Lakesregion

2 hours ago, Kordy said:

I just did Open Seating in Britannia on gala night June 30. It was not good at all. Line far too long, up to after Golden Lion, and people turned away and asked to come 1.5 hours later. We were told - restaurant full.  Virtual line closed also. 

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. 

2 hours ago, Pushpit said:

I go back to RMS Carinthia, Liverpool to Montréal, as my first Crossing a scary number of years ago, so I'm not exactly a newbie, but I am not sure I would go along with a logic that we all naturally resist change and adaptation. In a sense I would quite like to go back to the QE2 days where almost every night was formal. And in those days the code was enforced somewhat ruthlessly.

 

But I also see the point of making it "special" by being less regular and it's great to see the youngsters usually completely going for it, and with more enthusiasm than "oh we have to dress up to eat" when it was a daily affair. It's remarkable that Cunard is still with us, on many levels, and the Line would only be able to do that by adapting and embracing change. As have all longstanding institutions in good health, from the monarchy downwards. People who book Cunard knowing it's not just another floating barge appealing to the lowest denominator.

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..

3 hours ago, Pushpit said:

To be fair, in the wider world, having FIVE gala nights over 5 weeks is probably not considered to be dumbing down in the great scheme of things. I'm sure it will work out wonderfully for all concerned. And naturally you and your companion can make EVERY night a gala night if you wish.

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. 

52 minutes ago, Jack E Dawson said:

MAYBE 6 inched Kordy

Jack

 

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.

4 hours ago, Pear Carr said:

Recently on QV 27/5-10/6 and had requested fixed late dining which was noted on our booking confirmation - on embarkation allocated open dining.  We went to speak to Maitre’d who was openly encouraging all who approached him to embrace open dining, we were  not swayed.  We got the impression that this was actively being encouraged with a view to eventually removing fixed dining as an option.

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.

On 6/15/2024 at 5:53 AM, LouChamp said:

Aloha. Born and raised in Manhattan and blessed to cruise since 1971.  I respect everyone has different opinions and also opinions formed based on where they live, etc.  Having done business in NY and Las Vegas I can tell you that tipping is the norm to get the best tables, service, shows, rooms and the list goes on and on. That is the reality. I do not always agree that it should be the norm but unfortunately that is the way the world works.  I have had my choice of table locations, waiters, parking lots suddenly have a space available, front row seats, etc.  I'm not bragging but it is naive to believe that it is not the way the wheels turn. I also agree that in some cultures and countries that is not the way it works so I am also respectful of where I am and who I am encountering.  

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.

On 6/14/2024 at 3:38 PM, stan01 said:

Hypothetically speaking, a first time Cunard cruiser in QG Q5 on QM2 wants a cherished window table.

 

Do they:
1) ask nicely

2) slip 20 or 50 to matire' d and get table

3) ask and get told "so sorry,  those go to people who paid more and who have been on many cruises"

4) know their place and accept that these aren't for them

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.

33 minutes ago, NE John said:

Cunard seems to fit your cruising style very well. It’s true that Cunard’s marketing is sometimes wordy without getting to the point about Grills benefits. Attached is a brochure form the website. 

The only problem I see about your mealtime arrangements is it would be hard to change seating because every passenger has an assigned table for the voyage and it’s “anytime” dining. It may be difficult to eat solo one night then change tables to eat with others the next. Solution - request a table to sit with others as your main table then on solo nights, order room service from the same menu in the QG and eat in your suite. Just communicate with the M’d or head waiter. You still then have the whole ship and Grills Lounge at your disposal. 
Others who have a more Grills experience than I can add more. 
Also remember that Cunard is more formally attired than Celebrity so try to embrace that attire. However, it’s not as formal however as years past and there is a calm and relaxed vibe onboard. 
Sounds like you’re making a great choice. 
 

Grills .pdf 29.11 MB · 2 downloads

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?

47 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Thank you to all who have been posting and taking us along on this voyage. I’ve read all 13 pages and my apologies if I’ve missed what I’m looking for.  I’m interested in a picture of the port side balcony cabin 4174 and 4176. They appear on the deck plans to have a double wide deck due to the white space. I’m also curious what that white space is. I’ve booked this cabin for 21 days in August 2026. Many thanks for any help you can provide. 

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.

2 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said:

1: 2x blackjack, 2x poker, 2x roulette.  Will check minimums.

2: Twice a day. Not sure what you mean by how many stewards. We’ve only ever had a single steward. I'm sure if they were unavailable for some reason someone else would cover but in 30+ years of Cunard  cruising I've never known that to happen.

