Victoria2

Joy had already been proactive in putting signage up and she was visible walking around the deck. QV had non Grills guests sneaking onto the decks so this is nothing new and once staff gets to grips and 'handle' the access, I don't foresee the problem some think it is.

To be very fair, I only knew of one non Grill group, once, and staff knew who they were. Staff are very aware of the potential problem [apparently it's been flagged up by passengers] and I don't think it will be an issue, any more than it is on QV as long as it's 'dealt' with. So, no worries.

Plus points The Staff. Every single person [well most,we had an issue with assistance but that was a personal issue and not applicable to others] we interacted with was lovely, from deck hands to senior officers. Didn't bother to meet the Captain but I'm assured she's lovely too. The food. Great in the QG restaurant although my husband said some of his meals should have been hotter. QG restaurant Great if you're in certain areas...we were and had a marvellous table. Amazingly, the ['armless'] chairs are very comfortable. Didn't bother to ask for one with trad armrests. Our cabin Smaller than its equivalents on the Vistas but it would be churlish of me to 'moan' on that score. The Theatre Great line of sight and good acoustics The ship Vivid colour schemes grow on you. Lots of areas to sit and the chairs aren't as bad as I had imagined. The Pavilion screen is a great addition of an evening. All in all, not bad. The Library Great selection of new books and very current publications. Deck 11 The Grills sundeck will be great when the weather is set fair Passengers So helpful to the point of exiting lifts to allow a wheelchair in and 'holding' lifts for the less able Artisan Food Hall or The Lido as we called it Sneeze shields and mostly served; excellent hot food selections; plenty of seating Negatives The ship. Some ridicules pinch points for general passenger movements never mind for wheelchairs.Corridors seemed narrower and very difficult/impossible to get through if service carts are outside cabins. Goodness knows how bariatric chairs will cope The lifts I could bang on about for ages but I'll just say size, speed of door closures, too small, over used by staff em/debarking and that will do as I think the gist has been spelt out many times now. My husband likened the ship to a show house where smaller furniture is used to make the rooms look bigger. He reckons the corridors are narrower than the Vistas and the ceilings generally around the ship, are lower. The Library Five books per passenger on a 3000 passenger ship? Purleeeeze...daft The Grills deck Staff are already aware non Grills passengers are using deck 11. They are looking into it. There are rules governing the deck eg reserving loungers, no bottles in the hot tub etc. Well there's no use having rules if staff aren't there to implement them. No use and not fair asking deck hands to confront passengers especially rude ones and yes, there were some unpleasant characters [not Grills guests in this instance] onboard. I can categorically say, that is definitely in hand and on a 'to do' list. The Theatre Not enough wheelchair spaces and not enough signage to say 'reserved for wheelchair users and their companions although this is a very personal observation and won't be applicable to the vast majority of passengers. Passengers For the first time, I witnessed really unpleasant interactions from two passengers who swore at staff for what turned out to be really minor issues. One had an absolute tantrum and really showed himself up Artisan Food Hall or the Lido as we called it Not enough staff, poor selection of cold salads, menu selection too small to read until you were on top of them so might have been queuing for nothing. There are going to be a few changes implemented so it will be interesting to compare for our next trip in later this year. QG restaurant Great in areas, not so in others although the banquette folk seemed to be coping but I'll leave that to my fellow Griller, exlondoner ................................ So that's it folks. A very quick resume. We booked thinking after a couple of months, the ship will have settled down. Well it hasn't, quite. For all intents and services, this was a longer shakedown cruise. There are definite areas which need addressing [sadly, the lift doors situation will not be changing] but to be fair, most issues are being looked at. What I can't emphasise enough is how wonderful [with an exception surrounding an issue we had which was resolved by the wonderful, amazing Grills concierge- the best and most proactive, Joy] the staff are. They are aware 'things' need to settle and are doing their damndest to look after passengers Main gripe for me? Five library books per passenger makes for very depleted library shelves! Go back to two please😀 Edit. Would we choose QA over The Vistas? Not a chance but like hundreds of others, we have no choice if we wish to avoid Mary and continue to cruise with Cunard at the moment. Is QA as bad as we were worried about? No. She's OK which is good as we have cruises into '26 booked on her.

