WantedOnVoyage

Or, perhaps, Cruise Critic is best enjoyed without... Critics. It might be possible to criticise social media on social media or indeed to call into question the very origins and original premise of a specific site... this one, in fact, but while of no lasting value whatsoever, the "grading" by "stars" and the unsolicited comments of nobodies in particular is, one might suggest, at the heart of this very site is it not?

Cruise Critic is now criticising the critics... what will they think of next? “It is only about things that do not interest one, that one can give a really unbiased opinion; and this is no doubt the reason why an unbiased opinion is always valueless.” Oscar Wilde

Cunard port planners have been awakened from their slumbers... I don't recall a world cruise calling at both Réunion and Mauritius before and it sounds right out of a Messageries Maritime timetable c. 1954. But I suppose they make diverting enough "stretch your legs" calls on the long Indian Ocean passage and you have bragging rights with French sailors in Toulon, too.

But I am not the one complaining about no lobster or suggesting the most obvious of economies is somehow ennobled by "sustainability" either. Fact is that all lines have cut, reduced or removed and continue to do so. To save money and nothing else. I suspect Cunard reading all this will do the obvious and add lobster to the Britannia menu for a surcharge.

Personally, I bring an appetite to shipboard meals not a conscience. But redeemed maybe as I don't really much like foie gras, lobster or duck anyway. Maybe Cunard can have a Sustainability Cafe (extra charge, course) with gruel and ship's biscuits and, of course, no paper menus and tablecloths. What do Carnival call them, "The Fun Ships"?

I can be sure.... if Carnival did this for any other reasons, including sanctimonious "sustainability" they would be sure to tell us AND would never deny Grill passengers their opportunity to "save the planet" now would they? One lobster at a time.

A long summer on Cape Cod when I was nine swore me off blueberries, lobster and crab for the rest of my life. But it seems rather mean to drop something that seems important to so many others and surely Carnival Corp. can manage it for a gala night once? The worst economies a company can make are the ones people notice while charging more for the "same" product. Anyway, the British don't even know about Old Bay Seasoning so it all seems pointless anyway....

Well that's not very impressive... from Cunard or agent I must say. We'd never do that at Cook's in the old days!! I still remember calling clients when QE2 and CANBERRA went to the Falklands! No e-mail nonsenses then... you called them.

See related separate topic about the announced re-routing of QA and QM2's world cruises away from Suez.

At the considerable risk of bringing up the topic of using a travel agent, or indeed, talking to any vaguely real person vs. booking on the "website", this is why one might consider the former two options over the latter. I use the Cunard website (or try to) sometimes to get a vague idea what is available cabin grade wise but found it so often at odds with "real" availability that my agent or Cunard direct can actually confirm, to never once entertain the idea of booking on line. Cunard "IT" has never been much good... even before the public had to navigate it. I remember when Cunard went from "berthing books" to computers in the 1970s and it was a mess for agents, passengers and staff alike. One could book and pay for a First Class cabin and wind up in Tourist collecting tickets in London, and on embarkation be back in First and then in Tourist all in the space of one day aboard ship. And I did, too. But at least they could say "oh, it was the computer don't you know."

Yep.... perfect example of how to totally ruin a venue. We remember when you could not even get into the Yacht Club on QUEEN VICTORIA on an evening... it was packed and for good reason with an excellent band and vocalist and the best bartenders on the boat, too. In the last 2-3 years, it has been denuded of live music and life thanks to a penny pinching alternation between karaoke, execrable "silent disco" and lifeless DJ "requests". Or... nothing. A few times it had some life as an refuge for ballroom dancers who discovered the new Cunard doesn't want dancing in... the ballroom. Otherwise, it's largely deserted. But at least in May, it sure had great bartenders and the negronis were the one attraction. I love to know what the bar takings are now compared to when it was bustling with activity and life.

A complete deal breaker for me.... beyond anything else. I want to enjoy the sea on an ocean voyage: to see it, to feel it and smell it and not behind glass or in little ice tray cabin balconies. To walk around QM2's or the Vista's broad promenades is part of an ocean voyage and the promenade deck part of the ocean liner since its inception. I don't want to saddle around stuff in a a narrow, viewless industrial "gangway". No thanks.

The PINNACLE design has more to do with adding an additional deck of balcony cabins, not "standards and requirements" btw. But like that QM2 comes out on "top"... I still give the nod to QV as my fav. but so many elements of QM2 make her special: the high ceilings and the smell of the real teakwood decks being among my favourite. The others ships are plastic and in more ways than one. QM2 feels like a liner and as Kipling said, "The liner is a lady."

Actually you can (and I have) book aboard and give the representative my travel agent's IATA number and details so I get the benefits of booking aboard and the reservation is already "owned" by the agent so nothing more need be done. We might do so for a QM2 cruise for 2025 whilst aboard QV next week but I suspect the Jan 27 W. Indies cruise for her won't be on sale by then.

Have you actually tried to find roundtrip crossings/cruises on QM2 recently?? I have. There is no outbound connection for her only spring/summer Med cruise from New York next year, only on the return. The number of crossings is of less interest that how one can actually use them for... transportation even to get to Cunard cruise from Southampton. It's actually a great value to do a roundtrip crossing with Cunard compared to a Business Class airfare but the schedules make it difficult to really use the "last liner" as a.... liner.

Unfortunate, too, as it makes it increasingly impossible to do a long cruise ex-New York or indeed Southampton with a pair of crossings on either side.

