gfs1ram

Super pictures, so pleased you have seen the lights - they are truly amazing as I found out from our trip on QV in 2019.

Good news also that I understand from friends on board that you are now visiting Stavanger instead of Haugesand albeit due to the bad weather forecasts.

Stavanger is much more 'Norwegian' and better still you are docking right in the Town making access very easy.

Hope you enjoy and that the weather forecasts are wrong !!

11 hours ago, TowandaUK said:

Thank you for your detailed reply. We booked our first Cunard cruise only 3 months ago so still have a lot to learn about Cunard. We are hoping to book another cruise before long so your information is very useful. 

I'm not sure when your first Cunard Cruise will be but another little tip is if you can, book your future Cunard cruise/s whilst on board with Voyage Sales.

For a balcony you will receive on board credit (OBC) of $300 each for a 10-24 night cruise and $150 each for a  6 - 9 night cruise. Other categories of Staterooms also qualify for OBS at varying levels.

You will also only pay £175 deposit each and the booking can be transferred to your Travel Agent if you have one to also get their discounted price.

Worth remembering but go prepared beforehand so you know the cruises you are interested in and approximate prices. Do not rely on Voyage Sales to get you the best deal.

33 minutes ago, TowandaUK said:

Can you explain why please? The price difference is quite big so I am curious how they justify it. 

Sorry to be a little abrupt but I started a similar thread last year (please refer to my activity).

I posted my conclusion on August 16th 2022 - see below.

"As the OP for this thread I thought I would post an update / my findings as during the last month we have undertaken two cruises on the QV, the latter being in Britannia Club.

Firstly we enjoyed both cruises immensely ( Norway & Western Isles).

Focusing on the differences we found with Club I can now be specific.

Regarding the Cabin.Deck 8. - Identical layout to an ordinary Balcony cabin.

Additions - Two foot stools on the balcony.

                     Coffee machine provided in addition to a kettle. (We did not use it)

                     Bottle of still water provided each day. (Providing you use it)

                     Large bottle of Pol Acker provided. ( half bottle in standard balcony cabin)

                     Dressing gowns a softer, heavier material. (But no slippers)

That's it regarding the cabin.

We have now completed 26 Cunard cruises so we were aware that the 'big' attraction was always said to be the dining experience.

The dining room was very nice, clean, bright and attractive.

The 'anytime' dining was very convenient and 7.30 meant no rushing for the 10pm show.

Additional "A La Carte" menu provided that little extra to choose from.

Now for the experience - and WHAT A LET DOWN !!

Firstly very surprised that the evening dress code was not adhered to with several men wearing open necked polo shirts and no jackets. Not looking smart at all. 

The food was very good but no better than what we have regularly received in the Britannia Restaurant.

BUT the service - oh dear! It was so disappointing.

The Waiters were pleasant but the Assistant Waiter in particular was obviously struggling to cope.

It is all very well having 'anytime dining' but then on one night having to apologise the fact that 'a lot of people had all arrived at 7.15/30 !! 

It still did not stop the table next to us arriving 30 minutes after us but getting their 'mains' served first??

It was however the lack of etiquette that was most noticeable and to me disappointing.

Call me old fashioned but in my experience the Ladies are always given the menu's and served first - but not with our Assistant Waiter!!  We have never experienced that at all in the Britannia Restaurant.

The anticipated 'Five Star Service' was just missing!

So there we are. I know that Britannia Club is very popular and must be so for a reason especially noting the premiums paid so I guess we were just unlucky but that is how it was.

Thankfully our dining experience did not spoil the cruise and we will most certainly travel with Cunard again - just not in Club."

As a further update I believe you now get slippers in Club but you also get a large bottle of fizz now in Britannia. 

Indeed we have just returned from a 14 day cruise on the QE. Our third Cunard cruise this year.

All have been in Britannia and I have to say the food on the last Cruise was exceptional in the Britannia Restaurant.

Just our experience.

Enjoy whatever you do.

4 hours ago, TowandaUK said:

Looking at the difference between Britannia and Club rooms. Can’t see a lot of difference considering the extra cost for Club. I know that Club has a separate dining room with an assigned table just for you. Is there much difference in the menus in these two categories?  I can see there is a lot more on offer to those in Grills, but is it worth paying extra for Club rather than Britannia?  

 NO.

