Food and Food and all that food… (QG)

[Deafcruise]

Hi,

 

I was wondering how do people cope having a breakfast, 3 course lunch, an afternoon tea and 3 course dinner…. What people do? Skip afternoon tea or just have a scone or have a light lunch or skip lunch altogether?

 

Any advice would be very welcome as it is our first time also we going for 5 days (two full days on board)  

[Host Hattie]

We don't have afternoon tea very often and sometimes just have a light room service breakfast. 

Generally portion sizes aren't huge so we can usually manage 3 courses at dinner. 

Some of the QG a la carte options can be larger.

[Deafcruise]

2 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

We don't have afternoon tea very often and sometimes just have a light room service breakfast. 

Generally portion sizes aren't huge so we can usually manage 3 courses at dinner. 

Some of the QG a la carte options can be larger.

Thanks so what is the difference between lunch/dinner menu and a la carte menu? 

 

[exlondoner]

Rarely have a hot breakfast, sometimes have only two courses at lunch, though lunch is often quite an agreeable meal, sometimes not tea, or only a scone, and just about three courses for dinner. After a fortnight of this, plus fruit and canapés in the cabin, my husband has usually put on about two pounds. Is this grounds for divorce?

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Deafcruise said:

Thanks so what is the difference between lunch/dinner menu and a la carte menu? 

 

Lunch is a completely different menu. At dinner, if you order Beef Wellington off the à la carte, you get two huge slices, and probably have to be carried from the dinner room. When it is on the menu of the day, you get a single manageable slice, thanks heavens.

[Deafcruise]

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Lunch is a completely different menu. At dinner, if you order Beef Wellington off the à la carte, you get two huge slices, and probably have to be carried from the dinner room. When it is on the menu of the day, you get a single manageable slice, thanks heavens.

Thanks and I am really thick here but I cannot understand the different between dinner menu and a la carte? 

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, Deafcruise said:

Thanks and I am really thick here but I cannot understand the different between dinner menu and a la carte? 

Right.

Every day in QG, there is a menu of day, with about five starters and mains.

In addition, there is an alc which runs about a week before changing, with the same number of dishes. On top of this, there is the eternal alc, which you have to order by lunch time, with things like beef welly, and Dover Sole. On top of this, with enough notice, they will bring you almost anything you ask for.

 

A short multiple choice test will be set. 😀 Actually I think there are examples on the Cunard website, if you dig deep enough.

[Deafcruise]

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

Right.

Every day in QG, there is a menu of day, with about five starters and mains.

In addition, there is an alc which runs about a week before changing, with the same number of dishes. On top of this, there is the eternal alc, which you have to order by lunch time, with things like beef welly, and Dover Sole. On top of this, with enough notice, they will bring you almost anything you ask for.

 

A short multiple choice test will be set. 😀 Actually I think there are examples on the Cunard website, if you dig deep enough.

Wow how the heck are we going to choose?! So many choices!!!

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, Deafcruise said:

Wow how the heck are we going to choose?! So many choices!!!

A nice problem. 😀

[Deafcruise]

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

A nice problem. 😀

Very true and it’s our first time so a huge learning curve for us! also its my birthday (well on the day of arrival back home) so hopefully can have a nice breakfast somehow to mark my birthday before they kick us out .

[Victoria2]

39 minutes ago, Deafcruise said:

Hi,

 

I was wondering how do people cope having a breakfast, 3 course lunch, an afternoon tea and 3 course dinner…. What people do? Skip afternoon tea or just have a scone or have a light lunch or skip lunch altogether?

 

Any advice would be very welcome as it is our first time also we going for 5 days (two full days on board)  

I lost 2lbs on our last trip [August] and that wasn't because I didn't eat very much. On the contrary.. Hot breakfast in the cabin, light lunch of crab  or feta or lobster tail salad with my choice of ingredients, no afternoon tea unless it was just a cup of, to be sociable and a great dinner but no pud apart from the must have Crepes Suzette and positively no bread rolls as fillers. Must leave room for the alcohol carbs! 😄

 

The beauty of QG is you can have what you want as long as the ingredients are in the ship and you give a bit of notice to your Head Waiter. I often go ''off piste'' and I would go so far as to say I am actively encouraged to do so by the wait staff. 

 

Just ask your Head Waiters. They will guide you.

 

Enjoy.

 

[exlondoner]

10 hours ago, Deafcruise said:

Wow how the heck are we going to choose?! So many choices!!!

There is a bit of overlap between the menus, as with the Beef Welly. Also, beware the moreish bread rolls, if you want to make it to the end.

[Solent Richard]

13 hours ago, Deafcruise said:

Hi,

 

I was wondering how do people cope having a breakfast, 3 course lunch, an afternoon tea and 3 course dinner…. What people do? Skip afternoon tea or just have a scone or have a light lunch or skip lunch altogether?

 

Any advice would be very welcome as it is our first time also we going for 5 days (two full days on board)  

 

Five Days? I don't see a problem.

 

We once endured 56 days Queens Grill, Southampton to Sydney. Those were the days when the Grills had the added benefit of 'special' events ashore: which inevitably meant food included....

 

 

I must confess though that on two formal evenings we 'transferred' to the Britannia Restaurant in an effort to meet and dine with different passengers.

[buchanan101]

14 hours ago, Deafcruise said:

Hi,

 

I was wondering how do people cope having a breakfast, 3 course lunch, an afternoon tea and 3 course dinner…. What people do? Skip afternoon tea or just have a scone or have a light lunch or skip lunch altogether?

