Kynance

Currently on QV and had decided to stick with fixed sitting and late dining, despite having pondered a change to open. However, on boarding, discovered we had been assigned to open anyway, despite having confirmation of being on late sitting once we’d made our final payment in March. It’s only been 2 nights so far but I can’t say we’re enjoying it. I just don’t like the uncertainty surrounding where you will be sitting, the queuing, the lack of engagement with waiting staff and trying to get a drink from the sommelier. (The first evening we failed to get a drink other than water at all.). I’ve twice raised the issue with assistant restaurant managers but as yet have not achieved a resolution - or at least had an understanding about why the booking confirmation was clearly nothing of the sort. A bit fed up to be honest so we’re upping sticks and gong to the Verandah tomorrow. To provide a completely fair and full review, I will post more thoughts at the end of the trip. Food has been fine overall - but I don’t think much has moved on since we last cruised in October 2019. The dishes all feel very familiar.

Thank you Hattie! Will separately post some thoughts but arrival went smoothly & we are onboard. Mr K has ordered himself a pizza from the Lido pizzeria.

Hope everyone enjoys their day in port - this is one of our favourites & we always do the “Rome on your own” trip. Mr K loves Roman history and we always manage to find something new for him to photograph. Mind you, the photographs never subsequently see the light of day!

Boarding QV on Sunday! I’ve been saving up laundry and the machine is currently on its third load. It won’t all be needed of course but it means there will be less to do when we are back. I also had to pay the balance on our QM2 September short break to Hamburg as it is due when we are away. Tomorrow is packing day once everything is dry & ironed. That’s not a job either Mr K or I like but the list is ready so it will be a case of ploughing through it methodically. Like most of the south east of England we are in a hot (by British standards!) period of weather - I am therefore very much looking forward to a week in air conditioned comfort, though I expect there will be a tussle over the cabin temperature as I prefer it much cooler than Mr K. (He can put a jumper on!)

Hope you’re feeling better today Hattie.

We had rain on Sunday for the first time since the Coronation weekend. It was a heavy downpour for about 30 minutes, enough to fill 2 of our water butts - about 250 litres worth now stored. Probably enough for 2 or 3 days of watering by hand. More excitingly, we also got our cases down from the attic for our sailing on Sunday. 🥳. I say “we”, it was really Mr Kynance doing the grafting. (No mean feat manoeuvring in an attic when you are nearly 6 foot 6!) However, today he said he needs to go back up there because all his travel chargers & adapters are in the case he isn’t taking. Doh! After work today I spent 30 minutes waiting to speak to someone in Cunard’s contact centre to get Mr K’s second middle name added to his booking details as the online booking portal only has space for 2 forenames. It probably wasn’t necessary but it was just in case anyone queried it when we check-in. Apparently there are 2 systems but only one of them can accommodate three forenames…. I’ve written my packing list and 4 birthday cards I need to send before we go. I’m working up to Thursday and then have Friday & Saturday to pack and sort out the house & personal admin. We live less than 90 minutes drive from Southampton so will head down late morning - we have an arrival time of 1.30. (Deck 7, standard Britannia balcony, Diamond CWC, for anyone wondering about check-in times these days - discussed in detail on another thread.) In the meantime, further rain in west Berkshire would be welcome.

Sounds like a perfect sea day Hattie. I used to really like the RADA productions on QM2 - the RSC ones sound equally good.

I thought I would share a photo of some slightly older Cunard bears, both from QE2 in the 1990s. They didn’t have official names but the one on the left I called called Stanley (after Captain Keith Stanley who was the relief captain at the time I purchased his namesake) and the one on the right is Burton - named for Commodore John Burton-Hall, though I think he was plain captain back in the early 90s. Burton is my absolute favourite and has pride of place on my bed, though I confess that Stanley mostly lives in a bag stuffed with other cuddly animals in a wardrobe these days…

Good tip about retaining your dining card Hattie! I’ve decided to stick with late sitting, at least for the first night on QV, and see what sort of table we get. I was thinking of switching to open but it sounds like I could do that when we board anyway (from the comments on the open dining thread). The Commodore Club is our venue of choice for drinks before dinner - Mr K does get a bit fed up with me insisting we get there just after 7 but I tell him the best seats are to be had whilst the early diners are still eating. Plus, we have time for a second drink. 😀. We have to drink slowly otherwise a third would see us tumbling into Britannia rather than trying to make an elegant entrance! Enjoy your relaxing Sunday at sea.

Thank you for posting Hattie. Looking forward to reading more updates when you‘re able to share them with us. Reading your notes will be the perfect way to build the excitement throughout this week as Mr K & I are boarding QV on the 18th.

