Help please Cunarders, we're new!

[Mother Country Cousins]

We're signed up for QE next year for the Adriatic Discovery cruise and would really appreciate some guidance from experienced Cunarders. We love Oceania to bits and enjoy the country club casual and open dining formats but all our cruising experience so far has been with them and have two more upcoming with them before we board QE. As we are relatively new to cruising we thought for a change we'd like to try the Cunard experience with its more formal dining arrangements (we'll be in the Britannia) and spectacular productions but think we may have made a mistake in requesting first seating. I've trawled through the Cunard website but can find no details on timings etc so I though I'd page you guys for advice on dining times versus show times and any other tips you can give to us first timers on life on board and the Cunard experience (which we know will be entirely different from anything we've experienced with Oceania) all of which will be gratefully received.

[MadScientist_01]

Welcome and I'm sure you'll have a great time.

 

Your early seating sounds ideal if you want to take in the shows and entertainment in the evening - late seating can make it much more difficult to get to the shows, particularly if you enjoy partaking of a reasonably leisurely dinner!

[guernseyguy]

we may have made a mistake in requesting first seating

 

IIRC the timings are 18.30 (6.30pm) and 20.30 (8.30pm). I always go for the late sitting as it gives you time to unwind (and leave space after afternoon tea!) and have a leisurely cocktail or three before dinner. On a cruise with port days you might find yourselves a little rushed after re-embarking - though these nights are usually 'elegant casual' (jacket, no tie for men, dress, skirt or trousers for ladies). They schedule the shows to allow late diners to see them - tho sometimes they are before dinner, rather than after, which is the norm....

[Ray66]

First seating is 6.00pm. We usually arrive around 6.15pm. 6.30 is the very latest they will serve you. second seating is 8.30pm.

 

Shows are usually 8.30pm and 10.30pm

[north east girl]

What we did notice with late sitting if you like the shows which start 10.30 and finish around 11.30 then it makes you too late for the ballroom. Ballroom finishes about midnight, it did not bother us. It might be something you might want to consider.

 

We did like late sitting because we could do afternoon tea, which was a very nice experience.

 

Catherine

[SeaPeaInn]

Have you considered Brittania Club which would give you the flexibility of Oceania when it comes to dining?

 

Paul

[Minoushka]

WE chose late seating .Loved the after dinner shows DO NOT MISS THE PRODUCTION SHOWS they are Fabulous .You will love QM2 During the day dress casually At night a littl;e fancy but do not fret like I did .There is no FASHION police 1 jacket and 1 suit is enough a few extra shirts .I brought WAY too much clothes ...not necessary

 

Enjoy we sure did

 

Michele

[pnhmrk]

I'm another who would go for late seating if I had to choose. Dinner at 6-00pm is OK if you've got small children but it is a great rush to get dressed in time. Also the meal is our evening's entertainment. If we eat early then we're left with nothing else to do (you know what I mean - there's plenty going on but we want the meal to be our entertainment) for the evening!

[rolfecms]

What we did notice with late sitting if you like the shows which start 10.30 and finish around 11.30 then it makes you too late for the ballroom. Ballroom finishes about midnight, it did not bother us. It might be something you might want to consider.

 

What time does dancing begin in the ballroom?

[north east girl]

What time does dancing begin in the ballroom?

Hi rolfecms, not sure as we never went because we prefered the shows after evening meal, then a night cap in The Chart room.

 

I'm sure somebody else can answer that one for you.

 

Catherine

[trevgbb]

Early dining is best on sea days, late on port days.

Early lets you get to the show and all the afterdinner spots, the balls in the Queens Room and the Kareoki or quiz in the Golden Lion, and even the dj and live band in Hemispheres.

Late means you have the pool almost to yourself for an hour, you get to the late show but have difficulty fitting in the other spots without rushing,(especially the balls).

This is where you score if you are in one of the open dining classes.

So, I would opt for late dining, and if you really wanted to dine early one day, use the Lido, excellent food and they do have themed dinners such as Indian, Chinese, etc. but if you do this, let your table companions and waiter know in advance.

[rafinmd]

What time does dancing begin in the ballroom?

 

I also went to the shows, but I think I'm reading my Daily Programmes correctly. Dancing in the Queens Room varies by day but usually seems to start about 7:30 or 7:45. Much of what happens in the first couple of hours is recorded music, but the Queens Room Orchestra seems to play pretty reliably starting at about 9:30. Often the Orchestra also plays about 7:30-8:30 but seldom if ever between 8:30 and 9:30. I would expect little change on QE since Alastair Greener is moving from QV to QE as Entertainment Director.

