Cunard - 1993 vs 2006

[spinnaker]

The last time I sailed with Cunard was on the QE2 in 1993 - and I have been looking forward to sailing on her again ever since. One of the key reasons for this is the food - both the quality and the quantity were breathtaking.

 

Some recent posts have prompted me to look back at some old menus as I felt sure I remembered there being more than 4 the courses for dinner which now seem to be the case - and indeed there were - 7 - in addition to coffee with petit fours, fresh fruit, cheeses, and chocolates, ginger, mints etc. to help yourself to on the way out. And that was in Mauretania!

 

It seems the soup is no longer a seperate course to the appetizer so it's one or the other, that they no longer offer a fish dish, and no longer provide a sorbet.

 

Are these cutbacks indicative of a decline in quality too or is the standard still just as high? Do Cunard still offer the above mentioned treats to take on the way out? Has the previous attitude of 'if you want to try 3 of the desserts, just ask!' gone by the wayside? (perhaps it was being abused, though I don't recall anyone eating more than one dish from each course - but knowing that you could if you wanted to certainly made you feel that nothing was too much trouble)

 

I really don't mean to knock either the QE2 or Cunard - indeed I have now booked to sail on her again next year. I just don't want to expect to find her the way I remember her and be disappointed. But perhaps she has in fact improved since then in various ways? Any thought very much appreciated.

[FranKes2000]

I sailed 1984, 2000 & 2001 on the QE2 TransAtlantic, things have changed but I only had problems with the food in 2000. The problem then was due to crossing in a storm and the Lido having to be closed, food & trays were flying.

Some of the food in Mauritania was over cooked or kept in the warmer too long, I think the cook was seasick. 2001 everything was back to "normal". I sometimes prefered soup & salad and two deserts, no comments were made, most at my table asked for 'a la mode'. I hope you have a super cruise.

[captain_rad]

We were in the Queens Grill for the second leg of the world cruise in 06 (LA-Sydney) We thought that the food was excellent and they were more than happy to bring you what ever you wanted. Soup and salad, and extra main dish, a different main dish if the one on your menu wasn't to your likeing. Plus your choice of as many different types of deserts as they had. What ever we wanted they were more than happy to get for us. Food was not an issue on the QE2. Now we are counting the days until we get back on board in January:)

[pnhmrk]

The last time I sailed with Cunard was on the QE2 in 1993 - and I have been looking forward to sailing on her again ever since. One of the key reasons for this is the food - both the quality and the quantity were breathtaking.

 

It still is. It's just not quite as outfacing as it used to be. The quantity has been reduced to more reasonable (but still excessive) amounts.

 

Some recent posts have prompted me to look back at some old menus as I felt sure I remembered there being more than 4 the courses for dinner which now seem to be the case - and indeed there were - 7 - in addition to coffee with petit fours, fresh fruit, cheeses, and chocolates, ginger, mints etc. to help yourself to on the way out. And that was in Mauretania!

 

I've no recent experience of the Mauretania but all menus on the ship are similar. The main difference is that there's no hot entrée in the Mauritania, whilst there is everywhere else (or at least that's what we were told last Christmas).

 

I haven't got a menu in front of me, so from memory you can get an entrée, a soup, a salad, a main course, a pudding and cheese. You also get petit fours with your coffee - I expect there's also that dish as you go out but that may have gone as they've done away with any food you can touch and not eat as part of their Norovirus effort.

 

It seems the soup is no longer a separate course to the appetizer so it's one or the other, that they no longer offer a fish dish, and no longer provide a sorbet.

 

Soup is, fish and sorbet aren't. Did you ever manage an n entire trip where you ate all those courses?

 

Are these cutbacks indicative of a decline in quality too or is the standard still just as high?

 

I think that the quality has gone down as well, but the standard is still high.

 

Has the previous attitude of 'if you want to try 3 of the desserts, just ask!' gone by the wayside? (perhaps it was being abused, though I don't recall anyone eating more than one dish from each course - but knowing that you could if you wanted to certainly made you feel that nothing was too much trouble)

 

I've done that - I don't think the staff were really bothered.

]

[ryndam]

I think that is part of an old proverb. It's not really relevant to try and compare any experience from 1993 with an equivalent experience in 2006 or 2007. It's all part of progress, continuous quality improvement (or degradation) and changing styles and expectations. It's never the same. Maybe perceived as better, sometimes perceived as worse, but just different. Airlines change, hotels change, clothing changes, electronic gadgets change, even government rules and regulations change, and the list goes on.

 

We have been sailing and cruising for almost 40 years and have experienced many changes over the years. We rarely, if ever, judge our new adventures with the past. With every perceived memory of lost perks, service, style, etc., there are often many more things that have improved over time.

 

Any business, product, experience, etc. that remains static eventually ceases to exist. We live for the present, let the past remain as fond memories, and don't try to compare experiences from a different time and place. There is a link on the CruiseCritic message boards under "Whatever happened to" titled "Discontinued perks". It's an interesting journey down cruising's memory lane.

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise. Cunard in 2007 is a very different organization than the Cunard of 1993.

[spinnaker]

Thank you, I will. I shall look forward to seeing just how much - and in which ways - she has changed.

 

Whatever the new service levels she is still is marvellous, quirky, graceful and timeless ship and I can't wait to get back on board

[spinnaker]

I know that the issue of 'class' divisions raises hackles and I really don't mean to stir things, but last time I was on the QE2 certain areas (other than the restaurants and Queens / Princess Grill lounges) were out of bounds to non Grill passengers.

 

Can anyone please tell me if this is still the case?

[carlmm]

last time I was on the QE2 certain areas (other than the restaurants and Queens / Princess Grill lounges) were out of bounds to non Grill passengers.

