Dressed casual on formal nights

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, david63 said:

For the uninitiated what is a "Bibby" corridor?

It is a corridor off a corridor, or sometimes one off that. Imagine following the wall while trying to escape in smoky conditions.

 

See the plan below of Decks 4 and 5.

[WantedOnVoyage]

A Bibby Cabin (so-named after the great British line to Burma) that helped to invent it.  

 

It provided for all outside cabins by means of giving the inner cabins access to natural light (and most importantly, fresh air!) via a narrow port-hole corridor to the outside hull.  Just wide enough for maybe the washbasin and the main sleeping area was inboard. 

 

Here's an example from EMPRESS OF JAPAN:

 

So cabins 321 is a Bibby outside cabin and 325 and 323 are regular outside cabins

 

 

 

Edited August 21 by WantedOnVoyage

[NE John]

42 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’m still confused how a professional cruise ship cabin designer could make 510 sf of a Vista Q4 suite feel so cramped. 

[WantedOnVoyage]

Possible inspired by the Rubiks Cube!  

 

It really is unfathomable, no?  The separate toilet is at least vintage 1934.  Making for I think three doors within five sq. ft.

[3rdGenCunarder]

28 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

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.  

 

You didn't need a kettle. QE2 had steward's pantries nearby, where your steward would brew a proper pot of tea for you. 

 

Yes, the cabins were very varied. Our first was a tiny deck 5 forward upper/lower inside. Over the years, we made it up to Caronia and once in a while PG. One of the fun things to do on QE2 was a "cabin crawl," where we walked around and looked at each other's cabins. There was one upper/lower, I think inisdie, that had a tub instead of a shower. Just one like that on the whole ship. ( @Lanky Lad, do you still remember where it was?) Cabins were clustered in a way that an outer door could be closed to make a suite. Mom and Dad in the cabin with a porthole, the adjacent inside for the kiddies, maybe another inside for the nanny/au pair/maid.

 

[exlondoner]

11 minutes ago, NE John said:

I’m still confused how a professional cruise ship cabin designer could make 510 sf of a Vista Q4 suite feel so cramped. 

Obsessed with booze!

Here is a Boat Deck Q3 like the one we had. The entrance is to the right. The walk in wardrobe area and bathroom behind. There was a fridge in the wardrobe area, but no bar or kettle. Sorry about background.

 

 

[Lanky Lad]

7 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

You didn't need a kettle. QE2 had steward's pantries nearby, where your steward would brew a proper pot of tea for you. 

 

Yes, the cabins were very varied. Our first was a tiny deck 5 forward upper/lower inside. Over the years, we made it up to Caronia and once in a while PG. One of the fun things to do on QE2 was a "cabin crawl," where we walked around and looked at each other's cabins. There was one upper/lower, I think inisdie, that had a tub instead of a shower. Just one like that on the whole ship. ( @Lanky Lad, do you still remember where it was?) Cabins were clustered in a way that an outer door could be closed to make a suite. Mom and Dad in the cabin with a porthole, the adjacent inside for the kiddies, maybe another inside for the nanny/au pair/maid.

 

It was my favourite cabin usually sold as a single no 2130. Just past the afr lobby..

[exlondoner]

By the way did everyone notice the pleasing and unusual words ‘car lift’ on the plan I posted. And, at least at one time, they would carry your car for free, I believe.

[Victoria2]

25 minutes ago, NE John said:

I’m still confused how a professional cruise ship cabin designer could make 510 sf of a Vista Q4 suite feel so cramped. 

 

21 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Possible inspired by the Rubiks Cube!  

 

It really is unfathomable, no?  The separate toilet is at least vintage 1934.  Making for I think three doors within five sq. ft.

Not having been around in 1934, I wouldn't  know anything about vintage loos! I was just glad the loo was separate to the shower/bath in a Vista Q4/3 and gave a modicum of privacy at times.

As to cramped, we considered ourselves very lucky to travel in such comparative luxury  many times until we climbed the Q ladder.

Guess we were easily pleased.

[NE John]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

 

Not having been around in 1934, I wouldn't  know anything about vintage loos! I was just glad the loo was separate to the shower/bath in a Vista Q4/3 and gave a modicum of privacy at times.

