Are Cunard roll calls typically just not very active?

[maitai999]

Sorry but some very funny comedians perform on Cunard especially British Comedian, David Copperfield (three of a kind days) - he is always to be found on one of the Queens (even if it is in the Golden Lion in high spirits) his voice throwing with the audience is priceless. Also Irish comedian, Adrian Walsh is a first class performer.

 

Sadly the worse comedians we have seen onboard have been American comedians - but it is no secret that our sense of humour is typically not on the same wavelength as our friends across the pond and I am sure they will agree its the same with ours!

 

The dance floors on the QV and QE are amazing, and I prefer them to the QM2.

Edited May 24, 2014 by maitai999

[capnpugwash]

Sorry but some very funny comedians perform on Cunard especially British Comedian, David Copperfield (three of a kind days) - he is always to be found on one of the Queens (even if it is in the Golden Lion in high spirits) his voice throwing with the audience is priceless. Also Irish comedian, Adrian Walsh is a first class performer.

 

Sadly the worse comedians we have seen onboard have been American comedians - but it is no secret that our sense of humour is typically not on the same wavelength as our friends across the pond and I am sure they will agree its the same with ours!

 

The dance floors on the QV and QE are amazing, and I prefer them to the QM2.

 

Adrian Walsh is very amusing the first time you see his act, in that regard he is similar to Tom O'Connor. However once you have seen their acts you have seen their repertoire. At least Adrian changes his suit unlike O'Connor who always wears the same shiny one.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I don't know what ship you were on or your itinerary, but every Princess ship I have been on starts the day at 7:30 a.m. with a stretch class, followed by an abs class, and on sea days has morning Zumba, and line dancing classes and ballroom dance classes, not to mention lectures, bridge lessons and games, trivia, bingo and movies, plus all sorts of other planned activities. On our Hawaii cruise on Princess we took ukulele lessons, hula lessons and lei making classes. On our transatlantic crossing we took tap lessons and performed in a recital. It was a blast and very good exercise. I don't remember that many activities when we sailed on the QM2, but as I mentioned, it was a pretty port-intensive cruise as will be our Baltic and Med cruises on Cunard later this year.

 

It will be interesting to see how they compare.

 

Our biggest concern about Cunard is the fixed dining. Last time we switched tables twice and it was a short cruise. We love meeting new people, especially smart, funny people and the first two tables we had on Cunard were made up of seriously boring folks. Of course, we have also met some pretty boring people on Princess, which is why we now only book anytime dining when we can. I can't imagine having dinner with the same people every night for more than two weeks. Even when we travel with friends, we mix it up at dinner just to make it more interesting.

 

I must say, however, that everyone we met on our Panama Canal cruise on Princess was very interesting. Maybe not interesting enough to have as dinner mates for two weeks straight, but certainly interesting enough for one dinner. We had so much fun with our dinner mates that we were usually the last ones out of the dining room, which is always a good sign. Hopefully we will also be lucky on our Cunard cruises.

 

Wow, I'm surprised. In all of our Cunard voyages, we've always had interesting table companions. We always ask for a table of 6 or 8, and never worry that we might be bored. The last two crossings, we were from very varied backgrounds, and you might wonder what we'd find to talk about. But we always enjoyed learning about each other, and comparing notes on which talks we'd been to that day.

[PunkiC]

Wow, I'm surprised. In all of our Cunard voyages, we've always had interesting table companions. We always ask for a table of 6 or 8, and never worry that we might be bored. The last two crossings, we were from very varied backgrounds, and you might wonder what we'd find to talk about. But we always enjoyed learning about each other, and comparing notes on which talks we'd been to that day.

 

We were surprised too. The first table was so bad I don't even remember it and the second had a couple with a 9 year old daughter and they didn't talk to anybody except each other and the little girl, who was the complete focus of their attention. When I went up to the maitre d's desk to ask about changing tables he was talking with a man who was at a table for 8 and demanding a table for 2, because of "the crazy Englishman who talked all the time at the large table". When he finished I asked if we could have their old seats. It turned out that the English guy was a riot. We enjoyed that table a great deal, but it was a short (6 day) cruise while our upcoming cruises are at least two weeks each. We'll have to wait and see how it works but for sure our real preference is to change tables every night. If we meet somebody we really, really like, we will arrange to have dinner with them again. Often by the end of the cruise we will have a whole table for eight of newly minted friends.

