Where are the comments from the Britannia Passengers?

[Windsurfboy]

11 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Respectfully disagree.  Wandering around as a Britannia guest and finding "Grill Guests Only" signs reminds one of what class I had booked

 

This makes it sound as these notices are everywhere , on QE and QV (never been on QM) there are only TWO notices, one  on at stairs on deck eleven and one on the chain across the outside steps to grills deck. 

 

What about

 

The Yacht  club  , MSC

The Haven , NCL

Celebrity Retreat 

Rock star retreat on Virgin

 

All have restricted entry, the Yacht club  even keeps part of theatre for yacht club guests. 

[exlondoner]

I think on QM2, there’s a sign on the Grills Terrace, and one outside the Grills Lounge. Neither of these areas is particularly attractive.

[exlondoner]

17 hours ago, majortom10 said:

 I have never been asked by anyone about what stateroom or suite I am in while chatting since we started cruising with Cunard in 1997. We have had a few strange looks when getting in lifts and putting in cruise card to access QG/PG deck from those that are not in there.

I get a lot of those looks, particularly as I often seem to have trouble getting them to work. I have also had complete strangers asking me what I think I’m doing or why I’m doing that, and others telling me I don’t need to do it (when I do). I think I must just look like a moron, an impression enhanced by my card difficulties. 😀

[wynkys]

As an infrequent traveller on Cunard over a period of seventy years, I would like to contribute to this topic.

I have sailed Britannia class on QE2, however, in 2004 I travelled along with my mother in PG on both QM2's inaugural crossing and on QE2 for the tandem crossing and I felt somewhat letdown feeling

excluded from the main dining room festivities for both those crossings.

I am booked on Queen Elizabeth in December this year and will be back in Britannia.

[Lakesregion]

1 hour ago, wynkys said:

As an infrequent traveller on Cunard over a period of seventy years, I would like to contribute to this topic.

I have sailed Britannia class on QE2, however, in 2004 I travelled along with my mother in PG on both QM2's inaugural crossing and on QE2 for the tandem crossing and I felt somewhat letdown feeling

excluded from the main dining room festivities for both those crossings.

I am booked on Queen Elizabeth in December this year and will be back in Britannia.

Fully agree that the interesting action is in the Britannia Dining room. That is why I thought the grills to be rather insular. Do like the size of the cabins but in as much as I am not a stay at home kind of guy when on board the size of the cabin really is immaterial. And having a very broad range of restaurants on shore, I do not require more than line on the table, Smartly attired wait staff , decent service and food.

[rkacruiser]

10 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I often seem to have trouble getting them to work. I have also had complete strangers asking me what I think I’m doing or why I’m doing that, and others telling me I don’t need to do it (when I do). I think I must just look like a moron, an impression enhanced by my card difficulties. 😀

 

I rather felt that way as a YC guest on MSC and decided to stop trying after more futile attempts than successful ones.  I'll just "go along for the ride" hoping we didn't stop at each deck.

 

11 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

What about

 

The Yacht  club  , MSC

 

There is a different "feel" when one is a guest in such accommodations.  

[Underwatr]

On 9/1/2022 at 3:05 AM, john watson said:

People are not completely happy with describing how they went on a cruise but failed to book the top end of luxury.

I'll make that known as much as I can.  You don't need to spend Grills fares to enjoy Cunard.

 

I'll be traveling QM2 in an Oceanview for the first time after many Britannia Balcony voyages (I'm CWC Diamond) so I'll probably post about that difference during or after my trip.

[Bedruthen]

I am not sure what to make of this thread and where we would be classified! We will fly out first class for a journey of 8 hours then spend 7 days in a Britannia cabin. I have a feeling that the extra cost of flying first class would have probably paid for the Grills upgrade. However my wife flies under great duress and this is where we choose to spend our money. Comfort comes in many forms.

[rakkor]

You do get the feeling In some of the comments that traveling Britannia is somehow slumming it, we will be back in Britannia on our next cruise if the second sitting for dinner is back to fixed seating. I find justifying travelling in Grills hard to do.

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, rakkor said:

I find justifying travelling in Grills hard to do.

Do explain further. Moral grounds, ecological grounds, value for money grounds, or what?

[john watson]

11 hours ago, Underwatr said:

I'll make that known as much as I can.  You don't need to spend Grills fares to enjoy Cunard.

