wait times for dining QE

[Electra 7]

Hi can anyone who has been onboard inform me of the wait times for second sitting 

I think I read somewhere the wait times were very long on the first staycation cruises

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Electra 7 said:

Hi can anyone who has been onboard inform me of the wait times for second sitting 

I think I read somewhere the wait times were very long on the first staycation cruises

We were on the very first staycation on QE on 13th August and we had second sitting and we had no problems whatsoever and never had to wait for a table we always went straight in.

[sandancer]

I’m also very interested in finding this out. We did a staycation on Britannia at the end of August and were dismayed by the comments on waiting times from other cruisers. In fact we had no long waits as we booked using the P&O app and joining a “virtual queue”. I have no idea if Cunard are operating a similar system but if they are, it works. We found that the guests complaining of long waits were those who disliked using the app and I get that. Also have to take into consideration that P&O had no fixed seating. All open seating. 

[majortom10]

We never used the App because we could not get it to work and also the "experts" on Cunard couldnt get it to work on either my phone or the wife's so we had no advantage of using the App and like I said we had no waiting time for a table at anytime and we ate in Britannia for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

[sandancer]

Don’t you just love technology.?

[ovccruiser]

On the recent round Britain cruise and the late dinning times had to be booked. You can call at the purser's desk and book, where you can book the same time for the whole cruise. 

[rakkor]

We were on the August Sun Voyage and the waiting for the MDR for 2nd sitting was no different than at breakfast or lunch on any othere cruise - You has to queue because tables were allocated to diners on arrival since it was anytime dining and you had to be escorted to your table. I have plenty of complaints about the second sitting arrangements, but wait times wasn't one of them.

Edited October 25, 2021 by rakkor

[Electra 7]

16 hours ago, rakkor said:

We were on the August Sun Voyage and the waiting for the MDR for 2nd sitting was no different than at breakfast or lunch on any othere cruise - You has to queue because tables were allocated to diners on arrival since it was anytime dining and you had to be escorted to your table. I have plenty of complaints about the second sitting arrangements, but wait times wasn't one of them.

Did you use my voyage app on the cruise ? If you did can you download app at home or do you have to wait until you are onboard?

[rakkor]

32 minutes ago, Electra 7 said:

Did you use my voyage app on the cruise ? If you did can you download app at home or do you have to wait until you are onboard?

 

I did - I used it for Breakfast each day on an ad hoc basis and we'd block booked a table for 4 in the MDR on our first day for the whole cruise. We never used it for lunch in the MDR or to book the Lido turning up on spec with no issues getting at table - I had no issues with the App at all - Downloaded on board

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by rakkor

[Tira04]

First time Cunard cruise here,  boarding in December .

I didn't realise Cunard had an app! I couldn't find one in Google app store. What is it called? 

[Electra 7]

2 hours ago, rakkor said:

 

I did - I used it for Breakfast each day on an ad hoc basis and we'd block booked a table for 4 in the MDR on our first day for the whole cruise. We never used it for lunch in the MDR or to book the Lido turning up on spec with no issues getting at table - I had no issues with the App at all - Downloaded on board

 

thanks

[sandancer]

If you mean the app you use on board to book dining etc you won’t find it in the App Store as far as I can see. We have not yet used the Cunard version as you can’t install it until you are onboard. We have however used both Marella and P&O apps on the Seacations we took recently. We are on the QE in December so we will also have to learn how to use it. 

[sandancer]

2 hours ago, rakkor said:

 

I did - I used it for Breakfast each day on an ad hoc basis and we'd block booked a table for 4 in the MDR on our first day for the whole cruise. We never used it for lunch in the MDR or to book the Lido turning up on spec with no issues getting at table - I had no issues with the App at all - Downloaded on board

 

Can I ask the procedure for block booking for the MDR. Was that for first seating or anytime dining?  The latter doesn’t start until 8.45 I believe and that’s about as late as I can eat. As we booked early saver we’ll have to take whichever seating we are allocated. 

[majortom10]

It is not an App in the sense that are widely available in Google or Apple stores it is just an App designed to be used onboard with their intranet and cannot be downloaded anywhere else except on the ship.

[majortom10]

21 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Can I ask the procedure for block booking for the MDR. Was that for first seating or anytime dining?  The latter doesn’t start until 8.45 I believe and that’s about as late as I can eat. As we booked early saver we’ll have to take whichever seating we are allocated. 

In normal times first sitting is 6pm and second sitting 8-30pm but they changed this for the reintroduction to cruising with the seacations and when we did the first one first sitting was 5-30 and second sitting was anytime after 7pm but I think this has since been adjusted as there were many complaints that 5-30pm was too early but dont know if they have reverted to normal cruising times for which they only apply to Britannia restaurant.

[sandancer]

Just checked My Cunard and actually for this voyage second (anytime) dining is 7.45. Just right for us. 

[rakkor]

When I said block booked, I really meant I went into the MDR second sitting settings for each day of the cruise on the first night and booked a table for that day, as it was a 7 night cruise it wasn't too much to do it all at once.

[rakkor]

If I remember correctly, the booking system had one time available for the MDR each evening @ 20:15

[majortom10]

We are on QE next week so it will be interesting to see what changes throughout the ship have been made, if any, since our Seacation on 13th August.

Edited October 26, 2021 by majortom10

[sandancer]

56 minutes ago, rakkor said:

When I said block booked, I really meant I went into the MDR second sitting settings for each day of the cruise on the first night and booked a table for that day, as it was a 7 night cruise it wasn't too much to do it all at once.

Thanks. Sounds the same as the P&O app. 

[sandancer]

21 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

We are on QE next week so it will be interesting to see what changes throughout the ship have been made, if any, since our Seacation on 13th August.

Excellent. We’ll look forward to hearing your take on the latest on board arrangements. I must say thank you for all your advice over the last couple of weeks. 

[Electra 7]

36 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

We are on QE next week so it will be interesting to see what changes throughout the ship have been made, if any, since our Seacation on 13th August.

It would be great if you could let us know thanks

[bluemarble]

4 hours ago, Tira04 said:

First time Cunard cruise here,  boarding in December .

I didn't realise Cunard had an app! I couldn't find one in Google app store. What is it called? 

 

As others have indicated, "My Voyage" isn't really an app in the conventional sense. I haven't had the pleasure of being on a Cunard voyage since it was introduced, but from the description it's more of a web site you access through your browser once you are on board.

 

Here's how it's described on the Cunard website: My Voyage

 

If you go to myvoyage.cunard.com now, you'll see instructions on how to "install" it as a browser bookmark on your device's home screen.

[ovccruiser]

Bear in mind, when you have booked a time in the MDR, you will still queue as there will be a number of guests who would have booked the same time. You will always be escorted to your table as even though you may book for the same time the whole cruise, does not mean you will be on the same table. It suited us, sometimes we would have a table for two, other time we shared a table for 6 or 8, that is the choice on arrival at the MDR.

Edited October 27, 2021 by ovccruiser