Cunard experience for Australians?

[traveldayz]

We have been on the other 3 Cunard ships - last one was last year on a QM2 transatlantic.

Because we were doing extensive overseas trips, we took minimal formal wear - hubby took 1 dark suit and 1 sports jacket with pants; I had a lightweight black frock with accessories and lightweight long pants with a couple of blouses. We blended in perfectly. 

[mr walker]

Didn't want to start another thread, so ask here:

Do you think a Cunard (Q.E.) cruise to Sth Pacific would suit us? We have mostly done RC, & RC and Princess are our 'type', although we have done others. Didn't really like our 1 P&O.

 

We are looking at Jan 22 2026 15N Q.E. to NC (??), Vanuatu & Fiji return trip Sydney.

 

Do you think it would work for us?

 

Cheers

[Bubbeh]

On 7/30/2024 at 3:54 PM, cruiser3775 said:

I am tempted by a 17 days segment of the Cunard Queen Anne world cruise 2025, which has been re-routed away from the Red Sea, and now goes from Singapore to Cape Town.  The brand new ship looks great, though maybe a little bigger than I would prefer. 

My main worry is whether I would enjoy the formality of Cunard. I'm not a fan of dressing up, and don't own any formal evening clothes. I don't want to buy any either, but I can make an effort to find appropriate evening clothes. I have enjoyed HAL cruises, and put a high priority on food and wine, and have enjoyed some of the more upmarket entertainment on HAL.

I'm more worried that I will be out of place with the "typical" sophisticated Cunard cruiser.  Would appreciate comments from any Australian cruisers who have been on a Cunard cruise.

I share your concerns.  We're booked for a UK / Iceland cruise on the Queen Anne next August and I also do not like dressing up or formal events.  I'm a very casual person but I've been researching on the Cunard website and I see that they are not totally averse to the more casual guest.  Fortunately, we're on an organised tour and there will be a number of other Aussies travelling with us so I'm hopeful others will be in the same boat (if you'll pardon the pun).  It might just be the buffet for us or dinner in our cabin on the more formal nights.

 

Now I'm going to read the other responses so I can see what everyone says.

[Bubbeh]

On 8/13/2024 at 8:01 AM, cruiser3775 said:

Nah, that's not a safari suit. The ones I remember had short sleeves and lots of pockets with flaps, and were in pastel colours. Very James Bond!

 

 

My late father in law wore one of these for our wedding in 1984.  He always was a classy man!

[Ondine]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

Didn't want to start another thread, so ask here:

Do you think a Cunard (Q.E.) cruise to Sth Pacific would suit us? We have mostly done RC, & RC and Princess are our 'type', although we have done others. Didn't really like our 1 P&O.

 

We are looking at Jan 22 2026 15N Q.E. to NC (??), Vanuatu & Fiji return trip Sydney.

 

Do you think it would work for us?

 

Cheers

I think it would suit you fine.  Son (he's 60) and I did Christmas (14 nights) last year on QE to NZ and after the first few days when I found all the woodwork a bit overpowering and old fashioned I came to love her and would go back in a heartbeat except she is shunning Melb.  Oooo.

 

The food in the buffet was great, I think better than the dining room.  New Year's eve the buffet had special food from 11.30 to whenever the last person left and boy was it good.  We had a great entertainment officer who got us involved in everything including croquet which was a hoot.  They gave out stickers for winning (or appearing at) various events and at the end of the cruise you could exchange for decent prizes.

 

I was surprised how casual some people dressed and of course there were some in long dresses and monkey suits on special occasions.  Not much different to Princess a couple of years back.  Princess seem to have slipped now or maybe it is the climate down under.  Remember you will be travelling with a lot of Aussies so it is the cruisers who set the standard.

 

I think the main disappointment was the main dining room.  There seemed to be a heirachy with the waiters and bosses so not the happy go lucky waiters I have become used to.  

 

She is a beautiful ship, the Garden Lounge, the Sports Area and the Commodore Club, the Golden Lion Pub to name just a few lovely areas.

 

Go for it if you can get a good price I am sure you will be happy.

Edited September 20 by Ondine

[mr walker]

31 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Go for it if you can get a good price I am sure you will be happy.

