QE2 questions

[cruisedude1212]

Taking first cunard cruise in sept, few questions of those cunard veterans.

We are travelling in P1 cabin, and will be in Brittania grill.

 

Are these cabins ok, large, do they have portholes or picture windows?

 

We were offered princess or brittania grill have we made right choice?

 

Confused re currency onboard is $ or £ ?

 

Do we have access to QG lounge?

 

Howmuch should we budget for onboard drinks i.e wine with dinner?

 

Any comments will be gratefully recieved, sooo looking forward to this trip, numerous cruises on other lines (RCI< NCL< Celebrity) but have always wanted to travel on QE2.

[lknick]

Taking first cunard cruise in sept, few questions of those cunard veterans.

We are travelling in P1 cabin, and will be in Brittania grill..

Both Brittania and Princess Grill are small and intimate. Both have a nicer ambiance than the Queens Grill. I believe Brittania has a smoking area, but it may be Princess. One does [or did].

 

Are these cabins ok, large, do they have portholes or picture windows?

P1's are large, but not as large as 'suites' on HAL. Large enough to entertain comfortably up to 6-8 people [we had 6]. My recall is that P1 has two portholes. No picture window.

 

We were offered princess or brittania grill have we made right choice?

Both grills are virtually identical. One is on the port, the other on the starboard.

 

Confused re currency onboard is $ or £ ?

My understanding is the currency now on the QE2 is £.

 

Do we have access to QG lounge?

Last year, the answer was 'yes.' Has this changed? Don't know.

 

Howmuch should we budget for onboard drinks i.e wine with dinner?

That very much depends on your drinking habits. Everything was more expensive on both QM2 and QE2. Add 20-30% to your ususal bar bills.

 

The QE2...especially in Grill...is the way a cruise should be. Formal but not stuffy.

[cruisedude1212]

Thanks for your useful comments, really looking forward to cruise. ;)

[cunardqueen]

Hi just to say, that the onboard currency on QE2 is still the mighty (or not so mighty) USD$ had a letter from my agent informing me of this fact. booked on her for the Oct 2nd med trip.

[Jeanne S]

The P1 cabins on deck one are smaller than those on deck two and you really would not be able to entertain in them as you only have two chairs and not much room (but a nice size walk in closet as well as regular closet and bathroom). You get two larger portholes. Only Queens Grill gets a regular window (and the lowest QG does not I believe - Q5?).

 

Try to book a cabin on deck two if you are concerned about space.

 

You will have access to the Queens Grill Lounge (unless this has changed).

 

We love the Maitre d'hotel Andrew in Princess Grill.

 

For two of us, pre dinner drinks, one bottle of wine or champagne and after dinner drinks came to approximately 70-80 dollars per evening (four drinks total).

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jeanne

[Catnip]

Andrew in the Princess Grill is wonderful. And the Princess Grill is totally non-smoking.

[Moo-Woo]

I was also wondering what currency should be taken on board the QE2. Would it best to take travellers cheques for the most part? Can these be cashed on board? I understand that items such as drinks at the bars can be booked against your cabin, can they also be paid for cash? I take it that going on the Med cruise we will also need Euro's for when onshore. So far it looks like I'm taking Travellers cheques, US dollars, GB Sterling and Euros! I'll have to change my name to Thoms Cook at this rate :-)

 

By the way, has anybody played in the casino on the QE2? I'm interested to know about the Video Poker and Roulette tables (minimum bets, number of tables etc).

 

Thanks.

[gingernut9999]

Last time i was on board, there were 2 roulette tables on QE2. The chips are $1 each (although you can request for them to be $5). Hope that helps.

[lknick]

For the most part, ships are cash-less societies, i.e. everything goes onto your shipboard account which can then be settled with a credit card. [There are some limits when it comes to the casino.] This means it's up to the credit card company to do any currency conversion necessary and the currency on board is moot.

 

This limits the currency to that needed on shore...UKP and Euro and only to minor purchases as credit cards can be used almost everywhere.

[signman]

Even if you are in Brittania, have a drink before dinner in the Princess Grill Lounge, One Deck Port side, C stairway. It's the most intimate place on the ship and very underused. All original decor, as is the Princess Grill, which may be a reason to choose it over Brittania.

 

Unless this lounge was removed during May re-fit. It's not showing clearly on new brochure received this week, but not sure if it ever is detailed. So please check it out and let us know if it is still there.

[mtbny7]

P1 cabins are very nice and they're in good locations. They all have two large-ish oval portholes; and lovely woodwork.

 

Windows are available only in Q3 cabins on Boat Deck; or in the Q2 and higher cabins. The Q3 & Q4 cabins on One & Two Deck have the same large-ish portholes, and most Q3's have three.

 

Michael

New York

[Jeanne S]

And after you have a glass of champagne (what they do best) in this little lounge on C Deck, take the spiral staircase upstairs to the back entrance of Princess Grill. The assistant Maitre d' hotel will come over to greet you.

[cruisemissi'll]

Could anyone advise if the Caronia Restaurant is non-smoking? (Please tell me it is)!!

[mtbny7]

The Caronia Restaurant has smoking and non-smoking section. Over the years, the non-smoking section has grown larger than the smoking section.

 

Michael

New York

[lknick]

The QE2 is one of the last...maybe the last...ships that currently allows smoking in designated segments of the dining room. The only exception is Princess Restaurant which is completely smoke free.

 

There is little or no seperation between the smoking areas which from time to time bring about scowls from some of the diners. We do find ways to seperate us.