godfreyb

It's just a horrible experience fighting your way through the narrow and crowded alleyways to get to the cable car entrance and then having to stand in single file along the walkway in the sun for an hour to get near the cable car entrance. Never again!

It's not all by subway!  You have to take the Yokohama subway to get to the commuter station to get the train to Tokyo (30 minutes) and then use the Tokyo subway.  Sounds complicated but it isn't.  Have cash for tickets and then be aware that the Japanese stand in line behind each other as they gather, they let people off the trains first before they get on.  I can't remember the stations we went to, but people are very helpful.  We can't wait to go back to Japan.

We travelled during Golden Week and didn't notice any shutdowns (but we were only there for the first two days). If you are booking your own hotels, do it early, because I thought that booking 4 months ahead would be OK, but the rate had doubled from what was showing 6 months ahead.

We did a private tour of Tokyo when our ship docked at Yokohama, which involved going on public transportation.  it was very enlightening to see how the system works, because the guide explains it all, such that when we stayed in Tokyo for a few days ten days later, we went all over the place on the subway by ourselves.  One thing to note, some of the transfers require long walks!

Japan is just wonderful and worth the extra sea days.

20 hours ago, exlondoner said:

What does veranda mean on Cunard? Britannia Balcony?

 

And this is clearly a losing battle, but it’s not high tea (at least on Cunard) but afternoon tea.

I intend to keep up the battle, but here in the US the astonished looks you get when pointing out what afternoon tea is and what high tea is, mean the battle is going to be endless!

As my original comment was mentioned here, I would mention that it was the Lido restaurant that was the problem with the restriction on the number of regular items in favor of Japanese specialties, coupled with the earlier dining times in the Grills designed for Japanese passengers, which meant that when returning from a half day tour, it was too late to have lunch in the Grills dining rooms, and one had to repair to the Lido, where the reduced items, plus the early changeover to afternoon tea (in preparation, but not yet available on the buffet), meant that it was impossible to get a sandwich (for example), the other buffet items were very tired looking at that point.  It is not that I don't want to try Japanese food, it's just that when returning from a half day tour, one just wants a quick bite and then a nap!

The Grills menus did not seem to be affected by any particular catering to Japanese cruisers.

I queried these daily pre-authorizations with the Grills concierge.  She gave me an interesting response.  They do it daily, instead of waiting until the end of the cruise because cards can expire before the end of the cruise, or be cancelled by the passenger, in which case Cunard is left out to dry..........it reminds me of the occasion on our last cruise in Grills when my breakfast was served with just one egg - I asked 'what sort of boarding house are you running here?'

Another factor is that Cunard can change your flights without directly informing you.  I had been trying to book a fare to Singapore on Singapore Airlines from SW Florida, but I could not do it on Singapore Air website.  Cunard could book it at an attractive Premium Economy fare. Great, I thought and booked it.  A month or two later, I looked at our cruise booking on the Cunard website and noticed a tab 'My flights'.  Checking it, I saw that we had been rebooked on three United flights (instead of two, one being direct from EWR to Singapore) and NOT in Premium Economy.  My TA got involved and we cancelled the entire flight booking.  The problem was caused by the booking being done by Cunard on the United Airlines system, which when the timing of the initial connecting flight changed, automatically rebooked us on United flights (United and Singapore Airlines both belong to the Star Alliance group).

If I hadn't checked I would never have known!  

That's why I won't use cruise air bookings now.

As I recall, Cunard had shuttle service at all the Japan stops.  I was impressed with that at the time, even though we were on tours at most of the places.

As I recall, the increased vigilance started after a number of passengers booked regular cabins, then boarded with mobility chairs, and left them in the corridor outside the cabin, blocking the hallways.  I myself witnessed several chairs being left like this on one cruise.

I gave up on the toast and asked for a toasted bagel every day - it isn't a bagel, but it is better than the toast, i.e. it gives you something to chew on!

