Dressed casual on formal nights

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 8/15/2024 at 3:10 PM, Cruise Liner Fan said:

Aboard the QE2, I did see at the pool located at the QE2's stern there was a husband & wife. The husband then stands up and takes off his clothes and jumps into the pool wearing just a colored brief underwear. How low class can anyone get I remember thinking to myself?

 

It could have been worse...

[Cruise Liner Fan]

19 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

It could have been worse...

I guess it would be this husband jumping into the pool stark naked. The Cunard Ships are not floating nudist colonies

Edited August 17 by Cruise Liner Fan

[exlondoner]

6 hours ago, Cruise Liner Fan said:

I guess it would be this husband jumping into the pool stark naked. The Cunard Ships are not floating nudist colonies

I believe that is Aida.

[Cruise Liner Fan]

3 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I believe that is Aida.

So I guess there is not one washing machine aboard the Aida. LOL

[D&N]

I'd forgotten there was a dress code in most German sauna suites.

We used to enjoy visiting the Caracalla Spa in Baden-Baden. Great facility, but if you wanted to use the extensive sauna suite upstairs you had to switch your mind off to some of the shapes you might glimpse. 😀

[david63]

1 hour ago, D&N said:

a dress code in most German sauna suites

Oh no - not another dress code topic😉

[Lakesregion]

7 hours ago, david63 said:

Oh no - not another dress code topic😉

Until Cunard lowers their standards to the rest of the cruise lines that cater to the anything goes crowd, there will always be another thread asking can I do this or do that?

[exlondoner]

10 hours ago, Lakesregion said:

Until Cunard lowers their standards to the rest of the cruise lines that cater to the anything goes crowd, there will always be another thread asking can I do this or do that?

I don’t think Cunard runs any saunas in Baden Baden, though.

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 8/17/2024 at 9:03 AM, D&N said:

I'd forgotten there was a dress code in most German sauna suites.

We used to enjoy visiting the Caracalla Spa in Baden-Baden. Great facility, but if you wanted to use the extensive sauna suite upstairs you had to switch your mind off to some of the shapes you might glimpse. 😀

 

The sauna adjacent to the ladies changing room on QE has a sign that says "appropriate" attire must be worn. Apparently, for quite a few ladies, skin is their idea of appropriate attire. It's the first time I've seen this happen. 

[david,Mississauga]

On 7/26/2024 at 7:01 AM, WantedOnVoyage said:

Talk about how times and cruising have changed.... I remember the P&O of CANBERRA days when the Pacific Restaurant, with Jamie the maitre d', knocked Cunard into a cocked hat when it came to food, service and ambience. Cocktails in the Century Bar and down that magic spiral staircase to the restaurant. That was special. 

 

Those who think it's swell everyone goes cruising can look at what's happened to P&O since.. we last sailed with them in VICTORIA in 2001 and never went back.  It was already changing. I wouldn't recognise P&O now and do not care to find out.

 

We vote with our feet... P&O, then Oceania for years, a bit of Cunard and post 2016, all Cunard. But we also now what we like and value and when the balance tips.  With Cunard, at least in the Grills, not there yet. 

 

Thanks for the memories of P&O's Canberra.  For a few years it was our favourite.  The dress standards were observed without enforcement.  We were assigned to the Pacific Restaurant (formerly first class when the ship was a two-class operation) even though our cabin was a rather modest one - but in the former first class area.

[david,Mississauga]

I can understand why many people wouldn't care to sail aboard the QE2 and  I know the QM2 is in almost every way a superior ship.  But if the QE2 was still running I would take a crossing.  My preference would be one way on each of those liners.  

 

The QE2 made fast crossings.  Although I like the QM2 seven-night crossings, I remember the five-night crossings of the QE2 (extended to six near the end).  The shorter crossings would leave the opportunity for more of them every year and, presumably, they would be cheaper since fares tend to be based on the number of days on board. 

 

There was plenty of real wood panelling in many areas of the ship. The first time we travelled in First Class we had a large cabin with two portholes - not a window -  but rich wood panelling.  I know that would not be allowed these days along with the "blind corridors" for many of the former Tourist Class cabins.  I understand it was changes to SOLAS regulations that required the ship to be retired in 2008.

 

One thing I miss very much about the QE2 is the strict dress code - at least on crossings. For gents it was minimum jacket and tie every night, even the first and last.  I don't remember about the 1970s through 1990s, but in later years the staff were not too strict on the first night. The headwaiters would have a gentle word with those who did not comply.  I concede that if the QE2 had not been retired in 2008 (impossible, of course) the dress code would have probably been the same as the QM2.

 

 

[chengkp75]

42 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

I know that would not be allowed these days along with the "blind corridors" for many of the former Tourist Class cabins.

