david,Mississauga

I know we Brits are used to paying through the nose which is why I often book European cruises through American travel agents where the price can be half that being charged in the UK (in addition to free pre-paid gratuities and/or OBC).

 

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That is not always the case. Cunard usually charges US and Canadian residents a significant amount more than UK residents for European cruises. This is particularly painful because we also have the expense of getting to and from England, of course. Carnival prohibits those of us on this side of the pond from booking through UK agencies. (If my father, as opposed to my mother, had been born in the UK I could get a UK passport and get around this. Also, I have relatives in England, with whom I could "reside"). For a few years I have wanted to take a Cunard cruise to Norway, but the fares for a one-week cruise were approximately 40% higher than what we pay for an Atlantic crossing of the same length, and I can't justify that. Fortunately, for this year there was a sale for Princess and Queen's Grill that reduced the fare to a similar level as we usually pay on the crossings. Even with the sale, we still paid more than the UK rates, but it wasn't too bad. Getaway fares were even lower, of course, but there's no such thing over here. We enjoyed the cruise immensely and were pleased we could do it at a reasonable fare - and didn't mention fares to any of the many people we met on board. But next year it's back to the Atlantic crossings.

I'm sure afternoon tea won't be as good on the HMS Queen Elizabeth as on the Queen Elizabeth.

A while back there was a television show about the Royal Navy shown on Canadian TV. The meal in the officer's wardroom was quite elegant, with fine china and gleaming silver. I can't recall if the stewards were wearing white gloves, though, even though this is the equivalent of the Grills Lounge. I suspect the vast majority of the people on HMS Queen Elizabeth will not be taking tea with the elegant ambience that the majority of those on MV Queen Elizabeth do!

... The France had the largest and the best Tourist Class and the smallest First Class ...

This comment encouraged me to look up my souvenirs of my 1973 crossing on the France. We were in Tourist Class, which for the US and Canadian market had just been re-named "Left Bank" - similar to Cunard's re-naming of Tourist as "Transatlantic Class". Even though the huge deck-plan gave a lot of information, there was no breakdown as to the number of passengers carried in each class. So I refer to William Miller's book "Transatlantic Liners 1945 to 1980" which Indicates 501 in First and 1443 in Tourist.

The smallest First Class that I personally travelled in was in Polish Ocean Line's 15,000 ton Stefan Batory which carried a maximum of 39 in 15 cabins (with 734 squashed in tiny Tourist cabins.)

For each of the previous four years we have taken an eastbound Transatlantic in the month of May. On only one day of the 26 days in total was there any significant movement and that wasn't really much at all. We did take a precautionary tablet and the "sick bags" were out in public areas, but I would call it moderate pitching. It would have been quite rough on a lesser ship. On one crossing it rained a lot - but certainly not all the time - and on one crossing there wasn't a single drop, at least not whilst I was awake to see it. It was normally on the cool side, but never too cold for us to sit on the balcony or enjoy a brisk walk (maybe that's a Canadian thing!) New York was hot and humid on the day of our departure last May, and this unpleasant (to us) weather continued for the first full day at sea. Fortunately it rapidly cooled so we could go outside.

Until 2011 Cunard offered a complimentary anniversary package - on request. It was noted only on the UK site, but those of us on the "wrong side of the pond" could have it - assuming we found out about it - by sending an e-mail to the Valencia, California, office. Cunard required proof of the wedding date, so we sent a copy of the marriage certificate. You didn't have to be on board on the actual anniversary. They were fairly generous - a month, maybe two, on either side was acceptable.

We had this twice on QM2: May of 2010 and 2011. We received a bottle of California bubbly (which tasted much better than the you-know-what from France), a half dozen roses, a box of chocolates, a certificate from the captain and a voucher for one free "formal portrait", although it could be used for any photo you wished. A cake was also presented in the restaurant. One of the certificates from the captain said: "Thank you for deciding to celebrate your aniversary with Cunard."

Now you have to pay for any of these things.

On my last crossing in QG (2011) there was a woman at our table who ordered caviar at every dinner. When she finally asked me why I never requested any, I replied that I couldn't stand the stuff. She then admitted it wasn't real caviar and asked the Maitre d' Osman, who confirmed that it was "plain roe." I told our table-mate that I had once sampled Beluga caviar on the QE2 at least 30 years ago and she almost swooned. In fariness to Cunard, it is my understanding that Beluga isn't readily available.

Is it possible that this cheap substitute to the real thing is acceptable? Is it of reasonable quality like some Champagne substitutes? - and I mean Cava not Pol Acker.

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Let's wait and see just what caught on fire. With the rough weather, one has to wonder if this contributed to the accident, perhaps dislodging equipment or lagging. It seems very odd that the gas turbines themselves were in use since the line has readily admitted they only use them when additional speed (using costly marine gas is used) is needed or one of the other diesels is down for maintenance.

