Our short cruise on Queen Elizabeth

[Scottygirl1]

I know some of you enjoy feedback so here is my very recent cruise experience on board Queen Elizabeth.

 

Embarkation was rather slow but friendly - there were not many people embarking so I can't imagine what it would be like if a larger number of people were getting on.

 

Our room was lovely - perhaps smaller than we've had in the past - but OK. Storage was adequate and the bed was comfortable although we were told there was no choice in pillows - soft and floppy it was. We like a firm pillow so this did effect my ability to get to sleep. The shower pressure was great but I did miss having a hand held shower head - never mind, it didn't matter. We didn't want the refrigerator mini bar stocked but were told it could not be taken away - we stashed it in the bottom of the wardrobe for the duration.

 

We had three meals in the Britannia Restaurant and while we enjoyed the first night's offering (duck) we didn't enjoy the following two meals at all. My lamb was tough and raw - I had requested it to be cooked "medium" but clearly that didn't happen. It was so raw that I left the entire piece. I pointed this out when my plate was taken away but the server had no interest at all. We are not foodies and are reasonably easily pleased with regard to food but we were both very disappointed in the Britannia food. We ended up having every other meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) in the Lido where we found the food to be excellent (thankfully).

 

We dressed appropriately in the evening but were rather shocked to find how casual people did dress! I took lots of very dressy clothes (after reading comments on this forum) but found myself feeling very overdressed. Obviously in the "posher" parts of the ship (Midship bar, Britannia Restaurant etc) everyone looked wonderful but I still expected a reasonable standard of dress still in the Lido. There really was a very low standard and I could have easily wandered around in shorts or flip flops with no trouble.

With regard to jackets for men at dinner and around the ship - it was so hot that we ended up going back to our room early from dinner. My husband simply couldn’t cope with the heat in the Britannia Restaurant. Also we noticed that many men in the Royal Theatre removed their jackets (as did my husband) as it was just too hot otherwise.

 

Formal night was lovely - black and white theme, my favourite!! We got some portraits taken on the stairs and also with a marbled background but oh dear, they “stage” you to stand like you are having a prom night photo in the 80s. All we could do was laugh and clearly we didn’t buy any.

 

I found the ages of people on board to be very mixed and while there were many elderly people, most were what I’d call active retirees having a great time. I liked that everyone had manners and there was no pushing or rudeness (things I have experienced on our Celebrity Cruise especially at the buffet). Everyone was friendly and respectful of their fellow passengers.

 

It was amazing to see the Queen Mary 2 docked in Sydney - it was quite a wonderful sight to see the two ships in the same city. We docked offshore the first night and as it was too rough to use the ships tenders, local boats were used. I must admit this could have been better organised - it was pouring with rain but no shelter had been organised for those waiting to tender from shore. Then when we could get on board the many staff returning from their shore leave ended up sitting in seats that I felt could have been offered to elderly passengers who could not find a seat. I was very pleased to see our waitress give up her seat but no one else offered.

 

Sorry for this long post - our overall impression of Cunard (and Queen Elizabeth) is that it is a wonderful cruise line with great traditions. For those who enjoy dressing for dinner each evening and fixed dining times it is superb. I’m glad we had the experience and can’t fault many aspects of the ship or service but any future cruise we do will be where there is open restaurant seating and no requirement to wear a dinner jacket. It’s a personal choice thing and no criticism of Cunard - I respect that they hold true to the tradition of dressing well in the evening.

[Ray66]

A good review. :)

 

Our room was lovely - perhaps smaller than we've had in the past - but OK.

What type of cabin did you have? Inside?

 

I had requested it to be cooked "medium" but clearly that didn't happen.

it might have been best to order "well done" that's what I always order.

 

I still expected a reasonable standard of dress still in the Lido.

There is no dress code for the Lido, but I know what you mean. It can spoil the ambiance of the ship. If we ever use the Lido/Kings Court in the evening, we always dress to the evening's dress code.

[Scottygirl1]

We had a Balcony cabin - it was very nice. Usually with both lamb or beef medium is fine for me. I don't mind a little blood or redness but seriously, this was raw!

[AAAAmerican]

Dear Scottygirl,

 

Thank you so very much Maam for your review. It was spendid.

 

On your culinary experience. You should always say something. If the Wair=t Staff ignore. Step over to the Group Head Waiter. If they do naught go talk with the HotMan ( Hotel manager) as your paying for the meals and want them done to what you order. If they hear nothing then nothing shall be changed in the Poor quality.

 

The QE III needs as any ship to satisy us paying cruisers so we refer more to cruise on the vessels.

 

On your Pillows .. that too is not acceptavble to me either. We use firm alwats . What my XYL does is bring one aboard packed.

