Done with Cunard

[Victoria2]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Often you need to get the attention of the right person, which is not usually someone at the Purser’s Desk. The problem is knowing who.

and then being persistent, otherwise known as 'being a pain in the rear' until you get the individual who either has clout or can sort things.

[Wordzz]

On 7/20/2024 at 1:06 PM, ovccruiser said:

Thats whipped cream not clotted, just as bad as putting butter on first 😂

And why do they scatter sugar over the top? Ugh.

[Planning to cruise]

2 hours ago, Wordzz said:

And why do they scatter sugar over the top? Ugh.

Yes, why?  I dont have a sweet tooth and a pet hate is icing sugar thrown over desserts.  Cunard is a serial offender.  I usually forget to mention it before it is too late.  

[Slugsta]

The thing I really hate (in general, not necessarily Cunard) is when a paper napkin and fork are placed on the plate, and then the whole lot is covered with icing sugar!

[burnsva]

On 7/14/2024 at 9:41 AM, D&N said:

Going by bluemarble's various works on this topic ....

I think there is just one more, M422 from Southampton on July 21st arriving July 27th.

If I was on M422 I wouldn't expect to arrive on time in New York, and if on M423 I'd expect to be boarding late on July 27th. Perhaps with experience from the last two, Cunard should warn passengers of that likelihood.

If the other sailings affected by rescheduling, one is coming from Canada and should have sufficient time and in the last case they were able to advance the sailing from Southampton.

 

I don't know if there are any in 2025. As you'll have read, those this year were caused by MSC getting regular access to the Red Hook berth. I'd hope they knew what dates they needed to avoid before the 2025 schedule was released.

We booked our westbound crossing in April 2025 as a 7 night trip.  Several months later we got an email “apologizing” for having to extend it to an 8 night trip with a stop in LaHavre.

[bluemarble]

29 minutes ago, burnsva said:

We booked our westbound crossing in April 2025 as a 7 night trip.  Several months later we got an email “apologizing” for having to extend it to an 8 night trip with a stop in LaHavre.

 

The April 27, 2025 QM2 crossing is, I believe, the last instance where Cunard adjusted QM2's published schedules to avoid a conflict with MSC Meraviglia at Brooklyn. That crossing was originally scheduled as a 7-night crossing arriving at New York on Sunday, May 4, 2025. MSC Meravglia is scheduled to be at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal most Sundays including May 4, 2025. Cunard extended the April 27, 2025 crossing to 8 nights, adding a call at Le Havre, and it will now end at New York on Monday, May 5, 2025.

[Camberley]

On 7/19/2024 at 12:36 PM, david63 said:

Is drinking your tea out of a saucer allowed on Cunard? Asking for a friend.😂
 

Only with a paper straw. And noisily.

[Camberley]

On 7/20/2024 at 1:06 PM, ovccruiser said:

Thats whipped cream not clotted, just as bad as putting butter on first 😂

Ah bakery scones filled with jam and whipped cream….still delicious whatever the cream and whichever way round the cream and jam is.

 

I have never actually had Afternoon Tea on Cunard yet but do they actually serve proper clotted cream (even though they say they do on their blurb). Or, as most other cruise lines sadly do, is it just whipped cream they pass off as clotted? 

Edited August 8 by Camberley

[BigMac1953]

Clotted cream is served in the Grills.

 

Don't know about anywhere else.

[QuestionEverything]

3 hours ago, Camberley said:

Ah bakery scones filled with jam and whipped cream….still delicious whatever the cream and whichever way round the cream and jam is.

 

I have never actually had Afternoon Tea on Cunard yet but do they actually serve proper clotted cream (even though they say they do on their blurb). Or, as most other cruise lines sadly do, is it just whipped cream they pass off as clotted? 

I was on the QM2 in June.

The "scones" were dry, pre-made and the "clotted cream" was something white/yellow thick paste.

Suffice it to say ourselves and our tablemates never returned to Afternoon Tea. A total disappointment.

You want a real Afternoon Tea - try Oceania - now that are ship made scones and real clotted cream and fabulous sandwiches and tortes etc.

