Queen Elizabeth 19th September - a few notes

[carlmm]

The current week on the Queen Elizabeth is slowly coming to its end, thus I thought I share a few random notes. 

 

The daily programme has indeed a new format, as @rakkor pointed out earlier. The schedule is less informative than it used to be.

 

The weather is much colder than to be expected at this time and it is very windy. Thus the pool has not gotten used very much so far.

 

Yesterday there was the big band night in the Queens room. The combined orchestras performed wonderful and the dance floor was full.

 

Generally the musical entertainment is unreliable. Especially I miss a good bar pianist in the Commodore club. The occasional pianist up there is not of the usual quality but most of the time one does not even get any at all but a guitarist or a duo or whatever.

[carlmm]

Covid? There are no informations about the existence of case.

There are basically no restrictions at all for passengers. Very simple embarkation without checking the vaccination status. No masks. No distancing. Packed tenders and sometimes elevators.

 

Yet they still use Covid as an excuse for not holding any party or reception. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by carlmm

[scottiebhoy]

Hi @carlmm I am also on this cruise and I totally agree with your posts. Entertainment has been inconsistent and the pianist in the commodore is sorely missed.  

 

Staff have been fantastic, however where are the senior team/officers. They are now invisible and nowhere to be seen and very different to pre-covid experiences with Cunard.

 

I was on Victoria last month on cruise to Scotland and the entertainment on there was more familiar with the Cunard we all know and love.

 

I was in the space of five minutes given three conflicting pieces of information. On leaving the Pursers Office a manager (surprised to have seen one) passed by and I mentioned to her only to be told "no need to come here you use the app and message your cabin steward" Interesting response as I wasn't looking for the cabin steward and when I pointed this out she told me she was new. At first I thought to QE and I asked what ship she was on before she didn't want to engage in any conversation and told me another cruise line. Turns out it was Tui Travel not cruise but that is neither here nor there. Main issue does not know Cunard or the brand she represents and it seems a lot of the senior team have left!

 

I shall post a full review about this trip and my recent cruise on Queen Victoria.

 

Great to be back on Cunard but like many others are commenting it is the senior team who are failing this so called "fine line" which we all love!

[carlmm]

On 9/24/2022 at 6:21 PM, scottiebhoy said:

Hi @carlmm I am also on this cruise and I totally agree with your posts. Entertainment has been inconsistent and the pianist in the commodore is sorely missed.  

 

Staff have been fantastic, however where are the senior team/officers. They are now invisible and nowhere to be seen and very different to pre-covid experiences with Cunard.

 

I was on Victoria last month on cruise to Scotland and the entertainment on there was more familiar with the Cunard we all know and love.

 

I was in the space of five minutes given three conflicting pieces of information. On leaving the Pursers Office a manager (surprised to have seen one) passed by and I mentioned to her only to be told "no need to come here you use the app and message your cabin steward" Interesting response as I wasn't looking for the cabin steward and when I pointed this out she told me she was new. At first I thought to QE and I asked what ship she was on before she didn't want to engage in any conversation and told me another cruise line. Turns out it was Tui Travel not cruise but that is neither here nor there. Main issue does not know Cunard or the brand she represents and it seems a lot of the senior team have left!

 

I shall post a full review about this trip and my recent cruise on Queen Victoria.

 

Great to be back on Cunard but like many others are commenting it is the senior team who are failing this so called "fine line" which we all love!

Thank you for adding your thoughts.

Indeed your experience seems to be indicative.

Looking forward to your review.

[carlmm]

As of yesterday there were 1653 passengers in board, more than 1000 of which were from the UK.

About 100 guests were from Korea. They had specific guides and events available but no announcements were made in Korean. Indeed, no language group appears to have been large enough to warrant announcements. 

[exlondoner]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:18 AM, carlmm said:

Covid? There are no informations about the existence of case.

There are basically no restrictions at all for passengers. Very simple embarkation without checking the vaccination status. No masks. No distancing. Packed tenders and sometimes elevators.

 

Yet they still use Covid as an excuse for not holding any party or reception. 

 

 

 

 

I should imagine that the fewer restrictions they have for passengers, the more worried they are about the officers becoming ill.

[Victoria2]

57 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I should imagine that the fewer restrictions they have for passengers, the more worried they are about the officers becoming ill.

