I wonder what QE will be like in Aussie waters?

[Wombat706]

Received an email from Cunard early this morning regarding the QE departure from Sydney tomorrow ( Friday 20 Jan 2023).

This is part of the email regarding masks:

 

In response to the number of Covid-19 cases, recently spreading throughout Australia caused by new subvariants, we have updated our protocols and request you follow these precautions to stay healthy during your voyage:

 

• Guests are required to wear face masks on board while indoors, except while eating or drinking or in their own staterooms
• We also recommend guests wear face masks outdoors where larger numbers of people are congregating and physical distancing cannot be maintained.
• Masks are also required during embarkation, disembarkation, when on Company transportation such as water shuttles and motorcoaches, and while indoors during Company shore excursions.
• We recommend you follow these onboard masking protocols while ashore independently, particularly when indoors, on public transportation or in crowded areas.

 

Your mask must cover your nose and mouth and be of good quality (Health experts recommend the use of higher-grade masks such as KN95 or surgical.)

 

 

cheers

[arxcards]

For formal night

[NSWP]

5 hours ago, arxcards said:

For formal night

That would make the Cunarders boil lol. So if we wear that nice mask, singlets, shorts and thongs would be acceptable for dinner on QE, QM2 and QV? 🤣

Edited January 19, 2023 by NSWP

[Aussieflyer]

8 hours ago, Wombat706 said:

Received an email from Cunard early this morning regarding the QE departure from Sydney tomorrow ( Friday 20 Jan 2023).

This is part of the email regarding masks:

 

In response to the number of Covid-19 cases, recently spreading throughout Australia caused by new subvariants, we have updated our protocols and request you follow these precautions to stay healthy during your voyage:

 

• Guests are required to wear face masks on board while indoors, except while eating or drinking or in their own staterooms
• We also recommend guests wear face masks outdoors where larger numbers of people are congregating and physical distancing cannot be maintained.
• Masks are also required during embarkation, disembarkation, when on Company transportation such as water shuttles and motorcoaches, and while indoors during Company shore excursions.
• We recommend you follow these onboard masking protocols while ashore independently, particularly when indoors, on public transportation or in crowded areas.

 

Your mask must cover your nose and mouth and be of good quality (Health experts recommend the use of higher-grade masks such as KN95 or surgical.)

 

 

cheers

That sounds exactly the same as the Princess cruises I was on last year (three between August and November). No mask needed on the outside decks though recommended where it was crowded. Cunard seem to be the same as the others.

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, Aussieflyer said:

That sounds exactly the same as the Princess cruises I was on last year (three between August and November). No mask needed on the outside decks though recommended where it was crowded. Cunard seem to be the same as the others.

Well Cunard is also in the Carnival stable so policy should be same across all their brands.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Well Cunard is also in the Carnival stable so policy should be same across all their brands.

Yes, it was the same on Holland America. Sensible, I thought 

[Mareblu]

Just finished the QE Sydney-NZ-Sydney-Tassie-Syd cruise.  We absolutely loved our first Cunard experience, and yes, we dressed for each gala evening.  In Queens Grill, I noticed a few gentlemen not in dinner jackets and bow ties, and they were in suits/dark sports jackets and normal ties.  The women were all very glamorous, and made superb efforts to adopt each theme.  The same applied when we popped downstairs to the Golden Lion pub or along to the Garden Lounge for a nightcap and to enjoy the fantastic musical talents of "Newfoundland Duo", an Irish father and son not from Newfoundland at all, but from Tipperary in Ireland.  The vast majority of passengers out and about, from all accommodations, were formally or theme dressed, some in military dress, and some in kilts and jackets.   Maybe those who chose (as is their right) not to dress up simply had an early evening, or lingered in the Lido buffet, where formal attire was not required on gala evenings.  Anyway, everyone seemed to be enjoying their evenings.  The Irish boys are the most talented instrumentalists we've ever had the pleasure of witnessing.  The father (Craig) is a banjo and guitar supremo, and Josh, his son, is a brilliant guitarist.  Their rendition of "Duelling Banjos" is the best ever, and they sang "Galway Girl" for me whenever we rocked up.  

[Mareblu]

PS:  We dressed up because Les told us to 😆

[Aussieflyer]

We have just disembarked and are home again after the shorter Culinary Cruise. We enjoyed it but probably won't be rushing back to QE. The ambience just wasn't there and she is not a patch on her bigger sister QM2. Like Mareblu we were Queens Grill but our actual waiter was very meh. He was on the way home after this cruise and whilst service was efficient, it seemed perfunctory.  The chap who was to take over from him was much better in relating to diners.

