QA British Isles Voyage

[Selbourne]

16 minutes ago, new to cuising said:

Judging by the online mapping QA appeared very close to some of the Scottish Islands especially on the starboard side. Obviously some of these charts may not be as accurate as can be expected, but equally shipping channels must be adhered to. Could it be that people were looking out of the wrong side! We did a round Britain in 2009 on QM2 and someone tried to tell me they hadn’t seen the land. They were rather surprised when I showed them photos of the vast numbers of cars and people on the Yorkshire coast! Yes my fellow passengers had been looking towards Norway!

I think you are confusing Thursday with Friday, but actually neither were as advertised. Our cabin is on the starboard side BTW. 
 

To clarify, our transit around the top of Scotland was a considerable distance from the coast. That’s fine. 
 

On Thursday the itinerary advertised “Isle of Skye - Sail By”. In reality we spent most of the day passing Lewis and adjacent islands on the starboard side. Again, these were too far away to be described as particularly scenic, other than around an hour or so when we came closer to them at one point, but it was OK and as this hadn’t been advertised that was also fine. 
 

The issues really started thereafter. By the time we reached Skye the light was fading and we were also a considerable distance from the shore. Other than a very distant view before we got there, we just didn’t see Skye at all and even if it had still been completely clear we were just too far away for it to be described as scenic. 
 

Then comes Friday which was described as “Scenic Scottish Isles Cruising”. I am not exaggerating when I say this, but we did not see land for the entire hours of daylight and almost the entire day wasn’t even in Scotland. We basically had a full sea day heading out past Ireland and then coming back again. I stress, nothing scenic about it at all (just sea) and certainly not Scottish Isles. By the time we got back to the Scottish Isles, it was nighttime and dark. 
 

What was particularly irritating was that we considered this cruise alongside other British Isles cruises, including one on Britannia (a ship we like) that was less than half the price. The reason that we chose Queen Anne was partly to try the new ship but also because of the two advertised scenic cruising days, as this aspect hugely appealed to us. 

[Megabear2]

7 minutes ago, GeorgianGal100 said:

Were they coughing or has it all been a ploy?

I didn't stay long enough to find out!

[Mareblu]

10 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I wonder Mareblu , where this person was seated. On our cruise, the celebrity speakers were seated at the same tables/next to each other as you entered the restaurant left, consecutively obviously, and the table/s were sort of out of the way.

In fact I only really noticed Val McD and didn't notice the tie less one until folk started stopping by the table to talk.

If the same tables, maybe 'out of the way' was too, out of the way.

 

Either way, the staff go above and beyond in their care and attentiveness and to subject any to an even minute tirade, is unforgivable.

Yes, that thought had occurred to me.  We are seated to the far right of the restaurant, a short distance past what I now refer to as “the diner-milkbar”, and it’s really  a lovely area, spacious, yet with tables near enough for a chat if desired.  We’ve had the pleasure and the privilege of the company of all our celebrity guests.  We respect their right to privacy, so never engage without being spoken to first.  Perhaps the glare of the accustomed spotlight was missing. We’re not sure whether the demand to be moved has been met, but I sincerely hope no guest has been moved to accommodate.  I’m just relieved we weren’t there, otherwise I’d be convinced we hadn’t measured up.

[Selbourne]

22 minutes ago, Cruise Puss said:

Having cruised on P&O for 20 yrs, until recently, I can tell you that Cunard is superior in every way. The staff used to be on a parr, but the staff who have been with P&O for years are not happy bunnies, and the younger staff go around with faces like a wet week (this is obviously a generalisation, some are great). 

We are not returning to P&O in the foreseeable future, and are cruising with Cunard, Princess, Celebrity and, when we can get the courage up to fly again (we haven't flown since 2006!) we will be going on Silverseas and Seabourn.

I'm not quite sure how anyone can compare Cunard with P&O IMHO. ☺️

You clearly have your mind made up, but I don’t agree. Over the last year alone we have been on 4 P&O cruises (on 4 different ships) and 2 Cunard ones (QM2 and QA). Naturally we have been making comparisons. Whilst overall we feel that the Cunard experience is better (as it should be given the price differential), there are quite a few areas where we feel the two are comparable and, dare I say it, a few where P&O are better (ducks for cover 😂)

[new to cuising]

4 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I think you are confusing Thursday with Friday, but actually neither were as advertised. Our cabin is on the starboard side BTW. 
 

To clarify, our transit around the top of Scotland was a considerable distance from the coast. That’s fine. 
 

On Thursday the itinerary advertised “Isle of Skye - Sail By”. In reality we spent most of the day passing Lewis and adjacent islands on the starboard side. Again, these were too far away to be described as particularly scenic, other than around an hour or so when we came closer to them at one point, but it was OK and as this hadn’t been advertised that was also fine. 
 

