QA British Isles Voyage

[safarigal]

Just now, exlondoner said:

Interesting to see that Nieuw Statendam, which is the same design, is also there today. Perhaps some pictures of the sisters.

Not a great photo - hopefully someone will get a photo of the sisters together.

 

I am soooooo glad we are not tendering today. But at least they do not have the weather problems we had the day before yesterday, so their tendering operations should go better than ours did 🙂

[richard_london]

On 5/25/2024 at 8:18 AM, Selbourne said:

We have an accessible Club balcony cabin. There is a fixed grab rail on the wall to one side of the toilet but no drop down grab rail on the other side, which there should be

It is strange that FInanctieri, who are no strangers to building ships and Cunard with three ships in service and so much experience can make these omissions on a new ship.  I thought they would have consult people with accessibility needs specificially to design cabins to be more accessible. 

 

In a standard Britannia on the QA I found the grab handle placement in the shower problematic, you need to pay attention to what you are doing because if you hold the handle to open from the inside and open it fully you can pinch/trap your hand between the shower door and the grab handle.  It's a painful mistake I only made once. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, richard_london said:

It is strange that FInanctieri, who are no strangers to building ships and Cunard with three ships in service and so much experience can make these omissions on a new ship.  I thought they would have consult people with accessibility needs specificially to design cabins to be more accessible. 

 

In a standard Britannia on the QA I found the grab handle placement in the shower problematic, you need to pay attention to what you are doing because if you hold the handle to open from the inside and open it fully you can pinch/trap your hand between the shower door and the grab handle.  It's a painful mistake I only made once. 

I couldn’t agree more. Sadly many companies have an arrogance that they know best or they rely on design companies who do nothing more than address the basic DDA requirements. 
 

It would be far better if real life disabled customers were consulted at the design stage. My wife and I would happily help out at our own expense in order to avoid the own goals that Cunard has made with Queen Anne. She’s a lovely ship for the able bodied, but a bit of a challenge for those with high levels of disability. 

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I couldn’t agree more. Sadly many companies have an arrogance that they know best or they rely on design companies who do nothing more than address the basic DDA requirements. 
 

It would be far better if real life disabled customers were consulted at the design stage. My wife and I would happily help out at our own expense in order to avoid the own goals that Cunard has made with Queen Anne. She’s a lovely ship for the able bodied, but a bit of a challenge for those with high levels of disability. 

Shocking in a brand new ship, which is not a new design.

[Selbourne]

Well this morning we had a disembarkation experience that came close to @Megabear2 tender experience in South Queensferry, even though we had docked this time in Kirkwall. 
 

After a leisurely breakfast and surveying the scene from deck 11 to get our bearings, we decided to disembark and explore Kirkwall. 
 

We got the lift down to deck 2 only to find a queue of several hundred passengers waiting to disembark. Whilst this is only our 2nd Cunard cruise, we have done 23 cruises with P&O and have never seen anything like it. The queue snaked all the way along deck 2 from the midships lifts to just before the aft lifts. We duly made our way to the back of the queue, where we stood motionless for 10 minutes. 
 

At this point a member of the ships crew spotted my wife’s wheelchair and asked us to leave the queue and get a lift down to deck 1. As we got to the lifts we discovered that they were all out of action? Why? Because there was a drill that necessitated taking ALL the passenger lifts out of operation. An officer appeared and I asked what was happening and was told that the lifts would be out of service for at least the next half an hour. She said that this had been announced several times but, as confirmed by several other passengers needing lifts, these

announcements had not been made in cabins, nor had any announcements been made whilst we were at breakfast.
 

So we were now stuck. We couldn’t get off the ship and we couldn’t get back to the cabin. I made the point to the officer that it struck me as idiotic to plan a drill that necessitated taking all passenger lifts out of action during the peak disembarkation period. Another lady made an equally valid point that if they had to do this drill at this time then it should have been flagged in the Daily Programme the night before, so that people could work around it. 
 

Thankfully, due to the growing number of disgruntled passengers, the lifts came back into service after another 15 minutes, rather than 30 minutes and we eventually managed to get off. 
 

The shuttle bus operation, which thankfully wasn’t being organised by Cunard, was brilliant. Four double length bendy busses on a continuous shuttle and they had drop down ramps and pneumatic suspension so could accommodate wheelchairs. The port staff were also extremely efficient and pulled us out of the queue so that we could board first before the crowds, so top marks for them. 
 

It’s a shame that our experiences so far on this cruise with a wheelchair have been far from ideal. 

