QE Alaska Review From A First Time Cunard Cruiser

[ceilidh1]

I will post more pictures and the daily activities through the next couple of days!

[Host Hattie]

11 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

That's dinner -fish and chips was only lunch!

Interesting, pub dinner isn't available on the other ships at the moment. 

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for such a thorough, balanced review. I look forward to seeing more photographs. 

[ceilidh1]

3 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Interesting, pub dinner isn't available on the other ships at the moment. 

Oh I just assumed this was a regular thing! The pub was always packed at lunch and dinner - the food was amazing in there! Maybe people liked it for dinner as they didn’t need to dress up?

[Kynance]

Really enjoyed reading your review and seeing your photos. Glad to hear you enjoyed the QE experience overall - she is my favourite Cunard ship & I wish Cunard would bring her back to the UK! 
Very interested to hear about embarkation in Vancouver especially - thankful that it is far less complicated at Southampton. 
Thanks again for taking the time to share such detailed thoughts. 

[ceilidh1]

[Nancy&Frank]

@ceilidh1

Is the menu that you show from the Britannia Restaurant ?

[ceilidh1]

[ceilidh1]

6 minutes ago, Nancy&Frank said:

@ceilidh1

Is the menu that you show from the Britannia Restaurant ?

They are from all over! The last lunch menu was Britannia for sure!

[alibabacruisers]

Thank you so much for your review and all those gorgeous pictures of QE!  We love QE too.

[Desert Cruisers]

Currently on the QE doing B2B to Los Angeles. Boarded July 27. These are our 14th and 15th Cunard sailings. 
 

Service, except for the cabin attendants, reception, and staff in specialty restaurants, is very “hit and miss”.  Don’t know if it is due to low morale, poor training, or a combination of factors. My husband was chastised by our waiter for not positioning his cutlery correctly on his plate so that the waiter would know that he was finished.  
 

Agree with the comments re bar service. Coverage very spotty. Good luck getting a drink in the DR at lunch. 
 

[ceilidh1]

30 minutes ago, Desert Cruisers said:

Currently on the QE doing B2B to Los Angeles. Boarded July 27. These are our 14th and 15th Cunard sailings. 
 

Service, except for the cabin attendants, reception, and staff in specialty restaurants, is very “hit and miss”.  Don’t know if it is due to low morale, poor training, or a combination of factors. My husband was chastised by our waiter for not positioning his cutlery correctly on his plate so that the waiter would know that he was finished.  
 

Agree with the comments re bar service. Coverage very spotty. Good luck getting a drink in the DR at lunch. 
 

I’m glad it wasn’t just me! I thought I had gone on with too high expectations but happy to hear that this service (or lack of) isn’t the norm!

[ceilidh1]

[ceilidh1]

[ceilidh1]

[NE John]

8 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

How was adherence to the Dress Code? I notice no tux/Dinner Jacket/any jacket requirements. 
How about Smart Attire nights?

[57eric]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Interesting, pub dinner isn't available on the other ships at the moment. 

I wasn't aware Cunard ever had a pub dinner.  What's the history here?

 

Also, I was surprised to read that the pub was not open for lunch on embarkation.  Have others experienced this (on any ship)?

[ceilidh1]

2 hours ago, NE John said:

How was adherence to the Dress Code? I notice no tux/Dinner Jacket/any jacket requirements. 
How about Smart Attire nights?

I've never sailed Cunard before, so not sure how "dressy" this was compared to say a Transatlantic, but it was definitely more formal than any other ship I have ever been on. On the two gala nights, I would say 90% of folks were dressed up - men in everything from tuxedos, kilts, and black tie suits and women in full length gowns or very classy dresses. On the smart attire night, my estimate would be 75% were dressed in what I would consider "going to a land based nice restaurant" attire - most men seemed to wear shirts and jackets and most women seemed to be in nice dresses/pant suits. I saw very few in jeans on the ship, even during the daytime, but the days we were in port late seemed to be when most folks who didn't want to bother getting dressed up went to the pub!

[david,Mississauga]

5 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Disembarkation

The worst day ever is when you get the info telling you that you have to leave! We received the usual Canada customs forms prior to arriving in Victoria. I was also surprised at a blurb from Cunard informing guests that they could not leave the ship in Victoria as embarking in one Canadian port and disembarking in another violated the PVSA. I'm pretty sure that isn't true - this is an American law, no? 

