Queen Anne - 2 night mini cruise in Queens Grill

[Se1lad]

Just come off QA in QG after a 2 night mini cruise to Hamburg.  Good to be able to form my own opinion after reading so many differing reviews!  Here are my initial thoughts after one day.

 

Embarkation - Well managed, bag drop opened at 11.20, we were in the terminal and checked in by 11.45, and through security and onboard by 12.30 so off to a good start.

 

Stateroom - In a Q5 at the back, they are a bit smaller than Q5s on the other Cunard ships.  However the furnishings are really good (apart from the handles on the drawers which feel a bit cheap) and there are some nice minor details like the magnetic 'do not disturb' signs.  The TV menu system is much improved, but the new navigation map is a bit of a disappointment - you no longer get information like the wind speed and sea state, and when you zoom in you don't get any of the detailed mapping information that used to show.  On the plus side it does give you a look ahead at all the future ports of call on the trip.  

 

The bathroom is well designed, apart from the fact that there are no storage shelves above the sink, even though there would be plenty of room for them.

 

Corridors - The ones outside the staterooms look good  - the colour strip next to each stateroom doors makes the corridors look like more of a hotel and less of a bland corridor as you find on the other ships.   The arrows built into the carpet design are a great idea, and make it much easier to navigate the ship and locate the correct stairway/lifts.

 

Queens Grill - All food has been delivered hot with no delays - ordered Banana Foster off menu on the first  night which was delicious.  I like the design of the restaurant as it allows more people to get a window table. One possible design flaw is that it is difficult for the waiters to move the flambé trolleys around as they block access to tables behind them, so they have to keep moving them when people want to get past.  On the first night we asked for the food to be spaced out so we could take our time, however on the second night we needed to eat more quickly so we could get to Bright Lights.  We got through starter, soup, Beef Wellington prepared table side, dessert and post dinner coffee and cocktail in 90 minutes without it feeling rushed.  No complaints at all about Queens Grill.

 

The new china looks great and the smaller teapots work much better at breakfast when you’ve got limited table space.

 

Promenade Deck - This feels much more enclosed than on the other Cunard ships, but still serves its purpose.  It's very narrow in a few places so caused issues for the joggers trying to get past walkers.

 

Outside Areas - There are lots of locations with comfortable outside seating and loungers - I think this is an improvement on the other Cunard ships.  I appreciate some people like to sit on the promenade deck on other ships, and whilst this is not possible on QA, I think I prefer the many quiet locations on higher decks with comfortable seating and a good view of the sea.

 

Lifts - the recorded voice is unintentionally amusing - she sounds really fed up when she announces the lift is going down!

 

Commodore Club – Feels much bigger than on the other ships, with more room at the bar and some extra seating behind the bar.  As times the didn’t seem to be enough waiters serving drinks, but you could always get one quickly if you went to the bar to be served.  I think the space is an improvement over the equivalent on the other ships.

 

Bright Lights Society – Probably the best addition to the ship.  We saw Noir and it was excellent, well acted and very funny.  There’s quite a bit of audience participation, and if you want to get properly involved you need to get there early as the cast look for volunteers and brief them on what they need to do.  This was probably the best thing I’ve seen performed on a Cunard ship.

 

Entertainment – I know there has been a lot of comments about the entertainment being of a lower standard.  We didn’t see anything in the theatre, but friends of ours said that the show that was on last night (think it was called illusions) was excellent, though the design of the theatre could be better – hard to see from the back, and the raking at the front is poor.

 

So will I go on Queen Anne again – that’s a yes.  There are a few negative points, probably the shrinking in the stateroom size being the most obvious, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed my cruise.  Just hope they have replaced the voice in the lift by my next trip!

[Winifred 22]

So pleased to read such a positive review. Thank you. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

I agree that the navigation channel is disappointing. I liked the magnetic "do not disturb" signs. I wonder how many of them find their way into a suitcase on the last night. (No, I didn't take mine)

 

The stateroom shrinkage was not a surprise to me. I had already seen that on HAL. The rooms on their pinnacle ships are smaller than the same category on the other ships. It's a way to improve profits.

