QM2 Mixed Review: Some deferred maintenance, poor food, but a delight otherwise

[DaisyUK]

23 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Thanks @DaisyUK, I was hoping you might post as I know you have experience on luxury lines as well as QG.

Enjoy the rest of your Crystal cruise. 

Thanks Host Hattie. Also, I saw your question about Marli on the Crystal board. I will try and find out although I think one of the helpful folks over on Crystal might beat me to it. We have had a female sommelier who is just lovely but I'm afraid I didn't catch her name. I'll look out for her. She'll probably think I'm a bit weird as I peer at her chest area and try to make out the name on her badge! But, if the name is Marli, I will ask her if she used to be at Cunard 😊

[seasickphil]

 

35 minutes ago, DaisyUK said:

I've just spent the last 5/10 minutes catching up on the Cunard forum and I'm flabbergasted by some of the comments in this thread stating that the food on Cunard (QG) is sub-standard and that the suites are small! I am currently on a Crystal cruise and enjoying it very much (in a Junior Crystal Penthouse Suite). We have also cruised with Regent several times, in either a Grand Suite or Master Suite and on Cunard (QM2 and QE2 in either a Q1 or a Q2). We enjoy all 3 cruise lines, but to say that the accommodations and food on Cunard is below the standard of that on Crystal or Regent is beyond my understanding. Obviously, food is subjective but I think that each of these 3 lines offer wonderful food and would not put one above another. Accommodations are not subjective (at least in terms of size) and the largest suites we have stayed in were on Cunard. Not really sure why I'm bothering to post this, other than that I don't like to see misinformation and would hate anyone to be put off by generalised comments. Rant over!

 

I can't agree with you more, food,as we know is very subjective and i have not sailed in Queens Grills recently but having sailed on Viking, Oceania, and Regent, i still stand by what i said that for us, Cunard is the best dining experience  at sea, i still hope and expect this to be so after coming back off Queen Elizabeth next month.

Edited September 23, 2023 by seasickphil

[Host Hattie]

6 minutes ago, DaisyUK said:

Thanks Host Hattie. Also, I saw your question about Marli on the Crystal board. I will try and find out although I think one of the helpful folks over on Crystal might beat me to it. We have had a female sommelier who is just lovely but I'm afraid I didn't catch her name. I'll look out for her. She'll probably think I'm a bit weird as I peer at her chest area and try to make out the name on her badge! But, if the name is Marli, I will ask her if she used to be at Cunard 😊

Thank you, if she's South African, she served us in Princess Grill on our first cruise on QE2.

 

[Whipsnade]

Princess and Queens Grills are the same. Same food cooked in same kitchens. They are not Michelin three star. Not two star. Not even one star. Doubt if they could even get a Bib Gourmand rating. 
That said, they give their customers what they want:  lobster, caviar, beef Wellington. 
Grill class cabins are enormous and worth the bucks. 
More than that I cannot say. 
 

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

Princess and Queens Grills are the same. Same food cooked in same kitchens. They are not Michelin three star. Not two star. Not even one star. Doubt if they could even get a Bib Gourmand rating. 
That said, they give their customers what they want:  lobster, caviar, beef Wellington. 
Grill class cabins are enormous and worth the bucks. 
More than that I cannot say. 
 

I think the menus are somewhat different. I haven’t found some Cunard meals that different from the few Mich ** ones I’ve had. (Subjective)

 

PG cabins on the Vistas are long and narrow, and not remotely enormous. (Matter of fact)

[Victoria2]

28 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

Princess and Queens Grills are the same. Same food cooked in same kitchens. They are not Michelin three star. Not two star. Not even one star. Doubt if they could even get a Bib Gourmand rating. 
That said, they give their customers what they want:  lobster, caviar, beef Wellington. 
Grill class cabins are enormous and worth the bucks. 
More than that I cannot say. 
 

Each to their own opinions. 🙂

[Whipsnade]

Take a look in your Michelin guide. Not opinion. Fact. 

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

Take a look in your Michelin guide. Not opinion. Fact. 

So the difference (not particularly noticed by me) lies in quality of ingredients, quality of cooking, variety of dishes, service or what?

[Whipsnade]

All of the above plus a few more. Trying to achieve even a single star has driven more than one chef/owner to suicide. 

[Pushpit]

I think the comparison with Michelin is a bit artificial in the context of Cunard or indeed any cruise company. There are only 8 restaurants with 3 stars in the whole of the UK, 7 in the London area and 1 not so far from me in Cumbria. All of these restaurants essentially offer the same thing, a 10 to 15 course Tasting Menu, each course being pretty small and a work of art in itself. So as a random example from l'Enclume: "Seaweed custard, beef broth and bone marrow. Our blend of caviar, Maldon oysters". That will be just a few mouthfuls of food. £250 for 15 such courses. Realistically I can't see how it could operate on a Cunard vessel on a daily basis. I guess Cunard could make an Alternative Dining restaurant go down this route for a few years, as a loss leader, then get the inspectors on board, get their first star then charge appropriately, but it just seems infeasible. In fact I'm not aware of any such establishment on the 300 or so cruise ships (and 1 liner) that grace the seas.

