Grills?

[exlondoner]

Are there tables I don't want? It's only for 2 nights so I'm not terrible fussed.

 

You might have asked to be put on a table for two and end up on one for eight, as happened to us once. And some of the tables for two on the wall away from the window are quite close together, and the view is not very attractive. But I agree, this is unlikely to be that irksome for two nights.

Jane

[Austcruiser84]

You might have asked to be put on a table for two and end up on one for eight, as happened to us once. And some of the tables for two on the wall away from the window are quite close together, and the view is not very attractive. But I agree, this is unlikely to be that irksome for two nights.

Jane

 

I'm travelling solo, so a larger table is just fine.

[keithm]

I'm looking forward to lunch in Queens Grill on embarkation day. Is it a proper lunch, or a half hearted meal/menu?

It's a proper meal with quite a few selections. It's NOT like the self serve venues. You can also(as mentioned prior)check your table & make changes. If you are at a table for 2(which we do)it's much easier to move about as opposed to a larger table.

[slhw]

Oh dear, I appear to be classed as a 'rower'. How dare you be so condescending! However, my 'rowing' money is hard-earned in our family business where we meet many fabulously wealthy people, often with titles, and who are, frequently, very unpretentious, who would consider cruising to be tasteless and middle class - hence the Grills not being packed out with Royalty and the aristocracy.

 

To the original poster - take heart - there was nothing wrong with your questions - just curiosity. From my observations, not questions, you won't find a lot of enormous inherited wealth (for above reason), but lots of nouveau riche, many media types (including those on for a freebie) and people who have saved up for ages. Come to the Brittania where it is good fun, most people have nothing to prove and are just glad to be there. Why on earth, for instance, would you want to spend your time dreaming up what you can order 'off menu'.

And I am not even a pole dancer!

 

S L H-W

 

P.S. Don't forget it is the rowers who get you where you want to go.

[Tess of the Sea]

Oh dear, I appear to be classed as a 'rower'. How dare you be so condescending! However, my 'rowing' money is hard-earned in our family business where we meet many fabulously wealthy people, often with titles, and who are, frequently, very unpretentious, who would consider cruising to be tasteless and middle class - hence the Grills not being packed out with Royalty and the aristocracy.

 

To the original poster - take heart - there was nothing wrong with your questions - just curiosity. From my observations, not questions, you won't find a lot of enormous inherited wealth (for above reason), but lots of nouveau riche, many media types (including those on for a freebie) and people who have saved up for ages. Come to the Brittania where it is good fun, most people have nothing to prove and are just glad to be there. Why on earth, for instance, would you want to spend your time dreaming up what you can order 'off menu'.

And I am not even a pole dancer!

 

S L H-W

 

P.S. Don't forget it is the rowers who get you where you want to go.

 

QE2 actually had many "old money" types, aristocrats and celebrities on board, as did QM2 during her first couple of years. I met many, and many interesting people in Caronia on QE2 and In Britannia. There were some characters on QE2, such as one aristocratic lady in Caronia who referred to the newly acquired karaoke on QE2 as "so working class". It was embarrassing but amusing that she seemed to live in another century and assume it was perfectly normal to say this.

 

Class was never about money though. There were certainly plenty of slightly impoverished aristocrats, and the like, who traveled quite happily in Caronia and Britannia. In fact, certain waspy types of "old money", whether they have money anymore or not, find any ostentatiousness to be in bad taste.

 

As for aristocratic types thinking of cruises as "tasteless", I think this is in reference to your average cruise ship. Ocean liner travel was always popular with "old money", etc., until QM2 became more of a cruise ship.

 

I have met many interesting people in Britannia. QM2 did become a little more mass market and attracted far fewer upper class types and celebrities after a couple of years. But there are still all kinds in Britannia. The Grills are comprised of a similar mix really. I have seen a few whom I would not (when I was more naive) have thought were "Grill types", but there is no type. It's only money.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Tess of the Sea

[Jimsgirl]

Tess of the Sea,

 

Loved your last line. You never can tell where you will meet a "title" or under what circumstances.

