exlondoner

1 hour ago, D&N said:

O.M.G.

I believe there is also a discreet one in navy.

6 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

We left the theatre show tonight because someone came in mid-show carrying a small dog wearing jingling bells/tags. Has anyone experienced this? We went to the purser's office and received no explanation other than that service animals are allowed onboard and that we should just avoid sitting near it if bothered.

Eeeek. Horrible. Worse still the way it was handled. And jingling in a theatre show. Much worse than people wearing the wrong clothes, I think.

12 minutes ago, david63 said:

For the record I noticed four polo shirts and one pair of jeans in the Grills Lounge tonight whilst I was there

Are you on QA? I don’t think I would notice if people were entirely naked in the gloom of the Grills Lounge.

28 minutes ago, D&N said:

Easily solved. Call it a blazer.

Sounds like something firemen wear. Or, more realistically, official dress for sports teams. And have you seen the MCC blazer? 😀

3 minutes ago, david63 said:

There is the other argument regarding polo shirts in that sports wear is, supposedly, not allowed after 18:00 and by definition a polo shirt is sports wear.

I think that may be a red herring. People who wear polo shirts are not on the whole polo players, and I’m not sure polo players even wear them. And nobody would suggest someone wearing a sports jacket on a non-formal night was inappropriately dressed, despite the nomenclature.

5 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

I can't find a thread from you asking about the dress code before you sailed. These are moderated boards and we don't allow insults.

Unless it is about Cunard’s IT, obviously. 😀

3 minutes ago, MylesS said:

Thank you! Lots of hugs going around from the crew that recognise me has made my holiday, nothing can ruin it now. 

I’m surprised the crew don’t think you are one of them, given the time you have spent aboard. 😀

I think the heavy use of laundry early in the cruise may be because such cruises are often marketed over here as part of a package, including a train trip and visits to Calgary or wherever. If people do all that before the cruise, they may have stuff to wash.

11 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

I for one am happy to accept the post pandemic offerings. Very little in life is the same or better.I have lost count of the food items that are subject to shrinkflation. Latest was butter sold in 200g pack instead of 250g. I would rather cruise with the product on offer than not. 

Not all butter, thankfully - yet.

25 minutes ago, NowVoyager2 said:

As far as reasoning behind business plans & the cause of cutbacks onboard - after covid Cunard / Carnivore Corp could of restarted the QM2 and queen Victoria at full staffing levels w a good quality experience all around.  The Queen Anne would be launched w a full staff and  quality onboard experience.  And finally Queen Elizabeth restart when capital & cash on hand would ensure the same quality.

 

But instead  the corporate decision was made  to make cutbacks all around  & deliver a less than promoted levels of food & service( including onboard maintenance).

remember these corporations are held to stock holders expectations / demand of higher earnings.

I always say look at the balance sheet & bonuses of these corporations & that is what tells the true story of a Corporation.

 

One recent example is the BOEING CORPORATION.  It just hired a new CEO at $30,000,000 a year while the union workers haven't had a raise since 2014!!!

In fact, QV needed a lot of work doing, and resumed service quite a while after the other two.

6 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Music to my ears especially if the 'words' were in 'expressive'  Italian!

 

Let's hear it for instant coffee! 😅

Let’s hear it for the Grills Lounge opening by 10.30, so that those who can bear it can get a cup of coffee there.

8 hours ago, Gallivant70 said:

I offer two datapoints: one from ten years ago and one this summer. Both QM crossings.

 

It is pretty clear to me that Brittania waitstaff to guest ratios at dinner are far too low. Our servers were pleasant, attentive, and helpful, but were running everywhere, with sweat on their brow. In contrast, waiters are standing over each other and conversing together at lunchtime. So there is a fixable problem there, which I shared on my survey.

 

In the bar areas, it takes longer to get drinks and the crew are more swamped. In my crossing ten years ago, by Day 3, the server in Commodore brought me my drink as I sat down without asking. Now, they barely remembered me despite walking in at the same time nearly every evening.

 

Our cabin was spotless the entire trip and was cleaned almost immediately after we vacated in the morning and as we left for dinner.  Cups/glasses took longer to clear on the deck and in public areas.

 

Most, if not all, of the musical ensembles had fewer performers.

 

The quality is still high, but not what it once was. I chalk this up to 1) post Carnival acquisition and 2) post COVID belt tightening.

If you are comparing 2014 and 2024, it is hard to see that any differences can be down to being bought by Carnival which happened before QM2 was commissioned.

2 minutes ago, rrobbins said:

If it is not too much trouble, could you take a picture of the coffee machine in your Britania Club Room and one of the pods?

 

Thank you.

