Queen Anne

[Winifred 22]

8 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

It's a very good point. There is a permanent tension here - on the one hand the less money one spends on cruise X, the more funds for cruise Y and Z. On the other Cunard is very, very aware of monetising umpteen various uplifts, whether the Club or Grills option, alternative dining options, Plusgrade, a better stateroom, drink packages, tour fees, spa bookings - and before you know it the total bill has doubled. The rule I try to stick to is to pay extra for things where my enjoyment is definitely going to justify the spend without having to question it, so I don't often go without at least a balcony. Unfortunately I occasionally break that rule if tempted too far. In the case of QA, the extra size of Club and PG will change some of the calculations simply because Cunard will have to dilute their price to fill up the ship.

Yes I agree my sweet spot for an inside is anything less than 7 nights anything over it’s a balcony or sea view at least.  I am not there ideal guest as I am not persuaded to purchase any extras such as spas speciality dining . I have a steel resolve not to be enticed into these extras and my enjoyment would not be enhanced thinking of the extra costs. I enjoy myself perfectly fine with everything that is included. It will be interesting to see how dynamic pricing works as I was quite shocked how small the Princess cabin was I was shown around yesterday compared to a standard Britannia. 

[exlondoner]

10 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

Yes, I certainly would have loved longer hours; opening at 11.30am was ridiculous:  too long after breakfast and too soon before lunch.  I really enjoyed the lounge, apart from the opening hour restrictions.  

On the Vistas I used to like to enjoy the view with a cup of coffee at about 10.30. Not opening until 11.30 is annoying.

[Clewgarnet]

28 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

It's a very good point. There is a permanent tension here - on the one hand the less money one spends on cruise X, the more funds for cruise Y and Z. On the other Cunard is very, very aware of monetising umpteen various uplifts, whether the Club or Grills option, alternative dining options, Plusgrade, a better stateroom, drink packages, tour fees, spa bookings - and before you know it the total bill has doubled. The rule I try to stick to is to pay extra for things where my enjoyment is definitely going to justify the spend without having to question it, so I don't often go without at least a balcony. Unfortunately I occasionally break that rule if tempted too far. In the case of QA, the extra size of Club and PG will change some of the calculations simply because Cunard will have to dilute their price to fill up the ship.

I have very limited amounts of annual leave, so the 'more funds for more cruises' isn't as relevant as for many others. However, I know just how vulnerable I am to lifestyle creep (I now hate short-haul flights because there's no first-class option!) so have managed to resist the lure of the Grills because I know I'd never want to go back to Britannia. I am willing to shell out for a balcony, though.

[exlondoner]

16 minutes ago, Clewgarnet said:

I have very limited amounts of annual leave, so the 'more funds for more cruises' isn't as relevant as for many others. However, I know just how vulnerable I am to lifestyle creep (I now hate short-haul flights because there's no first-class option!) so have managed to resist the lure of the Grills because I know I'd never want to go back to Britannia. I am willing to shell out for a balcony, though.

Yes, that was our fatal mistake. In 1997, because it was the holiday of a lifetime, QE2 to NY, Concorde back, I suggested we upgrade to QG, as we would never go on her again. Goodness knows how much that mad decision has cost us over the years.

[Clewgarnet]

6 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Yes, that was our fatal mistake. In 1997, because it was the holiday of a lifetime, QE2 to NY, Concorde back, I suggested we upgrade to QG, as we would never go on her again. Goodness knows how much that mad decision has cost us over the years.

My first Cunard voyage was a TA back in 2018 that was supposed to be a one-off, just for the experience of my mother and I travelling in her grandfather's footsteps, and I'd never travel with Cunard again. I'm now on the edge of platinum status.

 

In my defence, a fractured spine has put an end to my more adventurous travels!

[Mareblu]

2 minutes ago, Clewgarnet said:

My first Cunard voyage was a TA back in 2018 that was supposed to be a one-off, just for the experience of my mother and I travelling in her grandfather's footsteps, and I'd never travel with Cunard again. I'm now on the edge of platinum status.

 

In my defence, a fractured spine has put an end to my more adventurous travels!

Sending warmest wishes, and I hope you are able to enjoy life to your maximum possibility.  A Cunard experience as often as possible sounds the perfect remedy.