Sorry to say this, but it is reality.

[Victoria2]

7 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

I was on the QM2 in June.

The "scones" were dry, pre-made and the "clotted cream" was something white/yellow thick paste.

Suffice it to say ourselves and our tablemates never returned to Afternoon Tea. A total disappointment.

You want a real Afternoon Tea - try Oceania - now that are ship made scones and real clotted cream and fabulous sandwiches and tortes etc.

Sorry to say this, but it is reality.

So a disappointing scone put you off afternoon tea on a Cunard ship?

 

We rarely eat afternoon tea as we find the designated three three meals a day more than too much for our waistlines, but we do like a cup of tea in the afternoon [with a chocolate Brownie if available]. If we did eat a little something it would never be a scone and def. wouldn't want any cream, clotted or not.

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

 

24 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

I was on the QM2 in June.

The "scones" were dry, pre-made and the "clotted cream" was something white/yellow thick paste.

Suffice it to say ourselves and our tablemates never returned to Afternoon Tea. A total disappointment.

You want a real Afternoon Tea - try Oceania - now that are ship made scones and real clotted cream and fabulous sandwiches and tortes etc.

Sorry to say this, but it is reality.

We had tea a couple of times on QA in May. The scones had every appearance of being freshly made, and I think the cream was clotted. Scones do tend to be quite dry rather than moist like fruit cake, and I think clotted cream is a thick yellow paste. What exactly were you expecting?

[tacticalbanjo]

I was also on QM2 in June and I don't recall the scones looking anything less than fresh. The clotted cream looked and tasted as I would expect. Annoyingly the one photo I don't have from our afternoon tea is of the scone but I definitely didn't notice anything amiss.

 

I did make the Cunard recipe once and it came out wonderfully.

[RK-NC]

1 hour ago, QuestionEverything said:

The "scones" were dry, pre-made and the "clotted cream" was something white/yellow thick paste.

 

I'm an avid baker. Scones are suppose to be dense and a bit crumby. Clotted cream is similar to butter in consistency and color. We embark QM2 in 15 days for a 30 night voyage and we absolutely love taking afternoon tea so I will plan to post a full report upon our return.

[Millieloulou]

Anybody that bakes scones better than I can, gets my vote.Cunard definitely does, and we always look forward to afternoon tea on our voyage.

My husband says my scones can be used as door stops.

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

I was on the QM2 in June.

The "scones" were dry, pre-made and the "clotted cream" was something white/yellow thick paste.

Suffice it to say ourselves and our tablemates never returned to Afternoon Tea. A total disappointment.

You want a real Afternoon Tea - try Oceania - now that are ship made scones and real clotted cream and fabulous sandwiches and tortes etc.

Sorry to say this, but it is reality.

 

I don't know what you were expecting, but Cunard's scones are REAL tea scones, made on board. And yes, the clotted cream is REAL clotted cream. In answer to a question above, even the "rowers" get real clotted cream, not just the grills passengers. 

 

Scone dough is rolled or patted flat and cut with a round cutter (like a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter) That's why they come out the same size. It isn't a machine that makes them the same size, it's the standard size of the cutter. The fact that the dough is rolled is why the top is smooth. Cunard may brush the tops with egg white to give them a shine. 

 

In the US (and perhaps Canada, based on your reaction to uniformly made scones), it's common to see all manner of biscuits (biscuits in the US sense, not a cookie) passed off as scones. They aren't rolled or patted flat. Instead, they're "drop scones," which means blobs of dough are dropped onto a cooking sheet. That technique produces a rough outer surface. US scones often have more butter and sugar as well as more/different inclusions, such as various fruits and nuts. I've even seen recipes that call for eggs. This produces a richer and sweeter product. I like them, but they aren't proper tea scones and they do not need the added richness of clotted cream. 

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, Millieloulou said:

Anybody that bakes scones better than I can, gets my vote. Cunard definitely does, and we always look forward to afternoon tea on our voyage.

My husband says my scones can be used as door stops.

 

Oh dear! Mine aren't that bad, but Cunard's are better. 

[D&N]

7 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

And yes, the clotted cream is REAL clotted cream.