A few more pictures - one before we put on our 'all in ones' 
 

Hi. We had a sensational Northern Lights cruise on the QV in November 2019.

Main recommendation is to book a private 'Chasing the Aurora' tour from Tromso - NOT the Cunard tour.

Just Google. Those 'Northern Horizon's' where just incredible - see some pics below.

We were a party of 4 but made up a mini van of 8 which picked us up from the ship at 9pm.The private tours have a network of 'spotters' and you are asked to take your passport as sometimes you can end up in Sweden. We ended up after one failed location deep in a snow covered forest about an hour from Tromso.

It was bitterly cold but in addition to your own clothing they provide all-in-one cold weather suits that really made a difference. You also have a BBQ around a camp fire with glutton free Reindeer sausages - I know but they were tasty and warm !! The BIG PLUS also is that they take photo's for you and forward them via email. As seen below. Our friend had a very good SLR camera with tripod but as the sky exploded we were shouting to him to 'look there and look everywhere' he was missing out big time so ditched his camera and just took in the amazing sights that we were seeing.

Our last on board was 3.30am (so more Cunard cut backs if it is now 1.30?) and they had us back by 3am but we could have stayed out all night.

Our adrenalin was still flowing at breakfast later that morning but we had to be careful because we learnt that the Cunard trips had just taken coach loads of passengers to a lake. The lights did not appear so they were back on board by mid-night. Other passengers did not believe our excitement until we showed then the pictures.

Can also highly recommend the Fjord trip in Alesund if that is on your itinerary.

Anyway could go on but whatever you decide to do I hope you enjoy and are as lucky as we were.

On 11/26/2022 at 1:23 PM, TheOldBear said:

Britannia first seating is at 6PM, and I believe this was for reserved/assigned tables on both levels.

The later seating is at 8:30 on the lower level with assigned/reserved tables. Open seating (different table every night) starts at 8 on the upper level.

Show times got pushed back to 10:15 starts as most late seating tables were finishing about 10 

Well unless timings have changed in the last two weeks on the QV cruise 11/11 - 15/11 First sitting was 5.45 and second sitting 8.15.  Show times were 8pm and 10 pm.

Level 3 was for the fixed sittings ie 5.45 & 8.15 and level 2 for anytime dining.

2 hours ago, Underwatr said:

For what it's worth, as a returning Cunard passenger I've received a full bottle of Pol in a standard balcony cabin on every embarkation after the first.

So have we but we didn't on the Victoria Norway cruise in July??

We did have a full bottle in replacement for the World Club Gala.

So 1 1/2 bottles for the cruise in a standard balcony cabin.

I started a similar thread in April and this is what I posted following our experience and in reply to someone else's thread in August.

It's a definite NO from us as you will see below

"Hi. A few days ago I updated a thread that I started in April regarding Britannia Club. You may be interested in our experience. I list the update again below.

"As the OP for this thread I thought I would post an update / my findings as during the last month we have undertaken two cruises on the QV, the latter being in Britannia Club.

Firstly we enjoyed both cruises immensely ( Norway & Western Isles).

Focusing on the differences we found with Club I can now be specific.

Regarding the Cabin.Deck 8. - Identical layout to an ordinary Balcony cabin.

Additions - Two foot stools on the balcony.

                     Coffee machine provided in addition to a kettle. (We did not use it)

                     Bottle of still water provided each day. (Providing you use it)

                     Large bottle of Pol Acker provided. ( half bottle in standard balcony cabin)

                     Dressing gowns a softer, heavier material. (But no slippers)

That's it regarding the cabin.

We have now completed 26 Cunard cruises so we were aware that the 'big' attraction was always said to be the dining experience.

The dining room was very nice, clean, bright and attractive.

The 'anytime' dining was very convenient and 7.30 meant no rushing for the 10pm show.

Additional "A La Carte" menu provided that little extra to choose from.

Now for the experience - and WHAT A LET DOWN !!

Firstly very surprised that the evening dress code was not adhered to with several men wearing open necked polo shirts and no jackets. Not looking smart at all. 

The food was very good but no better than what we have regularly received in the Britannia Restaurant.

BUT the service - oh dear! It was so disappointing.

The Waiters were pleasant but the Assistant Waiter in particular was obviously struggling to cope.