[Cruise Puss]

On 5/19/2024 at 7:49 AM, Victoria2 said:

Invest  in a white noise machine on a just in case basis. They’re brilliant as long as you don’t choose any water programmes! 😂

 

We used to stay in a wonderful hotel with a fabulous room, but it overlooked a pool terrace with a hot tub and fire pit. A magnet for late evening drinking sessions even though there was a 'curfew'.

The noise machine cut out all background noise and we never go away without it now.

Have just come across your post and have ordered one of said machines - thank you for recommending. 😊👍

[Victoria2]

20 minutes ago, Cruise Puss said:

Have just come across your post and have ordered one of said machines - thank you for recommending. 😊👍

Brilliant pieces of kit. You won't be disappointed but as I said, leave the water noises alone!

 

Probably too late but if I said River, and lectrofan. you'd get the link to the excellent one we have.

 

Seriously they are brilliant and these days I use it 'against potential snores' as we don't come across any night time noise at all on cruises. 😁

[NE John]

On 7/1/2024 at 6:18 AM, exlondoner said:

On the Vistas I used to like to enjoy the view with a cup of coffee at about 10.30. Not opening until 11.30 is annoying.

Yes. The hours need to be changed. Is the Concierge in the Grills Lounge not available until 11:30 also? 

[WantedOnVoyage]

30 minutes ago, Clewgarnet said:

I think a lot of people also dislike anything new and/or different. Exactly the way a lot of people hated QE2 with her disgusting modern décor when she first entered service!

Says who?  QE2 interiors were tremendously admired when she came out as a symbol of "Swinging Britain".  Not sure where you get the idea her interiors were considered "disgusting" by anyone...  

[Clewgarnet]

11 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Says who?  QE2 interiors were tremendously admired when she came out as a symbol of "Swinging Britain".  Not sure where you get the idea her interiors were considered "disgusting" by anyone...  

Purely by reading books on the subject, and speaking to people who worked aboard her. They remember a lot of grumbling old codgers. It was long before I was born, so no direct memories.

[WantedOnVoyage]

Well everyone is entitled to their opinions, even second hand but having had an article on the early days of QE2 published in "Ships Monthly", researched her extensively,  and vividly recalling, as an 11-year-old when she came out (boys in class brought in the famous "Ships Have Been Boring Long Enough" brochure), we thought she was "neat" and downright groovy. Summer 1969 was a pretty wonderful time all around and QE2 was part of it.  Every design and architecture publication of the era, on both sides of the Atlantic, had lavish features on her interiors. A real icon of an age of pure British design and craftsmanship.  And having sailed in her in 1977 and 1979 when most of her original interiors were intact, I thought they were superb. And so did a lot of others. 

 

[NE John]

1 hour ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Well everyone is entitled to their opinions, even second hand but having had an article on the early days of QE2 published in "Ships Monthly", researched her extensively,  and vividly recalling, as an 11-year-old when she came out (boys in class brought in the famous "Ships Have Been Boring Long Enough" brochure), we thought she was "neat" and downright groovy. Summer 1969 was a pretty wonderful time all around and QE2 was part of it.  Every design and architecture publication of the era, on both sides of the Atlantic, had lavish features on her interiors. A real icon of an age of pure British design and craftsmanship.  And having sailed in her in 1977 and 1979 when most of her original interiors were intact, I thought they were superb. And so did a lot of others. 

 

From the ads I see, QE2 was shown as a “groovy” ship. It captured the times of the late 60’s, including the dress. As for now, I think if Cunard made Anne into just an ocean liner re-do, Cunard would be criticized as stale and stuck in a rut. Both QE2 and QA were and are neither stale or stuck in a rut. I had a chance to sail on QE2 for a TA in 2008 and my travel agent talked me out of it for QM2. Maybe a regrettable decision…

 

 

Edited August 6 by NE John

[exlondoner]

13 hours ago, Clewgarnet said:

I think a lot of people also dislike anything new and/or different. Exactly the way a lot of people hated QE2 with her disgusting modern décor when she first entered service!

And it certainly was modern.

[Jonem2001]

16 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

I thought they were superb. And so did a lot of others. 

 

I’m sure you did - and so do I, from the vantage point of history. But I doubt, given the breadth of human nature, that everyone did.

 

Much like Queen Anne, there will have been some enthusiasts, and some who despised the change it represented. Both viewpoints are equally valid, and I’m sure the opinions that @Clewgarnet has recounted were strongly held. I’m sure there will have been others too. QE2 was a mould-breaker, and that provokes comment!

