Queen Anne

[buchanan101]

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

The McKay Bennett recovered several hundred bodies.

Ah I see, but Pushpit said "went down with the ship"... so that was figuratively not literally!  

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, buchanan101 said:

Ah I see, but Pushpit said "went down with the ship"... so that was figuratively not literally!  

I suppose that depends on how you interpret with. Would you prefer on?

[Clewgarnet]

6 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

Ah I see, but Pushpit said "went down with the ship"... so that was figuratively not literally!  

Went down, then came back up.

[Pushpit]

16 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

How can he be buried in Halifax if he went down on the ship?

Many bodies were brought to the sea surface by tidal pressures in the days and weeks and years after the sinking. Bodies were still being recovered 3 decades after the event, this was a tragedy that went on for some time. Mr. Gatti was unusual in being immediately recognised and so his grave in Fairview Lawn Cemetery is one that is marked with his name. The work to identify the victims still goes on, with DNA now assisting the process but there are still many grave markers in Halifax which don't bear a name.

 

His widow, incidentally, never remarried and died around 1974 in Yorkshire, she was one of the last beneficiaries of the Titanic Relief Fund.

[exlondoner]

A Question. There is a picture on the Liverpool Echo site of the passengers watching the arrival from the balconies. It is early and they are all in their bath robes, wisely as it turns out, for you can see through the balcony glass. My impression is that the glass on the Vista balconies is one way. Am I merely misremembering? This certainly isn’t.

[Host Hattie]

This is Queen Victoria 

[exlondoner]

Just now, Host Hattie said:

This is Queen Victoria 

Sort of semi-see-through. Not as clear as QA.

[exlondoner]

 

 

On this one, the glass on QV looks very dark.

[buchanan101]

22 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

 

On this one, the glass on QV looks very dark.

Tinted will look darker at an angle

[safarigal]

For those of you who will be traveling on Queen Anne - don't forget to sign the Cruise Critic book. The librarian has it on a shelf near her desk 🙂

[rrobbins]

Can anyone tell me the onboard drink prices for specialty coffee and soft drinks ?

[rakkor]

The is from last October's Chart Room so probably not entirely accurate given the recent price rises

 

[rakkor]

Here's the full menu

 

Chart Room Menu.pdf

[rrobbins]

19 hours ago, rakkor said:

Here's the full menu

 

Chart Room Menu.pdf 2.46 MB · 51 downloads

Thank you.  This answers all my questions.

 

[S1971]

3 hours ago, Devonport D said:

 

 

Cunard have to move with the times and QA is probably a prime example of that, the reliance of the "old cunarders" repeatedly booking is naturally coming to an end, this ship going forward will probably encourage a younger age group, which intern will take Cunard forward in the future.

 

Judging by all the photos, they are keeping to some if their traditions with the decor.

 

Have a great cruise.

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, S1971 said:

 

Cunard have to move with the times and QA is probably a prime example of that, the reliance of the "old cunarders" repeatedly booking is naturally coming to an end, this ship going forward will probably encourage a younger age group, which intern will take Cunard forward in the future.

 

Judging by all the photos, they are keeping to some if their traditions with the decor.

 

Have a great cruise.

It is really only in the last few years, I have stopped hearing people begin sentences with, ‘On QE2 they used to…’ always said regretfully, sometimes reproachfully. 

[S1971]

5 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

It is really only in the last few years, I have stopped hearing people begin sentences with, ‘On QE2 they used to…’ always said regretfully, sometimes reproachfully. 

 

A late aunt and uncle were almost grief stricken when the QE2 went out of service and you can guess, swore never to sail Cunard again.

 

Obviously they did and grew to love QV and QM2, so I'm guessing QA will soon have a devoted following.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, S1971 said:

 

Cunard have to move with the times and QA is probably a prime example of that, the reliance of the "old cunarders" repeatedly booking is naturally coming to an end, this ship going forward will probably encourage a younger age group, which intern will take Cunard forward in the future.

 

Judging by all the photos, they are keeping to some if their traditions with the decor.

 

Have a great cruise.

Going forward, it will be very interesting to see QA's demographics.

 

For Cunard regulars like us who want to cruise from Southampton, don't want to fly and don't want to book QM2, what's left in late Spring and Summer 25/26?

 

Queen Anne.

 

It has already been said the number of mobility challenged, mostly seniors was very high on our 10th May cruise and the average age  similar to the Round Britain cruises on QV/QE we've taken...high.

 

Will 'they' book QA for the next few years or jump ship to another cruise line? I really don't know because ignoring the lack of full adaptations in the fully [word used advisedly here 🙂] adapted cabin, Cunard as a company are, in our opinion brilliant with older passengers and those with mobility challenges.

 

As I said, interesting.

[ShipboardSteve]

One would imagine that there are basics for any cruise that must be done well - and for any cruise passenger irrespective of their age, it would be a basic essential of a holiday to expect reasonably decent food served in a reasonable time for all meals including dinner. All passengers would reasonably expect to be able to get up and down the decks, so serviceability of lifts is also a basic necessity for a ship with many deck levels, as well as efficient delivery of luggage and an acceptable time to embark and disembark the ship. These are all basic essentials that all demographics would expect from a cruise holiday.  What the entertainment provides then comes next in what anyone will choose as a holiday destination. One would think that Cunard would make a huge effort to get the basics right if they want to compete with other cruise lines.

Edited June 9 by ShipboardSteve
typo

[WantedOnVoyage]

"You might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment."

