Going Ashore - Are Cunard Well Organised?

[BORDER REIVER]

We were wondering how well Cunard organise the issuing of excursion tickets and in particular, the tendering process at certain ports. Our experience so far has varied from well organised to a rugby scrum.

On our first couple of shore excursions with P&O, a young male member of staff had all the excursion tickets and as soon as they appeared, there was a mad rush towards him, with people grabbing their tickets, pushing and shoving. On the second day, a female member of staff intervened and had the situation under control immediately, calling each group forward in turn in an orderly manner...she was brilliant and stood no nonsense. It seems that some people are happy to queue long before the stated time and get in the way of those whose turn it is.

When in a tender port, there were big queues on the stairways and some passengers just wouldn't wait, with one gent pushing his way down past everyone, knocking one other man over. He was sent back, but only retreated a few yards.

We would welcome any advice from regular Cunard passengers, as to what we can expect and things we could do to make it all less stressful.

[Whitemarsh]

We were wondering how well Cunard organise the issuing of excursion tickets and in particular, the tendering process at certain ports. Our experience so far has varied from well organised to a rugby scrum.

On our first couple of shore excursions with P&O, a young male member of staff had all the excursion tickets and as soon as they appeared, there was a mad rush towards him, with people grabbing their tickets, pushing and shoving. On the second day, a female member of staff intervened and had the situation under control immediately, calling each group forward in turn in an orderly manner...she was brilliant and stood no nonsense. It seems that some people are happy to queue long before the stated time and get in the way of those whose turn it is.

When in a tender port, there were big queues on the stairways and some passengers just wouldn't wait, with one gent pushing his way down past everyone, knocking one other man over. He was sent back, but only retreated a few yards.

We would welcome any advice from regular Cunard passengers, as to what we can expect and things we could do to make it all less stressful.

 

They are very organised. Everyone gets their tickets by the second day, along with instructions on where to meet and at what time. Usually people meet in the Royal Court Theatre where there is plenty of seating and they seat each of the tours separately.

 

They do stagger the tours so that any time spent in a queue, on a stairwell, is relatively minimal.

 

Each of the tours we did was stress and hassle free.

[BORDER REIVER]

They are very organised. Everyone gets their tickets by the second day, along with instructions on where to meet and at what time. Usually people meet in the Royal Court Theatre where there is plenty of seating and they seats each of the tours separately.

 

They do stagger the tours so that any time spent in a queue, on a stairwell, is relatively minimal.

 

Each of the tours we did was stress and hassle free.

Great! That's what we hoped to hear.

Many Thanks.

[Whitemarsh]

Great! That's what we hoped to hear.

Many Thanks.

 

Your welcome. I'm sure you're going to have a great cruise. :)

[cruiser1955]

Going shore with Cunard is far better than with P&O. You are usually escorted to coaches and tenders, so there is none of the "get there early" that happens with P&O. Sometimes there can be a queue to return to the ship on tenders if many of the tours return at the same time. This tends to be more of an issue around lunchtime.

[BlueRiband]

When tendering is necessary, priority is gvien to those on ship-sponsored excursions. Anyone going ashore independently can ask for a tender ticket. They then wait in a lounge such as Sir Samuel's and are called when boarding is ready for their ticket number. Once the demand no longer requires tender tickets one simply goes to a tender embarkation lounge and waits in a seat for the tender to be boarded.

 

I only had to wait in a line once. The tour was called to leave the ship, but then the gangway had to be re-positioned.

[balf]

So I have got my ticket and I go to the theatre in plenty of time and I am given a little sticker that identifies my tour. I stick this on to my front. Then I go and stand at the theatre exit and wait till my group is called. This ensures that I am ahead of all the suckers who wait quietly seated in the theatre as they are asked to do.When the group is called I hurry ahead as fast as I can in front of the suckers and get off the ship as quickly as I can and race to the bus, elbowing aside anyone else who may have caught up. The object is to get on the bus first so that I can bag my favourite seat at the front.

