Queen Victoria Deck Plans

[dougnewmanatsea]

Do they remind you of a certain ship/s from Cunard's past?

Yes, they look like the chairs from the cabin-class (first-class) dining room on QUEEN MARY.

 

Exterior view. Not very exciting.

Not exciting, but not bad-looking either, for a new cruise ship.

 

Where did you find that huge image anyway? I'd love to see larger images of the interiors, if you have any. In particular I am curious what those "things" are on the ceiling of the Royal Court :rolleyes: ...

[guernseyguy]

Yes, they look like the chairs from the cabin-class (first-class) dining room on QUEEN MARY.

I thought they might also resemble the QUEEN ELIZABETH - but those did not have the 'cut out' handle at the top - similar arms though....wonder if these will get past the accountants......

 

Not exciting, but not bad-looking either, for a new cruise ship.

 

I agree, one of the less ugly ones - however, currently viewed from her most flattering angle - I wonder what she is going to look like side on with all that Grill stuff round the Funnel!

 

Where did you find that huge image anyway? I'd love to see larger images of the interiors, if you have any. In particular I am curious what those "things" are on the ceiling of the Royal Court :rolleyes: ...

 

There are images here: http://www.cunardimages.com/main.asp

 

If you get asked for login/password its 'press'/'guyonda' There's quite a bit more detail in these. Do you mean the ceiling fixtures in the Royal Arcade? IIRC, these are modeled on the Royal/Burlignton Arcades of Piccadilly in London - well, thats what Cunard claims they are...One thing I noticed about the images - quite a lot more silver hair than one usually sees.....

 

Peter

[guernseyguy]

.....And not a little disinformation, including the Queen Mary/Queen Victoria myth, and some speculation that Cunard are looking for a permanent berth for QE2:

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2044439_1,00.html

 

My favourite quote:

 

Cunard claims that the ballroom resembles the interior of Osborne House, Victoria’s home on the Isle of Wight, but the resemblance seems passing

 

Maybe Osborne House doesn't have an arcade of shops in the gallery.....

 

Peter

[stowaway2k]

Has anyone taken notice of the dining room chairs in the main dining room on QV? Do they remind you of a certain ship/s from Cunard's past? They do me!

 

Ernie

 

They are virtually identical to the Queen Mary's first class dining room chairs.

Also, the decorative mural shown in QV's Britannia Dining Room looks to be very much inspired by the famous MacDonald Gill decorative map in Queen Mary's first class dining room.

 

See Queen Mary's first class dining room here: http://www.sterling.rmplc.co.uk/visions/retain4.html

[travel-to-go]

.....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2044439_1,00.html

 

My favourite quote:

 

Peter

 

Oh, MY personal favorite quote involved how many TEABAGS the passengers will eat! Is that punishment for a calling it a boat instead of a ship, or a cruise instead of a voyage (or crossing) or maybe for not knowing port from starboard!

[sailorbill]

Tossing in a few comments and thoughts. Leading off is my opinion that the exterior views of the Queen Victoria will be much more pleasing than the Queen Mary 2. Of course, that is not hard to do since QM2 is the biggest and ugliest mish-mash floating on today's oceans. It's too bad that Cunard couldn't have figured out a way to have triple funnels on QV even if two were fake. Then she might look more like a liner even if she could not perform like a liner. There is a total lack of imagination in ship design these days. Now to specific comments.

 

1. Grand Lobby - The reality is not likely to be as grand as the drawing on Cunard's website because the space is much smaller than portrayed. The vista class and Arcadia atriums are tiny and cramped. While the QV lobby appears to have more space on deck 1, the openings on decks 2 and 3 are not much bigger than the vista class ships. Look for a big disappointment here.

 

2. Queen's Room - The strange flat second storey wall on the port side is caused by the promenade of deck 3. Thump, thump, thump go the pounding feet of the joggers during high tea. Even I could design a much better decorative scheme for this wall than the circus like painting shown in the drawing. I've never visited Osborne House but it couldn't be as bad as this.

 

3. Library - I like the idea and visual impact of the library, but I question the practicality of the space. It will be fine with only a few people visiting at a time, but what happens when 30, 50 or 75 persons want to visit at the same time? As to the all wood decor which will have to be all faux wood to meet SOLAS requirements, it can easily turn into a phoney faux wood pastiche if not handled very deftly.

