carlmm

15 minutes ago, ernnnn said:

So, you mean I cannot wear juans and a polo shirt any night (not formal) at the Main Dining Room? Really? 😳

That is correct.

1 hour ago, Log Flumer said:

 

 Has anyone noticed a clear deterioration in service standards, whether in terms of the dining experience, quality of food, stateroom maintenance etc? Has this affected Britannia more than the Grills? Thank you in advance for your thoughts and observations!

A few observations from the QV:

- No more canapees/hors d'oeuvre served pre-dinner. This is a kind of double cost-cutting: The food itself and the staff for preparing and serving.

- I seldomiy ate anything in the buffet, but for what it is worth, not once I got coffee or any other drink service.

- In Britannia for sure there is less choice and less quality items are served eg. no more lobster, no scallops, no venison main for dinner.

- Generally long waiting times for drinks in the Queens room and apparently not enough waiters in the Yacht club at peak times.

- No band in the Yacht club.

- Less members in the orchestra

- No guest artists for classical music performances

I might fill in some gaps later (or not 😉) but now I am on my way home. Thus I report about the debarkation two days ago:

Well done. One's hand luggage can remain in the cabin while one has breakfast and until one needs/wants to leave. Thus one can use the private bath room  for a last time, too.

No queues to leave.

My suitcases were patiently waiting. Friendly help was available when assistance was needed.

Out of Cunard's control were the long, and I mean long, queues for taxis.

On 9/7/2024 at 8:11 PM, Planning to cruise said:

I am pleased to see that there was a matinee classical concert.  We were told on Anne that "all that has gone", to our concern and disappointment.  

Yes, if you count Ludovico Enaudi as classical music.

It was performed by onboard musicians, not any specific classical music artist like there used to be in the past.

Nevertheless, it was nice.

2 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Berth in Ajaccio is available so we will tie up tonight around 2200 instead of tomorrow morning

There are some wine bars and other night live in Ajaccio. You might like to take the unexpected opportunity of an after dinner stroll.

Thank you for the weather update, @david63. Thus I better go out on deck and enjoy the sun in Valencia. Yet there is packing ...

Have a great cruise @david63!

The Queen Victoria will await you.

Palma, today's port, looks good day and night.

New lows this week include

- a man in jeans and just shirt served on gala night, several more without jacket and tie, on smart attire night even with baseball hat

- a man in beige trousers and a loose beige short sleeved shirt on the dance floor in the Queens room on gala night

- a couple bragging that they wear just very casual everywhere, maybe besides the restaurant, because nobody enforces  the dress code anyway

- a women peeling a man's skin in the hot tub 

Highlights include:

- overall almost universal adherence to the dress code in the restaurant and the Commodore club on gala night

- lovely, non-crowded CWC and Senior Officers parties with talkative officers

- an interesting and well orchestrated lunch and learn event in the Veranda

- attentive stewards and waiters who remember one

- a lovely matinee piano and cello concert

Lunch in the Britannia today did not find many guests but was good and served by friendly waiters. 

The signage outside of the dinning room just emphasizes one aspect of why I will stick with traditional fixed dinning.  

Toulon two days later required the usage of a shuttle boat from the ships pier to the city across the bay. This was well organized, maybe just 100 Meeres to walk, and complimentary.

Toulon may have been the least exciting of the ports for tourists but it has the flair of a friendly southern France town where it might be quite enjoyable to live if you part of the local community.

One more example of how overrun Florence is nowadays: Tickets to the cupolla/dome of the cathedrale were not only sold out but the first available date was 24th September, three weeks later.

A couple of days ago the port was Livorno, fom where I went to Florence using the bus service offered at the shuttle bus drop off point in the city centre. 

Compared to the Cunard offers it is cheaper, starts later, alows less time in Florence and is overall less convenient. At the end of the day they sropped us off right by the ship, thus fortunately no need to use the shuttle again.

Florence? Just beautiful as ever!

(Okay, and very crowded. Implying eg long lines at the accademia even with a prevooked time slot.)

Oh dear, I am well behind schedule. Cruise life is just to busy 😂.

Thus please ask if anybody is interested in any specific aspect of the QV or the cruise.

2 minutes ago, Cruise Liner Fan said:

Is the Senior Officer's Party also have the Captain of the Queen Victoria attending this party? Since I will be aboard the QM2 on November 20th of this year, I hope to see that things are back to normal before Covid 19. Also are the behind the scenes ship board tours that cost $120 being offered aboard the Queen Victoria for this cruise? When I was last aboard the QM2 in October,2022 I was told that there would be no behind the scenes ship board tours on this crossing but they maybe will be offered again in the future.

The captain did attend bothe parties last week. Yet, this is never guaranteed, he might have other responsibilities. Yesterday, the staff captain stood in for him at the CWC party. The captain joined only towatds the end.

The behind the scenes tour is curently offered 

Today, thankfully finally, for the first time live music in the yacht club.

Evening came and so did the sailaway party with good live music but unfortunately not many guest.

What did not come, and still did not come, was the sailaway. 

Instead the Cunard welcome set-up with water station and such was still up. As it turned out, there had been some kind of strike in the morning at least and other flight disruptions. New guest were still arriving far after the original time. Notably, a charter flight from Gatwick was 5 1/2 hours delayed. A couple on my new table was on that flight and thus joined is only the second night. They said everything was very annoying but the big welcome Cunard staff gave them really helped to forget the hussle - so friendly and almost enthusiastic.

As I had to change cabins on Monday, I did not go to Rome or any other further away places but just strolled around Civitavecchia itself. My stations included some churches, which were closed on earlier visits, a museum, a pharmacy and the beach.

Again I just can say that Civitavecchia is in that part of the city is a friendly small Italian town feeling place, worthwhile to visit for a day.

Today the sun is still hiding. Maybe this makes it easier for some to leave the ship.

The sad part for many came in the evening: The last night of the one week cruise from Trieste to Civitavecchia. Packing and saying good bye to newly found friends.

Actually not only to new ones but also to old friends as I had the pleasure to meet and spend time with lovely people I know from previous cruises, too.

Yesterday we stopped at Sorrento, a tender port.

As my my tables mates and me had decided to go to Capri, we wanted to be on an early ferry. This worked very well and Cunards handling was good. The papers said, handling out tender tickets would start at 8.15, purser's Office recommended to line up early, thus we met at 8 am. In reality there was no line, the distribution of tickets had started already 20 minutes earlier, we got ticket no 5, and were still among the first to tender at around 8.15.

Boarding the tenders was efficient, and we reached Sorrento such early, that we were able to take a ferry one hour before we had planned.

Now Capri: Beautiful. We thorouhly enjoyed sailing around the island ( tickets and boats available right where 8ne leaves the ferries), some apero, some shopping and museums and churches.

46 minutes ago, DukeBeetle24 said:

Surely a more balanced mix of entertainment in the Queens Room is a good thing? They haven't removed it fully.

Not in my view. Why should it be good to take something away? There are so many venues where they used to and still could offer a wide variety of music and entertainment. No need to mess up the Queens room. 

In the past one could trust in the Queens room orchestra playing dance music every night, now maybe sometimes, who knows. Several evenings none at all. A Cunard trade mark deleted.