Unless you are of Italian extraction, there is point in this. No other nationalities appear to be capable of working the things. 😀

9 minutes ago, MylesS said:

After a busy few weeks and freezing today in my office, I've decided something needs to change! So tomorrow I'll be breaking my nearly 3 year British Airways "boycott" and flying to Rome to join Queen Anne on Sunday.

Good for you. How long a voyage? What grade? How many weeks since your last trip in Annie?

25 minutes ago, LEESRE said:

Has no one been into the Spa on Queen Anne, seems odd that no one has replied.??

Sorry, wouldn’t ever set foot in the spa, if you paid me. I think @3rdGenCunarder used it.

25 minutes ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I was disappointed in the service I experienced in Britannia on QM2 in June. It was very slow if cheerful. I have to say that my stateroom steward was excellent and our stateroom was always immaculate. Bar waiters were good everywhere. I had a great time on the QA maiden even if there were the inevitable hiccups in service you expect on a maiden. And sure, I wish the menus would get a refresh because they are a bit tired.

 

Would it put me off booking again? Absolutely not. I have 3 Cunard trips coming up and I'm very much looking forward to them. Just 24 days until I'm on QV but who's counting?

Refreshing the menu is a tricky one. I remember some years ago when they made major changes to the QG alc, both its format and some contents. Throughout the cruise people were moaning that it no longer featured Scampi Provençale, strange indeed when you can order whatever you want anyway.

1 minute ago, Host Hattie said:

It's still pretty shallow, much less than the posted depth.

One of our table sharers uses the Panorama Pool for that reason. 

Yes, that is what I did.

9 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

We've spent holidays in Barcelona so Mr HH got off to do some shopping but I stayed on board. Had a pleasant float around in the Pavilion pool.

The Captain has threatened us with some bumpy weather overnight.

When I was aboard the Pavilion Pool was not really deep enough, so it was quite difficult to swim without banging the bottom. Is it better now?

2 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

NowVoyager2 , we have been sailing with Cunard since 2011 and can find very little difference in the service we have received or the quality of the menus.

 

I don't 'do' costume jewellery, my clothes have been known to be 'designer' and believe me, the food we eat is most definitely NOT what we eat at home, even from my caterers M&S and Waitrose, and I will not be alone in these respects.

 

If you find it's not worth booking anything 'above' a mid ships balcony, I'm hard pressed to know how you can evaluate food, cabin, service etc BC.PG and QG without having tried it...recently!

In Covid when we weren’t sailing, I did try and create a Cunard dinner a couple of times, minus flaming, you’ll be relieved to hear. I didn’t come anywhere close.

24 minutes ago, s.s.France said:

One observation, on the QE though, was last October, that it took longer than I was used to until the suite was made up after breakfast. I remember when returning from breakfast it was normally finished. Last year not so. I heard, or read, that a butler now has more suites to care for than pre-cov. That would explain it. Otherwise, everything was up to usual standards.

On all our voyages on various ships for about the last ten years, we have found our cabin ready fairly soon, but not immediately, after breakfast. I think it partly depends on when both you and other people breakfast and probably where you are in the butler’s tranche of cabins. On the Vistas we usually spend a pleasant twenty minutes in the lounge looking at the view and doing the crossword. Not, alas possible on QA, so we had a walk to the Commodore Club as well.

7 minutes ago, King Amo said:

We had a thread asking this question a month or so ago. My view is that if it means that I don't have to sail with the miserable bunch who take issue with kids enjoying themselves, when there are already adult only areas of the ships, it gets my vote. 

I didn’t notice any adult only areas on QA, but may have missed something.

Apparently, it was not so easy to reinstate all old crew after lockdown as they had found other things, which meant a higher proportion of relatively inexperienced crew. This may have been exacerbated by more crew being transferred for the introduction of Queen Anne. However, having been on all four ships since 2022, I have encountered no problems with service, except on QA, but this was her second voyage, where they were clearly still sorting themselves out and evolving systems. In the restaurant, service the second week of that voyage was very much better than the first. Everyone seemed agreeable and contented. All my experiences relate to QG for what it is worth.

14 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Reminds one of an old joke… Do you like children? - Only if they’re cooked correctly.

Or my husband likes children, but can never manage a whole one.

But Cunard children are almost invariably very nicely behaved.

20 minutes ago, alc13 said:

Verdict?  Looks delicious. 

 

How on earth is the a martini, by the way?

I was wondering that. I thought a martini was something involving gin or perhaps vodka and, er, Martini.

Incidentally, those two lifts in the B stairway also service the children’s facilities on Deck 10, so would also be needed by people going there with pushchairs, etc, putting more pressure on them. Not too much of an issue perhaps in Alaska.