 

4. Winter Garden - Using space that was carved away from the covered pool deck, the Winter Garden had better be well screened from the pool or there will be a lot of conflict between the appearance and dress by users of the pool and the garden. Watching some of the octogenarian bathing beauties in their bikinis would curdle the cream in anyone's dainty tea.

 

5. Royal Arcade - The drawings show the use of wrought iron for decorative elements and that is probably a big mistake because wrought iron absorbs light and makes any area dark and forbidding. All that will be needed is a fog machine with a little coal smoke to make the area resemble classic London in the "good old days". HAL's Volendam uses wrought iron for fixtures in the main dining room and I found it made the room dark and depressing.

 

6. Royal Court Theatre - Did you notice that one of the boxes was two stories high, as with a "royal" box. If it is not reserved for the exclusive use of the Grand Suite passengers or kept available for royalty, then I can see a unseemly crush as passengers make a mad dash for the box in the delusion that other passengers will see that the occupants really belong in a royal box. Does Doug's comment about the painting on the underside of the balcony mean that the main ceiling will be painted? Maybe it will have a classic allegory with blue skies, clouds, putti and Queen Victoria in her widow weeds ruling over all. What a sight!

 

7. Accomodations - The QV is using the design of the Noordam rather than the other vista class ships at the stern with a steeper rake for the stern balconies. This allows for a few more staterooms to be inserted in decks 5 through 8. Queen Victoria has fewer suites, 123 (?), than the Noordam, 162, but most of the Queen's Grill suites are much larger. Many of the upper deck inside cabins at 152 sq. ft. would make excellent single staterooms, but the bean counters would have a hissy fit. If you can squeese two in a cabin, why settle for one! I am greatly amused and somewhat outraged by the puffery used on the Cunard website in describing the size of the staterooms. By including the balcony size in the stateroom space the gullible public can be bamboozled into thinking they are getting more. And the size range is given as largest to smallest whereas normal presentation is smallest to largest. For inside and oceanview staterooms the largest number is mostly for the one or two handicapped staterooms not generally available to the able-bodied. For the balcony staterooms a more honest and forthright explanation of size is to give the inside square footage and then the range of balcony sizes. For example, category A2 is given as a range of 472-242 sq. ft. Well, the 472 sq. ft. refers to two handicapped staterooms on deck 7 with extra large balconies. The standard A2 stateroom is 180 sq. ft. inside and a 62 sq. ft. balcony, a very standard, ordinary stateroom.

 

8. Hemisphere - This is a new space not seen on the vista class or Arcadia and could be exciting depending on design and use.

 

9. Queen's and Princess Grill - As pointed out by others, this area really does set the grill passengers apart from the masses. It does seem to be well designed and an improvement over QM2.

 

Overall, I think QV is an improvement on the vista class design although it keeps some of the limitations inherent to the vista class. It remains to be seen if the improvements will be worth the extra tariff that Cunard will undoubtedly charge over what Holland America charges for a very similar platform.

 

Bill

 

PS - I refuse to take any responsibility for typos, spelling or gramatical errors; after all, I'm a republican.

[dougnewmanatsea]

It's too bad that Cunard couldn't have figured out a way to have triple funnels on QV even if two were fake.

Wouldn't look right IMHO.

 

If you think QM2 is ugly you should have seen the proposals for a QM2 with dummy funnels - yech!

 

I've never visited Osborne House but it couldn't be as bad as this.

Agreed! I am not fond of the Victorian style but I do not think their taste was that bad ;) ...

 

It is very interesting that so many of the negative reactions to the renderings of the ship are to this room. Even the BBC commented negatively about it in their report about the new ship!

 

Incidentally, I originally thought the lack of a balcony on one side was because of the shop over the outer wing of the room on the starboard side. Somewhere the wires inside my head must have gotten crossed as it is of course, as you say, the port side that has that big bulkhead with the hideously ugly decoration on it. The shop is in fact located to starboard, behind that balcony. This is even worse - a balcony with shops! Has the person who designed this never been in the Grand Lounge on QE2? As much as I love QE2, that must be the worst "show lounge" on any ship, anywhere... But at least the silly "shops-in-the-balcony" arrangement was because of an ill-conceived refit. Here they are designing a brand-new ship with shops in the balcony of the ballroom! This is not good...

 

the all wood decor which will have to be all faux wood to meet SOLAS requirements

This is a myth, propagated, I suspect, by cruise lines trying to excuse the atrocious fake wood in many of their ships' interiors.

