Saga Rose Greenland Voyager August 2007

[MMDown Under]

I'm still sniffling from my cold. It is amazingly stubborn. Over the past dozen years I've rarely - if ever - had a cold. I told my travel agent that I would write a post-cruise review once I am back to 100%. I'm just not up to it while I'm feeling not so good.

 

Donald.

 

Sorry to hear you're still ill, Donald.

 

Have you tried Grandma's chicken soup to aid your recovery?

[Conte Di Savoia]

Conte and Donald - I'm keen to hear about your cruises, one to the Caribbean and the other to Hawaii. Have you reached a point that you can tell us all about it?

 

Ruby

I'm just about finished with the laundry and will collect my thoughts about the current experience of cruising Cunard.

[Kapricorn]

Sorry to hear you're still ill, Donald.

 

Have you tried Grandma's chicken soup to aid your recovery?

 

I will definitely add that to my grocery shopping list this morning! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Donald.

[Host Sharon]

Sorry you are still under the weather Donald. I think the only colds I have had in the last three or four years have all come off cruise ships !

 

Conte - please tell me some more of your Aurora stories. They will be great for the book!!

[Kapricorn]

The chicken soup sure is working wonders! I will have another one tomorrow.

 

When Constellation returned to Fort Lauderdale on February 26, there were 7 other cruise ships already in port. I had estimated the total number of disembarking and embarking passengers at 40,000, but today someone elsewhere on the message board went to the trouble of actually adding up the total capacity of the 8 ships and came up with 24,173 passengers. Multiply that by two, and that gives a total number of over 48,000 - the size of a small city! One can imagine the logistics of transporting these vast numbers in and out of the port - cars, vans, buses, and taxis.

 

Donald.

[Host Sharon]

The chicken soup sure is working wonders! I will have another one tomorrow.

 

When Constellation returned to Fort Lauderdale on February 26, there were 7 other cruise ships already in port. I had estimated the total number of disembarking and embarking passengers at 40,000, but today someone elsewhere on the message board went to the trouble of actually adding up the total capacity of the 8 ships and came up with 24,173 passengers. Multiply that by two, and that gives a total number of over 48,000 - the size of a small city! One can imagine the logistics of transporting these vast numbers in and out of the port - cars, vans, buses, and taxis.

 

Donald.

 

 

How big is Fort Lauderdale then? I see on 3 July next year P&O are celebrating their 175 anniversary and they have all 7 of their ships in ports at once. That is 14618 x 2. There is only one road to the docks..........!!

[Kapricorn]

How big is Fort Lauderdale then? I see on 3 July next year P&O are celebrating their 175 anniversary and they have all 7 of their ships in ports at once. That is 14618 x 2. There is only one road to the docks..........!!

 

I believe that eight ships is the maximum for Fort Lauderdale's cruise port. The ships are spread out at docks along the shore. Constellation returned to the farthest dock, like a naughty child consigned to the least-favourable chair at the dinner table..

 

One shouldn't take the taxi to the terminal, because there is indeed only one road, with a bottleneck at the security gate; the meter would click steadily as the taxi inched forward in the massive traffic jam. I took the $7 shuttle bus from the hotel.

 

Donald.

[Host Sharon]

It will be interesting to see how Southampton copes then. Never yet been more than 6 in at one time. I see they are having check in for two of the ships on the outskirts of the city and bussing people the rest of the way.

[Conte Di Savoia]

Queen Victoria to Hawaii

 

First of all I’ll start off with a complaint, but not one over which Cunard had any control. The weather was not cooperative and certainly not what I expected. The Pacific transits were more reminiscent of crossings of the North Atlantic in October, rather cool with intermittent showers especially on the return to LA. I expected a climate more like the Caribbean as we sailed toward the Tropic of Cancer.

 

Still we had a very good time and met lots of interesting people aboard the new Cunard Line. Queen Victoria is a state of the art vessel, highly technological and designed to be operated efficiently. It is an accurate representation of the image that Cunard is promoting of itself. The suits who run the line like to project the history of Cunard Line and claim to be carrying on the Golden Age of luxury travel and the interior design of the vessel seeks to create a stage setting for that image in which we were all asked to participate. The passengers were eager to please and play the part. For example, there was near 100% compliance when it came to observing the evening’s dress code. There was not a single casual evening, not even for the one with the on deck barbeque! The formal nights were among the dressiest I’ve experienced aboard a cruise ship in many years. Long gowns were usual and tuxedos/dinner jackets far outnumbered cocktail dresses and dark suits. Improperly dressed diners (the very few who tried to enter the dining room in T-shirts or jeans) were turned away and directed elsewhere. The occasional rebel walking around in casual clothes stood out as if they were wearing their skivvies in public! Many of the ladies from the UK wore fascinators on their heads. I had often seen these in pictures. I finally asked one of our new British friends what they were called. They aren’t seen in the US.