As to cramped, we considered ourselves very lucky to travel in such comparative luxury  many times until we climbed the Q ladder.

Guess we were easily pleased.

I agree that the loo “complex” and balcony are top shelf. As mentioned before, put the TV on the wall and add an arm chair where that useless TV stand is now and voila, a cozy living area. 
And yes, we did get into a good Q4 vibe and enjoyed the suite. Just a poor first impression of cramped space. 

[WantedOnVoyage]

The good thing about Q3's is that they are immune from corridor cabin snoopers.. even with the door open, you cannot see past the first cluster of desks and "stuff" to even get an impression of the delights within. Some of QE2's Five Deck cabins were like that... you walked into a confining "corridor" of wardrobes which led into a squarish area where the beds were... sort of a Bibby cabin in reverse. 

 

Ideally, the intrusive and needlessly dominate "islands" that PG and many QG cabins have on the Vistas could magically disappear and yes whose concept predates the wonder of flat screen televisions but that's never going to happen. 

 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

The good thing about Q3's is that they are immune from corridor cabin snoopers.. even with the door open, you cannot see past the first cluster of desks and "stuff" to even get an impression of the delights within. Some of QE2's Five Deck cabins were like that... you walked into a confining "corridor" of wardrobes which led into a squarish area where the beds were... sort of a Bibby cabin in reverse. 

 

Ideally, the intrusive and needlessly dominate "islands" that PG and many QG cabins have on the Vistas could magically disappear and yes whose concept predates the wonder of flat screen televisions but that's never going to happen. 

 

 

 

I like those cabinets. The make a visual divider between sleeping and sitting areas without blocking movement through the room.

[glojo]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:33 PM, LewiLewi said:

Good luck, Roscoe. We are looking forward to meeting you.

  Marilyn and Lew

 

On 1/10/2019 at 2:35 PM, LewiLewi said:

BON VOYAGE!!!!!!

 SEE YOU ALL SOON!!!!!

     Marilyn and Lew

 

On 7/25/2024 at 10:10 PM, majortom10 said:

Spoke to Restaurant Manager tonight last Formal night of the cruise and is the Roaring Twenties. We have known him a few years from QM2 and he asked if we were fine and said yes are you OK. He clearly wasn't he said " what can you do when somebody comes to MDR on Formal night dressed in a T shirt and scruffy denim jeans". He was told he couldn't come in dressed like that and he flatly refused to move or get changed. So to avoid issue he was let in but Restaurant Manager wasn't happy but said what else could he do.k

Am I missing something? What else could the Restaurant Manager do?  Surely if the person had managed to sit at their table, then quite simply refuse to serve them any food!!  They KNOW the rules and if they opt to act like a spoilt child, then that is their choice.  Do not be rude just simply insist that this is company policy.

 

Do NOT allow folks to do whatever they want.  If I drove a car in America on the correct side of the road, would that be allowed purely because I come from England?

[NE John]

1 hour ago, glojo said:

Do NOT allow folks to do whatever they want.  If I drove a car in America on the correct side of the road, would that be allowed purely because I come from England?

The way people drive around here, they may believe that they could drive on any side of the road as they want…UK side or not. 

 

[Windsurfboy]

8 hours ago, glojo said:

 

 

Am I missing something? What else could the Restaurant Manager do?  Surely if the person had managed to sit at their table, then quite simply refuse to serve them any food!!  

 

Simple but effective, just ignore them. 

[david63]

23 hours ago, glojo said:

Am I missing something? What else could the Restaurant Manager do?  Surely if the person had managed to sit at their table, then quite simply refuse to serve them any food!!  They KNOW the rules and if they opt to act like a spoilt child, then that is their choice.  Do not be rude just simply insist that this is company policy.

But is it company policy? Does anyone on here know definitely what the company policy is in this regard? We all know what we think it is/should be but we do not know for a fact what it is.

[*Miss G*]

Whether policy, or not, if a passenger has no sense of / refuses to have a sense of decorum, they are not going to be able to teach it to them in two minutes at a podium with multitudes of passengers within proximity. There is nothing to be gained by giving rise to a scene. I would ask them to step aside while I located an “appropriate” table. 

