OMG! I can't Believe that Cunard are Considering this !!!

[Host Hattie]

New: Britannia Club category ends with WC2015. AA, A1+A2 will have open session seating in Britannia Restaurant.

 

 

How would this work ? What are they doing with the Britannia Club restaurant ?

[Austcruiser84]

I've always told my friends who are worried about travelling with cunard because of the tier systems that it is only there if you go looking for it - and that let's be honest - if you've paid £20,000 say for the luxury penthouse suites (I assume Q1) then why shouldn't they have a bit more exclusivity when it comes to their dining. I have only ever travelled Britannia on QM2 and I find some of the posts on here quite elitist - as though Britannia passengers are the scum of the earth! At the end of the day - you get what you pay for - but that doesn't make the people in the grills any better than those in Britannia accommodation IMO. Everything else apart from dining and a small area for sunbathing is all shared by everyone equally. I'd hate to think I was going to be looked down upon by some (not all) grill passengers because shock horror I'm only in Britannia and not even Britannia Club :eek:

 

I quite enjoyed looking down on the masses from the expansive private balcony of my Q1 duplex last June :)

 

But in all seriousness, I don't think Cunard is elitist even with the tiered system. Actually, I got better service in Britannia than in QG.

 

Besides, it is more fun rowing with the galley slaves anyway (except on planes - economy is akin to one of the worse circles of Dante's Inferno).

[Underwatr]

How would this work ? What are they doing with the Britannia Club restaurant ?

And does that mean they have put aside plans to get rid of the Chart Room (among my favorite public spaces) on QV?

[cunardaddict]

And does that mean they have put aside plans to get rid of the Chart Room (among my favorite public spaces) on QV?

 

QV doesn't have a BC.

[LadyL1]

We disembarked the QV on Wednesday, and whilst on board were told by the MDR staff that the Britannia Club restaurant, is to be featured/constructed in a corner of the main restaurant, during the refit.

Thankfully the Chart Room appears to have been saved.

Edited December 21, 2014 by LadyL1

[Underwatr]

QV doesn't have a BC.

Not yet, but there has been discussion/speculation of a plan to add it by removing the Chart Room and placing BC where it is on QE.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2046482

 

But it sounds like the Chart Room on QV has been saved.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Underwatr

[Lady49Monet]

I quite enjoyed looking down on the masses from the expansive private balcony of my Q1 duplex last June :)

 

 

 

But in all seriousness, I don't think Cunard is elitist even with the tiered system. Actually, I got better service in Britannia than in QG.

 

 

 

Besides, it is more fun rowing with the galley slaves anyway (except on planes - economy is akin to one of the worse circles of Dante's Inferno).

 

 

Don't 😱 will have to fly back economy from Australia. We are stopping in Singapore for a couple of nights to break it up, any tips for getting upgraded much appreciated😉

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Austcruiser84]

Don't will have to fly back economy from Australia. We are stopping in Singapore for a couple of nights to break it up, any tips for getting upgraded much appreciated

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Well, I book First or Business for long haul flights. Its very rare to get upgraded from Cattle Class these days unless you have miles and status with the airline.

 

Having the check in clerk flirt and take a liking to you also seems to help! (based on my experience)

 

Dressing nicely is also a possible way of being considered worthy of sitting up front. Though I can tell you that some people are totally vile - like the guy wearing thongs (flip flops) and who proceeded to place his bare feet up on his suite door midway through the flight. His feet looked disgusting. I hope the staff fumigated it post flight!

 

I've been quite lucky on the cruise front too. On all but one cruise I've had some form of an upgrade. Perhaps sailing solo and paying double the fare has its advantages. Who knows. Cruise upgrades are far harder to guess than flight upgrades.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Austcruiser84

[Scrapnana]

 

New: Britannia Club category ends with WC2015. AA, A1+A2 will have open session seating in Britannia Restaurant.

 

 

I wonder if they will have a harder time selling the A1 and A2 staterooms on QE without a separate restaurant for Britannia Club (somehow sitting in a designated area of the MDR does not have the same cachet as a separate, smaller dining room)? I guess some people will still be willing to pay 10-30% more to eat when they want.

