aday10

That’s a shame, I wonder what the delay was? 
 

currently waiting to board, no one has been allowed on the ship yet. 

9 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Heading into Naples now.

Enjoy! It’s a lovely city and very possible to get around the city by walking or getting the metro 

Thanks for keeping us up to date with your travels @rakkor, thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog each day! Cannot wait to be on board on Friday! 
 

I was wondering if anyone on board will know if the four Ds will be staying on for the next cruise? We saw them last March and then again in May on QE and QM2 and thought they were brilliant! 

11 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Same.

 

But we are docked. Just docked outside the main town as the ship is too large. To get to town, we board a boat that shuttles us...by water. 

 

Its complimentary so not sure water taxi would work.

 

I think this might be OK to call a water shuttle 🤔.

 

If I'm reading it correctly, I still can't wear shorts in there after 6. Am I mistaken? That would be a great choice.

No shorts after 6pm, but jeans are fine! 
 

I’ve included the golden lion dinner sample menu as well 🙂 

5 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Dinner was OK. Glad we won't have to dine here too often for dinner. 

 

We've ordered a pizza for a late night snack since we know we will be hungry later.

 

Sun is setting and I'm off to do my walk.

 

 

Looks like you are enjoying your cruise! 
 

just wanted to mention if you don’t want to dress up on gala nights but want to avoid the Lido, I believe you can dine in the golden lion for dinner 🙂 The menu has more options than lunch (not many!), and you do not have to dress up. Enjoy the QE, she is a lovely ship. 

27 minutes ago, rakkor said:

@NE John Unfortunately I've not got @rafinmd's scanner so I'm unable to post the daily menus in real-time they will have to wait for my return, but we've not had any noticeable Greek dishes on the PG menu. We did have a chicken pitta as a lunch sandwich and I've seen honey cake but no Kleftiko or Stifado so far

 

Yesterday's Blog and today's Daily Programme have been posted https://blog.rakkor.uk

Morning @rakkor, I’m really enjoying reading your blogs each day, sounds like you are both enjoying yourselves! 
 

I use an app on my phone called ‘CamScanner’ when I need to scan a document etc but no scanner around. It’s not brilliant, but it does the job 🙂 

10 minutes ago, rakkor said:

@aday10 Here you go - the quality it not brilliant

 

Embarkation-Oct_01.pdf 6.78 MB · 0 downloads

 

Thank you so much, it’s perfect 🙂 

@rakkor what’s the temperature like inside the ship? And what’s weather like on deck? 
 

1 hour ago, rakkor said:

Today's Daily Programme has been uploaded (LINK) to my blog. I was going to make them all inserts into the page, but I reckon once the page is populated it will be very slow to load, so I've made it so only the current Daily Programme is an insert, all others are links

 

@aday10 It took me  a while to figure out how to capture the files so I never got around to doing that one - I'll photograph it, the quality wont be great though

Thank you very much @rakkor, do not worry about quality, just interested in seeing it! But you have done a brilliant job on the pdf files for the other programmes, well done! 
 

glad you enjoyed the gala night, yes I think I’ve heard those type of chocolates can be bad for me 🤔 I’m sure Jane is just doing what’s best for you of course! 

4 hours ago, rakkor said:

I finally figured out how to make a pdf of the Daily Program, so I shall be posting them on my blog - for this cruise they can be found HERE in my Blog

 

Thanks to @rafinmd @Pushpit & @D&N for the inspiration

Enjoying the blog posts Rakkor and you’ve made my day with posting the daily programmes! Getting me excited for QV’s 20th october cruise! I hope you both are having a lovely time! 
 

@rakkor could I ask to see the full  daily programme for embarkation day please? (If not too much trouble of course!)  

1 hour ago, Solent Richard said:

 

Well if that's true Cunard appear to have gone to a lot of trouble producing those fliers.

They will still need the fliers for the short cruises of less than 5 nights, so not wasted 🙂 

1 minute ago, Host Hattie said:

 

Reliable sources apparently  ....

I never trust what Cunard say, just hope they actually announce this officially before 12 September so I can make a decision before any increases! 

I have heard from Cunard today that the $90 is for sailings under 5 nights if purchased onboard, or $85 if purchased on myCunard before sailing.
This has apparently gone live onboard QE on 17th August and will be available from 30th August. QM2 from 1st September and then 15th September for QV. 