Not too easy when you thought you'd recovered enough to go for a walk with some sticks in a bag on your back and 'you' fall over when retrieving your golf ball when you eventually manage to hole it. 'Drunk' at 10am on the golf course! Not a good look at the Golf Club! ☺️

The Princess Royal is regal. Definitely can't say the same for Cunard's Annie. 🙂

Same results tho'!😁 I have Labyrinthitis occasionally. I call it 'The Whirly Pits'. Same experience there too but without any of the pluses!🥴

Oh it did move on the return BoB if 'you' are in a wheelchair. If you have legs, sea or not with which to steady yourself, not an issue.

Sometimes staff can be aware portions are a little light and will double up with pleasure. No problem at all. I had two Tom Yam soups for lunch one day. Sweated for it at the time but so delicious I did an Oliver Twist!

I KNOW a 'blind eye' will be turned for croc wearers if those would be the only shoes for instance which could be worn. If eyes can be turned on Mary, then they definitely can on her sisters so casual/swollen feet shoes will not be an issue and quite frankly, if it became one, I'd say the polite equivalent of 'go take a hike'!

Thoughts so far from a devoted and loyal Cunard passenger. Negatives, Washers: being about twenty five yards down the corridor gave me the perfect opportunity to use them. How useful was that! Gave us a couple of bottles of wine instead of laundry charges! Always a plus. The washers are digital, sensitive little souls and go technical at the slightest issue but luckily, staff are very quick to administer to their [the washers not the technicians] diva like personas. I suggested it would help if a quick pictorial chart was on the wall so folk could see which programme would be for the best i.e. quick wash of 26 mins is all that's needed for most, not a 50 min heavy duty wash but which programme does one pick for that? I gave tutorials to quite a few men...yes, men. Ladies didn't seem to be in charge of laundry duty on Annie. A+ for the machines and speed of fixing but C- for the diva temperaments. corridors and service carts. I am thinking of borrowing a trike horn for our next cruise. Either the corridors are narrower than QV or the carts bigger, I'm not sure but it became a game if the lovely little room attendant on our stretch of cabins [not ours]was working as to me going 'beep beep' and she smiled and moved her cart half way into the cabin to allow us to pass. C- there Cunard but A+ for the way staff helped. Lifts...nightmare both em/debarking and then door closure speed never mind the 18 people [that's stacked babies by the way 😁] it's supposed to be able to handle. No more need to be said other than not well planned at all Cunard. Huge minus there. E- Embarkation, a doddle but that's from a different perspective from nearly everyone else so can't really give a true perspective. Same for disembarkation. There was chaos on deck 2 but due to [admin?] errors, our disembarkation procedure was taken over by a staff member and we 'sailed' off with no problem. We seemed to be late docking but I have no idea why such chaos but it was interesting to see at 8.20am, baggage handlers were working in an empty space which would normally be filled with bags even at our priority timed slot. Again, not an issue for us but Cunard are going to have to up their game re Annie's baggage delivery both em/debarking. Not good enough at all. Another even 'huger' minus F- Edit Pinch points around the ship for all passengers, never mind wheelchair users/the mobility challenged but a HUGE one by the casino and the opposite bar. Definitely a D- there for the ship designers.

In reply to wheelchair accommodation, I agree the signage could and should be more prominent but that will never account for the 'walking well' who will ignore any sign, prominent or not. A bit like those who take up a parking spot but don;t have a blue badge but I have a caveat to wheelchair spots. We learnt years ago if you can't sort the the system, then the only way is to beat it and right or wrong, that means turning up early and figuratively putting your towel down on your spot but staying there too. Not easy at all on Annie for those on fixed dining when the service can be slow I know but turning up at 10.10pm for a 10.15pm start and expecting a wheelchair spot in the theatre is just not going to be a runner. The vast majority of the world are not in wheelchairs and percentage wise, right or wrong, that's what's catered for. Twice I had black looks from walking stickers as I was sat right at the back with my husband, in a designated spot and ignored unspoken pleas for my seat so they had to walk down steps. Sorry mate. Do your homework and enter on the second deck so no steps. So saying, I will be interested in any thoughts on number of mobility challenged passengers on the third QA cruise because statistically, there was a large number on the second. I do have some thoughts on overall wheelchair navigation logistics on Annie though and they are not particularly positive in comparison to my beloved Victoria.