 

Very well attended classical music recitals were held nearly every sea day afternoon in the Queens Room. We attended all of these except for one which overlapped with the CruiseCritic get-together. It was a great touch and very well received by the attendees. Overall, the entertainment was about the best we’ve seen on a cruise ship. The ship’s singers (mostly from the UK) and dancers (Russian and Ukranian) gave spot on performances and the programs were creative, not the usual tribute to Broadway and Hollywood musicals….what a relief! One of the big production numbers was based on various famous paintings which the performers brought to life through song and dance. While I could make some critical remarks about particular aspects of the production, overall it was very cleverly performed. Their last big show was “Victoriana” which was based on British music hall productions with some modern twists. Queen Victoria’s theater has all the bells and whistles and lighting effects that you might find in a theater ashore. I think it is the best I have seen aboard any ship, even surpassing Queen Mary 2, which is also has a great showroom.

 

Other topics to cover: Food (always a difficult area); service; overall ambiance.

[Saga Ruby]

Queen Victoria to Hawaii

 

First of all I’ll start off with a complaint, but not one over which Cunard had any control. The weather was not cooperative and certainly not what I expected. The Pacific transits were more reminiscent of crossings of the North Atlantic in October, rather cool with intermittent showers especially on the return to LA. I expected a climate more like the Caribbean as we sailed toward the Tropic of Cancer.

 

I learned the hard way that February and March are the rainy, slightly ugly months in Hawaii. Sorry to hear that your crossing weather was not up to your expectations. Where does QV go after dropping you off?

 

The suits who run the line like to project the history of Cunard Line and claim to be carrying on the Golden Age of luxury travel and the interior design of the vessel seeks to create a stage setting for that image in which we were all asked to participate. The passengers were eager to please and play the part.

 

I am officially gobsmacked. It would not occur to me that any cruise line official recognized the joys of the "Golden Age" of luxury travel and I am thrilled to hear that sophistication and civility have not yielded completely to WaveRiders, neon, and fun, fun, fun.

 

I had to look up "fascinators" on Google Images. I want one! How lovely to be on a ship that supports elegant evening fashion onboard. It never occurred to me that a modern, large ship would recognize the fun of playing dress-up and by enforcing the dress code. So refreshing to think that a ship full of passengers would swan around in loverly evening clothes.

 

Ruby

[Host Sharon]

 

I am officially gobsmacked. It would not occur to me that any cruise line official recognized the joys of the "Golden Age" of luxury travel and I am thrilled to hear that sophistication and civility have not yielded completely to WaveRiders, neon, and fun, fun, fun.

 

I had to look up "fascinators" on Google Images. I want one! How lovely to be on a ship that supports elegant evening fashion onboard. It never occurred to me that a modern, large ship would recognize the fun of playing dress-up and by enforcing the dress code. So refreshing to think that a ship full of passengers would swan around in loverly evening clothes.

 

Ruby

 

One of the reasons I love sailing with Cunard Ruby ..and yes - I wore a fascinator to the Royal Ascot Ball on QM2 !! I cannot think of many other ships where you can wear a taffeta ballgown and not feel overdressed !

Edited March 10, 2011 by Host Sharon

[Saga Ruby]

One of the reasons I love sailing with Cunard Ruby ..and yes - I wore a fascinator to the Royal Ascot Ball on QM2 !! I cannot think of many other ships where you can wear a taffeta ballgown and not feel overdressed !

 

Where does one buy a fascinator? At the Fascinator Store? A hat shop? Online? I dunno if I would buy one but never say never. You have me laughing about "taffeta ballgown and not feel overdressed."

 

A complete digression: Have you or anyone on our thread visited the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland? Yes - you lurkers, too! I'm surprised at how much I remember of the Pictish ruins, Scapa Flow, Stones of Stenness, Ring of Brognar, and other sites. These places stick in my memory as a stand-out port stop but I never hear anyone in the States talking about them. Strangely enough, there are southern Orkney Islands nearby to the mainland of Antarctica.

 

Ruby

[Host Sharon]

Sadly the cruise I booked that would have gone to the Orkney Is I had to change as the timing became too difficult. It is still on my bucket list though.

 

As for fascinators - most department stores sell them, TK Maxx are good, even Marks & Spencers! I am not likely to wear them anywhere else though so didn't pay much for mine. They are very popular to wear to smart weddings instead of a hat though.

