A Taste of Disappointment

[janeba]

Having returned from a fantastic WB transatlantic on QM2 with my Mum early September I was determined to get him (husband) on the sea. I spent day after day saying how brilliant it was and finally he gave in. Two days to Cherbourg, only problem was there was availability in inside cabins only or Princess Grill at twice the price. There was no way he would go in an inside due to lack of light, sea sickness you name it he probably would get it! So that was that, Princess Grill it was. On WB we were in sheltered balcony deck 4 (lovely). Check in was simple etc and the cabin was slightly larger not much really, and we had an orchid in a mini vase, 3 seater sofa instead of 2 and an old TV unlike the flat screen in Deck 4.

The steward knocked as usual and said "Hello Mrs Noyce" so I kindly informed him I wasn't Mrs Noyce, where he distinctly told me I was and again I told him my name where he left telling me if I needed him get him on the phone....Thanks for that.

Then we ventured to lunch, not bad I had salmon he had chicken which I have to say did not look good, he didn't put it quite that politely!

I was now praying slightly that dinner would be an improvement.....the menu was identical to Britannia, so now I was really trying to work out why I had paid double the Britannia cost?

 

Then the fun really started we had joined a 'booze cruise', you couldn't make it up, there were people everywhere with the sole intention of getting drunk and possibly staying that way until returning to Southampton. I love the Commordore Club, although it seemed besieged with groups trying to out shout each other. You can imagine what the pub was like then!

The other issue was a number of lifts were out of order which added to the frustration and the wait got longer and longer as when a door did open people on occasion actually fell out.

Breakfast the following day was.............a disaster. Having waited 30 minutes after being served and being told by our waiter (who did need some english lessons) that I could not have bacon and egg after pancakes as pancakes were a main I went with the bacon and egg, so did he. That is what turned up 1 egg 1 bacon and toast so cold it must have come up from Britannia? Being English and never to complain I mentioned politely to the waiter that the toast was cold so to prove I was obviously talking rubbish he grabbed a slice held it up and said it would be replaced. It duly was. However we also wanted to mention that a fried egg should have possibly been cooked? Mine was fine his was well raw. They did apologise for that and offered to replace that as well but by now we decided the Kings Court was a better option. I do not like that place at the best of times due to the chaos it ensues and boy oh boy it excelled this time. There were people everywhere, bumping in to each other, queues for everything, so we gave that up.

Cherbourg was lovely, the people came out when the ship left and lined the piers waving it was a lovely sight.

Lunch and dinner passed without issue except for the cheese and biscuits which he ordered. I nearly cried laughing, our waiter who by now I really was not keen on bought over a big glass dome with huge slabs of cheese and duly asked him which he would like. He said that one and that one, and that is wat he got, there is an art in being able to cut of the smallest piece of cheese you have seen even a mouse would probably go else where, put the lid back on and gave him 2 crackers and a ritz and pushed it away!! Our waiter did leave a little to be desired, I personally believe the service in Britannia is much better, although it did improve when the Maitre D was about.....funny that!

 

I won't even bother mentioning the evening, I was starting to feel this was a mistake, so we headed for the casino, walked in and straight out as it was jam packed.

 

Then Disembarkation, whilst on a TA you are ready to get off after 7 days on a 2 day every hour is precious, so those that have paid the most can get off first! Why? There should be choice, not assume you are ready to leave by 8.00 even if you have to leave your room so early?

 

Sorry to go on a bit, but I think my comments are two fold, Would I bother to pay the earth to have Queens or Princess absolutely not, not even a whole bottle of Pol Acker would change my mind! Would I do another TA? YES this is what Cunard is about, not a cheapened booze cruise, I felt this to be very wrong and spoilt the QM2 reputation, and more importantly my chance of ever getting him to do a TA!.:(

[Mr&MrsHendricks]

This brings back memories of a 2 night trip last November. We'd taken along both sets of parents as a taster of what a cunard trip could be like. Never again! I think it put back our attempts to get them cruising by another 10 years. My dad was stunned by the behaviour and kept asking why we liked cruising so much. I've certainly learned my lesson.

