QM2 cruise to Bruges

[Knysna]

On Friday the 12th we left Southampton on a surprise birthday cruise for my wife to the Christmas Market in Bruges.

This was our first time on Cunard. We normally cruise with Royal Caribbean but have done P&O and Holland America.

So we were expecting the best in everything. But in short and much to our dissapointment we found cunard to be very overated. We experienced nothing more than what we would have got on the other lines.

We were in an internal cabin on the 6th level. (Cabin 6024). Unfortunately we had the smell of cigarette smoke coming through the air conditioning the first day but this was rectified somehow after we complained.

Besides our high expectations not being met we had a lovely time. The food in the buffet was excellent and she is a beautiful ship.

 

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[Lynnewob]

That's a shame, as we were on board too but had an in hull balcony on deck 4.

 

We did have some noise very early morning from some of the doors marked private nearby which are crew doors but not as bad as we had when in PG on deck 6 at the end of the world cruise this year.

 

It was a lively cruise though as there were 109 staff members on their Christmas convention from a certain travel agent in the UK so that's why the Golden Lion was so busy on the first evening. The other bars, particularly the commodore club were a lot more of what Cunard is about in the evening.

 

In Britannia, it can very much depend on the waiter you get. We were very lucky and had a wonderful lady called Katherine and we didn't have a problem with service or getting meals wrong which we've had in the past.

 

I always say the shorter cruises are not the same as those of 7 or more nights, so certainly don't dismiss the line yet and perhaps try something a little longer. A lot of people have said in the past that QG is 5 star, PG is 4 star and Britannia is anything between 3 and 3.5 star. The thing Cunard may limit itself on is up to the minute entertainment and their shows do tend to cater for an older audience, but on this mini cruise, we were surprised to have the "tenors or rock" on board who at least bridged the divide a little.

 

I do feel for you about smoke and we went onto the balcony when leaving Bruges and could smell smoke and I think someone was smoking a couple of cabins down which is not allowed anymore by Cunard. I did say rather loudly to my other half that I thought someone was smoking and perhaps they heard me, as it didn't smell a couple of minutes later so they must have put it out.

[Midsomer Madness]

We were on this one and have done 7 precious cruises with Cunard across the fleet. I too thought there was a smell of cigarette smoke around the ship..never noticed it before.

 

I would say that our cabin steward Donna was fabulous, she had a great sense of humour and was very funny.

 

We thought service in the Britannia Restaurant was dreadful. Our wine waitress had a real attitude problem and was downright rude...our table waiters weren't up to much and we walked out of breakfast on Sunday after waiting 45 minutes for a bagel...for the first time ever we removed our auto tips and tipped according to service....they also kept running out of beer in certain bars!

 

We have always had brilliant service with Cunard some were left veryndisappointed this time, plus it was our friends first experience of Cunard..not sure they will be hurrying back!

Edited December 16, 2014 by Midsomer Madness

[Sail the seas]

I too was on the Cruise to Bruges last weekend. We were travelling as a family of four (2 Diamond members and 2 young first timers) and I was a little nervous because of the various comments about short trips.

 

In the event we had an excellent cruise and did not have any problems. Our cabin steward always greeted us with a smile and the cabin was maintained well for the three days.

 

We thought Dinner was very good in the Britannia Restaurant, our newcomers were very impressed and we thought the food was better than on our trip to Cape Town earlier this year. Our waiter did his job to our satisfaction although we did not achieve any rapport but we attributed this to the fact that he was less interested in getting to know us that he would have been on a longer cruise The wine waitress was very pleasant and attentive and was very good at keeping our glasses filled!

 

The Golden Lion was certainly busy most of the time we passed but we did manage a pub lunch on the Sea Day once some tables had cleared after the morning quiz. We got a table for 4 each evening in the Commodore Club by arriving at about 7.15pm but it was full each time we went to 8,30 Dinner. No snacks or canapés were served in CC each night and we were told this was because of the yellow alert. I am not sure about the veracity of this excuse because they started self service in Kings Court on the first sea day (which surprised us). We had no problems with breakfast in Britannia all 3 days but did see queuing when we left Britannia so people were probably having different experiences.