3: Yes

4: Depends on your check-in time and cabin grade. Probably Lido/buffet or Golden Lion.

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?

1 hour ago, Colin_Cameron said:

And then there's the bad news.

 

The Queen's Room.

 

A "Grand Ballroom", it is not. It's not just the dance floor, though that's bad enough. It's the whole room. It feels like a hotel function suite. I had written 'corporate hotel', but it doesn't even aspire to that. Think cheap wedding venue. When you walk in from the aft end the first thing you see is the bar (which does have bar seating!), it's the focal point of the room. And the size! A quick scan around today at afternoon tea, a port day and overflowing,  suggests it has maybe a bit more than half the seats of QE or QV. On a ship that has 50% more passengers.

 

I've tried taking some photos to illustrate but none of them really show the true picture.  I'll keep trying.

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.

2 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Room service menu is in this thread

 

 

 

Seems that in the past the burger was always available no charge day or evening on the room servuce menus. As to no seats at the bar. That seems to be the popular way the younger crowd likes to consume their beverages by standing around the bar in large numbers. Have witnessed this on several other lines.

13 hours ago, DukeBeetle24 said:

There's this one, currently live: 

 

Wow, sure does have a hospital corridor vibe. Maybe by the time I board in Januay for the NYC to SF cruise it will have been toned up a bit. Maybe a picture or two on the walls . If the powers to be from Cunard are reading the reaction to these video tours they must wonder how they managed to get so much so very wrong. But then they did manage to do the same thing with the original roll out of the QE2. People hated it and they redid it on the first opportunity.

8 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

Here is a QA Balcony Cabin review...

 

 

Well done review. Can't say the same for the cabin design. Not enough closet space for more than a 7 day cruise. Heaven forbid a world cruise. Tiny bath room and very narrow room. The HAL old Zaadam is much bigger for an inside cabin. And how does one sit on the sofa and watch the Telly?

Every cruise line has gone into up-sell and a million other ways to relieve the guest of additional coin. Pretty soon it will be "up grade from our standard horse hair pillows to something better for only $2 a day and so on. Not a great look but as long as the sailing public plays into the game it will continue to get worse.

On 3/15/2024 at 6:18 PM, Haljo1935 said:

Christmas Tea on K'dam.

 

Those photos are rather misleading as they look terrific for one or two people. However, that offering is for an entire table of 8 people. Everyone gets one finger sandwich and one sweet unless you are fortunate to drag a passing waitstaff member over and ask for additional items. Very far from  any decent land based tea room and not even on the same planet as the Cunard aftenoon tea.

17 hours ago, crystalspin said:

I believe there is always salmon, a strip-steak, and maybe a chicken entree, -- that sometimes do not appear on the menu if there are so many other options it pushes the standards off in printing.

That is an asumption but not always a reality. On a January Zaandam cruise I could not find anything of interest on the regular menu and asked about the alternative items and chose salmon. Only to be told after about ten minutes that they did not have salmon available. Turns out they offered salmon on the regular menu the next evening and when queried about the lack of it on the aleternitive menu, the Maitr'd said it was frozen and they did not wish to thaw an entire salmon one day before they would be featuring it just for a single request.

Do keep in mind that if you wish to dine with a non-Grill Passenge or two or more you will have to dine in their assigned dining room as the lower cabins are not allowed to dine above the salt.

Did 30 days  on the Zaadam in January and no one smelled bad nor were embaressingly poorly dress (JC Penny level on the FL to CA leg and Macy quality on the return trip)but the ship has certainly sailed on any thought of a dressy evening. One tux on each of two segments and besides myself very very few jackets on any evening (I alwayswear a blazer and fine slacks and shirts when dining in a linen table cloth establishment as it, to my thought, shows respect for the establishment's attempt at offering something better than cafeteria chow.

This is just part of HAL's long (or short) term plan to pushas many people to the lido or the extra charge restaurants for all meals. Shortly in my opnion they will liminate assigned dinner times entirely and thus be able to colse the upper dining rooms on many ships. The lidocost way less to operate than a fine dining room and from the comments on thisthread is would appear that most people would not miss a fine free dining expeience.

I would imaagine that some of the wait staff might try to accomodate but the arrival of the cocktail might be well after tea has left the Queens Room. First the waiter would have to recweive permission from his supervisor to leave the room and ry to find the nearest bar that is open at 3 pm, then wait for the surprise request and find their way back to the Queen's room. Best skip it.