Lakesregion

Back in the day Cunard seeed to be very good at placing solo passengers at large table (at their request) with other solo passengres of close to similar age and not with groups of couples or one large group that is not really interested in outside guests. How is the current mix being handled on the QA for such solo folks (Males in particular). On my last two cruises on other lines, I have ended up dining solo because the diningroom could not find sufficient other guests to join in the fun of a large table.

a nail cost a shoe and for want of a shoe a horse was lost and the lost horse caused the battle to be lost and the lost battle caused a nation to be lost. So while the small things appear small at the time when they all are added up they will eventually amount to the sun setting on the empire called Cunard.

One must consider that I function on shore very well with a flip phone that can receive texts but does not ciprecate. Having set the stage, I have enjoyed a world cruise and numerous 14 day to 30 cruises with nary a need to reach out to anyone. If htere is an on shor emergency, they can call the ship and I can respond. Othewise it is blissful not to one pay for and to use te wi fi.

Until Cunard lowers their standards to the rest of the cruise lines that cater to the anything goes crowd, there will always be another thread asking can I do this or do that?

On the very last world cruise of the QE2 there aas a well known Hollywood person who was seen on several occasions wandering the public rooms in a bathrobe around early afternoons. Also on this same trip a male passenger who embarked in Southampton and began drinking his way arould the world made the mistake of moving his harrasment of the female employess to harrasement of female passengers. At that point he was invited to have a chat with the Captain in the Captain's office cabin. The visit did not go well and the passenger found himself standing on the shore of Easter Island along with his luggage. And back then there was only one plane a week out of Easter Island to the mainland and it was three days away. So people can be removed from the ship on the word of the Captain.

"One too many". Large numbers of ships under a single flag tend to end up with no identity at all.

I do believethat both ladies have passed on. Bea was a real kick. You had to handle her with kid gloves but if you worked it right she was fun for afternon tea. Particularly ifyou got to share with her AND the Opera Diva at the same small table, they had a love hate relationship. Bea's two sons had to book passage if they wished to visit with her. The only time she left the QE2 was when it has to be drydoced. Whe the ship was taken out of seivice Cunard did offer her space on the QM2 and the Victoria but not at the seriously low bargain rate she enjoyed on the QE2. On that ship she had an inside cabin that was made up more like a studio. One of the beds had been removed and a sofa placed in the cabin along with a floor lamp. The Opera Diva lived in Berkeley Heights NJ in a large mansion that has since been taken down. Her parents sent her to Europe evey summerto study opea but she never perforemed professionaly. She never married. The QE2 was her stage and she preformed at every passenger talent show. Very difficult to get her offstage and she would always carry plastic roses that she would throw into the audience. Sadly,with the changes in cruising from a more traditional luxurious way to travel vs the more casual way of today, there are very few if any "Characters" left on the high seas. The QE2 had several other regular passenegrs. One of the largest share holdres in Disney would book two of the largest Queens Grill suites for the annual world cruise. and many of the gentlemen hosts over the years managed to catch a wealthy single lady while doing the world cruises. Cunard had to institute a 30 max on the hosts to stop this "love boat" set up.

A more traditonal formal atmosphere. Way better enrichment lectures. Very attentive to solo passengers. Buffet is open 24 hours rather than in short spurts. Night life ends around 3 am rathe than 10:30 pm on Holland America. NO rolelrcoasters, bumper cars etc as on Royal Carib.

Probably one of he worst things cruise lines ever did was to try and define a dress code without defining a dress code by calling clothing "Smat" be it casual or attire in general. Ask for a definition in each of the 50 US states and in each of the economic demographics within those states and you will get totally different definitions. Then expand that to all cultures in the world and all countrys in the world and one can see that it is hopeless to hang a satisfactory definition of a phrase that has all the substance of fog. The best solution for those who are uncertain would be to look at the photos of passengers on the line's advertising and brochures and follow what those people are wearing.

For gentlemen they are called suspenders.

Such is the problem when you offer too many choices for dining and then have a gala evening with the "possibility" of an extra good menu. The buffet crowd and those that partake of the extra charge places will flock to the "better" menu free place. Speaks well for having an assigned table at an assigned time. No lines.

One can only imagine the angst should Cunard revert to the days of the QE2 with formal on all sea nights and tie and jacket for the gentlemen on all "casual" port days. As to change yes most everyone in the world of business has changed even though the addage "if it is not brokern do not try to fix it" is a solid statement and one The NewYorker Magazine has held with since its beginning 100 years ago. Same type style same layout same wondful criculation, even though the readers are not the sme people..

17 day QA NYC to SF in Jan 2025 lists five gala evenings out of 17, so it would appear that Cunard is all over the lot trying to decern what to do andwhen.

Having be in the restaurant business, one of the reasons for putting the two tops so close together is it allows for a fast change over to a four or six top with out having to carry chairs and tables all over the dining room.

I sense this as the ultimate plan for all Carnival owned lines. HAL will be in my opinion be all anytime dining within two to three years. With QA in the mix,Cunard has more room to experiment. What causes this shift is the adding of multiple dining choices and the daily uncertainty of who will show up in assigned seating and who will be gone in favor of an alternative venue. Such uncertainty wrecks avic on the wait staff and the kitchen. So buckle up folks, it may be two years or five years but look for the elimination of fixed seating somewhere down the line.

Give the lower level of attire most foks seem to enjoy these days, I find dressing a few notches above the norm gets me a better table, better service and on my travels better attention to luggage etc. And it costs nothing more than the usual tip. No bribbing just a little satorial effort.

I would say ask nicely while dressed in your best We do fit the image" without any airs attireand then go with whatever is allocated.

I have for most of my life said if Designers and Enginers had to live with the products they designed or enginered for six months, we would seldom have issues because the original people would realize how poorly they had made the dsign in the first place. and would correct it pre-production.

I ahvealways thought that one should expect the butler on board any ship would perform the same things that your butler at home does.

If you book a grills suite, you can dine down stairs so to speak in the main Britannia dining room at a table for one using the newish anytime dinig option (Reservation required) Ambiance is excellent, food good but not as varied nor will there be table side carving etc. But you will get the quiet table in a very fine dining space on a very fine ship.

How is the afternoon tea in the Queens room going given a smaller room and more passengers than the other ships? Do they continue to pass the sandwiches and the sweets throughout the time of the tea? White gloves? easy to obtain more tea?

If such a space also occurs on the deck above and below this deck then it could be a crew service elevator. If it only occurs on this deck then it might be a room service kitchen food warming etc. space.

Thank you for the quick answers. The reason I asked about the number of stewards was to plan on tipping. Both HAL and NCL use two person teams hence double the tips, even though only one person really works a cabin at any one time.

Couple of questons that have not be addessed. 1. Black Jack table minimum bet 2. Staterooms being serviced once or twice a day and by how many assigned stewards? 3.Chocolate on the pillow and turndown every evening? 4. What is available for lunch on embarkation day?

Beginning to wish I had waited to book my 17 days from NYC to SF in Janaury until the reviews were in. But such is life and I look forward to a full day in SF as I have never been there and then a restful ride back home on the train. I am far from Cunard's target market at the age of 85 so maybe the ride will be geat or maybe it will be a final episode in an otherwise wonderful number of experiences on the QE2 and the QM2 and let it go at that.