buchanan101

20 hours ago, King Amo said:

I'm from the UK, so it may be different, but certainly paid my TA, not Cunard.

Agree - in UK I pay TA (who don't even take Amex). I can't get ,my Amex points or Avios that way, but a 5% discount is worth more. I can't see how legally they could use my card details to pay Cunard direct

32 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

 

Unfortunately, even on a Westbound with 25 hours in a day, there's still not enough time to participate in all the activities/lectures/concerts/shows/classes etc. etc.

The 25 hours also allows more food to be consumed... trying to fit 3 or 4 meals in to a 23 hours day must be tricky

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

One thing, though: if they are aiming at a younger demographic (is that the term?), it is not the case on this cruise that probably has more elderly and decrepit passengers than any I have ever been on. It makes me feel quite young again. 😀

Don't know - maybe one would think they are after a younger demographic, but do you *have* to be younger to appreciate a more modern design? Design is design...

14 hours ago, ScottC4746 said:

We have talked about doing a Cunard (C) cruise but I have hesitation.  First I have severe social anxiety to the point I signed up for a support group and never attended because of it.  If you don't suffer from it it can be debilitating, if you do, you will understand.

DH and I are very blue collar, but we strive very much when in public not to put on airs, but to follow the rules of etiquette to a T.

One thing I am concerned about, besides not having fancy enough clothes, is the restaurant situation.  While we would live to be in a Queen's Grill Suite, we could only barely afford Britania.  Does this mean Britania is one step above the buffet, which photos look like is nothing to sneeze at either.

What about the public spaces and lounges?  If they do the dining rooms this way do they do the same with the rest of the ship.  I picture Titanic less the icebergs and sinking.

I have friends in Houston that rave over C, but because of what I pointed out I am hesitant.

The QM2 outside the restaurants has virtually no distinction by cabin class. Grills get a rather ordinary lounge and a small dark (interior) concierge room and a smallish deck area - and priority embarkation and disembarkation. Everything else is open to everyone and you cannot tell who is travelling in what cabin.

Clothes - don't have to be fancy, just smart enough - there are endless arguments on here about what the dress code actually says, but on board no one really cares that much - sounds like you won't be trying to dine in jeans anyway, so you'd be fine. You may think QM2 is a modern day class ridden Titanic but in reality it is nothing like that

16 hours ago, Poole Boy said:

I was on the maiden, and yes there were some issues with slow service, these were acknowledged and quickly addressed. QA is the first new ship in almost 15 years so she is not going to be anything like the others is the same way QM2 was nothing like QE2.

 

My impression was on the whole positive, so much so I booked 3 segments of the WC next year.  Many of the negative reviews have been based on Service, and subjective comments on Food Quality and portion size, for me the food quality was good and the portion size adequate ( you can always get more if you want more). QA is not trying to copy the other 3 queens and should not be criticised for that. For me the essence of a Cunard cruise is still there, yes some aspects of QA are new and some are familiar. All I would say is give her a chance, if you have a cruise booked, take it, go with an open mind, you may be plesantley surprised.

 

 

I'm very happy that portion sizes aren't that big. with 3 (or 4 meals, including tea) I want tasty food in smallish amounts.  As you say, you can always get more.

QA not copying the other Queens is a good thing for the company as it has added 45% more berths so needs to expand who it appeals to, though I hope that both QA and QM2 appeal to me.

Was a little tiresome to see comments on here complaining that it wasn't like other Queens, especially by one person who was criticising things.... then saying that they only ever go on QM2 on crossings. Why come here and comment in the first place...?

Just now, Selbourne said:

I’ve never been one of those who laps up positive reviews whilst discounting negative ones, but that’s hardly the most robust review! Give me a good balanced review any day.

Waiting for yours 😉

3 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

I found it too but it said cruise was British Isles 

Yes that is a bit suspicious. Could be simple finger trouble though…

7 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

I try to stay away from the review section as it can be scary but here you go -

Queen Anne Review

I did find it in the end. All the reports from the message boards seem to be good though. 

Just now, Victoria2 said:

The ship has a busy feel but as we have spent day time hours on decks 10&11, it’s difficult to quantify 'how busy'.

 

You won’t be disappointed with deck 11, and the hot tub situation ( can’t see the attraction myself) and yes, afternoon tea is served on deck.

Is the Grills deck area still unpoliced?

