Queen Vic West Med: wonderful beyond expectations

[MrsPeel55]

Honestly? reading people complaining about the service feels like they were in another planet.

 

We knew we were going to love cruising with Cunard, but Queen Victoria's experience for 7 days, plus the pre cruise couple of nights in Rome arranged by Cunard were absolutely amazing.

The only thing we would have loved to know before hand was that the cruise started a week prior in Southampton, we would have much preferred doing the port to port, but easily fixed that by booking our next one Southampton to Southampton.

The flight Cunard arranged for us to Rome was a wonderful price and fabulous British Airways service, even got a birthday card from all the flight attendants!

The day in Rome was great, my Italian was good enough to communicate , and, thanks to all the fabulous recommendations from the Cruise Critic community, we booked Rome Cabs private car service. The airport wheelchair assistance lady was so kind, came with us all the way to where the car was parked!  the Rome Cabs lady driver found us before we even started to look, as soon as we cross the arrivals gates, the car was fabulous, we got a free upgrade to a bigger vehicle, perfect height so I could sit without effort, her English was great, she even gave us a mini tour telling us historical facts, perfect service.

 

Another gentleman from Rome Cabs came to pick us up at the hotel, again, cannot express how grateful I am for Cruise Critic Community recommendation, we would have been in trouble if we did what we thought, which was taking the train to Civitavecchia.

Wonderful driver, again, great car (again a free upgrade) great English, friendly, very kind.

The embarkation process was seamless, wheelchair assistance from Cunard great, we were in the ship in no time and from then on, a heart full of happiness.

 

Cabin was even better than what we saw in videos or photos, beautiful balcony (we only saw extremely minimum rust in parts which you would expect to see, to us, the ship is inn great shape) vey clean and all over spacious. The amount of storage , the wardrobes, the desk and bed side tables with multiple drawers, so elegant design, our luggage came extremely fast, our cabin Stewart, Arthur, was a smiley wonderful guy who kept our space immaculate al day. Pillows and mattress....!!!!!! we want them at home!!!!! the bedding also soft, great quality and elegance. The pillow chocolates not very nice, but who is paying attention to little chocs when the rest of food quality is the best?

The bathroom was great, I had heard bad things about the shower curtain...ours was extremely clean, even though the actual shower cubicle is tiny,  water pressure and temperature I was able to adjust to perfection, didn't even need my daughter's help.

We didn't get an accessible cabin but the size and comfort were perfect for my transit, small collapsible wheelchair, had this idea that accessible would be a lot more expensive, well, it turns out it isn't!  We are booked in an accessible for next trip, the price is the same we would have payed for the non accessible in that level.(deck 6 balcony again) The only thing that does not make sense is that the TV in the accessible is tiny, but we only turned it on a few times this trip to listen to the captain and laughed at Downtown Abbey in Spanish!  thank you so so much to Julietta who guided us through the choosing our next sailing (and here to the Cruise Critic Community people who alerted us too the advantages to booking on board!!!) 

 

We were so tired, decided to have room service which was so amazing! 

A few days after, my daughter came back from a few drinks at The Commodore Club and got a bowl of pasta at 03:00am! Another advantage to which we were alerted by the Cruise Critic threads!

Had a tour booked for the morning after, so we ordered room service breakfast, wonderful. Ended up cancelling the tour as I was drained of energy, we just relaxed in our cabin until lunch time, when we made our way to the Main dinning room.

 

We chose open dinning, but lucky for us, we were seated in the same area each & every time, meaning we kept every time our  Maitre D' Luca, Sommelier Sojen, waiters Abi & Romeo, the whole staff who gave us attention and treated us like queens. I thought maybe (as I had read something along those lines) staff would be more attentious to people in the Grills (higher class booking) but with our balcony booking we were treated wonderfully, every one we crossed had a smile, had great lunch and dinner companions!

We only had breakfast at the MDR twice, once in the beginning and the last day, again. all staff were great, especially Renato who went above and beyond, but as I said, each and everyone was smiling and kind, great manners and always willing to help. 

The one thing we learned was that for next time we will get the soft drinks package, we had a few bottles of wine (would never though German wine was so tasty!) at very good price, worth paying individually.

