Queen Victoria, first time Cunard cruiser with so many questions please?

[WantedOnVoyage]

It was a lot easier when she was First and Tourist Class.... you had your own decks and stairs and that was it!  You needed a lot more than a jacket and tie to sneak into First Class, trust me. 

 

QE2 was more confusing and QM2, astonishingly, even more so.  Cunard wasn't kidding when they said "Getting There Is Half the Fun."

[seafarer68]

15 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Good lord.... do ladies and gentlemen really need let alone want an "influencer" on Youtube to tell them how to dress on an ocean liner like ladies and gentlemen?  

 

I guess I was raised in a different age and different ships... even at age 16, travelling alone with friend from high school on ss FRANCE we just knew to wear a jacket and yes... a tie (oh boy!) every single night. So did everyone else.  In Tourist Class.  

 

 

We don't need an influencer to tell us what to wear.

 

In this time when dress codes are so open to interpretation it is good to get an understanding of how one's fellow passengers see the dress code. It is called consideration.

 

A lady or a gentleman will also know that rudeness is never acceptable.

[Winifred 22]

28 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Good lord.... do ladies and gentlemen really need let alone want an "influencer" on Youtube to tell them how to dress on an ocean liner like ladies and gentlemen?  

 

I guess I was raised in a different age and different ships... even at age 16, travelling alone with friend from high school on ss FRANCE we just knew to wear a jacket and yes... a tie (oh boy!) every single night. So did everyone else.  In Tourist Class.  

 

 

Not everyone sailing on Cunard today has been fortunate to have been cruising since their teens. I certainly was not until later in life. Having spent a not unsubstantial sum on their cruise many new comers look to a variety of sources to help them fit in and make the most of their experience. I have  not and never likely to ever cruise with some of the different lines out there but would certainly look at all sources of information if I ever needed to find out about life onboard and what to expect on one of their ships. 

[seafarer68]

16 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

It was a lot easier when she was First and Tourist Class.... you had your own decks and stairs and that was it!  You needed a lot more than a jacket and tie to sneak into First Class, trust me. 

 

QE2 was more confusing and QM2, astonishingly, even more so.  Cunard wasn't kidding when they said "Getting There Is Half the Fun."

Pray tell... what makes OE2 more confusing ?

[seafarer68]

My husband had just given me a 'fashion show' of his sports jackets...to decide which ones to pack!

 

I love seeing him so excited about the cruise 

 

(Apologies for the overshare)

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, seafarer68 said:

Pray tell... what makes OE2 more confusing ?

She was designed as a three class ship, built for two classes, and eventually became one class. This meant among other things that very few staircases went through the whole ship.

[WantedOnVoyage]

She also also had common lifts and stairs that did not not stop or access certain entire decks.  So D Stair Tower was First Class and remained that even when one class so if you had a what was a Tourist Class cabin, you could not access it from some decks. Each one was colour coded, too.  First Class midships was white (that was gorgeous and with the deepest pile Axminister carpet), Tourist Class forward was sixties orange etc. The aft one was blue.  

 

When they re-engined her, they tried to opened her up more with mixed results.  

 

What I love is that the "new" QM2 is, if anything, even more incomprehensible.  I love her for that... you can spend a foggy wet morning getting lost.  

[exlondoner]

16 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

She also also had common lifts and stairs that did not not stop or access certain entire decks.  So D Stair Tower was First Class and remained that even when one class so if you had a what was a Tourist Class cabin, you could not access it from some decks. Each one was colour coded, too.  First Class midships was white (that was gorgeous and with the deepest pile Axminister carpet), Tourist Class forward was sixties orange etc. The aft one was blue.  

 

When they re-engined her, they tried to opened her up more with mixed results.  

 

What I love is that the "new" QM2 is, if anything, even more incomprehensible.  I love her for that... you can spend a foggy wet morning getting lost.  

How can you get lost on QM2? She’s straightforwardly symmetrical.

[WantedOnVoyage]

Really?  Try walking from the Grills forward indoors to say the Carinthia Lounge? You'll wind up in the queue for the omelette station in Kings Court. That's just on one side, too. The other is a dead end. During dinner hours, you cannot at all.   You have to go up or down to get forward.  Or accessing the outside deck from Deck 8? You can say hello the few dining in the Verandah if you try.  They rather you not.  At least they finally made the "art gallery" an official access way to get to the Ball Room. And if you want to get to G32, you have to actually walk THROUGH the Ballroom.  "Symmetrical"?? Only if you're a mountain goat. 

[exlondoner]

14 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Really?  Try walking from the Grills forward indoors to say the Carinthia Lounge? You'll wind up in the queue for the omelette station in Kings Court. That's just on one side, too. The other is a dead end. During dinner hours, you cannot at all.   You have to go up or down to get forward.  Or accessing the outside deck from Deck 8? You can say hello the few dining in the Verandah if you try.  They rather you not.  At least they finally made the "art gallery" an official access way to get to the Ball Room. And if you want to get to G32, you have to actually walk THROUGH the Ballroom.  "Symmetrical"?? Only if you're a mountain goat. 

Why so vehement? All I can say is I’ve never found particular difficulties, though I know you sometimes have to go and and down a little, but it is not hard.

[seafarer68]

Another question, but this time about a possible future cruise,please...

 

Which is the best direction for a Transatlantic...Southampton to America or America to Southampton?