Not in our experience over the last two weeks although most of our coffee was taken after dinner in the restaurant or on the sun [ a relatively misnamed area there if ever there was one on Annie's second cruise] deck.

A piece of post cruise good news from me After copious amounts [for me] of wine; being almost force-fed those gorgeous little round choc petit fours - the ones with truffly interior [take some more?-oh go on then, I'll have some with my morning coffee]; fries with an awful lot of meals and basically, foods I wouldn't normally eat, I have put on precisely...one lb!! Queen Anne worked miracles...sort of although I actually think regularly yomping the length of the ship in the wrong direction and having to yomp back had a lot to do with it.😀

Similar happened two weeks ago.

We had a potential issue but it was resolved by the wonderful Concierge , Joy. For the very first time, we saw a controlled announcing of tags, at the gangway in order to disembark. Sensible as baggage unloading did seem to be very slow and those who might in the past have got off but with no bags ready to collect, caused a bottle neck, couldn’t do so. Speaking from an early disembarkation procedure, * only ten mins later than given* we saw a controlled exit. I can imagine tempers might have got a bit frayed at any long waits.

Without going into any detail, if you are mobility challenged and have requested disabled disembarkation, don’t make the assumption 2+2 equals 4. Go and check you’re on the list, preferably a few days into the cruise.

I have all sauces on the side and no salad dressing at all but the reference was to pre prepared or table mixed dressing so should have added 'dressing' after Caesar.🙂 Thanks for clarifying.

I will also do a summery but it will be from two perspectives, mine and my husband and we don’t necessarily have the same opinions on all things.

It’s those who claimed assistance to beat the system which is what my comment was aimed at and which was taken affront at. I hope you won’t need assistance as that would mean your back was playing up, but it will be there if you need it. I had a dodgy knee which is no longer dodgy. I still don’t go down stairs if I can help it but can climb up with no issue so understand those who need assistance for an unseen problem. Interestingly, assistance will be very busy tomorrow as there are a lot, in comparison to our other cruises, of obvious seriously mobility compromised passengers, never mind the less obvious.

To imply you have been judged harshly by me is very unfair. There was nothing in my post which would refer to your condition. A few turns around the dance floor is miles apart from dancing the night away, the phrase I used, and what we have encountered. Add overhearing a conversation at least twice where one who required assistance was advising and boasting to others how to skip both embarkation and debarkation queues by asking for assistance, and dancing the night away has even more meaning and quite frankly, I am delighted with the new assistance protocols as the walking well will think twice about asking for assistance when it’s not needed especially as assistance is now timed with allotted time rather than any priority.

Sorry. I assumed you were in a 2, which is what the photos are of. I wouldn’t have posted them if they weren’t of use. We are in a1 next year, probably before your cruise so if no one has helped before then, I hopefully, I can help a bit.

Sorry some of the photos are taken at odd angles. Don’t 'do' I woz 'ere photos so difficult to take without getting any reflection in. Try these The first is the guest/ second 'bathroom', no bath but with a very decent shower. The second shows the pocket door lobby to bedroom the third is a dreadful photo of the bath fourth shows the loo alcove in the ensuite fifth is bedroom sixth lobby to bedroom hope I’ve not done overkill

Very low lighting in order to avoid blinding sleepyheads. 🙂 There is an even lower light by the beds, but not tried that one.

Edit Trying to show areas not available online already. The secondary 'room' has pocket doors to make it private for a bedroom, and the main bedroom also has pocket door between the lobby and the room. Gives extra space.

You can ask for a salad, Caesar or not from the kitchen with any fixings/ ingredients of your choice. If N E John wants specific dressing on kitchen prepared salads, it might be a good idea to bring his own. If the salad is prepared as a special, ie tableside ( and I have seen this done) then the dressing will also be table side prepared.