 

On the filled fridge as they call it. Yes have your Cabin Attendent remove the products. We always bring our own aboard. Cost comparisons:

Bottled Water us= .07 - .09 cents per bottle

 

Soda pop us= .09 - 11 cents us per can and my fav is Dr Pepper and Root Beer . I do make ice cream floats with the aboard ice creams varariables.

 

On clothing .. please ignore the ignorant as they not know what they do..

 

Here in the Greater NYC area dresiing up even to go to church now is a clean cotton t-shirt and trousers..:rolleyes:

 

On Cruises now with so many having to fly to the Port those dredded bagge feees are so IMHOP unreasonable. It used to be included in Air Fares .. but even last year they made over 6 Billion $USD in Baggae fees.. and to boot they still do not guarantee your luggage arrives safe..

 

But to each there own ..

 

The Tuxedo was invented in NY State in Tuxedo, NY and is still nice, wearable, and functional .

 

Not many American mfg of a good quality suit exist now. I did like a Bill Blass before.

 

On the Lido as we call it "the Slop Line " they are able to chose what to wear etc.. and IMHO should as they pay the same as we all do too.

 

I do have a question, if I may.

 

Did youall have a Embarkation Lunch in the Main dining Hall (Britannia) ? I so appreciate sitting and being serverd a meal that is well done.

Again thank you Maam for your great honest review.

 

:)

I know some of you enjoy feedback so here is my very recent cruise experience on board Queen Elizabeth.

 

Embarkation was rather slow but friendly - there were not many people embarking so I can't imagine what it would be like if a larger number of people were getting on.

 

Our room was lovely - perhaps smaller than we've had in the past - but OK. Storage was adequate and the bed was comfortable although we were told there was no choice in pillows - soft and floppy it was. We like a firm pillow so this did effect my ability to get to sleep. The shower pressure was great but I did miss having a hand held shower head - never mind, it didn't matter. We didn't want the refrigerator mini bar stocked but were told it could not be taken away - we stashed it in the bottom of the wardrobe for the duration.

 

We had three meals in the Britannia Restaurant and while we enjoyed the first night's offering (duck) we didn't enjoy the following two meals at all. My lamb was tough and raw - I had requested it to be cooked "medium" but clearly that didn't happen. It was so raw that I left the entire piece. I pointed this out when my plate was taken away but the server had no interest at all. We are not foodies and are reasonably easily pleased with regard to food but we were both very disappointed in the Britannia food. We ended up having every other meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) in the Lido where we found the food to be excellent (thankfully).

 

We dressed appropriately in the evening but were rather shocked to find how casual people did dress! I took lots of very dressy clothes (after reading comments on this forum) but found myself feeling very overdressed. Obviously in the "posher" parts of the ship (Midship bar, Britannia Restaurant etc) everyone looked wonderful but I still expected a reasonable standard of dress still in the Lido. There really was a very low standard and I could have easily wandered around in shorts or flip flops with no trouble.

With regard to jackets for men at dinner and around the ship - it was so hot that we ended up going back to our room early from dinner. My husband simply couldn’t cope with the heat in the Britannia Restaurant. Also we noticed that many men in the Royal Theatre removed their jackets (as did my husband) as it was just too hot otherwise.

 

Formal night was lovely - black and white theme, my favourite!! We got some portraits taken on the stairs and also with a marbled background but oh dear, they “stage” you to stand like you are having a prom night photo in the 80s. All we could do was laugh and clearly we didn’t buy any.

 

I found the ages of people on board to be very mixed and while there were many elderly people, most were what I’d call active retirees having a great time. I liked that everyone had manners and there was no pushing or rudeness (things I have experienced on our Celebrity Cruise especially at the buffet). Everyone was friendly and respectful of their fellow passengers.

 

It was amazing to see the Queen Mary 2 docked in Sydney - it was quite a wonderful sight to see the two ships in the same city. We docked offshore the first night and as it was too rough to use the ships tenders, local boats were used. I must admit this could have been better organised - it was pouring with rain but no shelter had been organised for those waiting to tender from shore. Then when we could get on board the many staff returning from their shore leave ended up sitting in seats that I felt could have been offered to elderly passengers who could not find a seat. I was very pleased to see our waitress give up her seat but no one else offered.

 

Sorry for this long post - our overall impression of Cunard (and Queen Elizabeth) is that it is a wonderful cruise line with great traditions. For those who enjoy dressing for dinner each evening and fixed dining times it is superb. I’m glad we had the experience and can’t fault many aspects of the ship or service but any future cruise we do will be where there is open restaurant seating and no requirement to wear a dinner jacket. It’s a personal choice thing and no criticism of Cunard - I respect that they hold true to the tradition of dressing well in the evening.

Edited February 27, 2017 by AAAAmerican

[Scottygirl1]

Hi AAAAmerican: No, we didn't eat all in the main dining room for either breakfast or lunch. We did check out the menu on a couple of days but it just didn't appeal to us. We only had the three dinners there. Another reason we didn't eat more dinners there was the heat - my husband just couldn't cope with his jacket on (it was really stuffy in there, even I was sweating in a sleeveless dress).

