Yuletide Cruise - My Views

[capegirl]

Just back so thought some of you might be interested in my thoughts! Embarkation NYC - long queues - exhausting after flight - I think we all arrived at the same time although I was not one of the unlucky Brits whose BA plane took 14 hours to reach NYC and held up the ship! Britannia Cabin very clean and modern and very very comfortable bed and bedding! Hull balcony bigger than what we have had on P & O and we were able to put the loungers down flat. Would have preferred glass balacony as we had to stand to see out.

Entertainment, we found mediocre considering Christmas time. Only two dance routine shows in the whole 14 days. We enjoyed comedian and mime artistes. Enjoyed New Year's Eve party on deck, the group Xtrasea were fantastic.

Food, just okay. Don't believe Cunard saying early booking get good table in Britannia, we booked in February 2005 and were in an annexe next to the wait station. Did not complain due to the restaurant being full and our waiters very pleasant. Todd English - Britannia cruisers shoved together in empty restaurant for dinner once again near wait station. When I booked for dinner asked for window seat but said first come etc when we arrived no one was at window tables and also vacant when we left, definitely class system at Todd English. The food was okay would not bother again. The food we did enjoy enormously was the Lotus! King's Court luncheon - typical cruising push and shove.

The crew were very pleasant and accommodating. Did not go on any tours so cannot comment. We did our own thing at each island i.e. hired taxi to take us on a scenic tour which we found cheap and drivers were always interesting.

The ship on the whole is fantastic from the artwork, carpeting (something else!), history murals and furniture.

If anyone has any questions don't hesitate to ask!

[travelgals]

Capegirl, how did I miss you, met AMMS, BILLY5 and Gordon--asked if anyone had met you; to no avail. Maybe the children met, mine are Kate 12 and Tom 18. We had a great trip except the dining arrangements were all messed up. We were confirmed late seating table for 4 and ended up early seating at table for 6. Tried everything to change it (actually loved our tablemates but could not get it together to be at dinner by 6 especially formal nights). After a week they moved us to late seating but by that time the dining staff had already formed relationships with all their tables so we were like nomads. No service at all. We ate at Todd English 6 or 7 nights (the most we could reserve) just so we could have a civilized dinner. We loved the food there and would have eaten there every night but the menu is the same each night and small so not varied enough for a 2 week sailing. My family would have gone every night just for the chocolate fallen cake. As far as the empty tables; I don't get it either- they said they only serve 20 meals at a time so the tables are never all filled, but I still don't get it. I will say that I think our dining problem was probably unusual, but one thing that we have now encountered on both trips and in both Queens and Brittania is the lack of adequate beverage service. There are just not enough wine stewards and it really makes no sense since this is a source of revenue. Every night we would have ordered more if only they would appear; plus the waiters do not pour the wine, so you wait for your glass to be filled until the wine steward can get to it. Irritating for us and loss of revenue for the ship.

The ship was completely booked but never seemed crowded (except for the dining constrictions).

We did no organized tours, just took taxis to see the islands and go to beaches. We used the spa and beauty services several times and found it easy to get appointments--much different than our experience last March when it was impossible to get in.

Saw no evening shows, the planeterium shows were really good, Bill Miller, ship historian; top notch, excellent speaker, without a note and a huge vibrant personality. Bookstore great, library awesome in content and style. Commodore is bar and room of choice--we sat alone front and center as the ship sailed under the verrazzano narrows bridge, ducking our heads. (only unexpected advantage to early seating). Our cabins this time were lifeboat obstructed on deck 8 and wonderful--very sunny. Last trip was Queens grill and other than dining arrangements we experienced little difference. We used self help to debark (live in Manhattan and parked at the pier) and were off the ship by 7:50 and home by 8:13. This is backwards but embarking was easy once we got to the pier. It was the first day of the transit strike and the roads around where we live were closed for emergency traffic which made it a nightmare to go around the block, but once we were free and got to the pier we were on board in no time--it was between 1 and 2 even though we planned to be there by noon. I think many arrived later due to local travel problems. Two weeks is the perfect amount of time. This is the first time I was not lamenting the end of vacation as soon as I settled in. Whew- this has become a mini review.

Carol

[capegirl]

Hi Carol, sorry I missed you - just so many people on board! Regarding the wine menu, when we tried to order wine at our first meal the wine waiter kept coming back to us saying that particular wine not in stock and this at the beginning of the trip, why do they advertise wines and not have them on board! We are from UK and self disembarked which we probably wont do again three of us with six large suitcases trying to get lifts which were always full up so had to stair it through the throng! We stayed in Manhatten for 48 hours after our cruise and I must say absolutely loved NYC and will certainly return!