Done with Cunard

[QuestionEverything]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Did you ask for a different type of tea ? We don't go to afternoon tea very often but peppermint tea has always been provided when I ask for it.

Greetings Host Hattie:

Was at a table of 4. We all asked for different teas, the wait staff said none were available. We looked around and there was no one with a container of tea samples, like in the past. I got up and walked over to the serving area at the back, no containers of different teas. I put this on my Cunard evaluation.

The scone was awful, it was highly processed, dry and each scone on our plate looked the same. Not like if you go to a grocery store, each tea biscuit can look a bit different in shape and texture.

I am rather spoiled for high tea, Oceania does a marvelous high tea indeed. 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

I wonder why AFTERNOON TEA has dropped off so suddenly.

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings Host Hattie:

 

I am rather spoiled for high tea, Oceania does a marvelous high tea indeed. 

Bet they don’t do high tea at all. Wouldn’t leave space for dinner.

[QuestionEverything]

Just now, Lee Jones Jnr said:

I wonder why AFTERNOON TEA has dropped off so suddenly.

Lee, I do not know.

We were sitting with a lovely couple from Portsmouth who travel on the QM2 many times to visit with their adult children in the USA.

They were appalled at the "scones", the "clotted cream" and the lack of offering different tea brands.

We 4 had not been on the QM2 since last summer, so perhaps downgrading decisions have been made during this time.

Lee, in the end, every cruise line, hotel, restaurant are downgrading quickly due to inflation; I am very turned off travel right now, so I have no plans to go anywhere distant.

[Lee Jones Jnr]

I was on QM in May and asked for the tea I wanted, it was brought without question and the scones were baked onboard.

dropping tea selection seems unusual but changing to ‘shop bought’ seems really odd.

[QuestionEverything]

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

Bet they don’t do high tea at all. Wouldn’t leave space for dinner.

Greetings exlondoner, Oceania does a most wonderful high tea at 3:30. Staff come to ask what tea you want out of a glossy wood container, each person gets an individual ceramic tea pot, trolleys of sandwiches like shrimp, crab etc, then another trolley with the scones (they did not look overly manufactured), real clotted cream and various jams, then another trolley with desserts of many types. Simply great.

Then that rolls into 5 pm and 2 for 1 wine - so from 3:30 to 6 pm, I do not move from my seat in the forward view lounge.

Love it. 

[QuestionEverything]

Just now, Lee Jones Jnr said:

I was on QM in May and asked for the tea I wanted, it was brought without question and the scones were baked onboard.

dropping tea selection seems unusual but changing to ‘shop bought’ seems really odd.

Hi Lee, sounds so very different from our experience. We did not go back to high tea after that, neither did the folks at the same table.

Observing other cruise line boards, cruise lines are making downgrading decisions on a regular basis, so timing could be at any moment.

Lee stay well and enjoy life.

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings exlondoner, Oceania does a most wonderful high tea at 3:30. Staff come to ask what tea you want out of a glossy wood container, each person gets an individual ceramic tea pot, trolleys of sandwiches like shrimp, crab etc, then another trolley with the scones (they did not look overly manufactured), real clotted cream and various jams, then another trolley with desserts of many types. Simply great.

Then that rolls into 5 pm and 2 for 1 wine - so from 3:30 to 6 pm, I do not move from my seat in the forward view lounge.

Love it. 

That is not high tea, apart from anything else it is the wrong time. That is afternoon tea.

[Lee Jones Jnr]

11 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Hi Lee, sounds so very different from our experience. We did not go back to high tea after that, neither did the folks at the same table.

Observing other cruise line boards, cruise lines are making downgrading decisions on a regular basis, so timing could be at any moment.

Lee stay well and enjoy life.

WELL… unfortunately I have not really enjoyed anything since I was five years old but thankyou for the sentiment.

i suppose to some degree ‘you get what you pay for’ and Cunard is not positioned at the higher end of the market.

it really will be a shame if something as ‘Cunard’ as fresh scones is gone.

[Lemorvan]

31 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings exlondoner, Oceania does a most wonderful high tea at 3:30. Staff come to ask what tea you want out of a glossy wood container, each person gets an individual ceramic tea pot, trolleys of sandwiches like shrimp, crab etc, then another trolley with the scones (they did not look overly manufactured), real clotted cream and various jams, then another trolley with desserts of many types. Simply great.

Then that rolls into 5 pm and 2 for 1 wine - so from 3:30 to 6 pm, I do not move from my seat in the forward view lounge.

Love it. 

