LIVE from QM2 June 29 to July 6

[*Miss G*]

There’s no consistency with the paper receipts. Sometimes I got one and sometimes I didn’t. I did ask, with the first receipt, whether they were necessary and the bar server told me it was for proof of purchase. I could believe that if they gave me a copy *and* they were consistent with doing it with each order. Either way, I was never given a copy of one. 

 

When it came to the sommelier; on the first night he asked me to sign for my purchase. When I saw the service charge on the slip, I asked him whether that amount goes directly to him. He said it went into the pool but if I added an amount to the tip line, that will go directly to him. I said: “Ahh, okay, thank you. I will provide the gratuity, in cash, on the final evening.” From that moment on, I never had to sign another slip, nor provide my ship card, and we were both happy in the end.

 

So, my belief is that they have you sign it for the extra gratuity. Which is okay; I’m not knocking that. I am sure it must be easier for them to gain tips without having to rely on being found at the end of the cruise for the traditional excellent-service-gratuity or for those who don’t carry cash around for that purpose.

[Kordy]

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

There’s no consistency with the paper receipts. Sometimes I got one and sometimes I didn’t. I did ask, with the first receipt, whether they were necessary and the bar server told me it was for proof of purchase. I could believe that if they gave me a copy *and* they were consistent with doing it with each order. Either way, I was never given a copy of one. 

 

When it came to the sommelier; on the first night he asked me to sign for my purchase. When I saw the service charge on the slip, I asked him whether that amount goes directly to him. He said it went into the pool but if I added an amount to the tip line, that will go directly to him. I said: “Ahh, okay, thank you. I will provide the gratuity, in cash, on the final evening.” From that moment on, I never had to sign another slip, nor provide my ship card, and we were both happy in the end.

 

So, my belief is that they have you sign it for the extra gratuity. Which is okay; I’m not knocking that. I am sure it must be easier for them to gain tips without having to rely on being found at the end of the cruise for the traditional excellent-service-gratuity or for those who don’t carry cash around for that purpose.

 

I concur with you - I'm pretty sure it's mainly for the extra tip, which is the additional line you fill out right above your signature.  I have a feeling some members of staff are a little more eager to gain as much $$$ income as possible, while others are OK with just the general pay and the tip-pool and given that it's extra work to print out the receipt, bring it, collect it, on top of their already busy work, they just don't bother.  The crew is very hard-working and when I asked around, it seems they are mainly from Philippines (or Malaysia).  Honest, hard-working people, in their prime age (late 20s / 30s mainly).  Some are working 11 hour shifts (not kidding).

Edited July 8 by Kordy

[Winifred 22]

11 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

The only scones I really like, are cheesy scones and that stems from Domestic Science lessens in my first year at Grammar school.

I'd never eaten or even heard of them before then but now, all time favourite scones.🙂

An M and S favourite of mine either from the cafe, in store bakery or pre packaged. Delicious with butter especially if warm. 

[Planning to cruise]

For those close to a John Lewis the cheese scones in their Place to Eat cafes are great.  My staple with a pot of tea for a quick lunch when shopping in town.  

[RK-NC]

15 hours ago, Kordy said:

Queens Grill is like the 1st Class on Titanic, mainly for the rich & famous.  As for me, I paid for 4th Class  (Britannia)

 

It's been interesting to read your report but I must say that I dislike the interpretation of Queen's Grill as 1st class and Britannia as 4th class. The Cunard website does not use the word "class". Did you feel like "4th class"?

[Kordy]

8 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

 

It's been interesting to read your report but I must say that I dislike the interpretation of Queen's Grill as 1st class and Britannia as 4th class. The Cunard website does not use the word "class". Did you feel like "4th class"?

 

No, I didn't feel like 4th class, the cruise was great and I felt like the staff were great and I was treated great.  The "1st class" vs "4th class" thing is a playful take on the Titanic classes, which the QM2 is a descendant of and the closest thing that comes close to how the Titanic crossed the Atlantic and the famous movie with Leonardo DiCaprio illustrates the concept of classes on the Titanic and so I kind of alluded to that.   It's the closest thing we got to how it used to be !!!  and to be fair, Cunard differentiates its fare categories more than some other cruise lines, where each category has a "name" and Queens/Princess grill customers do have their own exclusive area to eat with a better menu, and they have their own areas of the ship that standard passengers don't have access to.  In other cruises I've been to, there was less differentiation - eg: Princess Cruises I've been on - the entire ship was open to all, there were no special areas for higher paying customers, and everyone ate in the same restaurant - the only differentiation was really the size of the cabin/view, just like in a hotel.

But to your point, it's not a class system.

