WantedOnVoyage

For starters, most anything that was flirting with $11.60 is now a flat $12 or more and most all of the wines by the glass are now $12, some reaching that from $9 ish.   The most outrageous increase, of course, happens to my wife's favourite Gusbourne English sparking wine which exploded from $12.30 to an astonishing $16.  There is a new prosecco (Cunard Private Label) replacing the now tedious Zonin and that is now something like $9.20 a glass.  

The bar tenders said they could do "my" Negroni and  cheap Gordon's martini for the old prices but you won't even find a price for a martini in the new lists fullstop. I think there are about four basic cocktails $12 and under now. 

I was shown these new lists as a courtesy in advance of their release so could not get my hands on one to give more examples.  But if you fancy "non alcoholic" "mocktails" (good grief), "smokey cocktails" (?) and "low alcohol" cocktails.... and prepared to fork over $13-14 a clip, it's all good. 

Hopefully some kind soul will post these new lists but if you were budgeting cost per drink vs. the drinks package, all this seems designed to make one opt for the latter. 

You are joking are you not?  You need not have the phone number nor have to dial a strange international one... just dial 0 and let the operator do it for you. The old ORIANA had a manual switchboard to the end... you just rang and they did the rest for... any request.

Self Service is.... the anthesis of the very word. 

See, I miss the little bedside matt on retiring and the switchboard telephones at The Connaught!

I suppose one could have drawn one's own bath on QUEEN MARY c. 1952 in First Class but perish the thought or necessity to do it.

"Good enough" or "Well, I guess I won't miss it," is the first step on the slippery path to... paying the same or more and getting less.  In any class or category. 

Possibly. But to me, luxury is defined by the having and not asking for or, indeed possibly not even .needing. I really miss the shoe mitt (well, I really miss the days of the boot boy and you left your shoes outside the cabin door on retiring and they were there the next day, gloriously polished... again, no ask, just getting).  

One wonders just what Cunard did with all this "hospitality" kit?  But on QV, it's gone and has been since last May. 

I've been sailing with Cunard since 1977 and of two days ago, I'd assert my personal opinion that they remain very satisfactory in two key elements for me: cuisine and service.  The service we enjoyed on QV these last three weeks was simply outstanding and whilst in Princess Grill, we extensively used the Yacht Club, Chart Room, Midships Bar (Gin and Fizz) etc and found it exceptional, personable and efficient throughout.  Cunard manage to recruit and retain some exemplary people on board their ships. That's key for us. 

But yes the niggingly cutbacks are inccessant and especially noted in the Grills... and yes, the umbrellas are gone and there is literally nothing in the cabin except the necessities.  The lap rugs, beach towels, atlas etc all gone.  Halfway through our cruise, the fruit skewers and midday sandwiches offered on deck disappeared, too. No more sandwich caddies at the table for tea, either. And the deck tea is like that in Tourist Class on QE2.  Hot nibbles remain but only in the Grill Lounge but oddly the regular nibbles remain dire there and far better elsewhere.  Since deluxe is largely defined by the extras, however trivial, Cunard are treading perilously here I think and the Grills in so many inclusive elements pale to other deluxe products like Regent etc. 

9 minutes ago, david63 said:

Better be back on by September or my wife will be having a tantrum!!

I was showed the new list the final evening and it induced an order two of the now "secret" martinis in succession... maybe it's a Roaring Twenties speakeasy atmosphere they are striving for.  I do like the crew reaction to it all... Cunard "management" is loved and respected by all. Not. 

I do pity the poor folks whose back to back cruises started with one list and ended with another and yes there are some eye popping price increases too so doubly painful for pay as you go drinkers.  

We remember the “Welcome Home” sign over the gangway of the much missed CARONIA  and whilst not physically present over that of QUEEN VICTORIA, our 5-27 May cruise in her… Southampton to Cadiz, Malaga, Palma, Civitavecchia, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Santorini, Piraeus and Katakalon, ending in Rome… indeed felt like “going home.”  

For we QV devotees, it was great to see so very many familiar faces among both the passengers and crew from past trips and be remembered.  Much of the Princess Grill staff were familiar and we were favoured with that “best seat in the house” looking aft. Grill Lounge had the two best stewards we’ve experienced.  We love the QV and her crew love her.  So it was often a real family atmosphere. And we made new friends among crew and passengers alike. 

