Britannia Club or Princess Grill on QM2?

[Low Country Sandlapper]

I am in the beginning stages of planning a transatlantic cruise on the Queen Mary 2.  I am trying to decide between a Britannia Club cabin or a Princess Grill cabin.  Any thoughts?  Thank you.

[princeton123211]

Princess Grill gives you additional access to the Grills Lounge which is a nice perk. PG cabins are substantially larger than BC cabins-- this is especially evident in the bathrooms. 

 

Food was better in PG than our one BC experience-- I think PG and Queens Grill come from the same galley and Britannia Club food comes from the Britannia galley. 

 

Having experienced both I most likely wouldn't book Britannia Club again unless PG was wildly expensive. 

[Bigmike911]

In addition to more cabin space, and access to the Grills Lounge, and Grills deck on 11 and the Concierge on 9, you have a choice of getting a cabin mid ship or mid aft on 8, 10, and 11. All of the Britannia Club cabins are forward on 12 and 13, so if you have any motion sensitivity I would select a Princess Grill cabin. 

[Mickb]

Have crossed twice in Princess Grill. Both times were a great experience.

Would book again in a heartbeat. Don’t look on it as a cruise - more one of the worlds great travel experiences!

Have a great voyage in which ever you choose!

[Bigmike911]

5 hours ago, Bigmike911 said:

In addition to more cabin space, and access to the Grills Lounge, and Grills deck on 11 and the Concierge on 9, you have a choice of getting a cabin mid ship or mid aft on 8, 10, and 11. All of the Britannia Club cabins are forward on 12 and 13, so if you have any motion sensitivity I would select a Princess Grill cabin. 

A correction 11 deck are Britannia Balcony cabins and a couple of Queens Grill Q5s. Princess are 8 and 10.

[Low Country Sandlapper]

Thank you all!  Your responses have been most helpful.  

I’ve heard that the Britannia restaurant is stunning.  If one is staying in a Princess Grill cabin, is there the option of dining in the Britannia restaurant?

[BlueRiband]

49 minutes ago, Low Country Sandlapper said:

Thank you all!  Your responses have been most helpful.  

I’ve heard that the Britannia restaurant is stunning.  If one is staying in a Princess Grill cabin, is there the option of dining in the Britannia restaurant?

For dinner, the answer is  generally  no.  All of the Britannia spaces, especially for the first sitting, are allocated.  Breakfast and lunch however are open seating where the Maitre D' seats people as they come in.   That would be your best chance to experience the soaring grand ocean liner dining room.

 

There are exceptions that can be arranged, such as old friends meeting up but one couple is in the Grills and the other in Britannia.  In that case it's possible to arrange to dine "down" but not "up".  A lot will depend on who is running the dining room and how full is the ship. 

 

Having experienced both I love the intimacy and outstanding service in the Grills restaurants.  They have their own dedicated galley and you will have the same serving team at almost all of your meals.   But for atmosphere nothing can beat descending the stairway of Britannia on formal nights.  

[ExArkie]

13 hours ago, Bigmike911 said:

A correction 11 deck are Britannia Balcony cabins and a couple of Queens Grill Q5s. Princess are 8 and 10.

Pretty sure that all PG cabins are on deck 10 for QM2.

[BklynBoy8]

36 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

Pretty sure that all PG cabins are on deck 10 for QM2.

Princess Suites
Midships High Deck 10 P1
Forward High Deck 10  P2

per Cunard 2019 Deck Plan

[wripro]

You can always have breakfast or lunch in the Britannia if you are in PG. Trust me you won't want to give up a dinner in PG to eat in Britannia.

[Mickb]

Totally agree - the Britannia May be a more impressive but the intimacy and quality of the Grills make them very special

[cruiseluvva]

I agree the Britannia restaurant spectacular visually, but we have found it very noisy. 

[gourmetjan]

One advantage that Princess Grill has over Britannia that all days are at sea and it is very difficult to get a seat to watch the guest speakers.  The theaters, at most, can only accommodate half of the passengers at any one time.  There was a long line everyday to attend the speakers in the theaters, but it looked as though those travelling in Grill Suites had access via another door before everybody else was allowed to enter.  Just my opinion.

[Wiltonian]

13 minutes ago, gourmetjan said:

One advantage that Princess Grill has over Britannia that all days are at sea and it is very difficult to get a seat to watch the guest speakers.  The theaters, at most, can only accommodate half of the passengers at any one time.  There was a long line everyday to attend the speakers in the theaters, but it looked as though those travelling in Grill Suites had access via another door before everybody else was allowed to enter.  Just my opinion.

For the difference in prices I’ve seen on some cruises, say £3k vs £6k, you could probably book the speakers to give you a private audience!