 Thanks for your post - I think we will be fine.

 

The good news is I have now pressed the button & booked 🙂 It's only money, right?? I was surprised to see Balcony's SOLD OUT, so grabbed an OBS balcony on Deck 4 mid-fwd (the obstruction is tenders). 123 days until sailing!!!

 

 

[Relaxing Robbies]

We have also decided to give QE a try before she leaves Oz. We looked to add something after a booked Princess cruise in November to get extra value from our travel to Sydney, and found a 7 night cruise to Tassie. Hopefully 7 nights will be long enough for us to get a real taste, and we figured we can dress up well enough for that long. A balcony cabin for us, so hopefully the weather will be pleasant enough in early December.

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, mr walker said:

Didn't want to start another thread, so ask here:

Do you think a Cunard (Q.E.) cruise to Sth Pacific would suit us? We have mostly done RC, & RC and Princess are our 'type', although we have done others. Didn't really like our 1 P&O.

 

We are looking at Jan 22 2026 15N Q.E. to NC (??), Vanuatu & Fiji return trip Sydney.

 

Do you think it would work for us?

 

Cheers

If you like making a bit of an effort for dinner, I would say yes.

[cruiser3775]

As the original poster, I'm following this thread with interest. The more I read about Cunard, the more I think I'm going to like my Singapore to Cape Town cruise next March. It did cost a bit more than I usually pay for cruises, but I keep reminding myself that you can't take it with you. I also got a large amount of OBC in the deal, which should pay nicely for drinks onboard.  I even spent some money at a sale this week on a couple of dress up items for formal nights.

[Bubbeh]

23 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I keep reminding myself that you can't take it with you.

Since I retired, I have been really conscious of squandering the kid's/grandkid's inheritance.  This was until a friend who felt quite differently said to me one day that there is no inheritance until you're dead.  This simple statement changed my entire mindset, it's our money and we'll spend it as we like while making sure that there will always be enough for our care, if/when we can no longer look after ourselves, and also to provide for our disposal/funerals. 

[Ondine]

21 hours ago, mr walker said:

 Thanks for your post - I think we will be fine.

 

The good news is I have now pressed the button & booked 🙂 It's only money, right?? I was surprised to see Balcony's SOLD OUT, so grabbed an OBS balcony on Deck 4 mid-fwd (the obstruction is tenders). 123 days until sailing!!!

 

 

 

I had saved this a long time ago so hope it pastes ok.  If you click on the number you should then be able to open a picture.

I sailed a gty balcony (it was cheap) and was given one under the back deck but due to bad weather it was very quiet and I was happy.  Perhaps if you don't like what you have you may be able to change it.

 

What do the obstructed views look like on Queen Elizabeth?

To see the views from various staterooms, please click on the links below. Staterooms on the starboard side of the ship have very similar views.

 

4002 - This is a metal fronted balcony. Staterooms 4004 through to 4042 are similar to this.

4054 - Life boats are visible when looking towards the rear of the ship from the balcony.

4055 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view.

4056 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably.

4057 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view.

4058 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view.

4059 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view.

4060 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view.

4061 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view.

4062 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably.

4063 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably.

4064 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably.

4065 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view.

4066 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of view.

4067 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view.

4068 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of view.

4069 - A life boat  and ship structure  obscure the view considerably.

4070 - A life boat  and ship structure obscure the view considerably.

4071 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably.

4073 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower part of the view.

4074 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably.

4075 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower part of the view.

4076 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view.

4077 - A life boat fully obstruct majority of the view.

4078 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view.

4079 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably.

4080 - A life boat obstructs a majority of the view.

4081 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower part of the view.

4082 - Ship structure and safety equipment obstructs a majority of the view.

4083 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower part of the view.

4085 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view

4086 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view.

4087 - A life boat and ship structure obstructs the view considerably

4088 - A life boat obstructs a majority of the view.

4092 - Life boats are visible when looking towards the front of the ship from the balcony.

4103 - Although looking forward, the view is unobstructed, looking right (towards aft of the ship) safety equipment and tenders block the view. Additionally, the window view is obstructed.

4108 - Although looking forward, the view is unobstructed, looking left (towards aft of the ship) safety equipment and tenders block the view. Additionally, the window view is obstructed.