 

Real wood is allowed by SOLAS - it just needs to be a thin veneer over a fireproof substrate.

 

I hope they elect to use the real stuff in this room - if they do, it could be rather nice.

 

Does Doug's comment about the painting on the underside of the balcony mean that the main ceiling will be painted?

No, I was referring to the underside of the balcony.

 

I still can't figure out what's depicted there - I downloaded the higher-resolution image and it looks like some kind of odd shrubbery or something. Whatever it is, it's not pretty.

 

Of course, architecturally, the room is actually a big improvement over the theatres of the other Vista-class ships - but the decor looks horribly fussy. All those busy patterns on the walls and ceilings, plus that odd painted ceiling, the strange balustrades, the ornate mouldings around the stage... It just looks horribly garish for a Cunarder! Cunard may never have been known for having adventurously-designed interiors in their ships (except QE2's original interiors of course), but at least Cunarders didn't used to be garish...

 

could be exciting depending on design and use

A dual purpose nightclub/lecture hall? Just doesn't sound like a good combination, besides which the room looks way too small to hold lectures in, considering how popular they are on Cunard...

[guernseyguy]

And another thing.....possibly I'm reading the deck plans incorrectly - but it looks like the Magradome thingy will be over the 'Winter Garden' and not over the adjacent 'Pavillion Pool' - so the QV will have no covered pool - brave surely for a ship based in Southampton? Also noticed that the Winter Garden Magradome appears to open Port/Starboard rather than Fore/Aft.....curiouser and curiouser.....

 

Peter

[eroller]

And another thing.....possibly I'm reading the deck plans incorrectly - but it looks like the Magradome thingy will be over the 'Winter Garden' and not over the adjacent 'Pavillion Pool'

 

 

Yes, I already mentioned this in my comments earlier.

 

Ernie

[dougnewmanatsea]

so the QV will have no covered pool - brave surely for a ship based in Southampton?

Brave? I think daft is more like it!

 

If she really has no "indoor" pool (and it looks like she won't), I think they've made a rather large mistake!

 

Surely they learned their lesson with ORIANA? It's no coincidence that one of the things that were added when they designed AURORA was a dome over one of the pools...

 

Winter Garden Magradome appears to open Port/Starboard rather than Fore/Aft

Yes, I noticed this also - it's certainly different!

 

Can anyone think of another ship with a Magradome that "goes in the wrong direction"?

 

All the ones I can think of are fore/aft, from OCEANIC right on through ISLAND/SEA VENTURE, SCANDINAVIA, ATLANTIC, HOMERIC, and all the myriad Magradomed ships of the 1990s and 2000s!

[DreemCruiser]

Princess "designers" must be trained at Disney Studios, so Disney should be getting a fee for using its name to market an upscale ship called "RMS CUNARD-DISNEY." This forthcoming ship may be expensive, but it isn't worthy of the Cunard brand. You can throw a lot of money at something to try to copy a certain image, but you'll simply end up with a "tart" nonetheless.

 

QV in this iteration is just a garish interpretation of what some Princess "designers" believe to be the look of the Victorian era/s. It is commendable that they seem to have taken the time to look at the actual historic references, but it is doubtful that they consulted with a Victorian Preservationist, a person who's education has been focused on exact details of that period's design cues, in order to get the true feel and meaning that they obviously are trying SO hard to emulate.

 

As an architectural designer, I see this done all the time in "new suburbs" where "designers" (more likely a doofus contractor with no historic design education, or even the mind to look at pictures in a book about the subject) tries to emulate/copy an historical style. This is fine, as long as its done well, as it is in many Historic Revival periods of the past. But when its done with what can be bought off-the-shelf at the nearest mega-lumber yard/home store, and executed by someone who hasn't a clue, trouble with the final product is inevitable. It will simply look and feel like a very poor effort at copying something. Its a shame that in a product such as QV, in which almost everything is custom-designed and custom-made, it will not be done any better than the idiot contractors in sub-divisions of "McMansions."

 

My, grandmother, who was English, would have called this a "tarted-up" design, and I would completely agree. Although the exterior of the ship is handsome in Cunard livery, in so far as a CRUISE SHIP can be, the interior looses all classiness it projects.

 

This is a ship perfect who those who will step out of their faux Victorian houses and expect to find nothing less on board. They'll think its all just SO FABULOUS!

