Notes from a QV cruise - Rome to Southampton

[Host Hattie]

Mon 7th November – Livorno

 

 

We had ordered room service as a wake up call and Mr HH decided he needed a dining room breakfast as well. I have been suffering with a painful knee so I decided to make do with one to give me more chance of being able to walk on land. We were in no rush and it was 11 by the time we were queuing for the free shuttle bus into the town centre. Once dropped off we headed to the Tourist Information centre and bought 3 Euro bus tickets valid for the day. At the end of the No 2 line was the fincular up to the sanctuary of Montenero, of course we got there just has it had shut for lunch but the view was spectacular. The No 1 line went along the sea front and we had lunch at a cafe at the end of the line in Miramare.

The a la carte made the first appearance this evening and I had goat cheese souffle and lobster thermidor. Mr HH had rack of lamb and when a second portion was offered it only seemed fair to help him out.

The show this evening was The Beatles Experience, no drinks service in the boxes this voyage again.

As we were leaving the show, the shops were absolutely packed with crew – waiters, chefs, maintenance and housekeeping staff.

 

 

Tues 8th November – Toulon

It was a beautiful sunny morning when I opened the curtains but the wind was biting. We had booked a half tour originally scheduled to depart at 2pm but we had notification yesterday evening that it had been moved to 9am. New room service tags had appeared with greater choice of pastries but less choice of delivery times – all 30 minute slots. I took a chance and wrote in 8.15 and it worked. The Commodore made an announcement that strong winds were forecast for later and that all aboard time was being moved from 5pm to 4pm

There was a free shuttle boat from our berth into Toulon itself.

We were back from our trip in time for lunch, the dinner menu didn't inspire so we ordered Beef Wellington for dinner.

[saintgeorge]

 

 

.

We were back from our trip in time for lunch, the dinner menu didn't inspire so we ordered Beef Wellington for dinner.

 

Having just returned from our 4 week cruise on QM2 (Princess Grill) we are interested to know if the a la carte menus are the same on each ship.

 

You mention having Beef Wellington - was this a special order?

 

Goats cheese souffle and Lobster Thermidor also on a la carte ?

 

We also found the menus to be uninspiring and many meals not cooked correctly i.e. parmesan cheese served on Lobster - two fillet steaks ordered "medium rare" served medium and medium well - How can the chefs get this so wrong ????

[Host Hattie]

No, Beef Wellington is part of the a la carte, it just needs to be ordered in advance.

Goats cheese souffle and Lobster Thermidor are both from the a la carte.

[Host Hattie]

We had a relaxing afternoon and our first visit to the Champagne Bar before dinner, it was pretty quiet.

Our table of 6 seems to have settled into a routine, 4 of us arrive at around 8, just as the early eaters are finishing. They like to go to the early show. The Beef Wellington was very good. It was a Dance show tonight so we didn't bother, going to the pub to listen to the trivia but not take part (again).

 

 

Wed 9th November Barcelona

Another sunny, windy day, not quite as chilly as yesterday, we made it for restaurant breakfast, had berries with cream and Eggs Benedict. The shuttle service was pretty quick, we were at the furthest terminal so it would have been quite a walk. The Cunard shuttle was $6 for those who needed to pay, there was a rival “Cruise Bus” - 3 Euros one way, 4 Euros return trip. It seemed to stop a bit nearer the statue of Columbus. We went up to Sagrada Familia by metro, then back to the old town and found a pleasant spot in the sun opposite the Cathedral where one glass of rose turned into two and then lunch.

We walked back (very slowly- my knee was starting to protest) and were back on board at around 4.

Our daily dinner menu selection wasn't very good for meat eaters – main courses were 4 vegetarian options, 1 fish and 1 lamb. I had the loin of venison from the a la carte menu – it was on the main Britannia menu tonight ! My HH had a sirloin steak which he found a bit disappointing.

We went to the second Beatles show, it was pretty busy.

 

 

Thurs 10th November Valencia

We have had an extremely lazy day but I have managed 2 things on my QG wish list – sunbathing on the balcony and lunch in the courtyard ! All aboard time is 9pm so we would have had plenty of time to go into the city but 3 port days in a row have caught up with me and it was wonderful to sit in the sun.

[maggiemou]

Sounds like you are have fun Hattie. Thanks for your feedback. I hope your knee is Ok. Rub it with Tiger Balm it great for knee pain 👍

[Host Hattie]

We ended up watching sunset over the dock cranes of Valencia and then watching Mr Holmes on the TV which led to a bit of a rush to be ready for dinner. We were still in Spanish waters so I ordered one of the wines from the package I had bought at the good exchange rate before we sailed. Our Sommelier Kevin told me if necessary he holds the bills until the following day. We had pre-ordered veal chops last night and they were very good. We both had desserts from the a la carte menu, we thought we should as they seem to have disappeared completely on other ships. The show was a pair of dancers/gymnasts – we hadn't seen this particular couple before and enjoyed the show.

