Queens Grill menu's Shrinking, A Struthers reply

I asked Andrew Stuthers about the QG menu shrinking in the Q&A. He denied it was. Searching in this forum and across internet (beyondships 2012). There is no doubt it has. How he can deny this is unbelievable.

I suppose it depends what you are comparing. If we are to compare with the good old days, our QE2 dinner menu of 1999, which I looked at last week, has far fewer dishes, particularly when you consider the current alc changes weekly. On the other hand, the lunch menu in 1999 was much more extensive.

Proper luncheon, everywhere, is a dying custom. On ships, it has been almost entirely usurped by this mania for cafeteria feeding aka "The Lido". Indeed, HAL doesn't even open the dining for room for luncheon except sea days. And if you go, you wonder why you bothered.

Cunard, back as recently as the 1990s, had a much bigger luncheon menu in First Class and the Grills especially the sadly missed egg dishes. On many ships, especially Italian and French ones, lunch was actually the biggest meal served with the most extensive menus. ACHILLE LAURO in particular. Even P&O doesn't serve their once famous curries at lunch anymore I am told.

The other thing missing from the menu on Cunard is the traditional very final course of a proper British dinner... the savoury. That went by the 1980s and the last ship to have it was the recently retired RMS ST HELENA.

The one line that still makes a real effort with luncheon in the dining room is Oceania. But we still enjoyed lunch in the Britannia on QE almost everyday: a good menu, fine food served graciously in a quiet, tranquil setting. Why people seem to prefer the permanent bun fight and hubbub of "The Lido" is astonishing.

Lido lunch never made sense to me until I traveled as part of a larger group. While we all congregated at dinner together, all various activities during the day meant people were on different schedules and for some the Lido/Kings Court made more sense either because of limited time or they were lunching solo. I tended to head to the Britannia or the Pub anyway, even on my own.

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I asked Andrew Stuthers about the QG menu shrinking in the Q&A. He denied it was. Searching in this forum and across internet (beyondships 2012). There is no doubt it has. How he can deny this is unbelievable.

Maybe (and I question it) the menu is a little shorter but as one can order off menu then the availability of what one desires is not diminished at all. I wonder if the number of those ordering off menu has increased if the OP's assumption that the listed menu has shrunk.

Maybe (and I question it) the menu is a little shorter but as one can order off menu then the availability of what one desires is not diminished at all. I wonder if the number of those ordering off menu has increased if the OP's assumption that the listed menu has shrunk.

I've seen old menus. If you're in the Grills & wish to order an item you don't see listed, in most cases they'll endeavor to get the item you want. I did notice, however it is a lot harder to go off menu in Princess Grill now than it used to be about 5-6 years ago. So,yes there is some diminishment in Princess Grill.

I asked Andrew Stuthers about the QG menu shrinking in the Q&A. He denied it was. Searching in this forum and across internet (beyondships 2012). There is no doubt it has. How he can deny this is unbelievable.

WSB, I have been traveling with Cunard since 2004, and the menu has changed but I haven't noticed any reduction in the offerings, which were and still are numerous. Sometime it seems there are too many choices. I have to say, that I have always traveled in Queens Grill, and eaten there or in the Pub so I can speak for those dining venues only.

By the way Mr. Struthers first name is Angus, not Andrew.

I asked Andrew Stuthers about the QG menu shrinking in the Q&A. He denied it was. Searching in this forum and across internet (beyondships 2012). There is no doubt it has. How he can deny this is unbelievable.

Have you completed your Cunard trip yet Windsurfboy ? If not, why don't you wait until you have experienced QG and then come back and share your views with us.

I'm speaking of the QM2 now, not Cunard in general but my issue with QG on the QM2 is not with the quality or choices in the food but with the decor. What used to be a sophisticated, quiet restaurant before the remastering in 2016 now looks like a catering hall in Dubai to me. Not only is it garish but it's way overcrowded with tables spaced far too close to each other. jmo.

Have you completed your Cunard trip yet Windsurfboy ? If not, why don't you wait until you have experienced QG and then come back and share your views with us.

As they said on Yes Minister "why let the facts spoil a good theory "

We were very skeptical about the changes to the QG menus, but have to say we were genuinely impressed. We felt the menus had been made more modern, but with the classics still well represented. Both MDs we’ve dealt with recently have also encouraged us to special order anything we wanted from the old menu by lunch time, so it really is the best of both worlds.

There are undoubtedly areas where Cunard doesn’t do well enough or fudges issues with marketing speak (I.e. disappointing dress code changes) but we feel that QG menus aren’t one of them.

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