering something from the Voyage Personalizer.
https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/QM2_Wine_list.pdf
The Grills area is not as secluded as on the other ships. You will be able to walk past the Grills Sundeck on Deck 9 - there is no difference to the regular Sundecks. Also you can have a look at the Grills restaurants from the Promenade Deck on Deck 7.
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I'd recommend you to do self help disembarkation. Then you can leave as early or late as you want. You will, however, have to vacate your suite by a specified time.
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Whohoo! Cheers!
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If you think the Savoy is pricy, try Artesian at the Langham. They have won the title of "Best Cocktail Bar in the World" for the last several years at the Tales of the Cocktail competition in New Orleans. The drinks are delicious, the presentation is inventive, and the costs are a lot higher than the QM2. Tried it once. The cocktail was amazing. But I will only go back if you (or someone else) is treating. Any takers?? I'll be in London this July.
Thanks. This seems to be a good place to perform a little bit of industrial espionage.
That said: I'm not in the hospitality industry, but I do take some pride in offering proper drinks to my guests at home.
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Evidently this geoblocking nonsense is still going on - despite complaints to Mr. Struthers.
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I am a humble inside cabin dweller, and a Sazerac for £5000 at the Savoy is way out of my budget.
That said, I do find that the bars on the QM2 are among the best ones I regularly visit. Also, I think their prices are moderate for what they offer. The Commodore Club Menu got a refit in 2016, the Chart Room Menu somewhen in 2017. For drinks and prices see the links below.
My personal favourites in the CC are the Punch Romaine à la Carpathia (aka Lemon Meringue Pie) & the Chieftain of the Clan, both are after dinner drinks. From the new Chart Room Menu I tried only the Stout Independence and the Conqueror, both of which I found to be interesting creations.
For some reason I don't drink Martinis too often on board, I suspect that the Vermouth they use is just a regular supermarket brand. If you happen to order the Land of Hop and Glory in the CC: Beer foam seems to be difficult to produce - you might want to ask first whether they can do it with foam or not.
https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/life-on-board/drink_cost
They posted videos about the CC drinks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreCunard/videos
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It's probably worth mentioning that there will be passengers only going to and from Hamburg on the QV. The run to Hamburg is the start of QVs World Cruise and the ship is just going there to serve the German market. This stopover won't result in a hun invasion, however.
The QV is a good ship in general, but she has one major downpoint: she's not the QM2.
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You do an around the world trip with carry-ons? How many days do you have for this in total?
My answers in the same order as your questions:
*Yes you will need a suit/dress - you can bring a dark suit and one single dress and wear it for seven nights straight, but you will need one.
* No, you will not be bored. See here for daily programmes: http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-dailyprograms.html
*Sheltered balconies aren't close to the water line, in fact they are one deck higher (Deck 4) than the boat deck (Deck 3) of a regular cruise ship. I would go for an inside cabin on Deck 6, midships, but that's just my personal preference. QM2 has a wonderful Promenade Deck on Deck 7 (i.e. the liner's boat deck) with proper wooden deck chairs and the King's Court for tea nearby.
*That would be me and Mrs. Shuffleboard. An ocean view cabin is also a good option. Note that insides don't have a couch and a smaller TV. But on a seven day run I hardly ever feel like watching TV. If you go for an inside, I would set aside a bit of money for extras like a spa pass or a few drinks at the Commodore Club (they come with a view!).
That said: Do not expect a cruise ship, QM2 is a liner and the North Atlantic can be a stormy and/or rainy place. There are no waterslides, no ziplines and there is certainly no bleedin' ice rink! There are, however, nice traditional things like shuffleboard, excellent bars, afternoon tea and excellent lectures. All in all it is a proper ship that will carry you to your destination in a safe and comfortable way.
If you go through to Amsterdam, I'd recommend you to take the Stena Line ferry from Harwich to Hoek van Holland, it's the largest ferry in the world. Also do visit the most venerable SS Rotterdam in Rotterdam. They named an entire city after this fabulous ship!
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If you are from Poundland then the drinks may seem overpriced. This is because of the current GBP/USD exchange rate.
If you are from Dollartown, however, the prices are not much higher than they were a few years ago. In my opinion the bars offer a good value. The cheapest wines in the MDR are overpriced ($30 for a Mateus!), the slightly pricier ones offer better value. The wine list is extensive and I'd recommend you to order a wine you can't get at home. They have wines from India, Brazil or even the UK.
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This may be off-topic, but I'm thinking of going the other way and travel with HAL for once.
So after seeing the QM2, can you recommend you a particular HAL ship that fits the tastes of a fan of the QM2?
I'm looking for a proper, well designed ship which offers excellent shuffleboard, reliable afternoon tea, good lectures and a decent bar. A well stocked library is also appreciated.
QM2 Deck Plan
in Cunard Line
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If you choose a cabin, make sure it is starbord (right) side. This side will be the sunny side on an eastbound NYC to SOU run.
On a westbound trip, it's port side you should choose.
If you live in California, consider going to New York by train. It's nice and relaxing. Also, the luggage limit on Amtrak is about 5 suitcases per person. Personally I tend to fly out and return overland or by ship. This way I don't need to worry about luggage limits.