seasickphil

Can i respectfully ask what cruise lines are you comparing Queens Grills mediocre food with?

So are you saying that when we ate in Prime7 on Regent Splendor recently, on the menu they say whole Maine lobster [not fresh maybe, very little meat/fish is fresh on any ship ] that they are lying and that in fact you are getting South African Lobster, i somehow don't think so, do you?

Maybe i should try and clarify what i mean when i say Queens Grill is, imo, the best dining experience at sea. For us, a dining experience is not just about the food although that is obviously for most of us the no1 priority. In Queens Grill you have the same table with the same personal looking after you every night. Meaning whatever time you arrive at the restaurant, your table is there waiting for you with staff ready to look after you, whatever that maybe. When on Splendor [admittedly she was sailing full] when going to dinner in Compass Rose, several nights you were asked to go and have a drink in a nearby bar while a table become available [someone did come and inform you when that was] this was not a problem for us, but for others? it was. You then had different wait staff who unfortunately appeared to be somewhat rushed at peak times, leading to, for some, a rather somewhat inferior dining experience.

What cruise lines would you say are up to Michelin three star or two star ratings, we have eaten in many three/two star Michelin restaurants throughout the world and would never dream of comparing them with any cruise line restaurants. Most of the Michelin restaurants we have been to only have space for around 50 covers, not anywhere near the amount of covers required on cruise ships.

I can't agree with you more, food,as we know is very subjective and i have not sailed in Queens Grills recently but having sailed on Viking, Oceania, and Regent, i still stand by what i said that for us, Cunard is the best dining experience at sea, i still hope and expect this to be so after coming back off Queen Elizabeth next month.

As i said in my previous post i have not sailed in Queens Grills post Covid but are you saying that i will not be able to avail myself next month while in Queens Grills to lobster, fillet steak, beef wellington and caviar etc etc which i had on Splendor last month? Because when in Queens Grills on Victoria last time i had those very items, or do you, when on Regent have other luxurious items i haven't mentioned or don't know about.

@bitob We have cruised twice on Regent this last year just coming off Splendor last month, while we know Regent are a luxury line we still consider that Queens Grill is the the best dining experience at sea. Although we have sailed on Cunard post Covid this was not in the Grills, we are nonetheless back in Queens Grills on Queen Elizabeth for 2 weeks next month, so hopefully will find out if we still feel that to be the case.

@FangedRose We disembarked in Greenock once and didn't fancy the very long journey back to Norfolk by road, we asked about flights to Norwich but they didn't use Flybe as a carrier, so this was not available. They then came back with the option of a car transfer to Glasgow then the train back home, there was no extra charge for this. Although still a long journey, using the train suited us much better and we took up this offer. Everything went very well on the way back home, although of course you do have to handle your luggage if there are any change of stations needed, which we had to do, but for us this wasn't a problem.

Last month we were picked up at our given time of 09:40, we picked another couple up in Colchester, the driver asked where we would like to stop for a break, our travelling companions were not bothered about a stop, we were not fussed either but left it to the driver and that if he wanted a rest from driving for him to stop where he wanted to. He said we would press on and see what sort of traffic was about, after a very good trouble free run we were onboard SoA before 1330. This length of time on the road without a break would not suit everyone, we know.

Not sure i would be over the moon if i was sitting in the car while you do your shopping. If you were the last to be dropped off and the driver was ok with that, then that would obviously be ok.

The always available options on most cruise lines were, steak, chicken breast and salmon, some lines i believe are now not offering steak as an option but replacing it with pork.

@gphb I also wondered if this trend continues if they can actually now go to a single seating for all fixed dining passengers? I would imagine the logistics of everyone turning up at the same time, would be extremely challenging for all the staff.

We have been given 12.45 as well, with a final boarding time 20:00, we don't depart until 23:00.