 

I'm glad I was upgraded to Britannia Club for my next cruise. I will get to see what it is like before the restaurant disappears.

[Pennbank]

We disembarked the QV on Wednesday, and whilst on board were told by the MDR staff that the Britannia Club restaurant, is to be featured/constructed in a corner of the main restaurant, during the refit.

Thankfully the Chart Room appears to have been saved.

 

Excellent News

[OceanMonarch]

A very good friend of mine works for the security company at the Southampton port and told me starting from December the check in times will be strictly enforced.

So if you have a 14.30 check in and you turn up at 12 you will not be allowed to check in before 14.30.

 

Has anyone any updated information on check in procedure at Southampton and New York following recent changes to the priority line?

 

We have a long road journey to the port and arrive quite early (around midday) in case of travel delays. Will we be turned away if we try to check in before our scheduled time?

[Host Hattie]

What check-in time do you have ?

Our last trip we had a check-in time of 12 and it wasn't a problem when we arrived a few minutes early (not many, the queue to get into Ikea in Southampton held us up for a while).

[OceanMonarch]

What check-in time do you have ?

Our last trip we had a check-in time of 12 and it wasn't a problem when we arrived a few minutes early (not many, the queue to get into Ikea in Southampton held us up for a while).

 

Welcome Host Hattie!

 

We have not received our pre-cruise documents yet. But, we have sheltered balcony stateroom on deck 5 so we are assuming that we will have a later check- in time. We truly hope that the 'policing' of check-in times by security personnel is not necessary; some passengers like to arrive early and others like to arrive later. :)

[Glenndale]

We boarded at Southampton in January.

Grills passengers were separated on arrival and Britannia guests were given a lettered card.

When the ship was ready to board, Grills passengers were called first, then Diamond followed by Platinum.

After the priority boarding passengers were called according to the letter they had received.

[Host Hattie]

Welcome Host Hattie!

 

We have not received our pre-cruise documents yet. But, we have sheltered balcony stateroom on deck 5 so we are assuming that we will have a later check- in time. We truly hope that the 'policing' of check-in times by security personnel is not necessary; some passengers like to arrive early and others like to arrive later. :)

 

Thank you, we are travelling on May 17th and we received our e-tickets last week. Hopefully you won't have much longer to wait.

We've got a 12 check in time again.

[pris993]

Typical. First time we get to go in the Priority check in line and they change it so we now have to upset others by being sent in front of them. I think I would rather wait with the Britannia lines than do that.

 

Surely the other way round is better. Keep the Priority line and if empty move someone from the Britannia line over. Makes them feel better so happy all round. I have seen that at airports and other cruise lines.

 

Absolutely... so simple and easy, it is hard to understand why someone does think of it.

[Underwatr]

But, we have sheltered balcony stateroom on deck 5 so we are assuming that we will have a later check- in time. We truly hope that the 'policing' of check-in times by security personnel is not necessary; some passengers like to arrive early and others like to arrive later. :)

On Deck 5 you're likely to receive a boarding time of 3 PM, barring any VIP status. As of December 2014 there was no overt policing of arrival times (and really no place to wait other than the lounge area normally intended for those who have already checked in). Edited April 9, 2015 by Underwatr

[OceanMonarch]

On Deck 5 you're likely to receive a boarding time of 3 PM, barring any VIP status. As of December 2014 there was no overt policing of arrival times (and really no place to wait other than the lounge area normally intended for those who have already checked in).

 

Thank you Underwatr - you are correct. I called Cunard yesterday and we do have a 3 pm boarding time.:( We will be driving through the night, taking our rental car back and would love to be able to board when all the formalities are completed as we have done the last two years. We are OK with standing in line, taking our turn, but just want to be able to board, rather than be told to stand to the side and wait for this 3 pm slot.

 

Do you think this will happen? Or, am I worrying unnecessarily?

 

Is there still time to see the maitre d' at this later boarding time? I know the lifeboat drill is around 4 pm.