 

MrsH

[travelberlin]

Having returned from a fantastic WB transatlantic on QM2 with my Mum early September I was determined to get him (husband) on the sea. I spent day after day saying how brilliant it was and finally he gave in. Two days to Cherbourg, only problem was there was availability in inside cabins only or Princess Grill at twice the price. There was no way he would go in an inside due to lack of light, sea sickness you name it he probably would get it! So that was that, Princess Grill it was. On WB we were in sheltered balcony deck 4 (lovely). Check in was simple etc and the cabin was slightly larger not much really, and we had an orchid in a mini vase, 3 seater sofa instead of 2 and an old TV unlike the flat screen in Deck 4.

The steward knocked as usual and said "Hello Mrs Noyce" so I kindly informed him I wasn't Mrs Noyce, where he distinctly told me I was and again I told him my name where he left telling me if I needed him get him on the phone....Thanks for that.

Then we ventured to lunch, not bad I had salmon he had chicken which I have to say did not look good, he didn't put it quite that politely!

I was now praying slightly that dinner would be an improvement.....the menu was identical to Britannia, so now I was really trying to work out why I had paid double the Britannia cost?

 

Then the fun really started we had joined a 'booze cruise', you couldn't make it up, there were people everywhere with the sole intention of getting drunk and possibly staying that way until returning to Southampton. I love the Commordore Club, although it seemed besieged with groups trying to out shout each other. You can imagine what the pub was like then!

The other issue was a number of lifts were out of order which added to the frustration and the wait got longer and longer as when a door did open people on occasion actually fell out.

Breakfast the following day was.............a disaster. Having waited 30 minutes after being served and being told by our waiter (who did need some english lessons) that I could not have bacon and egg after pancakes as pancakes were a main I went with the bacon and egg, so did he. That is what turned up 1 egg 1 bacon and toast so cold it must have come up from Britannia? Being English and never to complain I mentioned politely to the waiter that the toast was cold so to prove I was obviously talking rubbish he grabbed a slice held it up and said it would be replaced. It duly was. However we also wanted to mention that a fried egg should have possibly been cooked? Mine was fine his was well raw. They did apologise for that and offered to replace that as well but by now we decided the Kings Court was a better option. I do not like that place at the best of times due to the chaos it ensues and boy oh boy it excelled this time. There were people everywhere, bumping in to each other, queues for everything, so we gave that up.

Cherbourg was lovely, the people came out when the ship left and lined the piers waving it was a lovely sight.

Lunch and dinner passed without issue except for the cheese and biscuits which he ordered. I nearly cried laughing, our waiter who by now I really was not keen on bought over a big glass dome with huge slabs of cheese and duly asked him which he would like. He said that one and that one, and that is wat he got, there is an art in being able to cut of the smallest piece of cheese you have seen even a mouse would probably go else where, put the lid back on and gave him 2 crackers and a ritz and pushed it away!! Our waiter did leave a little to be desired, I personally believe the service in Britannia is much better, although it did improve when the Maitre D was about.....funny that!

 

I won't even bother mentioning the evening, I was starting to feel this was a mistake, so we headed for the casino, walked in and straight out as it was jam packed.

 

Then Disembarkation, whilst on a TA you are ready to get off after 7 days on a 2 day every hour is precious, so those that have paid the most can get off first! Why? There should be choice, not assume you are ready to leave by 8.00 even if you have to leave your room so early?

 

Sorry to go on a bit, but I think my comments are two fold, Would I bother to pay the earth to have Queens or Princess absolutely not, not even a whole bottle of Pol Acker would change my mind! Would I do another TA? YES this is what Cunard is about, not a cheapened booze cruise, I felt this to be very wrong and spoilt the QM2 reputation, and more importantly my chance of ever getting him to do a TA!.:([/quote

Hi thanks for your posting. I have booked a cabin which is linked to Britannia restaurant. Ihope it willnot bea dissappointment...

