exlondoner

Don’t you think the metaphor dumbing down is inherently condescending to those who have the tastes/views it applies to? I wouldn’t ever ask for it to be removed, but I don’t think it suggests that those who hold the views are held in high regard.

I much admire your clarity and incisiveness, which may be simply a way of saying I completely agree.

I think gala nights, at least in the Brit, probably do have an enhanced menu, though as ever that depends on individual tastes. However I’m not sure there is a necessary connection with the dressing up. A lot of passengers genuinely seem to enjoy dressing up and the slightly different atmosphere that arises. I don’t think they feel it is a bit of a chore to be rewarded by tastier/more glamorous/more extravagant food.

Just to emphasise, whatever it may be or have been, Cunard is not stuffy, though on the whole, the passengers are pretty courteous.

No, you are wrong. I’m not that hopeless, I’d be able to find that. It was probably a year or two ago in a discussion of recovery (of shipping lines, not people) after Covid.

Carnival own HAL, but not Celebrity, so presumably the information available to them on these two lines may differ. I can’t find it, because I am incompetent (yes, of course, you all noticed😀), but floating around on here somewhere is some evidence that Cunard is one of the most profitable of the Carnival lines. If that is so, perhaps they should be making the others more like Cunard, not, as so many seem to fear, vice versa. I agree that it shouldn’t make a difference what other people are wearing, providing always they don’t smell. But actually it seems to. I find clothes deeply boring, and don’t cruise on Cunard to dress up at all. Nonetheless, arriving in a full QG on a formal night to see everyone elegantly dressed gives a certain buzz, and is a much more exciting experience than lunch in the Lido with people in shorts and T-shirts would be. Don’t know why, but it is.

I fear it may not be irrelevant to whether one can hit a high A - younger voices, alas, tend to be the ones that soar.

Another tradition gone west.

Well, they’ve survived converting from coal to oil, abolishing the different classes (though other lines seem to be reinventing them), installing bathrooms in all cabins, giving lots of cabins balconies, having fully enclosed bridges (which QE2 didn’t), more or less banning smoking, no longer having cabins shared with strangers, and who knows what other updating, so I expect it will be fine.

I don’t blame you. More training clearly needed, at the least.

It is surely likely to continue to enhance Carnival’s profits to ensure its constituents continue to be subtly differentiated to appeal to different types of passenger. There is no point have a dozen identical lines. Incidentally when Cunard owned the Sea Goddesses did they have formal nights on those?

I thought it was part of the job description of waiters not to be rude about anything, even where justified, which was clearly not the case.

Q5s and Q6s on QM2 lack a separate shower, unfortunately.

But it is sort of US, if you go back enough.

https://iandowding.co.uk/ As I’m not sure where you are, I don’t know what you mean by over here.

I thought all fjords were picturesque. 😀 In fact I am slightly of the opinion, seen a couple, seen them all. Anyway, I hope it is picturesque.

Apparently Banoffee Pie, though possibly originating in a restaurant in Sussex in the 1970s, was sort of derived from Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pie, from a restaurant in Hollywood. It usually has too much cream on it, at least the Cunard lunch version. I don’t know whether Sir Sam’s might do it.

I hesitate to dare to offer an opinion that may not be wanted, but I do think, if your next voyage is a TA, a sheltered balcony on the South side of the ship will enable you to get a lot of use from the balcony, compared to an ordinary balcony. And the money you save might pay for a lot of dinners in the specialty restaurants, if you don’t want the Britannia.

My frustration is over so strong a reaction to such a trivial thing. What might be truly strange is if the pastries are free only if you order a coffee. You never know.

It’s not something I’ve really noticed a great deal, but your experience is obviously more recent than mine. I think on the whole it is rather a dangerous practice, depending on where it is done: in a crowded lift, with hot drinks I think it could be seriously dangerous. But, on the whole, my main reaction is to be mystified as to why people should want to walk around carrying food and drink.

Certainly that is where I would normally drink a drink. Isn’t that what the bars are for.

I would expect to consume anything I ordered in a particular eating venue in that venue, other than the Lido, though people carrying stuff from the Lido in the lifts is something that drives me mad, because it is so dangerous. But that is another issue. I’m not mad about cakes, but if I ordered fish and chips in the Pub, it would be because I was going to eat them there, etc. It doesn’t seem odd to me, and particularly not something to get upset about. But it is indeed your holiday to spend as you wish.

Isn’t life too short for all this? Just enjoy your cruise.

I don’t think fixed dining will affect the proximity of other tables, that is just something you have to accept as possible. However, with fixed dining you will get the same waiting staff every night and they will quickly get to know you and your preferences.

Aaaah. That is different. 😀