 

Hopefully, I will be proven totally wrong and we will be seated with people who become fast friends, maybe with people who have a ski lodge in the French Alps, or a 35' sailboat in Croatia. :p You can never have too many friends.

 

I don't believe that on any of our cruises we have ever gone to see a comedian. We are always too busy dancing in the evening. We did watch and enjoyed the mini-operas on the QM2.

Edited May 24, 2014 by PunkiC

[3rdGenCunarder]

We were surprised too. The first table was so bad I don't even remember it and the second had a couple with a 9 year old daughter and they didn't talk to anybody except each other and the little girl, who was the complete focus of their attention. When I went up to the maitre d's desk to ask about changing tables he was talking with a man who was at a table for 8 and demanding a table for 2, because of "the crazy Englishman who talked all the time at the large table". When he finished I asked if we could have their old seats. It turned out that the English guy was a riot. We enjoyed that table a great deal, but it was a short (6 day) cruise while our upcoming cruises are at least two weeks each. We'll have to wait and see how it works but for sure our real preference is to change tables every night. If we meet somebody we really, really like, we will arrange to have dinner with them again. Often by the end of the cruise we will have a whole table for eight of newly minted friends.

 

Hopefully, I will be proven totally wrong and we will be seated with people who become fast friends, maybe with people who have a ski lodge in the French Alps, or a 35' sailboat in Croatia. :p You can never have too many friends.

 

I don't believe that on any of our cruises we have ever gone to see a comedian. We are always too busy dancing in the evening. We did watch and enjoyed the mini-operas on the QM2.

 

Ugh! :mad: What is wrong with people who act like the others at the table aren't there?!? I encountered that only once, on our last NCL, many years ago. We have stayed in touch with tablemates from more than 15 years ago on QE2. Sadly, none of them has a ski lodge or a sailboat. But we like them anyway. :D

[maitai999]

Adrian Walsh is very amusing the first time you see his act, in that regard he is similar to Tom O'Connor. However once you have seen their acts you have seen their repertoire. At least Adrian changes his suit unlike O'Connor who always wears the same shiny one.

 

I have seen Adrian Walsh several times on summer cruises and he has generally performed new material and had a fantastic reception from an "all age" audience. He is also very funny and well received when he is often a judge at the ball events. Tom O'Connor - no just no, we won't even go there!

 

You all sound excellent table companions, no ski lodge or yacht in Croatia but we do have an old labrador, couple of horses and a helicopter!

Edited May 24, 2014 by maitai999

[caber]

We have had lots of very good tablemates on our many cruises with P&O and Princess.

Unfortunately on the last cruise we shared a table with two couples for one night only (anytime dining).

Three out of four were hard of hearing. One had been seriously ill, the story told by her partner, and the other lady told us, in graphic detail, how her first husband had been killed.

As we left the table we vowed to go for a table of two the next night. :eek:

 

And before anyone slates me, we generally love a big table with good company.

Edited May 24, 2014 by caber

[PunkiC]

Ugh! :mad: What is wrong with people who act like the others at the table aren't there?!? I encountered that only once, on our last NCL, many years ago. We have stayed in touch with tablemates from more than 15 years ago on QE2. Sadly, none of them has a ski lodge or a sailboat. But we like them anyway. :D

 

You have to take them like you find them. ;)

 

We just returned from a couple of little cruises with folks (fellow dancers--two couples) whom we met years ago on cruises. We have become friends and cruise together fairly regularly. Even though we cruised together, however, we only had dinner together about half of the time. They met new people on the ship as did we and sometimes we each dined with new folks. Meeting new friends is one of the greatest joys of cruising.

[Salacia]

How on earth could sitting at a table for two help us meet lots more people? We have been together for 45 years and already know all of one another's stories. We like to hear lots of new stories. Yes, there are other dining venues, but we enjoy formal dining and in a specialty restaurant, it is not possible to book for two at a table for eight.

