No Chart Room on the Queen Elizabeth?

[GRHinPorts]

First of all let me apologise if there is a relevant thread on this out there somewhere already. I had assumed there would be so did a thorough search and can find nothing.

 

Anyway looking at the deck plans for the new Queen Elizabeth it appears that she will have a "Britannia Club" as per the Queen Mary. This is great since I went Club on the QM2 in 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Andmy next cruise in 2011, on the new QE, will be in Britannia Club. However I notice that on the Queen Elizabeth the space given over to this is the exact space that on the Queen Victoria is the Chart Room. The QV and the new ship both are pretty similar apart from this interchange between the Chart Room / Britannia Club.

 

The only reason I ask is that my experience on the QV is that pre-dinner bar space is at an absolute premium. Both the Commodore Club (with those who like the ocean views) and the Chart Room (with those who like to be close to the dining room) are very popular and getting somewhere to sit can be difficult. If there isnt going to be a Chart Room on the new QE then surely this problem is going to become horribly exacebated.

 

Maybe I am just missing something really obvious and the shortage of bar space doesnt really exist. Otherwise it seems odd that Cunard would do away with an area that has a high lucrative value to them through the sale of drinks.

[bluemarble]

This link might help clear things up:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3617

 

Here is the statement from this post which is relevent to your question:

 

Guests in the top Britannia grade cabins, meanwhile, will eat in the Britannia Club, their own restaurant, with single seating dining. This entirely separate space is a first for Cunard; on Queen Victoria, it's where the Chart Room is located. To make up for the lack of a Chart Room, Queen Elizabeth will have a Midships Bar, like the two original Queen Elizabeths.

[RobertGraves]

To make up for the lack of a Chart Room, Queen Elizabeth will have a Midships Bar, like the two original Queen Elizabeths.

 

Well, looking at the plans the Midships Bar (which already exists on QV and has the same size with that on QE) looks rather small to accommodate the same number of passengers as the Chart Room.

 

Perhaps they should create a bar at the Queen's Arcade, next to the Queen's Room. That, together with the Midship's Bar, could provide enough pre-dinner bar space.

 

There is always trouble with pre-dinner bar space, both on QM2 and QV.

[Lanky Lad]

It's a shame as I really like the Chart Room on QV.

 

I am also worried about the long passage from the grand lobby to the Britannia, I hope they come up with something good to stop it just being a long dark passage.

[bluemarble]

Well, looking at the plans the Midships Bar (which already exists on QV and has the same size with that on QE) looks rather small to accommodate the same number of passengers as the Chart Room.

 

Perhaps they should create a bar at the Queen's Arcade, next to the Queen's Room. That, together with the Midship's Bar, could provide enough pre-dinner bar space.

 

There is always trouble with pre-dinner bar space, both on QM2 and QV.

 

I now see your point and that of the OP as well. I don't think the article I quoted above actually helped to clear up much after all.

 

Since QV already has a Midships Bar (in addition to the Chart Room), having a Midships Bar on QE hardly seems to "make up for the lack of a Chart Room". Maybe when comparing QE to QM2, but not QE to QV.

[Savoia]

It's a shame as I really like the Chart Room on QV.

 

I am also worried about the long passage from the grand lobby to the Britannia, I hope they come up with something good to stop it just being a long dark passage.

 

Does anyone know the logic behind why P&O/Princess has not expanded this space if it is so much in demand? They created these spaces..one would think they would have been in the loop on the need for space.

[Rotterdam]

On both QE2 & QM2 I enjoyed many a cocktail in this area....what a shame!!!

[guernseyguy]

Does anyone know the logic behind why P&O/Princess has not expanded this space if it is so much in demand?

 

Apart from the pre-dinner rushes I wonder how much demand there is at other times of day? On my crossing while Cafe Carinthia and the Golden Lion seemed to enjoy a steady trade day-long, the Chart Room seemed quiet apart from the pre-post dinner scrum......