 

There was one thing that had me confused, it was about the gratuities/service charge.

I had this idea that we would be charged the gratuities as a whole in the final bill, but every time we got a coffee, soft drinks or cocktails , we signed the ticket and it said : gratuity- with a space to write down your amount (or not, I imagine) I was confused, but given the first class attention we were having, I gave a bit over 10% each time, with pleasure!

To my surprise, the service charge in the final bill was considerably lower than I thought it would be! we were so happy, delighted and impressed by the whole experience, we even gave cash tips the last day to the staff who had worked so hard to make it the best.

 

The quality and variety of the MDR was excellent, we never had to wait to get seated, also, they realised I didn't want to sit in my wheelchair so every time they took it away and let me walk to the table and sit in the proper chair. Every day delightful options, lunch and dinner were a total experience not just for taste buds, made us feel in an Agatha Christie's book. I had mentioned to my daughter another thing I learned from you all at Cruise Critic about the off menu options but until one of the last days there was no need. Then one day, before we even looked at the menu, our Maitre D' Luca, who had obviously clocked by observing what our taste was, mentioned we may not enjoy very much the day offers, told us what off menu options were, which we took and were perfect.

The meat was always perfectly cooked for both of us, my daughter does medium rare, myself medium to well done, the fish options each and everyone of them were fabulous, I was specially happy with the starters, some combinations I had never heard of, the portions delicate to leave space for the main dish, which were huge portions. Deserts were marvellous too, my daughter decided to be cheeky and ask for additional ice cream...she had it from then on every day without having to ask!

 

The Lido buffet surprised us, we thought it wouldn't be great after reading some reviews and some threads here, but we found it great for breakfast.

 

Only managed to do afternoon tea on the day before last, absolutely amazing experience!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Love seeing the couples that went for ballroom dancing (we didn't see any professionals?) sat on the balcony overlooking the Queens Room delighted by these awesome couples!

 

There was so much to see, so many incredible rooms with amazing decorations, fresh flowers everywhere, the music all around the ship awesome, We only got to the theatre (absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!) once to see a couple of acrobats, it was a nice show, didn't get to see much more of anything else as this was my 65th birthday and after lunch and dinner with wonderful wines, I was ready for bed, but my daughter enjoyed the folk duo and each and every bar after she left me in bed in our cabin.

I was a bit worried my daughter, who is 27, would get a bit bored as not many people her age (if any at all?) .....absolutely not! she had a wonderful time, we made amazing friendships, the whole experience (once again) beyond perfect.

 

Next trip would love to make it to the quizzes!  @Lanky Lad I'm sure joining forces we maybe able to win one! Wonderful meeting you in the ship! Last day we saw the Passengers Choir who was excellent paired with a director with the best sense of humour!

 

Dress code was upheld in the most marvellous manner, we kept being wowed by ladies and gentlemen with impressive fashion sense!

 

Another FABULOUS experience was the Mareel Spa : @NE John (I think I got the right person?) remember your recommendation and took advantage of one of the daily offers:  we had massages that were the best we had in years, including scalp and reflexology, shame we couldn't go back as we mis-calculated the time we needed in the last couple of days, but we know now, will get back in the next sailing. There is a bit of a pushy sales tactic to go for products, but they understand if you say no. I have to admit I was tempted as Elemis is a great brand, but a bit on the expensive side for us right now, but ended up doing some shopping at the Cunard shop.... got the notebook/diary (thanks @3rdGenCunarder as I think it was you who asked about it) a few bits and pieces, we thought the QV magnet was steep at US$16.50 but was so well done, we bought it anyway, and a mega fabulous Ted Baker crocodile lime green bag, also well over what we would normally pay, but hey, we only live once! Bought a beach embroidered tunic at a great price.

 

One of the very, very few things we could fault :

One was regarding the air conditioning that was full on, but had such nice weather all through, we know now for next time to get a bit more clothing to deal with it.

The other I know is a controversial one: the smoking areas.

It took as a VERY long walk all over the ship until we found the areas, starboard deck 3  and deck 10, this one even has a few tables and chairs with ashtrays... and we were LOTS of us getting together there, so in the end we categorise it as a good thing, we met delightful people ..,.,and some not so.

