Grills Afternoon Tea - in the Lounge or the Restaurant?

You'll read of the experiences, good and bad of the few on CC and not the vast number of Cunard passengers who are repeaters who don't post on or read CC and other boards.

 

People will always have problems and not everything will be perfect and maybe things aren't what they used to be for those who cruised Cunard years and years ago but I'm pretty picky and I think QG is great.

Thank you Victoria I'm sure you and the others will turn out to be right. Perhaps some people are simply 'glass half empty types. I don't think the way afternoon tea is served will bother me too much.:)

We are presently on Queen Victoria and have found the food and choice, so far, to be good, but and it’s a big but, afternoon tea in the Princess Restaurant is awful. I don’t want a cake stand with the majority of items I won’t eat, must incur more waste, and the atmosphere is too formal. Just hope they return to the previous system in the Grills lounge. For the rest of the cruise we will be having afternoon tea in the Queens Room. We no it’s noisier but you can choose what you want.

Victoria2 - having been lucky enough to experience really good times on other cruise lines, the deterioration of standards we've found on Cunard is pushing us away from them and over to other cruise lines. Cunard boast about their superior service, and then fail miserably to provide it. I certainly don't expect to have to spend my holiday complaining about things which should have been in apple pie order to begin with.

Victoria2 - having been lucky enough to experience really good times on other cruise lines, the deterioration of standards we've found on Cunard is pushing us away from them and over to other cruise lines. Cunard boast about their superior service, and then fail miserably to provide it. I certainly don't expect to have to spend my holiday complaining about things which should have been in apple pie order to begin with.

I have no idea how many times you've cruised with Cunard or for how long in order for you to feel standards are slipping, a phrase incidentally I often hear about other lines and which seems in danger of becoming a mandatory go to phrase when people are unhappy with their cruise.

I wasn't on your cruise and I wasn't in your cabin so can't actually argue with the less than superior service which you personally received but never having had anything less than superb service ourselves, I can't understand it. What I can say is, bar the miserable service you had, none of the items you mentioned would have any effect on my enjoyment. I accept things happen, even in luxurious five star hotels but I also know problems can be rectified. Maybe you were unlucky, I have no idea but I go with the attitude I will enjoy myself. As has been mentioned, you were unhappy before setting foot on the ship so your viewpoint was discoloured before the trip started.

I wish you well with your chosen cruise lines and hope your next cruise will be more enjoyable.

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... afternoon tea in the Princess Restaurant is awful. I don’t want a cake stand with the majority of items I won’t eat, must incur more waste, and the atmosphere is too formal. Just hope they return to the previous system in the Grills lounge.

This certainly goes to show how varied people's tastes are. We actively preferred the restaurant version of afternoon tea to the scrum in the Grills Lounge where whether one saw a particular tray of "goodies" or not seemed down to chance, or knowing in advance what sort of thing might be coming. On our first experience, for example, we would not have known there would be a "savouries" tray unless we had overheard a previous cruiser complaining that it hadn't appeared: worse (!) for that person, it seems that on that occasion savouries did not appear until after the "sweet" items!!! One advantage of the cake stand approach is that one can please oneself as to order of consumption. In any event, the cake stand approach is now standard to many "up market" hotel afternoon teas and seems to be the "modern" approach. Given its widespread adoption, I cannot believe that it "must incur more waste". We never saw how much went back to the kitchens on the trays. Finally, we were pleased that the awful "doorstep" finger sandwiches (all thick bread and no filling) appeared to be a thing of the past. But then I am repeating myself no doubt. There will be many differing opinions on this one.

Victoria 2: it's all a bit academic now, but our total number of Cunard sailings stands at over 30, and always QG. We never found it much of a scrum in the Grills lounge, because we were never late. I can see no point at all in dishing up a preselected number of items - so what happens to the food that doesn't get used by passengers who are early for afternoon tea? Do they throw it away or recycle it onto the next available cake stand with spaces on it? Doesn't matter to me any longer, because I won't be with Cunard.

All I can say is that we thoroughly enjoyed afternoon tea in PG on QE and to have similar in local restaurants and hotels which has already been said is served exactly the same and they charge £18-£25pp. I can also say we were asked what tea we wanted from the tea menu on the table and with reference to sandwiches, cakes and scones there was no waste .

I’ve just been to see what all the fuss is about. There was nothing objectively wrong with the food, the tea, or the presentation. I’ve only had tea at the Ritz and Fortnum’s a couple of times each, but they both present afternoon tea on a stand with any choice left to the top-ups from a tray.

I’m not really bothered what things were like on the last cruise or a cruise ten years ago so long as what’s being offered on my cruise meets my expectations, and on that basis I have to discount the carping as very unhelpful to anyone yet to make up their mind whether to book Grills on Cunard.

On a more general level, the couple on the next table to us cruised in the Grills on QE2 several times, the last time more than ten years ago, so they know how things were done in the Good Old Days. They’re enjoying the food and service immensely and don’t seem at all bothered that things have changed over the years. That seems a healthy attitude to me.

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Thanks for reporting back, enjoy the rest of your trip.

The new Grills afternoon tea certainly seems to have divided opinion ! I can't even remember whether we had tea on our last cruise (or our first !).

Just back from QV over NYE - and our Ruby Anniversary - and I am glad to say everything was as it should be. Cunard provided a fabulous experience yet again, and in the 20 years we have been cruising, they have never failed to impress - well apart from once on QE2 but I ignore that.

We didn’t actually get around to taking Afternoon Tea, but our Butler did ask us if we would like to take it in our cabin - we didn’t need anything on top of the truly excellent meals, so we refused. But the offer was appreciated.

Looking forward to our next voyage.

Hi John ( hope it’s the right John ) here’s wishing you and Nicola a very merry Xmas and enjoy your Q.V. cruise Eleanor and norman

Hello Eleanor and Norman, yes it is us, John and Nicola.

Hope you had a good Christmas cruise to Canaries, not too rough on the way back. Is Norman still on the downhill diet.?

We had a good New Years cruise on QV to Amsterdam, incredible fireworks.

Hi, we just disembarked yesterday from the QM2 Christmas Caribbean sailing. We were in PG and attended the afternoon tea 4 times in the Grills lounge. It was very good. The servers floated around the room with multiple trays of varied sandwchiches, desserts and then individual plates of scones. Of course many offerings of all and tea. It was to us as good as the Queens Room although quieter.

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Just back from QV over NYE - and our Ruby Anniversary - and I am glad to say everything was as it should be. Cunard provided a fabulous experience yet again, and in the 20 years we have been cruising, they have never failed to impress - well apart from once on QE2 but I ignore that.

 

We didn’t actually get around to taking Afternoon Tea, but our Butler did ask us if we would like to take it in our cabin - we didn’t need anything on top of the truly excellent meals, so we refused. But the offer was appreciated.

 

Looking forward to our next voyage.

Thank you very much for reporting back and Congratulations on you Anniversary

Hi, we just disembarked yesterday from the QM2 Christmas Caribbean sailing. We were in PG and attended the afternoon tea 4 times in the Grills lounge. It was very good. The servers floated around the room with multiple trays of varied sandwchiches, desserts and then individual plates of scones. Of course many offerings of all and tea. It was to us as good as the Queens Room although quieter.

 

 

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Thanks, it seems as if the move to serve Afternoon Tea in the Princess Grill is only happening on QE & QV for the moment.

Have travelled in QG about 10 times in 10 years. Yes, there are occasional slips, but overall it’s a totally heavenly experience!