I get so tired of this "steerage" and "class system" nonsense in relation to Cunard especially since the Grills are, with the exception of QA, far less of a "ship within a ship" concept that impacts the enjoyment of non premium passengers than others. Then again, odd that people accept, without a thought, flying in four-class completely segregated airliners with separate boarding etc. And relish classes within classes when it comes to frequent flyer perks etc. Everyone is or aspires to be Premium, Platinum, Executive etc. etc. so the idea that travel ought to be "classless" and hierarchies are somehow wicked or terrible is hypocritical nonsense. I did like the woman in PG on QE a few years back who flashed her c. 2011 QM2 QG "priority tender" card to queue jump... proving classless travel does exist afterall. And why you should never throw out anything.....

I'd have to think of all the Grill "experiences" we've done since 1993 starting with Britannia Grill in QE2 and Princess Grill (the original grill) on QE2; Queen's Grills (the original decor) and Princess in QM2, Princess Grill on QE and QV gosh, it must be seven times or more. Princess Grill "suites" on QA are a total turn off from what I've seen... smaller in dimensions and ever smaller in feel, dark colours, filled with fussy decorative details (like stuck on permanent nick-knacks on the shelves!), no walk-in closet and surely half the hanging space of the Vista and QM2 and, the deal breaker for my wife, no bathtub. And there is no comparing the lounges, either. Not to mention al fresco full dining on the Vistas. We will be going QG for the first time on QUEEN VICTORIA in... 10 days so looking forward to comparing but we've always been delighted with PG on her. And QG in QM2 in Jan 2025. Glad you are satisfied with your Grill experience on QUEEN ANNE. But... not for us, thanks very much.

Well that would be nice but to be honest, they don't have to do much to spur grill bookings on QV frankly. We were lucky to grab a guarantee Q3 on her from Barcelona to Southampton sailing on the 30th of this month but waitlisted to take her Med-UK in Oct 25 and booked her long West Indies cruise for Jan 2026 as soon as it was released. We are not the only ones who "go where she goes" apparently. If anything, she seems more popular than ever... wonder why?! I could not possibly comment.

Thank you... we have never liked QUEEN ELIZABETH frankly but I fancy combining a few of her ex-Miami cruises IF she is not "Americanised" and is another variant of "Cunard Lite" when it comes to dressing, entertainment etc. And no, we sure don't need another Holland America Line. Odd, though, this sudden interest in the Grills.... sorry, but I don't see a single real improvement in the Grill experience or facilities with QUEEN ANNE. Indeed, the complete hash they made of the Grill lounge, arrangement of the QG restaurant, lack of full baths in Princess suites (not to mention smaller in size and hanging space), the location of the Grills deck ect makes one think Cunard had given up on the Grill concept or didn't even care. It most certainly has no appeal to us as regular Grill passengers judged from videos or reviews.

It's a funny city... some parts of it are so swarmed with milling mobs of tourists to be a total turn off, and yet whole gorgeous hunks of it are delightfully uncrowded... We spent an astonishing two days exploring it... in the same "two chunks" you suggest in April 2001 aboard Renaissance Cruise's R7 (later Oceania) and it was oddly deserted, we literally wandered into the Coliseum, Vatican Museum etc. with nary a queue and crowd. And know that will never happen again so content to have "seen it." Sometimes it's best "not to go back"!! But yes... if you stick to the Vatican area, DO take the train from Civitavecchia that goes right to the train station at the Vatican. Everything is walking thereafter so no traffic and no city bus pickpockets (!). Cunard offers this train as a "Rome on your Own" tour btw. The station there can be a mob scene if on your own sourcing tickets so we just did the Cunard one and avoided it all.

You can enjoy Roma in a day if you pick your spots... although the most important thing is where to lunch and we have our favourite before or after shopping on the Corso. We've done the Cunard Rome on your Own excursion by coach and train. Both work but if you want to see the Vatican, the train is way better. Coliseum etc, the coach is best. BUT... time is not the issue here... it's subway construction and Linea C is an absolute nightmare for gli turisti with the heart of Roma from the Coliseum to the Piazza Venezia a construction site and much of the Via Imperiale obscured with plywood walls. Oh, and they promise it will completed by...mid 2025. I'd be astonished if it were but.... until then, what most consider the heart of Imperial Roma is.... a mess. That and the aforementioned Jubilee Year and yes... if it's your first time to see Roma, you gotta do what you gotta do but if not.... I'd avoid it, con piacere.

My goodness... there is only on place for a ship's bell and it is at the fo'c'sle head. For reasons that should not require explanation as to its purpose. It is not a designer choice nor subject to "a vibe" nor is it "on more thing to get round to." Hey guys... where's the bell?

Nothing would give some of us more relief if they did. Then again, even Dennis Dawson did not have to lock gates to access his First Class Boat Deck deck chair area, either. How's that for a "vibe"... right out of 1910!

Nope.... deck chairs on QE2, First and Tourist, were always reservable. At least every trip I made I made in her through the 1990s. Except for around the pools. It was one of the first things one did on embarkation. You paid at the bureau and brought the chit up to the deck steward and picked your preferred spot. All proper lines did that and library books were for reading not artfully displayed on a deck chair to "reserve" it all day. And yes, you could have tray lunches in First Class certainly when Mr. Dawson was in charge and choice of tea, real leaf tea, too, in the original 1920s pattern square pots. The rugs were off QUEEN MARY as were the cushions under new covers. Seemed to work for most everyone who fancied being a deck chair commodore.