 

 

Friday 11th November – At Sea

We are due into Gibraltar at 11pm tonight, Mr HH is keen to get off but we shall see ! We had a table of 6 for breakfast and stayed talking until it was time for the time for the first lecture on the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – Mr HH went but the sun on the balcony was too tempting (again) so I will catch up later on the TV. There is another on the history of Gibraltar at 11 – the same time as fencing.

Interim statements have arrived – we still have quite a lot of our onboard credit left so I will need to start shopping or ordering more expensive wine !

The ship is observing a minutes silence at 11am.

[Host Hattie]

Sounds like you are have fun Hattie. Thanks for your feedback. I hope your knee is Ok. Rub it with Tiger Balm it great for knee pain 👍

 

Thanks Maggie, it's a little better today, I think the restful day yesterday helped.

[rafinmd]

Sounds like you are doing the right things for your knee. Continue to care for it and have some relaxing sea days.

 

Roy

[Delbankin]

Host Hattie,

Hope you are enjoying your cruise. I was interested in your comment about the wine package, presumably bought in the UK, and the holding back of putting through your account to avoid Spanish tax. We have frequently bought wine packages and I can't recall ever paying tax on board if the package was bought outwith taxable waters. Is this something new?.

Del.

[Henderson1]

Hattie, have you tried Volterol for your knee, it helps me and I thought if in Gibralter you may find a Boots or chemist

 

Jackie

[Host Hattie]

Host Hattie,

Hope you are enjoying your cruise. I was interested in your comment about the wine package, presumably bought in the UK, and the holding back of putting through your account to avoid Spanish tax. We have frequently bought wine packages and I can't recall ever paying tax on board if the package was bought outwith taxable waters. Is this something new?.

Del.

Sorry if that was confusing, I bought a package of 4 bottles in the UK before we left. Kevin's suggestion was for anything we bought not from the package.

[Host Hattie]

QV in the Gibraltar sunshine

 

[Host Hattie]

Hattie, have you tried Volterol for your knee, it helps me and I thought if in Gibralter you may find a Boots or chemist

 

Jackie

Thanks for the suggestion, I have got some

[ricki]

Sorry this is turning into a more relaxing than active cruise, but sometimes that's just perfect.

 

I hope you are icing your knee for at least 20 minutes three times a day. It really makes a difference!

 

Enjoy!

 

Ricki

[Host Hattie]

Second formal night and the World Club parties - we went to the late one.

At lunch I had been complaining the Mr HH that some of the highlights on the Britannia Daily menu don't appear on ours. Our waiter overheard and arranged Escargots for me for this evening. I had rack of lamb to follow. We were sailing into Gibraltar as we finished dinner so we watched from the Grills Terrace. Hot Chocolate would probably have been more appropriate than a Brandy Alexander !

 

 

Saturday 12th November – Gibraltar

This was only a short call – I had booked a tour of the wartime tunnels for Mr HH, I took the £2 each way shuttle bus into the town, walking seemed to be a popular option but not for me !

I got back at around 11.30, Mr HH had to queue for quite a while to get back on board.

I think we must have been the only people going back to the ship without buying anything, the noise of bottles clanking was incredible. There was a note in the Daily Programme yesterday that alcohol bought ashore was for consumption in cabins only not in public rooms or on the open decks.

We ordered room service and enjoyed cheeseburgers and champagne as we sailed out of Gibraltar. Mr HH had just told me that they bay was full of dolphins when they started leaping out of the water right in front of us ! It was glorious.

We managed a visit to the Commodore Club – the work from the aft of Deck 4 has been a struggle even with the aid of lifts. I had one of the Commodore special cocktails – something about passion ? Nice but I'm not sure whether I would have another.

Another pleasant dinner and then a comedian we'd seen a few times before in our favourite box (No. 12).

Edited November 15, 2016 by Host Hattie

[Host Hattie]

Lunch crossing the Bay of Biscay, hard to believe it's November

[Host Hattie]

Sunday 13th November – At Sea

 

 

Another sunny day, we went to our Immigration Inspection after breakfast, there wasn't much of a wait but later in the afternoon you could have just walked straight in. Inspection was for all passengers and being carried out over 2 days. Disembarkation tags and arrangements have arrived – both Diamond and Platinum World Club members can wait in the Britannia restaurant. We are due off at 8.30. There is a complimentary shuttle bus to Southampton Railway station.