 

And given that QA is very much "an off the shelf" design in the basics, it seems downright bizarre that essentials like mobility access, lifts, wardrobe space etc. seem lacking. Maybe because my father was an architect, I appreciate that bad design is built no more and no less than good design.  Someone designed it all, stood back and said "Why that's jolly good."  Maybe from a distance.I honestly think these people have never actually spent more than five hours on a cruise ship let alone one with real passengers. 

 

Of course, "they" delivered QUEEN VICTORIA with no shade at all on the Grills Deck (corrected after the first sunburnt season) and no drawer space (also corrected... I always "get" those two big drawers under the bed!) so QA is, I guess, a "traditional" Cunarder afterall.  Like QUEEN MARY of 1936 delivered with no handrails in the passageways....

[david63]

23 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

given that QA is very much "an off the shelf" design in the basics, it seems downright bizarre that essentials like mobility access, lifts, wardrobe space etc. seem lacking

There are two aspects to any ship's design - there is the basic structure by a ship's architect and that is "off the shelf" and then there is the"fitting out" and that is the area that is lacking.

 

At one time there were specialist designers who would design the interior of a cruise ship and knew what they were doing (OK they got a few minor things wrong from time to time) but these days the interior of a ship is handed over to companies that design the interior of hotels - and as we all know the two are totally different in almost evert respect.

29 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

I honestly think these people have never actually spent more than five hours on a cruise ship let alone one with real passengers. 

I'm not sure that they have even spent that much time onboard a ship - but having said that most hotel rooms these days are badly designed (even 5* hotels). For some inexplicable reason designers don't seen to take into consideration that guests might actually have some clothes with them!

 

As for not getting accessibility right that is unforgivable in this day and age but in their defence that may be down to the regulations in different countries.

[Victoria2]

Can't comment on the adapted cabins as we don't book them so have no real knowledge of all requirements, but once 'hold the lift' became our mantra, we had no real difficulty especially when the lift sprint became part of our exercise regime! 😃 A couple of pinch points might be sorted with the understanding of fellow passengers and the theatre signage more obvious but again, that relies on passenger co operation.

 

As I have said, Cunard are marvellous around their ships with  mobility challenged passengers and the staff on QA are no exception. Lovely people.

 

With the best will in the world to have everything perfect, early cruises on a new ship could also be termed snagging cruises. If snags which can be sorted, are sorted then all's well.

I will be able to judge later on in the year.

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 5/31/2024 at 5:20 PM, Megabear2 said:

One of my dinner companions has been in conversation with the WC leader onboard today.  He has been told the bottle will not break in the traditional manner rather from a series of swings from the funnel. Apparently this is due to glass in the river not being environmentally correct.  As to whether that is correct only time will tell but it does tie in with the recent Carnival and P&O launches that broke with tradition.

 

That is what they did. Because nobody has ever tossed a bottle into the Mersey...

 

The bottle ziplined down to a target on the foredeck and smashed. The next day I went to the photographer's gallery and asked if they had any stock photos of the naming ceremony. They had one, a shot of the fireworks. The woman said the photographers couldn't get passes to the shoreside events to take pictures there. Sounds stupid to me, but perhaps the media company contracted to handle the event had sole rights to images. They didn't even put a photographer on deck or in the Commodore Club to take pictures of the bottle smash. I can't be the only person who would have bought that instead of trying to take a picture on the TV.

 

The lack of stock photos was a lost chance to make some money. So was the lack of naming-specific items. The merch van ashore had t-shirts (the same one the dancing kids had) and tote bags for the naming, but none of that was on the ship. The Cunard logo shop was tiny, and the colors were mostly shades of green/teal, not the classic Cunard black and red. 

 

And our "special souvenir" was a booklet about Queen Anne's "journey" from design to ship. It was a compilation of articles from Cunarder and the website. 

 

 

Edited June 11 by 3rdGenCunarder

[safarigal]

Just now, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

That is what they did. Because nobody has ever tossed a bottle into the Mersey...

 

The bottle ziplined down to a target on the foredeck and smashed. The next day I went to the photographer's gallery and asked if they had any stock photos of the naming ceremony. They had one, a shot of the fireworks. The woman said the photographers couldn't get passes to the shoreside events to take pictures there. Sounds stupid to me, but perhaps the media company contracted to handle the event had sole rights to images. They didn't even put a photographer on deck or in the Commodore Club to take pictures of the bottle smash. I can't be the only person who would have bought that instead of trying to take a picture on the TV.

 

The lack of stock photos was a lost chance to make some money. So was the lack of naming-specific items. The merch van ashore had t-shirts (the same one the dancing kids had) and tote bags for the naming, but none of that was on the ship. The Cunard logo shop was tiny, and the colors were mostly shades of green/teal, not the classic Cunard black and red. 

 

And our "special souvenir" was a booklet about Queen Anne's "journey" from design to ship. It was a compilation of articles from Cunarder and the website. 

 

 

I'm glad I bought a T shirt from the shore side kiosk, otherwise I would have no real souvenirs of the naming at all.

 

It looks like they did have a camera set up near to the bottle target. This may have been a video camera, but surely they could have made a still shot from that? It was disappointing.

[Poole Boy]

8 hours ago, safarigal said:

I'm glad I bought a T shirt from the shore side kiosk, otherwise I would have no real souvenirs of the naming at all.

 

It looks like they did have a camera set up near to the bottle target. This may have been a video camera, but surely they could have made a still shot from that? It was disappointing.

There is a full 45 min video of the ceremony on the Cunard channel on Youtube 

Edited June 12 by Poole Boy