As for QV herself, sad to say she looked pretty woebegone… so different from October.  Externally, there is a dismal amount of stained and rusted paintwork, our balcony was so filthy we thought of buying a bucket and scrub brush ashore and cleaning it ourselves.  Although there was near constant (and often intrusive) scraping and painting, it never seems to get to the final white finish coat and QV looks like a spotty 13 year old. All the more embarrassing when we kept seeing immaculate MSC ships alongside us. Inside, she’s OK though but I think we got at most three linen changes… in three weeks. Not good.

Overall, the food and service in PG was exemplary although the nature of these segmented fly cruises lets Cunard repeat the menu every seven days which is not impressive at all. Escargot featured just once and the a la carte menu is as dull as dishwater.  I was favoured with three special orders of kedgeree for breakfast though! But table side preparation is minimal. Biggest failure are the epic waits (25 mins!!) between courses on many nights and this is an increasing issue. My wife who is celiac, sadly and surprisingly got gluten poisoning in the Verandah Restaurant at lunch the last day… first time that’s happened on Cunard. 

Yacht Club was back to somewhat normal… thankfully karaoke has been relegated to the pub and wretched “Silent Disco” remarkably exiled to the Ball Room (!).  Live music once and quite a few formal dance evenings to recorded music which were very popular.   Still our favourite room and most of the staff are regulars like us. 

The fly cruise pattern meant a changeover in passengers every week so the character of the ship changed too… often not for the better. In particular, a large contingent of Spanish speaking passengers who, shall we say, decided their  translation of Cunard dress code on formal evenings was shorts and tees and yes they were free to so dress.  Not good. I complained at the pursers office but Cunard wants cash not compliance.  Overall the dress code was vaguely 80% compliance with some astonishing non conformers.  

Oh… the day we disembarked, they introduced a bizarre new drinks menu that had all the crew shaking their heads. Some epic price increases and apparently martinis are literally off the list now… you have to ask for one and guess the cost. But lots of “hip” low alcohol cocktails and “smokey” ones whatever that is.  Who is making these decisions??? Astonishing really. 

All in all, great to have “been home” aboard QUEEN VICTORIA and worth enduring the return flight back, too.  Cunard runs an efficient Rome operation btw.
 

Clearly, the narrator has had far more exciting times in the "infamous" Queens Room and Golden Lion than most of us might even imagine.

Curious that the "promenade" deck does not elicit even the most casual of interest by these "reviewers" and that perhaps tells us all what we need to know. 

I love it... The Queen Anne Plague.... $11 burgers, little uncomfortable chairs and six hanger wardrobes... spreading through the fleet, ravaging and infecting all before it.  

Not all ships can be QM2, much as you would like otherwise!

But of course they can.... if a business builds what its customers want. The best result here is that I forsee QA spurring bookings for QM2, QV and QE among regular Cunard passengers. And that is a good thing indeed. Customers buy what they value not what a business tells them they should because it makes them more money.  Just ask the Queens Grill diners staring at the blank wall or the person trying to saddle around the bed in the min inside cabin.  

6 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

Passenger/volume ratio almost identical to QV and QE and probably not that dissimilar to most other cruise ships. Cabins no smaller to Vista cabins. Not sure what Payne has to do with it: QA nor any other ship is the QM2. Don’t know why you are comparing anything to the QM2 

Repeating it doesn't make it true.  There are several posts here which define--. in real measurement ie sq. ft. of sample grade cabins and passenger to tonnage and passenger to crew ratios which are the traditional metrics to judge the density of passenger ships--- that QA is, based on these criteria, a more "densely populated" vessel. She just is.  And the videos shows the effect visually... from the Queens Grill restaurant to the min inside cabin. 

As for QA for being "not that dissimilar to most other cruise ships," that is the more damning comment I've seen of her... most Cunard regulars had hoped she would be a Cunarder not "most other cruise ships." And those trying her out who have never sailed with Cunard which we keep being told is what makes her so wonderful, might come away and not know what all the fuss is about if she is "not dissimilar to other cruise ships."

Stuff occasionally happens with travel. I know, I had 42 years in the travel business and the scars to prove it.  But it's how companies deal with it and their customers that counts... Cunard and everyone associated with them, including InterCruise (their transfer agents) and Cunard's Swedish agents... were simply outstanding. United was not. I have booked four cruises with Cunard since then and would never set foot on a United plane again.

