Second sitting Britannia Dining Room QM2

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, lissie said:

I completely disagree - the group table we had  a solo man and he was fascinating and pretyt much brought the group together. Couple are hard hard work (and I'm partof a couple but my man is awful at chatting) for other couples - I'll always talk to solo men over women because I normally have more in common with the men (don't have kids,  worked in  mining etc) 

 

While I too suspect solo men have a much easier time, if only through rarity, one thing baffles me. Surely, the number of men who don't have kids is roughly the same as the number of women who don't?

[foodsvcmgr]

Fortunately HAL and Celebrity at this moment anyway still offer a late fixed dining option.

This will get my business while it lasts.

My next Cunard sailing is in Club, a shame to be forced to pay the markup just to have the privilege of a fixed table and servers.

Read the Princess boards, their new dining system seems to be a huge debacle.

Again an upgrade to Club is required to avoid the hassle but not even a guarantee of same table.

A real tragedy that something not broken just had to be fixed……..

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

Good point, Lissie. And I have never in life been « scared silly » because a gentleman was well dressed.

Edited March 22, 2022 by 2Oldpeopleinlove

[lissie]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

 

While I too suspect solo men have a much easier time, if only through rarity, one thing baffles me. Surely, the number of men who don't have kids is roughly the same as the number of women who don't?

Yes - but the men tend to not to have  built their lives around their kids - men never want to talk about kids with me - women do -they I assume I've had them (at 60) 

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

I’ve never had a problem with that. We don’t focus on our kids with strangers…neither of us. People we meet don’t either. I wonder why your experience is so different.

[MarkBearSF]

3 hours ago, Desert Cruisers said:

What app?  Are you referring to the onboard app - My Voyage?  Would be nice to access this app prior to sailing.

The Medallion app. Yes, you can reserve before boarding. (However, in our case, they moved our dining room)

 

[Desert Cruisers]

1 hour ago, MarkBearSF said:

The Medallion app. Yes, you can reserve before boarding. (However, in our case, they moved our dining room)

 

The Medallion app is for Princess cruises.  Does it work for Cunard sailings?

[Mareblu]

15 hours ago, carlmm said:

No, this is not what Cunard is doing. According to all the reports, it is not an option. One cannot book fixed second seating.

 

Thus Cunard did not only drop down to the likes of less traditional lines they even went lower.

 

While some might not see this as a problem, it is for many.

 

Then I'm assuming you would decline a free upgrade to QG:  open sitting all evening.

Linda

[Mareblu]

I should add, though, that the same table is reserved for QG guests for the duration of the voyage, but the time of dining is anywhere within an approximately three-hour window.

[Lakesregion]

16 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

Then I'm assuming you would decline a free upgrade to QG:  open sitting all evening.

Linda

Open seating but same table and same group of passengers every meal. So at the first dinner the entire group usually decides on a mutually agreeable time for all to arrive for dinner most likely around 8 or 8:30  around 8 pm. If one or two people refuse to agree they seldom remain at that table as they will not feel part of the group.

[ddgarner1]

14 hours ago, Lakesregion said:

There is nothing more intimidating to a casually under attired couple than having to dine with a traditionally attired solo male. Scares them silly.

I was about to book my first solo transatlantic since the onset of COVID, but I'm glad I read your post before doing so.  I have no interest in being a head waiter's afterthought nightly at second seating.

During my last crossing I happily found myself at a second seating table with the most interesting collection of solo travelers including a concert pianist, and incredible well read international tour bus driver (and retired banker) from Glasgow, a highly successful real estate agent, a professional ballroom dancer and the absolutely delightful UK Customs & Immigration Officer who efficiently processed all of us entering the UK -- without having to stand in line with all the other passengers...  They made the voyage one to remember. 

My last experience was motivation to do it all again on route to a few weeks in London attending PROMS events, including a great seat at Royal Albert Hall for the Last Night of the Proms.  Now I have to decide if that quick overnight flight from the US to Heathrow isn't better than rolling the dice for dinner companions nightly.



 

[LittleFish1976]

15 hours ago, Lakesregion said:

Obviously you are not a straight solo male sailing. Solo women bring out the charity amongst many other passengers but solo males are toxic with couples and have a difficult time finding table mates. That is why the set seating is so very popular for this group of passengers. I have sailed on other lines and it is almost impossible to get a steady sharing table. Eating alone in the middle of a dining room is NOT what one pays big money for.

 

I don't find solo females bring out the charity in others - not that I want charity in terms of a dinner invitation. How awful to be put in that position every night. Some of us solo travellers are not adept at social organising nor do we find it easy which is why having a fixed table of dinner companions each night works so well. No need to fuss over who to sit with or go over the usual opening conversations night after night.