 

Ken

Until "lemon tree" posted from the ship I thought there was a lot of unnecessary speculation on this thread and I was reminded of the 1939 saying, attributed to our King: "Keep calm and carry on."

... I find elegant casual to be tiresome, it's my least favourite of all the dress codes.

 

I do believe it would be simpler to make every night a formal night; with the exception of the first and last nights of a voyage.

The "dress codes" were simpler when my wife and I started travelling by sea in the 1970s. On the ships we travelled there was no dress code published. Passengers were expected to know the traditions of the sea. Travel agents would provide guidance and as well there were discreet hints in some of the daily programmes. Of course in those days it was not yet fashionable to dress like a slob in fine restaurants, so there was no need to agonise over details of dress.

On liner voyages there were usually First and Tourist classes. (I don't want to offend our neighbours in the U.S., but I am amused when I read occasional comments from Americans on this forum slamming British ships - and sometimes the UK itself - for a "class system." At the time when the Cunard Queens had been reduced to two classes, the S.S. United States maintained three distinct classes.) In First you dressed every night except the first and last and any night in port. On the longer liner voyages, often referred to as the "Empire runs" - on P&O and Union-Castle, for example - Sundays would also be a non-formal night. But a gentleman always wore a jacket and tie on these non-formal nights. There was no such thing as elegant-casual or smart-casual. In Tourist class on most liners, men wore jackets and ties every night on Cunard, P&O and Union-Castle. There were some lines where more casual wear was the norm. But people didn't fret about it. It was just understood. Yes, it was a simpler era. Because I did not normally dress formally on land, I bought my first dinner jacket for my first First-class ocean crossing nearly 40 years ago.

The policy, as I understand it, is that any bottle not ordered in the restaurant is subject to a $15 corkage charge. I presume the reasoning is not to encourage people to bring wine on board - or at least to retain some revenue.

I always take a bottle of Eiswein on board, or at least I have since they discontinued it, but have never been charged. I would have thought that for a passenger who normally ordered wine then an element of discretion should be employed - it certainly has always been for me.

 

 

On our QE2 crossing last year a friend and our travel agent each sent us a bottle of Champagne, both of which were delivered to the stateroom. I asked our wine steward if we could have one at dinner one night and he said that would be no problem. We were asked to bring it in at lunch so it could be chilled in time for dinner. There was no corkage fee for this and I wasn't asked to prove that it had been purchased from Cunard. At one time Champagne gifts from travel agents were always served in the dining room ( at least from our experience on Cunard, P&O, Union-Castle, Holland America) but I'm pleased that discretion was shown. I hope to have the same luck on the Queen Mary 2 in a few months.

How can you be so cheap? Think about it $11/day (or $13 for those of us in the Grills) is hardly a sufficient gratuity for all those dining room and cabin staff that make your voyage so enjoyable. Above and beyond the automatic tip we typically give $10/day for our cabin steward and for our waiter with additional gratuities to the butler, bus boy, head waiter and even the maitre d. If you want to stick to the automatic tip that is fine but don't expect the rest of us to follow in your footsteps.

 

 

I think we are off to the races again...How long (minutes/hours or days until we are on page 2 of this thread?)

Unless a passenger is an experienced cruiser, how would one know that many others tip in addition to the "charged to your account tips" and the 15% tip added to drinks purchases? Cunard tells you that a per day per passenger amount is added to your account and that is to cover tips.

Having said that, being experienced with Cunard and as a result of what I have read on this forum, we did tip a modest extra amount to our cabin and dining room staff on our last crossing which was our first voyage since the new tipping policy commenced. But I suggest most passengers wouldn't expect to do that.

In 1972 we took a Vancouver to Alaska cruise aboard Canadian Pacific's Princess Patricia. This small steamship was originally a ferry boat circa 1948, but quite a luxurious one. CPR ferries of that era had teak decks, much wood panelling, lots of cabins - even deluxe ones - and a gorgeous dining room. When converted in the early 1960s to a cruise ship, the car deck was replaced by more cabins but not much else had to be rebuilt. That year, there were only three cruise ships going to Alaska: in addition to the Princess Patricia, there was Canadian National's Prince George and P&O's Oronsay.

In 1972 we took a Vancouver to Alaska cruise aboard Canadian Pacific's Princess Patricia. This small steamship was originally a ferry boat circa 1948, but quite a luxurious one. CPR ferries of that era had teak decks, much wood panelling, lots of cabins - even deluxe ones - and a gorgeous dining room. When converted in the early 1960s to a cruise ship, the car deck was replaced by more cabins but not much else had to be rebuilt. That year, there were only three cruise ships going to Alaska: in addition to the Princess Patricia, there was Canadian National's Prince George and P&O's Oronsay.