[cunardfanatic]

Does anyone know the logic behind why P&O/Princess has not expanded this space if it is so much in demand?

 

i think its been thought throungh in a good business way if you look from there point yes its is inconvinient for us a passengers but if the line/ships were to stay the same people wouldnt travel because it would get boring i wonder it they will have an equivelent of the queens room for britannia guests at the blank space on deck 2 near to the restrooms near club dining who knows? but thats the problen with these vista not enought space bring back QE2!

[guernseyguy]

the problen with these vista not enought space bring back QE2!

 

Space ratio (tonnes/pax)

 

QE2: 37

QV: 45

 

In other words, about 20% more space per passenger than on QE2.....

[carlmm]

Space ratio (tonnes/pax)

 

QE2: 37

QV: 45

 

In other words, about 20% more space per passenger than on QE2.....

 

Yet, this is not correct anymore if one talks about public spaces. Cabins are much bigger on the QV than they are on the the QE2 and this private areas take a vast amount of space.

Of course it would require a detailed knowledge of the construction plans to know the public-space-only numbers for the ships, yet at least it appears like there was much more space available to the general public on the QE2.

The QE2 accomodated almost half of the passengers in single seating restaurants.

The Chartroom and the Chrystal Bar offered large rooms for pre and post dinner cocktails. (Even on the QM2 there is a shortage of room for nice cocktails.)

The Queen's Room offered ample space all day long.

The Yacht Club - well I probably do not need to get into comparison on this one.

etc.

[guernseyguy]

it appears like there was much more space available to the general public on the QE2.

 

Yes, QV cabins are a lot bigger than QE2 cabins - but looking at the number of decks dedicated to passenger entertainment it looks pretty much a wash - QE2 had Upper & Quarter Decks, QV 2 & 3. In addition QV has a large Lido on Deck 9 and Commodore Club/Horizons on Deck 10. I wonder if 'Rose Tinted Spectacles' may be colouring our memories of QE2.....or perhaps I was the only one who couldn't find a table pre-dinner in the Crystal bar, or thought the Golden Lion a smokey hell-hole.....

[GRHinPorts]

Well anyway...I am surprised that nobody really knows the answer or logic to this one...As was mentioned above the like for like QV already has a Midships Bar (and its very small) so this cannot possibly take in the loss of space from the Chart Room (which was was quite roomy despite always being filled before Dinner) so it really seems the new QE will struggle with pre-dinner drinking space.

 

It will be interesting to see in October once the first cruises take place whether this is a serious criticism of the QE. I can see I will have to stake out my place in the Commodore Club from 5pm each evening, LOL.

[RobertGraves]

Well anyway...I am surprised that nobody really knows the answer or logic to this one...

 

Well, it is not difficult to imagine the logic, at least. It seems that they needed a space for Britannia Club that should be easily served from the existing galley and (ideally) placed near the Britannia Restaurant, as it is on QM2. This should be achieved without major layout modifications, so that it would be easy to implement it also on QV in the future, if so desired. So, there was no better place than that occupied by the Chart Room.

 

It seems also plausible that they have made their logistics and found that the rest of the bars can handle pre-dinner demand (even with some difficulty, I guess), so that revenue from this source will not suffer. But even if such revenue drops a little, the higher fares for the new AA Britannia Club cabins will certainly compensate abudantly for that.

 

The Chart Room was certainly popular (as Cruise Critic notably indicates in its presentation of the latest QE photos). Not only for pre-dinner use, but at other times during a day at sea as well, as has been my experience. So, they felt the need to apologize by pointing out the existence of the Midships Bar (avoiding to mention that it already exists on QV, or it is smaller than the Chart Room...). Perhaps this has not the best possible performance so far and they wanted to promote it this way. In any case, the Midships Bar is conveniently the nearest bar to the Upper Level of Britannia Restaurant, on Deck 3.

 

So, this is an estimation of how economics and pretexts may have been satisfied...As to the rest of us, farewell beautiful Chart Room!...