[Glenndale]

Thank you Underwatr - you are correct. I called Cunard yesterday and we do have a 3 pm boarding time.:( We will be driving through the night, taking our rental car back and would love to be able to board when all the formalities are completed as we have done the last two years. We are OK with standing in line, taking our turn, but just want to be able to board, rather than be told to stand to the side and wait for this 3 pm slot.

 

Do you think this will happen? Or, am I worrying unnecessarily?

 

Is there still time to see the maitre d' at this later boarding time? I know the lifeboat drill is around 4 pm.

If you arrive early then you will board according to your arrival time, i.e. depending on the letter you are given as you arrive.

This will be after the priority passengers have boarded.

Presumably if priority boarders arrive after general boarding has started then they will be sent to the front of the queue.

[OceanMonarch]

If you arrive early then you will board according to your arrival time, i.e. depending on the letter you are given as you arrive.

This will be after the priority passengers have boarded.

Presumably if priority boarders arrive after general boarding has started then they will be sent to the front of the queue.

 

Thanks Glenndale:) This was our experience from 2 previous sailings. Everything seemed to work well, both for Britannia and Grills passengers. Not quite sure why the 'powers that be' changed the priority check-in procedure according to earlier posts. Or have they?:confused:

[tv24]

It would be nice if Cunard simply improved their entire embarkation operation. This is one of the weakest links in their White Star Service. On all of our 4 Cunard trips, embarkation took way too long and involved too much standing around, including one time in Los Angeles when we stood in lines for over 2 hours. Not acceptable.

[pepperrn]

It would be nice if Cunard simply improved their entire embarkation operation. This is one of the weakest links in their White Star Service. On all of our 4 Cunard trips, embarkation took way too long and involved too much standing around, including one time in Los Angeles when we stood in lines for over 2 hours. Not acceptable.

Hi tv24,

 

So sorry to read of your poor experiences when boarding. You have been very unfortunate, esp standing for two hours. That is bad.

 

Most of the time I've boarded in Southampton. Typically the time from arriving at the terminal to entering my cabin (so allow time to walk the endless corridors... ) has been an hour, often less than 45 minutes (I think my record is 25 mins).

Only once (QV 2009 I think) was there a major hold up (caused by faulty card-reading machines as passengers entered the ship). Glaciers move faster than the queue did that day... :eek:

 

So please don't think that your experiences, although very bad, are typical. But for this to happen to you four times... I can understand your frustration and disappointment. You're right, two hours is totally unacceptable. I hope you have better luck next time.

 

All best wishes to you.

Edited April 12, 2015 by pepperrn

[Salacia]

It would be nice if Cunard simply improved their entire embarkation operation. This is one of the weakest links in their White Star Service. On all of our 4 Cunard trips, embarkation took way too long and involved too much standing around, including one time in Los Angeles when we stood in lines for over 2 hours. Not acceptable.

 

Some passenger arrive early, and some prefer to arrive later.

 

Just wondering if passengers complied with the boarding schedule and arrived at their assigned time, would the boarding process be more expeditious ? - Perhaps the blame in this case lies not with Cunard, but rather with the passengers who do not comply with their assigned boarding time?

Edited April 12, 2015 by Salacia

[Host Hattie]

It may also be that the operation is not as smooth at ports Cunard uses infrequently. We haven't experienced slow embarkation either but we usually travel from Southampton.

 

Once the ships are back from their world cruises, it will be interesting to see how the new systems work and if the check-in times are enforced.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Host Hattie

[Glenndale]

It would be nice if Cunard simply improved their entire embarkation operation. This is one of the weakest links in their White Star Service. On all of our 4 Cunard trips, embarkation took way too long and involved too much standing around, including one time in Los Angeles when we stood in lines for over 2 hours. Not acceptable.

 

If foreign nationals are disembarking in a US port, immigration often slows down the process, no new passengers can embark until the entire ship has been processed.

We had to stand in line for 2 hours just to pass through immigration to take a tour in Fort Lauderdale.

We later spoke to newly embarked US passengers who wanted to blame Cunard for the delay, I pointed out to them that the problem lay with US immigration and not Cunard.