QV to Hamburg and back in QG

[Se1lad]

Returned from the four night cruise from Southampton to Hamburg and back on the QV in QG, 7th - 11th January.  Was in general an enjoyable trip.

 

Embarkation

Arrived at the terminal at 11.40 and it looked like that had been letting people in since about 11.30.  Anyone with Priority Boarding (QG/PG/Diamond/Platinum/BC) were being allowed in the terminal (regardless of printed boarding time.)  Remaining passengers had to wait outside the terminal.  At 12.20 they started calling QG passengers to board, and it looked like round the same time they allowed the Britannia passengers to start the check in process.  We were boarded and in our cabin before 12.30, so no complaints there.

 

Butler

Our Butler was much better than the previous one on this trip last year.  Fruit and changes to the minibar were promptly delivered while we were at lunch.  We had booked this as 2x back to back trips - last year the butler would not give us an extra bottle of Champagne for the second leg - this time we received it with no issue.

 

Queen's Grill

Food ranged from good to excellent.  We made several off menu requests - Steak Tartare, Sole Veronique, Banana Foster, Peach Melba and Spaghetti Carbonara.  All off the off menu requests were excellent.  An issue on the second day where we waited 45 minutes for the breakfast to arrive, and then it arrived in separate components (toast, eggs, kippers) about 5 minutes apart.  They were also some problems with the temperature of the ship.  On a couple of the days QG was uncomfortably cold at breakfast.  

 

Entertainment

The lectures were good but there could have been more of them - there were only 5 over the 4 day cruise, plus a Q&A with some of the lecturers. 
 

The entertainment team tried a new event which was quite fun - a speed jigsaw competition - everyone was split into teams and given an hour to complete as much as possible of 1,500 piece identical jigsaws.  We gave some feedback that if they try this again they should use smaller jigsaws - we only completed about 15% of the jigsaws in the time allotted.

 

Cabin

From the second day onwards our cabin was really cold with the vents blowing cold air, even when the heating was set to maximum.  Finally late afternoon on the 4th day we were given a portable heater which helped somewhat.  I had to ask 3 times before we were given the heater though.  I logged a complaint as it meant our cabin was unusable to sit in for much of the trip.  I was promised that someone would get back to me before we departed, however this did not happen.  I've now raised this as a separate complaint direct with Cunard at Southampton, hopefully they respond in a positive manner.

 

Regardless of the heating problem, it was still a most enjoyable trip, and I’m looking forward to my upcoming trip on Queen Anne in a few months.

 

[ratflinger]

Thanks for your review, some issues but sounds like you had a good time.

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[LadyL1]

It seems people are reporting a lot of niggles on QV! Does anyone know when the next refit/overhaul is?

At least the OP’s trip had some excellent points! Thank you for posting your review.

[Pushpit]

I was on the same QV service. I didn't personally find it too cold, the Princess Grill restaurant was perhaps a little chilly one morning but I was sat next to the glass and had forgotten about it until I read the post above. It was -8 in Hamburg when we arrived and had recently snowed.  My stateroom on deck 7 was fine too, temperature wise, I had the thermostat about half way into the blue zone. It's a personal thing, some people notice the cold a lot more than others and I suspect I'm in the others group.

 

One of the Insights (an anthropological take on the English language) was a bit lacking in intellectual roughage and it wasn't the strongest slate overall. There was a medical emergency in one Insight (the one I didn't attend!). They are a bit wary of putting much science on, are they not?

Edited January 15 by Pushpit

[Se1lad]

19 hours ago, Pushpit said:

I had the thermostat about half way into the blue zone. It's a personal thing, some people notice the cold a lot more than others and I suspect I'm in the others group.

 

I live in a house with no central heating which is normally pretty cold, but this was pushing it even for me!

 

I had the thermostat set to maximum and the vents were blowing out cold air.  When the maintenance person arrived he confirmed there was an issue with a number of the cabins at the back of ship which is why they were providing portable heaters.  As you mentioned, the temperature outside was -8, so the lack of heating made it a bit uncomfortable - you could see your own breath in the room at one point!

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, Se1lad said:

I live in a house with no central heating which is normally pretty cold, but this was pushing it even for me!

 

I had the thermostat set to maximum and the vents were blowing out cold air.  When the maintenance person arrived he confirmed there was an issue with a number of the cabins at the back of ship which is why they were providing portable heaters.  As you mentioned, the temperature outside was -8, so the lack of heating made it a bit uncomfortable - you could see your own breath in the room at one point!

Goodness, it reminds me of boarding school, when the windows sometimes had ice on the inside. Not what I’d wish for on holiday on Cunard.