Your first Cunard experience

[Taz_1]

First experience was July 2014 to Norway. It was our 25th wedding anniversary on the QV and was amazing. Really brought a tear to my eye when we left Southampton having had many years seeing ships leave and never expected to be on one.

 

Our second (and last) trip was on QV again to ST Petersburgh last year. Whilst I still enjoyed it, it didn't have the same feeling. I'm not sure if this was because it wasn't new any-more or whether it just wasn't quite the same experience.

 

The second trip was a saver fare and we did feel like second class citizens. Next time I will pay full fare again. Maybe is just in my mind, but I definitely felt different on the reduced fare trip.

[tifftoff]

Our first Cunard cruise was in June 1990 on the Cunard Countess - 14 days in the Caribbean for our honeymoon. 25 years and many Cunard cruises later we are on the Queen Elizabeth next month to celebrate our Silver Wedding. We have 'strayed' a few times and tried other lines, but Cunard always wins with us.:cool:

[Scottish52]

First Cunard voyage was only my 2nd cruise. August 2012, 7 days to the Fjords on QE, with my Mum. She was very worried about the size of QE and would she feel out of place. We loved it. Wonderful memories of the ship and the Fjords.

 

I am off this summer on QM, transatlantic. My dream voyage since seeing QE2 being launched on the television when a little girl. First solo voyage as flight time too long for my Mum so apprehensive but excited.

[Kynance]

Mine was in 1991 when I did a west bound TA on QE2 with my mother and younger brother. My father had died just a few months previously and Mum used some of the life insurance money to do something which she had always dreamt of doing. I quite liked the idea too and we dragged my brother along, although I think he enjoyed himself!

 

I remember on the first night going into what was then called the Theatre Bar (and later became the first Golden Lion pub) and ordering drinks at the bar, not realising that the waiters came to the tables to take orders! Taking a seat in the Commodore Club, Chart Room or Cafe Carinthia, perusing the drinks menu and then giving my order to the waiter is still one of the things I really look forward to.

 

Mum and I did another six trips together until circumstances changed and we could no longer travel together. She remembered those trips when she was very ill and near the end of her life and they were some of her favourite memories. We even used a photograph of her taken in the Grand Lounge on formal night at her funeral as she just loved to dress up and the formal evenings were very special to her.

 

After a break I returned to Cunard and now travel with my partner: the first time I saw the QM2 brought back a rush of happy memories of those trips with my Mum so I guess that is one reason a Cunard voyage is always special to me.

[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]

Having seen QE2 launched on a grainy old TV and having cut out articles from newspapers about her for my childhood scrapbook I too went through the "one day I'll travel" routine and sure enough in 1993 with a group of friends I crossed WB in 5 nights and visited NYC and the USA for the first time. All a blur but a wonderful memory.

 

Life intervened but about 10 years ago when QE2 had moved to cruising duties back I went and that is when I "got it" and started the fiendish love of Cunard. In 2008 the thought was that's it, no more QE2 so no more Cunard but I was persuaded that QM2 was good, though very different, so decided to try.

 

i think I had been on for a day or so when it dawned on me that the ship really was magnificent and maybe there was life after dear old QE2. The Commodore club was peerless, we had a wonderful waitress there who took care of us and it was the first time I fully realised that the crew were sometimes just as important as fellow travellers in making a good cruise a truly memorable one.

 

So here we are in 2015, I'll celebrate a personal milestone in number of nights with Cunard this summer and happily the wonderful waitress is still with QM2 so one reason along with many others to look forward to stepping across the threshold once more. The only missing component for me is that I've never been on QV so must put that right, hopefully in 2016.

 

M-AR

[lannp]

I had read many books about the great liners, etc. and in 2004 I was standing at the windows of the Maritime Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I was there with a tour group and the tour guide was an old friend and we were talking about ships and there was a Royal Caribbean docked there and he mentioned he had been on the new QM2 earlier in the year.

I thought about it for about 6 weeks and booked a crossing for the following year. That was the start of the love affair with the QM2, although I totally was hooked after the 24-day voyage in 2006. It also helped that by then I had retired and was not tied down to a calendar.

As mentioned earlier it is not just the ship. It is the crew!! Many of been on the ship for years and have become friends and the first few days aboard are like old-home week.

[jimmybean]

September 2006, Queen Mary 2 West-Bound Crossing.

 

Supposed to be a "one-off"/"never-to-be-repeated"/"once-in-a-lifetime" voyage, as I'd wanted to take a Cunard Liner across the Atlantic since I was a child (when I saw the great liners in Southampton).

 

I was totally hooked by QM2 the moment I stepped into the Grand Lobby for the first time. If I could sail only on QM2 for the rest of my days, and no other ship, I'd die a happy man :) .

 

By time I had walked to my cabin, I was already planning my next trip (2007 QM2 Caribbean Cruise).

