Comparisons for joeholiday

[kruzseeka]

Resume of our Aegean cruise on QE - you will be able to draw your own comparisons:

 

Transfers: Flew from LHR - that was stressful as it was an early flight 6.45 but check-in didn't open until 5.00 (for anything esle - not even a coffee available). We didn't get through security until after 6.00 and then had to walk to the gate! :rolleyes: B.A. issue though but not good. It was just as well they served us a decent breakfast as standard during the flight as we didn't even have time for even a drink at the airport. Thomson do have their transfers well organised and so far we haven't fond anyone who does that nearly as efficiently. I suppose most cruise lines have passengers arriving on multiple flights from all over the world so it isn't quite as easy to round people up but it did seem a bit chaotic at times. Cases arrived quickly even though we weren't 'priority' guests.

 

Ship - very elegant, beautiful, lots of space, didn't feel crowded, somewhere for everyone, good variety of bars, different areas, cafe, rather grand ballroom too! Also the usual art gallery you get on bigger ships, a casino which seemed a bit misplaced at the bottom of a fairly grand staircase and the normal array of shops - but a very good bookshop and library. Deck space always seemed available - I found steamer chairs available in the shade of the promenade deck whenever I looked.

 

Cabin: very comfortable, quiet, no probs with aircon or plumbing, a little smaller than C/S and Dream equivalents (basic inside) but plenty of space and excellent hanging space, robes & slippers provided, the expected excellent level of steward service and 24/7 free room service but no tea/coffee making facilities but you can order tea in the morning to be delivered.

 

Dining: lovely self service area with discrete areas, easy to navigate food counters, little touches which I thought good like hot milk available to make your own coffees and good for breakfasts although the lunch we had before we left on disembarkation day was cold!!! MDR excellent - lovely dining room, great selection and choice of quality food with no surcharges! Service friendly, helpful and pretty quick. There are only three courses at dinner although I'm sure if you asked you could have two starters ie soup as well as another starter or cheeses and biscuits as well as your sweet - we always got ice-cream as an extra with our desserts. Coffee/tea served afterwards (unlike Celebrity) and also lovely petit fours/mint crisp chocolates. Another nice touch. Never kept waiting.

It is fixed seating though - something I think they would do well to reconsider like Celebrity which is free style especially as if some diners decide not to do the mdr there can be just two people left on a table of six! The pub (very nice too) did superb bar meals - fish and chips best we've had other than our local F&C restaurant and that's some accolade. DH said steak and ale pie wasn't bad either! :rolleyes:

The ballroom also served as an area to serve afternoon tea which was lovely and delicious - also available in the self-service.

 

Dress code: a little anachronistic dress code. We accepted that we'd bought into the Cunard experience and were ok going along with it. No probs with formal (2 per week) although informal seemed as though they didn't quite know where they stood. Jackets required (not necessarily ties) although people turning up without jackets were lent one by the Maitre d' to hang on the back of their chairs. Then there were those who had jackets then just took them off! How silly! I think they're caught between maintaining something of the great days of cruising and the march of time. Still it didn't bother us. But we did see a lot of passengers who were not complying with the dress code and dressed in a very casual way! (We also saw some poor behaviour by guests and unsupervised children but they were relatively isolated incidents.)

 

Entertainment: Generally very good standard - with one exception! Some superb - excellent orchestra some of whom did a Dixieland set a couple of days in the pub - we only went to listen but gave in and sampled the fare (as above). There was a fab soul band which played in the night club each night. Really good and great atmosphere up there except one night we went late and it was dead (might have been packing night though). For those who like classical, the string quartet were extremely talented and played a very accessible repertoire with some well known pieces. There were also recitals and a piano bar etc.

The theatre is magnificent. Proper boxes which are only charged for on formal nights and then you get the strawberries and champagne experience. But they are proper boxes! But we never had a problem finding seats and the views were excellent throughout the theatre.

Now for the iffy bit. Shows! Much more varied offerings than on Thomson but generally speaking not nearly as good. The show team did a concerto style show (with live band), the dancers did a predominantly dance style show (lacked the creativity and choreographic sophistication and vision compared with Peel's productions), then there were two short shows as part of a welcome show each week (but they were different) and two other 'proper' shows. One very good - one not. They are very underused imo - but the performers were pretty good - it was the content which wasn't inspiring (think Africa, We are the Champions, Mediterranean Nights, the Les Mis/Miss Saigon/Cats type shows). Other shows were a selection of acts - two very good indeed (including Roy Walker comedian) but some really poor.

