WantedOnVoyage

There were reasons Cunard moved their express service from Liverpool to Southampton over a century ago, mainly the need to replace the suddenly vanished German lines post WW1 and serve the Continental ports and Liverpool was hardly in the right geographic location for that. And the British market had changed, too.  But hardly the place here for a discourse in all that.

Suffice to say, Canadian Pacific were the last trans-Atlantic line out of the Mersey in 1971. And while Fred Olsen may do well enough with their cruise programme but I doubt Cunard will pay Merseyside anymore attention after yesterday than they have in the past century. Right now, they have more pressing matters including finding enough crew. The recent reviews of QM2 are most concerning indeed in this respect. 

Hey, for a company that's 184 years old, a 57-year absence is not even a legal separation... !

I would point out that Fred. Olsen have been sailing out of Liverpool with a lot less fuss and nonsense for a number of years now. They claim no roots but cross the Mersey Bar. 

Some historical perspective with all this "Cunard and Liverpool" talk

The last express Cunard liner to sail from Liverpool to New York was IMPERATOR (even before she became BERENGARIA.... in 1920. Or 104 years ago.

The last Cunard sailing from Liverpool to Canada was RMS CARINTHIA in... 1967.  The last to New York was also in 1967 by RMS SYLVANIA. That was... 57 years ago.

No Cunard passenger liner called on the Mersey until the 1990s when QE2 did (we were aboard for her second such call).

Cunard moved their headquarters out of the city by 1965.

Them's the facts... 

I speak enough Italian, including all the "right" phrases learned in Arthur Ave., The Bronx, and still can't make more than a cm of cold black sludge with the darned thing.   

The one in our cabin on QV appeared never to have been used so word is spreading....

And my cheerful dispostion was enhanced by the appearance, for no discernable reason, of a split of... Pol Acker.... in our cabin.  

All is good aboard QUEEN VICTORIA......

Then again, you claim to be the only one who can work the Illy coffee machine in Grills cabins so we bow to your boundless optimism.  Me, I am wondering if they will get to no. 250 if this is any indication....  I am stopping at nos. 246-248 thanks very much. 

As Francis Urquhart would say: "No background and no bottom."

Oh dear.... as they say in show business, "There you have it...."

I still think my criteria for clean shoes and capped teeth will produce a worthy sponsor. 

9 minutes ago, david63 said:

Many American ships have a male godparent

 And British ones too... EMPRESS OF BRITAIN (1931) was christened by HRH Prince of Wales. Yes... "that" Prince of Wales, too. 

Distressing to hear and no, the "Oh but the QUEEN ANNE..." excuse doesn't cut it.  Cunard/Carnival decided to build the darned thing and should have ensured they had the sufficient staff trained to man her from day one. Not ruin everyone else's experience on their existing ships, let alone the flagship, when they are scrambling to do what should have set in place six months ago.  Stop resting on "180 years of blah, blah..." and prove you are not a start up cruise operation.  

Having said that, we had superlative service aboard QUEEN VICTORIA earlier this month for three weeks and no complaints.  Lots and lots of familiar crew too. 

But yes... after the first week, the waits between courses even in Princess Grill had assumed 20-25 mins. between starter and mains and that is simply unacceptable, indicating the real shortages or training lapses are behind the scenes, at least on QV.  

Taste is subjective indeed and nothing is more satisfying that the preconceived notion that is proven in photo and comments.  That lounge looks.... simply awful!

I'll stick to QV and QM2 thanks very much and wish all who sail in QA many a happy cruise. 

Except that on LUSITANIA it did not serve anything more substantial than bovril and crackers at 11am and tea in the afternoon.  It was fully exposed to the elements astern and as plainly furnished as a bus shelter. Indeed it was really a place to get vaguely out of the cold and wind and have something hot to drink. 

Cunard were, in fact, very late to the extra cost restuarant idea pioneered (like almost all other ocean liner luxuries) by the Germans back in 1905. AQUITANIA was the first Cunarder to have an extra tariff restaurant and that was soon removed.  Cunard made the point that one need not spend more to get the best in dining.  

The real inspiration of the "Grill" stems from QUEEN MARY's Verandah Grill but that was more an extra cost supper club with a very limited menu and dancing. Not a restaurant per se.  I am not even sure it was open for luncheon.  I doubt it. It was the same concept, less the dance floor, that QE2's original Grill Restaurant had.  That had a wonderful little bar "below stairs" which was still around in the late 1970s.  You actually entered the Grill from that.  

I am in the minority in liking QM2's Grill Lounge... it's far more spacious feeling than on QV/QE.    Lacks the superb views but it has large windows overlooking the Promenade Deck giving it a classic shipboard aspect.  The decor is better than it was for sure but it remains a bit 1980s Business Class lounge in character.  And like Business Class lounges "back then", it's also quiet and often underpopulated.  Even better. 

I like that proper afternoon tea is served there (I really dislike on QV/QE they serve tea in the Princess Grill restaurant) and last time I was aboard in 2022, it was fully presented with a menu, cake and sandwich stands, etc., but I understand that's a victim of the relentless cutbacks of late.  Far more important to me is that in 2022 it had a superb South African lady bartender who knew how to mix a martini and actually put a decent measure of gin in it.  We often patronised it for pre dinner cocktails if for that reason alone (my choice!) but also when we could not face another route march to the Commodore Club.  If you've not been on QM2 before, you will soon develop your getting around survival skills and appreciate the Grills Lounge for its location more than anything else. 