I've added trips on QE2, QE & QV to the crossings and cruises on QM2 since that wonderful day in 2006.

Meeting a gracious lady for the first time :) (that would be you, lannp ;) ).

 

Thank you for the trip down memory lane.

 

Our first Cunard experience was also in the fall of 2006 on the QM2, going east at the beginning of October. Remember? It was only six days for a crossing, at that time, so the wind on deck seemed fearsome (with the greater speed)! I only ventured out on the deck once. Waves were about three meters (four days out) and sky and water were grey. In contrast, the inside of the ship was colorful with passengers, entertainment, architectural features. Also, love at first sight for us, which has only continued and grown with each subsequent voyage.

[Summergee]

My first Cunard experience was a 17 night med cruise on QE2 in 2006. It was so relaxing and the best thing was my husband wasn't shattered by driving. The ship was beautiful and the food was wonderful. I had only visited Belgium and Crete until then so the list of countries I have visited expanded considerably.

[3rdGenCunarder]

My relationship with Cunard is rather like LIzzy and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Hate the first time, love the second time.

 

My first experience with Cunard was a westbound TA in summer of 1988. We had gone to Bermuda with HAL twice, and when I saw an ad in the paper for standby fly/sail on QE2, I quickly called Cunard to sign up. I mean, wow! I NEVER thought I'd be able to afford QE2. (In 1988, $999 for this trip was a relative bargain!) There was a lot of hype about her. Every year when she left NYC on her world cruise, the news would carry the story along with pictures of the best suite and glowing descriptions of fabulous service and amenities.

 

I kept calling Cunard to see if we'd "made the cut," and I think the agents got so tired of me, they gave us a cabin. I was working in NYC at the time, and it was so cool to walk over to the Cunard building on my lunch break and collect my tickets.

 

My expectations were ridiculously high and mostly not met. We had an inside upper/lower. OK, I'd had that on HAL, so that wasn't a disappointment. I knew what kind of cabin we were getting. My problem was with service. Our waiters were terrible, and the bar service in the Lido at lunchtime was downright rude. It didn't compare to the gracious service we'd had on HAL. I was shocked that the great, magnificent QE2 would give us lesser service. There was a fair amount of grumbling among the steerage pax. The launderette crowd all seemed to have had better experiences on other lines, and perhaps that conversation colored my opinion a bit.

 

It wasn't all bad. We met Dennis on Sundeck, and he showed us good spots to reserve chairs. It was a rough crossing and we didn't get a lot of use from those chairs, but we enjoyed the time we had there. We felt that Dennis and Roger were the only crew who seemed to care about service.

 

So now we were on Cunard's mailing list. When we got an offer for a good price and good timing (summer) on a transcanal, I sighed and said, well, it IS QE2, but I suppose I can survive it for this itinerary. (Remember, this was 1989 or 1990, and transcanals were mostly spring/fall repo cruises, so a June cruise when my husband wasn't teaching, was a rare opportunity.)

 

Everything was perfect, and I absolutely fell in love with QE2 and we sailed with her many times after that, always reserving chairs in the spot Dennis had picked out for us years before, until the reserving went away. We did take an outside cabin after that first time, but didn't care if it was small because Sundeck was our "home" on QE2.

 

I am so glad I gave her a second chance!

[retafcruiser]

My first Cunard experience was a transatlantic on the QE2 in 1976. It was a "WOW" time for sure. The ship was relatively new and obviously a class affair with velvet ropes indicating "First Class Only" past this point. We had to carry large, heavy keys for our staterooms, and either dollars or pounds to pay bar bills, etc. This was before cashless society existed. My car accompanied me, and I retrieved it in New York. I recall no buffets so I took all meals in Tables of the World. Things were very different from today's cruising.

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

My first sailing with Cunard was a westbound transatlantic crossing on the QE2 with my parents in June 1984. Prior to the crossing, we did Cunard's London / Paris land package. We boarded the ship in Southampton and the ship stopped in Cherbourg, France to pick up additional passengers. At this time, the ship was doing the crossing in five days. We had some rough weather during one of the days (the outside decks were closed and deadlights were closed over the portholes). Despite the bad weather, the ship traveled at a high speed to maintain its schedule.

 

Some of the ship's interiors were still original (for example, the Queens Room, Double Room and the Midships Lobby). Passengers had full run of the ship, but the ship operated on a two class system. For example, First Class passengers dined in the Columbia Restaurant and attended evening entertainment in the Queens Room. Transatlantic Class passengers dined in the Tables of the World Restaurant and attended evening entertainment in the Double Room. The ship had the Lido Magrodome over one of the pools (this was later removed and the area became the Lido Restaurant).

 

The QE2 eventually became my favorite ship and I sailed aboard the ship six more times: 1996 (five-day Bermuda); 1999 (seven-day Bermuda / Bahamas); 2000 (five-day Eastern Caribbean); 2001 (six-day westbound transatlantic crossing); 2003 (six-day eastbound transatlantic crossing); and 2005 (seven-day Norway).