[laktex]

It has been said many times - these very short trips are just not representative of a real Cunard "journey".

[Mysticalmother]

It's not just confined to Cunard - I went on a short (3 nights) P & O cruise a few years ago and the clientele and their behaviour was very very different in the main, to those on a "normal" cruise holiday. Not something I would contemplate again on either cruise line. I like to enjoy myself and also enjoy a drink or three but never on the scale seen on that trip

 

And I did hear anecdotally - although I cannot verify there is any truth in this - that sometimes cruise companies use these trips as staff training courses and so the service can leave something to be desired in some areas.

 

The service and food on my recent TA on the QM2 was superb - and that was not in grills class either.

[Ray66]

The trouble with these short cruises is that some travel agents advertise them as party cruises.

[BlueRiband]

It just proves that passenger mix can make or break a voyage. A lot of people probably signed on for price and novelty.

 

I don't know why Cunard bothers with these 2-day trips unless they want to develop Cherbourg as an destination port and needed to fill up the boat after the majority of passengers got off at Southampton. If it was as bad as the OP's experience would suggest this sure isn't helping them build a new market.

[safarigal]

I've booked a 3 nighter for my Mum and myself - I do hope it's not going to be too much of a party cruise. Do the 3 night trips also tend to be a bit rowdy?

[Lynnewob]

We have just returned from this 2 night cruise too and were in Princess Grill. Our steward caught us in the corridor leaving the room and quickly said I'm your steward and then went off again but that's all we saw of him until the next day when we left the ship at 10 and left the please make up my room sign on the door. We returned at 12 and it had not been done. We sat on the balcony and eventually he arrived at 2pm to make up our room.

 

At the initial lunch and subsequent evening meal, my meat was overcooked as was my omelette at breakfast and hubby's eggs benedict. These were all meals we had eaten on the QV in Aug/Sept and were beautiful.

 

The plus side about the QM2 the princess grill rooms are larger than those on the QV and the bathroom was better laid out and the balcony was worth it as it's so much bigger too.

 

However, I'd forgotten how difficult it can be to get around the public decks as you have to walk through one area to get to another with no immediately obvious route. An example of this is that we were situated on the D staircase at the aft of the ship which was great for going downstairs to dine, but if you caught the same lift to deck 2 or 3 you had to walk through the britannia restaurant to get anywhere which I felt was rude whilst people were dining. We eventually decided it would be better to walk down 1 deck to 6, along to staircase C and then to the public areas on the lower decks.

 

With regard to the booze cruise comment, I heartily agree. There were 3 tables of 6 travelling together in princess grill who were so loud when they were dining. They were constantly switching seats upon arrival and moving their labels as to where each sat, it was just never relaxing.

 

We have never really bothered with the entertainment when travelling and always spend the evenings in the casino. Wow, this time it was so different. People were wobbling around in high heels with too short dress for their age and very drunk. The dealers were extremely patient with people making stupid bets and moving from table to table and yelling at each other across the tables. We just sat quietly playing until it got too loud and then left to find a quieter table to play properly at.

 

I tend to like to do shorter cruises as we are still working and find it difficult to get time off work but this was in a different league. We're usually a little younger than most whilst travelling on Cunard, which suits us fine, but this time I felt positively middle aged and staid. I always drink champagne and good wines but this was the "let's see how many beers/sprits we can get through in an hour crowd" that was more like a Saturday night in a city centre.

 

The send off at Cherbourg as mentioned above was great and we were so lucky with the warm weather we had for such a short trip. The one saving grace to this is that I booked a further trip on the QE next August with decent OBC. I had checked prices online and with my agent beforehand and was very surprised that we actually got a better deal on board as every other time I've tried to do this it has been more expensive, so we definitely ended the trip on a plus in light of this booking alone.

[missfrankiecat]

It just proves that passenger mix can make or break a voyage. A lot of people probably signed on for price and novelty.

