Back on Queen Anne again.

[paulco]

I think Cunard is just saving money with the lack of table cloths in the for fee restaurants 

[exlondoner]

6 minutes ago, paulco said:

I think Cunard is just saving money with the lack of table cloths in the for fee restaurants 

It saves money in terms of laundering and also has environmental benefits. On the other hand the noise level is invariably unpleasantly increased.

[paulco]

Agreed I just hope they don’t do away with them in the MDR

[D&N]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I really enjoy going on Cunard ships, QA as much as the others, but I really think, if it involved an eleven hour drive, I would never ever sail on them. You must be pretty dedicated. I find the drive from here to Southampton stressful enough (as a passenger).

Eleven hours is 70% of an international house move.

 

Driving would be my last resort contingency plan if there were no planes or trains. Google thinks I would be at the wheel for close to fourteen hours. I think it would probably be about eleven if we set off around 2am. On second thoughts, I might just make an insurance claim!

[Jonem2001]

Add me to the list of young(er) people liking table linens! Aesthetically, and also from a noise-dampening perspective.

 

I’m just back off a Virgin Voyages trip, and whilst delightful, nary a cloth to be seen. The Wake, which I would describe as their closest in ‘feel’ to a Cunard dining room, did have the odd audible ‘clatter’ to it at times! The food quality was outstanding, however.

 

It will certainly prove an interesting contrast to my forthcoming trip on QA in October…

[NE John]

4 hours ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I'm also a younger person and prefer proper table linens rather than feeling like I'm eating at a glorified greasy spoon. Certainly the experience shouldn't be lesser than what you get in the MDR if you are paying for a premium experience.

Cunard may see the restaurants on trendy Virgin Voyages looking stark and tablecloth-free and then think QA has to be like that to attract the new Cunard generation.
Mistake. 

[DukeBeetle24]

7 minutes ago, NE John said:

Cunard may see the restaurants on trendy Virgin Voyages looking stark and tablecloth-free and then think QA has to be like that to attract the new Cunard generation.
Mistake. 

They may also not be thinking that.

 

I doubt very much they are looking at Virgin Voyages at all, and are instead looking more at the newer, smaller luxury lines to bring the Grills experience inline with those.

 

It might be an oversight, it might be a trial, it might be changed based on passenger feedback.

 

I doubt tablecloths are a deciding factor for this feared and frightful "new generation" of Cunarders.

[Victoria2]

Regarding lack of tablecloths in QA's 'paid for' dining venues, don't read too much into the sociological aspect.Right or wrong,  I think the Cunard are getting away from the traditional and are  just following the trend of a newish style of high end eateries around the world which go for the understated look of bare table tops.

[vsbc]

I wouldn’t say I was underwhelmed by my experience in Sir Samuel’s. However I was in Queens Grill and didn’t think the extra cost was worth it compared to the food and service in the QC which I thought was excellent

[si_boy]

Currently on Queen Anne and said to my wife about passengers getting the toilets confused when I overhead ladies saying they had mistakenly gone into the gents only realising when they saw the urinals.
So guess what happened the next night…my wife came back from a visit to the ladies to say she had mistakenly gone into the gents. You couldn’t make this up!

Overhead several others saying the same, so a common problem and not fixed.

A bit of balance to what others have said, we are Britannia MDR and it is chaos…still.
Last night was Gala night, so expected to be busy, but was so unorganised.
If you are MDR, allow for 2 hours for 3 courses and petit fours and coffee.
We reserved a table for 7:45 and was seated only a few minutes after, but did not leave until 9:45.
We are ‘open dining’, but on our first night were made to make reservations for future nights by the maitre d.
Allow for around 30 minutes between courses.
We could see the queue for the upper floor, guests with reservations for 8:30 were being shown to their tables anywhere between 9:00 and 9:15.
However, what made it worse is the food arrived luke warm, I can only imagine it had been sat in the kitchen. We were on a table for 2.
Portion sizes also appeared smaller than previously. 
It is a lovely ship, lots of seating areas and never really felt full.
Much of this may have already been said, I have not read all the other posts.
It is still a relatively new ship, but hope it gets fixed because it is spoiling passengers perception and the Cunard reputation. 
For reference there are 2,912 pax onboard, so almost at capacity. 
 

[ShipboardSteve]

I had hoped the dining would have been sorted out as a matter of highest priority by the managers.  Clearly it is not, and we are now cancelling all our existing bookings on Queen Anne - when I go on a cruise I certainly don't want this kind of hassle every evening. It would totally ruin my holiday. 

[exlondoner]

On 8/30/2024 at 7:37 AM, vsbc said:

I wouldn’t say I was underwhelmed by my experience in Sir Samuel’s. However I was in Queens Grill and didn’t think the extra cost was worth it compared to the food and service in the QC which I thought was excellent

I don’t think any restaurants are worth the extra cost for someone in QG, particularly Sir Sam’s or the Verandah where the menus overlap. Having said that, I’ve enjoyed freebies in the pop ups on the Vistas, where the menus are pretty different from QG. I wouldn’t have paid for them though.