It is all very well having 'anytime dining' but then on one night having to apologise the fact that 'a lot of people had all arrived at 7.15/30 !! 

It still did not stop the table next to us arriving 30 minutes after us but getting their 'mains' served first??

It was however the lack of etiquette that was most noticeable and to me disappointing.

Call me old fashioned but in my experience the Ladies are always given the menu's and served first - but not with our Assistant Waiter!!  We have never experienced that at all in the Britannia Restaurant.

The anticipated 'Five Star Service' was just missing!

So there we are. I know that Britannia Club is very popular and must be so for a reason especially noting the premiums paid so I guess we were just unlucky but that is how it was.

Thankfully our dining experience did not spoil the cruise and we will most certainly travel with Cunard again - just not in Club."

On 8/3/2022 at 10:07 PM, ClefsDor said:

Unfortunately on our cruise Britannia Club is fully booked and I am now rather worried about the quality of food we will encounter in the main Britannia restaurant! I have read several posts saying people were in an out of the restaurant in an hour or less after having 3 courses! This is not an experience we will enjoy and I hope we will be able to ask our waiter to space the meal out and not be rushed. I know there is the speciality restaurant for dinner (not interested in buffets in the evening) and out of the 8 nights we are on board we will eat at the specialty restaurant twice (if we can get a booking - I don't seem to be able to book until 2 weeks prior to the cruise) so I guess it's only 6 nights we have to contend with in the main restaurant. 

Hi. A few days ago I updated a thread that I started in April regarding Britannia Club. You may be interested in our experience. I list the update again below.

"As the OP for this thread I thought I would post an update / my findings as during the last month we have undertaken two cruises on the QV, the latter being in Britannia Club.

Firstly we enjoyed both cruises immensely ( Norway & Western Isles).

Focusing on the differences we found with Club I can now be specific.

Regarding the Cabin.Deck 8. - Identical layout to an ordinary Balcony cabin.

Additions - Two foot stools on the balcony.

                     Coffee machine provided in addition to a kettle. (We did not use it)

                     Bottle of still water provided each day. (Providing you use it)

                     Large bottle of Pol Acker provided. ( half bottle in standard balcony cabin)

                     Dressing gowns a softer, heavier material. (But no slippers)

That's it regarding the cabin.

We have now completed 26 Cunard cruises so we were aware that the 'big' attraction was always said to be the dining experience.

The dining room was very nice, clean, bright and attractive.

The 'anytime' dining was very convenient and 7.30 meant no rushing for the 10pm show.

Additional "A La Carte" menu provided that little extra to choose from.

Now for the experience - and WHAT A LET DOWN !!

Firstly very surprised that the evening dress code was not adhered to with several men wearing open necked polo shirts and no jackets. Not looking smart at all. 

The food was very good but no better than what we have regularly received in the Britannia Restaurant.

BUT the service - oh dear! It was so disappointing.

The Waiters were pleasant but the Assistant Waiter in particular was obviously struggling to cope.

It is all very well having 'anytime dining' but then on one night having to apologise the fact that 'a lot of people had all arrived at 7.15/30 !! 

It still did not stop the table next to us arriving 30 minutes after us but getting their 'mains' served first??

It was however the lack of etiquette that was most noticeable and to me disappointing.

Call me old fashioned but in my experience the Ladies are always given the menu's and served first - but not with our Assistant Waiter!!  We have never experienced that at all in the Britannia Restaurant.

The anticipated 'Five Star Service' was just missing!

So there we are. I know that Britannia Club is very popular and must be so for a reason especially noting the premiums paid so I guess we were just unlucky but that is how it was.

Thankfully our dining experience did not spoil the cruise and we will most certainly travel with Cunard again - just not in Club."

7 hours ago, D&N said:

@gfs1ram Did you get any benefit from priority boarding?

 

We had either not noticed it applied to Club or forgotten, but when joining a short queue that split to where a mass of folk were in snaking queues for Britannia on right, the notice stating Britannia Club (amongst others) priority to left was most welcome.

Hi. We were delayed by accidents on the M40 and A34 so when we arrived about 2.30 we walked straight on as priority but as Diamond members I must admit I did not notice any sign regarding Britannia Club priority.

As the OP for this thread I thought I would post an update / my findings as during the last month we have undertaken two cruises on the QV, the latter being in Britannia Club.

Firstly we enjoyed both cruises immensely ( Norway & Western Isles).

