Eastbound 10th.June 2011

[Transatlanticfan]

What a great crossing.:):):)

Even an old cynic like me can find little to criticise

Food in the Britannia Restaurant was greatly improved on last year, apparently Cunard listened to the feedback.

The Commodore Club remains my favourite place, the staff there are a total delight and the musical accompaniment makes it a superb venue.

Anybody going on board soon try a 'south beach' or two

The CC meet was sadly not well attended but was enjoyed by those who did.

[RJChatsworth]

We thoroughly enjoyed this crossing and the food was good in Britannia Club as well.

 

I wonder, if the good Cap'n reads this, whether he knows what happened to the one or two homing pigeons that travelled on the ship from New York. I saw one strutting Deck 12 after lunch on Thursday but I didn't see it again late afternoon so perhaps it got a fix and flew home to the north of England. For those who don't know what I am on about, some 12 pigeons released in France had been blown off course and landed on QM-2 sometime after the ship had left Southampton for New York. About 10 flew off in New York so they are presumably lost. I don't think they can negotiate oceans without rest and no doubt wouldn't be able to get a fix on the north of England from the USA!

 

I had a minor niggle with the CC. An invoice they gave me for drinks was wrong so I didn't sign it and asked for an invoice for the drinks I'd actually received. I signed the second invoice and took a copy. During the last night when the final bill arrived at the cabin I saw two expensive drinks and realised the waiter hadn't cancelled the wrong bill but just put the two through as one entry eventhough the one with the error hadn't been signed. This is not the first time it has happened and I wondered whether the waiters are not allowed to correct their mistakes once it has been credited to the key card. Queuing up at reception this morning when we wanted to get to breakfast as we were were first off (after self-help) with a taxi waiting was a bit of a pain.

 

The other qiibble I have is pool towels. The cabin stewardess didn't provide them and when I asked she said if we wanted them we should get them from the pool area ourselves. The cabin guide book clearly states that if they are not in the cabin when you disembark you'll be charged for them. This happened to us once before and a month after getting off our credit card was charged $80 for second-hand towels we did not take. We never use them and it was a winter crossing. After a certain amount of letter writing and telephoning we got our money back. I thought that was the end of the matter and 6 to 8 months later I received a threatening letter from Cunard accounts in Santa Barbara ssaying if we didn't pay for the pool towels within 7 days we should be taken to court. The letter was received two weeks after the 7-day period had expired. We didn't need all this hassle again so I questioned the Chief Purser during this voyage and he confirmed that an pool towels missing from a cabin on departure day will be charged against your account after you are off the ship.

 

Be warned!!

[capnpugwash]

We thoroughly enjoyed this crossing and the food was good in Britannia Club as well.

 

I wonder, if the good Cap'n reads this, whether he knows what happened to the one or two homing pigeons that travelled on the ship from New York. I saw one strutting Deck 12 after lunch on Thursday but I didn't see it again late afternoon so perhaps it got a fix and flew home to the north of England. For those who don't know what I am on about, some 12 pigeons released in France had been blown off course and landed on QM-2 sometime after the ship had left Southampton for New York. About 10 flew off in New York so they are presumably lost. I don't think they can negotiate oceans without rest and no doubt wouldn't be able to get a fix on the north of England from the USA!

 

I had a minor niggle with the CC. An invoice they gave me for drinks was wrong so I didn't sign it and asked for an invoice for the drinks I'd actually received. I signed the second invoice and took a copy. During the last night when the final bill arrived at the cabin I saw two expensive drinks and realised the waiter hadn't cancelled the wrong bill but just put the two through as one entry eventhough the one with the error hadn't been signed. This is not the first time it has happened and I wondered whether the waiters are not allowed to correct their mistakes once it has been credited to the key card. Queuing up at reception this morning when we wanted to get to breakfast as we were were first off (after self-help) with a taxi waiting was a bit of a pain.

 

The other qiibble I have is pool towels. The cabin stewardess didn't provide them and when I asked she said if we wanted them we should get them from the pool area ourselves. The cabin guide book clearly states that if they are not in the cabin when you disembark you'll be charged for them. This happened to us once before and a month after getting off our credit card was charged $80 for second-hand towels we did not take. We never use them and it was a winter crossing. After a certain amount of letter writing and telephoning we got our money back. I thought that was the end of the matter and 6 to 8 months later I received a threatening letter from Cunard accounts in Santa Barbara ssaying if we didn't pay for the pool towels within 7 days we should be taken to court. The letter was received two weeks after the 7-day period had expired. We didn't need all this hassle again so I questioned the Chief Purser during this voyage and he confirmed that an pool towels missing from a cabin on departure day will be charged against your account after you are off the ship.

 

Be warned!!

 

I don't know about the pigeons but assume that your guess is correct. Re the overcharging, only a bartender can cancel a bill once it is rung up but I think it is a case of a simple error on behalf of the waiter. Shame about having to hang around the Purser's to sort it out. I didn't have any pool towels either and wasn't billed for them, I think that they may not offer them on TAs. Nice to meet you.:)

[RJChatsworth]

Hi Cap'n

 

The Chief Purser acknowledged putting pool towels in cabins on transatlantics was a bit debatable but they still did it. You won't know whether you'll be charged for them until you get your next credit card statement.

 

He also told me he'd put out a notice via the head of housekeeping to ensure all cabin staff provided them if they hadn't been doing so. Our cabin stewardess got the message and provided them in our cabin halfway through the voyage.

 

It was good to meet. I tried to catch up with you on Thurday but failed.

 

I enjoyed the John Maxtone-Graham lectures although I wasn't so keen on the last one which I had seen before. I e-mailed a 91-year old acquaintance in New York and mentioned the J M-G lectures. He came straight back at and said his son used to date J M-G's daughter, the one who lives in France. It's a small world!