Fjords: Cunard v P&O

[Victoria2]

Our very first Cunard cruise was a QV deck 5 corner aft cabin, to the Fjords eleven years ago.

 

Fabulous, and the rest is history. Been a tad expensive over the years. met some wonderful people and  we have never, ever regretted it. 🙂

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Fabulous, and the rest is history. Been a tad expensive over the years. met some wonderful people and  we have never, ever regretted it. 🙂

Our experience has been similar, starting on QE2 in 1997. We upgraded to QG because we thought we were going to do it only once, and, as you say, it has been expensive. But never regretted.

[buchanan101]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

Our very first Cunard cruise was a QV deck 5 corner aft cabin, to the Fjords eleven years ago.

 

Fabulous, and the rest is history. Been a tad expensive over the years. met some wonderful people and  we have never, ever regretted it. 🙂

Am very tempted with a stern QG on QV. It’ll be 18months to save up. Deck 4 has a bigger balcony doesn’t it?  A summer cruise in North Sea/Norway should be ok for ship movement at the stern? Recent QM2 was fun sliding around in chairs during an art lecture in the Queens Room…

Edited November 26, 2022 by buchanan101

[buchanan101]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Our experience has been similar, starting on QE2 in 1997. We upgraded to QG because we thought we were going to do it only once, and, as you say, it has been expensive. But never regretted.

My recent QM2 started as a BC booking but the pandemic and delays moved the booking through PG and then to QG…. How did that happen?! 

[Victoria2]

36 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

Am very tempted with a stern QG on QV. It’ll be 18months to save up. Deck 4 has a bigger balcony doesn’t it?  A summer cruise in North Sea/Norway should be ok for ship movement at the stern? Recent QM2 was fun sliding around in chairs during an art lecture in the Queens Room…

It’s many many years since we were aft. Definitely Pre refit and I have no idea on comparative balcony widths but I don’t think the 4s had a refit and I so did not like the corner cabin bathroom layout. Shower curtain and integral loo would put me off a 4. Go for a 5 if you fancy a QG corner aft. Never had a 6 so can’t help you there.

[Victoria2]

41 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

Am very tempted with a stern QG on QV. It’ll be 18months to save up. Deck 4 has a bigger balcony doesn’t it?  A summer cruise in North Sea/Norway should be ok for ship movement at the stern? Recent QM2 was fun sliding around in chairs during an art lecture in the Queens Room…

No slip sliding for us on our summer Fjord trip. Go for it but beware, QG is very addictive. We started off with a 5. We're now on 2s and 1 s. 🤔

[buchanan101]

48 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

It’s many many years since we were aft. Definitely Pre refit and I have no idea on comparative balcony widths but I don’t think the 4s had a refit and I so did not like the corner cabin bathroom layout. Shower curtain and integral loo would put me off a 4. Go for a 5 if you fancy a QG corner aft. Never had a 6 so can’t help you there.

Just looking at some videos. Deck 4 corner has a huge balcony that goes up the side as well. There are videos of the various deck 4 and deck 5 rooms and they all seem a little different…

 

I was wrong earlier. These are cheaper than QG mid ships. Mixture of Q5 and Q6 on decks 4, 5, 8. Q5 on corners, Q6 the 3 between. The deck 8 ones look smaller on deck plans.  The ones midships look about the same size as Deck 4 and 5 aft but are Q3 Penthouse. About £500 per cabin more for a week. 
 

I’m leaning towards deck 4 or 5 QG aft. Summer 23 prices are “only” about £1k to £1.3k more than PGs. 

[naturelovergirl]

We had a great time in the Fjords with Cunard in 2019.

It was our second trip to Norway... our first had been a land trip in 2017 traveling via train, rental cars, and ferries.

Cunard did an excellent job for us in Norway.