[BlueRiband]

1 hour ago, gourmetjan said:

One advantage that Princess Grill has over Britannia that all days are at sea and it is very difficult to get a seat to watch the guest speakers.  The theaters, at most, can only accommodate half of the passengers at any one time.  There was a long line everyday to attend the speakers in the theaters, but it looked as though those travelling in Grill Suites had access via another door before everybody else was allowed to enter.  Just my opinion.

Two points:

1) Cunard does not set aside prime seating in the theatres for Grills passengers. Some lines do set up roped-off areas for their premium fare passengers but on Cunard the public rooms are all first come, first served.  (Two of their smaller ships have theatre boxes which can be reserved by anybody who wants to pay for that service.)

 

2) How can you know that the passengers who had acess to this "special door" are Grills passengers?  Did they wear a special badge or wrist band to identify themselves?   Maybe I'll ask Stephen Payne where he put this special door if I see him on board.  I'd love to know where it is so I don't have to stand for a popular speaker.   The only entertainment "priority" that Grill passengers get is a block of Planetarium show tickets set aside in the Concierge Lounge.

Edited May 5, 2019 by BlueRiband

[Host Hattie]

1 hour ago, gourmetjan said:

One advantage that Princess Grill has over Britannia that all days are at sea and it is very difficult to get a seat to watch the guest speakers.  The theaters, at most, can only accommodate half of the passengers at any one time.  There was a long line everyday to attend the speakers in the theaters, but it looked as though those travelling in Grill Suites had access via another door before everybody else was allowed to enter.  Just my opinion.

 

An interesting idea but untrue, there are no special doors or reserved seating for Grills passengers. They turn up early if they want to be guaranteed a seat or watch the lectures on the television later.

[Bigmike911]

On 4/27/2019 at 10:09 AM, ExArkie said:

Pretty sure that all PG cabins are on deck 10 for QM2.

I stand corrected. Thank you. 

[seacruise9]

On 5/5/2019 at 5:34 PM, Host Hattie said:

 

An interesting idea but untrue, there are no special doors or reserved seating for Grills passengers. They turn up early if they want to be guaranteed a seat or watch the lectures on the television later.

Hi, 

 

I just did a crossing on the QM2 (April 28-May 5) and attended many lectures. I agree that there is no special door or reserved seating for Grills passengers. I was always able to find a seat, but usually arrived fairly early. The lectures are very popular. As you mentioned, the lectures can be viewed on television at a later time.

 

Chuck

[BigMac1953]

On 5/5/2019 at 10:54 PM, BlueRiband said:

How can you know that the passengers who had acess to this "special door" are Grills passengers?

 

You can actually tell from the card, who is Grill pax, but there are no doors as has been stated.

[exlondoner]

Which card? How?

[Host Hattie]

There is a diamond symbol on Grills cruise cards but I think it's unlikely that it could be seen by a casual observer in the theatre or Illuminations.

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

There is a diamond symbol on Grills cruise cards but I think it's unlikely that it could be seen by a casual observer in the theatre or Illuminations.

 

So there is. I'd never noticed it and probably would have assumed it to be related to WC status.  Anyway, other than when they are buying things, the only time I've ever seen other people's cards exposed is when they are trying to get the lift to take them to Deck 11.

[david,Mississauga]

3 hours ago, seacruise9 said:

Hi, 

 

I just did a crossing on the QM2 (April 28-May 5) and attended many lectures. I agree that there is no special door or reserved seating for Grills passengers. I was always able to find a seat, but usually arrived fairly early. The lectures are very popular. As you mentioned, the lectures can be viewed on television at a later time.

 

Chuck

 

What may cause some to assume there are special doors are the doors on either side of the stage in Illuminations. From my experience there is a sign on each of those doors saying "no admittance".  This is necessary because anyone entering from these doors could be disruptive to an event in progress.

 

Most people do enter Illuminations from the designated areas at the rear. But I have seen several people enter through those front doors prior to the lecture. It is easier for anyone wanting to sit in the first few rows than entering from the rear and negotiating all the steps.

Edited May 7, 2019 by david,Mississauga
Typo

[BklynBoy8]

1 hour ago, david,Mississauga said:

From my experience there is a sign on each of those doors saying "no admittance".  This is necessary because anyone entering from these doors could be disruptive to an event in progress.

Most people do enter Illuminations from the designated areas at the rear. But I have seen several people enter through those front doors prior to the lecture. It is easier for anyone wanting to sit in the first few rows than entering from the rear and negotiating all the steps.

Diito david,

We have seen people entering thru those doors as they are also close to the A Elevator Bank (Forward) and are around the corner from them.

 

We've experienced these being used especially when attending the Catholic Mass daily or Saturday/Sunday when Mass is held. 

 

Though there are blackout curtains there too, I think the people that use those doors knowing at that particular time they are not interfering with a presentation, movie or planetarium showing. 

[harpy3]

We did two TAs in 2017.  We were in Grills and for the shows in the evening there was a roped off early-seating area for Grills passengers (at least those Princess and Queens) but never saw or experienced that for any other event on the ship.