 

I don't know why Cunard bothers with these 2-day trips unless they want to develop Cherbourg as an destination port and needed to fill up the boat after the majority of passengers got off at Southampton. If it was as bad as the OP's experience would suggest this sure isn't helping them build a new market.

 

This is what puzzles me too. I was on the Cherbourg two nighter and it wasn't just 'the crowd' who were the problem. The service and food were very, very substandard. In fact, even allowing for the discounted price and my first upgrade in 20 years, the trip was not good value for money. Many of those I chatted to at dinner and in the bars were first-timers, mostly not there to 'party', but regular cruisers on other lines who wanted to try Cunard. All expressed bitter disappointment and were clear they would not come again. I just don't understand a marketing strategy that generates such bad word of mouth. Interestingly, it was the first Cunard sailing where I haven't received a feed-back form!

[sunshinesdad]

I suspect Cherbourg is chosen to encourage French customers (as is Hamburg for the German market)

 

But both Germans and French would be put off by the booze cruisers described above, on one or more legs of their longer cruise.

 

I'm sure it is bad marketing from one sense, but Cunard are trying to maximise revenue - but this has its own negative effect on non-booze cruise travellers, and lost future business.

 

D

 

It just proves that passenger mix can make or break a voyage. A lot of people probably signed on for price and novelty.

 

I don't know why Cunard bothers with these 2-day trips unless they want to develop Cherbourg as an destination port and needed to fill up the boat after the majority of passengers got off at Southampton. If it was as bad as the OP's experience would suggest this sure isn't helping them build a new market.

[Mr&MrsHendricks]

It just proves that passenger mix can make or break a voyage. A lot of people probably signed on for price and novelty.

 

Too true. At least we were familiar enough with Cunard to know that this was the exception. Interestingly the 2 nighters to / from Hamburg are completely different. Maybe this is because they involve a flight

 

MrsH

[cruiseluvva]

We were also on this two nighter, and took my elderly Mum to have a look around the ship. Our experience couldn't have been more different from those mentioned.

 

Yes, there were a lot of people out to party and sometimes it was a little frenetic, but the service we received was truly excellent - in fact better than one or two of our full length voyages with Cunard.

 

Everyone took the time to pay particular attention to Mum, who was most impressed. This time we were in the Britannia and found the meal and the service very good indeed. Our cabin steward was friendly, efficient and obliging.

 

We were actually surprised at how easy it was to get the lift, and found it much easier than on previous voyages.

 

Although not usually fans of weekenders, this time QM2 not only met, but way exceeded our expectations.

[happytravelbunnies]

This is what puzzles me too. I was on the Cherbourg two nighter and it wasn't just 'the crowd' who were the problem. The service and food were very, very substandard. In fact, even allowing for the discounted price and my first upgrade in 20 years, the trip was not good value for money. Many of those I chatted to at dinner and in the bars were first-timers, mostly not there to 'party', but regular cruisers on other lines who wanted to try Cunard. All expressed bitter disappointment and were clear they would not come again. I just don't understand a marketing strategy that generates such bad word of mouth. Interestingly, it was the first Cunard sailing where I haven't received a feed-back form!

 

We were also on the 2 night to Cherbourg, having spent 5 nights on the QE last month (first time with Cunard) we decided to take this opportunity to try QM2, if this had been our first 'Cunarder' it would have been our last, here goes....

 

On QE dined in Britainnia Club which was first class both in service and quality of food, this time we decided to try the Queens Grill, food and service very very average. Longer than average waits, processed robotic service that lacked the personal touch. Food was no where near as high as the club standard. We thought the Grill restaurant layout was strange with tables for two with 4 inches between them (we asked to be moved from one of these and had a more private table next to the noisy service area) We had a look at club and thought it much better looking

 

Best meal experience was the breakfast in our suite on Saturday morning.

