ajpeter

On the way to pattaya there is a splendid wooden temple with fantastic woodcarving not to be missed.

I hope some of you have noticed that I avoided dropping names. Everybody can have a bad day and I am not the one bringing anybody into thouble for that.

Yes it was a four day cruise.

And conserning the Staff shortage. Our friends haven't seen their butler for the full 4 days. They ordered ice and extra glasses as we wanted to have cocktails in the suite together, never a reply. Then there was a phone call with the message: sorry I have to tend 80 guest at this time instead of the usual 20, so I cannot come. They never blamed the butler but sure had a talk with management.

And to make things clear; we really wanted to like this cruise and we are happy and loyal cruisers with two other lines and had absolutely been looking forward to booking a longer cruise.

Dear All,

I was expecting some contradiction to my writings, I have no problem with that what so ever!

@BigMac1953 you said: don't know why you think that you wre entitled to a window seat especially as this was your first trip in QG on QV. Higher grades get priority, then regulars who are well known.

So then this means 'we are all family' is not true, there is hierarchy within QG. But to correct you, I politely asked for a window table, i didn't commened it.

This short cruise was a getting to know Cunard and especially the Queen Victoria, with its white glove service, the queens grill restaurant and the queen level cabins. Would we like spending a longer time on her, like half a world cruise?

I'll start with the pros:

The food was of good quality and taste.

Liked the Queens Room and the ballroom dancing.

It is a bigger ship then we are used to, which gives multiple places to go to.

The daily programm gives an extensive choice of entertainment and activities.

good size balcony with nice,comfortable furniture

then the cons:

Service in the queens grill restaurant is inconsisted and at times unprofessional.

The Penthouse suite has an idiotic lay-out with a triangle bathroom jutting into the suite which gives it a cramped feeling instead of a spacious feeling a higher level cabin should have. One keeps unavoidably bumping into doors and corners.

One get's a fixed table for the whole duration of the cruise. A request for a window table was answered with NO, not possible.

On one evening I hadn't pre ordered my choice of food. Very politely I asked the maitre d' if I could maybe have one of the meat dishes from the special menu if any was left. The answer I got was: '...are you taking the mickey out of me !', I was so shocked I asked again. He went to ask the kitchen and came back with the following: there is chateau briand left, but it might take until midnight untill you get it ! Even the people sitting at the tables around us nearly fell of there seats. How inappropriate.

The ship is definitely understaffed.

Post covid times in all hospitality places are a struggle, I am well aware of that. But if you ask top prices you should make sure you can handle the demand to a good standard. Queens Grill level isn't cheap and one should expect first class service, experienced staff, good sized and comfortable cabins and that little bit of extra that makes a travel experience great.

To sum it up; no, we cannot imagine to be on the Queen Victoria for a longer period of time like the half of the world cruise we had in mind. We might consider an atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary2 in the future.

Wishing all of you happy sailings

This will be our first on cunard. Yes, we know about the class system when it comes to restaurants/Grills. But then even have class hierarchie within one restaurant is somewhat sad. Or should we be happy/lucky to have booked a Q3 and therefor a 'better' table. Well i guess at least we all get the same quality of food.

Happy cruising to all

9 hours ago, DaisyUK said:

Great, thank you. We will be in 7150. Will be following along vicariously and looking forward to your reports/comments.

 

That is a wonderful suite you choose. Have fun and enjoy. When are you sailing? we are leaving on the 3th of August in cabin 7051

absolutely wonderful report and pictures. Can you tell the name of the Lodge you stayed at, quite sensational. Thank you!

Thank you. 👍

slightly off topic.....

If the Grills restaurents open at 1.00 or 1.30 pm what is the earliest check-in/boarding time for Q class?

thank you

We were on the cruise which Mauzac, hi Helen, was on too. Had a fantastic white water rafting in Limon. Loved the Locks(agua clara) and Kayak in Panama. And a superb excursion in guatamala to the Ak'Tenamit, which Mauzac also mentioned. Missed the excusion in Belize because the tender was delayed, not good, but Seabourn handled it well. And there was a seabourn person there, chris, to help us.

We used the Retreat for the first time and had two pleasant days there, quiet and relaxed.