For those that don’t know one from the other,

https://www.thespruceeats.com/high-tea-vs-afternoon-tea-765832

 

[Host Hattie]

35 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings exlondoner, Oceania does a most wonderful high tea at 3:30. Staff come to ask what tea you want out of a glossy wood container, each person gets an individual ceramic tea pot, trolleys of sandwiches like shrimp, crab etc, then another trolley with the scones (they did not look overly manufactured), real clotted cream and various jams, then another trolley with desserts of many types. Simply great.

Then that rolls into 5 pm and 2 for 1 wine - so from 3:30 to 6 pm, I do not move from my seat in the forward view lounge.

Love it. 

And how much does Oceania cost ??

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Lemorvan said:

For those that don’t know one from the other,

https://www.thespruceeats.com/high-tea-vs-afternoon-tea-765832

 

If I could click the thank you five times, I would do so. But, as I said earlier, it is a losing battle.

[WantedOnVoyage]

Being pedantic usually is...

 

North Americans often use the term "high tea" when they mean afternoon tea. But generally, we'd rather tip it into Boston Harbor (no "u").

 

 

[exlondoner]

16 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Being pedantic usually is...

 

North Americans often use the term "high tea" when they mean afternoon tea. But generally, we'd rather tip it into Boston Harbor (no "u").

 

 

So what do working class people, if you know any, have when they get home from work?

[WantedOnVoyage]

Supper or dinner.  

 

Usually the former.  

 

I suspect sourcing a proper high tea in England, with its mania now for Thai fusion whatever as long as it's not English, is difficult.  All of my fav greasy spoon cafes in London are long vanished.  

 

 

[exlondoner]

21 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Being pedantic usually is...

 

North Americans often use the term "high tea" when they mean afternoon tea. But generally, we'd rather tip it into Boston Harbor (no "u").

 

 

Incidentally, it is not really pedantry in the way complaining about people saying the hoi polloi is. It is simply that they are two completely different meals, just as breakfast and lunch are.

[King Amo]

Whatever they call it, I'd wager it isn't high tea, in the same way that working class people in the UK no longer refer to it as that. 

[exlondoner]

Just now, WantedOnVoyage said:

Supper or dinner.  

 

Usually the former.  

 

I suspect sourcing a proper high tea in England, with its mania now for Thai fusion whatever as long as it's not English, is difficult.  All of my fav greasy spoon cafes in London are long vanished.  

 

 

Perhaps try Scotland. 

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, King Amo said:

Whatever they call it, I'd wager it isn't high tea, in the same way that working class people in the UK no longer refer to it as that. 

I’m sure they don’t, but they certainly don’t refer to a cup of tea and a cake as high tea.

[WantedOnVoyage]

But being pedanic, it's simply another example of " England and America are two countries divided by a common language."

 

I consider myself, with a British wife and having work published in Britain and America (and indeed Canada.. which is even more confusing!) to be somewhat bilingual out of necessity.  

 

The poor crew... they probably learn "American" English and find themselves on Cunard and totally befuddled at times. But for a line founded by a British North American with German ancestry... Cunard has been straddling these fences from the get-go. 

Edited July 14 by WantedOnVoyage

[exlondoner]

31 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Being pedantic usually is...

 

North Americans often use the term "high tea" when they mean afternoon tea. But generally, we'd rather tip it into Boston Harbor (no "u").

 

 

I notice the Russian Tea Room in NYC offers afternoon tea.

[exlondoner]

18 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

But being pedanic, it's simply another example of " England and America are two countries divided by a common language."

 

I consider myself, with a British wife and having work published in Britain and America (and indeed Canada.. which is even more confusing!) to be somewhat bilingual out of necessity.  

 

The poor crew... they probably learn "American" English and find themselves on Cunard and totally befuddled at times. But for a line founded by a British North American with German ancestry... Cunard has been straddling these fences from the get-go. 

But what Cunard say they serve is afternoon tea, which it is, with a glass of champagne, if you fork out. No need to call it anything else and add confusion, however knowledgeable one is.

[D&N]

@QuestionEverything

"High Tea" is an early evening main meal, normally served before dinner for folk that want to eat earlier. It is usually a reduced menu similar to a pre theatre menu.

The attached menu from a venue that we used to frequent with friends because it offered Saturday night dancing, shows a choice of four mains, and the tea, toast, scones (no cream) and cakes were placed on the table as you ate the main course.

 

As an aside; just to prove there are cutbacks everywhere, when we were there last there were at least double that number of choices on the main course.

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

Not really something to bother arguing about though is it?

I was slightly surprised to see anyone use the term high tea, made afternoon tea bold in my next post and then continued to live my life, everyone here knows what is being discussed.

[Host Hattie]

I'm not seeing any arguing just attempts to educate.