Focusing on the differences we found with Club I can now be specific.

Regarding the Cabin.Deck 8. - Identical layout to an ordinary Balcony cabin.

Additions - Two foot stools on the balcony.

                     Coffee machine provided in addition to a kettle. (We did not use it)

                     Bottle of still water provided each day. (Providing you use it)

                     Large bottle of Pol Acker provided. ( half bottle in standard balcony cabin)

                     Dressing gowns a softer, heavier material. (But no slippers)

That's it regarding the cabin.

We have now completed 26 Cunard cruises so we were aware that the 'big' attraction was always said to be the dining experience.

The dining room was very nice, clean, bright and attractive.

The 'anytime' dining was very convenient and 7.30 meant no rushing for the 10pm show.

Additional "A La Carte" menu provided that little extra to choose from.

Now for the experience - and WHAT A LET DOWN !!

Firstly very surprised that the evening dress code was not adhered to with several men wearing open necked polo shirts and no jackets. Not looking smart at all. 

The food was very good but no better than what we have regularly received in the Britannia Restaurant.

BUT the service - oh dear! It was so disappointing.

The Waiters were pleasant but the Assistant Waiter in particular was obviously struggling to cope.

It is all very well having 'anytime dining' but then on one night having to apologise the fact that 'a lot of people had all arrived at 7.15/30 !! 

It still did not stop the table next to us arriving 30 minutes after us but getting their 'mains' served first??

It was however the lack of etiquette that was most noticeable and to me disappointing.

Call me old fashioned but in my experience the Ladies are always given the menu's and served first - but not with our Assistant Waiter!!  We have never experienced that at all in the Britannia Restaurant.

The anticipated 'Five Star Service' was just missing!

So there we are. I know that Britannia Club is very popular and must be so for a reason especially noting the premiums paid so I guess we were just unlucky but that is how it was.

Thankfully our dining experience did not spoil the cruise and we will most certainly travel with Cunard again - just not in Club.

We were on the QM2 May 22 - 29th to Norway.

Facemasks were not a requirement inside or in the theatre and people were sitting at bars.

It was just about like 'old' times.

Covid cases were increasing towards the end of the cruise however.

My wife tested positive upon returning home on the 30th.

Thank fully she is ok now.

Thank you for your helpful replies. Interesting.

Must admit I am with majortom in terms of preferred location - midships/aft, lower deck.

As suggested the thing is to try Britannia Club - if you are happy with the price !

Looking at some further possible cruises for 2023 the price difference I have found is more often 70 to over 100% increase for Club !!

Will continue to look for that bargain though.  Thank you.

 Apologises if this topic has been raised before but I cannot find it.

Having completed over 20 cruise with Cunard I am aware that Britannia Club balconies usually sell out fairly quickly.

I am also aware of the separate 'any time' dining option and the separate dinning rooms on the QE and QV with extended menu's.

Other than the above I was told on our recent QE cruise that there is little difference in the cabins and this came from the Sales Reps on board.

I was looking at cruises for 2023 and from a quick calculation Britannia Club balconies seem to be about 30/40% more expensive than the

normal BB, BE balcony cabins that I usually book. So on some 12 night cruises the difference was approximately £3600 for two people.

It seems difficult to justify such an extra expense (almost another cruise) especially as we have been very happy with the service/food normally 

received with an ordinary Britannia cabin.

Am I missing something ?   Would appreciate any helpful comments from members who have experience of both.

Thank you.

20 minutes ago, Cruise Puss said:

Agree. We all know it will be a Queen, certainly wouldn't want anything else, but 'Anne' is (& no offense meant to the many 'Annes' out there) a little boring. Now my name would have been much better... Alexandra.  I think Queen Alexandra sounds wonderful! 😁

I thought Queen Elizabeth ll  would have been most appropriate especially in  her 70th year.

7 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I don't think you are missing anything.

 

Cunard have not yet given any indication of what their COVID restrictions will be, so there is a certain amount of buying blind going on.

 

Also, I'm not sure if people are aware that Cunard have ended their flexible cancellation policy as of yesterday.

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/contact-us/travel-health-advisories/flexible-cancellation-policy

 

It says

 

'

Cancelling your voyage - updated 29 September 2020.

