Bar canapes

[sfo-john]

I've heard (maybe incorrectly) that the bar canapes (not talking about the crisps) have been discontinued.  Has anyone who's been on board the last two months or so noticed this?  Hopefully I'm wrong and I know in general there's certainly no lack of food on board but I always loved how they'd bring around canapes in the various lounges (especially the Chartroom and the Commodore Club) while having pre-dinner drinks.  Thanks!

[WantedOnVoyage]

They are... gone.  

 

We were on QV for 25 days last month and can confirm they have been discountinued throughout the fleet except in the Grills Lounge. 

 

Although the nibbles that remain (crisps, peanuts and olives) in all the other bars and lounge are, curiously, far better than the Grills Lounge.  Not sure where they source them, but they have the most miserable, dried out little olives in the world up there and have been using the same carton of crisps since the beginning of year.

 

But the hot canapes are "done gone".

[Jack E Dawson]

3 hours ago, sfo-john said:

Has anyone who's been on board the last two months or so noticed this?

We were on the QM2 last week and only went to the Commodore Club 1 night for predinner drinks but they did have canapés. My wife and I were each served a small tray of 3 canapés. If I remember correctly they were foie gras, a thumb nail size pizza and some kind of sea food. the sea food and pizza were yummy. Didn't try the foie gras. 

Jack

[e&mcruise]

On QE in March there were only Canapes offered in Commodore room on the Gala night.

[sfo-john]

Thanks for these replies, somewhat conflicting though they are!  Let's see what others have to say.  

[Winifred 22]

4 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

They are... gone.  

 

We were on QV for 25 days last month and can confirm they have been discountinued throughout the fleet except in the Grills Lounge. 

 

Although the nibbles that remain (crisps, peanuts and olives) in all the other bars and lounge are, curiously, far better than the Grills Lounge.  Not sure where they source them, but they have the most miserable, dried out little olives in the world up there and have been using the same carton of crisps since the beginning of year.

 

But the hot canapes are "done gone".

You were unlucky they opened a fresh bag of crisps for me on QV recently. Never had a stale crisp once on either QM2 or QV this year or last. 

[ex-koelner]

On QM2 six weeks ago, when asked for "some nibbles" or "some snacks" both in Commodore Club and Chart Room you'd get crisps, nuts, and/or olives.

[Kynance]

Very interesting reading these replies. We were on the QM2 for the fjords cruise from 2 - 9 June.  We went to the Commodore Club most nights for a pre-dinner drink and were told on the first night that canapés were no longer being served and nor were there any crisps either. The only crisps I saw all week were the Pringles being sold in one of the shops. 
 

The nuts varied between salted, dry roasted or some sort of spice nut mix, which was particularly unpleasant to our taste. I will eat olives but my other half doesn’t - when I asked a very nice waiter whether they had anything else he did find some kind of broad bean alternative which we have had elsewhere and was much the best of the bar snacks on offer that week. 
 

It contributed to the disappointing pre-dinner drinks experience for us in the Commodore Club as I also discovered that whilst the range of signature Commodore cocktails is still available, that’s in concept only. All the drinks are different, have been renamed and cost $16.  None of them appealed and I really missed my Commodore’s Cure! 
 

I will try to do a review of our trip but have been busy with work and other stuff since our return. 

[Bell Boy]

3 hours ago, sfo-john said:

Thanks for these replies, somewhat conflicting though they are!  Let's see what others have to say.  

Hot and Cold canapés in main Bar Venues ceased to be offered across the Cunard fleet with effect from May 1st (2024) Nuts/Olives/Crisps are being offered in the evenings.

Canapés are still available in the Grills Lounge.

 

I can confirm I experience this on the Maiden QA voyage the first evening in the Commodore Bar (and an underwhelming experience it was too)

I embarked the QM2 shortly after disembarking QA and informed by the F&B  canapés will no longer be part of the evening drinks service .

 

Not my idea of a premium service considering the price of Cunard drinks.  

 

 

 

[WantedOnVoyage]

"Bread upon the waters" has always been the reason "free" (and salty) nibbles and "free" canapes etc are offered (or were): to induce more drinking.  With the new (and downright bizarre and expensive) drinks menu introduced the day we disembarked and these cutbacks of nibble inducements, Carnival have obviously hired a contrarian manager of such things.  I would love to see the results of the daily bar takings for say the month of July and compare with the previous year.  The bar tenders we spoke to when they showed us the new list, just shook their heads and shrugged.  At least in the Grills Lounge menu, they decided to leave out.... the martini, too.  I am sure that made sense to somebody.  

[tacticalbanjo]

4 hours ago, Kynance said:

Very interesting reading these replies. We were on the QM2 for the fjords cruise from 2 - 9 June.  We went to the Commodore Club most nights for a pre-dinner drink and were told on the first night that canapés were no longer being served and nor were there any crisps either. The only crisps I saw all week were the Pringles being sold in one of the shops. 
 

The nuts varied between salted, dry roasted or some sort of spice nut mix, which was particularly unpleasant to our taste. I will eat olives but my other half doesn’t - when I asked a very nice waiter whether they had anything else he did find some kind of broad bean alternative which we have had elsewhere and was much the best of the bar snacks on offer that week. 
 