@Camgirl - have a lovely trip to Norway. We’re boarding QV when you disembark on the 18th. @Host Hattie - likewise I hope you have a lovely time on QM2. We’re doing a short trip on her in the autumn. I’m sooo looking forward to my first Cunard trips since 2019 - in fact first time leaving the UK since then as all our holidays have been in Cornwall. I’m not really that fussed about the destinations - but I am really excited about not having to cook for a week! I’m also really looking forward to coffee at the bar in the Chart Room and a Commodore’s Cure in the Commodore Club before dinner. It looks like it will be a largely dry & sunny month at home - we have been enjoying time in our garden - but I will probably need to ask my neighbour for help with watering whilst we are away. I’m sure there will be an appropriate Cunard-themed gift which I can bring back for her. 😎😀

Thanks to everyone who replied in response to my post #45. Really interesting thoughts & observations. We normally eat at home around 7 and I would rather eat later than earlier than that, so we’ve always had late sitting and go for pre-dinner drinks in the Commodore Club. If we did opt for open dining, we would want to dine around 7 or 7.30. Any later and I think we might as well just stick with the late sitting. We rarely go the shows - they are just not normally to our taste, so not bothered about dovetailing with those, but we do like the live music around the ship and generally drinking in the atmosphere (perambulating as I call it). I did wonder whether there would generally be a lack of atmosphere with open dining, and that seems borne out by the comments but I suppose one person’s lack of atmosphere is another person’s quiet and relaxing dining experience. We have done Britannia Club on QV which was pretty quiet and we did enjoy that. As I said, as it’s just a week and we won’t be in the restaurant every night we may give it a go but I shall have another discussion with Mr Kynance first. Thanks again all.

I’m thinking of switching from late to open for our June voyage on QV. It’s just a week and we plan to eat elsewhere a couple of nights, so thought 5 days would be manageable if we find we don’t like it. I was wondering, however, what happens if you have a reservation for a set time one evening and turn up and find there is a long queue ahead of you. Is there any signage directing people who have pre-booked or are you expected to join the one queue? Or just brazen it out and look like a queue-jumper by walking straight to the front? The latter doesn’t feel like an attractive option to me but if you had to join a long queue and missed your “slot”, the concept of using the app to book a time would seem rather pointless. Any information on this scenario from those who’ve tried open dining would be most welcome.

Our famous Great British weather was much in evidence today for the Coronation but despite a truncated fly past, it did not seem to dampen the day for everyone who went to London. I watched from the comfort of home and I thought the ceremony was exemplary in mixing tradition and modernity. Everything seemed to go without a hitch and it looked like the King & Queen were relaxed and able to enjoy their day after the solemnities of the service itself. A great event reflecting the best of Britain and the Commonwealth.

Hello from Cornwall, where it has been very cold and windy - probably our coldest visit in 19 years, outside of a new year trip. We have had rain but quite a bit of sunshine as well and at least we haven’t had any holiday disruption. I do really feel for everyone affected by QM2’s technical troubles. We were at Poldhu Cove yesterday, which is a great surfing beach, if you are into that kind of thing. The photo below shows a bit of afternoon surf. Poldhu has a lovely cafe in the dunes, open 363 days of the year, so is a good place to visit whatever the season. You can get a coffee and bacon bap everyday except Christmas Day and Flora Day (a local festival held in the town of Helston each May which involves a lot of dancing through the town’s streets!)

On all the ships I prefer the Chart Room/Cafe Carinthia during the day and the Commodore Club in the evenings. I prefer the Commodore Club on the Vista ships as the piano is in the centre of the room and there are more tables which are just for two. My favourite cocktail is the Commodore’s Cure but generally I like all the “sparklers”. On sea days in particular, my other half and I enjoy sitting at the bar for morning coffee in the Chart Room/Cafe Carinthia. I don’t really like any of the pubs on board. They don’t feel particularly inviting and they are too dark for my taste. Unless I went to a nice hotel, I wouldn’t visit a cocktail bar or lounge on land but pubs are everywhere, so visiting the CC/Chart Room is always a particular part of the ship experience I look forward to. Now less than 2 months away finally - first time since October 2019!

No Hotel Chocolat eggs this year, though I do have a box on the go of their “Serious Dark Fix”. I bought this myself in case the Easter Bunny didn’t call… Unfortunately, like Hattie’s egg, it is no longer in a fit state to be photographed! One grow house was erected this afternoon and two old ones taken apart. We also have a new water butt set up, making four in total - in anticipation of tomorrow’s rain. Unfortunately all this meant we didn’t mow the lawn, so that remains a job for another day.