[exlondoner]

6 minutes ago, ShipboardSteve said:

I had hoped the dining would have been sorted out as a matter of highest priority by the managers.  Clearly it is not, and we are now cancelling all our existing bookings on Queen Anne - when I go on a cruise I certainly don't want this kind of hassle every evening. It would totally ruin my holiday. 

Wouldn’t a change to fixed dining be a less radical solution? Many of us think QA is a very nice ship.

[sogne]

2 hours ago, si_boy said:

Currently on Queen Anne and said to my wife about passengers getting the toilets confused when I overhead ladies saying they had mistakenly gone into the gents only realising when they saw the urinals.
So guess what happened the next night…my wife came back from a visit to the ladies to say she had mistakenly gone into the gents. You couldn’t make this up!

Overhead several others saying the same, so a common problem and not fixed.

A bit of balance to what others have said, we are Britannia MDR and it is chaos…still.
Last night was Gala night, so expected to be busy, but was so unorganised.
If you are MDR, allow for 2 hours for 3 courses and petit fours and coffee.
We reserved a table for 7:45 and was seated only a few minutes after, but did not leave until 9:45.
We are ‘open dining’, but on our first night were made to make reservations for future nights by the maitre d.
Allow for around 30 minutes between courses.
We could see the queue for the upper floor, guests with reservations for 8:30 were being shown to their tables anywhere between 9:00 and 9:15.
However, what made it worse is the food arrived luke warm, I can only imagine it had been sat in the kitchen. We were on a table for 2.
Portion sizes also appeared smaller than previously. 
It is a lovely ship, lots of seating areas and never really felt full.
Much of this may have already been said, I have not read all the other posts.
It is still a relatively new ship, but hope it gets fixed because it is spoiling passengers perception and the Cunard reputation. 
For reference there are 2,912 pax onboard, so almost at capacity. 
 

With late sitting in Britannia we were in at 2025 and apart from first night were out by 2115.

[ShipboardSteve]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Wouldn’t a change to fixed dining be a less radical solution? Many of us think QA is a very nice ship.

 

The cabins that become free you are welcome to book, and enjoy the excellent service that Queen Anne offers.

[DukeBeetle24]

3 minutes ago, ShipboardSteve said:

 

The cabins that become free you are welcome to book, and enjoy the excellent service that Queen Anne offers.

I don't doubt they'll be booked, though I am sorry to hear you don't like the ship and haven't enjoyed your voyage. I am equally sure many are happy and are / have been enjoying theirs.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Question about the Britannia restaurant. How is it for sound levels? The MDR on Koningsdam was loud. There were a few places, mostly upstairs in the back corners, where sound levels were acceptable, but most of the room was unpleasantly loud when full. There was nothing to dampen the sound and the shape of the room didn't help. I was hoping Cunard would do a better job on configuring the opening to the second level to solve that issue.

[Ukulele girl]

We were on QA last week in MDR upstairs and found very slow service most nights when we sat down for dinner at 5.30. We were usually out by 7.10 having had 3 courses plus coffee. Sound levels were fine. I have sensitive hearing and my husband has hearing aids and we both found it to be comfortable. 

[Host Hattie]

1 hour ago, sogne said:

With late sitting in Britannia we were in at 2025 and apart from first night were out by 2115.

That sounds a bit quick !

[si_boy]

It won’t be to everyone’s taste showing the live lunchtime football on the big screen at the Pavilion pool.

 

[DukeBeetle24]

Just now, si_boy said:

It won’t be to everyone’s taste showing the live lunchtime football on the big screen at the Pavilion pool.

 

Nor would the Eurovision final, but I'm sure those that wanted to watch enjoyed it!

[Victoria2]

14 minutes ago, DukeBeetle24 said:

I don't doubt they'll be booked, though I am sorry to hear you don't like the ship and haven't enjoyed your voyage. I am equally sure many are happy and are / have been enjoying theirs.

I will admit my thoughts on the ship are not from a Britannia perspective, but we had 2 sets of friends on our July cruise who were perfectly happy with their Britannia experience but they were on fixed first and second dining.

 

For every poor report, there will be a positive one so folk will have to make their own minds up.

 

[Victoria2]

8 minutes ago, si_boy said:

It won’t be to everyone’s taste showing the live lunchtime football on the big screen at the Pavilion pool.

 

Or The Open either but it didn't seem to upset the ambiance.

[ShipboardSteve]

Now if only they could hand out those over ear sound muffs for those who want to watch and enjoy the loud sounds of the events on the screen and leave those who prefer a quieter atmosphere some peace - or even have quiet music as an option instead of the football or tennis?

[DukeBeetle24]

9 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I will admit my thoughts on the ship are not from a Britannia perspective, but we had 2 sets of friends on our July cruise who were perfectly happy with their Britannia experience but they were on fixed first and second dining.

 

For every poor report, there will be a positive one so folk will have to make their own minds up.

 

Indeed, and I look forward to experiencing it ourselves!