Cunard Staffing Levels/Crew Standards

[Log Flumer]

I have recently booked my first ever 'cruise' (crossing), on QM2 next summer. I'm looking forward to it and have carried out plenty of research both prior to and subsequent to my booking. I've noticed quite a few comments (including in this forum) about some staffing issues, including - but not limited to - decreased standards/competence among waiting staff in the main dining room (being served the wrong meal, food being tepid, lower quality ingredients, unhelpful attitude etc.), and staff appearing overworked/unmotivated (standing around talking at the bar and not being responsive to guest needs etc.). I wondered what could explain this apparent deterioration and noticed that in 2019 the Cunard website showed the following information in relation to QM2: 2,691 Guests, 1,292 Crew, but the website now shows 2,691 Guests, 1,173 Crew: a reduction of 119 crew members. Obviously there was some serious cost-cutting post-pandemic (and my guess would be that such a reduction in staff would result in savings of perhaps $2m a year on just the QM2 alone), but is it ultimately to the detriment of both passengers (who understandably expect high standards, especially if they have travelled with Cunard pre-pandemic) and even more so to crew members (who may face longer-shifts and more demanding working conditions with responsibility for an increased number of passengers)? Has anyone noticed a clear deterioration in service standards, whether in terms of the dining experience, quality of food, stateroom maintenance etc? Has this affected Britannia more than the Grills? Thank you in advance for your thoughts and observations!

[sogne]

34 minutes ago, Log Flumer said:

 

I have recently booked my first ever 'cruise' (crossing), on QM2 next summer. I'm looking forward to it and have carried out plenty of research both prior to and subsequent to my booking. I've noticed quite a few comments (including in this forum) about some staffing issues, including - but not limited to - decreased standards/competence among waiting staff in the main dining room (being served the wrong meal, food being tepid, lower quality ingredients, unhelpful attitude etc.), and staff appearing overworked/unmotivated (standing around talking at the bar and not being responsive to guest needs etc.). I wondered what could explain this apparent deterioration and noticed that in 2019 the Cunard website showed the following information in relation to QM2: 2,691 Guests, 1,292 Crew, but the website now shows 2,691 Guests, 1,173 Crew: a reduction of 119 crew members. Obviously there was some serious cost-cutting post-pandemic (and my guess would be that such a reduction in staff would result in savings of perhaps $2m a year on just the QM2 alone), but is it ultimately to the detriment of both passengers (who understandably expect high standards, especially if they have travelled with Cunard pre-pandemic) and even more so to crew members (who may face longer-shifts and more demanding working conditions with responsibility for an increased number of passengers)? Has anyone noticed a clear deterioration in service standards, whether in terms of the dining experience, quality of food, stateroom maintenance etc? Has this affected Britannia more than the Grills? Thank you in advance for your thoughts and observations!

No.

[PORT ROYAL]

37 minutes ago, Log Flumer said:

 

I have recently booked my first ever 'cruise' (crossing), on QM2 next summer. I'm looking forward to it and have carried out plenty of research both prior to and subsequent to my booking. I've noticed quite a few comments (including in this forum) about some staffing issues, including - but not limited to - decreased standards/competence among waiting staff in the main dining room (being served the wrong meal, food being tepid, lower quality ingredients, unhelpful attitude etc.), and staff appearing overworked/unmotivated (standing around talking at the bar and not being responsive to guest needs etc.). I wondered what could explain this apparent deterioration and noticed that in 2019 the Cunard website showed the following information in relation to QM2: 2,691 Guests, 1,292 Crew, but the website now shows 2,691 Guests, 1,173 Crew: a reduction of 119 crew members. Obviously there was some serious cost-cutting post-pandemic (and my guess would be that such a reduction in staff would result in savings of perhaps $2m a year on just the QM2 alone), but is it ultimately to the detriment of both passengers (who understandably expect high standards, especially if they have travelled with Cunard pre-pandemic) and even more so to crew members (who may face longer-shifts and more demanding working conditions with responsibility for an increased number of passengers)? Has anyone noticed a clear deterioration in service standards, whether in terms of the dining experience, quality of food, stateroom maintenance etc? Has this affected Britannia more than the Grills? Thank you in advance for your thoughts and observations!