No, sitting at a table for two would not help you to meet more people, but it might alleviate your concern about being seated with a boring person, or maybe not. To my way of thinking, tablemates are not auditioning for a talk show; we are all passengers on a ship, assigned to a certain table. Hopefully, we can enjoy dinner together and exchange pleasant conversation. There is a certain commardarie that develops between tablemates as the voyages/cruise continues. I have found that despite differences, more often than not, we have much in common. Table hoppers might not appreciate that it takes time to get acquainted. Takes all kinds to make for interesting conversation, and sometimes, it takes time for the quietest person to partake in the conversation, once engaged.

 

 

Regarding specialty restaurants, have you found that Todd English does not provide formal dining?

Edited May 26, 2014 by Salacia

[BlueRiband]

OP, you might be setting yourself up for huge disappointment because Cunard isn't Princess. You have said you love the free full service laundry on Princess (Cunard charges for this). You have apprehension regarding the fixed seating dining and lament that the Roll Call isn't nearly as organized and active as you see on Princess. This is in no way a criticism of you but just acknowledgement that these differences were enough of a concern that you felt the need to comment on them here.

 

With Cunard already having "three strikes" against your Princess experience is a Cunard voyage really right for you? I have not sailed on any ship other than QM2 because I know I would whine and make constant comparisons to her. So I don't expect a ship that isn't QM2 to be like QM2. And a ship that isn't Princess isn't going to have the same atmosphere like Princess.

[PunkiC]

No, sitting at a table for two would not help you to meet more people, but it might alleviate your concern about being seated with a boring person, or maybe not. To my way of thinking, tablemates are not auditioning for a talk show; we are all passengers on a ship, assigned to a certain table. Hopefully, we can enjoy dinner together and exchange pleasant conversation. There is a certain commardarie that develops between tablemates as the voyages/cruise continues. I have found that despite differences, more often than not, we have much in common. Table hoppers might not appreciate that it takes time to get acquainted. Takes all kinds to make for interesting conversation, and sometimes, it takes time for the quietest person to partake in the conversation, once engaged.

 

 

Regarding specialty restaurants, have you found that Todd English does not provide formal dining?

 

LOL DH is pretty interesting, and still ridiculously handsome, but after 45 years together I know almost all of his stories, although he does surprise me now and again.

 

Unfortunately, my experience has been that folks who are boring to begin with tend to become even more boring as time goes on. Of course there are always exceptions to everything. I am just hoping and praying that we get some great table mates and don't end up having to be "that snobby couple who wants to change tables every other day". :p I love the term "table hoppers". Maybe Cunard will institute a new class of "Table Hopper" passengers.

 

 

We have never been to a specialty restaurant on Cunard--just the MDR, the buffet and the tea room. We do love it when they have live dance music during tea. That just feels so special. After these two longer Cunard cruises, we will have a much better feeling for the line.

 

I honestly never thought much about cruising Cunard, but these prices were so wonderful and the ports so appealing that I couldn't resist. It also helps that we get Military and Stockholders OBC, just the same as on Princess. I also recently discovered that after our second cruise we even get a little free internet time.

 

Princess suited us to a "T" when we were still working, but now that we are retired and have more time, we are looking for more diverse itineraries and have more freedom to follow the deals. Who knows, we may end up Cunard aficionados after all.

Edited May 26, 2014 by PunkiC

[Pushka]

I've sailed on several different itineraries/cruise lines and by far the busiest was the Cunard one. Med cruises whichever line are very quiet unless it's a TA.

 

Don't mind meet and greets but I don't understand why you'd have a present exchange and not a fan of cabin crawls. Just a bit of fun I guess.

 

Line dancing is a hoot on a ship when it's rolling. Everyone ends up all squashed together. Just funny watching the scramble. Would never do it on land. Zumba on Princess was excellent. As was the entire gym crew recently on QM2.

 

There seemed to be some excellent tables recently on QM2 and others that I was so pleased I wasn't involved. Just a matter of luck I guess. And if your companions don't want to talk or have other issues that don't make for a good dining experience then there isn't much you can do about it but move. I would.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Pushka
adding

[PunkiC]

OP, you might be setting yourself up for huge disappointment because Cunard isn't Princess. You have said you love the free full service laundry on Princess (Cunard charges for this). You have apprehension regarding the fixed seating dining and lament that the Roll Call isn't nearly as organized and active as you see on Princess. This is in no way a criticism of you but just acknowledgement that these differences were enough of a concern that you felt the need to comment on them here.