Edited July 8 by Kordy

[exlondoner]

17 minutes ago, Kordy said:

 

No, I didn't feel like 4th class, the cruise was great and I felt like the staff were great and I was treated great.  The "1st class" vs "4th class" thing is a playful take on the Titanic classes, which the QM2 is a descendant of and the closest thing that comes close to how the Titanic crossed the Atlantic and the famous movie with Leonardo DiCaprio illustrates the concept of classes on the Titanic and so I kind of alluded to that.   It's the closest thing we got to how it used to be !!!  and to be fair, Cunard differentiates its fare categories more than some other cruise lines, where each category has a "name" and Queens/Princess grill customers do have their own exclusive area to eat with a better menu, and they have their own areas of the ship that standard passengers don't have access to.  In other cruises I've been to, there was less differentiation - eg: Princess Cruises I've been on - the entire ship was open to all, there were no special areas for higher paying customers, and everyone ate in the same restaurant - the only differentiation was really the size of the cabin/view, just like in a hotel.

But to your point, it's not a class system.

The dedicated Grills area is pretty small on Cunard ships. NCL, MSC, Celebrity, and probably others I don’t know about, seem to have far larger exclusive space.

[RK-NC]

11 minutes ago, Kordy said:

Cunard differentiates its fare categories more than some other cruise lines, where each category has a "name" and Queens/Princess grill customers do have their own exclusive area to eat with a better menu, and they have their own areas of the ship that standard passengers don't have access to. 

 

We sailed Celebrity Retreat (suite) in April and had an exclusive lounge, sundeck, restaurant. Holland America has Club Orange for suite passengers. MSC has Yacht Club. Not sure about Princess but I expect they have something similar. Part of our attraction to Cunard was less focus on fare levels. 

[stan01]

1 hour ago, RK-NC said:

 

It's been interesting to read your report but I must say that I dislike the interpretation of Queen's Grill as 1st class and Britannia as 4th class. The Cunard website does not use the word "class". Did you feel like "4th class"?

 

Most non-luxury cruise lines now have luxury suites with restricted spaces and extra amenities including separate dining rooms and outdoor spaces.  Celebrity, NCL, HAL, MSC all come to mind and I'm sure there are more that I'm not familiar with.  I think the "class" term is "tongue in cheek" but in actuality I think some of the other cruise lines with luxury suites are even more "cocooned" than Cunard's Grills.  Grills spaces aren't secured with a key card to keep others out for example.

Edited July 8 by stan01

[Kordy]

I'm not sure this is a good trend 😞

[Mudhen]

We’ve experienced all “fare” levels on Cunard except the Britiania grill and have not minded the so called class destination one bit. 
I still laughed when we were called “rowers” when in an inside double!

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, Mudhen said:

We’ve experienced all “fare” levels on Cunard except the Britiania grill and have not minded the so called class destination one bit. 
I still laughed when we were called “rowers” when in an inside double!

Did the two of you have to share an oar? 😀

[NE John]

5 hours ago, RK-NC said:

 

It's been interesting to read your report but I must say that I dislike the interpretation of Queen's Grill as 1st class and Britannia as 4th class. The Cunard website does not use the word "class". Did you feel like "4th class"?

This 4th class nonsense started with the recent YouTube bloggers and their clickbait. Showing their steerage experience surrounded by: the beautiful Britannia restaurant, going to white-gloved served tea in the QR, getting complimentary room service and laundry, having the most impressive library at sea, etc.  Yes, they seemed to have a bad experience but they were not in the right mindset for a Crossing. They also never mentioned Insight lectures, music events, and other activities during a crossing. 

[Kordy]

13 minutes ago, NE John said:

This 4th class nonsense started with the recent YouTube bloggers and their clickbait. Showing their steerage experience surrounded by: the beautiful Britannia restaurant, going to white-gloved served tea in the QR, getting complimentary room service and laundry, having the most impressive library at sea, etc.  Yes, they seemed to have a bad experience but they were not in the right mindset for a Crossing. They also never mentioned Insight lectures, music events, and other activities during a crossing. 

 

I must admit I watched that YouTube and yes the title was something along the lines of "We crossed the Atlantic in 4th Class on Cunard" ... I can kind of see how they got it as 4th class:

- 1st Class - Queen's Grill

- 2nd Class - Princess Grill

- 3rd Class - Britannia Club

- 4th Class - Britannia

But I agree now that it's a bad depiction of Cunard fare classes.

I had a great experience personally in Britannia last week on my cruise, which I could equate to a very high class, definitely not a "4th class" experience!  Out of the 4 cruises I did in my life - Cunard, HAL, Princess & Celebrity - this was the best cruise and the highest level of service.

 

BUT even the famous Gary Bembrige (Tips for Travellers) has a video on YouTube titled:

"I Put Cunard's Controversial Class-Based Cruising To The Test"

Edited July 8 by Kordy

[D&N]

I seem to remember Gary Bembridge's conclusion was that there was less class distinction on Cunard than there was on the "mass market" lines that contain a ship within a ship.