 

On the whole, there were only two or three sets of people who looked at us funny, gave us intense looks without saying a word and tried to make us feel...whatever...we are used to it, so we kept the intense look back and ended up having a laugh with the rest of the people who were marvellous.

 

My daughter kept being amazed by how accessible the ship is in general, we met other people with mobility issues and made great friendships, funnily enough, 80% of the time it wasn't us who started conversations (you here know I talk a lot!) not just people with impairments but the whole ship is always willing to get to know other passengers.

 

Something I would suggest is to take covid precautions all through your trip. I was doing it the first 4 days, being attentive and washing my hands thoroughly before touching my face/eyes/nose/mouth, then relaxed as I saw everyone was so well, but last night in the ship and on the way home yesterday was feeling temperature rising, tested positive but managed to lower temperature with Paracetamol Fast Action +, 4 am this morning was 38.5, keeping it on the 37s today until half hour ago, went a bit up, I guess need to be patient, gonna  take it easy this weekend.

 

One BIG THANK YOU to all people on the Cunard Line forum, our sailing and time in Rome has been perfect thanks to all info and recommendations so many people here (and in the Rome Port of Call (thanks @Host Hattie  for calling my attention to those areas of the board) and Southampton transfers area of Cruise Critic too! I found cruise critic without looking for anything specific, what a blessing!

@Victoria2 we feel your love for the Queen Vic, so much the idea was to book transatlantic QM2, but fell in love with QV...had to book it again!

In not so many words?

Cunard promises a luxury experience and, most certainly, delivers! Can't wait for our next sailing back on Queen Victoria  2024!

Will show you later some photos from the professional photographers and some form my daughter's phone, next sailing we will be brining our DSLRs

Forgot to say:

Internet was ok in general, when a couple of days was failing, my daughter called the pursers desk and they logged her back on, so if you have trouble, checked the system has not logged you out 🙂

 

Apologies for typos/grammar/repetitive wording, my brain is a bit blurry with fever but wanted to do this whilst fresh in memory and also to distract from the general body feeling right now 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by MrsPeel55

[Winifred 22]

Glad you had such an amazing time. 

[Victoria2]

I could say 'oh wow/amazing/how fabulous' but in truth, I would have been very surprised if you didn't enjoy our home from home.

My deepest regret is QV will be sent over to the Med summer '24 and '25 if the grapevine is to be believed.

I am beyond delighted you had a wonderful experience and can only say, welcome to the Cunard family.

Victoria 2 x

[Marion B]

   Delighted to hear about your cruise experience.  I am especially pleased that Rome Cabs came through for you, as I have been recommending them to others these past few years.

[NE John]

Happy Belated Birthday! It’s so great you had a great experience onboard and enjoyed the spa. Yes, I’m a big believer in reflexology and Eastern therapies. 
As for a few giving you looks…because you’re in a wheelchair?  I wish I was there with you to give them a look back too. Really?? I’m glad you focused on the good and ignored the distractors. 

As we all age and go through our aches and pains, it’s great to know that there are viable ocean going options on where we can go and still participate and enjoy as much as everyone else onboard. 

 

[Winifred 22]

What did you choose for your next QV cruise next year ? 

[Pushpit]

2 hours ago, MrsPeel55 said:

One of the very, very few things we could fault :

One was regarding the air conditioning that was full on, but had such nice weather all through, we know now for next time to get a bit more clothing to deal with it.

 

Thank you so much for typing that up, and it's particularly good that this was your first experience and impressions, since many contributors here are somewhat further down the track and can lose sight of that first sailing.

 

But for the a/c - I'm totally with you on that. Mostly by careful deployment of the balcony door the a/c is largely unnecessary from my point of view. If only there was an "off" button. Unfortunately it's just the way it is, and though it's fairly responsive to temperature, it is, as you say, full on.

 

I hope you're getting over the Covid-19 episode. I doubt there was much you could do to avoid it, we know now that it's not a formite transmission, it's almost entirely respiratory, so while handwashing (etc) is a good defence against Norovirus, it doesn't do much with Covid-19. Just one of those things unfortunately. 