 

With Cunard already having "three strikes" against your Princess experience is a Cunard voyage really right for you? I have not sailed on any ship other than QM2 because I know I would whine and make constant comparisons to her. So I don't expect a ship that isn't QM2 to be like QM2. And a ship that isn't Princess isn't going to have the same atmosphere like Princess.

 

Not to worry, I am sure we will have a magnificent time no matter what. I always do a Live Report from the ship, so you will be able to followed my reactions to the differences, if you are so inclined. If we do happen to get stuck with the dreaded table mates from Hell, I have no problem talking to the Maitre d' about changing tables. There are actually a lot of things I like about Cunard--dressing up every night, the ability to bring your own wine on board without any hassle, the good dance floors and music, and the elegant ships.

 

It is also always very interesting to observe the demographics on different ships with different itineraries. Our last two little cruises YVR/SFO nd SFO/YVR back again were about 50% Asian as is usually the case going in and out of Vancouver. Our European cruises have had almost no Asians on board. On our QM2 cruise to Canada, it seemed like most people were from New Jersey or New York, except, of course, for the English who sailed over from Southampton, took the Canadian cruise, and were then sailing back home again.

 

Pushka writes:

 

Don't mind meet and greets but I don't understand why you'd have a present exchange and not a fan of cabin crawls. Just a bit of fun I guess.

 

Line dancing is a hoot on a ship when it's rolling. Everyone ends up all squashed together. Just funny watching the scramble. Would never do it on land. Zumba on Princess was excellent. As was the entire gym crew recently on QM2.

 

I usually manage the gift exchanges on ships and make them really fun. On our last one we brought a Michelangelo's "David" apron, and it was a hoot with people stealing it and trying it on. :) I have also been to some that are pretty boring, but if they are run right they can be a total kick and great ice breakers. We have never done a cabin crawl so I can't comment.

 

Line dance classes in rough weather are a real challenge. It is a lot of fun and often a great surprise to see where one ends up after a turn on a rolling ship. I can also remember dancing on the Island Princess as we crossed the Gulf of Alaska in rough weather. Fortunately DH is an excellent lead and was able to compensate for the shifting floor.

[rsquare]

You have said you love the free full service laundry on Princess (Cunard charges for this).

 

Since when? It was free as recently as last December on QM2.

 

I recently returned from my first "open seating" cruise, on another line, and found that it made me appreciate Cunard's fixed dining arrangements even more. Each evening we were always introducing ourselves and getting to know each other, and were halfway through the meal before really getting into good conversational stride. I found it annoying to have to reintroduce myself every night.

 

Contrast that with my typical Cunard voyage, where we get the introductions out of the way on the first evening, and have a chance to get to know each other in depth, to the point where people start recommending activities, books, movies etc. to each other because we have arrived, after a day or two of conversation, at an understanding of who each of us really are. I think that it is fun to see people open up over the course of a voyage as they become more comfortable with the others at their table and more willing to share their "war stories." That doesn't happen when everybody is new every night.

 

I have been sailing Cunard for dozen years, and I have to say that I've not had a dud table yet.

[pepperrn]

Since when? It was free as recently as last December on QM2.

Hi Bob,

 

The self-service laundry is free, as you very correctly point out, meanwhile the "full service" laundry is charged to the passenger (but very reasonably priced).

 

(It was an honour to meet you last December on board QM2 (WB TA). Thank you for the great chat in the Kings Court :) )

 

With sincere best wishes and many great sailings for the future.

Edited May 30, 2014 by pepperrn

[rsquare]

Hi Bob,

 

The self-service laundry is free, as you very correctly point out, meanwhile the "full service" laundry is charged to the passenger (but very reasonably priced).

 

(It was an honour to meet you last December on board QM2 (WB TA). Thank you for the great chat in the Kings Court :) )

 

With sincere best wishes and many great sailings for the future.

 

It had just hit me that Blue Riband used the term "full service" and I was coming back to correct my post, but you beat me to it. The pleasure of meeting you was equally mine. Incidentally, I'm thinking about doing the 15 December westbound again this year.

[pepperrn]

Incidentally, I'm thinking about doing the 15 December westbound again this year.