[snaefell]

17 hours ago, Kordy said:

 

I concur with you - I'm pretty sure it's mainly for the extra tip, which is the additional line you fill out right above your signature.  I have a feeling some members of staff are a little more eager to gain as much $$$ income as possible, while others are OK with just the general pay and the tip-pool and given that it's extra work to print out the receipt, bring it, collect it, on top of their already busy work, they just don't bother.  The crew is very hard-working and when I asked around, it seems they are mainly from Philippines (or Malaysia).  Honest, hard-working people, in their prime age (late 20s / 30s mainly).  Some are working 11 hour shifts (not kidding).

That is,& IME,has always been, the norm in all areas of employment,there always have been those that do the least they can & those that work silly hours to get extra money,11 hour shifts & longer have been normal for years as well.

[Kordy]

1 hour ago, snaefell said:

That is,& IME,has always been, the norm in all areas of employment,there always have been those that do the least they can & those that work silly hours to get extra money,11 hour shifts & longer have been normal for years as well.

 

Sorry, but 11 hour shifts on your feet working hard - physical work... there are HR rules and employment rules in most countries that prevent companies from taking advantage of staff, especially of lower-paid hourly staff.  11 hour shifts are NOT nice and it often feels like we're not doing enough to prevent people in poorer countries like Philippines from being exploited, especially in their prime age (20s/30s).

[snaefell]

9 minutes ago, Kordy said:

 

Sorry, but 11 hour shifts on your feet working hard - physical work... there are HR rules and employment rules in most countries that prevent companies from taking advantage of staff, especially of lower-paid hourly staff.  11 hour shifts are NOT nice and it often feels like we're not doing enough to prevent people in poorer countries like Philippines from being exploited, especially in their prime age (20s/30s).

Sounds wonderful but in the real world 3 weeks without a day off & 2-3 weeks of 12 hour nights when needed have been what I was used to in my earlier working life,didn't give it a thought at the time,it was just what was needed to get the job done.

 

[King Amo]

I'm pretty certain that shifts will be significantly longer than 11 hours, even accounting for the split nature of them. 

[Kordy]

4 hours ago, King Amo said:

I'm pretty certain that shifts will be significantly longer than 11 hours, even accounting for the split nature of them. 

 

Are there any legal limits around the shift times on a cruise ship?  I am talking about employment laws - do they even apply when a ship is at sea?  It's international waters, so does that mean, the HR of a cruise company doesn't have to worry about local employment laws, which are designed to protect employee rights?

[King Amo]

27 minutes ago, Kordy said:

 

Are there any legal limits around the shift times on a cruise ship?  I am talking about employment laws - do they even apply when a ship is at sea?  It's international waters, so does that mean, the HR of a cruise company doesn't have to worry about local employment laws, which are designed to protect employee rights?

I don't know for sure what they do have to follow, but they certainly won't need to conform to UK standards, as this was why there was all the trouble with P&O Ferries a few years ago. They weren't conforming to UK regs, claiming international waters, when all it involved was the regular Dover to Calais crossing. 

[exlondoner]

Isn’t the main reason for flagging out to avoid labour laws which seem too stringent?

[RK-NC]

@Kordy Did crew members on QM2 seem to enjoy their jobs/seem happy? I understand that for many, working on a cruise ship is a vast improvement over available jobs in their home country. Our waiter on Celebrity Beyond in April seemed to thoroughly enjoy his job. He has been with Celebrity for 10 years. 

[Kordy]

13 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

@Kordy Did crew members on QM2 seem to enjoy their jobs/seem happy? I understand that for many, working on a cruise ship is a vast improvement over available jobs in their home country. Our waiter on Celebrity Beyond in April seemed to thoroughly enjoy his job. He has been with Celebrity for 10 years. 

 

From what I've seen and observed and "read between the line", i would say that yes the majority did seem "content" and when spoken to, they seemed happy... but remember, it's their job to smile, seem content and be nice.  What they really think behind the scenes, it's hard to tell.  But yes, to your point, I'm sure the majority are nice, hardworking people, who are happy to have a job, which is better $$$ than what they probably earned in their country at home (Philippines, Malaysia, etc).

[exlondoner]

Just now, Kordy said:

 

From what I've seen and observed and "read between the line", i would say that yes the majority did seem "content" and when spoken to, they seemed happy... but remember, it's their job to smile, seem content and be nice.  What they really think behind the scenes, it's hard to tell.  But yes, to your point, I'm sure the majority are nice, hardworking people, who are happy to have a job, which is better $$$ than what they probably earned in their country at home (Philippines, Malaysia, etc).

Surely nearly all of us hate our jobs, however well paid. I know I did and only did it for the money. But I still smiled and made the best of it,