[Mareblu]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Well this morning we had a disembarkation experience that came close to @Megabear2 tender experience in South Queensferry, even though we had docked this time in Kirkwall. 
 

After a leisurely breakfast and surveying the scene from deck 11 to get our bearings, we decided to disembark and explore Kirkwall. 
 

We got the lift down to deck 2 only to find a queue of several hundred passengers waiting to disembark. Whilst this is only our 2nd Cunard cruise, we have done 23 cruises with P&O and have never seen anything like it. The queue snaked all the way along deck 2 from the midships lifts to just before the aft lifts. We duly made our way to the back of the queue, where we stood motionless for 10 minutes. 
 

At this point a member of the ships crew spotted my wife’s wheelchair and asked us to leave the queue and get a lift down to deck 1. As we got to the lifts we discovered that they were all out of action? Why? Because there was a drill that necessitated taking ALL the passenger lifts out of operation. An officer appeared and I asked what was happening and was told that the lifts would be out of service for at least the next half an hour. She said that this had been announced several times but, as confirmed by several other passengers needing lifts, these

announcements had not been made in cabins, nor had any announcements been made whilst we were at breakfast.
 

So we were now stuck. We couldn’t get off the ship and we couldn’t get back to the cabin. I made the point to the officer that it struck me as idiotic to plan a drill that necessitated taking all passenger lifts out of action during the peak disembarkation period. Another lady made an equally valid point that if they had to do this drill at this time then it should have been flagged in the Daily Programme the night before, so that people could work around it. 
 

Thankfully, due to the growing number of disgruntled passengers, the lifts came back into service after another 15 minutes, rather than 30 minutes and we eventually managed to get off. 
 

The shuttle bus operation, which thankfully wasn’t being organised by Cunard, was brilliant. Four double length bendy busses on a continuous shuttle and they had drop down ramps and pneumatic suspension so could accommodate wheelchairs. The port staff were also extremely efficient and pulled us out of the queue so that we could board first before the crowds, so top marks for them. 
 

It’s a shame that our experiences so far on this cruise with a wheelchair have been far from ideal. 

That’s a really challenging, awful experience.  Conversely, our exit was smooth and efficient.  We left to join our tour at about 8.30.  The elevator arrived quickly to our 7th floor, we walked straight out on Deck 2, down the gangplank then were promptly boarding the bus.  The whole exercise took about 7-8 minutes.  What time did your disastrous fiasco occur?

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

That’s a really challenging, awful experience.  Conversely, our exit was smooth and efficient.  We left to join our tour at about 8.30.  The elevator arrived quickly to our 7th floor, we walked straight out on Deck 2, down the gangplank then were promptly boarding the bus.  The whole exercise took about 7-8 minutes.  What time did your disastrous fiasco occur?

Around 10.15 from memory. We thought that the majority of people might have disembarked by then, but it seemed to be the peak time. I guess that as there isn’t much to see in Kirkwall people weren’t rushing to get off. 

[exlondoner]

Just now, Selbourne said:

Around 10.15 from memory. We thought that the majority of people might have disembarked by then, but it seemed to be the peak time. I guess that as there isn’t much to see in Kirkwall people weren’t rushing to get off. 

Not much to see in Kirkwall?

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Not much to see in Kirkwall?

Not a lot to see in Scapa Flow - the fog came in!

 

As for the rest, wow just blew me away.  

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Not a lot to see in Scapa Flow - the fog came in!

 

As for the rest, wow just blew me away.  

Kirkwall is one of my favourite ports, and though the best things are out of the city, there is still an interesting cathedral and museum.

[Windsurfboy]

After reading  Megabear2 experience with tendering she has infinitely more patience than I do. Well done her. At least they didn't schedule the lifts to close as well

 

My experience of tendering on Cunard seems to indicate they want to use as few tenders as they can.  With 3000 passengers, that's 22 journeys at 140 per boat. So to disembark the ship in under 2 hours need one leaving every 6 minutes.

 

Best experience I've had is Saga, all 8 boats on the go for 980 passengers, once the first rush was over (first 45 mins) no queuing just walk on. Two boarding stations 4 boats per station,   with one tender loading ,  one half way across,  one unloading at port , one on way back..

[Mareblu]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Around 10.15 from memory. We thought that the majority of people might have disembarked by then, but it seemed to be the peak time. I guess that as there isn’t much to see in Kirkwall people weren’t rushing to get off. 