4 minutes ago, Pear Carr said:

Just read a very negative review on CC by someone who is currently on QA. I have mixed feelings about boarding in July but will try to go with an open mind and embrace the difference.  I hope some others from the maiden and current voyage will post reviews/impressions.

I've not seen anything but positive comments on the boards

I have no mixed feelings for June - looking forward very much to it

where are these reviews as there isn't any section for Queen Anne yet?

On 5/13/2024 at 6:39 PM, safarigal said:

We were at the sushi restaurant last night - fabulous food. We chose a la carte items, but they do also have a set menu ($65 each). We haven't been to the other 2.

Ah! That set menu must be the option I have with the Luxury Gift Package I bought - includes a meal at Sir Samuels or Aji Wa.

I think we'll go Aji Wa.

Given that the package was in a sale for ~$400, that's a third  back there!

8 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Had no idea about lift lobby colours so that’s interesting I guess as long as you remember if sky blue pink is aft and purple spotted carpets are forward etc. Takes me all day to remember what day it is and again, I’m guessing that’s  the sign of a relaxing holiday.

 

Spent a good few hours under the canopy in the Grills sun deck, deck 11. It’s a great space and far better than The Vistas so that’s a huge plus. Afternoon tea was served and a waiter continually patrolled the area to take orders from the bar. I will ask if he takes coffee orders ( free from deck 10 lounge) today.

How busy is the ship in general?

We are in PG next month - and the Grills Terrace was part of the attraction (and the infinity hot tubs). 

You can get afternoon tea on deck?!

On 5/14/2024 at 2:22 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

That must be the company line to avoid giving details. I had an issue with the buffet on QV last fall, and I wrote a note to the head of F&B. I ended on a positive note, saying that our table in Britannia was fantastic. 10 people from 5 countries, age range at least 30 years, many-time cruisers and first cruisers. On paper, we seemed to have little in common, but we gelled quickly and had a wonderful time together, becoming the rowdy table in the back of the Britannia restaurant, laughing all the time.

 

I asked how do they know what people to put together. She said "arranging tables is an art."

 

Suspecting mixing nationalities is part of it. Our very near neighbours in QM2 QG (effectively same table, but 30cm away) were British and Swiss. Got on better with the Swiss - there's more to talk about with different nationalities...

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm not rich enough for the Grills though.  Strictly down in the bilges for me!   

I don't know, with the money you are paying for a drinks package...

1 hour ago, wetterthanwater said:

Given the bathrooms are identical to those on the HA Pinnacle ships, they need to keep on top of the grouting on the plastic tiles. It looked awful on Koningsdam. 

From what I've seen on VLogs the tiles don't *look* plastic; many comments about the quality of tiles

22 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Yes, I took your comments onboard and bit the bullet, thank you!  I worked it out based on the costs of a couple of glasses of wine with lunch and dinner, an aperitif and a g&t or cocktail plus all my teas, coffees etc and came out just about equal once I took into account the 15%.  It came in around £800 for the two weeks. 

 

Incidentally P&O's classic (very restricted) package would cost me £560 on my next cruise with them and an upgrade to the deluxe would be another £120 or so.  The Cunard offering is far superior, no contest really.

One slight tweak to this is if you are travelling Grills tea and coffee are free in the Grills lounge (and Grills and BClub have reasonable pod coffee - Illy - in the rooms). And I believe you can get specialty coffees with any meal in any of the main restaurants (haven't tried but I think it was in a Gary Bembridge Vlog).

28 minutes ago, maggielou362 said:

@Surprise50th, you will NOT be disappointed with Cunard. Re the drinks package: we enjoyed a recent jaunt on QM2 and found the drinks package very suitable for our purposes. Our aim was not to save money, but more to fully enjoy our Cunard experience. I did not bother to do the arithmetic. For us, the prepaid drinks package was about relaxing. Tasting different cocktails (if you don't like it, no problem, just leave it and get another one!), having a fancy coffee or two, fresh smoothies or premium Fever-tree soft drinks and pretty much unlimited glasses of acceptable wine with meals. Then also knowing that we don't have to worry about another big bill at the end of our cruise and didn't need to cart bottles of wine on embarkation. Just my opinion. I hope you and your husband have an absolutely beautiful voyage, and happy half century to him.