Welcome to CC

 

One can confirm that in Club, Verandah, and stateroom, there has been no drop in service excellence.  Noted some menu items have disappeared, but this did not detract from the overall experience.

As an aside, a “missing” Dessert Menu item was mentioned in conversation with our waiter.  The next evening the MD attended our table and mentioned it was available that evening if wanted.  This is Cunard!

[Winifred 22]

No difference 

[exlondoner]

Apparently, it was not so easy to reinstate all old crew after lockdown as they had found other things, which meant a higher proportion of relatively inexperienced crew. This may have been exacerbated by more crew being transferred for the introduction of Queen Anne. However, having been on all four ships since 2022, I have encountered no problems with service, except on QA, but this was her second voyage, where they were clearly still sorting themselves out and evolving systems. In the restaurant, service the second week of that voyage was very much better than the first. Everyone seemed agreeable and contented. All my experiences relate to QG for what it is worth.

[s.s.France]

One observation, on the QE though, was last October, that it took longer than I was used to until the suite was made up after breakfast. I remember when returning from breakfast it was normally finished. Last year not so. I heard, or read, that a butler now has more suites to care for than pre-cov. That would explain it. Otherwise, everything was up to usual standards.

[NowVoyager2]

I have sailed on Cunard ships since the 1980's(QE2, QM2 & Queen Victoria) I recently sailed in Queen Victoria in the med and there were definitely cutbacks in all areas of the ship(as most cruise lines have done in the name of PROFIT MARGINES).

There is definitely smaller staffing in public areas  - bars & restaurants, Guest Services.  The Cabin Stewards have more cabins to clean(ridiculously so) .  The Cabin Stewards were all pleasant enough but should be issued roller-skates to help them get around.  The staff in the lido areas needs to be increased  - not only to get a drink but also cleaning the area of used cups, napkins & plates.  Many staff were indifferent as to service(not all but quite a few) and openly spoke of being overworked w long days & contracts.

 

The quality of the food was more US Chain restaurant quality than a luxury restaurant / hotel.  Again the staff cutbacks & inconsistency in training can cause problems.

 

Except on QE2(where I sailed first class) I always book a midship balcony cabin - mostly for comfort reason during rough seas - but also I don't see the cost value in booking anything above that.  In all  categories  there have been cutbacks.

 

Cunard & a few other lines have very good marketing & sell a dream - in reality they are more akin to a floating Sheraton Hotel.  

 

Saying all that - you will probably enjoy sailing in her - there is nothing like crossing the Atlantic Ocean.  The jewelry maybe costume, the clothes not designer & the food similar to what you eat often - but the MIGHTY ATLANTIC OCEAN never changes in its majesty & doing a crossing can be magical for many reasons.

[Victoria2]

Cabin staff must love us. We say 'leave us 'til the last and no need to  hoover the sitting room every time'.

Bedroom and bathroom/s and a quick tidy up is all we need.🙂

[Victoria2]

NowVoyager2 , we have been sailing with Cunard since 2011 and can find very little difference in the service we have received or the quality of the menus.

 

I don't 'do' costume jewellery, my clothes have been known to be 'designer' and believe me, the food we eat is most definitely NOT what we eat at home, even from my caterers M&S and Waitrose, and I will not be alone in these respects.

 

If you find it's not worth booking anything 'above' a mid ships balcony, I'm hard pressed to know how you can evaluate food, cabin, service etc BC.PG and QG without having tried it...recently!

Edited September 13 by Victoria2

[exlondoner]

24 minutes ago, s.s.France said:

One observation, on the QE though, was last October, that it took longer than I was used to until the suite was made up after breakfast. I remember when returning from breakfast it was normally finished. Last year not so. I heard, or read, that a butler now has more suites to care for than pre-cov. That would explain it. Otherwise, everything was up to usual standards.

 

On all our voyages on various ships for about the last ten years, we have found our cabin ready fairly soon, but not immediately, after breakfast. I think it partly depends on when both you and other people breakfast and probably where you are in the butler’s tranche of cabins. On the Vistas we usually spend a pleasant twenty minutes in the lounge looking at the view and doing the crossword. Not, alas possible on QA, so we had a walk to the Commodore Club as well.

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

NowVoyager2 , we have been sailing with Cunard since 2011 and can find very little difference in the service we have received or the quality of the menus.

