Terry Bill

Hell no. I pay for the cruises. So you know. Equal but different.

The capital city of Peru? Just a guess.

I like my cruise ship to be a home from home, including food and routine. It's nice to follow the routine in a different environment with better weather and new destinations. Obviously, my wife doesn't cook and wash on the voyage - what sort of throwback to the 1950s do you think I am? No, she enjoys a break too.

I recommend Cunard's Queens Grill - they make whatever you want, including peanut butter and jelly! We prefer plain food and are happy to pay up to have it. The standard fayre has too much fat and sugar unless you stick with salad (and then you don't get the calories). Fish or meat with boiled veg or rice. Lovely. It's great that there is a choice, so the foodies are happy, too.

I wouldn’t accept poor food or a dreary itinerary.

I'm nothing like you. If the destination is important, I don't travel by ship (they restrict you to ports and places within a reasonable travelling distance of them). Sometimes, ports are near interesting destinations, sometimes not—the excursions are a clue. The more they offer 'experiences', the less inherent interest there is in the destination. You can get a taster of an area or region - but there is too little time to explore anywhere in depth. The 'onboard experience' has to suit my preferences—plain food and drink when and where I want it, access to a wide range of activities, no kids, no queues, and good but not obsequious service. The main benefit is the variety of travel without the hassle of packing, unpacking, and organising transport logistics.

Update. Cunard prefers to sell two-week and one-week cruises; therefore, if you want a three-week cruise, you will already be offered fewer cabins as they block out a limited number of three-week cruises! The way around this is to book a two-week and then one-week cruise in your preferred suite. It will be interesting to see if we are required to disembark and reembark on the changeover day.

Thank you for your comments.

We used an agent who packaged the cruise, hotels and flights for the last couple of cruises. I was economically active then and happy to outsource the task. They shared some of their commission through a discount, which was nice. Now that I am economically inactive, I plan to book my flights and hotels directly with the airlines and hotels. However, I wonder whether I should book the cruise part directly with Cunard or via an agent. Apart from offering a discount, will the agent offer any benefits, or is it just another layer of communication to work through? I'm leaning towards booking directly as I prefer that approach with hotels and airlines, but I wanted to seek the collective knowledge of cruise critics. Thanks Terry

Many thanks to everyone for the reassurance. It sounds as though Cunard keep the QV ship shape.

We are thinking of booking on the QV for 2026. Having been on her many years ago, we love the ship. However, she was all new and shiny then. I know she will periodically be refurbished, but does Cunard keep their ships in good nick? I realise she is no longer new, but is she in good condition, and do you know if she is due a refurbishment before 2026, please?

Interesting comments. I pay for certainty. If the industry decommissioned loads of ships during Covid and demand now outstrips supply, I guess they can offer a hyper-budget* experience at an ultra-deluxe price*. Good luck to them. 2026 is only just rolling out, so I shall continue my search as we loved our first two cruises. *Three classes of travel are enough - these new made-up categories are the marketing department gone mad. 😂

Thanks for all your replies - I just got unlucky with my first two bookings - I shall look further ahead when there will hopefully be more availability.

Thank you, that's very helpful.

Yes - it's almost as though the ships are run for the convenience of yield managers rather than passengers. Thanks for the response.