Reassurance for a Cunard Virgin!

This summer will be my first Cunard cruise, as we prepare to sail to Norway and Iceland on the QE.

I must confess to being a tad worried about this trip as my initial impressions of Cunard are not positive.

I booked this trip early on a special offer and was then later dismayed to discover that I will not find out my cabin until I embark. I was also disappointed to discover that I can only obtain anytime dining by paying £1000 extra (that, I accept, is my own fault).

However, the shore excursions have only just gone live and the ship's itinerary does not tell you what time you dock and leave the ports. That info, and the possibility of self-guided shore tours info, only becomes available after you sail. This made the choice of early/late dining very difficult.

On the positive side at least the cruise is taking place in the English school holidays, as my first choice cruise line is not offering it at this time.

I know that with some effort I can find out some of the info I require from the internet, but my initial impression is that Cunard do not wish you to have relevant information until you can do nothing with it.

Hopefully someone out there can reassure me about the Cunard experience and that we will have a great time!

Rob

Hi Rob. The itinerary below was copied from a travel agency web site (Cruise Critic rules prohibit me from naming the agency). Arrival and departure times are listed - subject to change of course, but maybe that will be of some assistance in planning your excursions.

Tue Aug 16 Southampton

Depart 4:30 pm

Day 2 Wed Aug 17 Cruising

Day 3 Thu Aug 18 Stavanger

Arrive 9:00 am Depart 5:00 pm

Day 4 Fri Aug 19 Olden

Arrive 9:00 am Depart 6:00 pm

Day 5 Sat Aug 20 Geiranger

Arrive 8:00 am Depart 5:00 pm

Day 6 Sun Aug 21 Cruising

Day 7 Mon Aug 22 Akureyri

Arrive 9:00 am Depart 6:00 pm

Day 8 Tue Aug 23 Isafjordur

Arrive 8:00 am Depart 6:00 pm

Day 9 Wed Aug 24 Reykjavik

Arrive 9:00 am

Day 10 Thu Aug 25 Reykjavik

Depart 7:00 pm

Day 11 Fri Aug 26 Cruising

Day 12 Sat Aug 27 Cruising

Day 13 Sun Aug 28 Dublin

Arrive 7:45 am Depart 6:00 pm

Day 14 Mon Aug 29 Cruising

Day 15 Tue Aug 30 Southampton

Arrive 6:30 am

Looks like a terrific itinerary - enjoy your voyage!

Salacia

Thanks for that. I'd managed to find all but Olden!

Rob

Rob, by special offer, do you mean an early saver fare. If so, you may get a cabin assignment about a month before you sail. If it is some other kind of special offer then the rules may be different. As I understand it, the only "anytime dining" is in the Grills. For the Britannia guests it is only traditional dining. With the saver fare you don't know which seating until you board and guests paying the full Cunard fare are accommodated first, which is perfectly fair, they will have paid for the privilege. We are about to take our 2nd Cunard cruise and both times have taken the saver fare and a guarantee cabin.

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Hi Rob

We too thought that we probably wouldn't like Cunard after booking our first cruise last year. Actually now, they are our favourite line and we have been with just about everyone so I wouldn't worry on that score.

As for the cabin allocation don't worry about it. You've obviously booked on a guarantee basis so will get at least the level you booked at with a fair chance of an upgrade once it's allocated. It's rare that the cabin isn't allocated until you board. We've never had that happen with a guarantee. Often the later the allocation the better the chance of an upgrade, though of course that isn't always the case. On our cruise to Iceland a couple of weeks ago we got the cabin allocation at 12.20am on the morning we left and were upgraded from inside to a huge balcony so it does sometimes happen!

Not sure what you mean by anytime dining as, as far as I know, Cunard dining is at fixed early and late sittings. I suspect you mean you haven't been given a choice of late or early - that is usually the case with a saver fare which you seem to have booked. Again, it's not usually a problem to change from whichever one you are allocated, though sometimes the early sitting is more popular and can be full.

Cunard and P&O can be very frustrating with the lack of port times, but we used the website Salacia mentions for our long cruise in January and found the timings to be spot on so you can rely on those timings given unless there is a last minute change which can happen, but is unlikely given that ports have to be booked well in advance.