I get that aspect...and the cocktail comment....so I thought let's go and look how much it costs for next month as i might be tempted

$1008 for the two of us for 7 days

Even though the $/£ rate has improved since the days of my last Cunard (just after Liz Truss did her stuff - which made NYC even more expensive than normal), it's still £800 so I think we'll do it piecemeal!

They don't have prices for the two wine collections online any more - 6 bottles of wine - I may ring up and find out what that costs!

Just now, Surprise50th said:

Thank you. We aren't huge drinkers but when we are on holiday we like a drink and they tend to be pricier drinks and a glass of wine with dinner. 

 

Thanks for the other info. 

You'd still need to do the maths - some of the pricier drinks I don't think are included (cocktails above a certain value). Still that's not the main decision you have to make!!

12 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Just so you are under no illusions Queen Anne will also have families onboard and has 3,000 passengers when full.  The only one of the three ships under discussion which will have large numbers of families will be Iona.  P&O do have adult only smaller ships but they do longer cruises.  

We are off at end of June this year on QA, so be interesting to see how many children on board. I'm sure @Surprise50th there will be plenty of comments on here about how many children there are on a Cunard QA June cruise

The 3000 has concerned me, but no one yet seems to have said that the QA seems crowded, and there is loads of topside deck space and a lot of lounges etc. I wish they'd get rid of all 3rd party shops though - they are a waste of space.

3000 is still fewer than most P&Os. Iona currently in fjords: 5206+. Britannia 3647+. Ventura and Azura have marginally more passengers than QA, but i couldn't go on them as they have to be amongst the ugliest cruise ships at sea...

14 hours ago, Surprise50th said:

I'm looking at booking a week's Fjord cruise in June 2026 for my husbands 50th. I've looked at P&O and Cunard, more edging towards Cunard as the ships are smaller and think hubby would really like to go on a Cunard ship as well as it being more geared to adults than a mix. We'd also be adding the drinks package to whatever else book so not too concerned about drink prices (have read Cunard drinks can be pricey). 

 

Any thoughts / suggestions / advice etc? We are well travelled but new to cruising. 

 

Thanks 

Drinks packages - you have to both be fairly heavy consumers of drinks to get the value from a Cunard drinks packages. Others have done the sums, but too much for me and OH!

Some of the fjords will in theory be out of bounds to any cruise ship after this year  - that's why we bought forward our planned trip to this year, but seems that it's 2026 - UNESCO World Heritage.  Not sure if the locals at Flam etc will be too happy.

Of course this doesn't affect your choice of P&O or Cunard as no one has eligible ships though there now seems to be some sort of offsetting possible  https://www.dnv.com/expert-story/maritime-impact/latest-updates-on-proposed-rules-for-zero-emissions-in-Norways-World-Heritage-fjords/

7 hours ago, NE John said:

Please keep in mind the a big part of the premium price paid for being in the Queens Grills (and Princess Grill too) is the higher level of dining experiences you will have there. So while enjoying other dining venues, make sure you focus most of your eating time in QG. 

Indeed. On our crossing we went to Steakhouse once, but ate every other meal in QG. Will do one or two options on QA in a few weeks.

@Liao I think you'll be fine in QG restaurant; I think the first timers are given tables that are "separate" but are only apart by about 30cm. It worked great for us - we could chat with others when they or us felt like it, but you don't have to as you are on your own table. Grills in QA looks a bit less cosy

QM2 QG restaurant has tables for 2 close together.. at least ours were. We were effectively on a table for 2 but also on a table for 6 when we wanted to be (chatting to the tables on either side). Best of both worlds and sounds exactly what you are looking for. Ask the maitre'd for a table in the middle of a row of tables for 2...

4 hours ago, safarigal said:

I booked 3 back to backs, all in the same stateroom. Somehow the brilliant Cunard system moved us to another stateroom in the same grade for the middle voyage. I wouldn't have minded if it had been an upgrade, but it's the same PG2, just on another deck. Grrrrr! 

How does that happen if you pay Cunard fare and select your stateroom? 

Just now, Wonky said:

Sorry, I didn’t make it clear at all, QA is £27,000 more than QM2 for world voyage of same length.

Ah ok! I’d rather do it in QM2 I think! 
 

same number of days as QM2 can go faster? 

52 minutes ago, Wonky said:

I’ve been keeping an eye on the 2026 world voyages and they certainly are more expensive, £27,000 in fact😳! (QG)

For a full World Cruise? That doesn’t seem bad at all £54k for a WC; £7k+ for a week is typical.