 

If Cunard were to drop fixed seating at dinner altogether I would reluctantly give up sailing with them.

 

[rakkor]

4 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Then I'm assuming you would decline a free upgrade to QG:  open sitting all evening.

Linda

An open sitting with a fixed table, the same table mates and the same waiters.

[Victoria2]

4 hours ago, Lakesregion said:

Open seating but same table and same group of passengers every meal. So at the first dinner the entire group usually decides on a mutually agreeable time for all to arrive for dinner most likely around 8 or 8:30  around 8 pm. If one or two people refuse to agree they seldom remain at that table as they will not feel part of the group.

I'm sorry to contradict yet again, but you are wrong.

 

Yes, a time suitable to all is a plus but it doesn't always happen. In our experience [getting on for 300 nights in QG after our sailings this year]. 7.30/7.45 pm is the most popular time to sit down to dinner but any time is acceptable and no one feels excluded if they dine early in order to catch the shows or to aid digestion, or later, and we have yet to experience fellow guests leaving the table because of different dining times.

 

The only main bugbear we ever had was a couple who dined at 6.30 pm and always took the same seats which had the best view of the ocean and restaurant. The rest of us rotated around the table so we shared the views. We didn't miss them when they'd gone and they obviously enjoyed eating in solitary splendour on a table for eight.

Each to their own.

 

[Germancruiser]

I just came back from a wonderful crossing from New York to Hamburg, on board the iconic QM2 - in fact exactly a week ago.

I choose- as usual - late seating- 20.30.

The card in my cabin said 7.45 and a table number. On the first evening i walked streight into the Britannia Restaurant and asked the Maitre d´for a table for one.

I loved to be seated with a larger group on all of my previous ( 12 or so) Cunard voyages. I told the Maitre d´that due to the ongoing Pandemic I prefer to sit alone for dinner. As much as I love to join a larger table- we are not there yet.

I did like the location and asked the Maitre d´to be seated at that exact table for the remainder of the voyage. Works perfect.

What I found out - and I was surprised myself - that in fact I loved the new dinning time- 7.45!

I am fine when the change it back to 20.30 as fixed dinning, but would prefer to have the Option to dine at 7.45!

I have no problem to dine by myself - I did it during all my cruises in the last two years. Where I go- my e-book- goes. LOL.

To the OP- if you don´t like - or are not happy-  if the 7.45 time slot remains- I highly can recommend X- cruises- there you have the fixed times. Service and food are comparable to Cunard - their ships are nice and well pointed- BUT they are no Cunard ships. I still sail with them, if the itinerary is nice. For my taste they got a bit to loud, a bit too Party...!

Cunard ships and esp. the QM2 is not to compare with any other ship out there.

 

 

 

[Tonopah]

Can’t one just dine on the first night, ask enchanting table companions if they would like to dine together the rest of the voyage at the same table, and make arrangements with the matre’d? Yes, I know it is one doing the work, but I’ve seen on this board that there have been times when dining partners are not to ones liking and asking to be moved, or to a different time, etc. 

 

On our crossing, there was a mix up one night (our late arrival, two tables combined as it was a very empty room that night) and our table was full. They moved us to a table for two, same waiter, brought our bottle of wine. It was a nice change and not a calamity. 

 

 

 

 

 

[rafinmd]

36 minutes ago, Tonopah said:

Can’t one just dine on the first night, ask enchanting table companions if they would like to dine together the rest of the voyage at the same table, and make arrangements with the matre’d? Yes, I know it is one doing the work, but I’ve seen on this board that there have been times when dining partners are not to ones liking and asking to be moved, or to a different time, etc. 

 

On our crossing, there was a mix up one night (our late arrival, two tables combined as it was a very empty room that night) and our table was full. They moved us to a table for two, same waiter, brought our bottle of wine. It was a nice change and not a calamity.

You said exactly what I was thinking.  And if you don't click the first night maybe the second will be better and certainly better than having poor tablemates every night.  I think sometimes "tradition" is more of a strait jacket than a blessing.

 

Roy

[MarkBearSF]

15 hours ago, Desert Cruisers said:

The Medallion app is for Princess cruises.  Does it work for Cunard sailings?

An earlier post mentioned that Princess still allows traditional seating. And then asked how. That is why I answered. Obviously, the medallion app is only for Princess cruises, not Cunard.

[carlmm]

14 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Then I'm assuming you would decline a free upgrade to QG:  open sitting all evening.