Surely even you couldn't eat more than 2 dessert's, could you? 😋😋

Pre Covid, i had people coming in the office with streaming colds, people may not have liked it but it happened if everyone stayed away from work with colds then and now many work places would come to a standstill. The person was outside eating and not inside which would have been worse. I'm afraid if we wish to continue cruising, then we have to accept the consequences that go with that. Two weeks ago we got off a cruise and the next day my wife tested positive for Covid, she tested because her elderly mother has cancer, as i said, we are all aware before we board ships of the possibilities of getting the so called Cunard cough, Norovirus or now Covid. We can not pick up on people every time they sneeze or cough, i'm extremely concerned with people not washing their hands [is it just me?] after visiting the toilets, can i stop them from doing this, no, will this and people sneezing and coughing stop me from cruising, no.

Unfortunately Covid is here to stay, are you saying that everyone who now sneeze or cough has Covid, it could actually be, as the person said, just a cold. Here in the UK there is no need to quarantine nor even take a Covid test and i believe in certain work places you do not even need to stay away from work.

You are correct we were near the fish market in the centre of Bergen at the time 20 mins walk from where the ships dock.

I can't help you on the funicular/cable car as we didn't that, we had an excursion with Saga and along with others stayed in Bergen afterwards, someone asked the guide how far it was to walk to get the cable car/funicular [not sure which] and was told it was no more than a 10 min stroll. For us, we just walked round Bergen which is a lovely town with plenty to see and do and then had a couple of beers, as you say not overly expensive especially if comparing it to prices on Cunard.

Really $149? that sure is a lot, we were on Saga and the excursion price was only £79. We paid at the ticket office on our clarity card and it was £101 for both of us, still a saving of £57 but nothing like the savings you would make if paying Cunard's prices. Spirit of Adventure was full when we were on, about 980 people but nothing like the 3000 that will be on Anne, so i would definitely prebook online with norwaysbest.com. If you do prebook then it is best to get to the station at least 20/30 mins before the departure time as it's best to be near the front of the queue so you have a better choice of the window seats. We were told in the ticket office that the seats with the best views are on the right hand side of the train. What happens is the first 2/3 carriages in the front of the train are pre-booked by the ship, passengers on the ships excursion are in one line giving them sole access to those carriages, there is then another line for walk up passengers who can go in any of the other carriages. There is only one track with two trains operating on [there is a passing place somewhere in the middle] i would not be too worried about breakdowns/delays as there would be many passengers from the ships excursion's onboard anyway, so if anything untoward did happen you would not be alone. There is a Viking pub in Flam 50yds from where the ships dock, it brews all it's own beers, there are many different ones too choose from, this is well worth a visit if you like sort of thing.

Prices are the same if bought in the ticket office or online 680 NOK, these prices are from 01/05 till 30/09the 500 NOK price is for a different time of the year.

We were in Flam 3 weeks ago but not on Cunard, we had an excursion in the afternoon, we had time on our hands after getting off the ship therefore giving us a chance to do the train ride,so we walked the 100 yards to the train ticket office and enquired if there was any availability on the next train 10.45am, we had no issues as over 50 seats were available, from 01/06 the price is 680NOK return either booked online or bought on the day. I was told that you can keep an eye on ticket availability on line beforehand but obviously you can’t be totally certain of getting seats if leaving it like we did.

If Cunard wants to be really pedantic then the only way to remove the earrings would be to handle them, what would that achieve? so why not leave them where they are and return them in the jewellery box.If they absolutely have to take the earrings out of the box,then so be it but all the other items must surely be returned to the rightful owner.

I'm jealous, most of the 12 nights i recently spent on Splendor i couldn't tackle one dessert [too full] let alone two.😬😬

@Techno123 Just over week ago we got off a Saga cruise, when entering every dining area for breakfast, lunch and dinner, staff were in the entrance with bottles of sanitise and everyone, without fail, received a squirt. That kept gastroenteritis at bay while onboard, unfortunately the day after getting home my wife tested positive for Covid. Sometimes you just can't win.🤧

Tony, I don’t see why not, we are on earlier in the month and Elizabeth don’t leave until 2300hrs so I would imagine it would be the same time on the 23rd, therefore giving you plenty of time to explore.