Birthday cakes

[elaine61]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to organise a birthday cake onboard QM2???

 

Elaine

[sailsalot]

Yes, it is done. We celebrated two birthdays when we were on QM2 last year, and our waiters, wine steward and maitre d (sorry my spelling of that word is bad!) made it such a nice celebration. The cake was really good!! We were in Britannia. Just give them 1-2 days notice.

[elaine61]

Many thanks sailsalot. Do I organise it once on board or can I do it beforehand? Also do you know if Cunard do special occasion packages? On P & O we can have a bottle of champagne in the room on arrival, a box of chocolates, breakfast in bed on the morning of our choice and a portrait of our choice from the photographers. All this for £55 GBP!! It is such a lovely start to a cruise and whilst we are doing it to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary which was back in Feb, it will be our daughters 22nd birthday whilst on board too hence the request about cakes. Think it would be nice if we could arrange it.

 

Elaine

[cruiserking]

When you send in your guest registration form there is a portion of the form that asks whether there will be a birthday or anniversary celebrated while you are aboard.

 

I imagine that's the best way to get the ball rolling, then once you are aboard you can drop by the restaurant and speak with the Maitre'd to make sure everything is set.

 

Happy celebrating and cruising,

 

Cruiserking

[Bethcruiser]

I watched a video in my room with a tour of the kitchen. As the head chef said

"This is the only cruise ship where you can celebrate your birthday two times in one trip". "Every night we have 300 birthdays and anniversaries, I have no idea how many are ligitimate".

[JPEvans]

I spent my birthday this year on the QM2. I had a great day. I received a card that was signed by Captain Warwick and the cruise director. There was a birthday greeting for me on the tv when I woke up, and I got a cake and singing waiters at dinner. It was a pleasant change to celebrate my b-day in the QM2.

[Vic The Parrot]

That section of the registration form isn't really for 'immigration' purposes ......

 

-cough- -cough-

 

:D

 

 

Kidding....

 

Since that info is put on the form, don't be surprised if you say nothing to the restaurant manager. And lo and behold, a cake shows up on the birthday evening after dinner!

 

It's happened to me a few times. I kept mum, but they nailed me anyway!

 

:cool:

 

 

Have a nice voyage, and enjoy your b'day!

[elaine61]

Thanks everyone. As we never really go away so late in the summer, it's normally our son who was born in August that got the cake and singing waiters. BUT on P & O you have to pay for your cake if you want one!! Will I have to pay on QM2??

 

I don't suppose it takes a rocket scientist to work out when the birthdays are on board as part of the booking process involves giving dates of birth!!!!!!

 

It's a shame really as we are doing this trip (west trans, splendours of the falls, east trans) to celebrate making it to our silver wedding anniversary which was back in February. But as I don't fly there was no chance of me doing any cruise from the UK at that time of year. Cunard will not recognise this though as it's not within 2 months of our anniversary. Oh well, maybe for our 40th wedding anniversary we will be on a world cruise!!!!!!! No harm in dreaming is there????

 

Elaine

[Vic The Parrot]

BUT on P & O you have to pay for your cake if you want one!! Will I have to pay on QM2??

 

 

 

 

Get out!!!

 

You have to PAY for a darn birthday cake on that line???????

 

Sheesh.... so much for "P*O*S*H*"

 

 

To be honest with you, never had a b'day on a Cunard ship.

(I hope to rectify that sometime... :D )

 

All my birthdays were on HAL, where there was NEVER any bill.

Imagine that .....

 

Steward: "Happy birthday, sir.."

Passenger: "Thank you very much! ... what a nice surprise!"

Steward: "Here you are sir"

Pax: "Huh??"

Steward: "Thank you sir .... please sign for the cake"

 

 

That's pretty tacky on P&Os part .. a special day like that, and the passenger has to pay extra! A b'day, or anniversary item like that cake should come from the heart, not an extra-tariff item on the final bill!

 

Kinda makes me think twice on trying them out.

 

 

:confused:

 

Sorry, just find that absurd. Not to mention insulting.

A venerable company like P&O, who has a loyal following nonetheless, has the gall to nickel-and-dime a pax for a special occasion. Doesn't make sense....

[Coolgran]

We have had several cruises on QE2 and sometimes a birthday or anniversary was celebrated. Never had to pay. I think you must sail within a month of the date though

[sailsalot]

Hi Elaine,

 

No, you don't have to pay for the cake. It's a very nice gesture on their part.