[NE John]

51 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Whether policy, or not, if a passenger has no sense of / refuses to have a sense of decorum, they are not going to be able to teach it to them in two minutes at a podium with multitudes of passengers within proximity. There is nothing to be gained by giving rise to a scene. I would ask them to step aside while I located an “appropriate” table. 

It seems M’ds move YouTube bloggers to perimeter tables so their filming and commentary while filming does not cause a distraction to other diners. 
I like your response too!

[Pushpit]

Yes I'm fairly sure that the front desk will put people in less lovely locations, I was once placed on a table on the pathway to the back of Britannia and the only new guests being taken past my table appeared to be those who had taken a few liberties, including one individual who appeared to be auditioning to be Kanye West's next girlfriend.

[glojo]

Would a passenger have access to company policy? 

 

Without a shadow of a doubt the LAST THING the Maitre d would do is be confrontational but... this person will have the full backing of the captain and if any passenger were to threaten, argue with or simply create a disturbance on our beautiful cruise ship, then I can see a passenger being 'shown the gangway'. Something a captain would not hesitate to do.

 

My own thoughts are why would anyone spend a lot of money on a cruise with Cunard and then once aboard try to go into the main restaurant on a formal night and not be dressed accordingly?

   

[david63]

23 minutes ago, glojo said:

Would a passenger have access to company policy? 

Highly unlikely.

23 minutes ago, glojo said:

Without a shadow of a doubt the LAST THING the Maitre d would do is be confrontational

Most likely.

24 minutes ago, glojo said:

this person will have the full backing of the captain and if any passenger were to threaten, argue with or simply create a disturbance on our beautiful cruise ship, then I can see a passenger being 'shown the gangway'.

Not sure about that.

24 minutes ago, glojo said:

Something a captain would not hesitate to do.

Only if it is within his remit.

25 minutes ago, glojo said:

why would anyone spend a lot of money on a cruise with Cunard and then once aboard try to go into the main restaurant on a formal night and not be dressed accordingly?

Because that is their nature.

[PORT ROYAL]

21 minutes ago, glojo said:

Would a passenger have access to company policy? 

 

Without a shadow of a doubt the LAST THING the Maitre d would do is be confrontational but... this person will have the full backing of the captain and if any passenger were to threaten, argue with or simply create a disturbance on our beautiful cruise ship, then I can see a passenger being 'shown the gangway'. Something a captain would not hesitate to do.

 

My own thoughts are why would anyone spend a lot of money on a cruise with Cunard and then once aboard try to go into the main restaurant on a formal night and not be dressed accordingly?

   

One’s experience.

Many years ago, on arrival at the entrance, an extreme casual was arguing with the MD.

In supporting the MD, one received abuse, with the offer to “settle this man to man NOW”

One asked when/where, and the gymnasium was immediately suggested. Off we went, on arrival one presented an IPhone, and showed the miscreant one competing in Shotokan. 
 

Silence… he left.. Never to be seen again.

[ShipboardSteve]

11 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

One’s experience.

Many years ago, on arrival at the entrance, an extreme casual was arguing with the MD.

In supporting the MD, one received abuse, with the offer to “settle this man to man NOW”

One asked when/where, and the gymnasium was immediately suggested. Off we went, on arrival one presented an IPhone, and showed the miscreant one competing in Shotokan. 
 

Silence… he left.. Never to be seen again.

 

Cunard should employ you as "one's" MD support agent!

[GeorgianGal100]

22 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

One’s experience.

Many years ago, on arrival at the entrance, an extreme casual was arguing with the MD.

In supporting the MD, one received abuse, with the offer to “settle this man to man NOW”

One asked when/where, and the gymnasium was immediately suggested. Off we went, on arrival one presented an IPhone, and showed the miscreant one competing in Shotokan. 
 

Silence… he left.. Never to be seen again.

Well Cunard did say to channel your inner James Bond! I would have loved to have seen that, well done.

[PORT ROYAL]

On 9/2/2024 at 5:42 PM, GeorgianGal100 said:

Well Cunard did say to channel your inner James Bond! I would have loved to have seen that, well done.

The strange thing was, the attendance of his small, but vociferous, and very encouraging entourage.  They also fell silent, all departing together.  One wonders why.

 

Could there be a moral to this tale?

Edited September 4 by PORT ROYAL
Moral