BUT

The only advice I would give would be to look at your itineraries when choosing which line you want to go on. Compare and contrast. To me, itinerary is as important as the cost/amenities. 🙂

 

[LittleFish1976]

2 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

Just looking at some videos. Deck 4 corner has a huge balcony that goes up the side as well. There are videos of the various deck 4 and deck 5 rooms and they all seem a little different…

 

I was wrong earlier. These are cheaper than QG mid ships. Mixture of Q5 and Q6 on decks 4, 5, 8. Q5 on corners, Q6 the 3 between. The deck 8 ones look smaller on deck plans.  The ones midships look about the same size as Deck 4 and 5 aft but are Q3 Penthouse. About £500 per cabin more for a week. 
 

I’m leaning towards deck 4 or 5 QG aft. Summer 23 prices are “only” about £1k to £1.3k more than PGs. 

 

I think the midships Q3's are a slightly different and superior arrangement to the 5's and 6's. I've only sailed in the Q3 but having seen photgraphs of the 5's and 6's that's the impression I've formed. I booked a Q5 once as I loved the idea of the wrap-around balcony but they upgraded me to Q3 so I haven't yet managed to experience it. I have one booked for 2024 though so we'll see! 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by LittleFish1976

[buchanan101]

7 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

We had a great time in the Fjords with Cunard in 2019.

It was our second trip to Norway... our first had been a land trip in 2017 traveling via train, rental cars, and ferries.

Cunard did an excellent job for us in Norway.

BUT

The only advice I would give would be to look at your itineraries when choosing which line you want to go on. Compare and contrast. To me, itinerary is as important as the cost/amenities. 🙂

 

Yes agree. For example only one this summer goes to Flamm. 

[Victoria2]

5 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

I think the midships Q3's are a slightly different and superior arrangement to the 5's and 6's. I've only sailed in the Q3 but having seen photgraphs of the 5's and 6's that's the impression I've formed. I booked a Q5 once as I loved the idea of the wrap-around balcony but they upgraded me to Q3 so I haven't yet managed to experience it. I have one booked for 2024 though so we'll see! 

 

 

Having stayed in cabins 5 thro' 2, I think the open layout of the 5s and 6s pre refit were more appealing than the 3s. The only reason we moved mid ships was easy access to stairwell B for decks 11 and 12.

I have been to a drinks do in a  refitted mid aft  cabin. I preferred the open roominess, pre '17 refit.

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Victoria2

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, Victoria2 said:

oops

a copy of previous post

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Victoria2

[swjumbo]

Have cruised both Cunard and P&O.

Don’t bother with the latter unless you enjoy vests with beer bellies, tattoos and gold sovereign rings. And that’s just the women!!

There are other cruise lines which offer Norwegian cruises.

The aft QG suites are OK but terribly noisy and the bathrooms need updating.

Also, on our short trip on QV we felt as if we were inconveniencing the butler on the 3 occasions  when we called.

[Victoria2]

15 minutes ago, swjumbo said:

Have cruised both Cunard and P&O.

Don’t bother with the latter unless you enjoy vests with beer bellies, tattoos and gold sovereign rings. And that’s just the women!!

There are other cruise lines which offer Norwegian cruises.

The aft QG suites are OK but terribly noisy and the bathrooms need updating.

Also, on our short trip on QV we felt as if we were inconveniencing the butler on the 3 occasions  when we called.

To be fair, you were in a corner deck 4 cabin where the bathroom most definitely needs a revamp. The upper decks are OK, especially the refurbished ones.

We had no noise problems on deck 5 but 4 was, I agree, a bit noisy.

[Victoria2]

35 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

To be fair, you were in a corner deck 4 cabin where the bathroom most definitely needs a revamp. The upper decks are OK, especially the refurbished ones.

We had no noise problems on deck 5 but 4 was, I agree, a bit noisy.

I should qualify the ''needs a revamp'' as it's many years since we had our one and only corner deck 4 cabin. If it's still the same, it needs lots of tlc.

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, swjumbo said:

Have cruised both Cunard and P&O.