Sadly, after doing the December 15th WB crossing two years running I am unable to book it again this year :mad: due to a family commitment. If you do book it, I hope you have the most wonderful time, please accept my apologies, I am unable to join you and the other lucky passengers. I shall miss QM2 rockin' and rollin' across the North Atlantic in winter :eek: (but still far better than any cruise ship ;) )

 

Thank you again :) .

Edited May 30, 2014 by pepperrn

[PunkiC]

Since when? It was free as recently as last December on QM2.

 

I recently returned from my first "open seating" cruise, on another line, and found that it made me appreciate Cunard's fixed dining arrangements even more. Each evening we were always introducing ourselves and getting to know each other, and were halfway through the meal before really getting into good conversational stride. I found it annoying to have to reintroduce myself every night.

 

Contrast that with my typical Cunard voyage, where we get the introductions out of the way on the first evening, and have a chance to get to know each other in depth, to the point where people start recommending activities, books, movies etc. to each other because we have arrived, after a day or two of conversation, at an understanding of who each of us really are. I think that it is fun to see people open up over the course of a voyage as they become more comfortable with the others at their table and more willing to share their "war stories." That doesn't happen when everybody is new every night.

 

I have been sailing Cunard for dozen years, and I have to say that I've not had a dud table yet.

 

You are very lucky!

 

Hopefully that will prove to be true on our upcoming Baltic/Russia and Mediterranean cruises on Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, respectively. Our Queen Mary cruise was from New York to New England and was over a holiday so the demographics were a bit different than those on most of our longer cruises.

 

I suspect that as the cruises become longer and more complex (i.e. involving international travel) the passengers become more interesting. At least that has been our experience to date.

 

On our recent Panama Canal cruise, as well as the two little Pacific Coastals that followed, we usually found that we were the last people out of the dining room every evening because we were having so much fun talking with our table mates. As fun as it was, however, I am still not sure that I would have liked to have dinner with the same folks every night.

[LongTimeTvlr]

PunkiC,

 

I remember you from that long thread on this Cunard board that Gene ran (I can't remember his last name). You often participated, though strangely I don't think Gene ever sailed on Cunard.

 

My wife and I are also long time ballroom dancers. We have been on all three Cunard ships and prefer them to all other cruise ships for dancing, though we also like the RCL Radiance class ships. We tried Princess only one time and our experience was not such that we wanted to try again. Might have been the particular ship. I believe it was the Princess Star. We took a 16 day cruise to Antarctica. They had two dance floors. One was in a bar and L shaped with chairs and tables on the floor, which was already small. the other was half moon shaped but only had one band that played for it and they played swing 80% of the time. We gave up asking for other dances.

 

In our judgment the floors and music on all three Cunard ships are very similar to each other, though having the floor midships is a little more convenient.

 

As far as the roll call threads, yes the Cunard threads tend to be a lot less active, though occasionally one lights up, it is not the norm.

 

It is also our experience that RCL and Celebrity (another RCL line) do a better job of matching us with our table mates. We prefer fixed dining and enjoy having the same couples to dine with for the length of the cruise. It is my view that if the conversation is boring that is as much a comment on my conversation skills as those at the table. From my experience there are very few people that don't have enough life experiences that they can't be interesting to talk to for a couple of weeks, if properly motivated.

 

Do you know what happened to Gene's thread? We went away for a while and when we got back it was gone. Never knew what happened, though there were a few posters who were a little full of themselves and were making some negative comments about other dancers. Maybe the moderators took notice?

[GCurry]

Any roll call that I join seems to die an instant and permanent death. But there may be a good reason for that...

J

I seem to share that remarkable ability, at least on the Cunard boards where the moderators seem to have a pretty low tolerance for colonials in steerage!!:)

 

I certainly won't take credit for that dance thread LTT, as I think that it might have been ole Slow Foxtrot that ramrodded that outfit. I did however establish some lasting friendships there, and even got to meet Punki who came down to see us off on a Galveston Cruise, and to do a little bidness in Houston

 

I still have making a crossing on a Queen on my bucket list and will sooner or later make it happen. I have, however, started a thread on Norwegian (shutter) as my wife's family gets together every three years usually for Christmas in Tennessee, but will try for most of em a first ever cruise this next May. The choice of table mates will be relative, and the conversation sadly limited, as well as the menu.