 

Any advice would be very welcome as it is our first time also we going for 5 days (two full days on board)  

Don't have large portions...which is good, because portions generally are not large. 

 

Quality over quantity!

[buchanan101]

13 hours ago, Deafcruise said:

Very true and it’s our first time so a huge learning curve for us! also its my birthday (well on the day of arrival back home) so hopefully can have a nice breakfast somehow to mark my birthday before they kick us out .

You can. Breakfast is served early on disembarkation day. Even if you elect for self disembarkation at 7, you can have breakfast as it is  FROM 7.  Made that mistake... thought we would have to get off at 7, so went for 8am disembarkation to have a good breakfast before a day in New York - but could have left when we wanted with self-disembarkation

 

On that point, if you aren't disembarking yourself with luggage, I recommend Apple Tags (or similar) to help find your luggage in the sea of cases; turned Find My on and the cases were 5ft away - Doh!

Edited November 28, 2022 by buchanan101

[buchanan101]

14 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

We don't have afternoon tea very often and sometimes just have a light room service breakfast. 

Generally portion sizes aren't huge so we can usually manage 3 courses at dinner. 

Some of the QG a la carte options can be larger.

Lightweights... (literally)!

 

Going light on afternoon tea certainly helps. Nice to have a cuppa (better tea in Grills Lounge) and the odd scone - they are quite small

 

Yes, missing out a few supplementary courses at dinner helped

[hmorrow]

17 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Rarely have a hot breakfast, sometimes have only two courses at lunch, though lunch is often quite an agreeable meal, sometimes not tea, or only a scone, and just about three courses for dinner. After a fortnight of this, plus fruit and canapés in the cabin, my husband has usually put on about two pounds. Is this grounds for divorce?

only 2? lol

[Tonopah]

We just don’t eat that much at any meal. If we go to tea we skip dinner. At breakfast we might have a bagel or a bowl of cereal. No one forces you to have a meal.

[BklynBoy8]

We seem not to have any problems with all the meals.

 

In the PG, we were offered the Danish basket and would take it if we thought it wouldn't interfer with the further order. No Danish if asking for toast. 

 

We really had no problem with lunches. We just selected what we felt we were the right choice. No problem with a treat afterwards. Or we would pass thru the KC to see what desserts they had.

 

Tea time was mostly in the Concierge Lounge and once in the Grill Lounge. Next time back in Queens Grill. Tea was modified with a short treat unless the sandwich was interesting. 

 

Dinner was always App/Soup to Nuts...pardon me, dessert or Cheese Boards.

 

Lost 15-16 lbs before the trip and only gained 3 - 3.5 on return home from a 14 day voyage. Lots of walking from one end of the ship to the other end. 

 

QM2's restaurants are positioned in the rear while our Cabin for Grill was Forward.

So quite a hike to and from the cabin.

 

We never worried about the meals and enjoyed what we felt what was interesting at the time.

 

BTW...in PG... those more senior passengers we noticed possibly or no app. Consumed their Entree and left after a hot drink ex. Tea... In and Out...

 

 

[Deafcruise]

Our boarding pass saying to arriving at terminal for 12:45. Would they serve lunch or would it be straight to afternoon tea? As it is our first time so not sure what to expect i.e worth having a light lunch beforehand or bigger breakfast.

 

Any advice would be welcomed 

[Victoria2]

5 minutes ago, Deafcruise said:

Our boarding pass saying to arriving at terminal for 12:45. Would they serve lunch or would it be straight to afternoon tea? As it is our first time so not sure what to expect i.e worth having a light lunch beforehand or bigger breakfast.

 

Any advice would be welcomed 

Lunch will be served in the restaurant for QG passengers.

 

Still doesn't stop me having a lovely cooked breakfast in the hotel before hand. 

 

The choice is entirely yours.

[exlondoner]

7 minutes ago, Deafcruise said:

Our boarding pass saying to arriving at terminal for 12:45. Would they serve lunch or would it be straight to afternoon tea? As it is our first time so not sure what to expect i.e worth having a light lunch beforehand or bigger breakfast.

 

Any advice would be welcomed 

In the Grills you get lunch. It starts at 1, or on our last voyage,1.30, so you shouldn’t worry about missing it. I find it, accompanied by a glass of house rosé, a very soothing start to the voyage. There isn’t tea, as such.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, Deafcruise said:

Our boarding pass saying to arriving at terminal for 12:45. Would they serve lunch or would it be straight to afternoon tea? As it is our first time so not sure what to expect i.e worth having a light lunch beforehand or bigger breakfast.

 

Any advice would be welcomed 

QV was released for boarding at 1pm for us in August. That's a good hour later than we were used to pre Covid. 

As it seems to be a bit of a regular time now, may I suggest once in your cabin, you dump your hand luggage and head up for lunch. Time to take stock of your cabin and surroundings afterwards. 🙂 

[buchanan101]

1 hour ago, Deafcruise said:

Our boarding pass saying to arriving at terminal for 12:45. Would they serve lunch or would it be straight to afternoon tea? As it is our first time so not sure what to expect i.e worth having a light lunch beforehand or bigger breakfast.

 

Any advice would be welcomed 

Ours for QM2 said 12:30 I think. We arrived at 11:30 and were on board 15 mins before we were supposed to even turn up (this was Southampton in October at the Mayflower- it was a very easy process; had been reading complaints about how long it took, queues etc)

 

So we went for lunch (this was QG)

 

I'd get there early, especially if you are Grills. They don't check the suggested times

[majortom10]

QV started boarding for QG at 1245 on 30th October cruise and PG was 1pm.