 

I don't 'do' costume jewellery, my clothes have been known to be 'designer' and believe me, the food we eat is most definitely NOT what we eat at home, even from my caterers M&S and Waitrose, and I will not be alone in these respects.

 

If you find it's not worth booking anything 'above' a mid ships balcony, I'm hard pressed to know how you can evaluate food, cabin, service etc BC.PG and QG without having tried it...recently!

In Covid when we weren’t sailing, I did try and create a Cunard dinner a couple of times, minus flaming, you’ll be relieved to hear. I didn’t come anywhere close.

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

In Covid when we weren’t sailing, I did try and create a Cunard dinner a couple of times, minus flaming, you’ll be relieved to hear. I didn’t come anywhere close.

I'd probably inadvertently 'do' the flaming!!!! 😄

[david63]

29 minutes ago, NowVoyager2 said:

Except on QE2(where I sailed first class)

I was not aware that there is any class distinction, let alone a "first class", on any Cunard ship these days.

[carlmm]

1 hour ago, Log Flumer said:

 

 Has anyone noticed a clear deterioration in service standards, whether in terms of the dining experience, quality of food, stateroom maintenance etc? Has this affected Britannia more than the Grills? Thank you in advance for your thoughts and observations!

A few observations from the QV:

- No more canapees/hors d'oeuvre served pre-dinner. This is a kind of double cost-cutting: The food itself and the staff for preparing and serving.

- I seldomiy ate anything in the buffet, but for what it is worth, not once I got coffee or any other drink service.

- In Britannia for sure there is less choice and less quality items are served eg. no more lobster, no scallops, no venison main for dinner.

- Generally long waiting times for drinks in the Queens room and apparently not enough waiters in the Yacht club at peak times.

- No band in the Yacht club.

- Less members in the orchestra

- No guest artists for classical music performances

[RK-NC]

3 hours ago, Log Flumer said:

(being served the wrong meal, food being tepid, lower quality ingredients, unhelpful attitude etc.),

 

Onboard QM2 now, day 22 of a 30 day voyage round trip from NY.  Yes, we have experienced all of these things. 

 

3 hours ago, Log Flumer said:

staff appearing overworked/unmotivated (standing around talking at the bar and not being responsive to guest needs etc.).

 

We have experienced this as well.

 

My husband just returned from the E-sports area which had been closed for 10 days because of flooding from toilets. Floors had to be torn out and redone. There are white paint flecks everywhere. We have detected various smells throughout the ship - a sour smell on deck 4, some sort of fume on deck 7 forward (promenade). 

 

Tonight is Gala night and here is the menu (apologies for the shadow. We go every morning to take photos of the lunch and dinner menus because they are not available on "my voyage" app or anywhere else that we know of)

[ExArkie]

2 hours ago, NowVoyager2 said:

...Cunard & a few other lines have very good marketing & sell a dream - in reality they are more akin to a floating Sheraton Hotel...

I have stayed in some very nice Sheratons.

[sogne]

no cost savings = higher prices 

[Log Flumer]

2 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Welcome to CC

 

One can confirm that in Club, Verandah, and stateroom, there has been no drop in service excellence.  Noted some menu items have disappeared, but this did not detract from the overall experience.

As an aside, a “missing” Dessert Menu item was mentioned in conversation with our waiter.  The next evening the MD attended our table and mentioned it was available that evening if wanted.  This is Cunard!

Thank you, Port Royal! That's good to know.

[Log Flumer]

2 hours ago, NowVoyager2 said:

I have sailed on Cunard ships since the 1980's(QE2, QM2 & Queen Victoria) I recently sailed in Queen Victoria in the med and there were definitely cutbacks in all areas of the ship(as most cruise lines have done in the name of PROFIT MARGINES).

There is definitely smaller staffing in public areas  - bars & restaurants, Guest Services.  The Cabin Stewards have more cabins to clean(ridiculously so) .  The Cabin Stewards were all pleasant enough but should be issued roller-skates to help them get around.  The staff in the lido areas needs to be increased  - not only to get a drink but also cleaning the area of used cups, napkins & plates.  Many staff were indifferent as to service(not all but quite a few) and openly spoke of being overworked w long days & contracts.