It contributed to the disappointing pre-dinner drinks experience for us in the Commodore Club as I also discovered that whilst the range of signature Commodore cocktails is still available, that’s in concept only. All the drinks are different, have been renamed and cost $16.  None of them appealed and I really missed my Commodore’s Cure! 
 

I will try to do a review of our trip but have been busy with work and other stuff since our return. 

I was also on this trip and had crisps in the Golden Lion on at least 3 nights that I can remember. I wonder why they didn't have them in the Commodore Club? 

[Jack E Dawson]

11 hours ago, e&mcruise said:

On QE in March there were only Canapes offered in Commodore room on the Gala night.

 

11 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

We were on the QM2 last week and only went to the Commodore Club 1 night for predinner drinks but they did have canapés.

You are right e&mcruise. I went back and looked at our pictures and the night we went to the QM2 Commodore Club for predinner drinks had the canapés was on a Gala night. 

Jack

 

[Kynance]

2 hours ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I was also on this trip and had crisps in the Golden Lion on at least 3 nights that I can remember. I wonder why they didn't have them in the Commodore Club? 

Good question! If we had known they were available in the pub, we would have asked that. At least they were onboard somewhere - thanks for letting me know. 

While I’m thinking about it, there always used to be strawberries (admittedly not especially good ones) served in the champagne bar to accompany your fizz but they seem to have disappeared as well. 

 

[sfo-john]

I'll be disappointed if they're well and truly gone.  On my first crossing (QE2 in 2004) I remember them coming around with the canapes in the Crystal Bar and being very impressed.  In my ten or so crossings since then I've always looked forward to them in the Chart Room or Commodore Club on QM2.  Just one of those little things that once it's gone really takes away from the overall experience.  I'm still missing tea in the Queens Room on embarkation day but that's history now. 

[WantedOnVoyage]

Luxury, even comfort, is defined by the little things.... gestures and treats... easy to delete by the penny counters but eventually you whittle away and remove what made the product or experience special in the first place.  

 

Right now, steamship lines seem confident everyone cannot wait to buy their product, regardless of its quality, so canapes are the thin edge of a wedge.  We the customer, in the end, validate these decisions by our custom. Or not. 

[MylesS]

No canapés so far on Queen Anne, but we were treated to some at the CWC party. 

[Bell Boy]

29 minutes ago, MylesS said:

No canapés so far on Queen Anne, but we were treated to some at the CWC party. 

And a cheap glass of Plonk standing around a swimming pool,  not my idea of an elegant affair  

[MylesS]

39 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

And a cheap glass of Plonk standing around a swimming pool,  not my idea of an elegant affair  

I chose to use it rather than standing around it (before eating canapés of course) 😉

[foodsvcmgr]

Very unfortunate cost cutting decision for something rather minor that served to differentiate Cunard as a superior product to other lines in the upscale segment.

Hoping not too many other negative changes apparent between last years voyage on QV and my upcoming sailing in September.

[Pear Carr]

During our recent 14 night cruise on QV I think we only visited the Commodore Club twice (unusual for us).  A change in staff, drinks menu and lack of canapés left us feeling underwhelmed and not worth the effort of getting there, opting for the Chart Room and Gin bar instead.

[exlondoner]

9 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

And a cheap glass of Plonk standing around a swimming pool,  not my idea of an elegant affair  

Well I had a very nice gin and tonic in an amazingly impressive space, open to the sky.

[Bell Boy]

12 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Well I had a very nice gin and tonic in an amazingly impressive space, open to the sky.

You were lucky to find a steward on hand , that's what I was hoping for ,usually not a problem when functions are in the Queens Room on the Vistas or Mary 🙁

[exlondoner]

19 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

You were lucky to find a steward on hand , that's what I was hoping for ,usually not a problem when functions are in the Queens Room on the Vistas or Mary 🙁

There were stewards all over the place. I think they have gradually got themselves better sorted since the maiden voyage. And I think one should expect a degree of disorganisation on the maiden. Equally I think one should be justified in expecting a commemorative bit of Wedgwood such as they hand out at Christmas.

[WantedOnVoyage]

5 hours ago, Pear Carr said:

During our recent 14 night cruise on QV I think we only visited the Commodore Club twice (unusual for us).  A change in staff, drinks menu and lack of canapés left us feeling underwhelmed and not worth the effort of getting there, opting for the Chart Room and Gin bar instead.

 

Same for us... we gave up on the Commodore Club on QV this May with only about three visits over 25 days and much preferred the Chart Room and Gin Fizz which had better service (and bar tenders), especially the Gin bar.  And liked the string music which you can enjoy in both venues.  The Commodore Club seems to have lost its atmosphere, possibly due to the change in the quality of the live music, and the slow bar service. 

[Bell Boy]

2 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

 

Same for us... we gave up on the Commodore Club on QV this May with only about three visits over 25 days and much preferred the Chart Room and Gin Fizz which had better service (and bar tenders), especially the Gin bar.  And liked the string music which you can enjoy in both venues.  The Commodore Club seems to have lost its atmosphere, possibly due to the change in the quality of the live music, and the slow bar service. 

"Commodore QV ( occasionally )  losing  its atmosphere" I have to agree with you .

One expects music in a high end Cocktail Bar to be light background/lounge music, it's not a performance  

I don't know what those Bright Young Things  in Guest Experience department shore side  are thinking,  An Irish duo band ( QV 2023) in the Commodore !  -  More suitable for the Pub or Winter Garden .