Dining options on the Queen Victoria - worth it?

[HammerNJ]

Hello:

 

1st time cruisers on the QV, but many times on other lines, including Princess. Would like to know if the Alternative Dining options are worth the extra cost or not. 

If the answer is yes, please elaborate! There are 5 restaurants in total: Bamboo, Riviera, Coriander, The Steakhouse at the Verandah and Lunch at the Verandah. 

 

Thanks in advance, Hammer

[Victoria2]

We wouldn't pay to dine in any of them but that's from a QG/Diamond perspective.

 

We have dined with friends in The Verandah at lunchtime on a Diamond freebe. Wouldn't bother unless it's to dine with friends who aren't in the same restaurant as us. Not impressed.

 

We have also dined in the pop up Bamboo with friends who weren't in QG, and if we didn't have a Diamond freebie and/or weren't in QG. we would pay to dine there. Very tasty.

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Victoria2
punctuation

[Pushpit]

My view is that it may be worth considering if you just want a change of scenery, perhaps because you have a longer cruise, more so if you are Diamond on Cunard World Club. Or alternatively if the menu really appeals to you. One other rational is that let's say you have opted for Fixed Dining perhaps on a larger table, and there's a special occasion / anniversary night that you would rather spend with your partner than sharing it.  Otherwise with all "is it worth it" questions, it's subjective really, people all have different value judgements in this space.

[foodsvcmgr]

Over the recent 12 days on QV I felt no particular need to upgrade or change from Britannia.

Speaking with others onboard, the consensus was that Veranda was not worth the upcharge, but that the various pop ups in the Lido were of very good quality and reasonable for the cost.

[Kynance]

Given that dining is such a big part of the experience, you might want to mix things up on a longer trip by eating elsewhere once or twice. If you’re in Britannia and on fixed dining, then you have the option to eat at a different time and you could well be lucky requesting a window table, (maybe your fixed table in Britannia is in the middle of the room). You might want a break from a busier dining room too or to go somewhere different if celebrating a special occasion. When we have had a really great table location in Britannia & great waiters, then the alternatives are less of a draw, though we normally do one of them on a 2 week trip, as I get the Diamond Cunard World Club benefit. We also only visit them on the non-gala nights as the main dining rooms offer enhanced menus on these evenings.
 

We have never had a bad meal or experience in any of the Lido pop ups or the Verandah but whether they are worth the additional cost, is a subjective question. I would generally say “yes” if dining in the main Britannia restaurant. That said, the attraction of them varies from trip to trip, depending a host of circumstances. We had an issue with our dining arrangements on our June cruise and were considering more than one visit to the Verandah until we managed to get it resolved. Had we not been able to do so, I would have considered it money well-spent to ensue I enjoyed my holiday. 

[Rossco01]

Probably also worth pointing out for the original poster that there is in fact only 1 speciality restaurant (The Verandah) and the other "speciality" restaurants quoted are all in a part of the Lido as a "pop up" restaurant. I believe your cruise planner on My Cunnard will show which of the pop up restaurants are available on your cruise (typically 14 days before sailing). 

[tacticalbanjo]

As others have said Verandah is the only true speciality restaurant. It's definitely worth a try whether that's the lunchtime menu or the bigger dinner menu. My husband and I are looking forward to trying it again when we are on board in November. 

 

Of the Lido pop-ups I've only tried Coriander but I did enjoy the first time so much we made it a priority on our subsequent trip. The food was excellent and so was the service. Possibly helped by the flight of wine I drank alongside it!

[WantedOnVoyage]

When it's "free" (we get a free lunch as Diamond level whatevers) and I think a free dinner from our agent, it's certainly "worth it"!  We think the Veranda on QV, like most else, is the best in the fleet and even travelling Princess Grill, it made a nice change especially since we felt some cutbacks there and a bit of coasting overall on our May Baltic Cruise.  I'd certainly recommend it for luncheon.

 

The "pop ups" don't appeal to us... they are still "lido" despite all best efforts and although the Indian varient appeals, my wife just can't do Indian food. 

[BigMac1953]

We were on board QM2 for 2 weeks in August, and like WOV only used the Verandah because we had the free Diamond lunch. It was okay, but as we always travel QG, it was no big deal. We still preferred the QG restaurant. The previous time we were on board QM2 we actually forgot about the free lunch.

 

The food, service and attention was excellent on QM2. Our special orders were all perfect. Not one single criticism.