One of the main problems we found with Cunard and Grills is that you do have your own individual table, but you really end up eating in the same restaurant for most of the time, which gets a bit tedious (compared with Silver Muse which has many included restaurants).

Our butler and assistant were fabulous and kept our tonic and ice topped up and the cabin immaculate. Unfortunately no hot water on the first morning and a toilet that didn't flush on one day didn't help.

We thought the shows were average - though it was lovely to bag a box where you had the area to yourself. 

For the actual culinary cruise, whilst it didn't affect us, there were many angry passengers who had booked the Matt Moran degustation only to find that an IT glitch had wiped all the bookings. This was only available on 2 nights so there were people who thought they had bookings who missed out and others who made a very late booking who got in.

Darren Purchase and Mark Olive both did demonstrations which were excellent. Matt Moran did not which was a pity. There was also a meat demo by one of the Cunard people with a rep from Meat and Livestock Australia, who did not shut up. We didn't do the wine tasting or gin experience but we did go to some panel discussions which were so-so, mostly because of the person hosting them.

Unlike Mareblu, we tended to visit the Commodore Club after dinners rather than the Garden Lounge. Lovely to watch the sunset. The Grills lounge was packed on the only occasion we visited and like many of the bars, there seemed to be a lack of staff to both take and order and then make the drink itself. Service was generally pretty slow (but probably was better than the lifts which were woeful!).

But then again, a day on the water beats my lounge room hands down and we did have a good time.

[Aussieflyer]

1 hour ago, Aussieflyer said:

.Darren Purchese and Mark Olive both did demonstrations which were excellent. Matt Moran did not which was a pity. There was also a meat demo by one of the Cunard people with a rep from Meat and Livestock

It would be good if auto-correct didn't - the pastry chef's name is Darren Purchese. (https://www.burchandpurchese.com.au). He demonstrated Gin and Tonic scones.

Mark Olive (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Olive) demonstrated barramundi in paper bark.

[Aussieflyer]

Oh and maybe a change to the previous cruise? Facemasks were only recommended inside and in crowded areas. They were mandatory for the terminal and on shore excursion transport.

[Mareblu]

Thank you for this interesting and welcome post, Aussieflyer.  I’m so pleased you reported on the culinary cruise;  we were tempted some time ago to continue because of Matt Moran’s presence.  How disappointing he didn’t demonstrate.  Actually, we found the Garden Lounge quite uncomfortable, as there seemed to be no air conditioning, and the area retained humidity.  We only ventured there when the Newfoundland Duo were performing.  The Commodore Club is probably the most enjoyable ambience, and we usually went before dinner.  The Grills Lounge was certainly popular, but we only missed a table there on one occasion in three weeks. Lucia runs it with quiet efficiency, except when she feels like a long chat.  She’s extremely well read, snd we had some interesting discussions about South American magic realism, which many years after uni studies, is still one of my great passions.  Our waiters in QG were all super attentive and equally efficient;  they must have been ready for their two-month break when you were aboard.  MaitreD Sandro was never far away.  We’re wondering if you were in Q3 4101.  We had the exact same experience with hot water and blocked loo, and no-one else we spoke to seemed to have those problems.  That would be an incredible coincidence😂

[Mareblu]

Oh, and face masks were mandatory, and only four to a lift during the NZ leg, but both those edicts became “recomnended” during the third, Tas. leg.

[subaru94]

What ports of call did you do in New Zealand, we have just been advised that we will not be calling into the Sounds and Bay of Islands as Cunard have not been able to clean the hull?

[Mareblu]

24 minutes ago, subaru94 said:

What ports of call did you do in New Zealand, we have just been advised that we will not be calling into the Sounds and Bay of Islands as Cunard have not been able to clean the hull?

In order:  Wellington, Lyttleton (for Christchurch), Tauranga, and Auckland.  Missed:  Fiordland cruise-by, Dunedin and Bay of Islands.  I can tell you in advance that the Captain will make “an unexpected, special announcement” after attempting to have the hull cleaned off Tauranga.  The cleaning will be unsuccessful .  You’ll have an overnight in Auckland, departing about 11am next day.  There could, if course, be a miracle, but call me sceptical😂

Seriously though, we really enjoyed the cruise, even with these major disappointments.  Hope it’s the same for you.

