Comments on QE Alaska 8/30-9/9

[57eric]

·         Nice Surprises

o   This was my first Vista experience and I was quite impressed with the ship.  The architects and designers did a great job getting the best of QM2 into a smaller space.  The décor and condition were excellent.

o   I had expected the number of musicians to be noticeable smaller vs. QM2.  In fact, the difference was only handful. 

 

·         Observations

o   There are large models of QM2 and QV outside the Commodore Club and a much smaller model of QE in the Yacht Club.  What’s the story here?

o   Lido menus were posted daily for lunch and dinner, which I found helpful.  I never noticed this on QM2.  Can anyone comment?

o   I went to a number of theatre events, both enrichment talks and evening performances, and was amazed by the low turnout throughout the voyage.  I saw a number of events in smaller venues that were packed to the gills.

o   The laundries seemed busier during the early part of the voyage than later on.  This is counterintuitive for a cruise with few back to back passengers.  Unless I’m misinterpreting the photo below, passive aggressive laundry behavior has reached new heights.

 

o   Here was the principal Queens Room program, night by night.  The wording is verbatim from the Daily Programme.   I’ve substituted “QRM” after the first use.

§  Welcome Aboard Night with the Queens Room Musicians

§  Ice White Ball Gala Evening

§  Music and Dancing with the QRM/A Night at the Movies with the QRM

§  Music and Dancing with the QRM

§  Queens Room Vocalists and Musicians

§  Rock ‘n’ Roll Night (Queen Elizabeth Orchestra, i.e. the Theatre Orchestra)

§  Queens Room Vocalists and Musicians

§  Music and Dancing with the QRM/Soul & Motown with the QRM

§  Masquerade Gala Night

§  Party Night with the Watsons Duo

o   No sequence dancing (has there ever been on QE?).

 

·         Major Fails

o   My wife and I waited for service in the Golden Lion for 25 minutes before walking out.  It was lunchtime and busy, but there were loads of staff.  Cunard’s lounge service is generally excellent.  This was a real aberration.

o   Narration while in Endicott Arm by the on board naturalist was heavily publicized, with details about when she would be speaking and where it could be heard.  She spoke periodically for several hours.  It was enjoyed by the bridge staff and no one else.  Apparently no one from Cunard was responsible for verifying that the PA had been correctly configured, and no crew member notified anyone that there might be an issue.  This was doubly disappointing because the scenic cruising at Hubbard Glacier was cancelled due to unsafe weather conditions.

[exlondoner]

I think the heavy use of laundry early in the cruise may be because such cruises are often marketed over here as part of a package, including a train trip and visits to Calgary or wherever. If people do all that before the cruise, they may have stuff to wash.

[3rdGenCunarder]

6 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I think the heavy use of laundry early in the cruise may be because such cruises are often marketed over here as part of a package, including a train trip and visits to Calgary or wherever. If people do all that before the cruise, they may have stuff to wash.

 

Even if people aren't taking a package, they may have traveled before a cruise. I usually spend at least a day or two traveling before embarking. One of the good things about priority embarkation is being able to get a washer before the rush.

[Gwendy]

On our last Cunard cruise I was doing laundry on first night.  A woman iron her husband’s ship asked me if I had brought my dirty laundry from home.  Let me see, 14 hour flight to Dubai,  nights there 6 hour flight to London, 3 nights there,  and down to Southampton.  Yep I had a fair bit of washing.  Obviously she thought everyone just lived England..

[Desert Cruisers]

We were also on this sailing and noticed the relatively low attendance at the lectures which were excellent.  We had 2 of the 3 lecturers onboard in Alaska last year but still enjoyed hearing from them again. Not sure why more people didn't show up - time of day? forgot to read the daily program? decided to watch recording on TV?, language difficulties?

 

We were in the Princess Grill for our meals but did go to the Golden Lion Pub for lunch on a port day so it wasn't real busy.  Found the same problems with service.  Had to go up to the bar and ask the bartender who was not busy about our drinks.  Soon after, our entrees arrived. As we began eating our entrees, the desserts came out. Asked that they be returned to the kitchen since we had just begun to eat our entrees and didn't want a cold fruit crumble.  Overall service was very disjointed.

[foodsvcmgr]

Lido menus were posted daily on QV last week.

Golden Lion service was good, but in Commodore it was extremely slow, seemingly new staff there with poor training.