Happy Easter / spring weekend to everyone. The photo below is sort of seasonal - some rather muddy sheep, their lambs and a donkey (ok, that one’s more for the festive season!). The photo was taken on a walk along part of the Kennet & Avon canal yesterday. I’ve just opened a very nice box of chocolates courtesy of Mr Kynance. He’s got a box of marzipan eggs and rabbits. I’m not a fan of marzipan (unless it’s on Christmas cake), so he won’t have to worry about me helping myself to them. It has been a sunny weekend so far, so today is a gardening day, mowing the lawn for the first time this year and erecting some new grow houses. On the Cunard front, getting quite excited now for our return to sea in June - the first time since October 2019. I’m also looking forward to visiting Wimbledon in July - I’ve been really lucky to secure a pair of tickets for the Ladies Singles Final. Before all that, we have the Coronation long weekend and a trip to Cornwall - much to look forward to and be thankful for.

We’ve just had mulled wine and mince pies after completing the normal Saturday chores. No special plans for tonight - staying in and I will be continuing to catch up on festive TV. The weather here is foul - rain and high winds. I’m wondering if the fireworks display in London will be affected. Happy new year to everyone! 🥂

Season’s greetings to everyone!

It’s been the usual quiet Christmas in the Kynance household. Turkey & Christmas pudding followed by presents and watching an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Yet again, “O Holy Night” was voted the nation’s favourite carol by the listeners of Classic FM. The top 5 has been the same for years - I feel like next year we need a social media campaign to shake it up! Nice to see “Carol of the Bells” in the top 10 though. I did also enjoy watching the King’s first Christmas broadcast - he was very eloquent and I think the tone hit the spot for the times we are currently living through.

@techteach - I’m flattered to be asked for my recipe 😊. As I said above, it’s more about assembly than baking from scratch but I have adapted a recipe by a lady named Martha Collison who was a contestant on one of the early series of “The Great British Bake Off”. Martha’s recipe called for a 320g sheet of ready-made all butter, puff pastry, which just so happens to be available in exactly that weight in the UK from a company called “Jus Roll”. I think the “all butter” bit is key. I used 450g of pork sausagemeat with black pepper and nutmeg, courtesy of Waitrose supermarket, then stirred in 2 dessert spoons of cranberry sauce and then used another couple of dessert spoons of cranberry to paint a cranberry stripe down each half of the pastry sheet, which I cut width-ways, before dividing the sausagemeat between the two halves. Once assembled, I brushed with egg wash and cut each large sausage roll into 6 smaller pieces. Finally, they went into the oven for 30-35 minutes. I have a fan oven so it was 180 degrees (200 without a fan, not sure what it would be in Fahrenheit but that’s easy to look up). The finished items look a bit messy but I am informed by Mr Kynance that they are better than Marks & Spencer’s! (I think he is obviously biased though…). I really like turkey, bacon & cranberry sausage rolls but making the filling for them feels like a step beyond assembling for me!

It’s a mild and overcast but dry Christmas Eve in West Berkshire. It is also Saturday which means it is chores day before I make mince pies and sausage rolls. (If I am honest, it is more like assembling than making them from scratch). Mr Kynance is out in town, last minute Christmas shopping and will no doubt be following his tradition of wrapping gifts very late this evening…🙄 I have 2 small presents to wrap and then I am finished. A merry Christmas to everyone, especially to anyone struggling with the weather or other adversity - I hope tomorrow brings enjoyment, relaxation, peace or whatever else you may be hoping for from the day. 🎄🎅🏻🎄

I’ve already started my Christmas holidays - I finished work last Thursday and don’t go back until 3rd January, which is possibly my longest festive break since the distant days of university. Mr Kynance & I are off to a concert tonight - “Midwinter Revels” - period instruments and music from Yuletides’ past. We went to something similar back in 2019 and really enjoyed it, so hoping it will be worth the while of stirring from the warmth of the sofa to go out into the cold! Like a number of other forum members, I received the Cunard Christmas card with the wording intended for the ship’s company, this morning. It made me chuckle - I wonder if crew members received the card with the guest wording? That said, I do have 2 voyages to look forward to next year, as I recently booked QV’s 7 nighter to Northern Spain in June, to go with 4 nights on QM2 to Hamburg. If it all works out, it will be only the 2nd time I’ll have done 2 separate trips in a year and the first time on two different ships. Quite excited about it - I just need to let Mr Kynance know about it as I haven’t told him yet. ☺️ Hope all your seasonal preparations are going well.

@Host Hattie - hope you and Mr HH have a splendid last night on board. Thank you for posting so many updates on this thread. So sorry the cruise didn’t pan out the way you were hoping but fingers crossed for you that you’ll both be aboard again soon and you have better luck. You certainly deserve it!