For sailings 5 nights and more there will be no change. And they apparently do not know where the 12th September has come from. 
 

I think I may just purchase my drinks package for next September just incase, but it’s a lot of money that I had not planned for yet. 

Thanks to all for sharing the predicated itineraries for QM2, QV and QA! Is it possible to do the same for QE please?  

Have to say the Britannia is definitely struggling atm (at least I have noticed). We had opted for open dining as I have never experienced it and have to say it is useless. Have booked a table for 8pm each night and found out today that means nothing. 
 

queued outside deck 3 entrance for 30 minutes today before being seated. Table we were given was not fully set up, took 15 minutes to be given our glasses of water, 30 minutes before offered any drinks from the sommelier. It was the black and white ball and we were offered a glass of sparkling which was welcomed though. Even breakfast was chaotic which I have not found before! Apparently people queuing for up to an hour for lunch today! We luckily opted for carinthia lounge for some light options and then afternoon tea (which spilled into the restaurant, had not seen this before!). Also bread rolls seem different as well. 

The Ship seems exceptionally warm and hour stateroom has not cooled down since we have been here yesterday. 
 

wifi is great everywhere apart from the stateroom, which is actually fine! 
 

We are having a great time but things have changed! 

16 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

It obviously makes a great difference when they don’t have to disembark people, before getting the ship ready.

Of course, I do believe it has been smooth for many people embarking today, which always starts the holiday off nicely. 

Thank you! Got onto the ship at 11.45am (quickest embarkation ever!) and now enjoying second cocktail in the Golden Lion waiting for lunch. 
 

We did have a letter in our room offering us to stay on the ship for a further two nights starting at £99pp for an inside cabin heading to Hamburg. Flights not included though. 

Does anyone have a recent Britannia breakfast menu though? 

Sorry getting mixed up, meant Diamond! Myself and grandparents are all diamond big never used the perk, and my boyfriend is a silver. I would like to go with my boyfriend but my grandparents are not fussed so had said they could use there’s, but I didn’t think that would be allowed 

Glad it’s still in the kings court, for some reason everytime I’ve ordered it in the restaurant (when it use to be on the menu) they would still bring me the pancakes 😂 but it is very good! 
 

and thank you for the room service menu 😄

I am wondering how to dining voucher works for platinum members (have been one for years but never used it before), and I would like to dine in the verandah with my partner who is only a silver member. Would this be possible without an added charge? 
 

or if not possible, would he be able to use one of my grandparents platinum grading to attend instead of them? Understand this is very unlikely, just wondering if any all possible! 
 

also wondering how it works for the wine tasting as well? 

Does anybody have the most recent Britannia restaurant breakfast menu?
 

i am interested to know if it still has French toast listed, or if you can order some things off the menu? 
 

also if anyone has the recent breakfast room service menu that would be great! (Not sure if it has changed much, but last time in Britannia was 2020!) 

18 minutes ago, rakkor said:

We noticed that Fresh Fruit and the Day 1 chocolates were absent on our last cruise. We commented on it then promptly forgot about it, so never chased it up, maybe because the portions seems so much larger than previously for all our meals we never felt hungry.

Yes I had been told that they had been absent on the last cruise as well, but I completely agree with you on portion sizes, I never felt hungry on the ship 😂 

We were booked in Q3, but I do think because it’s a short cruise they is not as much effort made, and really, there wasn’t much we needed the butler to do! Just some of the extras would have been nice. 
 

As for the earl grey, it was on the menu alongside the assam, when I we all asked for the two different teas when the server came over to see if we wanted tea, he said he only had the English afternoon tea. My grandparents and boyfriend wanted the assam but rather than making a fuss they opted for the one in the pot, I asked for the earl grey and was told I’d need to wait, and I said I didn’t mind. I just think it’s nicer in the queens room, but am pleased I have tried it. 
 

yes to receive the spirits on the last day is pretty pointless, our hand luggage was very heavy this morning! 
 

The lounge is nice, sadly we never found the time to go up for pre dinner drinks as we went to a quiz before dinner, but I’m sure it had a nice atmosphere. 
 

We are definitely not picky people, just I would expect a bit more for the price, but as I said, I think booking the queens grill for a longer cruise you will experience more of the benefits! In my opinion, I’d rather book two cruises rather than paying what we paid for a short cruise in grills. 
 

now to start planning my next cruise, instead of doing the washing 😂

Also could someone tell me why there are cloths left by each side of the bed? We could not work it out the reasoning. 