We've done all those ports except for Dublin - the Iceland ports only two weeks ago if you want any information about what to do or local tour guides we used. We don't do ship's tours

Rob, by special offer, do you mean an early saver fare. If so, you may get a cabin assignment about a month before you sail. If it is some other kind of special offer then the rules may be different. As I understand it, the only "anytime dining" is in the Grills. For the Britannia guests it is only traditional dining. With the saver fare you don't know which seating until you board and guests paying the full Cunard fare are accommodated first, which is perfectly fair, they will have paid for the privilege. We are about to take our 2nd Cunard cruise and both times have taken the saver fare and a guarantee cabin.

 

 

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Sandancer, yes, the Grill accommodations have dining anytime between 6:30 and 9pm, as does Britannia Club (and various other specialty venues carrying a surcharge).

"The grade of stateroom you have booked will determine the restaurant you dine in. When travelling in a Princess Grill suite or Queens Grill suite you will dine in the intimate Princess Grill restaurant and Queens Grill restaurant respectively. You can choose to dine anytime between 6.30pm and 9pm. When travelling in a Britannia Club balcony stateroom, you can also choose to dine anytime in the Britannia Club restaurant between 6.30pm and 9pm. For all other Britannia grades of stateroom, the magnificent Britannia restaurant offers either an early - 6pm - or late -8.30pm - sitting..." copied from https://ask.cunard.com/help/life-on-board/dining_options

I know nothing about the guarantee fares offered for UK bookings. But on this side of the pond, my travel agent offers guarantee cabin category option at the same price of booking a specific cabin - in the hope of an upgrade. I don't think that is beneficial due to the new schemes on offer in the UK.

-S.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Anytime dining can be obtained by booking Club Balcony, as I say an extra £1000 per person.

Rob

Rob, one other option you could consider is to book The Verandah for a few nights. It costs $24 pp and you can have a choice of dining times. You can check out the menu on the Cunard webpage. Even with today's rubbish exchange rate, you could eat in there for around £115 pp for 7 nights. Big difference from £1000, especially if you are not bothered about the Britannia club balcony.

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You don't state your issue re. dining times..... but the majority of passengers on board all 3 Cunarders dine formally on either an early or late sitting and get along quite nicely.

Don't forget that there is also the buffet option...

As per cabin allocation, it can part of the fun of the build up to see where your cabin is in relation to other amenities - but try not to over stress about your delayed knowledge. Some people are assigned a cabin and then find out close to embarkation that they are somewhere else having been upgraded. Try to relax knowing that your booking has been confirmed and that you will soon be going on a fantastic trip!

Thanks for the responses everyone. Anytime dining can be obtained by booking Club Balcony, as I say an extra £1000 per person.

 

Rob

This isn't Anytime dining as advertised on the likes of P&O or Princess, you are assigned your own table for the duration of the cruise.

You can walk in at anytime during advertised restaurant hours for breakfast, lunch and dinner and your table will be waiting for you.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Anytime dining can be obtained by booking Club Balcony, as I say an extra £1000 per person.

 

Rob

I have to admit that when I first came to Cunard I was really not enthralled with having a set time, but I have to say I really love it now. I have done to half world cruises one down to Sydney and last year back from Sydney to Southampton (two months on board). I book late sitting and a table for 8. I wouldn't change that now. I have had wonderful table companions and by seeing the same people every night is great fun. You can tell each other what you have been doing each day and you get a great rapport going. On any time dining ( which I have done on other cruise lines) you have to start the conversations up every night. There is no going back for me now. Good luck and enjoy your cruise

Hi Rob,

We're on this cruise too. There is a roll call on the board that you might want to take a look at. We've never sailed on theQueen Elizabeth but did a TA a few years ago onQM2 & loved it. We've booked a mix of ship's excursions, private tours and will do a couple of ports independently which seemed a reasonable mix to us.

Great to have the list of port arrival/ departures posted. When we've booked independent tours the tour companies seemed to know these times but I didn't!

Semi

Hi Sundancer... I'm booked on the 17th July QM WB TA departure and I'm travelling with a group of people that I don't know very well and I'm not sure if I'll want to spend each mealtime with them so your idea of "upgrading" to the new Verandah restaurant sounds like it might fit the bill. I can't find any menus on the Cunard website for the Verandah but assuming it will work in a similar way to Todd English, do you happen to know if the menu changes or will it be the same for each night of the voyage?