 

I wasn't sure I wanted to post this - but here goes!! - Royal Ascot night on the Queen Mary 2 with table companion Brian - his wife wore a decorated headband.

 

Edited March 10, 2011 by Host Sharon

[Conte Di Savoia]

A complete digression: Have you or anyone on our thread visited the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland?

Ruby

 

In fact, yes, we did visit the Orkneys on our Saga Rose cruise around the British Isles. It was a rather desolate area with a haunting beauty.

[Saga Ruby]

As for fascinators - most department stores sell them, TK Maxx are good, even Marks & Spencers! I am not likely to wear them anywhere else though so didn't pay much for mine. They are very popular to wear to smart weddings instead of a hat though.

 

I wasn't sure I wanted to post this - but here goes!! - Royal Ascot night on the Queen Mary 2 with table companion Brian - his wife wore a decorated headband.

 

Oh, Sharon, you look quite abfab! Such a great outfit! Thanks to Conte and you, I'm working my way thru the Web, looking at images of fascinators with the hope of finding one that suits my purposes for the September cruise. Digression - every time someone says "Marks & Spencers" I hear "Marks & Sparks." Somewhere back in the day, I learned that phrase and now totally forget the proper name.

 

In fact, yes, we did visit the Orkneys on our Saga Rose cruise around the British Isles. It was a rather desolate area with a haunting beauty.

 

There was so much ancient history on the Orkneys. One travels to Egypt (or we used to!) to the cities of Cairo and Luxor, and the emphasis is on the ancient Egyptians. Yet the Orkneys have the Egyptian timeline beat by centuries of not millenia. Amongst the wind, rain, and mist of the Orkneys, their ancient monuments still stand - quite amazing to me.

 

Ruby

[Saga Ruby]

Michael (Druke I) enjoyed taking note of each "numbers" milestone that we passed on this thread. In his memory, I will say that, as usual, I am gobsmacked at the continuing interest in this Saga Rose thread which has lasted longer than the ship.

 

Thanks to the lurkers for all the Views but particular thanks to our contributors whose ideas, input, and travels keep this thread fresh and interesting.

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

Today I have almost recovered from the nasty virus, and have enough energy to finally write my usual post-cruise report for my travel agent. Here are snippets of it:

 

In Fort Lauderdale the shuttle bus to the port from the hotel cost $7. Due to six ships being in dock that day, there was a bottleneck of incoming traffic at the two security booths, after which the driver dropped his seven riders off at the respective ships. Check-in at Celebrity was a breeze, and I was aboard Constellation shortly after 11am. While walking around the buffet I met a maitre d' from one of my past Celebrity cruises, and he welcomed me back.

New flat screen television had been installed in each cabin. My cabin looked spic-and-span after the recent renovation when Constellation was "Solsticized." The carpet was new, and the bathroom counter and shower looked brand-new with no discolouration, scratches or mold. I loved the enormous round window which provided a close-up view of the wake along the side.

The cabin steward, Antonio from India, was great. He always had a smile and a greeting for me. At the end of the cruise I put in a good word for him on the comment card. Among the rest of the staff I saw only two from previous cruises, including Eduardo the Elite lounge bar server who was on my two Galaxy cruises in 2008 and 2009. He came to me on the first day to shake my hand.

I sat at my dining room table six ladies (2 from Ohio, 2 from Maryland, 1 each from Illinois and Colorado) and had great times at dinner every night over the next two weeks.

Captain's Club host, Graeme, told me that 400 Elite-level members were aboard. Due to this large number, instead of Michael's Club the 8-10am Elite breakfast was held in Ocean Liners Restaurant and the 4-6pm Elite cocktails in Reflections Lounge. With its expanse of windows, the Lounge was the perfect place to relax with drinks and observe our departures at 5pm or 6pm from the ports.

I understand that the Elite cocktail hours has been changed to 5-7pm fleet-wise. I preferred 4-6pm because after sunbathing I took a shower to wash away sunscreen lotion, put on Smart Casual and headed to Reflections. After 6pm I relaxed in my cabin in my bathrobe watching television before dressing again to go at 7:15pm to the Martini Bar for my pre-dinner drink. It was a good break for me between drinks.

The Martini Bar had the newly-installed ice counter top. While a novelty, I did not think that it was practical because there was nowhere to put my camera, notes or other stuff, and some of the drinkers had doodled in the ice, making it unsightly like graffiti. The two young bartenders, Gede from Indonesia and Gilario from the Philippines, were very entertaining with their juggling skills using liquor bottles and cocktail shakers.

