siforest65

If memory serves me correctly most cocktails fall below the $12 level. My wife enjoys trying cocktails and we paid as we went last November and are thinking of buying the package for our April cruise. It doesn’t help that Cunard have removed the prices on their on line menus.

I watched the MSC Bellissima programme last night. Very interesting and didn’t realise MSC invented stabilisers. 

Thanks for the heads up. Just watched on iPlayer and it was an excellent view.

We always are on the late dinner sitting and enjoy sitting in one of the bars at about 7pm for a pre dinner drink in the lovely calm atmosphere while the ship seems very empty.

The Yacht club at night is where you will find most of the younger clientele gather, especially on the first few nights. Our kids in their early 20’s enjoyed it in there. Is the Fjords one you are looking at a 7 day one? If so there are only 2 sea days and they can be spent enjoying the ambience and exploring the ship. 

On 12/10/2019 at 10:18 AM, exlondoner said:

 

Goodness, I should have thought the one time one really needed a jacket was for arrival at Southampton. Even in midsummer it always seems chilly. In fact, I usually take my mac, even on Med. cruises, just to be prepared for 8am Southampton. 😀

when we got off our recent Canary island cruise in Southampton, an suit jacket or blazer would have been as useful as a chocolate fireguard. A full rain proof and insulated jacket was required 🙂

I didn’t post on your trip thread but did read it. Thoroughly enjoyable read in my opinion, thank you.

I’m a relative newbie to Cunard having only done 4 cruises. Tbh I don’t find putting a jacket on a great hardship. I have come across people that have consciously avoided the MDR most nights and even with the no jacket rule I believe still would not want to conform (non collared shirts, jeans etc). The only time I find the jacket a pain is on the last night and planning packing/getting luggage picked up from outside the room etc.

On 11/25/2019 at 9:41 PM, Cosmic Rays said:

 

What was the problem - we are due to sail in a fortnight, also to the Canaries.........

If it’s any comfort, we were on this cruise and overall had a great time. Missing Lisbon wasn’t ideal but can understand the reasoning.

Would we do the same cruise at the same time of year again? Definitely.

Regarding roughness of the crossing, the crew we spoke to said the preceding cruise (Western Med) returning across the Bay of Biscay was rougher than our experience.

My experience is that if they aren’t in the wardrobe, if you mention it to the stateroom steward then they will gladly get them for you.

38 minutes ago, Tangoqueen said:

Si, a few gripes we heard included lack of updates re delay departing Lanzarote and subsequently missing Lisbon.  Shortage of sea sickness tablets.  Poor quality lectures during the day.  Variety of evening entertainment in the theatre (not helped possibly by inability to bring new acts on at Lisbon).

 

I think with the added sea day and unfortunate sea conditions (although it is November so have to be prepared) guests were getting a bit fed up and I did hear several saying they wouldn’t do that cruise again at that time of year.  Needless to say we are going to book again for next year any day now.

that makes a lot of sense tbh. We only did a couple of theatre visits. Thought the comedian was good. The cruise seemed to have a big highlight at the end with the vocal quartet in the Queens Room,  shame about the early get up the next day. My mum is a diamond level member and messaged me to say we’d done something she hadn’t, namely 4 successive sea days. We enjoyed the relaxing and de-stress after a tough few months at work. 

Our only gripe was a food issue where my wife couldn’t eat her entree one night and Cunard showed a bit of a weak underbelly in trying to correct it but that’s life.
 

Would definitely do that cruise again.

edited to add that thankfully neither of us got seasick 

21 hours ago, Tangoqueen said:

There were quite a lot of unhappy people on the latest Canaries cruise so perhaps they don’t want negative reviews.

Out of curiosity what do you think most people’s gripes were about? My guess is late departure from Lanzarote with an overnight silence, missing Lisbon and the rough days. 
 

I think missing Lisbon was a blow but guess the Captain wanted the extra time to go deeper into the Bay to avoid the worst of the storm. 
 

On the Thursday evening we got talking to another couple who were also in the Yacht club and we had to leave because it was very rough up there especially on a slippy dance floor. Anyway the guy reckoned that the stabilisers weren’t deployed to save fuel. 
 

I've been unlucky on my last 2 cruises, the previous one was to Guernsey in August and we had to go to Le Havre on that occasion due to the weather.

I got a questionnaire and tended to be sympathetic in my replies because I feel I have to put total faith in the Captain.

We didn’t get the Voyage summary but did receive the signed menus and an email questionnaire which I’ve completed.

14 minutes ago, lissie said:

I've competed in ballroom dancing for 20 odd years. The pro is incredibly ignorant to imply anyone can waltz - its one of the hardest dances to do well - if they said that about sequence or rhythm foxtrot I'd agree - but not waltz 

I’ve concluded that the wonderful Cunard ballrooms are like Wembley to me. Will always watch and can’t set foot onto the hallowed turf. Yacht club is more my standard 😉

I do love those ballrooms though and hope the fourth Queen embraces their designs.

Got off the ship yesterday and missing it already. Some random ramblings.

Our 4th Cunard cruise with this being the longest cruise having done a Fjords 7 nighter plus two very short cruises previously.

Cunard are excellent and 99.9% of the time they get things right. However when they get it wrong they do seem to struggle in the service recovery department.

We have just turned 50 so probably in the lower end of the age range. Love the old school attitude on there. Held the lift doors open countless times and received thanks. Small thing but it gives a good atmosphere.

