Confused about the expectation vs. reality in level of service- looking for insight

[techteach]

@frankp01 I have not heard the term “How do you museum.” Clue me in.

[Victoria2]

23 minutes ago, techteach said:

@frankp01 I have not heard the term “How do you museum.” Clue me in.

'Tell me my dear chap, how do you navigate yourself around a  museum and which departments do you go to first'

 

might be a good start

 

Other than that, 'How do you museum' whilst a revolting piece of grammar, is short, sharp and to the point!

Not taking any bets against  it finding its way across the pond and join upspeak and other imported language quirks.

 

Good Grief, I'm a dinosaur! 😄

 

Edit

 

Sorry Hattie, off piste again!🤫

 

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Victoria2

[frankp01]

1 hour ago, techteach said:

I have not heard the term “How do you museum.”

I used that as an example because it came to mind first. One of the museums here in Philadelphia ran an ad campaign with that slogan on the sides of busses. But it's the case where any noun becomes used as a verb. Ah, here's another one from an ad campaign for a salad bar chain:  "How do you salad?"

 

Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor for the NY Times, was a speaker on a December crossing a few years ago. We asked him what he thought of that exercise. He said there's a linguistic term for it, which I can no longer remember. But that it's an example of how English morphs.

Edited August 7, 2022 by frankp01

[WestonOne]

Don't forget Shakespeare's "Uncle me no uncle!"

Edited August 7, 2022 by WestonOne

[techteach]

Why must we shorten our language so we have to question the meaning? The ad slogan how do you…is interesting for a conversation starter however. Perhaps while sitting in the Commodore Club with a glass of port? How do you V&A? How do you Smithsonian?

[ExArkie]

7 hours ago, frankp01 said:

I used that as an example because it came to mind first. One of the museums here in Philadelphia ran an ad campaign with that slogan on the sides of busses. But it's the case where any noun becomes used as a verb. Ah, here's another one from an ad campaign for a salad bar chain:  "How do you salad?"

 

Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor for the NY Times, was a speaker on a December crossing a few years ago. We asked him what he thought of that exercise. He said there's a linguistic term for it, which I can no longer remember. But that it's an example of how English morphs.

Anthimeria: using one part of speech as another, or as I call it, “verbing one’s nouns.”

 

[exlondoner]

7 hours ago, techteach said:

Why must we shorten our language so we have to question the meaning? The ad slogan how do you…is interesting for a conversation starter however. Perhaps while sitting in the Commodore Club with a glass of port? How do you V&A? How do you Smithsonian?

 

Or perhaps, 'Do you port in port'?

[Victoria2]

19 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

Or perhaps, 'Do you port in port'?

and book an appointment and cycle to work  etc

 

As a linguist, you will know verbing isn't new, but I've never heard it being used with  the type of common noun such as 'museum'.

 

Oh well, saves space when texting I suppose and it is 'to the point'!

[WestonOne]

I am just back from a short trip in Queens Grill, which was most enjoyable, but here are a few of the ways that the website and other documentation does not quite match the reality.  Let me stress, all these were trivial and did not spoil the trip in any way.
"fresh fruit replenished daily" - none was provided.
"A seven-pillow concierge menu" - our butler seemed to know nothing about this.  A possibly out of date description of the pillow menu referred to a U-shaped one, which my wife uses at home so we asked if they had that.  The butler knew nothing about that, but did go off and some hours later found one.
.
"world atlas" - I believe that was always only for certain suites, but it was not in ours. (Q3)
"Personalised stationery".  No.  On the other hand we have some from earlier trips and have never used that, so I don't greatly miss it.

I have mentioned on an other topic that the choice of tea in the Grills Afternoon Tea seemed a bit confused and more limited than in the past.

I did successfully order the shirred eggs that I mentioned on another topic.  When I first ordered it, the waiter left to check and came back to say they could prepare it but it would take a very long time.  So I left it, but said I would like it for the following days breakfast.  I had offered to phone ahead and give them half an hours notice of our arriving for breakfast, but they did not take me up on the offer.   On the second day, it still took some twenty minutes, but it arrived and was excellent.  The head waiter and our table waiter and assistant waiters were all very interested in it, because no one had ordered it in their time on board.  I had eaten about half before I decided to grab a photo!