 

I agree

Officers mingle with passengers but are leaving themselves open to passenger illness

or

Officers restricting interactions with passengers and staying as free as possible from passenger illness

 

No contest as far as I'm concerned. I'll take the proffered glass of something bubbly at the Gala dinner and let the powers that be carry on driving the boat!  🙂

 

 

[Bell Boy]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

 

I agree

Officers mingle with passengers but are leaving themselves open to passenger illness

or

Officers restricting interactions with passengers and staying as free as possible from passenger illness

 

No contest as far as I'm concerned. I'll take the proffered glass of something bubbly at the Gala dinner and let the powers that be carry on driving the boat!  🙂

 

 

Just stepped out of 'My Cunard Comfort zone' and have returned from a delightful cruise on Silversea  (Silver Moon @ 125% solo )        ( Cunard solo 175%  - 200% Grills) 

No problem with Silversea ships officers being visible  ( including the occasional hosted table ) Appreciated we only had a guest capacity of around 645 guests . - Welcome & farewell reception for Newbie guests including a Voyage sales reception.

Welcome Fizz in the Bucket on arrival ( cotton buds, wool , bars of soap in the bathroom no problem)

 

Time Cunard  moved on now  and ditched their flat warm bubbly .     

[carlmm]

Talking about sparkling: We did not get any Pol Acker!

The welcome bottle was Italian, a Contessa spumante, later we got a Cava Jaume Serra.

[Victoria2]

I'm quite happy with invisible officers.

Quite content asking for items

OK with something cold i.e. a glass of nondescript fizzy drink in lieu of any reception as we would avoid any semblance of a 'crowd' at the moment

and was thoroughly delighted to be sailing on Queen Victoria

 

but then I'm not interested in hosted tables or small ships either

 

I suppose I'm just a dyed in the wool, Cunard stick in the mud

 

Good job we're all different. 🙂

 

[carlmm]

Tonight's sailaway is at 11pm, thus there is music outside. This is rather nice as on no other nights than embarkation nights anything is happening on deck at all.

Even this is not really a sailaway or deck party. The Newfoundland Folk Duo is playing, weil, kind of folk songs, nice to listen but not lending for a party at all.

 

A number of people hoped to see some of the great final la merce fireworks but they were not to be seen from the ship. (or rather just the tops of the few highest going ones)

 

[ClefsDor]

Can you please let me know if late dining on the cruise you are on is fixed or open? Many thanks

[carlmm]

4 minutes ago, ClefsDor said:

Can you please let me know if late dining on the cruise you are on is fixed or open? Many thanks

It is fixed, 20.15 h.

They do offer shared table. Indeed we have great people on our table.

[carlmm]

[ClefsDor]

Thanks, carlmm!

[carlmm]

The captain just came over the cannot to announce some important changes:

Due to the bad weather that are the high winds, both next port stops, Cannes and Livorno, have been cancelled. 

[carlmm]

On Thursday we will go to Portoferraio instead, yet due to the short notice, no excursions will be offered.

 

Indeed all day long the winds have been strong today, waves keep the Queen Elizabeth rocking and the promenade deck has been partly closed.

[carlmm]

So this is another sea day. Fortunately the captain keeps the ship slowly movie between island and main Land in the Ligurian des to protect us from the heaven winds and sea.

Yet, he already announced that at about 4 pm we will have to go to the open sea with high swells again.

Thus it is pool deck time for me now. There are a few clouds but basically it is a sunny das 

[carlmm]

Thanks to the advice given by various kind posters on this forum, I knew that it is possible to ask for a couple of items which do not appear automatically.

Such as:

Soaps bars

Laundry list and bag

Always available dishes in Britannia

 

Everything was provided friendly and efficiently. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by carlmm

[carlmm]

Today I used for the first time ever the "Brunch menu" from room service.

The small list of plated Breakfast items is a good addition if one missed Breakfast and its to early for the main Menü, abailable after noon.

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for the updates, I hope the changes aren't too disappointing.

[carlmm]

[Host Hattie]

It looks beautiful there, have a lovely sea day 

[jary8]

Can I ask if there are sufficient fun activities to do on board the ship.  Not into dancing 💃 and will be having my mother in law with me. Have you received  a refund for the missed ports? Is this as onboard credit or back to your credit card?  
 

Does anyone have a drinks price list at all please.  As there are 3 of us in one cabin and 2 don’t drink we need to buy drinks individually and I am not paying for 3 people to have an alcoholic drinks package, which is Cunards policy.  Also £1500 for 7 days. 
 

Thanks 

[carlmm]

1 hour ago, jary8 said:

Can I ask if there are sufficient fun activities to do on board the ship.  Not into dancing 💃 and will be having my mother in law with me. Have you received  a refund for the missed ports? Is this as onboard credit or back to your credit card?  
 

Does anyone have a drinks price list at all please.  As there are 3 of us in one cabin and 2 don’t drink we need to buy drinks individually and I am not paying for 3 people to have an alcoholic drinks package, which is Cunards policy.  Also £1500 for 7 days. 
 

Thanks 

For the activities I will try to post some photos; there are activities like lectures, quizzes and Sports competitions.

We did not get any refund for the missed ports per se. Of course booked excursions were refunded to the original way of payment.