Not our favourite captain.  We were on QE on a roundtrip from Barcelona in September 2022 (our version of the 4th Covid cancelled cruise rebook that finally happened) and had a complete breakdown of the ship's water supply in cabins. For hours. Not a word, not a peep from the Bridge.  During the Diamond/Platinum reception "attended by senior officers" the Captain spent 10 mins in the Queens Room with a few officers in a corner of the room, never once engaging with any passengers.  Maybe that was after the water breakdown.... (!).

Capt. Hoyt of QV is the one for us and he relishes close cruising... we had some marvellous ones, admitedly in brilliant weather, in the Aegean last week... sigh. 

Princess Grill in QM2 is exemplary... we enjoyed a roundtrip "crossing" Southampton-West Indies and return direct in Jan 2022 and the service, cuisine and restaurant (which I rate as more attractive than the revamped Queens Grill) were really top notch.  There have been cutbacks since but PG in QV last week owed nothing in the essentials of service and cuisine.  On a crossing you won't notice the repetition of menus either but the wait between courses is an increasing issue.  It's still worth the wait. 

I also think the PG cabins on QM2 far nicer than QV and QE... my wife disagrees here but I think the decor far more attractive and I prefer the more spacious feeling square design with more more window exposure and wider balcony to the narrow QV/QE configuration. 

Cunard have been clever enough (but you need to be as well) to include calls during the season at Turkey on QV's summer programme which gets Spanish hands out of your pockets once you leave their waters. I think the same holds true if originating in Italy and if the itinerary later calls at a non EU country, you escape VAT as well. We paid VAT on QV only in Spanish waters. 

We flew home from Civitavecchia and were frankly delighted with the arrangements (transfers, etc) and FCO is so superior to BCN on all counts.  The BA lounge there had service that rivalled the Concorde Room at LHR. Charming. 

Hopefully not chosen entirely randomly from anyone with clean shoes and capped teeth in the vacinity of Pier Head.  

Sorry, I managed to mangle Capt. Thorhauge's first name... it's, of course, INGER. 

Sorry to see "The Cunarder" morph into a straight promotional piece... originally, it was about us (passengers) and them (the crew) as much as the ships or destinations. There's really no news of Cunard people or passengers just brochure blandishments posing as articles.

I did get a chuckle over Capt. Ingor Thorhauge's comment (or the one written for her) re. QUEEN ANNE: "If guests believe they are coming to another version of QUEEN MARY 2, they are going to be surprised."  Judging from many of the reviews, that may well be the case. 

Red Card is the colour of the key cards for passengers who do not yet qualify for World Club "status". We had 1,500 (!) Diamond and Platinum members for the first week and the second, I suspect that was reduced by two thirds.  

Sorry you missed "To Serve Them All My Days" as a series (BBC 1980-81) or indeed as a book (R.F. Delderfield) but well worth discovering.

Actually it was my wife who compared it sometimes to the scenes in the faculty lounge in "To Serve Them All My Days"....!  

We had a lot of "Red Cards" in the Grills midweek which is unusual (well to me anyway) who elected to take full advantage of their facilities and never seemed to budge from the place.  

QV Grills Lounge last three weeks was ace.... the best bartender on the ship and Reyland, the steward, is a jewel. It was hard to find a seat.  And those views... like having morning coffee as you transit the Messina Straits. Exceptional. Gives new meaning to the term "Vista".  

Sometimes the Grills Lounges do assume a faculty lounge in some boarding school quality and we skipped it in the middle week for evening cocktails and enjoyed the Gin & Fizz and Chart Room instead especially with superb string music most cocktail hours.  

I love "the hell hole" description (!) of QA's Grill Lounge but I could not possibly comment further....

29 minutes ago, NE John said:

The 20% discount is nullified when they then add the 15% service charge on each drink. 
Some have mentioned Virgin’s “Bar Tab” policy and I like that idea. Gives more flexibility to pax who don’t drink alcohol (or as much as the other in a cabin) and makes the server’s job easier. 
Cunard needs to change their outdated drinks package programs: for both full paying pax and the now useless US Grills “promo”. 

On QV over the last three weeks (before the new list came into effect 27 May), the Grills "drink package" still worked but only thanks to staff as fed up with Carnival's gaming passengers who drink as we are,  by outgaming them. 

Preferring not to wade through the deliberately arcane chicanery of "list" prices vs. "packages", I found it easier to simply inform the steward of my $12 limit and let them tell me what I could have. It worked well enough. In Grills territory better than elsewhere on the ship. And we rewarded our enablers liberally at the end of the cruise, too.  Post the 27th, I would imagine the Grill $12 package will be 95 per cent useless on paper and 90 per cent even with creative steward accounting.  

You might argue that relentless cutbacks, economies and deliberately conceived to confuse and hedge "packages" are a good business practice in a discretionary consumer product like cruising.  But chances are you are not a cruise passenger of late, especially aboard a Carnival owned vessel. 

BTW, I counted the total number of hangers (with clothes) in our huge walk in closet in our Princess Grill cabin on QUEEN VICTORIA: 84 (!).  This clothes horse would not be stabled on QUEEN ANNE for all the oats in the world. 

"Baggage Hall"??? You mean the magnificent Gare Maritime Transatlantique dating from the late 1920s and with Napoli's and Trieste's Stazione Marittimas, the last of the great liner piers. Unlike Southampton's splendid Ocean Terminal, shamefully destroyed in 1983, it has been wonderfully preserved.  But yes, worth the call at Cherbourg alone and QM2 will be back in the great Continental port of call for the former QUEENs.  We called there aboard Fred. Olsen BLACK PRINCE and found Cherbourg to be utterly charming and yes, I think better for a day's gentle self exploring than Le Havre.