21 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

In QV in May and October... no off the menu orders in PG.  You might get away with having a luncheon dish for dinner and the occasional treat for dessert. But post Covid, QG and PG are very distinct experiences as perhaps they should be. Princess Grill remains superb but anyone who thinks it's Queens Grill just without a butler and a smaller cabin... is going to be disappointed.  And if you don't want all the theatrics of yore, you will be delighted with the "new" PG experience, too.

That was our experience on the QE in April this year.  Where formerly a request for an off-menu item was handled, now raising the question was met with a rebuff by the Maitre'd. A different experience in PG from years gone by - and don't get me started on the two vegetarian out of five main course options offered every day - that really reduced the choices available for regular eaters.

Not in PG, but the Lido was all ready to go by 3 p.m.  Initially, as we arrived too late for lunch in PG on a half day tour, we thought that we would just substitute tea at 3 p.m. instead, but all those carbs didn't work for us.  As an aside, the lack of atmosphere when they serve tea in PG instead of the Grills Lounge is not an encouragement to go!

I am assuming that these changes also take out the QE's month-long round April-May Japan sailings?  That seems odd as they have put a lot of effort into this exercise.  Also, because the out of the way ports in Japan were quite interesting.

22 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Yes, I can see the earlier finish to lunch is more inconvenient for those coming back from tours, but equally the earlier start is helpful for afternoon tours. So swings and roundabouts, I suppose. And similarly with an earlier breakfast enabling more people to avoid the Lido before tours. But this was presumably equally tiresome for all passengers, not just those who hadn’t recently boarded. As to the Japanese food in the Lido, by your own account there were lots of other items.

 

Isn’t it good they tried to get English speaking guides? So do you have an idea what proportion of the passengers were Japanese. Was it actually as many as half?

 

You had the dismal experience, compared to the first cruise and I am not dissing that, as you claim, though I’m not really sure what the word means, but to let it make you feel like second class citizens seems a real shame.

1. It was good that they managed to get English speaking guides - my point was the chaos generated by the tour office in not having them in the first place.

2. We are not going to agree on the change in dining room times.

3.I estimate that the Japanese clientele on this cruise to be 50+%

4. You seem to ignore my comment that we thoroughly enjoyed the round Japan part of the cruise, which we did.  My comments refer to some annoying changes that Cunard made that was generally felt by our travelling companions from the previous sector.  Perhaps my comments will make more sense if I point out, as many of the passengers who we bumped into on the round Japan sector who were on the previous sector did, that the 25 day cruise from Singapore to Tokyo and around Japan, was marketed to us as ONE cruise and not two cruises. Non-grills passengers seemed to be more annoyed as it appeared to affect dining arrangements (not sure which as we were in PG which, apart from changed dining times, was not affected).

5. The Lido did not have 'lots of other items'.  In fact, arriving at 2 p.m. you could see lots of empty serving dishes, some dried out meat roast, and the sandwich area being closed down in favor of setting up for afternoon tea.  After two visits like this, we opted for room service or the Pool Grill (and as it was not a sunny day, having to get the Maitre'd to get the short order cook out of his hiding place).  Not what you would call a 'luxury dining experience'.  And while we are on the subject, one of our travelling companions we met on board liked to have a late drink after the theatre in Cafe Corinthia, supposedly open to 11 p.m.  After finding it closed, they made inquiries and the manager was shocked to find out that the staff had just closed early - it was open to 11 p.m, every night after that.

The more you try to belittle my comments, the more you jog my memory.........

On 11/6/2023 at 9:19 AM, exlondoner said:

I can see that putting it in that way may not necessarily have endeared you to them, but no doubt your phrasing was more anodyne. 🙂
 

You still don’t say, other than moving the time of dinner slightly, what the special treatment was.