 

Public rooms including the Grill Lounge lacked an air of luxury and were very ordinary

 

Our suite was the best bit with superb weather to enjoy our balcony, very disappointed a bottle of Pol Acker was waiting for us in an Ice bucket advertised as Champagne, this was replaced on our return from walk about without asking with the proper stuff although the experience was already spoilt (agree this 2 day trip could well be used as a staff training voyage)

 

Stateroom steward introduced himself and informed us our Butler was off duty (good job we didn't want to take the Butler unpacking service as our clothes would have still been in the cases at dinner time!)

 

We only chose Queens Grill at the last minute and glad we did as it was the stateroom and the weather that made this trip enjoyable

 

Incidently my job is training Customer Experience and there are many things that could so easily be put right if the customer was at the heart of everything Cunard do!

 

Will we sail Cunard again? definately on QE, doubtful on QM2 in our view they are leagues apart

[QM2 fan]

We also did this 2 nmight Cherbourg trip-and what a disappointment! We have travelled QM2 before but only ever in Grills. This trip was a short "taster" for this kids (16 amd 13) to see if they would enjoy a longer trip.

Don't really know where to begin-I suppose it should be with the fact that as we walked along the corridor to our cabin on deck 6,we could smell cigarette smoke....and lo and behold,when we opened our cabin door were hit with a blast of fag smoke. Looks like the previous occupants had been heavy smokers in the cabin. We propped open the balcony door and cabin door and had a howling gale through the cabin to try and remove the smell. The steward came along and introduced himself, and I mentioned the smell so he brought a can of air freshener-lovely, a perfumey/faggy smell now! I have to ask myself, could he not smell it during the transat voyage? Why did he not tell the occupants no smoking in cabins?? Anyway, whats done is done..we had to leave the balcony doors open all night as the smell had permeated the soft furnishings and was lingering.So that was a noisy night!

Dinner at Britannia-ok,staff far too rushed...wine ordered but did not arrive till after starters eaten-kids drinks same. Port ordered with cheese did not appear at all. Cheese itself was 3 pieces,about an inch square-wouldn't have fed a hungry mouse!

Next morning we awake to a toilet full of "nasty" contents....and it won't flush away-tried ringing the pursers desk but no reply, so have to hike down there to report it....and the fact that the safe doesn't work either. Breakfast.....they were queueing up to enter the Britannia restuarant, and it was moving at a snails pace,so we head to the Trough (Kings Court) ..the food was just OK-not very hot either.

Ashore in Cherbourg for a few hours,lovely, then back onboard for lunch.Average. No sports channels was a bit of a disappointment for the many football fans onboard. Dinner-Britannia, ok,nothing special. The wine service unfortunately was appalling..not the sommeliers fault- he was (and I'm not making this up!) running between tables trying to keep pace. We placed an order for a bottle, and soft drinks for the kids. Wine only arrived half way through main course, kids drinks even later! Not acceptable. The port my better half ordered for his cheese course didn't appear for a second night..

Queues-everywhere!!! All bars were standing room only,it was a rugby scrum to get served....

 

Never again,at least not a 2 nighter, and not in Britannia class...oh,and I didn't see any customer feedback forms either..and did anyone elses telephone ring around 6.30am,with no one there?? Both of our cabins had this mystery wake up call....for staff convenience maybe to get us moving out of the rooms??

[shinyshoes]

Interesting posts.

 

Overheard snippet of conversation in a NYC bar a couple of hours before boarding EB earlier this year.

 

Customer: ' When did you get in?'

Barman: 'This morning'

Customer: ' How was the cruise?'

Barman: 'Awesome.'

Customer: 'What's the Queen Mary like?'

Barman: (laughing) ' How the hell should I know, this is the first time I've been sober in 5 days.'

(Laughter all round)

Shiny.

[helpthejuggler]

We enjoyed the weekend enormously. The blue skies and sailaways made for great days. The staterooms were excellent.

 

Dining in Brittania was a mixed bag. We had table 57 on Friday which was in a terrible location with service really lacking attention. Food was mostly good, but not special.

 

On Saturday morning service was slow as many people arrived at similar times. Staff seemed very distracted as they would offer (Toast, Coffee, Juice etc) to one of us and miss that the other glass/cup was empty.