Overall we had a lovely cruise and the covid rules in place did not affect our holiday. My boyfriend would like to try a longer cruise and we are going to look at doing a transatlantic on the QM2, as this is something I have always wanted to do.
 

As it was only 4 night cruise, we didn’t need the extra space of the suite, although it was nice! The canapés were left for us with no description of what they, so the first two nights we did not touch them, and after that our butler didn’t bring them. My nan got hers every night and enjoyed them though. 

We were never offered fresh fruit in the suite, and we did not receive any chocolates on embarkation day, when I asked about this he said they were not available. We didn’t need them, but when you book the suites, they are listed. The bath and shower were incredible, I can’t fault it in the slightest! 

The queens grill restaurant is nice, but the quality of the food was exactly the same as the Main dining room, and while it was nice to have the same table for all meals, I wouldn’t say it was worth the 3k more. I did noticed  it seemed like when you would ask for something different it could me some trouble convincing the waiters, but they did accommodate us mostly, and always friendly. i have also only recently started to eat fish, so I would receive the menu the day before in the main dining room and also have an Al a crate menu, so if wasn’t very different for me. It was nice having the extra options to choice from for my partner and grandparents though. 

The entertainment was really lacking. I understand with covid, it has to be scaled back, but on a 4 night cruise I would expect them to not repeat a show, and there were two nights were we had a folk band playing in the theatre/queens room and the comedian.  I would have rather of had two shows with the singer and dancers, or something exciting, like acrobats. We only went to one show in the end. 
 

We enjoyed the music in the golden lion, but it finishes at 12am, even though there were loads of tables left which is a shame. And the nightclub is good, but as it’s the only place open after 1, it gets busy and you struggle to get a table. 

There was not much mention of Covid on board, and I did not see any rooms quarantining. We did have to wear our masks throughout the ship and most people stuck to the 4 people in a lift rule, although we didn’t mind more people joining us if they needed to. 

If I was booking a short cruise, I’ll stick with the main dining room, or pay a little extra for a club, but not for queens grill as to me it’s not worth it. We didn’t touch our spirits as we like to enjoy the bars, but I think If I was booking a weeks cruise then I could see that you could dine in your room with a couple of drinks on a few of the nights. I would like to try princess to compare as well, so I’ll start looking for deals tonight aha. 

If the queens grill is cheap enough I would book it again, but definitely not for a short cruise as there’s not enough time to enjoy the extras you are paying for, as you want to enjoy the ship. 

Since I have been cruising for 13 years now, I have noticed a decline in Cunard, which does frustrate me. I remember the first couple of cruises, there being a lot more cocktail options, larger menu options etc. Covid has affected it a lot and I hope that it will get better but I doubt it. 

There were 100s of people not dressed smart enough for my liking, dresses I would wear in the day time are being worn as evening dresses, and men in jeans and T-shirt, women in Ugg boots and leggings. It’s really disappointing as really jackets should be required every evening. 

Pros of Queens Grill

• Lovely bath with jets and a powerful shower 
• Coffee machine 
• Sparkling and still bottles of water 
• Canapés (if you want them) 
• Extra space 
• Slightly larger balcony with cushions blankets etc
• A wallet for your card to go in (I think this is just a grills thing?)

Cons of the queens grill

• afternoon tea could have better service 
• Need more waiters in the Queens grill as waiting times are a little long 
• No chocolates in the room on embarkation day
• No offer of the fresh fruit 
• Our butler didn’t do much more than what the usual stewards does (although we were not hosting any parties in our rooms) 
• Grills lounge is very small 

Pros of the ship

• very clean and staff friendly 
• Can leave luggage in the room on the last day whilst you have breakfast and then collect it 
• A fair amount of photographers on the evenings 
• shops and art gallery has a nice selection of items
• Everywhere was open and lots of quizzes on offer

Cons of the ship 

• not as much entertainment, especially after 12am 
• Buffet area after 12am is not available really 
• Drinks Menus are scaled back (seems like this happens every couple of years) 
• Room service for vegans/vegetarians/pescatarians after 11pm is very limited 
• Dress code is non existent 
• Lager was flat from both bottles and on draft