The issues really started thereafter. By the time we reached Skye the light was fading and we were also a considerable distance from the shore. Other than a very distant view before we got there, we just didn’t see Skye at all and even if it had still been completely clear we were just too far away for it to be described as scenic. 
 

Then comes Friday which was described as “Scenic Scottish Isles Cruising”. I am not exaggerating when I say this, but we did not see land for the entire hours of daylight and almost the entire day wasn’t even in Scotland. We basically had a full sea day heading out past Ireland and then coming back again. I stress, nothing scenic about it at all (just sea) and certainly not Scottish Isles. By the time we got back to the Scottish Isles, it was nighttime and dark. 
 

What was particularly irritating was that we considered this cruise alongside other British Isles cruises, including one on Britannia (a ship we like) that was less than half the price. The reason that we chose Queen Anne was partly to try the new ship but also because of the two advertised scenic cruising days, as this aspect hugely appealed to us. 

Was being a little tongue in cheek to be honest. I’m not on board this time. I do wonder why Cunard note these sail bys in the itinerary. I’ve experienced the same with various fjords and headlands around Norway coast, and even a promised sail by of lizard point, eddystone rock lighthouse and lands end, all obscured by fog and at least ten miles away although we did see Bishop Rock light house, or at least the light from it in the gloom! We now treat sail bys as a route marker/ time slot as opposed to a viewpoint.

 

Having said that only one sailby in nearly thirty cruises comes to mind which was successful and that was north cape with captain Clarke on Aueen Elizabeth. Reaching the cape just before midnight in the June sunshine, he stopped the ship, and did a full clockwise rotation “on the spot” followed by a counterclockwise rotation. It meant everyone had the opportunity to get great shots from all parts of the ship

[Pushpit]

39 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

We were looking forward very much, after learning before embarkation that Ms Imrie would be appearing “in conversation” (an excellent format for career insights) to attending her event.  Now, the reason we definitely did not attend today needs to be couched in somewhat delicate terms:

 

I am distantly related to her late father - I've only met her once as far as I can recall, and she was on best behaviour then - but I can only apologise for this outburst.

 

In case it's not obvious, Ms. Imrie is a relative of Liverpool's Imrie family that partly owned White Star Line. Unlike me she is a relatively close relative, her father was born in 1892, was a great nephew of William Imrie (deceased in 1906) and would have met him as a child. 

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, new to cuising said:

Was being a little tongue in cheek to be honest. I’m not on board this time. I do wonder why Cunard note these sail bys in the itinerary. I’ve experienced the same with various fjords and headlands around Norway coast, and even a promised sail by of lizard point, eddystone rock lighthouse and lands end, all obscured by fog and at least ten miles away although we did see Bishop Rock light house, or at least the light from it in the gloom! We now treat sail bys as a route marker/ time slot as opposed to a viewpoint.

 

Having said that only one sailby in nearly thirty cruises comes to mind which was successful and that was north cape with captain Clarke on Aueen Elizabeth. Reaching the cape just before midnight in the June sunshine, he stopped the ship, and did a full clockwise rotation “on the spot” followed by a counterclockwise rotation. It meant everyone had the opportunity to get great shots from all parts of the ship

We’ve learnt our lesson with this cruise and will ignore any claims of ‘scenic’ cruising days in future! Our November cruise on QA just has normal

ports only and, if we still decide to go, we will do so knowing that the accessibility features (cabin and theatre) may still be poor and the promenade deck still won’t have a decent outlook 😂

 

Thankfully, whilst these have been big disappointments, there’s an awful lot that we really like about Queen Anne and I guess that we have the benefit of not being able to compare to QV and QE. 

[Mareblu]

12 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

I am distantly related to her late father - I've only met her once as far as I can recall, and she was on best behaviour then - but I can only apologise for this outburst.

 

In case it's not obvious, Ms. Imrie is a relative of Liverpool's Imrie family that partly owned White Star Line. Unlike me she is a relatively close relative, her father was born in 1892, was a great nephew of William Imrie (deceased in 1906) and would have met him as a child. 

My thank you vote is for your interesting background information, and not for your apology.  There is absolutely no need for you to apologise, nor for you to feel associated with another’s very poor form in any way.  I can easily dismiss such behaviour as perhaps a streak of eccentricity, or feeling exhausted, any number of causes, really.  I can neither dismiss nor excuse the appalling treatment of our exemplary staff.  

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Mareblu said:

we realised the fireworks pontoon was to be positioned only yards from our aft balcony.

We thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks but, as with the naming ceremony, we felt that the info provided by the ship about viewing was lacking. It simply said that viewing was from the aft open decks or Pavillion. As the Pavillion is a side only view, we assumed that all the fireworks were shoreside, so stayed on our balcony. We had absolutely no idea that there was a fireworks pontoon behind the ship so, consequently, when the fireworks started we realised that we couldn’t see the ones at the back at all, but it was then too late to move. How hard would it have been to say “Fireworks will be along the shoreside and from a pontoon at the aft of the ship”? 
 

Anyway, we still thoroughly enjoyed what we saw and I’m pleased that you had pole position - deservedly so after having been pushed a bit too far back from the naming ceremony!

Edited June 4 by Selbourne

[exlondoner]

16 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

My thank you vote is for your interesting background information, and not for your apology.  There is absolutely no need for you to apologise, nor for you to feel associated with another’s very poor form in any way.  I can easily dismiss such behaviour as perhaps a streak of eccentricity, or feeling exhausted, any number of causes, really.  I can neither dismiss nor excuse the appalling treatment of our exemplary staff.  

I’ve just had a good idea. Could they possibly have found her a window in the PG with the Covid carriers, assuming they are really there?

[Victoria2]

44 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

Yes, that thought had occurred to me.  We are seated to the far right of the restaurant, a short distance past what I now refer to as “the diner-milkbar”, and it’s really  a lovely area, spacious, yet with tables near enough for a chat if desired.  We’ve had the pleasure and the privilege of the company of all our celebrity guests.  We respect their right to privacy, so never engage without being spoken to first.  Perhaps the glare of the accustomed spotlight was missing. We’re not sure whether the demand to be moved has been met, but I sincerely hope no guest has been moved to accommodate.  I’m just relieved we weren’t there, otherwise I’d be convinced we hadn’t measured up.

Let's hope this person's blip wasn't noticeable to others and the rest of the cruise goes blipless.

We witnessed staff taking a bit of flack too so I'm sure the staff are well versed in stoically 'taking' it and I imagine, part of their training.

 

 

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Let's hope this person's blip wasn't noticeable to others and the rest of the cruise goes blipless.

We witnessed staff taking a bit of flack too so I'm sure the staff are well versed in stoically 'taking' it and I imagine, part of their training.

 

 

I think, perhaps particularly on our cruise, there were a lot of really rather difficult passengers in the QG, because they all seemed to have travelled on Cunard since the days of the Carpathia, and were disconcerted by anything unusual, and indeed not everything was perfect, because everyone was finding their way around a new ship. I thought the restaurant staff were lovely and very patient. As, in fact, were many of the passengers.

[NE John]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

The other amusing thing is how often the people who spend their time complaining about the many iniquities of the ship then sidle off to the Booking Office and book a couple more cruises. This happens on all the Cunard ships, not just QA.

This goes back to the Woody Allen joke: “The food’s tastes horrible and there’s not enough of it!” 

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, NE John said:

This goes back to the Woody Allen joke: “The food’s tastes horrible and there’s not enough of it!” 

And one hears the equivalent of that quite often. A bit like the poster who complained that the Grills Lounge was a hellhole and probably not really big enough. 😀

[NE John]

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

And one hears the equivalent of that quite often. A bit like the poster who complained that the Grills Lounge was a hellhole and probably not really big enough. 😀

I enjoy self-deprecating humor…

[delgirl]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Never been on Celebrity, so can’t compare. The same with P&O which seems another object of comparison. Don’t they tend to play a lot of loud artificial music on Celebrity?

 

Incidentally don’t you think the dress of the five Liverpudlian women yesterday, (which was criticised by many) was in part chosen to reflect the Cunard colours?

I think you might be thinking of carnival. I remember when we first went on a celebrity ship some-one said the same they then realised it was carnival not celebrity🤣

[Megabear2]

Well just seen the Cunard premiere of Pride & Prejudice (sort of) and what a delight it was!  We have a surprise understudy due to illness and tonight's performances will also star the author Isobel McArthur.  What a treat, to anyone onboard who hasn't seen the early performance you're in for a treat.

[Victoria2]

2 hours ago, Pushpit said:

I am distantly related to her late father - I've only met her once as far as I can recall, and she was on best behaviour then - but I can only apologise for this outburst.

 

In case it's not obvious, Ms. Imrie is a relative of Liverpool's Imrie family that partly owned White Star Line. Unlike me she is a relatively close relative, her father was born in 1892, was a great nephew of William Imrie (deceased in 1906) and would have met him as a child. 

Why should you apologise?

To be fair, we have no idea of the magnitude of any issue and one person's blip can be another's full on. I witnessed a bit of an issue which was conducted quietly but I thought out of order. As exlondoner  implied, things are still settling down and one or two gave no quarter to this. One evening, we just had to leave for 'our' seats in the theatre as pud and coffee were just too slow in materialising. No problem but another passenger had a bit of a moan at the same thing.