There is nothing in the SOLAS construction requirements that would disallow wood paneling, as long as there is sufficient fire suppression available (sprinklers).

 

43 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

I understand it was changes to SOLAS regulations that required the ship to be retired in 2008.

Actually, no.  Changes in IMO conventions like SOLAS are never retroactive, so ships built before the enactment of the changes do not need to meet the changes. This is why the retirement announcement came as a surprise to many.

[david,Mississauga]

Thanks for the clarifications - much appreciated.  On my last QE2 voyage I had a chat with the Hotel Manager who told me about this.  Perhaps he was referring to new-built ships, but he made it sound like the QE2 would be made obsolete.  Maybe that was the "party line" from Cunard HQ so we could excuse them for selling it.

 

  He said there was a certain percentage of panelling and decks, etc. that can be real wood.  This may explain why there is teak decking apparently on all the outdoor areas of the QM2, but the panelling inside is of a wood-appearance material.  I have noticed on the QE there are only a few areas with wood decking - some stairways and the observation platform in the Grills area come to mind.   

[WantedOnVoyage]

QE2's beautiful real wood veneers in First Class (all of the passageways and cabins) in 4-5 different varieties were wholly compliant with Method One fire resistant standards being very thin veneers bonded to fireproof Marinite core.  

 

And yes... her First Class cabins were superb, spacious and redolent of quality.  We had one in 1993 on our honeymoon with its trunk room.  Nothing on present Cunarders even approaches the workmanship and materials.  You can keep your balcony and USB ports (whatever they are), thanks very much. 

 

"Inch by inch, inside and out, the QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 is probably the most beautiful and efficient passenger ship of all time."

 

John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon

 

 

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

8 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

QE2's beautiful real wood veneers in First Class (all of the passageways and cabins) in 4-5 different varieties were wholly compliant with Method One fire resistant standards being very thin veneers bonded to fireproof Marinite core.  

 

And yes... her First Class cabins were superb, spacious and redolent of quality.  We had one in 1993 on our honeymoon with its trunk room.  Nothing on present Cunarders even approaches the workmanship and materials.  You can keep your balcony and USB ports (whatever they are), thanks very much. 

 

"Inch by inch, inside and out, the QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 is probably the most beautiful and efficient passenger ship of all time."

 

John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon

 

 

I agree with everything you say. For me she was perfect in every way. 
 

I wonder if she had not retired where we would be now. I cannot see that QE2 would have come back from COVID. If she did come back what would a new generation of first time cruisers think of her. Would she be forced to cruise at 20 knots with all the cutback in food and service. I at least have my memories. Everything perfect until the very end when finished with engines was called. 

Edited August 21 by stephen@stoneyard.co.uk

[Victoria2]

I have many photos of Cunard QE2, Sagafjord and Vistafjord in the 80s and 90s from my parent's worldies, including one of them sleeping on deck of Sagafjord after fire broke out and crippled the ship.

One thing I do know, I wouldn't want to sail on them today. Give me modernity over nostalgia any day.

[BigMac1953]

QE2, Room 1028, (Q3):

 

 

 

[Cruise Liner Fan]

15 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

There is nothing in the SOLAS construction requirements that would disallow wood paneling, as long as there is sufficient fire suppression available (sprinklers).

 

Actually, no.  Changes in IMO conventions like SOLAS are never retroactive, so ships built before the enactment of the changes do not need to meet the changes. This is why the retirement announcement came as a surprise to many.

I agree with you that Cunard/Carnival Corp. could have kept the QE2 going for at least another 15 to 20 years. Before the sale of the QE2, there were stories of the QE2 going into drydock for more renovations to keep the ship in service beyond 2008.

[3rdGenCunarder]

6 hours ago, stephen@stoneyard.co.uk said:

I agree with everything you say. For me she was perfect in every way. 
 

I wonder if she had not retired where we would be now. I cannot see that QE2 would have come back from COVID. If she did come back what would a new generation of first time cruisers think of her. Would she be forced to cruise at 20 knots with all the cutback in food and service. I at least have my memories. Everything perfect until the very end when finished with engines was called. 

 

I loved her dearly, but she wouldn't be attractive to most of today's cruisers. People are used to balconies now and she had very few, all of them expensive QG. I "learned" to cruise pre-balcony, so an OV was the best I could get on my early cruises. I didn't mind not having a balcony when I had Sun Deck and the excellent service there. As you say, lots of good memories.

 

I doubt many people sailing now would care how fast she could go. Or love the vibrations in an aft cabin while watching the data on the TV show her gaining speed as she left port. Or knowing when the engines were cranking at just the right speed, the E elevators would shake from the resonance. She was a magnificent machine and she was beautiful. I have watched the opening 30 seconds or so of "The Parent Trap" numerous times just to see the camera pan the water and then up the swoop of that gorgeous bow. 