[subaru94]

20 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

In order:  Wellington, Lyttleton (for Christchurch), Tauranga, and Auckland.  Missed:  Fiordland cruise-by, Dunedin and Bay of Islands.  I can tell you in advance that the Captain will make “an unexpected, special announcement” after attempting to have the hull cleaned off Tauranga.  The cleaning will be unsuccessful .  You’ll have an overnight in Auckland, departing about 11am next day.  There could, if course, be a miracle, but call me sceptical😂

Seriously though, we really enjoyed the cruise, even with these major disappointments.  Hope it’s the same for you.

Yes we have been advised will be missing the Fiords and Bay of Islands, going by itinerary still going to Dunedin, Wellington Lyttleton(Christchurch) and Auckland.  Whether we will be in Auckland longer due to not going to Bay of Islands not known.

[Aussieflyer]

2 hours ago, Mareblu said:

<snip>    MaitreD Sandro was never far away.  We’re wondering if you were in Q3 4101.  We had the exact same experience with hot water and blocked loo, and no-one else we spoke to seemed to have those problems.  That would be an incredible coincidence😂

Glad you had great service. We really tossed up about giving our waiter anything extra. For example, he would place the plate down then rush off before we could even say thank you and we did detect a bit of an eye roll when we wanted cheese after dessert. We was asked to ask the sommelier to come as we wanted port. He didn't speak to the sommelier until we were finished. So really he was sub-par.

 

Maitre d' was around a lot and very personable. Perhaps because it was a short cruise Grills pax were using the lounge more. Lucia seemed to be run off her feet on the one time we were there. We were a bit lazy and would make our own G&Ts and drink them on the balcony so any cocktails tended to be after dinner. 

 

We didn't really go 'off menu'  - there was mostly something interesting on offer though we did have crepes Suzette one night and of course duck a l'orange  - quite a spectacle.

 

We were at the opposite end of the ship - on deck 5 overlooking the wake (we love the back end of the boat, as they say). Interesting other people had similar issues at times though. I have a feeling QE is going in for refurbishment this year so hope they attend to some of the problems (like a jerky lift). 

 

There were three Matt Moran dishes in QG one night - main was a steak dish and was really just a lump of fillet. I got the feeling he didn't really want to be there. Mark Olive has happy to engage with everyone - took him ages to get anyway as he kept getting bailed up. 

 

You might be interested in next year's culinary cruise - 7 days this time and includes Adelaide as well as Melbourne. Karen Martini is listed as the headline so far (though I certainly wouldn't call her a top shelf chef).

 

I know of someone who recently did a trans Atlantic literary cruise and the program was so packed with activities you had to choose what to attend. This one was nothing like it (perhaps that was more like what I was expecting). There were no shipboard activities on the theme on port days - the expectation was that you took a shore excursion (of which only a few were food centred).

Edited February 2, 2023 by Aussieflyer

[Aussieflyer]

Oh and while I am whinging I might as well add the internet - as a Gold level, I used to get an allocation of time (maybe 90 mins?) for the internet. This has no changed to money off a paid package rather than free minutes. An 'enhancement' I didn't want - so didn't bother and just used mobile in Melb and Burnie.😁

Edited February 2, 2023 by Aussieflyer

[LittleFish1976]

35 minutes ago, subaru94 said:

Yes we have been advised will be missing the Fiords and Bay of Islands, going by itinerary still going to Dunedin, Wellington Lyttleton(Christchurch) and Auckland.  Whether we will be in Auckland longer due to not going to Bay of Islands not known.

 

The letter I received said 'missing the fiords so therefore will be having an additional day at sea'. The day the ships visit the fiords isn't a full day of being in them anyway so is to all intents and purposes a sea day anyway.

 

 

[Mareblu]

30 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

Glad you had great service. We really tossed up about giving our waiter anything extra. For example, he would place the plate down then rush off before we could even say thank you and we did detect a bit of an eye roll when we wanted cheese after dessert. We was asked to ask the sommelier to come as we wanted port. He didn't speak to the sommelier until we were finished. So really he was sub-par.

 

Maitre d' was around a lot and very personable. Perhaps because it was a short cruise Grills pax were using the lounge more. Lucia seemed to be run off her feet on the one time we were there. We were a bit lazy and would make our own G&Ts and drink them on the balcony so any cocktails tended to be after dinner. 

 

We didn't really go 'off menu'  - there was mostly something interesting on offer though we did have crepes Suzette one night and of course duck a l'orange  - quite a spectacle.

 

We were at the opposite end of the ship - on deck 5 overlooking the wake (we love the back end of the boat, as they say). Interesting other people had similar issues at times though. I have a feeling QE is going in for refurbishment this year so hope they attend to some of the problems (like a jerky lift). 

 

There were three Matt Moran dishes in QG one night - main was a steak dish and was really just a lump of fillet. I got the feeling he didn't really want to be there. Mark Olive has happy to engage with everyone - took him ages to get anyway as he kept getting bailed up. 