Constellation was the 8th and last cruise ship to dock in Fort Lauderdale, and we were at the farthest dock. The passenger capacity of the eight cruise ships totalled over 24,000, so there were at least 48,000 people leaving or arriving at the port that day. I waited 40 minutes under the hot sun in a slow-moving line-up for a taxi. I heard that others waited for an hour and 15 minutes. The sheriff did his best to calm the complaining passengers.

As for the weather, the two pre-cruise days in Fort Lauderdale were overcast and cool with the occasional drizzle, unchanged on the first two sea days. The rest of the cruise, though, was sunny and warm except for Curacao, where dark clouds provided periods of rain and strong wind. Deck staff removed a 15- or 20-foot palm frond which had been blown onto the pool deck. The last two sea days were perfect, with the poolside thronged with sun-tanners relaxing after all the stops on the itinerary.

Would I sail on Constellation again? Yes.

[Saga Ruby]

Thanks for the review. I have a few questions:

 

So there is still traditional dining on the Connie? Is there also open-seating service available? I somehow thought that most cruise lines had gone to open seating so as to push their "extra charge" specialty restaurants. By any chance, do you know how many specialty restaurants have been Solsticed on to the Connie?

 

I was thinking how cool the Ice Bar was (nyuck, nyuck) until you mentioned people doodling graffiti into the surface. Not so cool.

 

You mentioned that the weather in Curacao was a bit ugly. Have you been to this port before or did the rain interfere with your enjoyment of the island?

 

Ruby

[Kapricorn]

Ruby, yes, there still is traditional dining on Constellation. However, a small section of the dining room was set aside for anytime dining. Obviously the majority of Celebrity passengers prefer traditional dining.

 

Before the refurbishment the ship had just one specialty restaurant, the Ocean Liners Restaurant. Afterwards two more were added - the Tuscan Grill (also for $25 or $30) and the Bistro on 5 (crepes for $5). I went to neither of these places, though the morning Elite breakfasts were held in the beautiful Ocean Liners. Its lobby featured First Class dishware and menus from Ile de France and other transatlantic liners.

 

I had exactly the same expectation about a pristine ice bar upon which martini glasses would look good. I don't understand why adults think that it is "fun" to mar the ice. One night a woman walking by asked if she may "borrow" my martini, then she somehow found clear ice surface on which to place it, and took a photograph of it. So my martini is immortalized somewhere. :D

 

I've attached a photograph of me at the Ice Bar with one of my dining room table companions. You can see the white surface. It's not exactly all ice, but a thin layer of frost on top of ice surface. That's my now-famous blue martini there!

 

I've been to Curacao twice before (2008 and 2009) and the weather was the usual Caribbean hot and humid style. This time I just walked to a specific store where I looked for shirts, but I did not want to be encumbered with an umbrella. The rain descended as I walked back to the ship, and I got drenched. Oh, well!

 

Donald.

[Kapricorn]

The picture did not accompany my previous post. Here it is.

[seabourndt]

still managing to do cruises i am glad to say, ship visits are vthin on the ground, my aussie friuends are cruising japan the4y missed yokahama but did kobe and naghasaki. just got an upgrade on vision of the seas on apriol 29th royal wedding day to amsterdam and copenhagen, also doibng queen elizaqbeth and radiance of the seas.

dave

[Saga Ruby]

Queen Victoria to Hawaii. Other topics to cover: Food (always a difficult area); service; overall ambiance.

 

Have you gathered your thoughts about food,service, and overall ambiance? And I'm sure Host Sharon would love to hear any stories you could pass along about Aurora for her book assignment.

 

still managing to do cruises i am glad to say, ship visits are vthin on the ground, my aussie friuends are cruising japan the4y missed yokahama but did kobe and naghasaki. just got an upgrade on vision of the seas on apriol 29th royal wedding day to amsterdam and copenhagen, also doibng queen elizaqbeth and radiance of the seas.dave

 

Goodness, Dave, you are a cruisin' kinda guy. Sailing on the high seas during the Royal Wedding season, QE, and R of the Seas. Enjoy!

 

Ruby

[Host Sharon]

Have you gathered your thoughts about food,service, and overall ambiance? And I'm sure Host Sharon would love to hear any stories you could pass along about Aurora for her book assignment.

 

 

 

Ruby

 

I would indeed - thanks Ruby!! It's no good whetting my appetite like that and then not saying more Conte !!