I made a start on spending the OBC and then we enjoyed the sunshine on the balcony. There was a Remembrance Day service in the Royal Court Theatre and shown live in the Golden Lion, we didn't attend but there were good reports from those who did ( I was on the same ship at this time last year and the service was lovely). We had a lightish lunch with no wine to ready ourselves for the wine tasting. This was a paid for one rather than the free World Club one.

That was a fun way to spend an hour on a sea day but unfortunately I didn't really enjoy any of the wines very much. The Port and Fortified Shiraz table seemed to be most popular by the end.

It was the Senior Officers party this evening, our third and final formal night. No a la carte this evening but the menu was full of classics – Veal chop, lobster and beef wellington. Lobster proved popular with seconds being offered and no not being an acceptable answer. Show time was Variety, the singers and dancers followed by a female trio of singers. Not really our sort of thing !

[laktex]

Sunday 13th November – At Sea

 

 

Another sunny day, we went to our Immigration Inspection after breakfast, there wasn't much of a wait but later in the afternoon you could have just walked straight in. Inspection was for all passengers and being carried out over 2 days. Disembarkation tags and arrangements have arrived – both Diamond and Platinum World Club members can wait in the Britannia restaurant. We are due off at 8.30. There is a complimentary shuttle bus to Southampton Railway station.

I made a start on spending the OBC and then we enjoyed the sunshine on the balcony. There was a Remembrance Day service in the Royal Court Theatre and shown live in the Golden Lion, we didn't attend but there were good reports from those who did ( I was on the same ship at this time last year and the service was lovely). We had a lightish lunch with no wine to ready ourselves for the wine tasting. This was a paid for one rather than the free World Club one.

That was a fun way to spend an hour on a sea day but unfortunately I didn't really enjoy any of the wines very much. The Port and Fortified Shiraz table seemed to be most popular by the end.

It was the Senior Officers party this evening, our third and final formal night. No a la carte this evening but the menu was full of classics – Veal chop, lobster and beef wellington. Lobster proved popular with seconds being offered and no not being an acceptable answer. Show time was Variety, the singers and dancers followed by a female trio of singers. Not really our sort of thing !

 

Just a question - are you happy with the choices in the Queens Grill restaurant. Have you been off-menu at all? I get the impression it isn't what it used to be.

 

Trevor

[BigMac1953]

Just a question - are you happy with the choices in the Queens Grill restaurant. Have you been off-menu at all? I get the impression it isn't what it used to be.

 

We disembarked QE 8 days ago after 2 weeks in QG.

 

There always seemed a reasonable choice on the daily menu, plus most evenings there was also the a la Carte.

 

However, there was a big emphasis on fish, with as many as 3 dishes being offered on the same menu.

 

Going off menu was same as usual with both Maitre d' and Head Waiter frequently asking if they could arrange anything. We had a whole Peking Duck one night and apart from incidental side orders, did not really require much else. Caviar was available on request.

 

One thing is for sure, you're never going to be going hungry.

 

BTW, QE's pizzas are better than QV's!

 

Stewart

[Host Hattie]

Monday 14th November -At sea

 

Our final day on board crossing the infamous Bay of Biscay - all very calm. I had Eggs Benedict just in case they weren't available on departure morning (they were). I got an up to date statement from the Concierge just to check how the on board spend was getting on, it still needed spending so I stopped off at the shops on the way to morning lecture on Naval Battles in the Mediterranean during World War 2 followed by Q&A with Actor Mark Williams. He had been billed as the main speaker but apart from introductions to a couple of films being shown in the afternoon this was his first appearance. It seemed a bit of a waste. It was a very pleasant 45 minutes answering questions from Sally Sagoe and guests.

The sun was favouring our balcony again so we settled for lunch from the QG menu - see photograph above. The weather really was unbelievable for November.

We spent the last of the OBC on a bottle of whisky and a necklace and got on with packing. The shows were 7pm and 8.30pm this evening, billed as Variety -Cunard Singers and Dancers followed by John Evans the comedian. We timed our arrival for midway just in time to hear John say "Thank you very much and Good Night" !

We had a pleasant farewell dinner - photographs taken, email addresses exchanged and we amongst the last to leave the Queens Grill.

We stopped to watch the Queens Room dancers, some roll call members strutting their stuff in fine style and then had one last drink in the Golden Lion. I persuaded Mr HH to try one of the more exotic beers from the list - Lady Godiva wasn't a great success.

Edited November 15, 2016 by Host Hattie

[Host Hattie]

Tuesday - Disembarkation

 

We were up in time for a final breakfast as a 6 in QG - 2 of our companions are staying on for the next voyage - lucky them. The full menu was available (it has been on our last few trips but I seem to remember wasn't always the case).