We are on QV next week. We have 2 reservations for the Verandah so l'll find out and post the answer.

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Hi Sundancer... I'm booked on the 17th July QM WB TA departure and I'm travelling with a group of people that I don't know very well and I'm not sure if I'll want to spend each mealtime with them so your idea of "upgrading" to the new Verandah restaurant sounds like it might fit the bill. I can't find any menus on the Cunard website for the Verandah but assuming it will work in a similar way to Todd English, do you happen to know if the menu changes or will it be the same for each night of the voyage?

Hi Twiglina. I have started a Roll Call for this trip, why not go on and join in.

Regards

Pat

Many thanks for the information.

Try cruiseweb for arrival and departure times

Hi Sundancer... I'm booked on the 17th July QM WB TA departure and I'm travelling with a group of people that I don't know very well and I'm not sure if I'll want to spend each mealtime with them so your idea of "upgrading" to the new Verandah restaurant sounds like it might fit the bill. I can't find any menus on the Cunard website for the Verandah but assuming it will work in a similar way to Todd English, do you happen to know if the menu changes or will it be the same for each night of the voyage?

Hi Twigalina. If you want to see a sample menu for Veranda, log on to Voyage Personalizer once again and click on alternative dining options ---> Veranda --->sample Vernada menu.

"...To bring the fullest flavours and greatest interest to these new dishes, our executive chef team have thrown their net a little wider when it comes to sourcing the ingredients. Alongside exceptional French produce such as Gascon Black Pig, Chalosse Duck and Bayonne Ham sit dishes that proudly showcase Highland Venison, Galician Beef and Amalfi Coast Lemons..."

Another option is the Lido evening menu:

Queen Elizabeth

The Verandah - contemporary French cuisine,

Lunch menu - $5 to $12.00 per dish.

Dinner menu - $29 per person for a 3 course meal (select 3 items from the menu that total $29, if you select 3 items that total more than $29 the difference will be charged to your on board account).

Lido Restaurant - Buffet style dining throughout the day and into the evening. In addition an area of this restaurant becomes a speciality dining area with table service.

Jasmine (Asian cuisine) - $15pp

Asado (a taste of South America) - $15pp

Aztec (Mexican) - $15pp

Evening buffet (non themed) - Complimentary

Also the Cunard website contains conflicting information about the restaurant hours, we have a guarantee P2 booked, and on our Voyage Personaliser Grill hours are shown as 6pm to 9pm, not as Salacia posted!

Well I am not cunard's biggest fan (I've sailed with them twice with my partner who is more enamoured than I!)

However I wouldn't say there is anything in particular to fear. The ships are nice (if not entirely to my personal taste), cabins are a good size with excellent beds and the food and service is very difficult to complain about.

I wasn't a fan of fixed dining times. The first cruise we were allocated early sitting which really wasn't my preference. The second time we had late sitting (and a table of 2!). This was much better.

However on both cruises we made use of either the buffet one (the buffet side) and the buffet alternative. The buffet alternative Asian style menu was by far the best meal we'd had (completely faultless).

Both times our cabin was a balcony GTY and we were allocated about a month out.

I wouldn't be nervous at all. You will have an excellent cruise and if you assigned dining times don't work for you, there are alternatives that won't leave you feeling short changed. Enjoy your holiday!

The Buffet in the evening , as some like to call it,is not at all what you may be thinking.on QM withthe remastering it is to have a total upgrade and more of a table service. We find the food in the Lido E&V and Kings Court QM2 in some ways superior to the preplated in the main restaurant it is freshly cooked and if you talk to the serving chefs you can get almost anything you fancy if you do not like the menu. We were on 26 nights over Xmas and only ate in Britania twice, in the evening. We ate in alternative some evenings not at all if we had eaten too much earlier then maybe a late snack.

That said I love Britania for breakfast and lunch if I can fit it in time wise

Never managed to fit in the pub lunch, time wise, which some say is great.

If you get assigned an early seating and dont want to eat that early the MD would change you to later in an instant as many more want early.