As I recall, it was a number of things.  You diss my comment about moving the dining times, but it DOES make a difference when you close lunch in PG at 1:30 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. if you are returning from a half day tour, and then have to try to use the buffet, where half of it is now given over to Japanese food items.  (While my wife and I are happy to eat Japanese food, it was NOT what we wanted after returning from a half day tour) I also recall that some of the tours were Japanese speaking only, but when the tour desk realized how many non-Japanese speakers were booked for these tours, they first tried to dissuade us from going and then rushed to add English speaking guides.  

As for the person who made the comment about not needing the flower arrangements, if you had seen them you would have wanted one for your cabin!

It was the contrast between the first part of the cruise from Singapore to Yokahama and the sudden change for the Japan circumnavigation - it was clear that, unlike the first part of the cruise where all passengers were treated the same, on the second part, that there was a large group on board who were being given special treatment.  In particular, my wife and I are late diners and bringing forward the close of dinner service to 8:30 p.m., made us feel uncomfortable, even though I warned the maitre'd, that we would expect full service, even if we turned up at 8:29 p.m.

We were on the Singapore -Tokyo QE cruise and stayed on for the next round Japan cruise.  The changes were remarkable:

1. All new Japanese guests received flower arrangements in glass vases in their cabins - continuing cruisers got nothing.

2. All dining times were moved earlier by 30 minutes.

3. The buffet featured Japanese items every day, but no explanation as to what they were to the uninitiated.

4. Japanese speaking 'helpers' appeared in various parts of the ship, who somewhat resembled 'guards'!

5. Surprisingly, the dress code was relaxed for certain Japanese customers (jeans at dinner regularly appeared at dinner with no objection form the maitre'd in PG) which is surprising as most of the time the Japanese clients were well dressed

While we thoroughly enjoyed the round Japan part of our cruise, there was definitely a feeling that the continuing cruisers, of which there were quite a few, were second class cruisers on this leg.

April, but my travel agent's paperwork from Cunard, which she forwarded to me while on board, stated $13.  As you know you are charged on your account and refunded at midnight.  As the one drink over $12 was late in the voyage and I hadn't checked I didn't notice until the final statement was dropped off the night before disembarkation.  I didn't challenge it as it was just one drink and I had wasted essentially half a day earlier in the cruise going backwards and forwards with the Grills Concierge and phoning my TA, I wasn't going to spend any more time on it.

15 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

BTW, don't be surprised too if the letter in your cabin still says $12.  I'd check your bill the next day to be sure but she assured me it's not an issue. 

I would advise getting clear written clarification from the Cunard office on land as to whether it's $12 or $13. On a recent cruise (after denying for several days that we HAD the Grills Drinks Package) I had on drink for $12.95 and I was charged as if the limit was $12.  As it was only one drink on a 25 day cruise I did not challenge it, but our TA knows that on our next cruise I am going to need written confirmation of the $13 limit.  There seems to be a disconnect between Cunard land systems and the ships systems.

23 minutes ago, NE John said:

Many fellow pax said they’ll never go back to Santorini again if they have to take the cable car.

Certainly never again in midsummer. The lines extend forever and there is no proper place to form a line so you end up clinging to a wall overlooking the cliff to allow peope to pass.

On 8/29/2023 at 8:18 AM, bluemarble said:

 

I think the survey can be completed on a desktop if you realize (as I did not) that the "Z" and "M" icons seen in my reply #27 are not meant to be active buttons on a desktop (as they are on a phone) but rather indications to type the appropriate "Z" or "M" key on the keyboard to answer the question.

Well why didn't they say that??????

On 8/25/2023 at 12:11 PM, ovccruiser said:

Received it, started completing it but as soon as it got to Cunard only section it froze at 73% 😞 so could not complete.

Me too.  Very annoying to take the time to do the survey and then no alternative but to close the page and leave it.

We had this annoyance on a recent trip, which makes it hard to organize private tours.  However, I found that the Grills concierge had easy access to port arrival and departure times and I realized that Cunard DO have the information ahead of time, they just don't give it to us!