The Britannia restaurant was pretty packed but we were called off on time at 8.30, collected our luggage and found the free shuttle bus to the railway station. We had open tickets and would have been in time to catch the 9.10 train to Cardiff if it had been running ! Track problems led to a detour via Reading but we were home in good time to a chilly house and a cross cat.

[Host Hattie]

Just a question - are you happy with the choices in the Queens Grill restaurant. Have you been off-menu at all? I get the impression it isn't what it used to be.

 

Trevor

 

The daily menu choices were generally pretty disappointing, I only ate from it once. Often the highlights in Britannia weren't offered on our daily menu. There were always more vegetarian choices than red meat.

The a la carte selection was good and I never had the same main course twice although I would happily have done so.

On the nights when the a la carte wasn't offered - first, Welcome and Farewell dinner, the menu choices were much improved

We asked for Veal chops one night for the following evening and I had Escargots when they were offered in Britannia not QG. We were never specifically asked if we wanted something different, the Maitre D' didn't speak to us at all after introducing himself on the first day. he made his way round some tables but not ours. The Head Waiter in our section was very attentive though.

 

We really enjoyed the food and the service but we have had really good food in Britannia as well.

[Highly Sociable]

The daily menu choices were generally pretty disappointing, I only ate from it once. Often the highlights in Britannia weren't offered on our daily menu. There were always more vegetarian choices than red meat.

The a la carte selection was good and I never had the same main course twice although I would happily have done so.

On the nights when the a la carte wasn't offered - first, Welcome and Farewell dinner, the menu choices were much improved

We asked for Veal chops one night for the following evening and I had Escargots when they were offered in Britannia not QG. We were never specifically asked if we wanted something different, the Maitre D' didn't speak to us at all after introducing himself on the first day. he made his way round some tables but not ours. The Head Waiter in our section was very attentive though.

 

We really enjoyed the food and the service but we have had really good food in Britannia as well.

 

I have to agree with you. We were in PG and found the food to be of good quality, but the choices were often very poor and, like you, I thought the Brittania had more choices. They had Lobster at least twice and we only had it once. On the final night, our appetisers consisted of 3 soups and a salad! Not acceptable. Not once were we asked if there was anything we would like that wasn't on the menu and we certainly have been asked on previous PG trips.

 

I was also very disappointed with Mark Williams. I was looking forward to hearing him speak, but a very uninspiring Q&A session with Sally was all we got :(

[Host Hattie]

Our starters on the daily menu were almost all soup. I would have struggled without the a la carte starters which were lovely. I had a couple of them twice.

It was strange about Mark Williams, it was almost as if they had forgotten he was on board!

 

I hope you enjoyed the trip despite this.

[Host Hattie]

A few final thoughts -

Firstly apologies for the all the references to my knee, it was only when I had time to read this back that I realised how much I droned on about it. I was really only trying to explain why I wasn't being very active - I had started having problems with it before I booked so I hadn't expected to be able to do much. Again, thank you for all the suggestions.

 

Journey To Rome and Embarkation - Heathrow experience was as painless as a large airport can be, flight, coach transfer, check-in and embarkation were all fine but airport arrival experience was pretty dreadful. I could have understand if this had been the first flights of the season, you would think they would be better at it by the last.

 

Cabin - We were in Q5 cabin, 4191 and loved the position. No problems with noise, it was probably one of the quietest cabins we have ever had. Everyone we spoke to with aft cabins seemed to love them although those on Deck 8 suffered some noise from the Lido Deck. We are not regular QG travellers, this was a good deal and we will be perfectly happy to go back to Britannia with an occasional splurge. The only thing which wasn't really Grills worthy was the balcony furniture - really would have appreciated something a bit more comfortable.

 

Wifi - Not the fastest but bearable, even worked on the balcony. I lost 50 minutes when my logout failed and had no problem getting them refunded.

 

Food - discussed at length above. Breakfast still has the Petit Fillet Mignon which I did try for research purposes.

 

Weather - pretty much the opposite of what I expected - started off damp, turned windy and improved as the cruise went on. We had a bit of rocking and rolling but nothing terrible.

 

Entertainment - Not a Cunard strong point but we enjoyed a few evenings in a free theatre box.

 

Cocktail parties - all busy and the Commodore was shaking hands !

 

Drinks - new cocktail and beer choices were a positive move although I found the PS I Love you far too sweet, I'll stick with a Brandy Alexander.

 

Disembarkation - very quick and the free shuttle to the station was a welcome bonus.

 

I'll try and post a link to my photos once I have sorted them out.

If there are any questions please ask.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Host Hattie