Edited September 23, 2023 by Pushpit

[Victoria2]

32 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

Take a look in your Michelin guide. Not opinion. Fact. 

To be fair, please point out where Michelin was attributed to Cunard.

 

One's kitchen, yes, but Cunard?

[seasickphil]

1 hour ago, Whipsnade said:

Princess and Queens Grills are the same. Same food cooked in same kitchens. They are not Michelin three star. Not two star. Not even one star. Doubt if they could even get a Bib Gourmand rating. 
That said, they give their customers what they want:  lobster, caviar, beef Wellington. 
Grill class cabins are enormous and worth the bucks. 
More than that I cannot say. 
 

 

What cruise lines would you say are up to Michelin three star or two star ratings, we have eaten in many three/two star Michelin restaurants throughout the world and would never dream of comparing them with any cruise line restaurants. Most of the Michelin restaurants we have been to only have space for around 50 covers, not anywhere near the amount of covers required on cruise ships.

[Host Hattie]

58 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

Take a look in your Michelin guide. Not opinion. Fact. 

Are there any Cruise ship restaurants in the Michelin Guide ? It may be a fact but I'm not sure how it's relevant.

[exlondoner]

44 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

I think the comparison with Michelin is a bit artificial in the context of Cunard or indeed any cruise company. There are only 8 restaurants with 3 stars in the whole of the UK, 7 in the London area and 1 not so far from me in Cumbria. All of these restaurants essentially offer the same thing, a 10 to 15 course Tasting Menu, each course being pretty small and a work of art in itself. So as a random example from l'Enclume: "Seaweed custard, beef broth and bone marrow. Our blend of caviar, Maldon oysters". That will be just a few mouthfuls of food. £250 for 15 such courses. Realistically I can't see how it could operate on a Cunard vessel on a daily basis. I guess Cunard could make an Alternative Dining restaurant go down this route for a few years, as a loss leader, then get the inspectors on board, get their first star then charge appropriately, but it just seems infeasible. In fact I'm not aware of any such establishment on the 300 or so cruise ships (and 1 liner) that grace the seas.

If there are two things I loathe in a restaurant, it is intrusive music and multi-course tasting menus, which do nothing other than demonstrate the arrogance of the chef.

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, Whipsnade said:

All of the above plus a few more. Trying to achieve even a single star has driven more than one chef/owner to suicide. 

Trying to get schoolchildren to sit still and listen has had a similar effect on school teachers, but I can’t imagine what the significance of that is in terms of quality.

[bitob]

2 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

You weren't sitting next to our table then! The Head Waiter practically had it waiting for me on our first dinner 🙂

 

 

We order off the menu

 

tomorrow lobster caviar crepes Suzettes. The new maitre’d is fabulous 

[bitob]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Have you asked?

It was just offered to me without asking

[Host Hattie]

17 minutes ago, bitob said:

It was just offered to me without asking

Well that's good but you could have had it since Day 1 if you'd asked. 

[Victoria2]

43 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Are there any Cruise ship restaurants in the Michelin Guide ? It may be a fact but I'm not sure how it's relevant.

Has anyone has mentioned Cunard and Michelin star?

 

I think  someone has read a post, put two and two together and unfortunately come up with five and run with it.

 

[exlondoner]

Just now, Victoria2 said:

Has anyone has mentioned Cunard and Michelin star?

 

I think  someone has read a post, put two and two together and unfortunately come up with five and run with it.

 

But someone has said how much QG falls short, irrelevant as it may be.

[bitob]

5 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Well that's good but you could have had it since Day 1 if you'd asked. 

Wasn’t important enough to ask 

 

[bitob]

4 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Has anyone has mentioned Cunard and Michelin star?

 

I think  someone has read a post, put two and two together and unfortunately come up with five and run with it.

 

We have a Michelin star chef on this food and wine cruise. Some of his dishes are on menu

[NE John]

7 minutes ago, bitob said:

We have a Michelin star chef on this food and wine cruise. Some of his dishes are on menu

Didn’t Cunard just hire Michele Roux for QA?  That’s kinda top of the heap. 

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, bitob said:

Wasn’t important enough to ask 

 

So saying you hadn’t ever seen it, with the possible implication it wasn’t likely to be available, really meant you hadn’t noticed it, because you weren’t much interested?

[Victoria2]

6 minutes ago, bitob said:

We have a Michelin star chef on this food and wine cruise. Some of his dishes are on menu

and you are the first to put Cunard and Michelin together, whatever the context

Why another member decided to do the same out of the blue, is anyone's guess.