 

I do miss chatting on a Cunard thread, as I learned a lot from a number of you, usually English

[LongTimeTvlr]

Gene,

 

Great to hear from you. I have wondered for a while what happened to that thread. I used to read it at least once a week just because there was always something interesting going on and some knowledgeable dancers commenting.

 

I miss it now. Still have a couple ships on my wish list from that thread. I think they are P&O ships, Acadia and another ship whose name escapes me for the moment.

 

I think it was Slow who recommended them.

[GCurry]

Gene,

Great to hear from you. I have wondered for a while what happened to that thread. I used to read it at least once a week just because there was always something interesting going on and some knowledgeable dancers commenting.

It was a good one; dancers from all over the world, and no wonder as Cunard has the largest ballrooms at sea. Some were competitive like Mumsie from Oz who still competes in the "Australians" and some not so much like 'J", a Scottish social climber from York!!:D And certainly a shout out to Punki who also contributed.

 

I miss it now. Still have a couple ships on my wish list from that thread. I think they are P&O ships, Acadia and another ship whose name escapes me for the moment. I think it was Slow who recommended them.

That would be P&O's Oriana, Foxy makes it a point to join her on a segment or two of a world cruise which always ends up in Hong Kong for a case of galloping nostalgia. Rather than Wong the Suzie he patronizes Wong the tailor these days, to be fitted, as I'm sure that he is fit for little else!!:rolleyes:

Edited June 5, 2014 by GCurry

[Slow Foxtrot]

It was a good one; dancers from all over the world, and no wonder as Cunard has the largest ballrooms at sea. Some were competitive like Mumsie from Oz who still competes in the "Australians" and some not so much like 'J", a Scottish social climber from York!!:D And certainly a shout out to Punki who also contributed.

 

That would be P&O's Oriana, Foxy makes it a point to join her on a segment or two of a world cruise which always ends up in Hong Kong for a case of galloping nostalgia. Rather than Wong the Suzie he patronizes Wong the tailor these days, to be fitted, as I'm sure that he is fit for little else!!:rolleyes:

 

So this is where you hang out now Gene. I thought you'd been fitted up for a wooden overcoat!

For your information 'Oriana' no longer does the World Cruise sectors so the past couple of major cruises have been on QM2 from UK to US/Canada and, a few months ago, the Queen Victoria down to Rio. Have to say that those Rio birds on Copacabana are more than a match for the Suzie Wongs of Hong Kong. Sadly they don't do much in the line of the Slow Foxtrot. But you can't have everything.

Dancing on the QM2 was not too bad but the Queen Vic's ballroom music left much to be desired. However, loved the ship itself.

Pity the original dancing thread was suddenly curtailed as I recall that it had a huge amount of posts. Must have been something you said! Or was it me? Or some odd fellow who thought Cunard's dance music was his idea of heaven!

Anyway, nice to know that some of you are still (just) in the land of the living. Incidentally, there is a limited dance thread on here somewhere which, as usual, produces the customary difference of opinion.

 

Carry on dancin'

Foxy

[PunkiC]

What a treat to see some of of the old-time posters, especially you Gene! Now that we are retired we can go pretty much anywhere any time, so let us know the next time you put a cruise together and we'll join you. Not, however, on Norwegian. We really enjoyed meeting you and your friends.

 

Typically, we sail on Princess, but I found these two smoking deals on Cunard which were just too good to pass up, so we will be sailing Queen Victoria in August and the QE2 in November. Moreover, I also found amazing first-class air mileage tickets for exactly the right dates so I figured that God really wanted me to take these cruises. :) I am still trying to figure out how I got such fantastic prices--less than half of what they are selling for now, not to mention very healthy OBC on both cruises.

 

Our new planning strategy is to just keep checking and when we find a smoking deal, especially one that takes us to a new part of the world, check for award tickets and if we find both at the right time, we just go for it.

 

We just love, love, love retirement!

[Seacucumber]

We are going from Hamburg-Hamburg for 11 days August 5-16 2014. The ship sails from NY and back to NY. Meet and greet is hardly active, We don't even know we are going to have one because we are on the Hamburg segments only