 

I'll be traveling QM2 in an Oceanview for the first time after many Britannia Balcony voyages (I'm CWC Diamond) so I'll probably post about that difference during or after my trip.

 

Totally agree with the value for money Britannia option, that is what I choose.  I have found over the years sailing with other cruise lines that if you share tables with people quite often they mention "we are in a suite" but obviously this does not happen on Cunard.  In terms of posts there seems to generally disproportionately more about "We are thing about booking a Presidential suite" or blogs about same than there are available.  Whereas basic cabin reviews are disproportionately fewer in relation to numbers of basic cabins available.

 

Regards John

[Victoria2]

15 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

Totally agree with the value for money Britannia option, that is what I choose.  I have found over the years sailing with other cruise lines that if you share tables with people quite often they mention "we are in a suite" but obviously this does not happen on Cunard.  In terms of posts there seems to generally disproportionately more about "We are thing about booking a Presidential suite" or blogs about same than there are available.  Whereas basic cabin reviews are disproportionately fewer in relation to numbers of basic cabins available.

 

Regards John

. 

 

I would have thought every single member of this board is quite capable of writing a review or helpful posts from a ship if they want to, irrespective of what cabin they're in but most choose not to which is absolutely fine so unless this board uses a 'write a review a year to keep up your membership' which of course is totally ridiculous, then contributions are down to those who either want to give helpful hints from their ship, want to write a blog or write a review once home and levels of cabins are a coincidence

 

 

 

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, rakkor said:

You do get the feeling In some of the comments that traveling Britannia is somehow slumming it, we will be back in Britannia on our next cruise if the second sitting for dinner is back to fixed seating. I find justifying travelling in Grills hard to do.

Which comments would those be? I'm a prolific exponent of QG and have never and would never even think of equating Britannia as 'slumming' [your word] it.

I don't think I'm alone either.

 

Edit

Anyone who does make disparaging comments on dress [yes, I hate those and some of the worst have come from those who do not travel in QG], level of travel or any similar comment should be ignored.

 

We each have our own reasons for travelling and quite frankly, are of nobody else's  business.

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Victoria2

[majortom10]

On 9/1/2022 at 11:01 AM, Victoria2 said:

You beat me to it.

Butlers do not hover.

 

You can make use of their services as much or as in our case this year, as little as you want. They are at the end of a pager though should you have need of them which is very handy when you forget to tick the butter for the morning breakfast toast!   😄

Certainly didnt hover in our case we never saw him.

 

[Windsurfboy]

No-one should have to justify how they spend their own money,  what choices they make. Which cabins they book, which cruise lines you go on , how many holidays you have. It's absolutely no-one else's business .  

 

Similarly it's no-one else's business  how other people dress, we hope they follow Cunards rules, but its not our business  , enforcing it is between them and Cunard. 

 

What other passengers do is not our business to comment on.

 

Conversely the level of service , food and facilities is very much what CC should be about, advice to help others maximise their experience. 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Windsurfboy

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

No-one should have to justify how they spend their own money,  what choices they make. Which cabins they book, which cruise lines you go on , how many holidays you have. It's absolutely no-one else's business .  

 

Similarly it's no-one else's business  how other people dress, we hope they follow Cunards rules, but its not our business  , enforcing it is between them and Cunard. 

 

What other passengers do is not our business to comment on.

 

Conversely the level of service , food and facilities is very much what CC should be about, advice to help others maximise their experience. 

 

 

It is sometimes our business to comment on the doings of other passengers. I have spoken to teenagers running along the corridor shouting late at night (they were very apologetic). I would speak to people smoking where they shouldn’t be. I would move away from someone who smelt, and comment on it later. If I were brave, I would support a member of staff who was being bullied by another passenger. I would point it out if someone were queue barging. And I’m sure we could all think of other instances.

[Windsurfboy]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

It is sometimes our business to comment on the doings of other passengers. I have spoken to teenagers running along the corridor shouting late at night (they were very apologetic). I would speak to people smoking where they shouldn’t be. I would move away from someone who smelt, and comment on it later. If I were brave, I would support a member of staff who was being bullied by another passenger. I would point it out if someone were queue barging. And I’m sure we could all think of other instances.

 

Clearly  missed my intention  , which was about some of the  derogatory comments we get on this board.