....

Yes, the PVSA is an American law. The programmes for the last few days of our cruise in June referred to a Canadian act called the "Coasting Trade Act 1992" which I am not familiar with.  Although it didn't affect us I was curious so I researched it thanks to the internet.  It did say that a non-Canadian registered ship cannot embark in one port and disembark in another even if calling at a foreign port in between.  An earlier version of this law gave an exemption for ships registered in the British Commonwealth but that is no longer offered.

 

We have taken three Alaska cruises on the QE. What is strange is that on the previous two, many passengers disembarked in Victoria. I suppose Cunard wasn't aware of the law and no official enforced it - until now. 

 

On this recent voyage passengers were permitted to take their luggage ashore in Victoria, but they were instructed to re-board for the overnight voyage to Vancouver. I think 10 or so went ashore and didn't return. Shortly before departure from Victoria an announcement was made on the tannoy asking "the following guests  ...  report to the pursers office immediately." I suspect they weren't on board to hear  their names called.  

[ceilidh1]

Not a great picture but gives you an idea of what folks were wearing!

[ceilidh1]

3 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

Yes, the PVSA is an American law. The programmes for the last few days of our cruise in June referred to a Canadian act called the "Coasting Trade Act 1992" which I am not familiar with.  Although it didn't affect us I was curious so I researched it thanks to the internet.  It did say that a non-Canadian registered ship cannot embark in one port and disembark in another even if calling at a foreign port in between.  An earlier version of this law gave an exemption for ships registered in the British Commonwealth but that is no longer offered.

 

We have taken three Alaska cruises on the QE. What is strange is that on the previous two, many passengers disembarked in Victoria. I suppose Cunard wasn't aware of the law and no official enforced it - until now. 

 

On this recent voyage passengers were permitted to take their luggage ashore in Victoria, but they were instructed to re-board for the overnight voyage to Vancouver. I think 10 or so went ashore and didn't return. Shortly before departure from Victoria an announcement was made on the tannoy asking "the following guests  ...  report to the pursers office immediately." I suspect they weren't on board to hear  their names called.  

Interesting - I have never heard of this before. I'm well versed in the PVSA but have never seen any notices regarding the same applying for Canadian ports. Not that I even got off the ship in Victoria, but I was just curious. Thanks for the info!

[Bell Boy]

Thank You ,an excellent and constructive review, however, you say not enough to keep you occupied whilst onboard , you've made no mention of Cunard's  Insight Lectures, did you manage to attend any.   

[elmsliebev]

thanks for the review and such great photos. We were on last year (Vancouver-Alaska-Vancouver-Miami) so had the delights of US immigration in Vancouver twice! It was awful - took us nearly 3 hours to board on Embarkation day and almost an hour to get back on th ship on the 2nd visit. Alaska was wonderful though, but we both fell in love with Victoria! 

[tacticalbanjo]

Thanks for the great review. I'm looking to do an Alaska trip in 2025 with my husband, toddler and my parents so this was very helpful in my planning. 

[ceilidh1]

5 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

Thank You ,an excellent and constructive review, however, you say not enough to keep you occupied whilst onboard , you've made no mention of Cunard's  Insight Lectures, did you manage to attend any.   

Since I've done Alaska so many times, all the lectures about Alaska were about things I had already attended previously. I did go to the Libby Riddles one as I always enjoy hearing her speak. There were a few art related ones but, in my former life, I was a manager at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, so those felt too much like work. The only other lectures were regarding star gazing. Even if I had attended one every day, this would only have been an hour of time that I had found something to do...Please don't think this is a "complaint" - I am very aware that this is a "me" problem and that the majority of people had more than enough activity. These are the things that I did do:

 

- Listened to Duo Cula everyday (often 3-4 times a day)

- Attended a few trivias at the Garden Court

- Attended one of the port talks (this was actually only about shopping for jewellry)

- Attended Karaoke twice

- Attended the disco twice

- Wine tasting

- Listened to a piano player at Commodore Club

- Attended all production shows

 

Maybe the fact that we were in port almost everyday (only two true sea days out of 10 days) meant that there wasn't as much scheduled. I'm posting all of the daily programs over the next few days - someone can let me know if this is "normal" for Cunard or if it is modified for a port intensive Alaska sailing.