[david63]

6 minutes ago, seafarer68 said:

Another question, but this time about a possible future cruise,please...

 

Which is the best direction for a Transatlantic...Southampton to America or America to Southampton?

Depends on where you are starting from and where you want to end up😄😄😇

[Host Hattie]

This recent thread might help 

 

 

 

[seafarer68]

9 minutes ago, david63 said:

Depends on where you are starting from and where you want to end 

 Either start or end in Southampton,  but on the America side not to concerned as long as we can fly to within 3 hrs of the port.  

 

The main concern is which way is the preferred way for seasoned Cunard cruisers

[david63]

3 minutes ago, seafarer68 said:

The main concern is which way is the preferred way for seasoned Cunard cruisers

I have not done a Transatlantic on Cunard but done several on other lines in both directions and in my view does not really make much difference for the experience - the bigger factor is the weather and as we all know that is unpredictable.

[maggielou362]

Further to the dress code issues: can someone please clarify the expected standard of dress in MDR for breakfast and lunch? Please excuse my ignorance, just want to know whether shorts ("classy", if there's such a thing!) are acceptable for gentlemen during the day? We ARE Aussies after all, and as our voyage is in February from Fremantle to Sydney it will be quite hot.

[exlondoner]

Just now, maggielou362 said:

Further to the dress code issues: can someone please clarify the expected standard of dress in MDR for breakfast and lunch? Please excuse my ignorance, just want to know whether shorts ("classy", if there's such a thing!) are acceptable for gentlemen during the day? We ARE Aussies after all, and as our voyage is in February from Fremantle to Sydney it will be quite hot.

Shorts will be fine, unless the air conditioning is having a moment.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, seafarer68 said:

 Either start or end in Southampton,  but on the America side not to concerned as long as we can fly to within 3 hrs of the port.  

 

The main concern is which way is the preferred way for seasoned Cunard cruisers

Don't know about anyone else but jet lag is a killer for me these days travelling East, so my two pennyworth would be travel back to the UK by ship.

Yes you lose an hour nearly every day but having done a TA twice, landing back on home soil with no jet lag beats the heck out of the 25hr days travelling West gives.

[seafarer68]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

I have not done a Transatlantic on Cunard but done several on other lines in both directions and in my view does not really make much difference for the experience - the bigger factor is the weather and as we all know that is unpredictable.

Thanks,  this makes good sense

 

Is  there any time  that you would definitely not do a transatlantic?

[seafarer68]

16 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Don't know about anyone else but jet lag is a killer for me these days travelling East, so my two pennyworth would be travel back to the UK by ship.

Yes you lose an hour nearly every day but having done a TA twice, landing back on home soil with no jet lag beats the heck out of the 25hr days travelling West gives.

The older I get the more I struggle with jetlag....

[david63]

2 minutes ago, seafarer68 said:

Is  there any time  that you would definitely not do a transatlantic?

That's almost impossible to say especially the way the weather is these days but if timing is not important then look more towards the summer months.

[Pushpit]

2 hours ago, seafarer68 said:

Which is the best direction for a Transatlantic...Southampton to America or America to Southampton?

That's more of a subjective rather than objective question (and there are some very detailed threads elsewhere). So there isn't one "right" answer. But going Westwards does give you 4 or more usually 5 days at 25 hour days to catch up on the time different, whereas going Eastwards it's a 23 hour day for 4 or 5 days.  Plus there's some magic - if you don't live in NYC - to arriving into New York early one morning and seeing the New York skyline with the goddess of Liberty in front of you. Going the other way means that arriving into Southampton is totally hassle-free, which unfortunately cannot be said of Brooklyn.

[Pushpit]

35 minutes ago, maggielou362 said:

Further to the dress code issues: can someone please clarify the expected standard of dress in MDR for breakfast and lunch? Please excuse my ignorance, just want to know whether shorts ("classy", if there's such a thing!) are acceptable for gentlemen during the day? We ARE Aussies after all, and as our voyage is in February from Fremantle to Sydney it will be quite hot.

There isn't a dress code for lunch or breakfast. Shorts in Lido in hot temperatures are very frequently seen. Not so much in Britannia, but there isn't a bar on it. As mentioned the a/c can put paid to the comfort factor though. Once sat down it's not exactly obvious anyway. But the short answer is that swim-wear would be going too far, but Bermudas would be fine (after all the ship has "Hamilton" stuck on the back).

[Pushpit]

15 minutes ago, seafarer68 said:

The older I get the more I struggle with jetlag....

Consider the daytime flights from USA and Canada back to the UK, That's a fairly comprehensive way of avoiding jetlag. The Air Canada service from Halifax to Heathrow is under 5 hours long some days, all in daylight, leave lunchtime, arrive evening time into London. Other day flights from Chicago, JFK, Newark and sometimes Toronto.

[seafarer68]

13 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

That's more of a subjective rather than objective question (and there are some very detailed threads elsewhere). So there isn't one "right" answer. But going Westwards does give you 4 or more usually 5 days at 25 hour days to catch up on the time different, whereas going Eastwards it's a 23 hour day for 4 or 5 days.  Plus there's some magic - if you don't live in NYC - to arriving into New York early one morning and seeing the New York skyline with the goddess of Liberty in front of you. Going the other way means that arriving into Southampton is totally hassle-free, which unfortunately cannot be said of Brooklyn.

Very good point re the magic of sailing into New York...have not even considered that.  Thank you for pouting this out