 

There will be many happy people sailing on this vessel, I'm sure, and I wish them the time of their lives in Cunard's "Disney," with those beautiful "Hollywood Facade" interiors.

 

And as far as the two exclusive upper decks for Queens Grill pax, I hope they understand that TRUE CLASS CANNOT BE BOUGHT. By Princess "designers" or by pax.

 

Because a product is expensive does not give it inherent Cunard historic class. Princess doesn't seem to understand this.

 

Another try at refinement, Cunard (not Princess.)?

 

John

[joeinsb]

Gents & Ladies,

 

Leave us not get too steamed up over the images depicting Victoria. They are merely computer generated proposals of what the various rooms, cabins, etc, might look like. In my biz (I'm an automotive magazine writer/editor/photog) we see a lot of preview illos of new cars, which wind up looking not a lot like what was envisioned before they were built.

 

As for the "photos" of the cabins, I like the ocean view (non balcony) cabin, showing the older woman sitting in profile. Looks a lot like Whistler's mother.

[sailorbill]

Dreemcruiser raises an interesting point and raises the question of what architectural or decorative style should a cruise ship named Queen Victoria try to emulate. What should Victorian look like? Looking in Wikipedia, the wonderful web encyclopedia, the Victorian era encompassed the following styles:

 

Neoclassicism

Gothic Revival

Italianate

Second Empire

Neo-Grecian

Romanesque Revival

Jacobethan

Renaissance Revival

British Arts and Crafts movement (William Morris)

 

in other words, just about anything except modern, art deco or spanish. Therefore, whatever the designers come up with, they could point to one or more of the victorian era styles as inspiration, even when the result is anything but inspired. They certainly don't want to go anywhere near American Victorian decorative style with dark woods, rooms overcrowded with heavy velvet tufted furniture, printed lampshades with dangling tassels, fussy walpaper prints and aspidistras and other hot house plants everywhere.

 

One thing that I find disturbing is that there appears no attempt to make any of the rooms elegant. Elegance comes out of simplicity, top grade materials, compatible color schemes and fine finishes. Unfortunately, most designers feel that everything must have lots of design or else they are cheating the customer and themselves. Why settle for simple when fussy and complex is lots more fun to design. The cruise ship that I find to be elegant, at least in pictures and brochures, is the small German ship mv Deutschland.

 

Bill

[travel-to-go]

Princess "designers" must be trained at Disney Studios, so Disney should be getting a fee for using its name to market an upscale ship called "RMS CUNARD-DISNEY."

Another try at refinement, Cunard (not Princess.)?

 

John

 

Okay, Several folks have mentioned Princess, and Disney. Never eben on either line, but these plans remind me of something else. A few things jump out at me.

First, the line of the exterior with that - oh so stylish wasp-waist- The hourglass figure (seen from the air) talk about your tarts! Well, having sailed the Westerdam Christmas 04, and the Zuiderdam a couple of times before that- even the Volendam- I recognize that profile. In fact, chose my balcony cabin, partly so I WOULDN'T get one of those that juts out. Because you have no privacy. It's like a beacon to all the center cabins- Yeah, you get a bit more room, but if I want to stick my head out after a shower, or work on my no-tan-line tan, I don't want to worry about whether or not any one can see me.

Second, The gamboling lanes on the way to dinner, down just one side of the ship. Well, let's see, down the starboard side as you work your way aft, you hit the main lobby- which will no doubt be filled with photographers in the way of access/egress - NOT as they would have you believe- that you are in THEIR way. Dammit! I paid to be here! I do not want to have to wend my way though a carnival show to get to dinner! All they need is barker hawking their wares! GIT YER PITCHERS HERE! STEP RIGHT UP! Then as the walkway bends a bit, you'll go by a long thin bar, on the way to the main restaurant. Ah, Good another chance at a quick (extra profit) drink while you stand in line for the dining room to open! No atmosphere- just a long thin bar next to a walk way- You can dodge in, grab a drink, and back out the other end, still moving towards your ultimate destination. Ah! But! WAIT! What's this? Oh look! There's us getting off in East Kukamonga! Oh look! It's the fake pirate on the sailaway pretending he's going to cut my throat with his rubber cutlass! Oh, honey! We HAVE to buy the picture form the other formal night! and the poses of all our dinner companions so we'll remember who they were and what they looked like after we get home! And the line for the dining room isn't moving. We can just put it on our card! Yep. It looks R-E-E-A-l Famiiar, I say. Just like all those other "dam" ships!