 

We opted to go and see the Christmas Market in Brussels because previously we had found Bruges on a Sunday disappointing with only a small Christmas Market. We don't know if it different now but we certainly felt Brussels was worthwhile even with the longer journey. Interestingly enough we were told on the trip that we had to be back at 4pm because Belgium was having one of its regular Monday strikes which always start Sunday evening and which would strand us in port. No doubt Captain Oprey was fretting that all the trips would be back on time.

 

We didn't experience any problem with cigarette smoke but in the Pursers desk queue on the final morning we did hear someone complaining long and hard that it was it was the worse cruise they had been on even if they did get it at a bargain price and how dare Cunard tell them they couldn't smoke on their balcony and did Cunard think they would obey such a rule. In the same queue someone was also complaining about the daily charge they hadn't been told about and they were certainly not paying it. They would tip the room steward themselves. As disembarkation had started they were certainly cutting it fine.

 

I guess from our experience that a lot can depend on how lucky you are with the staff you get and maybe it is this inconsistency Cunard need to tackle.

As a Birthday treat for my wife it was a very successful weekend and we are still looking forward to out trip back from South Africa on QM2 in April. We may also have 2 new recruits to cruising on Cunard

[pmb1]

...

As a Birthday treat for my wife it was a very successful weekend and we are still looking forward to out trip back from South Africa on QM2 in April. We may also have 2 new recruits to cruising on Cunard

Good news, bon voyage, and well done!

[Solent Richard]

On Friday the 12th we left Southampton on a surprise birthday cruise for my wife to the Christmas Market in Bruges.

This was our first time on Cunard. We normally cruise with Royal Caribbean but have done P&O and Holland America.

So we were expecting the best in everything. But in short and much to our dissapointment we found cunard to be very overated. We experienced nothing more than what we would have got on the other lines.

We were in an internal cabin on the 6th level. (Cabin 6024). Unfortunately we had the smell of cigarette smoke coming through the air conditioning the first day but this was rectified somehow after we complained.

Besides our high expectations not being met we had a lovely time. The food in the buffet was excellent and she is a beautiful ship.

 

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Forums mobile app

 

I'm always fascinated by those passengers with cruising records that expect to get a Cunard 'experience' from a 3/4 day mini cruise.

[japyke]

I'm always fascinated by those passengers with cruising records that expect to get a Cunard 'experience' from a 3/4 day mini cruise.

 

The service should be the same regardless of the length of cruise.

[pepperrn]

The service should be the same regardless of the length of cruise.

Agreed. But who mentioned service?

 

Solent Richard is correct, a 3/4 day mini-cruise on any line won't give you the full "experience" (by definition, it can't). IMHO, with Cunard, only a crossing or a longer cruise can do that. On short port-intensive trips there isn't the time to have the cocktail parties, excellent guest speakers, meet often fascinating well-travelled passengers, and general atmosphere on board that a full voyage can provide.

 

Best wishes.

Edited December 23, 2014 by pepperrn

[wallis7219]

We too were on the 3 day cruise to The Christmas Markets

 

Having done a Mini Cruise on the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the seas last year we knew that it would not be a true reflection of Cunard. If my only experience of Royal Caribbean was based on that Mini Cruise I probably would have never sailed with them again! :eek: We came across many people who were put off cruising for life!!

 

As for the Cunard cruise, we had a really good mini cruise, Good service and good food in the Britannia. Chart room and Pub always struggled to find a seat (Never got one), Sir Samuels great place for a quick Sandwich in the afternoon. I think sometimes the problem is that Cunard bang on about the "White Star" Service which is good, but you can get just as good on many other ships we have been on.

Although the QM2 Ship design and interior is in a class of it own.

 

As others have said try a longer cruise before removing Cunard for your cruising list

 

Cheers

Gary