 

I am still a big Cunard fan. Most recently, I did a westbound crossing on the QM2 (November 2014) and an eastbound crossing on the Queen Victoria (April 2015). These ships are both very nice, but the QE2 remains my all-time favorite ship.

 

Chuck

Edited May 21, 2015 by seacruise9

[yorkshire terrier]

I don't remember the exact date,probably 2006 towards the end of the QE2's life.We had booked a short cruise and our travel agent informed us we had been upgraded.We had terrible problems driving down the M1 to Southampton,swapped over to the A1,finally arriving in Southampton we got lost,and were the very last people to check in at 4.30.We were told there that we had been upgraded,but I was so flustered I didn't really listen to what was being said.

We were in a beautiful small dining room,had the loveliest enormous suite with walk in dressing room,and met some really nice dining companions.We are still in touch with people from Hampshire,and have just booked a New Year cruise on Queen Victoria with them.

It wasn't until the end of the cruise when we were chatting that I realised we were in the Princess Grill,that was the upgrade!! All our fellow diners had been upgraded too.A wonderful experience,and we have been Cunard fans ever since.

[Normandie_Nostalgic]

My first Cunard experience was on the QE2, a TA and return, with 3 days in NYC in between. In those days, QE2 crossed in only 5 days. It was in May, the Atlantic was quite rough, and we were late into New York, which was great, because we went up the Hudson in mid morning and with bright sunshine, instead of an early morning foggy arrival. We had travelled from London to Southampton by rail on the Orient Express, that came alongside teh ship for the most convenient boarding ever.

We had quite basic accommodation back then, a Mauritania inside cabin on Deck 5, around the waterline. Waves were crashing against the hull. Great nautical atmosphere ! The Master then was John Burton-Hall.

We had enjoyed our first contact with the QE2, and in subsequent years, we cruised twice on her, first for a 2 weeks Med cruise. This time, we had booked a Caronia outside cabin, but Cunard upgraded us to Princess Grill (PG Port, with the original red decor, expertly run by Andrew Nelder, the epitome of a Maitre d’.)

The year after that, we embarked on a 3 weeks cruise to the Caribbean. We wanted to renew the Princess Grill experience, but Cunard upgraded us to Queen’s Grill. We loved the vast stateroom, one of the original wood-panelled ones, and we enjoyed the culinary delights of the Queen’s Grill, although I think I preferred the cosy elegance of the much smaller and more intimate PG.

We never had the chance to sail again on the QE2, but we saw her one last time last year in Dubai, on a segment of the World Cruise of the QE, which was a bit sad. Since then, we also cruised on the QV in the Baltic, and on the QM2 from Singapore to Hong Kong.

All 3 of the contemporary Queens are, in many ways I believe, a vast improvement over the elderly QE2, but they are missing much of the charm and the most endearing personality of the Dear Old Lady.

[Ehg]

My first Cunard experience was on the Cunard Princess in 1992. My grandmother took me and one of my younger sisters. We flew to Venice and did Turkey and the Greek Islands, flying back from Athens.

We were only 21 and 19 years old and very much the youngest on the ship. We were in an inside cabin and I remember returning from a show in our evening gowns kicking our legs high, imitating the dancers in the show we'd just seen.

We also used to join the crew at their disco - I'm sure that wouldn't be allowed today - it probably wasn't then!

Very fond memories.

My husband and I are sailing on the Queen Victoria in November which will be my first cruise with Cunard since then. Can't wait. [emoji4]

[bluebelle]

Just about to embark on my first Cunard voyage on Victoria. Great to hear all your memories and experiences. Will be adding mine when we return.

[lannp]

Just about to embark on my first Cunard voyage on Victoria. Great to hear all your memories and experiences. Will be adding mine when we return.

 

Yes, please do. I love reading the stories.

[HellouB]

Mine was Christmas 2012 on QE. My mother, daughter and I went, 3 generations (my husband went on a boys holiday with my son!!). The best part was watching my 12 year old daughter on her first "grown up" cruise. We spent ages buying evening gowns and matching shoes.

 

Because it was Christmas, it was magical. From the Gingerbread village, to the gifts and the New Years Eve party, everything was perfect.

[Host Hattie]

I need to amend my original answer !

My first Cunard experience was being in Liverpool for the 150th anniversary celebrations. Having just returned from QM2 and the Liverpool Salute, I'm planning for 2040 already :-)

[navybankerteacher]

I've never "cruised" on Cunard, but find QM2 to provide the most civilized and comfortable way to return from periodic visits with family just north of London.

 

Arriving in NY (too bad it's Brooklyn rather than Manhattan) just 45 minutes from home is a comfortable way to wind up the trip.