 

On Saturday night we asked for a move and had a much better experience.

 

Short cruises will naturally be busier and more lively than a long trip as people wish to see and do much more than they would during 2 days of a longer cruise. We have done a few and enjoy the chance to sample new lines/ships. We know that it will differ from the full experience.

 

Afternoon tea was very busy and not worthy of the hype it was given by Cunard veterans. The lack of clotted cream with scones was a surprising disappointment.

 

Kings Court should be renamed to something less prestigious. It is far and away the worst buffet for choice, quality and decor we have ever encountered.

 

The bars and casino were busy. Our experience was much better than described by other posters. Lively and fun and clearly suited to many people. If that will ruin your day, these short trips might not be to your taste.

 

Really wanted to see the Planetarium, but this was showing 'Arthur' back to back to empty seats.

 

Our first trip with Cunard. I hope it will not be the last, but am not likely to sail QM2 again. The compromises suited to its TA routes are not to our taste and the layout seems almost maliciously poor.

 

I'll reserve judgement on Cunard service and food for a future QE/QV sailing and consider them in future is the ports and price are appealing.

[Jimsgirl]

So sorry for those who did this cruise hoping to sample "Cunard Luxury".

 

The mix of passengers certainly affects the ambiance, as for the untrained crew, not suprised in the least. On my TA in August, the daily event sheet admitted that some of the staff had "not completed" their training and asking passengers to be "tolerant"

 

As I said in my review this is unacceptable.

 

I must have had one of these for my 14 day B2B. His shortcomings did not ruin my trip , instead I had to turn them into a game with myself ,guessing what will be missing tonight,

 

Every day/night he forgot to attend to something. No clean towels , or no clean face cloths. unemptied waste basket, . No breakfast order sheet, no daily news sheet. even the "please make up my room" card went missing

Took off bed cover first night and never put it back on for the whole of the 14 nights, just left it rolled up in corner.

Never introduced himself, and on the day I embarked went to have a shower at 5p.m before getting dressed , NO SOAP, NO TOILETRIES, had to leave a note to ask for these.

 

If this can happen on a TA, I hate to think of how he would behave on a 2 Night only trip.

 

Yes I did report this, and I deleted the gratuity.

[QM2 fan]

Forgot to say,we also had no bathrobes in either of our cabins-had to ask for them,and the sommelier dropped our wine trying to squeeze it in to the bucket with another...the lid was off so it glugged on the carpet,but he just stuffed it in the bucket thinking we hadn't noticed..!!

[avalon1025]

I too was on this 2 nighter and I had a wonderful time, the food was fantastic in the Grill and service was tops. That being said, as a frequent sailor on QM2 many of the crew have become familiar faces. Was the crowd different? yes, but most adhered to dress codes, etc. I did not see any bad behavior. I do have to comment on the passengers complaining and removing tips from drinks and service charges. Totally unacceptable and I don't care where you come from. How cheap can you be when you have to hold up the bar complaining over a 75 cent auto tip on a drink. I felt so badly for the crew, they are certainly beaten up on these short trips by people who think they derserve the world.

[missfrankiecat]

I too was on this 2 nighter and I had a wonderful time, the food was fantastic in the Grill and service was tops. That being said, as a frequent sailor on QM2 many of the crew have become familiar faces. Was the crowd different? yes, but most adhered to dress codes, etc. I did not see any bad behavior. I do have to comment on the passengers complaining and removing tips from drinks and service charges. Totally unacceptable and I don't care where you come from. How cheap can you be when you have to hold up the bar complaining over a 75 cent auto tip on a drink. I felt so badly for the crew, they are certainly beaten up on these short trips by people who think they derserve the world.

 

In general I would agree with you. In 20 years of very regular trips on Cunard ships I have, overall, always been impressed with service and think it mean to deprive poorly paid employees of tips for minor shortcomings, but I have to say what I saw and experienced last weekend amounted to very poor service more or less across the board. I hope it was a one-off due to the nature of the trip, although there is no excuse to treat any paying customers shabbily, and look forward to reports from family who are still on board on a TA currently.