4110 - A tender and some safety equipment obscures a majority of the view.

4112 - A tender fully obstructs the view from this stateroom.

4114 - A tender fully obstructs the view from this stateroom.

4116 - A tender and some safety equipment obscure almost all of the view.

4118 - Safety equipment obscures a majority of the view.

4120 - A tender and some safety equipment obscures a majority of the view.

4122 - A tender fully obstructs the view from this stateroom.

4124 - A tender obscures a majority of the view from this stateroom.

4126 - A tender and ship structure obscure a majority of the view.

4128 - A tender and ship structure obscure a majority of the view.

4130 - A tender obscures a majority of the view from this stateroom.

4132 - A tender fully obstructs the view from this stateroom.

4134 - A tender obscures a majority of the view from this stateroom.

4136 - A tender and some safety equipment obscure almost all of the view.

4138 - A life boat and some safety equipment obscure almost all of the view.

4140 - A life boat obscures the lower half of the view.

4142 - A life boat obscures more than half of the view.

4144 - A life boat and some safety equipment obscure most of the view.

5112 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5114 - A life boat on the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5116 - A life boat on the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5118 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5120 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5122 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5128 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5130 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5136 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

5138 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass.

 

Obstructed view staterooms are classed as CA or CB (balcony) or FB or FC (ocean view) grades, which can be found on either decks 4 or 5.

Edited September 21 by Ondine

[arxcards]

9 hours ago, Bubbeh said:

Since I retired, I have been really conscious of squandering the kid's/grandkid's inheritance.  This was until a friend who felt quite differently said to me one day that there is no inheritance until you're dead.  This simple statement changed my entire mindset, it's our money and we'll spend it as we like while making sure that there will always be enough for our care, if/when we can no longer look after ourselves, and also to provide for our disposal/funerals. 

That would work if we go together. I also work with the possibility that I might need to provide for my wife for another 10 years after I am gone. But yes, we are also mindful of making the most of the dash, the most important character on our headstones.

[Bubbeh]

13 hours ago, arxcards said:

I also work with the possibility that I might need to provide for my wife for another 10 years after I am gone.

Funny how we all tend to think that the woman will outlive her partner, my mother died in 2008 and Dad outlived her by 11 years.  Of course their entire existence had been predicated on Mum living longer so Dad had no idea how to care for himself, pay a bill, put the oven or the washing machine on etc etc.  Lucky man had a dutiful and loving daughter to take over the role of caring woman in his life.  That is until it was no longer possible and said loving daughter put him into a Home. 

[arxcards]

41 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

Funny how we all tend to think that the woman will outlive her partner, my mother died in 2008 and Dad outlived her by 11 years.  Of course their entire existence had been predicated on Mum living longer so Dad had no idea how to care for himself, pay a bill, put the oven or the washing machine on etc etc.  Lucky man had a dutiful and loving daughter to take over the role of caring woman in his life.  That is until it was no longer possible and said loving daughter put him into a Home. 

Not so much that. It would be unfair for "us" to use up all the savings for the kids to have to support their remaining parent. Yes, they aren't entitled to an inheritance, but not deserving to be financially burdened either.

[MMDown Under]

On 9/22/2024 at 10:32 AM, arxcards said:

Not so much that. It would be unfair for "us" to use up all the savings for the kids to have to support their remaining parent. Yes, they aren't entitled to an inheritance, but not deserving to be financially burdened either.

That is everyone's worry.  My friend's mother, 100 plus, has had all her funds eaten with daily nursing home charges and now, by necessity, the family home, which she didn't want to sell, is on the market to meet future nursing home charges. What happens when this money runs out, if she continues to live a longer than expected life?

[Bubbeh]

On 9/21/2024 at 6:38 PM, arxcards said:

it's our money and we'll spend it as we like while making sure that there will always be enough for our care, if/when we can no longer look after ourselves, and also to provide for our disposal/funerals

I wonder if part of my original post (above) might have been misunderstood.  I note a number of responses referring to not leaving our children with financial responsibility for our care etc.  With that in mind, I've quoted the particular part of my post where I thought I'd made it clear that I believe the onus is on us to ensure there is no burden on our kids.