 

I had forgotten about the birthday message that pops up on the tv when you first turn it on that morning. Make sure to take a picture of it, because after you change a channel, the birthday message doesn't come back. You'll want to have a picture of it to keep as a memento of a unique birthday greeting!

 

To make things more festive, the morning of the birthday dinner, we brought to the wine steward our bottles of bubbly that we had received in the cabins, and the wine steward was more than happy to chill them during the day and then bring them out to serve with the cake. There was no charge for this since it's the bottle given by Cunard, but we gave him a very nice tip for handling this. It was a nice touch.

[elaine61]

Hi Guys

 

Once again thanks for the help on the birthday cake front. Went to a wedding yesterday and the wedding cake was chocolate. I found out that my daughter only likes chocolate sponge in her birthday cakes. Do you think they will be able to do a chocolate cake for me????

 

And yes Vic the Parrot, it is a bit tight isn't it making someone pay for a birthday cake. :mad: Years ago they used to arrive without payment. When the children were younger I think the kids clubs used to organise one. But having to pay for the cake is something rather recent on P & O that we seem to have got used to!!!!! It's £6 for sponge and about £8 for fruit!! You do get balloons and the singing waiters though!!!!!!

 

Elaine

[sailsalot]

Hi Elaine,

 

Both birthday cakes we got were chocolate. I don't know if that's standard, or if that's just what they happened to have at that time. You could always ask just to make sure.

 

Enjoy!

[bonni99]

It was my birthday during the May sailing we did last year and we didnt know about cakes- well my partner didnt think to ask and boy was I disappointed when someone who shared the same birthday as me had a great fanfare and a wonderful cake was brought out!! Wonder if I will ever have a birthday onboard again?

[Jeanne S]

You will also receive a Birthday Note from the Social Hostess. IN the DR all you need to do is tell the waiter. Ours only wanted to know the night before. I requested a Strawberry shortcake as my fiends (twins liked this). I have a habit of ordered most of the deserts on the menu and then proceed to sample each of them.

 

Cunarder (Ed) from this site was also on the same trip and he was celebrating an anniversary. The size of the cake for 3 persons looked enough for 4 large slices. So I figured the three of us would get the same size cake. You can imagine my surprise when this mammoth cake (a quarter of a sheet at least and tall) comes to the table.

 

After commenting on the size the waiter told me ‘We had to make it big for you maam’ as you order five desserts each evening and ice cream.”

[cunarder]

Hi Jeanne,

 

Yes, it was our 5th wedding anniversary. The cake was big for the 3 of us and it was free. I can't believe a cruise line would make you pay for it.

 

Jeanne - when is your cruise coming up? Ours is o July 11th. Can't wait - especially for Halifax and Bar Harbor. It will be fun.

 

Ed

[elaine61]

Cunarder/Jeanne

 

Thanks for letting me know. I have to say that years ago you didn't have to pay for the cake. This is something more recent. Trouble is years ago there were no big discounts to be had, but now everyone here expects them. Of course what they give in one hand they take away with another. I call it swings and roundabouts. Here in the UK P & O pretty much has the monopoly on the cruise market at present. I do not fly so have never tried another cruise line that does not go from Southampton (except Cunard)!! From this summer Princess has a ship here as do Royal Caribbean. Of course with more competition comes more discounts. P & O are also trying to introduce room service charges for food brought to your cabin. Not quite sure how I feel about this as personally speaking it does not affect me. I have on the odd occasion had afternoon tea brought to the cabin, but with tea/coffee making facilities already in your room you can make it yourself. Hubby is not up much before lunchtime on holiday (it's his only chance to have a lay in), so breakfast in bed is a no no!! Kids have on occasion had sandwiches delivered to their cabin. From this summer P & O are keeping their self service buffet areas open all day and in some cases (the new Arcadia) 24 hours. As I have said previous we have never ever been away for our daughters birthday as it is too late in the year normally for us taking our summer holiday. Our son however was born in August and has had many birthdays on board. It's just a shame that it was her 21st last year and not this year. Still her dad took her to New York for her birthday last year. I am so looking forward to this cruise as a family as it's our chance to the States and Canada together. Getting even more excited as the weeks roll by and questions/arrangements have to be made.

 

Elaine