 

Can anyone please tell me if this is still the case?

 

Today only the respective restaurants and the Queens Grill Lounge are reserved for Grill passengers. Even the Princess Grill Bar is open to all passengers.

[spinnaker]

Are non Grill passengers allowed to have afternoon tea in the Queen's Room now? And to watch films etc. from the top level of the theatre?

[captain_rad]

The Queens grill can only be used by passengers in the Queens grill and the Princess grill for afternoon tea.

[spinnaker]

I understand that the Queen's Grill Lounge can only be used by Grill passengers, but the last time I was on QE2 non-Grill pax weren't allowed to use the Queen's Room either and were confined to the Lido :(

[pnhmrk]

I understand that the Queen's Grill Lounge can only be used by Grill passengers, but the last time I was on QE2 non-Grill pax weren't allowed to use the Queen's Room either and were confined to the Lido :(

 

That's gone now - The only places there's a restriction are the Restaurants and the QG Lounge - The last time you were aboard must have been for a trans-Atlantic - when I first sailed that segregation only applies to crossings.

[spinnaker]

You are absolutely correct - it was indeed a trans-Atlantic. Non-Grill pax weren't allowed in the balcony section of the theatre either! So glad that has gone now.

[pnhmrk]

I prefer the balcony to the stalls.

[clay1234]

Cunard is now owned by Carnival corp and is operated by Princess. I am sure that the quality will be slowly adjusting to the standards of the rest of the company too keep the botom line as profitable as possible, just a thought, something to keep in mind. I love the food on Princess though, but i hear from time to time that it is not nearly as good as it was when owned by P&O. When everything is run out of the same corporate office it tends to become the same recipies and quality in the long run. The only thing remaining of Cunard is the name and the color of the ship.

[spinnaker]

I take it that means the Princess and Carnival Corp are not of the same quality as Cunard? (I don't know either of them).

[guernseyguy]

I take it that means the Princess and Carnival Corp are not of the same quality as Cunard? (I don't know either of them).

 

Depends what you are looking for - Princess & Carnival are both mass-market lines which charge a lot less than Cunard. I've only sailed on Princess and the food, while fine, was not as good as Cunard. When it comes to entertainment on the other hand, the Princess shows are orders of magnitude better than the QE2, and probably a bit better than QM2. A lot of the Princess/Carnival comments owe a lot more to snobbery than to experience.

 

Peter

[pnhmrk]

A lot of the Princess/Carnival comments owe a lot more to snobbery than to experience.

 

Possibly (I've never been on either), but what about hearsay? I understand that their ships are much more floating hotels where Cunard's are built for rough weather. Do you need to experience a line to understand how the ship may handle bad weather?

[guernseyguy]

Possibly (I've never been on either), but what about hearsay? I understand that their ships are much more floating hotels where Cunard's are built for rough weather. Do you need to experience a line to understand how the ship may handle bad weather?

 

Malcolm,

 

Hearsay may well be someone else's snobbery! The Princess/Carnival ships are designed for the itineraries they travel - typically calm Caribbean waters - where frankly they are 'better' ships than even the QM2 in terms of pools/deck space. In the North Atlantic of course the QE2/QM2 are unique - but the Queen Victoria is a (slightly) tweaked Carnival clone, daughter of Vista, cousin of Spirit....ships in HAL and Carnival respectively. Funnily enough, when P&O took over the then Queen Vic for ARCADIA they said they had to put more steel in the bow to enable her to go on world voyages - which they have yet to send her on, the old slow coach......

 

Peter

[guernseyguy]

Cunard's are built for rough weather.

Like this:

 

 

 

[pb82]

Like this:

I give up. Which ship, where, when? Please.

Thanks,

Paul

[guernseyguy]

I give up. Which ship, where, when? Please.Thanks, Paul

 

Carnival's Ecstasy in Hurricane Rita - iirc she was riding out the storm before returning to port, but which port, I don't know.

 

Peter

[travel-to-go]

Trust me I CAN speak from experience.

The expectation, the marketing of the experience are totally different between Carnival and Cunard. Cunard markets class, sophistication, elegance, with pictures of people in tuxes and evening gowns. Carnival markets itself as the "Fun Ships" With pictures of people in shorts, bathing suits, cocktail dresses (for the dressy pictures) kids on the slides going into the swimming pool (while Cunard shows someone getting a massage at the Canyon Ranch or Thallasotherapy pools)

I would never go on another Carnival...Well, maybe if I were clinging with the last of my nails to a piece of driftwood in mid-ocean, and an albatross pecking at my fingers, and one offered a lifeboat.... and then i would ask me if they could drop me off at one of the Queens, please- Or even that raft full of Cuban boat people, overflowing with too many people and too much misery.

Cunard has salmon pate with caviar; Carnival has 24 hour pizza!

 

It's all in what you like, I guess.

Nope. Entirely different experience. Like going to a thrash metal hard rock concert fueled on too much underaged beer-drinking and who knows what else, vs. and elegant night at the opera! (And I don't even care for opera!)

 

Not that I have an opnion, or anything ! <G>

[guernseyguy]

Trust me I CAN speak from experience.

 

Karie,

 

I ask with trepidation......do they wear, well, you know.......... j*%^s?

 

Oh the horror!:eek:

 

Pass the smelling salts!

 

Peter

[pb82]

Carnival's Ecstasy in Hurricane Rita - iirc she was riding out the storm before returning to port, but which port, I don't know.

 

Peter

Thanks, Peter.

I guess she had crew only aboard, but neither I nor Wikipedia have guessed what "iirc" stands for. And I'm sure that you already know the answer to your "do they wear, well, you know.......... j*%^s? " question. Forget the smelling salts, have a whisky with no rocks and no "e".

Paul