[exlondoner]

42 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

Clearly  missed my intention  , which was about some of the  derogatory comments we get on this board.

Well, I would probably make derogatory comments about some of those people here, not the teenagers though. Other passengers’ inconsiderate behaviour can spoil a cruise.

[naturelovergirl]

We absolutely loved our experience in Britannia!

(Seriously, most comments about "steerage" and such are just said tongue-in-cheek with a wink... everything is so nice onboard)

Our balcony cabin (pre covid) was lovely, and we enjoyed our meals very much! Even the very few times we were not thrilled with part of our meal, the items were replaced with something else that we liked better.

Cunard is beautiful... and the experience is what you make of it- It matters not what room you are in and in which dining room you dine. Cunard allows you to have the voyage that you want. 

 

We will look forward to being in another Britannia balcony to Alaska next summer!

 

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

No-one should have to justify how they spend their own money,  what choices they make. Which cabins they book, which cruise lines you go on , how many holidays you have. It's absolutely no-one else's business . 

 

Absolutely agree!  All of us are at different stages of our life.  For a long time, the thought of paying for First Class/Business Class airfare was ridiculous.  Why would I be so extravagant?  Then, I had reason to try it.  That led me to re-assess how I wanted to allocate my resources directed to travel.  I am in the Winter of my travel life; it's time to enjoy those travel experiences to their maximum.  

 

8 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

have never and would never even think of equating Britannia as 'slumming'

 

Agree.  There isn't a travel experience of any kind has been "slumming".  Some would think that tent camping was "slumming".  Others would think it would be a "Ritz-Carolton" experience.  

 

9 hours ago, john watson said:

I have found over the years sailing with other cruise lines that if you share tables with people quite often they mention "we are in a suite" 

 

Or the age old question of "how many cruises have you had?"  I loathe being asked that question and am evasive in my reply.  I will only share that number with a guest that I have come to know and respect, if then.  I don't care what type of accommodation a fellow guest has and they have no need to know what I have either.  (It's a nice stateroom would be my response.)  If continued to be asked, I might say on "Deck 5".  If they really want some idea, they are able to look at a deck plan and get some idea of the types of staterooms on Deck 5 or whatever.  

[Underwatr]

On 9/4/2022 at 4:48 PM, rkacruiser said:

Or the age old question of "how many cruises have you had?"  I loathe being asked that question and am evasive in my reply. 

I think that's just a milder form of getting to know you than asking what you do/did for a living. Small talk.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Underwatr

[Se1lad]

2 hours ago, Underwatr said:

I think that's just a milder form of getting to know you than asking what you do/did for a living. Small talk.

I think it's the way it asked sometimes - when people say 'How many cruises have you had - this is our 215th!' it feels more like they are trying to show off.  I normally reply by saying I've never bothered to count how many I have been on : )

[jimbo1683]

On 9/4/2022 at 1:10 PM, Victoria2 said:

. 

 

I would have thought every single member of this board is quite capable of writing a review or helpful posts from a ship if they want to, irrespective of what cabin they're in but most choose not to which is absolutely fine so unless this board uses a 'write a review a year to keep up your membership' which of course is totally ridiculous, then contributions are down to those who either want to give helpful hints from their ship, want to write a blog or write a review once home and levels of cabins are a coincidence

 

 

 

I expect, as with every review site, it is people who have had extreme experiences - very very good or very very bad - who will publically post a review. It is when something exceeds or fails to meet our expectations that we feel compelled to poat about it. 

[jimbo1683]

13 minutes ago, Se1lad said:

I think it's the way it asked sometimes - when people say 'How many cruises have you had - this is our 215th!' it feels more like they are trying to show off.  I normally reply by saying I've never bothered to count how many I have been on : )

Agree. And the old "i've been on 42 cruises since the 'restart' and only have 12 booked before Christmas".

 

And "I've got $500,000 of OBC for my next cruise - how much do I need for the laundry?"

Edited September 13, 2022 by jimbo1683

[carolina_yankee]

Jeez, have we lost the art of conversation?

 

Is this your first time on Cunard?

 

Have you sailed with any other lines? Then a whole world of conversation opens up!

 

Or else it’s, “Oh, gosh - this is my first cruise! My wife had to convince me to give up the private jet for our vacations.” Your table mates will never see you again and never know better. 🙂 

Edited September 13, 2022 by carolina_yankee