 

Oh, and while we're on about it, I think about Carnival's "promenades" past their theme bars and restaurants and bars, and bars. And other commonly designed ships also come to mind. So tell, me, Anyone know where the rock-climbing wall is? And what time does the ice skating rink open?

 

So I say the queens should break out of the mold-

How about a bowling alley? Didn't they used to have those on a lower deck on some of the classic ships? And where's the skittles parlor?

 

Anyway, Just my thoughts. Bah Humbug!

 

Karie, Who's sweetie Marc has long threatened to bring aboard a bowling ball and release it at one end of a top deck when she's pitching and rolling, and time how long it takes to carom off walls and down halls to see long it take to make it to the bottom deck at the other end! <G>

[curlyQ]

Gents & Ladies,

 

Leave us not get too steamed up over the images depicting Victoria. They are merely computer generated proposals of what the various rooms, cabins, etc, might look like. In my biz (I'm an automotive magazine writer/editor/photog) we see a lot of preview illos of new cars, which wind up looking not a lot like what was envisioned before they were built.

 

As for the "photos" of the cabins, I like the ocean view (non balcony) cabin, showing the older woman sitting in profile. Looks a lot like Whistler's mother.

 

Ah yes darling... "the 'older' woman" ... I hope your Grandmother was

just as classy!

[JDRMYS]

Having studied the QV's deck plans, I have a mixed reation.

 

I am happy to see that there are a few standard Queen's Grill suites located aft with large, wrap-around balconies. This is a first for Cunard and might help to lure me back after an absence of 29 years.

 

On the other hand, the location of the children's and teenagers' outdoor decks directly underneath the grill passengers' terrace seems destined to bring unwanted noise to what should be a tranquil retreat. What were the designers thinking?

 

The decor seems to combine ersatz nostalgia with glitz. Unfortunately, I find most newer ships to be decorated in glitzy, poor taste. Almost nothing compares favorably to the old Queens Elizabeth and Mary (on which I am old enough to have travelled) or the mid-century liners such as the France, the Kungsholm, the Gripsholm, or the original 1969 decor of the QE2.

[joeinsb]

Curly Q,

 

Dude, or dudette, as the case may be, by saying the woman looked like Whistler's mother, I didn't mean she looked old, but that literally her pose looked like the painting. Or maybe one of Besty Ross. Anyway, age ain't got anything to do with it, being that I ain't no kid myself--except mentally.:D

[curlyQ]

Curly Q,

 

Dude, or dudette, as the case may be, by saying the woman looked like Whistler's mother, I didn't mean she looked old, but that literally her pose looked like the painting. Or maybe one of Besty Ross. Anyway, age ain't got anything to do with it, being that I ain't no kid myself--except mentally.:D

 

Ah, there you go darling, now ( Miss ) CurlyQ can retire upstairs to bed

and not have to worry - nite nite! :)

[ocngypz]

Here's hoping they can do something with the dreadful sight lines experienced on the HAL Vista-Class vessels' Vista Lounge.

 

All in all.. very much a Vista Class ship.

 

As Ernie noted, there are no Panoramic elevators. Combine that with one fewer lifeboat forward of midship, it opens up the midship area for some balcony cabins.

[travel-to-go]

Oh, And did I mention of all of the public space on the QM2, I really did not care for the winter garden. Looked like it had been left out in the sun too long. Faded, blah, boring- No personality at all! Seemed a lot like a pass-through space for me.

 

 

I cannot conceive of taking the same blah space and making it a hot-shot convertible! (Lipstick on a pig is still a pig, darling!)

 

And no, I don't believe I have ever seen or heard of a side to side sliding roof!

 

Just cannot imagine it! Does it roll down like those metal doors over storefronts in dangerous areas? I can hear it now, The garage door clang as background for the afternoon harpist when it looks like rain!

 

Karie, who isn't fond of Winter ANYTHING when she is cruising! (Except getting AWAY from winter! <G>)

[dougnewmanatsea]

Here's hoping they can do something with the dreadful sight lines experienced on the HAL Vista-Class vessels' Vista Lounge.

It looks to me as though the theatre on QUEEN VICTORIA is a totally different layout, with no pillars in the main section ("orchestra").