[alibabacruisers]

Thank you, MrsPeel for your review of your first Cunard cruise!  It was a wonderful review from your positive outlook and I could feel your excitement throughout your review!  You were thorough and included many details that I am sure will help everyone on Cruise Critic. Thank you for sharing your experience!

[alc13]

48 minutes ago, alibabacruisers said:

Thank you, MrsPeel for your review of your first Cunard cruise!  It was a wonderful review from your positive outlook and I could feel your excitement throughout your review!  You were thorough and included many details that I am sure will help everyone on Cruise Critic. Thank you for sharing your experience!

So perfectly said I'll just quote it.  Thank you, MrsPeel55.

[foodsvcmgr]

Glad to hear you enjoyed QV as much as we did on the prior sailing.

Even in standard Britannia as we both were, Cunard is providing an overall experience that is vastly superior to the competitors in the superior segment.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I'm so glad you had a wonderful cruise! It sounds like Cunard took good care of you. 

 

Sorry to hear you caught Covid. Take care of yourself and get well soon so you can work on your plans for your next cruise. You've learned the secret, or maybe not so much a secret--cruising is addictive!

[DaisyUK]

I echo everyone else's comments above; a lovely and interesting review. So sorry to hear you caught Covid, and sincerely hope you make a swift recovery. A depressing end to a wonderful cruise - you may need another one to fully recuperate afterwards!

[Victoria2]

11 hours ago, Pushpit said:

Thank you so much for typing that up, and it's particularly good that this was your first experience and impressions, since many contributors here are somewhat further down the track and can lose sight of that first sailing.

 

But for the a/c - I'm totally with you on that. Mostly by careful deployment of the balcony door the a/c is largely unnecessary from my point of view. If only there was an "off" button. Unfortunately it's just the way it is, and though it's fairly responsive to temperature, it is, as you say, full on.

 

 

We are also fairly responsive to temperature and adjust the air flow/ air-con in the cabin accordingly. Sometimes it's on heat if we're feeling particularly chilly.

[Craigrlewis]

Amazing review

Sounds like you had a great time

hope you are feeling better now

[Victoria2]

Apart from you finding out what a gem QV is  MrsPeel55,  you have also discovered that not all comments and opinions can be relied upon to match your reality.

For instance, the buffet isn't too bad at all and whatever the restaurant, staff are there to treat their passengers well and as for the dress of an evening declining into a general 'casualness'. well not yet! 🙂

ps, we've never had 'looks' directed at us although we do comment on 'watch out for the learner driver', usually when entering/exiting a lift, which could defuse any potential 'looks' as we get smiles and lovely comments back. If we did get any looks, I wasn't aware of them and if we did,  like you, am quite capable of 'looking' back! 😅

Edited September 17, 2023 by Victoria2

[Host Hattie]

Thank so for such a great review @MrsPeel55 and I'm so glad that your first Cunard experience was such a success. 

It's always great to hear from those who have asked questions before their cruises. 

I hope you're feeling better soon. 

[MrsPeel55]

Thank you so much all for your kinds words!

 

I do understand that people who have been with Cunard for many years can feel some differences in the budget being tighter, but friends of ours who have done and then again after COVID say it is only normal as ALL lines are tightening the budget,. For us it has been an incredible trip, as I said, better then we expected....

And as for Cruise Critic Community here....my daughter thought I was obsessive and shouldn't hang around the forum so much then.... but during the whole trip she kept counting the blessing that I actually did!

 

We ended up not taking any jeans, also, of course, over packing LOL

Only went to the buffet as we wanted to try every nook and corner of the ship..., didn't go for anything other than a couple of breakfasts and my daughter brought me coffee & tea (and ice cream for herself!!!!) when we were smoking on deck 10.

After the Vigo port, which was so extremely hilly and my poor child pushed that wheelchair up and down, I suggested more room service or even the buffet so she didn't have to make an effort....

Her answer was :

"Are you MAD????? with all the beautiful outfits we brought, I wanna wear them!!!!"

