Victoria2

Great photo. Should be included in official Cunard blurb. Real photo with real passengers who, it has to be said, are easy on the eyes.👍 Didn’t get an invitation to any party. 'They' probably knew we wouldn’t turn up. We do have one for next week though.

The room seems yet another Marmite issue. We think it’s fine as do others we speak to. Obviously, that opinion isn’t shared by others. No problem. It is what it is. 🙂

Tell your friends, corkscrew, bottle opener, cocktail shaker and other bar stuff is in one of the side cupboards by the bar set up. Then they won’t feel foolish when asking the very sweet and kind butler ‘could we have a bottle opener please' as I did, last May.🥴

I’ll post a photo of our table position and that of the one behind where a Q1'er is seated in my overall review. What I would say is, the configurations are fluid but you won’t be sat in the boon docks, possibly in a four top, siding onto the window.

I mentioned best ever crispy duck on Cunard a few posts back, and I lauded the Chicken Pad Thai some nights ago. I know this might seem an outrageous thing to say from the comfort of a rather nice QG cabin etc but it’s been very difficult getting our normal off menu requests. Why? Simply because the menus have been so absolutely great. We seriously can’t fault a darn thing about the food in QG other than the fact the choices are so wonderful, it’s difficult to choose.

No although Sky News was off air for a bit but Sports 24 and The Open isn’t affected so this cabin has happy passengers!👍 Fingers crossed for your shortie. QM2 is my least favourite Cunard ship and my last shortie was donkey's years ago but I could never fault the service we received and hopefully, normal excellent service will resume for you.

Devil's advocate here. If seats were taken, it must mean other passengers decided to arrive early enough to get seated. Gauge the situation and act accordingly. We knew the area would be packed, decided to have an early ish dinner ( crispy duck…the best on a Cunard ship we have ever had) and go and enjoy an evening of live music which suited our tastes. 🙂

Join our club! That’s how wheelchair passengers feel when 'we' can’t get the required seating because of inconsiderate passengers taking the seats, unless we arrive super early to guarantee the seats.

I have done four nighter 'party cruises' to Hamburg on QM2 in the past and had a great time.No problem with service at all and whilst I don’t think it’s representative of a TA experience, they were very enjoyable trips with a girl friend and others. We also had a shortie Hamburg segment on a Baltic cruise on QV last year and the atmosphere definitely changed during those few days to a more party atmosphere. Not our thing but it didn’t affect our enjoyment at all.

We spent almost two hours front row in a packed deck three ‘balcony' watching the dancers and listening first to the Amethyst Duo again and then The MacDonald Bros., again. The Queens Room Live, as it was called felt like a cosy night club and as I nipped down in the interval between the two, to see the main area, as on deck three, it was pretty well crowded too. I like the Queens Room and last night, it was utilised by a large number of passengers, as I think a main entertainment area of the ship should be.

Can I point out, she says sitting out in brilliant sunshine now, the wind whips across deck 11 so bring a fleece with you as well as sun screen.

Not sure what that means Myles other than the drinks are on you tonight! 😀

If staff know you’re up on deck, and they do patrol up there even in the damp, you’ll get service as we found out yesterday am.

It’s a wet day, more from the spray than actual rain and I cut my deck walk down for fear of slipping. It looks a bit brighter so might venture out later. Spent a hour watching a lovely foursome play Mahjong. It’s a long time since I played on a regular basis and this four did have some 'local rules' but good fun. We didn’t leave the restaurant until around 9.45 last night after a wonderful dinner involving a great Chicken Pad Thai and finishing off with Crepes Suzette. Might yet need that wheelbarrow for disembarkation!🥴

To be fair, there was some unpleasantness on QA in May from a couple of passengers who were not QG or PG and were unpleasant to deck staff. They apparently 'were informed ' their presence wasn’t wanted on deck eleven and their attitude to staff would not be tolerated.. I’m sure no slight as such was meant with the term 'policed' and just maybe that incident was where the term was generated. Edit Words can often offend when no offence was meant and it’s quite easy to take offence when no offence was meant.

Depends. We have experienced S.O. Parties at lunchtime in the Queens Room and also in the Yacht club of an evening, all on QV.

It’s obvious really, in any of the restaurants. A large table has a relatively small footprint compared with well spaced two tops so if the majority of tables are two tops, then they are going to be 'close' as opposed to being spaced.

The banquettes are non negotiable. They are static features although I think the fact some passengers are disappointed with them has been noted. There are those though, who like them so it remains to be seen what happens to them in a future refit. The QA restaurant is growing on me, as is the ship in general, apart from its size and that too, is a static feature which can’t be changed even in a future refit 🥴.

Not quite sure what you mean. On the Vistas and now, presently on QA, there are no 'set' large tables as table layouts change with the request of passengers. If more passengers request large tables, then that’s what the layout shows. If two tops are more popular, then that also is shown in the restaurant configuration.

but copious amounts of unsalted butter on a hot cheese scone is heaven

It is and may I add, I doffed and curtsied even before being 'advised' to do so! 😄

Hang in there but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with a 2 if that’s what you have booked.

I agree. There are very few 1s and 2 s and on most itineraries, they get booked out quickly. However, they do occasionally become available, as we found out last May when we bagged a 1 up from our booked 2 after being told the previous year there wasn’t a chance we’d get one as the waitlist was already, long. Not to be discouraged, I looked almost every day to see if one became available, and it did and I booked it so wait lists, mean nothing. Chance it seems, does.

We think the age profile hasn’t changed that much from our May cruise. We still feel the average age is reasonably high which goes against your impression of the last cruise. What has changed are the number of wheelchairs. Def. not as many as in May. Still can’t navigate past the casino or opposite bar without asking folk to 'move please'. Crazy pinch points.

Welcome to The Orkneys on this fine, sunny ( not) morning. Luckily for us, this is our fourth visit so know how starkly beautiful, the islands look in brilliant sunshine. Hopefully, the slight mizzle will burn off as sunny intervals are forecast. We went to the theatre last night to see a double act called The MacDonald Bros. Very disappointed to find it was a short set. Only it wasn’t! They were so brilliant, the time passed in a flash. The most talented duo I’d never heard of. The pre show blurb indicated their music was ‘from Celtic anthems to pop classics they will have you singing and clapping along from beginning to the end in this high energy show!' OK, we'll give it a whirl. Wow. What a fabulous, high energy show and what a talented pair. Apparently they were on a programme called 'The X Factor' and although they didn’t win, it gave their entertainment careers a huge boost. The theatre was packed and rightly so. When they ended the evening with Loch Lomond ( only they had an encore, obvs.) three quarters of an hour had passed in a flash. They are on again in the Queens Room in a couple of days. Our dinner will be timed around their set. If they are ever on your cruise, go see. They are fantastic.