 

Regarding the mini bar we did ask for it to be removed but the steward stacked it up on the sideboard near the mirror! That's why we put it in the wardrobe.

 

I was disappointed we couldn't get firmer pillows, again we were told that all they do is stuff two pillows into one pillowcase. To me that does not make a firm pillow, just a really big puffy one that I wouldn't be able to sleep on!

 

Certainly, had we been on a longer cruise, I would have talked to someone higher up regarding the meals in Britannia but it just wasn't worth it to complain this time. Others seemed happy and it wasn't all bad, just not the standard we had expected.

[Host Hattie]

Thank you for taking the time to report back on your experience.

[ToadOfToadHall]

With regards to your lamb; why not just simply send it back to be cooked a bit more ? Surely you would do that in a restaurant when you are specifically paying for your meal, so why not on a ship ? BTW - It's not blood !

 

You also seemed worried that your husband could not take his jacket off in the MDR. Whilst men should not remove them, if I was feeling too hot I would certainly remove mine. In the past I've known the dining room to get very hot, especially if your table is in the middle areas. It does tend to be cooler around the outside tables.

[Scottygirl1]

With regards to your lamb; why not just simply send it back to be cooked a bit more ? Surely you would do that in a restaurant when you are specifically paying for your meal, so why not on a ship ? BTW - It's not blood !

 

You also seemed worried that your husband could not take his jacket off in the MDR. Whilst men should not remove them, if I was feeling too hot I would certainly remove mine. In the past I've known the dining room to get very hot, especially if your table is in the middle areas. It does tend to be cooler around the outside tables.

 

 

You know - yes, in a restaurant I would have complained and now it seems strange that I didn't on the ship. In a restaurant you are always asked 'is everything alright with your meal' and I know I was not asked this on the ship. Maybe I'm conscious that they are feeding so many and that the kitchen is so busy that I don't want to be that person who complains? That same night my husband had the steak with corn cob and chunky potato - it looked awful. He said the corn was good but the rest was pretty bad. To be honest by that time we'd both decided we didn't want to eat there again and just left. We didn't return.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Scottygirl1

[ToadOfToadHall]

To be honest by that time we'd both decided we didn't want to eat there again and just left. We didn't return.

 

 

I can see what you mean about that. Once you (I don't mean your personally, I mean everyone) have formed an opinion, the damage has been done, and it's very difficult to change that perception. I think every body is like that.

[AAAAmerican]

Dear Scottygirl,

Thanks once again!

Oh on Jacket heat I always take off my jacket and even my bow tie if too hot in temperature.

On Pillows I have heard that absurd answer they give by stuffing two pillows in one case on some ships.. .. the cooler items I always have them removed from the cabin ,they just do not want to be bothered I gather so I do ask the Housekeeping on it too and make our preferences known even before boarding. My XYL does bring her own firm pillow so it helps a wee bit.

on food we do like quality as you do. Make your opinons known to the crui9se line and your travel agency. The more which say something then things get done and well Maam. Otherwise it is status quo ya know..

 

 

Hi AAAAmerican: No, we didn't eat all in the main dining room for either breakfast or lunch. We did check out the menu on a couple of days but it just didn't appeal to us. We only had the three dinners there. Another reason we didn't eat more dinners there was the heat - my husband just couldn't cope with his jacket on (it was really stuffy in there, even I was sweating in a sleeveless dress).

 

Regarding the mini bar we did ask for it to be removed but the steward stacked it up on the sideboard near the mirror! That's why we put it in the wardrobe.

 

I was disappointed we couldn't get firmer pillows, again we were told that all they do is stuff two pillows into one pillowcase. To me that does not make a firm pillow, just a really big puffy one that I wouldn't be able to sleep on!

 

Certainly, had we been on a longer cruise, I would have talked to someone higher up regarding the meals in Britannia but it just wasn't worth it to complain this time. Others seemed happy and it wasn't all bad, just not the standard we had expected.

[Scottygirl1]

Actually AAAAmerican - The reason he didn't remove his jacket over dinner was because of all the talk on this forum! There were those here who were quite offended that a man would remove his jacket at dinner so I thought we'd better keep to the correct etiquette :)

 

Never mind, overall we did have a lovely time and I can certainly see why people would choose this line. I loved the tradition shown throughout the entire ship.

 

One interesting comment though was from a lovely older lady travelling on her own. She had been on the ship since Southhampton and said it was just so boring! They kept putting her with "old biddies" at dinner and she wondered why they would think she would want to sit chatting to a group of old ladies? Why not put her with some couples etc. She also said no one drank much and went to bed early. She was used to sailing on Regent and other top lines where the alcohol is included - probably explains why no one was drinking much, the cost adds up and on a long cruise the bill could be quite substantial!