QM: TA: The Best of Times; The Worst of Times

[Waswo]

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...and if I had a copy of "A Tale of Two Cities" I would continue in that vein. This is an interim review.

 

THE BEST:

Cunard has given us:

2 erudite, entertaining, informative, generous, and fascinating lectures by playwrite John Guare

 

3 performances by a group of chamber players who work with the National Orchestra in Washington. Superb selection and magnificent playing!

 

RADA: the actors are young and a bit raw at times, but really quite accomplished. Their 55 minute presentation of "Under Milkwood" by Dylan Thomas was excellent. Their hour performance of "Romeo and Juliet" was, necessarily, pared down and some roles, scenes, and many speeches were cut. It remained delightful to hear that iambic pentameter rolling off their tongues.

 

2 poetry readings by RADA actors, above. They selected a lively assortment and included several beautifully read sonnets and some great comic poetry.

 

Library: Very decent collection and I was delighted to find some classics, poetry, and other good books.

 

QUIZ GAMES: A number of trivia quizzes are presented in the Golden Lion Pub--2, 3, or 4 a day depending on the day. They are great good fun. My only complaint is that some of the quizzes were recycled from the late August crossing and several players who had crossed, spent 4 days in NYC, and are now returning, got perfect scores and hence the coveted Golden Vouchers. Gaynor is a tart and witty delight.

 

THE WORST:

 

Viva Italia! has very little to do with Italy or with Italian music.

 

 

Tea service in the Queen's Room was like a Keystone Kops routine on day 2.

 

DUPLICATE BRIDGE: This is a great thing to offer but it is contentious. The way it is set up, if you play bridge the earliest you can arrive at tea is 4:25 pm--in short, no tea. The playing time is from 2-4:15 but can run a bit longer. I wish Cunard would firmly end the game at 4 PM no matter what or commence at 1:30. There must be a way to both play bridge and drink tea, n'est-ce pas?

 

THE MEDIUM:

Food in the Brittania Restaurant can be very good to mediocre to disappointing. I do not want large portions, so I am happy with that. It would be nice, however, if they could rise to the level of HAL. Some of the servers have a dash of insolence--I can hardly blame them, I guess, but maybe there should be a special Insolence Room where they can get it out of their systems. Overall, it's better than utilitarian which is fine with me.

 

Scrambled eggs???? Did somebody blunder? I ordered scrambled eggs for breakfast one day and got something--certainly not eggs. perhaps it was reconstituted freeze-dried eggs, or perhaps some sort of synthetic concoction. Taste and Texture were grotesque.

 

CABIN: Fairly routine--perhaps less attractive than HAL and Costa. The shower is darkish, but our room steward, the delightful Cristina, seems to be always there poised to be at our service. I hope that she gets a break sometime. Three Cheers for Cristina! I have filled out a "star" card for her.

 

I will reflect more when I return home after some days in England but my summing up will include the fact that the "artistic" or "intellectual" aspects of the crossing are superb and really made our days. If Cunard continues to offer such delightful artistic presentations, pace Viva Italia, we will continue to sail with Cunard in spite of ersatz eggs.

[DKNYC]

Thank you for taking the time to post this review. I wonder if the trivia contestants know how generally lame the prizes are..maybe they would have let you win.:) I have heard about the scrambled eggs and will remember not to order them. Have a pleasant remainder of your trip.

 

Denise

[Jimsgirl]

Forget the scrambled eggs, tell me about the crepes suzette! The very worst dish I have ever had was on board the QV , NY to LA part of the world cruise.

 

The crepes as described in my review were not just a travesty, they were an abomination. The chef even insulted me by telling me that I "did not understand French cooking", believe me he was the one who did not understand. He would have not been hired by any "greasy spoon"

[avalon1025]

wow, to each his own: I think the standard balconies on the QM2 are much nicer in decor than those on HAL and as for food i wish my dinners on the Noordam were half as good as those on QM2

[tiller]

We just got home from the Sept. 8 crossing and agree with you on the scrambled eggs. We actually preferred King's Court for breakfast but very much enjoyed the food in Britannia at dinner. Enjoyed all the lectures, except for the guy who worked in TV in the 1950s and 1960s--he kept going off topic about how horrible and immoral the youth of today are.