Dining in Britannia when booked in Club

[deh1983]

Hi there!

 

I'm taking the crossing next week from Red Hook (where I live, actually) to Southampton on the Queen Mary 2 with my partner and a bunch of friends; we're celebrating the impending darkness of my middle age, lol, as I'm turning 40 on January 8th. I was just upgraded for free from Britannia to Britannia Club, which is great, but the rest of my group was not (so far). The whole point was to eat together, so I'm a little worried it will now be complicated to eat in the main Britannia dining room when me and my partner are assigned to Club. Does anyone have any recent experience with this? It's unclear to me if it's the kind of thing where we can all just show up and get seated in the main restaurant, or if it's something I need to pre-arrange, or if it's even possible.

Edited December 27, 2022 by deh1983

[Bell Boy]

You will arrange this with the duty Maitre 'D well in advance on the afternoon of embarkation day.

Visit the main Britannia Restaurant ( usually between 1pm - 2pm) and make your request known. DO NOT wait until the evening as you will need to arrange the additional seating in advance, it may need a table change to accommodate  all your group. 

[deh1983]

 

20 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

You will arrange this with the duty Maitre 'D well in advance on the afternoon of embarkation day.

Visit the main Britannia Restaurant ( usually between 1pm - 2pm) and make your request known. DO NOT wait until the evening as you will need to arrange the additional seating in advance, it may need a table change to accommodate  all your group. 

This makes perfect sense, thank you! Will my table in Club still be available? Say if on the fourth night my partner and I want to eat in Club?

[BklynBoy8]

41 minutes ago, deh1983 said:

 

This makes perfect sense, thank you! Will my table in Club still be available? Say if on the fourth night my partner and I want to eat in Club?

 

Speak to the M'd in Club.  We have found them very helpful to make your sailing memorable.

[david,Mississauga]

On a recent voyage on the QM2 we were in Britannia Club. At the next table was a couple who had been upgraded - the only ones in their group of about 20. The dining assignment card is now called an invitation to dine in the Club. They thought that was a one-off.

 

The next day they dined in Britannia, not necessarily with the rest in the group, and at dinner they had the open seating. After a couple of days the Britannia M.D. told them they were in the Club for the voyage. So after that they took most of their  meals in the Club but occasionally dined with the group in Britannia.

[pberk]

We love the Britannia Club .. Great experience ... But a table full of friends is more appealing to me. 

 

Great advice given above.  Rely on the Club Maitre D' to find a solution you'll be happy with.

 

 

 

[Victoria2]

7 hours ago, pberk said:

We love the Britannia Club .. Great experience ... But a table full of friends is more appealing to me. 

 

Great advice given above.  Rely on the Club Maitre D' to find a solution you'll be happy with.

 

 

 

I agree.

 

Question for  deh1983, did you and your friends link your  bookings in order to dine together at one of the set times  or did you all  chose the freedom dining option?

[deh1983]

@Victoria2 yes, we're all linked and with the same late seating.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, deh1983 said:

@Victoria2 yes, we're all linked and with the same late seating.

Interesting.

I would have thought that gives you more leverage to dine in Britannia when you go and see the M'd as soon as you can once boarded..

[57eric]

On 12/27/2022 at 7:01 PM, pberk said:

We love the Britannia Club .. Great experience ... But a table full of friends is more appealing to me. 

 

Great advice given above.  Rely on the Club Maitre D' to find a solution you'll be happy with.

 

 

 

Is there a separate Club Maitre d'?  If so, I would think it's the Britannia Maitre d' you would want to talk to.  Also, I would check before zooming off immediately upon boarding.  On our last voyage (too long ago) the Maitre d' was scheduled from 1:30 to 3:00.

[Victoria2]

20 minutes ago, 57eric said:

Is there a separate Club Maitre d'?  If so, I would think it's the Britannia Maitre d' you would want to talk to.  Also, I would check before zooming off immediately upon boarding.  On our last voyage (too long ago) the Maitre d' was scheduled from 1:30 to 3:00.

Surely it depends on boarding time? I assume Britannia Club wouldn't be in the first tranche and by the time muster station registration completed and bags dropped into the cabin, it will be time for lunch?

[Jack E Dawson]

When we sailed in Club on the QM2 we selected a table for 6 and met 4 wonderful people (1 couple and 2 singles). While we greatly enjoyed these new found friends we preferred to have a window table for breakfast and lunch, which we did not have in Club. So every morning we had breakfast in the MDR and requested a window table. This request was alway granted and there was never a wait although the table size varied each day, which we liked. We did the same thing the one day we had lunch in the MDR. We never identified ourselves as Club passengers but I really don't think they cared. In the MDR you only eat at your assigned table in the evening. So, for at least Breakfast and Lunch, you and your friends should be able to eat together. Just show up as a group and request the approbate size table.

Hope this helps

Jack

[Host Hattie]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

Surely it depends on boarding time? I assume Britannia Club wouldn't be in the first tranche and by the time muster station registration completed and bags dropped into the cabin, it will be time for lunch?

Britannia Club isn't usually open for lunch on embarkation day.

[Victoria2]

8 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Britannia Club isn't usually open for lunch on embarkation day.

Thank you. I wasn't aware of that. However, my comment was answering a Britannia M'd related quote. The fact I mentioned Britannia Club was in relation to boarding position of its passengers. I should have made that clearer.

 

My reference to lunch re Britannia was aimed at the timing eg 1.30pm.

Again, I should have worded that better.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Victoria2