 

As I have said many times, perhaps we're too easy to please.

[david63]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

they all seemed to have travelled on Cunard since the days of the Carpathia, and were disconcerted by anything unusual, and indeed not everything was perfect,

It always amuses me when any new ship joins the fleet of any cruise line when you get first - this is nothing like [name of ship] and there is no way that I will sail on her, followed by the same person bemoaning the fact that they could not get on the maiden voyage so had to settle for another cruise and then still making all the same complaints as they go to the future cruises desk to book another cruise on the new ship!!

[exlondoner]

45 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Why should you apologise?

To be fair, we have no idea of the magnitude of any issue and one person's blip can be another's full on. I witnessed a bit of an issue which was conducted quietly but I thought out of order. As exlondoner  implied, things are still settling down and one or two gave no quarter to this. One evening, we just had to leave for 'our' seats in the theatre as pud and coffee were just too slow in materialising. No problem but another passenger had a bit of a moan at the same thing.

 

As I have said many times, perhaps we're too easy to please.

One other thing I liked was that the senior people in the restaurant seemed to be on the lookout and ready to step in to protect the waiters from unnecessary carping.

[Megabear2]

On general waiting staff issues, overall the ones we have in Britannia are okay, and that's about it.  They forget things that people order, mix up breakfast drinks orders and most annoyingly will lean across you when delivering/removing plates.  I assume that many are fairly new but you really do notice it when you get an old school one.  The day after I returned my steak as virtually uneatable, I ordered the roast beef and the waiter queried whether this was wise in light of my difficulties the night before.  As my dining neighbour said, so it's you who was wrong not the steak!

 

However I noticed at tea this afternoon that the waiters being used in the Queen's Room appear to be a selection of the very best as the service ran like clockwork.

Edited June 4 by Megabear2

[JeanieC,Aston]

4 hours ago, Pushpit said:

I am distantly related to her late father - I've only met her once as far as I can recall, and she was on best behaviour then - but I can only apologise for this outburst.

 

In case it's not obvious, Ms. Imrie is a relative of Liverpool's Imrie family that partly owned White Star Line. Unlike me she is a relatively close relative, her father was born in 1892, was a great nephew of William Imrie (deceased in 1906) and would have met him as a child. 

Hi

I should have posted this two days ago.

There is an old Liverpool boozer in the Cavern Quarter called the White Star.

Its a pub choc a bloc with White Star/Cunard memorabilia.

 

 

 

[Cruise Puss]

5 hours ago, Selbourne said:

You clearly have your mind made up, but I don’t agree. Over the last year alone we have been on 4 P&O cruises (on 4 different ships) and 2 Cunard ones (QM2 and QA). Naturally we have been making comparisons. Whilst overall we feel that the Cunard experience is better (as it should be given the price differential), there are quite a few areas where we feel the two are comparable and, dare I say it, a few where P&O are better (ducks for cover 😂)

Fair comment. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, although you wouldn't think it with some people nowadays. ☺️👍

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Well just seen the Cunard premiere of Pride & Prejudice (sort of) and what a delight it was!  We have a surprise understudy due to illness and tonight's performances will also star the author Isobel McArthur.  What a treat, to anyone onboard who hasn't seen the early performance you're in for a treat.

Well it just goes to show how different we all are! Having thoroughly enjoyed “Brief Encounter” (by the same producer) we were looking forward to this, and neither of us enjoyed it at all. In fact, being at the very back was a distinct advantage for once, as we were able to discreetly sneak out after 30 minutes. 
 

Conversely, we went to see Fizz in the Bright Lights Society tonight which we enjoyed as much as the first show (Noir). The cast are brilliant in there and it’s a very different experience. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

On general waiting staff issues, overall the ones we have in Britannia are okay, and that's about it.  They forget things that people order, mix up breakfast drinks orders and most annoyingly will lean across you when delivering/removing plates.  I assume that many are fairly new but you really do notice it when you get an old school one.  The day after I returned my steak as virtually uneatable, I ordered the roast beef and the waiter queried whether this was wise in light of my difficulties the night before.  As my dining neighbour said, so it's you who was wrong not the steak!

 

However I noticed at tea this afternoon that the waiters being used in the Queen's Room appear to be a selection of the very best as the service ran like clockwork.

Hopefully you will find Club much better on your next cruise. Service has been exemplary. A tiny bit slow some times and a tiny bit fast others, but none of it a problem. If our waiters are busy when we arrive another will pull out my chair, remove the chargers etc. The managers all chip in as well and are very friendly. We’ve been extremely happy with it.