Edited August 14, 2022 by WestonOne

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, WestonOne said:

I am just back from a short trip in Queens Grill, which was most enjoyable, but here are a few of the ways that the website and other documentation does not quite match the reality.  Let me stress, all these were trivial and did not spoil the trip in any way.
"fresh fruit replenished daily" - none was provided.
"A seven-pillow concierge menu" - our butler seemed to know nothing about this.  A possibly out of date description of the pillow menu referred to a U-shaped one, which my wife uses at home so we asked if they had that.  The butler knew nothing about that, but did go off and some hours later found one.
.
"world atlas" - I believe that was always only for certain suites, but it was not in ours. (Q3)
"Personalised stationery".  No.  On the other hand we have some from earlier trips and have never used that, so I don't greatly miss it.

I have mentioned on an other topic that the choice of tea in the Grills Afternoon Tea seemed a bit confused and more limited than in the past.

I did successfully order the shirred eggs that I mentioned on another topic.  When I first ordered it, the waiter left to check and came back to say they could prepare it but it would take a very long time.  So I left it, but said I would like it for the following days breakfast.  I had offered to phone ahead and give them half an hours notice of our arriving for breakfast, but they did not take me up on the offer.   On the second day, it still took some twenty minutes, but it arrived and was excellent.  The head waiter and our table waiter and assistant waiters were all very interested in it, because no one had ordered it in their time on board.  I had eaten about half before I decided to grab a photo!

 

Fruit you have to ask for, and then it is replenished daily.

 

Don't know what happened to your pillow menu, or your butler's knowledge of it.

 

We asked for and got headed stationery. There was a form in our cabin.

 

I don't think the Atlases (which were for all QG cabins) ever reappeared after Covid. I can't imagine why not, and I was surprised how much I missed it. I meant to ask, but what with being moved and everything...

[WestonOne]

11 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

Fruit you have to ask for, and then it is replenished daily.

 

Don't know what happened to your pillow menu, or your butler's knowledge of it.

 

We asked for and got headed stationery. There was a form in our cabin.

 

I don't think the Atlases (which were for all QG cabins) ever reappeared after Covid. I can't imagine why not, and I was surprised how much I missed it. I meant to ask, but what with being moved and everything...

Ah.  I didn't see a form, but those are clearly little changes since my last grills trip, when we got the fruit and stationery without asking; it was just there in the room like the champagne.

I have just remembered, typing that, that there was no Pol Acker.  Not greatly missed!  That could have been an effect of it being a short trip,

Straight after boarding, we went to dine, so we did not see our actual butler until the second day, having seen the assistant butler later on the first day.  It is quite possible some things like the fruit and stationery would have been addressed if we had seen him on the first day.  There was a long queue to enter the grill, but that was caused by one, or perhaps two, groups who wanted to reorganise their tables.  The troublesome group a little in front of us had a table for two and one for four, but they wanted it reorganised as a table for six.    You cannot put any blame on the wait staff for that!


 

Edited August 14, 2022 by WestonOne

[exlondoner]

12 minutes ago, WestonOne said:

Ah.  I didn't see a form, but those are clearly little changes since my last grills trip, when we got the fruit and stationery without asking; it was just there in the room like the champagne.

I have just remembered, typing that, that there was no Pol Acker.  Not greatly missed!  That could have been an effect of it being a short trip,

Straight after boarding, we went to dine, so we did not see our actual butler until the second day, having seen the assistant butler later on the first day.  It is quite possible some things like the fruit and stationery would have been addressed if we had seen him on the first day.  There was a long queue to enter the grill, but that was caused by one, or perhaps two, groups who wanted to reorganise their tables.  The troublesome group a little in front of us had a table for two and one for four, but they wanted it reorganised as a table for six.    You cannot put any blame on the wait staff for that!


 

 

We didn't get the WC PA either. But I think I did hear that it appeared on perhaps the penultimate night of the cruise, by which time we had been taken away.

 

We also had to ask for bars of soap, shower caps, and probably some other things. All provided very willingly, but you have to remember to ask.

[TouchstoneFeste]

43 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I don't think the Atlases (which were for all QG cabins) ever reappeared after Covid. I can't imagine why not, and I was surprised how much I missed it. I meant to ask, but what with being moved and everything...

 

Impossible to sanitize?

 

(Everything else you mentioned was right on the mark.)

[exlondoner]

7 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

 

Impossible to sanitize?

 

(Everything else you mentioned was right on the mark.)

 

How does the library function then?

[TouchstoneFeste]

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

 

How does the library function then?

Good point.