 

You might be interested in next year's culinary cruise - 7 days this time and includes Adelaide as well as Melbourne. Karen Martini is listed as the headline so far (though I certainly wouldn't call her a top shelf chef).

 

I know of someone who recently did a trans Atlantic literary cruise and the program was so packed with activities you had to choose what to attend. This one was nothing like it (perhaps that was more like what I was expecting). There were no shipboard activities on the theme on port days - the expectation was that you took a shore excursion (of which only a few were food centred).

That jerky lift created considerable tension.  I didn’t like it at all.  As there are only two to serve the Grills, the wait was sometimes interminable. No offence intended to her, but if I come across a Karen Martini recipe in newspapers or journals, I turn the page.  I love Neil Perry, and Mart Moran almost as much.  Peter Gilmore surpasses.  DH surprised me for a significant birthday, with family arriving, during a Sydney weekend a while ago.  Quay and Rockpool on successive evenings.  My only complaint is that he’s accumulated far too many ticks😂

I'm sensing another foodie here:  have you tried Sandbar Restaurant, in Quay Motel (coincidence) at Batemans Bay?  David (senior moment but I think David) even surpasses Peter Gilmore.  
I agree with your Silversea restaurants point.  We have enjoyed that luxury of choice on Seabourn, Silversea, Oceania, etc.  Conversely, this time we loved the no hassle table designation each evening, instead of the table lottery in different restaurants.

We’ve booked another.  With 50% of this cruise to offset the fare, we really can’t resist.

[Mareblu]

Firgot the internet.  After hearing of the dismal service even for the  premium offer, I gave it a miss. I used Telstra’s $5 per day plan for all calls and more than adequate data in NZ when in port, and of course normal conditions in Australia.

[Aussieflyer]

20 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

<snip>

I'm sensing another foodie here:  have you tried Sandbar Restaurant, in Quay Motel (coincidence) at Batemans Bay?  David (senior moment but I think David) even surpasses Peter Gilmore.  
I agree with your Silversea restaurants point.  We have enjoyed that luxury of choice on Seabourn, Silversea, Oceania, etc.  Conversely, this time we loved the no hassle table designation each evening, instead of the table lottery in different restaurants.

We’ve booked another.  With 50% of this cruise to offset the fare, we really can’t resist.

Off topic - We very rarely go down the coast but will do a bit of digging on the motel and restaurant. We went to Rockpool last September (one of the few places open on a Monday night) - it was pretty average though at least we didn't have a Neil Perry salad like on QF. If in Singapore I thoroughly recommend Odette (went there for the significant birthday last year) - superb 3 star Michelin. 

Back on topic -

Where is the new cruise you have booked? I have just sent a query to Silversea for a Muse cruise in December.

 

[Aussieflyer]

Oh and for the sports tragics among us/you - QE has a Legends of Sport cruise in early 2024. So far only Brett Lee is confirmed but it could be an interesting week of they get a few big names. Pity that most of the legends from my days have passed on.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Aussieflyer

[subaru94]

29 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

That jerky lift created considerable tension.  I didn’t like it at all.  As there are only two to serve the Grills, the wait was sometimes interminable. No offence intended to her, but if I come across a Karen Martini recipe in newspapers or journals, I turn the page.  I love Neil Perry, and Mart Moran almost as much.  Peter Gilmore surpasses.  DH surprised me for a significant birthday, with family arriving, during a Sydney weekend a while ago.  Quay and Rockpool on successive evenings.  My only complaint is that he’s accumulated far too many ticks😂

I'm sensing another foodie here:  have you tried Sandbar Restaurant, in Quay Motel (coincidence) at Batemans Bay?  David (senior moment but I think David) even surpasses Peter Gilmore.  
I agree with your Silversea restaurants point.  We have enjoyed that luxury of choice on Seabourn, Silversea, Oceania, etc.  Conversely, this time we loved the no hassle table designation each evening, instead of the table lottery in different restaurants.

We’ve booked another.  With 50% of this cruise to offset the fare, we really can’t resist.

Are you getting 50% FCC due to missing Sounds, Dunedin and Bayof Islands??  We have been offered OBC

[LittleFish1976]

4 minutes ago, subaru94 said:

Are you getting 50% FCC due to missing Sounds, Dunedin and Bayof Islands??  We have been offered OBC

 

Have you not been offerred any FCC?

 

I've been offerred $150 OBC (only missing one port - disembarking in AKL) but also 20% FCC with 2 years to use for a booking.