Happened to me thanks to United en route to Southampton and QV to the Baltic last May. Not an issue... Cunard provided, gratis, with full formal attire (thank goodness I flew in a suit and tie and black shoes), lent me a perfect fit Next suit, shirts etc. (I was lucky a former cruise director was my size it seems) and other kit, too.   My luggage finally caught up with me halfway through the cruise at Stockholm. Wish I had kept the suit....

I wouldn't fly United again in a month of Sundays and this reminded me why I value Cunard Line. 

My cat would like the QG banquette seating but the rest of us...?  But those wall facing seats opposite... I'd rather dine in my suite, thanks very much. 

Grill Deck... I think if you look at some the videos you can detect some metal framed glass dividers between the Grill area and the open decks so not sure if this key card activated.  It seems like it would have to be.  

So far, the best thing I've seen is the putting green on deck.... so wish they had this on QE and QV. We loved it on Oceania. 

I do like the library... and hope they still have communal computers for those of us disdaining "smart phones."

Not sure if "fit in more" should figure in the design credo for Queen's Grill, do you?

Curious how much better Princess Grill at least appears... in size, space (including between tables) and general sense of occasion that Queen's Grill.. Even the chairs are far more suitable (with arms.. hurray!) than those c. 1958 Italian bedroom chairs in the QG.  

"The slim wardrobe" appears to be the only full length hanging wardobe... the ones off the passageway are shelved or have half height hanging space. Of course, keeping up with the marathon runners filming these things makes it difficult to ascertain but the closet space seems.... constrained to say the least.

Looking at the full length hanging space in the standard cabin sure doesn't bode well for the dress code... surely this is not the extent of it. But it appears to be.  There's more hanging space in an old wardrobe trunk than this.  And how on earth is this going to work for anything over seven days? I count maybe eight hangers wide or what, room for four suit jackets tops. Sq. footage wise, the standard cabins are not smaller than QV/QE so what gives with the closets?? Send the missus to change the table and unpack before she gets back would be my advice... 

True... who wants to get cherry sauce or jus spattered on their polo shirt?  Not me....

As my mother said when they dropped me off at summer camp for two weeks, aged 7... "I just know you'll love it after the first few days."

Well... I hate to tell you "I told you so" so I won't... but QG on the QA is QED.

I am not sure who one has to annoy to score one of the inner banquette tables but I won't wear my Greek flag lapel pin when convincing Osman I should not be so assigned. At least the banquette seats are big and upholstered... every single chair in the ship seems three quarter sized, thin padded munchin seating.  

But, no.. deck plans don't lie.  If it looks narrow and an afterthought, it's because it is.   I look forward to pix of the Grill Lounge. Or not.

Oh well, in four days we will be off on our QUEEN VICTORIA and settling into our favourite overstuffed armchairs in the Commodore Club and hoping the crumbs are not ours from our last cruise in her. 

Maybe they are designed to fit into the cabin wardrobes should the need arise....

That's the Queen's Room?  Wow.  And I have yet to see one... not one... comfortable looking armchair in the ship yet or a table that is not bare, spare and faux wood formica covered.  But if you like sparse, bare and sterile... there's lots to savour here. 

Yikes.  If you book in the US, there is no insurance requirement.... booked in the UK, I think you're stuck. It's not your nationality, it's where the cruise was booked that counts.  And why I will never book a cruise "in the UK."  I always buy my OWN insurance of MY choosing but don't want to be ordered to do so by a third party i.e. the supplier. It's actually against the law to do so in the US I believe. 

Yes, I noted they still say "atlas" on the website but I haven't seen one since 2019. One wonders just where all this "stuff" went anyway??  The Atlas was more illuminating that the instructions on how to work the coffee machine that's for sure...

At least they still have rain panchos at the stair landings to hand out.  

Nope.... not since the great "let's chuck out all the little niceties and use Covid as an excuse".  Sewing kit, shoe cleaner, atlas (which we always used) and.. umbrellas.  All gone. You might ask... I think our steward found a 10 year old shoe polisher for me that was dried out and one could only thank him for the effort. Not sure if what happened to the umbrellas fullstop. But no.. have not seen one in a PG cabin in four cruises now.