 

The one thing that hasn't come up in this discussion is her crew. That's what made her home. A lot of crew were "lifers," making their whole careers on that one ship. She was a constant at Cunard, and crew felt they had a home there, as did many of the loyal passengers. Yes, there were other ships--Princess, Countess, Caronia, Seabourne--but they came and went. QE2 was always there. Now, with four ships, crew are moved around and there isn't the same sense of family on board. 

 

I was sad to see her go, but as the old saying goes, "consider the alternative." The president of Cunard at the time didn't like QE2, didn't want to keep her. It was all about Victoria and the other new ships to come. No use for that old fuel-guzzling tub, and who cares if she had a loyal following. I sailed on Norway late in life. NCL didn't really want her, either. She was old, couldn't do freestyle dining because of the design of kitchen between two dining rooms. She was not where they were going as a company, but they were stuck with her because she was their flagship. What would it look like if NORWEGIAN Cruise Line dumped the NORWAY???  They ran her on 7-day Caribbean cruises and ran her on the cheap. Teak promenade deck replaced by some kind of spongy surface, I suppose for joggers. It was crumbling and full of patches, all a different shade of blue. Astroturf--no, not real Astroturf, a CHEAP version of Astroturf--on the upper sun decks. If I had sailed on her early in life and loved her as I loved QE2, it would have broken my heart to see her as she was a few years before her end. 

 

So consider the alternatives. Run like a dump? Alang? I looked at the pictures of Norway being carved up on the beach and cried at the loss of something that was once beautiful. If QE2 can't sail any more, at least she is being looked after. My last memory of her is watching her leave NYC for the last time, all lights on, full of passengers, doing what she was born to do. 

 

But time moves on and, although we can complain, we can't stop it. My first 2 HAL ships are long gone, first NCL ships, too. I can't sail QE2 again, but Cunard has new ships for me to love, perhaps not with the same devotion, but enough to keep me coming back. 

[King Amo]

Agree. Expectations have now changed considerably, and while there would be both nostalgic and novelty value in continuing to run her, no level of service quality could make up for the issues with the accommodation and facilities compared to the more contemporary ships. 

 

 

[exlondoner]

One thing QE2 had which seems to have been lost and which would be so easy to emulate now was the ability to fit an awful lot of storage into a small space. Also the cabins themselves seemed surprisingly spacious for their size. Our 300 sq ft Q3 on the Boat Deck had probably about the same inside space as a Vista Q4 but seemed so much more spacious.

 

But in hindsight those Bibby corridors seem so dangerous. And I like a balcony.

[david63]

35 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

the NORWAY

Now there is a blast from the past.

 

Norway was the first ship I ever cruised on some 35 years ago and in my cruising naivety of the time not realising that a two berth cabin was one bunk above the other. Also it was a rabbit warren of a ship to get around.

 

Happy days 

[WantedOnVoyage]

Well back in the day, cabins were not cluttered up with minibars, tea making impedimenta (the idea that First Class passengers would want to make their own drinks being quite ridiculous and too right) and all the other "stuff" that seems to be piled in a great lump in the middle of too many modern Cunard Grill cabins.  Most QE2 First Class staterooms (to use that now vanished expression) were just big squares or rectangles with fitted wardobes and cupboards that did not appear to be feature of the room.  If nothing else, it looked more spacious.  

 

But my... the old girl had an astonishing 38 different shapes and grades of cabins (HAMBURG the same year had: six) and I had a Wagon-Lits sized inside First Class cabin (every inch was panelled), a vast Tourist Class outside three-berth, a so-so min Caronia Restaurant grade outside (originally Tourist Class) and yes a proper huge Three Deck First Class double.  Some of her Bibby cabins on Five Deck were downright bizarre.  

 

I am happy to keep my memories of QE2 and her officers and crew over the years.  And grateful to have experienced her starting some 47 years ago.  There's more to an ocean liner than wifi, balconies and coffee machines.  

[King Amo]

14 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

One thing QE2 had which seems to have been lost and which would be so easy to emulate now was the ability to fit an awful lot of storage into a small space. Also the cabins themselves seemed surprisingly spacious for their size. Our 300 sq ft Q3 on the Boat Deck had probably about the same inside space as a Vista Q4 but seemed so much more spacious.

 

But in hindsight those Bibby corridors seem so dangerous. And I like a balcony.

I only had experience of an M3 and C3, and my word that M3 was small! I'll have to dig out some old photos to see if I took one of the cabin, but my memory is that you pretty much had to clamber over one of the beds to reach the bathroom. 

 

 

[david63]

25 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

those Bibby corridors seem so dangerous

For the uninitiated what is a "Bibby" corridor?