If you are booked on a Cunard voyage sailing on Queen Mary 2 after 18 April 2021, on Queen Victoria after 16 May 2021, or on Queen Elizabeth after 26 March 2021, and wish to cancel, our standard cancellation policy applies and Cunard shall be entitled to levy a cancellation charge as a percentage of the fare paid in accordance with the following scales.

 

 

 

Therefore, if people decide they don't like the COVID policies when they are eventually published, they might find that it will be less easy to move their cruise to a later date. 

 

 

Thank you for your reply.

At least Cunard do not seem to have altered their 'flexible transfer policy'  -  yet !!

Hi.

It's a return to the message board for me. Following lockdown and the cancellation of two Cunard  cruises I have 'unsubscribed' from many Travel sites and have rarely looked at this message board. No point.

I use the term 'feeling cheated' by this pandemic and at my time of life (just over 70) I should be doing the things I want to do!! 

I have, however, seen the release of the Queen Elizabeth itinerary for 2021 and I am certainly tempted (desperate) to return to cruising with Cunard as soon as possible..

However, has Cunard given any indications of the Covid restrictions that will undoubtedly have to be instigated?

What about the boarding , dining, theatre and onshore trip arrangements etc?

Also the UK Government (Foreign,Commonwealth & Development Office) are still advising "against cruise ship travel at this time. This is due to the ongoing pandemic and is based on medical advice from Public Health England"

Presumably this invalidates any Travel Insurance ?

It seems that people are booking these cruises regardless - or am I missing something~?

Queen Victoria  leaving the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal a few minutes ago.

Very few people on the decks / balconies ??   Have I missed something?

It looked like a ghost ship ???

It's not only Dubai and surrounding area, what about the current troubles in Hong Kong ??

I have not read or researched Cruise ships no longer calling at Hong Kong but the Port is regularly used by Cunard

and the current unrest/riots must be of concern.

Like previous posters I trust Cunard and they will not put passengers or their ships at risk. UK Foreign Office guidance will always prevail.

With the Turkey and the Black Sea area's already 'no go' areas, sadly the world of Cruising could get a whole lot smaller.

On 6/8/2019 at 3:41 AM, Elizabeth0829 said:

Dear gfs1ram;  I don't have any recommendations about San Francisco - that being said - when I was there with my daughter (she lives in San Diego) we did have the Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista, we did ride on the cable cars, and explored the Ferry Building (and getting there using the old refurbished trolley cars that San Francisco brought in from all over the US - these trolleys travel all up and down Market Street. You might want to take the trolley from the Embarcadero (where the Ferry building is located) to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Drivers do not have change - fares are: Adult streetcar fare $2.75; Senior streetcar fare (and 65+, valid ID) $1.25 .The trolley's are a part of the SF Muni's historic F-Line. The Ferry building has restaurants. wineries, high-end crafts, candy, well worth visiting. 

However, I signed on to apologize about my TA's contacting the Purser on the QE about the Yellow Fever vaccination.  My TA didn't believe me when I spoke to her about your research - and sent an email message to the Purser before I even know what she was doing - it seems, having worked for Cunard for some 20 years, she knows the Purser well.  While I was still on the phone with her the Purser sent back the message confirming the information you had researched and posted on CruiseCritic.  I just didn't want you to think I was questioning your in-depth research - thank heaven you found out and let all of us know.  Thank you.

See you on board - have a wonderful time in San Francisco.

Hello Elizabeth

Thank you for your response and the information regarding the Streetcars is very interesting.

You have no need to apologise for your TA contacting the Purser on board the QE. Indeed I was pleased to note that at least he gave a definitive reply unlike Cunard.

The situation is most unsatisfactory and is further complicated as you will probably have seen by another passenger on roll call 919 finding a document issued in Aruba apparently stating that over 60"s or if only visiting for less than 24 hours then passengers are exempt.  

https://www.airportaruba.com/yellow-fever

I forwarded that link to Cunard UK but they still say Yellow Fever vaccination IS required and that without the appropriate documentation boarding may be denied.  

I know for a fact that in January this year passengers on the Queen Victoria which was circumnavigating South America from Southampton back to Southampton where denied boarding and sent to a local surgery to have the yellow fever vaccination before they were allowed to board as we had friends on that cruise.

I will look out for you boarding at LA and on board and hope that we have  a great cruise.

Regards  gfs

Thank you again for your responses.