 

Sometimes I see elderly or disabled folk who have to struggle to the back of the bus because they were too slow. Well hard cheese on them say I. Survival of the fittest got me where I am today: in the best seat in the house.

 

David.

[bazzaw]

On our recent QE and QV cruises, both shore excursions and tender tickets were well organised and executed - on the shorter 5 night QM2 cruise, they were shambles - with insufficient staff allocated to the job. Another example of the thought that Cunard does not treat these shorter cruises seriously. Lack of staff was evident all over the ship for that cruise.

 

Barry

[pepperrn]

So I have got my ticket and I go to the theatre in plenty of time and I am given a little sticker that identifies my tour. I stick this on to my front. Then I go and stand at the theatre exit and wait till my group is called. This ensures that I am ahead of all the suckers who wait quietly seated in the theatre as they are asked to do.When the group is called I hurry ahead as fast as I can in front of the suckers and get off the ship as quickly as I can and race to the bus, elbowing aside anyone else who may have caught up. The object is to get on the bus first so that I can bag my favourite seat at the front. Sometimes I see elderly or disabled folk who have to struggle to the back of the bus because they were too slow. Well hard cheese on them say I. Survival of the fittest got me where I am today: in the best seat in the house. David.

 

Do the passengers who do this find their bit of the bus departs hours before the people in the other parts have even sat down?

 

Or do they have to wait... ... until the oldest, slowest and most disabled passenger has also boarded. Then everyone sets off together.

 

Of course, if they are in the front seats, they arrive at the destination first...

 

However, before their tour can begin, they have to wait...

[bazzaw]

Do the passengers who do this find their bit of the bus departs hours before the people in the other parts have even sat down?

 

Or do they have to wait... ... until the oldest, slowest and most disabled passenger has also boarded. Then everyone sets off together.

 

Of course, if they are in the front seats, they arrive at the destination first...

 

I think it is better to sit in the back seats of these coaches - I believe that my singing sounds much better back there. Must have something to do with the accoustics :p

 

Barry

[pepperrn]

I think it is better to sit in the back seats of these coaches - I believe that my singing sounds much better back there. Must have something to do with the accoustics :p Barry

 

That may work for you Barry, however, no matter where I sit, my singing still sounds like two cats fighting (that was the CC polite version).

[southwestie]

I think it is better to sit in the back seats of these coaches - I believe that my singing sounds much better back there. Must have something to do with the accoustics :p

 

Barry

 

Now thats it made public I can say, it was ok to us, something about Gumtrees and Vegemite ?I think, at least you dint sing in Monet,s garden :)

[BORDER REIVER]

One thing we have learnt, is to never to a full day coach trip again. This becomes so tiring that we arrive back to the ship only fit to sleep. There's always queues for everything, peope arriving back late from breaks, people who have been before who insist on telling everyone in a loud voice, exactle where the oach will go next. On our last trip in Norway, an Irish family of four tried to take over the back seat and the next two, spreading themselves over seats to prevent others using them. So very very exhausting.

[Aussieflyer]

Border Reiver - that would have been so tedious! Unless there is a particular excursion to somewhere special where the ship's tour looks better we tend to organise private tours. It depends on how familiar we are with the port and how comfortable we feel about DIY.

[BORDER REIVER]

Border Reiver - that would have been so tedious! Unless there is a particular excursion to somewhere special where the ship's tour looks better we tend to organise private tours. It depends on how familiar we are with the port and how comfortable we feel about DIY.

I agree. Next year we are going to some ports we have already visited and have done some research about D.I.Y trips. We intend to try a short morning coach trip, followed by our own exploration in the afternoon in some ports - it worked very well for us in Bergen two years ago. To be honest, most of my best photos of Norway were taken from the cruise ship. We organised a fjord trip in NUUK Greenland, through the Tourist Office as P&O weren't doing excursions and it worked very well.