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Back from our first cruise on the QE- we loved it !!


Vera123
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QE- 4 night cruise to Hamburg

We stayed overnight in Southampton at the Holiday Inn , with the Stay Park Cruise package. Excellent location, our room overlooked the terminal so we could see the ships arrive and leave. Only a 5 minute walk to the city centre with restaurants and bars. The transfers are included and are for a personal taxi, this was run efficiently, we only waited 5 minutes on our return to be picked up. The car is parked in the hotel car park so no-one moving your car whilst you are away. We will definitely use it again.

The check in was so easy, a porter took our cases when we got out the taxi and we went quickly through security and passport control.Although we had been given a check in time of 3pm, we took a chance and checked in as soon as we left the hotel so by 1pm we were on the ship. We took alcohol in our carry on and the suitcase, no queries.

The cabin was ready when we boarded so we made our way there to drop off our carry on bag. I was surprised at the spaciousness of the cabin,loads of storage space, lovely smelling toiletries, surprisingly the shower curtain was curved round enough not to stick when showering, the shower was powerful,balcony plenty big enough. I was surprised at the size of the large tv on the wall opposite the bed, we managed to use our USB stick to watch movies. The TV channels are minimal, a couple of movie channels, some news channels and TVChoice and BBC HD, both showing repeated ITV and BBC programmes. The cabin door is on a strong spring so slams shut every time you use it, not so good when neighbours return to their cabin late at night. Didn’t notice much noise from adjacent cabins, quiet at night.

One thing we hadn’t bargained on was the ‘enthusiasm’ of the steward. He popped up at different times, on the first night we had unfortunately blocked the ‘delicate’ toilet system and he turned up at 8pm, no knocking just came into the cabin to see if the toilet was working ok. It was and he retreated quickly. After that we discovered the ‘do not disturb/make up my room’ card and used it from then on with no problems. Another thing I noticed was when he had serviced the room, he tidied things away in drawers so we had to go hunting for them, also I had left my nighty on the bed, we returned from dinner to find it laid out on the bed in a fancy pattern ??? A bit weird I thought, after that we made sure we didn’t leave anything out.

The MDR was excellent, first class service and the food was as good as anything I’ve eaten in restaurants at home. We ate there every night,didn’t see the need to pay for the alternative dining and experience of the Lido was a typical free-for-all buffet. Although the advertised four nights were all informal, once we were on board the second night was listed as formal(optional) /informal. There was a good mix of dress every night, men usually in ties but not really any formal gowns.

We missed having hot drinks in our room, luckily kettles will be available soon which will be good. The coffee in the Lido was in my experience horrible. Don’t count on room service to bring you any either, we tried phoning and after being on hold for 15 minutes gave up. I think the coffee card is about £35 dollars which you would need to have about 10 to break even but at least you could order speciality coffees. Something we will probably use next time if the kettles haven’t arrived !

 

Didn’t use the other facilities or the shows, 4 nights is not long to get acquainted with the ship. But we definitely are converts to cruising, loved Cunard and the whole experience and looking forward to the Fjords next year !

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'Night Attire arranged out on the bed'

Welcome to the world of cruising Vera, this has always been a part of the evening 'Turn Down Service' since the golden days of Ocean Travel.;)

 

Please to hear you enjoyed your first cruise. There'll be no stopping you now, so get spending the kids inheritance.

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Good write up and very useful for us as we are on the 1st cruise with Cunard on QE 2 in 2 weeks , just a question about the fridge , is there anything supplied (water/juice) and are we charged each time its restocked etc ? .

We intend bringing on bottled water and some wine .

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Yes, everything in your stateroom fridge ( Britannia category ) will be chargeable ,including any other drinks served in the various public rooms/bars ( i.e. coffee/tea,soft drinks and alcohol)

 

For 'complimentary' drinks ( Teas/coffee, juice etc) these are available in the self service Lido, including 'Afternoon Tea' in the Queens Room each day at 3.30pm . On embarkation you'll find a 'complimentary half bottle of sparkling wine' in your stateroom.

 

Enjoy ;)

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Originally posted by Bell Boy
On embarkation you'll find a 'complimentary half bottle of sparkling wine' in your stateroom.