Dinner in Britannia was inexcusably poor. Usually on QM2, waiters introduce themselves to their table on the first night and most Maitre D's also visit each table at some stage to enquire how the meal is. Neither happened, perhaps for a reason. Our 8 person table did not seem to have any dedicated wait staff with different people bringing various courses over the two nights. On Friday night, I was the last of our 8 to sit at 8.35. The first main course arrived at 9.45. Bread was served but butter had to be requested several times before arriving. It proved impossible to attract a sommelier's attention to purchase wine. No petit fours arrived with coffee. According to diners at other tables this was standard, although some got them later on. Service was quicker the following night, although the sommelier was so off-hand and rude - "What do you want?" in response to a request to order wine and had to be asked to bring a wine list, that I was almost tempted not to bother. The food verged from average to very poor. My tenderloin was so highly seasoned on night two as to be inedible; a man ordering cheese received a plate with three tiny curled up morsels and - I kid not - one grape, which provoked howls of laughter. I did attempt to speak to the Maitre D' at the conclusion of the second meal but he was 'unavailable'. Petit fours came - precisely 12 for a table of 8 - on a dinner plate. This is not 'White Star Service'!

I have sympathy for the bar staff who were very stretched on such a busy crossing and, in my personal experience, their usual charming selves but, again the cocktail hour was far from a stylish event. The Molecular Martinis - specialities of the Commodore Club - were 'off' on Saturday, I was told because the foam dispenser was broken. My mother's water for her Negroni in the Chart room was served in a drinking glass as they had 'run out of jugs', making it very difficult to pour. Canapes did not appear unless requested, and then only cold. A request for olives produced 4 on a saucer in the CC. There was plainly a policy of not supplying bathrobes in cabins unless requested - having packed lightly in the expectation of one, I had to let in room service with breakfast in bed dressed in my overcoat! My cabin was also missing glasses, pool towels but plus a dirty mop and papers from it's previous occupant in two drawers. I never met my steward. I won't go on about the queues for food in King's Court and the Queen's Room for afternoon tea - 30 minutes - but, while sympathetic to the difficulties of catering for a full compliment of guests wanting to try everything, numbers are known in advance and it's not rocket science to work out that with only one opportunity for most, the majority are going to want afternoon tea. The staff allocated were neither sufficient nor well trained enough to cope.

I hope this was a one off and not a sign of things to come because I have been a 'cheer-leader' for many years but this was a woeful advertisment for Cunard and a beautiful ship.

[paulista1950]

"I do have to comment on the passengers complaining and removing tips from drinks and service charges."

"Totally unacceptable and I don't care where you come from"

". How cheap can you be when you have to hold up the bar complaining over a 75 cent auto tip on a drink. I felt so badly for the crew, they are certainly beaten up on these short trips by people who think they derserve the world"

 

the cruise was like the ones missfrankiecat and the OP described? I never removed a tip and don't intend to do so, but, in your opinion, is there a limit on what is acceptable service? :rolleyes:

[QM2 fan]

I too paid all gratuities as expected-although the service was far below that expected-I don't expect the earth,but I do expect efficient,courteous service,not eye rolling at a request for a wine list or a tea at breakfast. The waiter at breakfast told us they had 1 working toaster for the whole of the MDR, my kids ordered hot chocolate as their breakfast drink,and I kid you not, it was served in a teapot,but stone cold. Not just luke warm,or tepid, but cold. As if it had been made hours earlier and left standing.

I will say,I saw no bad behaviour on board,and the dress code largely followed,but the queues in the bars put us off going for after dinner drinks.

[avalon1025]

I never waited more than 5 minutes for a drink, service at dinner was wonderful and my cabin steward was a joy. Not sure what others encountered but this was a lovely weekend.

[Lanky Lad]

I was on this trip and well and enjoyed every second. Yes there were a few minor issues but nothing to get worked up over.