[foodsvcmgr]

Imagine the shock and horror of the old guard who were used to QM and QE’s Observation Lounge getting their first drink in QE2’s Lookout!!!!

[Victoria2]

Well forgive me if I overstep the mark here but if the first photo in foodsvcmgr's post is an indication on level of ladies' dress, I think  modern day attire beats it hands down!

[Pushpit]

The original design only survived 3 years before bit by bit various retreats to the familiar were made. By the 1994 refit there was pretty much nothing left of the original design.  That was when the Chart Room lurched back to Art Deco, and there Cunard remained until Queen Anne. I like the QE2 a lot, both the original and revised designs, but there was certainly some push back from those who were more used to the RMS Carinthia design. The QM2/QV/QA design is far closer to Carinthia than QE2.

[JT1101]

I do expect the first refresh for QA to pull it back a little bit towards looking like its fleet mates. Not a lot but (for example) having more identification with the history and traditions of Cunard. 

[WantedOnVoyage]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

Well forgive me if I overstep the mark here but if the first photo in foodsvcmgr's post is an indication on level of ladies' dress, I think  modern day attire beats it hands down!

Well not to worry: that is NOT a photo of QUEEN MARY's Observation Lounge when she was a Cunarder... it's a very recent one taken in Long Beach, California.

 

BTW, Cunard turned over the Observation Lounge on both QUEEN MARY and QUEEN ELIZABETH to Tourist Class. c. 1965. 

 

The Look Out Bar on QE2 was turned into the galley for the Britannia Restaurant under the misbegotten first of many outrages perpetrated under Trafalgar House ownership post 1971. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, JT1101 said:

I do expect the first refresh for QA to pull it back a little bit towards looking like its fleet mates. Not a lot but (for example) having more identification with the history and traditions of Cunard. 

 

Ignoring the history was one of the things I found disappointing about QA. She's pretty, but she doesn't feel like Cunard. She feels generic. I missed the paintings and memorabilia that give a ship its Cunardness (for want of a better term). I hope they do something about that. 

[MylesS]

29 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Ignoring the history was one of the things I found disappointing about QA. She's pretty, but she doesn't feel like Cunard. She feels generic. I missed the paintings and memorabilia that give a ship its Cunardness (for want of a better term). I hope they do something about that. 

I agree there could be more, but there is some nods to history - though, as mentioned, not many, and you have to look for it.

Obviously Room 1840 is dedicated to the year Cunard's first ship set sail. This is mentioned on the TVs in there as well as the menus.

Additionally, the Bright Lights Society is a reference to Cunard having the first (steel) ship with electric lighting.

[WantedOnVoyage]

Well not quite... I suspect they are referring to R.M.S. SERVIA of 1881 which was the first CUNARDER built of steel and with electricity.  But she was not the first passenger ship with electric lighting, that was Inman's CITY OF BERLIN of 1879 and the American coastal liner COLUMBIA of 1880. 

 

History is fun and "firsts" are more amusing still, but tread with caution.....

[Pushpit]

5 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Ignoring the history was one of the things I found disappointing about QA. She's pretty, but she doesn't feel like Cunard. She feels generic. I missed the paintings and memorabilia that give a ship its Cunardness (for want of a better term). I hope they do something about that. 

They are going to have to do something with all the port plaques that the QA captain will be presented with on the occasion of QA's first visit.

 

I do agree that someone in design said "keep the clutter down" and their lovely sleek lines are not to be wrecked by higgardly piggardly maritime memorabilia everywhere. But hopefully they could find a least somewhere on QA to add a bit of context and history, and show that QA is really a ship, not a floating hotel. Everyone in Carnival UK's management pay regular tribute to the line's amazing back story.

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, Pushpit said:

They are going to have to do something with all the port plaques that the QA captain will be presented with on the occasion of QA's first visit.

 

I do agree that someone in design said "keep the clutter down" and their lovely sleek lines are not to be wrecked by higgardly piggardly maritime memorabilia everywhere. But hopefully they could find a least somewhere on QA to add a bit of context and history, and show that QA is really a ship, not a floating hotel. Everyone in Carnival UK's management pay regular tribute to the line's amazing back story.

 

I was on the third voyage and each new plaque would be displayed at the purser's desk, which I thought was nice. Toward the end, I asked someone where they would hang the plaques and was told "they're going up today." sure enough, they're in a hallway near the buffet. I thought I'd taken a picture, but I can't find it.