balf

Ask room service for two glasses of cold milk. Keep them in the fridge.

DAVID.

I think QE and QV could use Tilbury. Wouldn’t be a very pleasant experience though.

DAVID

A sad loss to her DH and family and to all on this board. A courageous and sparky lady, RIP.

David.

Or quite the opposite.

 

On the huge QM2, having the launderettes either aft or forward (they almost alternate as you rise up the decks) means that, instead of walking the entire length of the ship to find a laundry, there may well be one above or below you, and therefore closer (by lift/elevator). Passengers in the middle of the ship only have to walk half the length of the vessel.

 

So, not awckward (sic) at all. An entirely user-friendly layout.

Surprisingly, or possibly not, they don't alternate deck to deck. There is just one forward on deck 4, the other three on 5, 6 and eight are well aft.

David

Most ships I've been on (admittedly a fairly low number) seem to follow a pattern similar to QM2 - a laundry room here, a laundry room there...

If you look at the deck plans QE https://www.cunard.com/Documents/2019-deck-plans/QE-deck-plans-2019.pdf You can clearly see how they are laid out. Modular construction.

David.

Beware that older pound coins - single metal - cease to be legal tender next month, although banks may still accept them. The new coins are made of two alloys, and are subtly 12-sided.

 

Stuart

And don't work in our hospital parking machines.

David.

One peculiarity on QM2 is that the launderettes are not "stacked" as they are on the other ships. Must be something to do with the one off design. Logically all the laundry facilities would be expected to be run vertically through the decks. Another example of the somewhat awckward lay out.

David.

If so, I apologise. Maybe Les999 is still looking for evidence to back up his allegation and will provide it later today.

Yes he might or possibly he might not.

David.

Apologies for speaking out of turn as I'm relatively new here myself, but could it be it's the first time they've felt the urge to take to a forum on an issue?

 

I always judge these sort of posts from a first time poster by whether they add any more comment to the discussion they have started. We should wait for post two here.

David.

Not sure I understand why it matters if they have been used by other people as long as they have been washed?

Me neither.

David.

This has been the case on Cunard for some time as well. Don't think many nowadays would do this at home though.

David

No OP it is nothing like how it was even at the time the ship (QM2) was introduced, standards are lower, the crew lack the pride they had with serving aboard then and sadly even the passenger demographic has changed: conversation is a dying art.

David.

"P&O have bust a gut to attract non cruisers to their ships the sort of people who usually holiday all inclusive "

Where's your evidence for this sweeping statement? I am a first time cruiser and I can tell you that I am definitely not the sort of person who goes all inclusive. In fact I have never been on any kind of all inclusive and would never want to.

Yes it is a captive audience but I am on holiday . If I felt the drinks really were too expensive then I don't buy them. It wouldn't stop me going on a cruise. It doesn't stop me going on holiday to Scandinavia where alcohol prices are prohibitive.

Horses for courses.

Of course P&O have looked to the packaged holidaymaker to fill the growing number of cabins they need to fill. Where else will they find them.

David

IF, for arguments sake, a ban on carrying any alcohol on board was introduced in the new year then could I in theory cancel and ask for my deposits back on cruises booked for 2018 and 19 (not that we'd have any intention of doing so), citing that taking alcohol on was part of the reason for choosing P & O? I suspect there's something in the small print which would let them get around it...

No, it's a concession and not part of the contract you accepted when you booked.

David.

First they are not sommeliers they are waiters who serve wine, and as another poster has said, I can choose my own wine thank you. As for refilling my glass I have gone through a whole meal happily filling my own glass without a sign of the waiter.

OK they rush around a lot but so do the guys who empty our bins and the council won't even let us give them a tip at Christmas - though we do.

David

Il agree the wine prices are reasonable however the pint and can prices aren't. £4.10 a pint of fosters is at least 30% more expensive than my local. .

You're not at you're local though.

David

Think of a queue of passengers coming off a tender and every bag needs to be checked and bottles removed from bags, tagged and stored for collection later. Then think of the angry passengers and the even more angry ones waiting in the queue.

Have they got enough staff to police this.

David

You are allowed to hold hands though:halo:

Not with me you're not.

David.

One tip for unaccompanied ladies in Dubai is to always use the pink, all female driven taxis. As a (married) couple we found them excellent.

David

I think he meant traffic, road not air.

David

For reasons of tax, and shareholder profit. It is the business model virtually all cruiselines use, and for the standard onboard gratuities it makes so much sense to me. With regard to gratuities on drinks and spa treatments, I think it is fair that those are paid by those using such services. Locally, and when we go south to visit family, I would always add 10% to a restaurant bill (unless the bill is already service charged) and round up. Similar for taxis.

 

As an aside, we spent a lovely day in Chester while down South last week.....a really interesting city, and we had lunch outdoors in beautiful sunshine in the Boathouse Restaurant on the river.

Yes it is and greatly improved recently, went to school there many years ago there. Amphitheaters a bit of a letdown but the musics good.

David

I wouldn't take that as gospel.

If the information is wrong, as it obviously is can't it be edited of deleted.

David

Many things will change this century, we only need to look at the push for driverless cars and electric propultion. Burning one of the most polluting fuels known in massive quantities by shipping will have to be banned some time in the future and if the alternative is nuclear I have no doubt it will be accepted by a new modern thinking public.

Weather this will extend to the banning of gents monkey suits is another question.

David.

There have been 'friends of Dorothy' meetings on most of the P & O cruises we have been on. Usually advertised in the Horizon.

I read Horizon front to back and like others here have never seen a meeting featured.

David

Very interesting yes. Looks like Cunard are applying a handling charge to the tips they hand over to the staff amounting to $1.56 on the $11.50 daily auto charge.

Big business eh?

David.