Linda

 No, actually I have sailed in the Grills a number of times before.

As others have mentioned before, this is quite a different set-up. Same waiters, same sommelier, same table, and for me most importantly, some table companions. 

Just like it used to be in Britannia, too: Easy, comfortable, sociable, hassle-free.

 

[carlmm]

3 hours ago, Tonopah said:

Can’t one just dine on the first night, ask enchanting table companions if they would like to dine together the rest of the voyage at the same table, and make arrangements with the matre’d? Yes, I know it is one doing the work,

 Quite the opposite of a relaxed dining experience.

"doing the work" is not the comfortable Cunard experience one is used to. Having to ask others, maybe having to decline the request of others, being declined, having to go though this how often, ...

[LittleFish1976]

6 hours ago, Tonopah said:

Can’t one just dine on the first night, ask enchanting table companions if they would like to dine together the rest of the voyage at the same table, and make arrangements with the matre’d?

 

Assuming you mean 'dining on the first night' with those dining companions with whom one has been randomly assigned by the Maitre d' on arrival that night, then how does that differ from having an assigned table with the same dining companions as per the traditional system, if you then ask to stay together at the same table every night?

 

Is this just about the time one dines and the freedom to choose that time (beyond the standard choice of early and late)?

 

There are so many cruise lines on which you can 'dine any time' and wear your favourite tracksuit pants or chinos while you do it.

 

 

[lissie]

3 hours ago, carlmm said:

 Quite the opposite of a relaxed dining experience.

"doing the work" is not the comfortable Cunard experience one is used to. Having to ask others, maybe having to decline the request of others, being declined, having to go though this how often, ...

Well its better than being randomly assigned to a table and finding you don't like the group and then having to ask the matre'd to move you and then have to explain why you disappeared if you bump into someone else from that table later in the cruise... 

 

For a s shorter  cruise you'd do it exactly once on the first night - that is kinda the point. Depending on the cruise though there would be turnover as people left and joined a longer cruise 

[foodsvcmgr]

Are Carlmm and I the only ones who see the needless aggravation of all this new and “improved”?

Is eating an hour earlier for those who wish to do so really worth the trade off?

[LittleFish1976]

17 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Are Carlmm and I the only ones who see the needless aggravation of all this new and “improved”?

Is eating an hour earlier for those who wish to do so really worth the trade off?

 

Not at all; I also favour the traditional dining practice. The changes seem to me to be akin to the 'new and improved' dress code and its promoters - pointless. If people desire a certain type of experience or service, they should patronise a line that specialises in that very experience or service and not try to alter an established and popular cruise line to suit them. Why sail on Cunard, only to cherry-pick the bits they like and press for change on elements they liked on their previous cruise line experiences. Perhaps maintain their relationship with those other cruise lines on which they have experienced those more casual elements that suited them?

 

[Mareblu]

On 3/24/2022 at 7:15 AM, lissie said:

Well its better than being randomly assigned to a table and finding you don't like the group and then having to ask the matre'd to move you and then have to explain why you disappeared if you bump into someone else from that table later in the cruise... 

 

For a s shorter  cruise you'd do it exactly once on the first night - that is kinda the point. Depending on the cruise though there would be turnover as people left and joined a longer cruise 

Absolutely correct.  We have enjoyed the company of some delightful dinner companions over our years of cruising (where, incidentally, while not Cunard, we have never, ever witnessed fellow passengers not suitably attired for dinner).  Conversely, there have been one or two occasions where people at the table didn't exactly agree on various topics, and the atmosphere became distinctly tense.  For our first Cunard cruise, which we are eagerly anticipating, we have requested a table for two to begin with.  We're quite sure we'll meet future dinner companions over a pre-dinner drink in the bar, and make ongoing arrangements if we all agree.  The only other contribution I have on the subject is that having several friends who've cruised with Cunard who disliked the set dining times, and the restrictions on relaxation time or extended waiting time before dinner, we have always avoided looking into a "Queen" cruise.  I was delighted to discover, purely by chance,  that in Grills, dining time is quite liberal.  I have an aversion to being told exactly which time I may consume my evening meal, if only because some evenings I may want to linger longer over drinks, or simply spend a little more time finishing a book before changing for the evening.  I'm very happy though, with the idea of the same table allocation, and with the prospect of meeting the same restaurant professionals each evening, and I'm sure that after a few evenings, we'll be enjoying the company of fellow diners.  I'm led to believe that the maitre d' will accommodate any such arrangement.  Having read all comments here, though, I do understand the frustration and annoyance of the removal of a long-standing tradition.