They did have dance lessons (ballroom, latin, line dancing) in the ballroom and some evening dances in there at night and Capt's reception, also the entertainment programme included trivia quizzes, karaoke, games, bingo, films, some interesting lectures too so something for everyone. DH even went out star gazing around midnight with the CD and about 100 other cruisers a couple of nights as the CD is an Astromoner and very knowledgeable.

 

Prices: tours not dissimilar to other cruise lines we've done but drinks are very expensive indeed. Wines were very pricy - cheapest about $35 plus 15% service charge and rising to very very (extortionately) expensive but then again I guess there are some wine buffs and very wealthy people on board to cater for. But cocktails etc about $7 -9 and they were good. The wine package was based on relatively expensive wines so not a good deal for us. So something to think about if you are likely to have a big drinks bill though.

 

Security and hygiene good. (We even had a anti-pirate sonar device set up as we approached Istanbul :eek: but fortunately all was well.)

 

Ports of call were excellent with full days in port everywhere. They do have two sea days per week though which we would prefer to be one.

 

Mix of passengers about 50% from the UK, about 10% Australians and the same from the US then a very multi-national mix. We found people very chatty, friendly and liked the ship's ambience. So no issues there.

 

So all in all a great cruise, we very much liked the ship and would definitely go again. The big plus was that it cost us about £250 each less than the 14-night Aegean cruises we've done on Thomson (although it was a late deal but it was also high season - the equivalent ones we've done with Thomson were May). We did of course have more expensive drinks to buy and had two fewer PoC and a gratuities bill (although you can have them removed) but even taking all that into account it was excellent value for money. And we'd definitely consider cruising with them again.

 

Any questions joe about anything I've missed out, just ask. Hope that helps.

Edited August 27, 2014 by kruzseeka

[Little Nell]

Great read, Kruzseeka.

 

Thanks so much for the review :)

[joeholiday2]

Thanks Kruzseeka.

It's always good to get opinions on other lines.

 

Anachronistic seems a very good description of the dress code, it sounds like they are half-heartedly trying to keep traditions up whilst being all things to all men. Formal nights are nice when people make the effort and everyone looks special, but jackets for informal night is as you say just plain silly. Especially when they end up on the back of a chair. :rolleyes:

 

Was the CD a Bald Man from the Channel Islands? If so I think we had him on P&O once. He did a Planetarium lecture one rainy sea day.

 

We keep saying we will try another line again, but usually end up back on Thomson as we know what we are getting and it suits us.

 

Thanks again.

Joe.

[Jakanne1]

A very interesting read, thank you Kruzseeka. A few strange ideas. I have experienced ties being given to wear to enter a restaurant but Jackets to hang on the backs of chairs!! I wouldn't say no to a bargain late deal though. ;)

[kruzseeka]

Thanks Kruzseeka.

It's always good to get opinions on other lines.

 

Anachronistic seems a very good description of the dress code, it sounds like they are half-heartedly trying to keep traditions up whilst being all things to all men. Formal nights are nice when people make the effort and everyone looks special, but jackets for informal night is as you say just plain silly. Especially when they end up on the back of a chair. :rolleyes:

 

Was the CD a Bald Man from the Channel Islands? If so I think we had him on P&O once. He did a Planetarium lecture one rainy sea day.

 

We keep saying we will try another line again, but usually end up back on Thomson as we know what we are getting and it suits us.

 

Thanks again.

Joe.

 

Yes he was joe - we weren't too sure about him at the start but ended up being very impressed not least of all because of his knowledge and interesting lectures. Someone said he'd been on P&O too.

 

We had a really good time though and felt quite at home. We've not given up on Thomson (I know what you mean about knowing what you'll get) but so far haven't been disappointed trying something new. I'm still keen on Thomson's port intensive itineraries :rolleyes:

Edited August 27, 2014 by kruzseeka

[davecttr]

Leon de Sainte Croix?

 

he did two lectures and we had a star party above the bridge on Oceana late one night.

 

I demonstrated my knowledge of astronomy by commenting that the exhaust plume from the funnel stretched right across the sky. 'It's the milky way' he replied :o

[joeholiday2]

Leon de Sainte Croix?

 

he did two lectures and we had a star party above the bridge on Oceana late one night.

 

I demonstrated my knowledge of astronomy by commenting that the exhaust plume from the funnel stretched right across the sky. 'It's the milky way' he replied :o

 

That's him Dave. Maybe the really good ones end up on cunard, keef did...

 

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[happy v]

Thanks for the report Kruzseeka, I didn't know you were going.

[shot2bits]

This was QE in Istanbul, if I got placing a photo right!

 

 

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[Huddersfieldtourist]

"Best Word in A Review" - This Month's winner is ......................

 

Kruzseeka

 

Winning Entry :-

 

Anachronistic

 

:D