 

The quality of the food was more US Chain restaurant quality than a luxury restaurant / hotel.  Again the staff cutbacks & inconsistency in training can cause problems.

 

Except on QE2(where I sailed first class) I always book a midship balcony cabin - mostly for comfort reason during rough seas - but also I don't see the cost value in booking anything above that.  In all  categories  there have been cutbacks.

 

Cunard & a few other lines have very good marketing & sell a dream - in reality they are more akin to a floating Sheraton Hotel.  

 

Saying all that - you will probably enjoy sailing in her - there is nothing like crossing the Atlantic Ocean.  The jewelry maybe costume, the clothes not designer & the food similar to what you eat often - but the MIGHTY ATLANTIC OCEAN never changes in its majesty & doing a crossing can be magical for many reasons.

Thank you! I feel for the staff in these circumstances. As for my 'first world' concerns, it's the most expensive trip of my life so far, hence the nervousness! Nevertheless, I'm certainly looking forward to crossing the Atlantic and sailing into NYC 🙂  

[techteach]

@Log Flumer You could go read the extensive well documented travels in this forum titled “Not Quite Live…Alaska.” You’ll be able to see the menu and read his review as a first timer on Cunard.

Edited September 13 by techteach
Title correction

[Log Flumer]

1 hour ago, carlmm said:

A few observations from the QV:

- No more canapees/hors d'oeuvre served pre-dinner. This is a kind of double cost-cutting: The food itself and the staff for preparing and serving.

- I seldomiy ate anything in the buffet, but for what it is worth, not once I got coffee or any other drink service.

- In Britannia for sure there is less choice and less quality items are served eg. no more lobster, no scallops, no venison main for dinner.

- Generally long waiting times for drinks in the Queens room and apparently not enough waiters in the Yacht club at peak times.

- No band in the Yacht club.

- Less members in the orchestra

- No guest artists for classical music performances

Danke, Carl. Do these aspects affect the likelihood of you booking again with Cunard? And do with think that Cunard may revert to previous standards now that we've (hopefully) seen the back of COVID and competition in the industry is generally fierce?

[Log Flumer]

20 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

Onboard QM2 now, day 22 of a 30 day voyage round trip from NY.  Yes, we have experienced all of these things. 

Thank you, RK-NC. I hope that, on the whole, the experience has nevertheless been positive? Would you journey with Cunard again?

 

The Gala menu appears decent enough, even not being a meat eater...

[Log Flumer]

9 minutes ago, techteach said:

@Log Flumer You could go read the extensive well documented travels in this forum titled “Not Quite Live…Alaska.” You’ll be able to see the menu and read his review as a first timer on Cunard.

Thank you for the tip!

[tacticalbanjo]

I was disappointed in the service I experienced in Britannia on QM2 in June. It was very slow if cheerful. I have to say that my stateroom steward was excellent and our stateroom was always immaculate. Bar waiters were good everywhere. I had a great time on the QA maiden even if there were the inevitable hiccups in service you expect on a maiden. And sure, I wish the menus would get a refresh because they are a bit tired.

 

Would it put me off booking again? Absolutely not. I have 3 Cunard trips coming up and I'm very much looking forward to them. Just 24 days until I'm on QV but who's counting?

[WantedOnVoyage]

Yes.

 

Overall, we remain delighted with what we have received on QUEEN VICTORIA over the last four post Covid cruises and one in QM2.  

 

But yes... there are noticeable cut backs (experienced as travelling Princess Grill)

 

• Long waits (20 mins) for drinks in Chart Room and Commodore
• Long pauses (20 mins or more even) between courses in Princess Grill which suddenly crop up halfway through the cruise
• Very uneven deck service on the Grills Deck... ranging from superb and attentive to non existent
• Bed linen not changed nearly as frequently as before and sometimes to the point of having to request it. That should NOT be necessary. Ever. 
• And the cutbacks in side of table presentation, dover sole etc. in Princess Grill which may be more market driven than anything else to increase the difference between PG and Queen's Grill.  But there are indeed reductions here regardless of reason.
• Lack of live music in Yacht Club which we really missed... they have destroyed the atmosphere of this room alas.

 

But... generally, it remains a superb product and especially it's the people on QUEEN VICTORIA that keeps us returning... indeed in, why in 17 days time! Not that I am counting

Edited September 13 by WantedOnVoyage