 

This is definitely a Good Thing as the Vista Lounges on the HAL ships are a joke! Not only do they have many pillars but they brilliantly decided to arrange the seating in such a way as to have the pillars blocking the views of the absolute maximum number of seats ;) !

 

Of course the so-called Queens Lounge on the Vista-class ships is awful too - a room that is supposed to be both a cinema/auditorium and a lounge and which fails miserably on both counts. I am highly skeptical of all such "multi-purpose" room and fear that, in addition to being far too small for lectures (on a Cunarder), QV's Hemispheres may be another multi-purpose disaster, which can do multiple things poorly but nothing well.

 

I am constantly perplexed as to why, as ships get ever larger, the necessity for "multi-purpose" rooms like this apparently becomes greater! Surely on a 90,000 GT ship they could appropriate dedicated space to both a cinema and a nightclub? The old CARONIA (VISTAFJORD) had both at less than 1/3 QUEEN VICTORIA's size...

[sailorbill]

In a dissenting opinion to Doug's comment about the awful pillars in the Vista lounge on HAL's ships, I found them actually useful a couple of times. One was during the disembarcation talk when using my earplugs I could hear perfectly without having to watch or burst my eardrums. And during the Mariner's reception I could quietly have my free drinks without having to watch the endless merit badge presentation. On my last HAL cruise 1700 of the 1850 passengers on board were Mariners and well over a hundred merit badges were awarded. If it hadn't been for the free drinks I wouldn't have attended. One of those events that prove that there is no such thing as a free drink.

 

Bill

[travel-to-go]

In a dissenting opinion to Doug's comment about the awful pillars in the Vista lounge on HAL's ships, I found them actually useful a couple of times. One was during the disembarcation talk when using my earplugs I could hear perfectly without having to watch or burst my eardrums. And during the Mariner's reception I could quietly have my free drinks without having to watch the endless merit badge presentation. On my last HAL cruise 1700 of the 1850 passengers on board were Mariners and well over a hundred merit badges were awarded. If it hadn't been for the free drinks I wouldn't have attended. One of those events that prove that there is no such thing as a free drink.

 

Bill

 

Bill, I think I was on that cruise with you!

A couple of the medallian winners were stooped over with umpteen heavy gaudy medallions hung around their necks. And I think more than one had to be woken up standing in line waiting for all the folks to come up. (Serves me right for taking a special mariner cruise!)

 

And BTW, at a previous HAL medallion cermony I practically had to BEG for a drink. I kept getting bypassed. And I was in my late forties, so it wasn't that they thought I looked too young!

 

And at my most recent Cunard cocktail reception We got passed over several times, As everyone was leaving we finally asked a waiter clearing tables if we could have a drink. He wasn't going to do it until he noticed our Cunard pins and someone assured him that we had been sitting there in vain trying to get one eensy drink! I've had cheaper drunks when I was paying for the drinks! <G> And this was at the World Club Party!

 

Karie, Who must have a look that keeps waiters away

[guernseyguy]

So tell, me, Anyone know where the rock-climbing wall is? And what time does the ice skating rink open?

 

You probably know this....but thats another line......however, clearly the effort taken to divide the engine uptakes on the QM2 a la Normandie, hence providing a central vista (oops!) has not been attempted, and a wiggle past revenue earners, as you so delightfully describe, has been settled on instead.......

 

Peter

[Bramcruiser]

And at my most recent Cunard cocktail reception We got passed over several times, As everyone was leaving we finally asked a waiter clearing tables if we could have a drink. He wasn't going to do it until he noticed our Cunard pins and someone assured him that we had been sitting there in vain trying to get one eensy drink! I've had cheaper drunks when I was paying for the drinks! <G> And this was at the World Club Party!

 

Karie, Who must have a look that keeps waiters away

 

 

Karie:

 

It happens everywhere upscale I am sure. I remember on Carnival having drinks pushed on me as soon as I boarded the ship. On HAL I had to wait and wait and wait in the Crow's Nest until I finally walked up to the bar just to get a stupid drink order. Was the colour of my dockers and nice laundered shirt not good enough for them? Was I hideously disfigured? The service was slightly better in the dining room but at least the food was good. Thank god I had the cabin steward from heaven on my last HAL trip which more than made up for the lack of bar service.

 

So I figure on my upcoming Cunard trip I'll be completely ignored and will have to lower my hump in shame!:) Oh the horror of being trapped in luxury for a whole week!