 

Roy

[rolfecms]

I also went to the shows, but I think I'm reading my Daily Programmes correctly. Dancing in the Queens Room varies by day but usually seems to start about 7:30 or 7:45. Much of what happens in the first couple of hours is recorded music, but the Queens Room Orchestra seems to play pretty reliably starting at about 9:30. Often the Orchestra also plays about 7:30-8:30 but seldom if ever between 8:30 and 9:30. I would expect little change on QE since Alastair Greener is moving from QV to QE as Entertainment Director.

 

Thanks for the info Roy - we were leaning to late seating on our upcoming QE TA but may go early to be able to do both the show and the dancing. The downside is not being hungry for dinner so soon after tea!

[Sauer-kraut]

we were leaning to late seating on our upcoming QE TA but may go early to be able to do both the show and the dancing. The downside is not being hungry for dinner so soon after tea!

Go EASY at the tea table, or choose that night to eat your evening meal in Kings Court, you won't have to worry about not wanting supper that night then. Also, you can always dine on lighter fare on a teatime day. No need to do it everyday!:)

[Q-step]

What time do you eat at home?

We normally eat around 7:30 or 8, so first seating was too early for us. On both of our T/As we settled into a routine where would go the spa in late afternoon, get ready for dinner around 7PM and have a cocktail (or two) in the champagne bar, Commedore club or other venue before dinner, and then head off to dinner. We like to dance, so we would move over to the Queen's Room right from dinner. One night we wanted to see a show, so that night we ate in the alt. dining areas to get in both a show & dancing.

 

Ideally we would prefer 7:30 for dinner. But not enough to pay for the club or the grills.

[Mother Country Cousins]

Thanks to all for the great advice and we've now taken the decision to stay in the cabin we booked and go late seating. One thing you may be interested to know...as we were thinking of upgrading to Britannia Club I spoke to Cunard this morning and very helpful they were. What I hadn't appreciated with Club is that you are still pre-allocated a particular table in the Club dining room and could potentially end up dining alone if the others allocated to that table don't wish to eat at the same time as you! Strikes me as not being a terribly clever version of open dining but I guess you'd get to know who your friends are pretty quickly! Again thanks to all.

 

Alan & Sue

[PeterSt]

Thanks to all for the great advice and we've now taken the decision to stay in the cabin we booked and go late seating. One thing you may be interested to know...as we were thinking of upgrading to Britannia Club I spoke to Cunard this morning and very helpful they were. What I hadn't appreciated with Club is that you are still pre-allocated a particular table in the Club dining room and could potentially end up dining alone if the others allocated to that table don't wish to eat at the same time as you! Strikes me as not being a terribly clever version of open dining but I guess you'd get to know who your friends are pretty quickly! Again thanks to all.

 

Alan & Sue

 

What tends to happen is that you all agree on an approximate time. Also the waiters are very good and slowing the meal of the earlier diners so that you all end up eating the main course at the same time. Obviously a table for 2 solves that problem.

 

Talking of waiters. One of the big advantages of Grills and Club is that you get the same waiters (and table neighbours) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That allows you to build up a rappor with them.

 

Peter

[david,Mississauga]

... Strikes me as not being a terribly clever version of open dining but I guess you'd get to know who your friends are pretty quickly! Again thanks to all.

 

Alan & Sue

 

Actually it's not "open dining" but the traditional single sitting which was one of the finest benefits of first class ocean travel. Not all shipping lines offered the flexibility of dining times that Cunard does. Most, like our all-time favourite the Union-Castle Line, were fairly strict about times. Dinner was at 7:30 and last orders were at 8:00. No-one seemed to mind that minor restriction.

 

On our recent crossing we were at a table for seven in QG (actually a table for six with an extra place squeezed in) and all seven of us appeared for every breakfast and dinner and all but one for every lunch. Although we rarely arrived together, the three couples and the single gentleman usually showed up fairly close to each other. The waiters could pace the meal quite well. Occasionally at breakfast there could be one couple ready to finish as another arrived, but that never occurred at dinner. It appeared to me that very few people arrived early or late, so even though dinner is served between 6:30 and 9:00 most people arrived near the middle of the meal period. That was also my experience on a previous crossing in PG.

[rolfecms]

What time do you eat at home?

We normally eat around 7:30 or 8, so first seating was too early for us. On both of our T/As we settled into a routine where would go the spa in late afternoon, get ready for dinner around 7PM and have a cocktail (or two) in the champagne bar, Commodore club or other venue before dinner, and then head off to dinner. We like to dance, so we would move over to the Queen's Room right from dinner. One night we wanted to see a show, so that night we ate in the alt. dining areas to get in both a show & dancing.

 

Ideally we would prefer 7:30 for dinner. But not enough to pay for the club or the grills.

 

Like you we eat later too. I'm sure we'll want to dance every night, so the question for us is whether the shows will be good enough every night to warrant us eating dinner earlier to be able to see them.