LOL

Covid is slowly getting better, I have the advantage of some tablets called zopiclone, which I usually make a 28 tablets last 6 months, but had a couple last night meaning I had a good sleep, temperature is slowly going down 🙂

I do not blame Cunard AT ALL, I knew there was a possibility, and I am SOOOOOOO lucky it only hit me the last evening!!!! ❤️ 

be back in a second try answer the questions 🙂

[MrsPeel55]

17 hours ago, NE John said:

Happy Belated Birthday! It’s so great you had a great experience onboard and enjoyed the spa. Yes, I’m a big believer in reflexology and Eastern therapies. 
As for a few giving you looks…because you’re in a wheelchair?  I wish I was there with you to give them a look back too. Really?? I’m glad you focused on the good and ignored the distractors. 

As we all age and go through our aches and pains, it’s great to know that there are viable ocean going options on where we can go and still participate and enjoy as much as everyone else onboard. 

 

 

oh yes to the reflexology! If I am remembering well you had issues with your disc? the whole massage we had was SO great!

as for the looks... we ll talk about its when my mind is less blurred, but will sure do!!!!!

16 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

What did you choose for your next QV cruise next year ? 

 

Queen Victoria again, 12 nights, Lisbon, Madeira & Canaries for Christmas 🙂

but open to find some offers in between!

 

 

16 hours ago, alibabacruisers said:

Thank you, MrsPeel for your review of your first Cunard cruise!  It was a wonderful review from your positive outlook and I could feel your excitement throughout your review!  You were thorough and included many details that I am sure will help everyone on Cruise Critic. Thank you for sharing your experience!

 

OH so so glad you liked it, I was feeling maybe it was a bit too long...but that's the way I talk (sometimes too much LOL) thanks once again!!!!!!

[Winifred 22]

Oh the Canaries cruise sounds wonderful. I have done that Itinerary on QE before she left our shores for down under and really enjoyed it. I am sure you will too. I did Spain and Portugal on QV pre Christmas last year and the decorations etc..   and the atmosphere were  amazing. Going to do a 5 nighter this Christmas just to see the docorations. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, MrsPeel55 said:

After the Vigo port, which was so extremely hilly and my poor child pushed that wheelchair up and down, I suggested more room service or even the buffet so she didn't have to make an effort....

Her answer was :

"Are you MAD????? with all the beautiful outfits we brought, I wanna wear them!!!!"

LOL

 

You have a wonderful daughter! (Well done, Mum!) I would probably feel the same way. The clothes have come that far, let them out to show themselves off!!!

 

1 hour ago, MrsPeel55 said:

OH so so glad you liked it, I was feeling maybe it was a bit too long...but that's the way I talk (sometimes too much LOL) thanks once again!!!!!!

 

A friend used to say, "Well, to make a short story long..." Don't apologize for a thorough review. I'm so happy to see Cunard win another fan. 

[Lanky Lad]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your first trip with Cunard @MrsPeel55. QV is a beautiful ship and still my favourite of those still in service. 

 

The crew were very busy painting outside on decks 3 and 10 so pretty much all trace of any rust was gone by the time we got off. 

[Pushpit]

I don't think I've been on any of the Queens when something wasn't been painted or repaired, even on shorter trips. Sometimes it's a bit of an annoyance if they rope off a section of the promenade and you have to do three-quarter turns instead of a full circuit, but the underlying principle is that Cunard built these vessels and look after them. 

[MrsPeel55]

Thank you all once again! I'm still a bit achey but 2 days without temperature, so all is well and we are still basking on the marvel that was the sailing!

I found an itinerary that could help us pass the time until our next booking which is in over a year.... there is a Rotterdam & Bruges this Christmas ...... now I need convincing arguments to get my daughter to think that could be a great trip.... she wants to do it but in either early or late summer.....

 

will come back with some more thoughts when I can type better 🙂

[Winifred 22]

I am on that one should be good with 3 ports 

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, MrsPeel55 said:

Thank you all once again! I'm still a bit achey but 2 days without temperature, so all is well and we are still basking on the marvel that was the sailing!

I found an itinerary that could help us pass the time until our next booking which is in over a year.... there is a Rotterdam & Bruges this Christmas ...... now I need convincing arguments to get my daughter to think that could be a great trip.... she wants to do it but in either early or late summer.....

 

will come back with some more thoughts when I can type better 🙂

 

Glad you're on the mend. Bruges is lovely at Christmas.