We did this trip to relax and enjoy warm weather, not for a port intensive journe . And .... our glasses are always more then half full .... never empty.

Happy sailings

..... and if you want to be really naughty you have sushi/bento for starters, then a cocktail at the thomas keller bar from where you move on to a restaurant of your preference for the main dish ....

All is possible on Seabourn!

just re-checked the masks provided in our suite, they are KN95.

i do not think the Ovation can have 700+ people !!! as I wrote before there are 406 on board right now. We definitely became PPF2 masks in our room, no cloth. 

Good morning to all,

Check in was stressful for us; we waited in line for more then half an hour to get the test done(i am not aware of any other cruiselines then ours in the terminal!?!) they said it would take 16 minutes....after 35 and getting seriously nervous we walked up to the table were our test were just laying around and forgotten......but negativ......hurrah.....and we boarded. another couple who stood in line with us was denied after test and pcr, now you do not want that. So yes, everyone gets tested. A good thing because many on board passengers are not very correct in wearing masks and social distancing. The crew is fantastic, which cannot be said often enough. There are 406 passengers on board.

A quick lunch outside, temperatures chilly for miami. No notification of changes or cancelations.

Great to be on board!

I  am nor sure why, but i have been turning left entering airplains. It always came out right and quite comfy

I was hoping someone on board has a little information about the covid situation onboard. How was embarkation, how many are on board and which ports are cancelled/changed. We are boarding in Miami on the 30th.

Thank you so much!

1 hour ago, Hobar said:

https://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/17278/2021-12-30/quarantined-crisis-pr-pro-gives-seabourn-high-marks-for-handling.html

I am completely impressed with the positivity, the understanding and the handling of this gentlemans' quarantine. And he is a good writer too ....!!!

Thanks for posting the link, Hobar

@Hobar,

How did your husband experience his 10 day quarantine? fdnycruiser reported his time in confinement as quite horrible and with unsufficient medical support!

Dear fellow travellers,

We are on the January 30th sailing on the Ovation. After some disturbing posts here from the ovation, the quarantine rules and 'fellow not-wearing-masks passengers' on the new years sailing miami to LA, I hope someone is able to do posts from the next sailing. Please let us know how the situation on the ship is now.

We are way past the 30 day rule of cancelation, which means we lose the total amount of the cruise, the international long distance flight and the miami hotel if we decide not to continue.

I truely hope your sailing will be smooth en delightful and you can give me reassurance.

Thank you.

Dear Hobar, how are you doing? have your further tests been negative and is your husband doing okay  all alone in his quarantine? Hope there is some way of enjoying the days at sea and you keeping your positiv vibes flowing.

Peter

Dear Grandma,

With interest I am following your travel. Thank you for taking the time to jot down your experiences.  We will be on our first Azamara cruise in january from Capetown.

We have just done this route last week; Singapore to Hongkong. In Sihanoukville we took the shuttle into town, yes it was terrible and the market was dirty and smelly, but also fascinating if you like authentic local. The pictures shown above by SKP946 make the place look nice, so imagine. We then took the other shuttle to the beach which is very bohemian and has a surten charm, but you have to have a liking for this, nothing like white stretched beaches and luxurious sunbeds. The locals hassle you for massages (which were actually very gut, for 5 us $) and trinklets, but we found it had a lovely charm to it.

We didn't like Pattaya a bit,  to be true, awful is the better word for it. The Sanctuary of Truth was impressiv and we loved the woodcarving of the temple, it is touristy ofcourse, but then again...we are tourist too. We took a local taxi for the day from outside the port. Easy.

Thank you for your thorough travelexperience of peru. Your blog is fantastic.

Dear Stickman, thank you for your wonderful postings. We will be on the bigger ship for the first time in january. Your detailed exploration of the Encore, and the comparising to the other high end cruiselines, gives us an excellent impression of what is to come for us when boarding in a few weeks.

Happy sailings

Thank you flaming Juni for the lovely stories from onboard Sojourn.

I also would like to thank Frantic for the tip on the Atlas Bar, looks fabulous. We will also be in Singapore before boarding the Ovation in January. What date do you board? We will be on from January 19.