Found the Queens Room floor quite intimidating for the ballroom events. Me and the wife have had lessons previously but I literally do have 2 left feet. Did the waltz lesson on the first sea day and we struggled so never retuned. My wife had a chat with the dance pros and they said their 5 year old kids could master that dance. 

The party nights in the Queens Room were brilliant especially on the last evening. No inhibitions about dancing then. Cunard do last nights well but I wish they would do that more. Probably a bit controversial because their ballroom ambience does set them apart from the rest.

If you go onboard with an open mind and chat to everyone who is prepared to engage, then you can meet some people with wonderful cruise experience not just of Cunard but other cruise lines.

Loved the pre dinner ambience in the various bars throughout the ship. We were on later sitting and it worked for us.

Already looking forward to getting back on board next April.

Thanks for reading these random thoughts.

Anyone know how QV is? All sites I’ve checked show her still in Southampton but was scheduled to leave 3 hours ago.

28 minutes ago, cook68 said:

We were on deck 5 right at the front and my god did we feel it. Never slept a wink the first night or the 14th due to the noise of the ship crashing back into the water.  I am also sure the waves reached into deck 4 as we were getting a lot of spray as high as our balcony. I have read somewhere else that a deck 4 cabin had we carpet! I was not worried as such but the poor lady next door to us slept with her life jacket by the bed she was so frightened we were going to tip over. The Captain said we had been in a nine meter swell. We were also sailing in a severe weather category which did hit hurricane level wind speed one point. We were also right at the back of Britannia dining room and the Thursday night was hilarious watching everyone clutching tables and catching glasses. The poor staff I have no idea how they did it keeping everything running as well as they did. Hats of to them. I had to apologies as I carried my shoes in and out of the dining room and walked in barefoot. It was that or crawl on hands and knees if I was meant to keep them on! 
We are all currently feeling quiet dizzy and feel queasy. I think it is going to take a few days to get our sea legs back. All the staff we spoke to said this was the worst they had seen and seasoned passengers  said the same. A 50th birthday my hubby will never forget. 

a very informative post . Luckily for us, midship was far more comfortable during the night although the roll

was a bit unnerving and has reinforced to me why we pick a cabin and say no to upgrade. We did sit in the theatre for the movie on the Wednesday and Thursday and it was pretty noisy and a lot of pitching in there, in fact on one day we left.  That dining on the Thursday evening was interesting and we were not too far back in the Britannia so again didn’t get the extreme motion you experienced.

3 minutes ago, Ynox said:

Yep. The sommelier seemed pretty annoyed. My table was right at the back of Britannia so we had plenty of movement. Excluding weather it was a great trip however.

 

Back on the QV in May for the Norway trip so hopefully the seas will be better then. 

It was a great cruise I thought. We are back on the QV in April for the Atlantic adventure so get to do Biscay again. Hopefully this time we will make Lisbon.

1 hour ago, cook68 said:

On our way home after disembarking QV That was one hell of a ride home, will fill in details later but suffice to say all on board quoted the worst sailing ever! nothing quit like hanging on to your dining table while the glasses slide. Then literally rolling around all night in your bed. 

we were speaking to a group  very late last  night after the brilliant evening and they were at the front of the ship and said it was horrendous. We were midship and the pitching wasn’t too bad but the ship rolled enough to cause stuff to be thrown to the floor from the bedside tables.

yes, it was hang onto your wine on Thursday evening in the Britannia.

Personally I suspect there is a bigger picture that will be revealed tomorrow. The winds seem to have eased off here in Lanzarote. All I ask is if Lisbon is dropped, please not Le Havre. We ended up there during the summer when our Guernsey one got diverted due to weather and I couldn’t stomach that on a cold November day.

edited to add that I wonder if this is anything to do with it

24 minutes ago, Ynox said:

Also on the QV here. Decent trip if a little miserable earlier in the trip.

Not looking forward to the return journey if we're looking at nearly 10 metre waves...

 

We are still in Lanzarote. We were supposed to depart at 5 or so. Will be annoyed if we miss Lisbon but it's life (and I've done it a load of times before).

 

Kind of wish I was on the qm2 here...

In the Yacht club at moment and no sign of any movement of the ship. Never been to Lisbon but due to go in April on the Atlantic Adventure.

Sat on the QV stuck in Lanzarote due to the wind but really enjoying reading your updates.

5 hours ago, cook68 said:

I am currently on board QV and looking at the forecast it is set to be even worse coming home than it was on the 3rd Nov. It was quiet bad for 2 days getting across the Solent and Bay of Biscay with people saying it had not been this bad before. For so long  I know it can change but 9,8 meter waives is not something I am looking forward to in any shape or form.  PS currently so windy in Lanzarote we’re  waiting a extra  hour before we sail away

We are also on the QV waiting in Lanzarote. Didn’t find the journey down too bad tbh but the crew told us the journey back up before we boarded was very rough. Wondering if we will make Lisbon though. Guess we just have to put our faith in the Captain.

Currently on QV in the Canaries and finding Cunard very relaxed with bringing on drinks for cabin. Brought on a couple of bottles of Madeira in Funchal and a bottle of coke (€1 for a litre as opposed to $4 for 1/3rd of a litre in cabin minibar) and they didn’t bat an eyelid.

I must admit, it’s not a brilliant taste but reminds me I’m just about to sail on a brilliant cruise. Be nice if they did change it though.