I’m really sorry you had that experience, but Kirkwall is lovely, with a truly interesting museum where the rich archeological and cultural history is revealed to interested souls, and the independent shops are treasure troves of exquisite jewellery, artwork and many other crafts, all created and produced locally.  

[Mareblu]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Kirkwall is one of my favourite ports, and though the best things are out of the city, there is still an interesting cathedral and museum.

I’m delighted we’ve found a common source of agreement 😉

[Selbourne]

Well we’ve been blessed with a lovely sunny day in Kirkwall and a balmy (for here) 15 degrees. What a lovely welcoming place. As well as the bagpipes and welcome signs that greeted us this morning, we’ve been enjoying lovely sail away music from our balcony for the last hour or so and the ‘Welcome Queen Anne 28/5/24’ sign now reads ‘Goodbye Queen Anne 28/5/24’. Hoping we get some late ‘pier runners’ as that always makes entertaining balcony viewing 😂 

[Selbourne]

4 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

I’m really sorry you had that experience, but Kirkwall is lovely, with a truly interesting museum where the rich archeological and cultural history is revealed to interested souls, and the independent shops are treasure troves of exquisite jewellery, artwork and many other crafts, all created and produced locally.  

I think that one or two of you misinterpreted my comments. Kirkwall was fine and we enjoyed our visit. The problem was Cunard’s decision to take all lifts out of service during peak disembarkation.

[Selbourne]

And we now have a 16 person pipe band!

[Megabear2]

52 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

And we now have a 16 person pipe band!

The meet and greet people this morning told me there are two bands and the one sending us off we're the better of the two. I hope you enjoyed them.

[Megabear2]

For fellow Orkney lovers (who's fan club I'm now an official member of) a few taster photographs.

[Selbourne]

15 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

The meet and greet people this morning told me there are two bands and the one sending us off we're the better of the two. I hope you enjoyed them.

Yes we thoroughly enjoyed both the welcome and the send off. 

[Host Hattie]

Lovely photos, thank you for posting. It's good to see blue skies!

[DamianG]

Thanks for starting & updating this thread @Megabear2 & also to @Selbourne for your regular contributions. Loved the Orkney photos especially and having bands quayside must have made it even more special. The big question though is were there any pier runners? 😉

Edited May 28 by DamianG

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, DamianG said:

Thanks for starting & updating this thread @Megabear2 & also to @Selbourne for your regular contributions. Loved the Orkney photos especially and having bands quayside must have made it even more special. The big question though is were there any pier runners? 😉

None that we saw Damian, although very few passengers on this cruise would be able to run - us included 😂

[safarigal]

5 minutes ago, DamianG said:

Thanks for starting & updating this thread @Megabear2 & also to @Selbourne for your regular contributions. Loved the Orkney photos especially and having bands quayside must have made it even more special. The big question though is were there any pier runners? 😉

I didn’t see any pier runners! We really had a lovely send off, and blew our whistle magnificently 😀

[DamianG]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

None that we saw Damian, although very few passengers on this cruise would be able to run - us included 😂

I disagree, many can suddenly find their inner Linford Christie when the ship is about to pull in the gangplank! 

Edited May 28 by DamianG

[Selbourne]

@Megabear2 We have discussed Britannia Club dining prior to this cruise and I wanted to share some info with you prior to your cruise in BC with your husband. 
 

Regarding tables for 2, there are plenty and no banquettes that I’ve noticed. There are rows of four table for 2 in places but they are well spaced. I get the distinct impression that the only people sharing tables are those travelling with family and friends and those who opted for sharing tables (as many do).
 

The restaurant layout and table spacing is far better than Princess Grill on QM2. It’s a really lovely restaurant and service is as good as we had in PG. Whilst the a la carte additions are similar to PG, these items come out plated and aren’t finished table side as they were in PG, so as a result aren’t as good. However, they are nice to have as additions. The daily flambé is table side theatre though (and very nice). 
 

They really do want to please, so you can rest assured that you will be able to get a table that you are happy with. We asked to see our allocated table when we boarded and whilst it was a table for 2 we weren’t keen on it. This was changed immediately to one that we were happy with and there was no issue whatsoever. 
 

Finally, as we like our table we mentioned to the maitre d’ that we’d love the same table when we are due back in November. He said that he would ensure that we were allocated it. I can’t remember when your cruise is, but if it’s later this year it might be worth you popping down at some time and making a request. You may be able to pick a table that you like. As I say, nothing seems to be too much trouble. We have been very impressed.