 

For instance in l998 there was a taxi cab driver in Buda Pest who was in fact the Earl of Breadalbane (Scotland). The title was old, several hundred years, but there was no money, no house, no land. He came to the title because the previous Earl never married, so the powers that be had to search for an heir.

 

Imagine him on Cunard, he would be most certainly in Britannia, and his wife (if he had one) would not have had a tiara to wear on Ascot night.!!! Actually the Campbells of Breadalbane had a rather nasty reputation in the past, nothing to boast about.

[Tess of the Sea]

Tess of the Sea,

 

Loved your last line. You never can tell where you will meet a "title" or under what circumstances.

 

For instance in l998 there was a taxi cab driver in Buda Pest who was in fact the Earl of Breadalbane (Scotland). The title was old, several hundred years, but there was no money, no house, no land. He came to the title because the previous Earl never married, so the powers that be had to search for an heir.

 

Imagine him on Cunard, he would be most certainly in Britannia, and his wife (if he had one) would not have had a tiara to wear on Ascot night.!!! Actually the Campbells of Breadalbane had a rather nasty reputation in the past, nothing to boast about.

 

 

That's amusing. It seems that titles are commonly purchased in the UK. It's really quite democratic. For the right price, anyone can be an Earl.

[Jimsgirl]

That's amusing. It seems that titles are commonly purchased in the UK. It's really quite democratic. For the right price, anyone can be an Earl.

 

The taxi driver did not purchase the title, it goes back certainly to the time of the Stuarts on the throne, as said the Campbells of Breadalbane do not have stellar reputations, including the massacre of another clan at Glencoe. In fact the previous Earl to the taxi driver had a criminal record. He never married ,and there was a world wide search for the heir for a long time. Still for those who wish to say they "know an Earl" I do not suppose it mattered.

 

It certainly did not to my MIL, she complained to my husband that in marrying me he had let the family down, by marrying into the "working class". She refused to acknowledge me for 50 years!

 

I am just a "rower" on the Queens, but I do not regard myself as "inferior " to anyone on board.

[caber]

Lord Sterling, the then Chairman of P&O, was on a couple of cruises which I was on back in the 90s. He is a very approachable man and quite happy to chat with the "rowers". He even let me have a look through his binoculars. He joined in the games onboard, although some of the entertainment staff were wary about knocking him off the greasy pole over the pool. :D That was the good old days.

[pmb1]

...

It certainly did not to my MIL, she complained to my husband that in marrying me he had let the family down, by marrying into the "working class". She refused to acknowledge me for 50 years!

 

I am just a "rower" on the Queens, but I do not regard myself as "inferior " to anyone on board.

How very sad that your MIL was so cruel to you and how painful that must have been for your husband. Happily, you have been "rowing" toward better memories on Cunard's queens.

 

Are you familiar with Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury comic strip? One of the loopier characters, Zonker Harris, purchased a British title some years ago (he is His Lordship the Viscount St. Austell-in-the-Moor Biggleswade-Brixham) and has had great fun with it from time to time. For example:

 

All the best, Paul

[Jimsgirl]

PMB1

 

Very funny, I have not seen that cartoon character. Jim and I lived our lives very happily, sadly only 50 years together, but as you said I keep on "rowing", mostly now on Cunard . I really MUST by myself a "tiara" at the Dollar store before I go in July!!!!

 

May all your cruises be "fabulous"

 

Lynn

[jp2001]

I'm sure I'll be one of the youngest, solo QG passengers on QM2 coming in at 29.

 

I don't particularly care how rich Grills passengers are. I'm more interested in whether they have a sense of humour and have interesting stories to tell.

 

I met some really nice people on my first voyage (in Britannia).

 

I sailed QM2 solo when I was 29 and really enjoyed the experience. However, I cannot comment on the Grills as I was in Britannia.

 

One day I hope I can try the Grills.

 

Have fun!

[Austcruiser84]

I sailed QM2 solo when I was 29 and really enjoyed the experience. However, I cannot comment on the Grills as I was in Britannia.

 

One day I hope I can try the Grills.

 

Have fun!

 

I was 28 when I sailed QM2 for the first time and loved it. Solo of course. I much prefer an older crowd anyway. Most people my age bore me.

 

Getting excited as its roughly 2 weeks before I fly out.