If you are lucky !

 

If your luck's out then you will have a full bottle !

 

 

Should be a like button. :D

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For anyone who is confused with the above posts... A half bottle of Sparking Wine ( Pol Acker) is provided in every stateroom for those who are travelling for the first time with Cunard. 'Returning Guests' (who automatically become members of the Cunard World Club) will be offered a full bottle.

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If you are lucky !

 

If your luck's out then you will have a full bottle !

 

On our last voyage we were treated to two full bottles of Pol Acker. One was from the ship and the other indicated it was from the Cunard World Club. Such is the benefit of loyalty:).

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On our last voyage we were treated to two full bottles of Pol Acker. One was from the ship and the other indicated it was from the Cunard World Club. Such is the benefit of loyalty:).

 

 

Sounds like you were in Britannia Club then, as this is part of the extra amenities :')

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Sounds like you were in Britannia Club then, as this is part of the extra amenities :')

 

Thanks, that may explain it. I also recall getting two bottles of P.A. in Princess Grill. We did manage to drink one over two days, but the second one is always left behind. Our next two voyages (back to back booked separately) are in Britannia, so I expect to get only one bottle per segment. There are benefits to being cheap:).

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  • 5 months later...

VERA---Only " down side " to cruising with Cunard... is that you'll never want anything else... :-) My first CUNARD was QE about 2 yrs. ago, for 1/2 the world cruise, and I became an instant convert. Have since done QM2, T/A and QV earlier this year for 1/2 a world cruise. They just keep getting better and better. Hope to see you on one of the Q's.

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No, not until her refurbishment in 2018

 

https://ask.cunard.com/help/fleet/tea_coffee

 

I just got off the QE on Monday and would just like to say that the QE does now have kettles plus the usual coffee, tea, milk sachets & biscuits. I wasn't expecting that yet. :)

 

Thanks for the update. One thing to scratch from the QE 2018 refit schedule then. As some of you may recall, I started a thread a couple months ago to discuss QE's 2018 refit just in case anyone had heard anything about what might be planned for that refit. We now know supplying the staterooms with kettles won't be part of that effort then (not that it really needed to be done during a refit anyway).

 

Regards, John

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Thanks for the update. One thing to scratch from the QE 2018 refit schedule then. As some of you may recall, I started a thread a couple months ago to discuss QE's 2018 refit just in case anyone had heard anything about what might be planned for that refit. We now know supplying the staterooms with kettles won't be part of that effort then (not that it really needed to be done during a refit anyway).

 

Regards, John

 

We also had a coffee machine fitted in our suite on the day we were in Madeira and they were doing a rolling day by day fitting them during the cruise.

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Thanks for the update. One thing to scratch from the QE 2018 refit schedule then. As some of you may recall, I started a thread a couple months ago to discuss QE's 2018 refit just in case anyone had heard anything about what might be planned for that refit. We now know supplying the staterooms with kettles won't be part of that effort then (not that it really needed to be done during a refit anyway).

Some quite significant but invisible stuff happens outside of refits, e.g. a friend has spent most of this year installing a new computer system across Carnival UK's ships which has involved spending days or the occasional week at sea, including a TA on QM2. Much to the annoyance of his wife: although he's had passenger status he's only ever been guaranteed a crew/staff cabin so she hasn't been able to join him on the cheap, despite his getting a passenger cabin every time he's been aboard.

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Thanks for the update. One thing to scratch from the QE 2018 refit schedule then. As some of you may recall, I started a thread a couple months ago to discuss QE's 2018 refit just in case anyone had heard anything about what might be planned for that refit. We now know supplying the staterooms with kettles won't be part of that effort then (not that it really needed to be done during a refit anyway).

 

Regards, John

 

Do we know when the refit is happening? We're sailing 1st October, and wondering if that's before or after the refit!

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Do we know when the refit is happening? We're sailing 1st October, and wondering if that's before or after the refit!

 

There is a break in QE's 2018 schedule between November 14 and November 30, 2018. That appears to me to be when Cunard is probably planning for QE's upcoming 2018 refit to occur.

 

Regards, John

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