Don’t bother with the latter unless you enjoy vests with beer bellies, tattoos and gold sovereign rings. And that’s just the women!!

There are other cruise lines which offer Norwegian cruises.

The aft QG suites are OK but terribly noisy and the bathrooms need updating.

Also, on our short trip on QV we felt as if we were inconveniencing the butler on the 3 occasions  when we called.

I think you are a little harsh on those who travel on P and O. The ones I know are nothing like that. I suspect if varies between ships and. Raises, and probably other things as well.

[buchanan101]

6 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

To be fair, you were in a corner deck 4 cabin where the bathroom most definitely needs a revamp. The upper decks are OK, especially the refurbished ones.

We had no noise problems on deck 5 but 4 was, I agree, a bit noisy.

So deck 5 are revamped but deck 4 aren’t? The videos online are certainly confusing as they seem to have all sorts of layouts those 10 cabins back there. The middle ones have an island in the middle of the room.  Yes saw some shower curtains… I can understand why 4 noisy as right above Promenade deck. 

[Victoria2]

9 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

So deck 5 are revamped but deck 4 aren’t? The videos online are certainly confusing as they seem to have all sorts of layouts those 10 cabins back there. The middle ones have an island in the middle of the room.  Yes saw some shower curtains… I can understand why 4 noisy as right above Promenade deck. 

Don't know about deck 5. The aft cabins I know have def been refitted [as opposed to a bathroom  revamp] are decks 6, 7 and 8 as I have been in [not stayed] cabins on all three decks.

If deck 5 hasn't been refitted, I'd choose 5 over 8 for the big space. I wasn't taken with the new layout in 8178 which by the way, has a video tour on YouTube.

[exlondoner]

23 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

So deck 5 are revamped but deck 4 aren’t? The videos online are certainly confusing as they seem to have all sorts of layouts those 10 cabins back there. The middle ones have an island in the middle of the room.  Yes saw some shower curtains… I can understand why 4 noisy as right above Promenade deck. 

I don’t think it is riotous passengers, so much as the noise of the wake. But I’ve only visited.

[Victoria2]

6 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I don’t think it is riotous passengers, so much as the noise of the wake. But I’ve only visited.

The noise for us in the corner deck 4 cabin was down to the vibration, from the ''pods'' according to general hear say. The ship went into dry dock for a bit afterwards to sort out the problem.

[exlondoner]

24 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

The noise for us in the corner deck 4 cabin was down to the vibration, from the ''pods'' according to general hear say. The ship went into dry dock for a bit afterwards to sort out the problem.

The owners of the cabin we visited were split. He said he never noticed any noise, she said she could barely sleep because of it. I decided to stick to the Q4s on the sides.

[Victoria2]

40 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

The owners of the cabin we visited were split. He said he never noticed any noise, she said she could barely sleep because of it. I decided to stick to the Q4s on the sides.

We're giving aft another trial next year.

 

I will report back. 🙂

[swjumbo]

QV 4188 has an amazing balcony.

We were lucky as we crossed the channel at slow speed on three nights.

The final night we crossed back to the U.K. at around 20 knots and it certainly vibrates.

 

[buchanan101]

4 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Don't know about deck 5. The aft cabins I know have def been refitted [as opposed to a bathroom  revamp] are decks 6, 7 and 8 as I have been in [not stayed] cabins on all three decks.

If deck 5 hasn't been refitted, I'd choose 5 over 8 for the big space. I wasn't taken with the new layout in 8178 which by the way, has a video tour on YouTube.

Seen the video. Very smart but looks a bit tight. Claims to be Q4 in the video so more expensive than the deck 4 and 5 ones. 

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, buchanan101 said:

Seen the video. Very smart but looks a bit tight. Claims to be Q4 in the video so more expensive than the deck 4 and 5 ones. 

I have a Aug'22-May'24 Cunard brochure here and that cabin is a Q6 on the deck plan.