[Windsurfboy]

're the library , PHE advice was clear the risk of transmission from a book with a normal paper cover after 24hrs is negligible.  So simple ask peopke to sanitize hands before touching books and quarantine books for 24hrs after return 

 

 

Public Health England statement on the safe handling of library books

 

During the COVID-19 emergency every person, including librarians, is being encouraged to wash their hands more frequently to protect themselves from any contaminated surfaces. The risk from books covered in a plastic cover handled by someone who is a possible COVID-19 case is negligible after 72 hours. The risk from books with a cardboard/paper cover is negligible after 24 hours. 

 

 

A

 

[jimdee3636]

Just off 14 nights on the QE (Panama Canal). It sailed at only two-thirds capacity (1,400 out of about 2,100) due to staffing shortages, but I never noticed any venues to be short-staffed or any crew members to be noticeably stressed-out. Except for the mask requirement (you must wear them in all indoor venues except while actually eating or drinking or exercising in the gym) and the fact that certain venues seemed less crowded than usual, it was a perfectly "normal" cruise experience.

[Miadessa]

Update:  OP here, just coming back to say that we sailed on the Queen Mary 2 again in September and it was wonderful!  The staff were all exceptionally friendly and helpful.  I noted, though, that all of the people were had encountered the first time had been replaced (Concierge, Maitre D', etc.).  So, make of that what you will.  Actually, the only weak link was our Room Steward, who unfortunately was the exact same person we had last time!  Minor issues there, but everything else lived up to what we were hoping for.  We had an amazing time.  We will definitely sail Cunard again!

[Host Hattie]

That's good to hear, thanks for reporting back.

[exlondoner]

38 minutes ago, Miadessa said:

Update:  OP here, just coming back to say that we sailed on the Queen Mary 2 again in September and it was wonderful!  The staff were all exceptionally friendly and helpful.  I noted, though, that all of the people were had encountered the first time had been replaced (Concierge, Maitre D', etc.).  So, make of that what you will.  Actually, the only weak link was our Room Steward, who unfortunately was the exact same person we had last time!  Minor issues there, but everything else lived up to what we were hoping for.  We had an amazing time.  We will definitely sail Cunard again!

Really glad it all turned out well.

[IB2]

It’s clear that they (and surely all cruise lines) have had a significant turnover of staff since the pandemic, having sent them back to far flung parts of the world and then assembling crews at short notice when cruising resumed.  And the additional precautions due to covid have created extra work for staff in a whole host of ways - having to post extra people standing about with hand sanitiser, having to serve you everything in the buffet, extra cleaning, etc.

 

On my August crossing the standard of service didn’t seem as good as I remember from 2019, and I’d put most of this down to new staff.  On my current crossing things seem to have settled down, except in the dining room where the changes to the seating/booking arrangements are creating a bit of confusion.

[Victoria2]

Luckily for us, from the cabin to the restaurant staff the service, care  and attention we received on QV in QG in August was just as good as previous trips.

Couldn't fault any of it.

Perfection, as far as we were concerned.

 

 

 

[Pear Carr]

Have just returned from 14 nights on Queen Victoria and have to say we had excellent service throughout in terms of cabin steward, waiters, sommelier and bar staff.  Our cabin steward, Emmie, was the best we have had including those in Princess and Queens grill - nothing too much trouble - proactive, attentive and efficient.  The standard of food in the main dining room was as good if not better than some previous voyages, although we were not impressed with Coriander or the pub.  We can honestly say we had a very positive experience which met and in most areas exceeded our expectations.  

[BklynBoy8]

Coming back from the September 23rd 14 day sailing we were extremely happy with the Staff and Services we experienced.

 

Kings Court service very good and did not mine having servings plates for us. We did use the Staff at the entrance of the restaurant with HS bottles to cleanse before entering. Unfortunately we did not care in the past with passengers that at times messing up the food displays while plating their servings.

 

And everyone from Cabin to Restaurant to Entertainment were very professional as we have experienced in the past on the Cunard Line.

 

Concierge was very professional in handling our needs and enjoyed the Concierge Lounge for quiet time and Tea Time over the Queen Room and Grill Lounge. 

 

Our voyage was all we expected except for weather reasons we had to drop a port of call but that was a natures action and gave us another day to enjoy at sea.  

[sandjango]

On 8/6/2022 at 8:18 PM, Pear Carr said:

Sorry I’m with cruising.mark.uk here - never been offended by the term ‘brits’ and do not know anyone who has! This is lost on me - can you elaborate?

I've been called all sorts ...being called a brit is one of the better ones :))