Not always. In June 2022 we saw blobs of a nice cream in Carinthia, and the same was served the one afternoon on our Eastbound (return) trip that we tried out the Queens Room. It certainly wasn't clotted. That might have been due to it being not long after restart and supply problems, which we noticed more in shortages of certain wines and Grand Marnier.

I have seen a mixture in vloggers videos of both the stuff we had and real clotted cream. So it may depend on how long the stocks last. Can't imagine they make it onboard, but that's not my specialist subject.

[3rdGenCunarder]

6 minutes ago, D&N said:

Not always. In June 2022 we saw blobs of a nice cream in Carinthia, and the same was served the one afternoon on our Eastbound (return) trip that we tried out the Queens Room. It certainly wasn't clotted. That might have been due to it being not long after restart and supply problems, which we noticed more in shortages of certain wines and Grand Marnier.

I have seen a mixture in vloggers videos of both the stuff we had and real clotted cream. So it may depend on how long the stocks last. Can't imagine they make it onboard, but that's not my specialist subject.

 

Funny, I was on QE in June 2022, and we had a shortage of Grand Marnier, too. 

[Slugsta]

I love afternoon tea anywhere (have to skip lunch and/or dinner though!) and the scones we had on QV last year were some of the best I have eaten. Of course, things might have changed since then, but I very much hope not.

[D&N]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Funny, I was on QE in June 2022, and we had a shortage of Grand Marnier, too. 

They had a small quantity in Restaurants. Not finding it in any bars or lounges we spotted a bottle on the trolley when we got our first servings of Crepe Suzette and asked the sommelier if we could have glasses there. He went to check and the request was refused. Next time we had that they had switched to Cointreau.

 

I've seen bottles recently in videos of various bars and intend to ask here about availability about a month before our next trip. If there look like being supply problems we'll take our own.

[3rdGenCunarder]

17 minutes ago, D&N said:

They had a small quantity in Restaurants. Not finding it in any bars or lounges we spotted a bottle on the trolley when we got our first servings of Crepe Suzette and asked the sommelier if we could have glasses there. He went to check and the request was refused. Next time we had that they had switched to Cointreau.

 

I've seen bottles recently in videos of various bars and intend to ask here about availability about a month before our next trip. If there look like being supply problems we'll take our own.

 

We had the same experience. Someone at my table asked about it and was told only for the flambes. We had crepes Suzette the last night, but I don't remember which liqueur they used.

[Victoria2]

4 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

We had the same experience. Someone at my table asked about it and was told only for the flambes. We had crepes Suzette the last night, but I don't remember which liqueur they used.

Call me a heathen, but Crepes Suzette involving orangey alcohol is wonderful, whichever orangey alcohol is involved. 😄

[Luckycruisers]

We’re boarding the Queen Elizabeth on Saturday.  I’ll report back as to the authenticity of the scones and clotted cream 😃.

[david,Mississauga]

2 hours ago, Luckycruisers said:

We’re boarding the Queen Elizabeth on Saturday.  I’ll report back as to the authenticity of the scones and clotted cream 😃.

 

We were recently on the QE and took tea almost every day either in the Queens Room or the Princess Grill and once I took some scones from the Lido  to our suite.  The cream was the same in all venues. Despite what some people have suggested, it was not whipped cream because it never melted.

 

Since Marks & Spencer closed their Canadian operation, it is very difficult for us to find clotted cream.  Occasionally I can buy it in a jar, imported from Devon.  It is different  than what we have had recently on Cunard, but I can't say I prefer one to the other. 

[Camberley]

19 hours ago, RK-NC said:

 

I'm an avid baker. Scones are suppose to be dense and a bit crumby. Clotted cream is similar to butter in consistency and color.

It is indeed like soft butter and is shiny, thick and sticky and with a bit of a crust on top. I sometimes make it at home (basically double cream baked very slowly at a low temperature). A wonderful thing

 

Now whipped cream is a good alternative - well, as long as it is whipped cream (which holds its shape forever) rather than that ghastly spray cream from a can (which collapses quickly)

Edited August 9 by Camberley