 

I was on for two weeks. Many of us were tired of the elevator voice. There was a fair amount of sighing and eye rolling. One day she must have been tired, too. On one of the midship lifts she said "going up" when the lift was going down and "going down" when the lift was going up. 

 

I thought Bright Lights was fun. I went to Noir and I got to be the murder! 

 

[napria]

4 hours ago, Se1lad said:

 

Lifts - the recorded voice is unintentionally amusing - she sounds really fed up when she announces the lift is going down!

 

This made me literally laugh out loud!  My family thinks I’m odd because in the days of Garmins (remember stand-alone gps?) I had a male British voice called “Daniel”. I thought it would be fun to have a James Bond, or maybe Jeeves guiding me, but Daniel sounded like he was just annoyed all the time.  I thought it was funny and for years that voice guided me as I drove my car. I can still hear him saying, “Take ramp ahead.” Which actually sounded like, “Take grampa head.”  Ah Daniel.  How I miss that grumpy voice.  Now I want to take a trip on Queen Anne just to hear his female equivalent.

 

Thanks for the review.  It’s nice to read something on the positive side.  

[King Amo]

I remember the female Garmin voice (we christened her Moira, after Moira Stewart, the newsreader) was downright angry when she had to recalculate after you ignored her instructions😁

[LadyL1]

Would you mind sharing which deck or suite you had? On the deck plan there seems to be a visible difference in size of the Q5s.

[Se1lad]

2 hours ago, LadyL1 said:

Would you mind sharing which deck or suite you had? On the deck plan there seems to be a visible difference in size of the Q5s.

8221.  I wouldn’t book a rear cabin on deck 8 again, as the noise from the live performances above on deck 9 were a bit noisy when sitting outside.  I’m on deck 7 at the rear later this year.

[LadyL1]

4 hours ago, Se1lad said:

8221.  I wouldn’t book a rear cabin on deck 8 again, as the noise from the live performances above on deck 9 were a bit noisy when sitting outside.  I’m on deck 7 at the rear later this year.

Thank you for that very useful information. Fortunately our 2 booked cruises in aft suites are on a lower deck.

 

it would be nice to hear of any thoughts on the forward suites! I realise not too many people will have sailed in these just yet, but hears hoping!

[BigMac1953]

Hi

 

We have 3 x QA booked.

 

On the Vistas, we like Deck 7 on the stern, such as 8181.

 

On QA for our three trips, we've booked either 7026 or 7257 (Q3's).

 

I can't find any pics of these on any official sites. Does anyone have any?

 

Thanks in advance.

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, BigMac1953 said:

Hi

 

We have 3 x QA booked.

 

On the Vistas, we like Deck 7 on the stern, such as 8181.

 

On QA for our three trips, we've booked either 7026 or 7257 (Q3's).

 

I can't find any pics of these on any official sites. Does anyone have any?

 

Thanks in advance.

I’ve never had a stern cabin, but shouldn’t 8181 be on Deck 8?

[BigMac1953]

You're right! I meant on deck 8 on the Vistas.

 

It's deck 7 that we're booked on for QA.

[sogne]

Wind speed etc is shown on the weather page after the nav page.

[Se1lad]

5 minutes ago, sogne said:

Wind speed etc is shown on the weather page after the nav page.

It looks like it comes from a weather website rather than from the actual ship - and you don’t get the info on the sea state anymore 

[sogne]

3 hours ago, Se1lad said:

It looks like it comes from a weather website rather than from the actual ship - and you don’t get the info on the sea state anymore 

Weather 4cast is a site but near top right current wind appears as ° from bow. As 4 seastate I look out the window or balcony.

[LadyL1]

10 hours ago, BigMac1953 said:

Hi

 

We have 3 x QA booked.

 

On the Vistas, we like Deck 7 on the stern, such as 8181.

 

On QA for our three trips, we've booked either 7026 or 7257 (Q3's).

 

I can't find any pics of these on any official sites. Does anyone have any?

 

Thanks in advance.

Have a look at this.

[BigMac1953]

Hi LadyL1

 

That's exactly what I was lookin for.

 

Many thanks.

 

Stewart

[alc13]

Thank you for that video.  We will be in a similar rear-facing Q5 in October, one of the center 3, not in the corner.  The layout reminds me of a PG on QM2, except for the room divider.  A bit smaller than I imagined.