[Conte Di Savoia]

Sorry for the delay in posting, but I’ve been rather busy lately.:o

 

The topic of food is always a difficult one given all the culinary peccadilloes we each have. With that disclaimer I will say that the Britannia Dining Room is really a large catering hall. The quality of the ingredients was good and I was always able to find something on the menu which was enjoyable. There was no ordering of items off the menu, except for requests for fresh berries for dessert. Obviously cooking was not to order so cold appetizers, while pleasant, often came from the kitchen having been plucked from the refrigerator in a chilled state, not at room temperature. I’m sure this was a good idea for sanitary purposes, but a pate might be more pleasant served at room temperature. There was only a rare disaster. Crepe Suzettes had been prepared well in advance, not at tableside, and were very cold and topped with some congealed syrupy sauce. Cheese was available for dessert but the cheese trolley is gone now and one had to accept the selection which had been previously plated by the kitchen. Service was fine during dinner but there were occasional problems at breakfast and lunch. We were told that the more experienced staff had been transferred to Queen Elizabeth for the world cruise and that inexperienced staff had just come on board. It showed. The main dining room was quite busy for breakfast and lunch, possibly because of the inclement weather. We ate twice in Todd English, once for dinner and once for lunch. They seemed to be having some problems there as well. For the first day or so they did not even open Todd English. While this venue was wildly popular on Queen Mary 2, it was always easy to get a reservation on our trip on Queen Victoria. Cunard did not use Todd English for this venue on Queen Elizabeth and I suspect that the contract may not be renewed again based on some recent comments by Cunard’s CEO. Cunard now offers special themed dinners in the Lido at an extra cost of $10 per person. It’s all about revenue!

 

Large cruise ships seem to have a problem delivering a consistent level of service. Mostly the service was quite good and acceptable. We informed our cabin steward two days in a row about a slow drain in the shower but nothing was done until we notified the purser’s office who took care of the problem within a couple of hours. One day we had ordered breakfast in the cabin so we could make an early tour. When no breakfast appeared we opened our cabin door to find that no one had collected the order from the night before. So there were occasional issues, no really big deals but the line does promote its “White Star Service” which should be more than a slogan. Please don’t get the impression that it was awful, because it was not, but they do have some, as we would say in the Quality Improvement world, “opportunities” for improvement. Cunard does take it seriously and are trying hard. They made a genuine effort to address problems that passengers brought to their attention.

 

The ship is maintained impeccably. I was very impressed with their infection control program. They had staff posted at the entrance to each dining venue to dispense hand sanitizer and they also kept the doors to the public facilities propped open at all times. This was to prevent people from opening doors with their hands and picking up microbes. A great idea because, sorry to say, not everyone washes their hands as they should.

 

The ambiance is comfy cozy. Cunard’s heritage is the overall design theme of the ship but it is a bit odd and inconsistent. Part of the ship is themed on all things Victorian but other parts are more art deco, or what I call faux deco. The cabins are in yet a third style, post modern, all done up in light colored woods. It’s stylistically confusing. What century am I traveling in? Still, despite its large size, it is an easy ship to navigate around. The linear arrangement of the public room decks ensures that the passenger will pass through almost every bar (How pretty. Shall we sit and have a drink?) and pass by every shop window (I think I’ll just pop in here for a sec and have a look around). There is an elegant two deck high library with wood paneling and spiral staircase and a large selection of reading material.

 

In the end, what I liked best about the ship were the people traveling aboard her. Cunard attracts an international clientele who enjoy the elegant atmosphere even though that atmosphere is a caricature of what it once was.

[Conte Di Savoia]

Sharon

This post is for you. It was actually Oriana, not Aurora which we sailed on. I would love to try Aurora but have not done so as yet.

 

So, here are a couple of Oriana stories for you.

 

Shortly after we got onboard I went over to the restaurant to check on our table. A couple of English dowagers were ahead of me on the queue talking. One must have felt that she was safely surrounded by compatriots. She was telling her companion about friends of hers, “They’re American BUT really very nice.”

I couldn’t resist chiming in “Sometimes we are well behaved.” A bit embarrassed she turned to me, "OH, OH, I’m really terribly sorry I didn’t mean….”

“Quite alright, don’t worry about it.” I smiled. Let our English holiday begin.

 

We became friendly with a lovely couple from Plymouth who sat near us in the dining room. He owned a sporting goods shop in town, a business from which he was then anxious to retire. His only child, a daughter, had no interest in taking over from her father. He tried for days to convince me that I was the ideal candidate to step in and buy the shop from him. I’m not very interested in baseball or American football and my knowledge of rugby and cricket is non-existent. My idea of a sporting event is to shop the length of Fifth Avenue from 57th Street to 34th Street with a stop for lunch along the way. I mean really! I wonder if he ever got the store sold?

 

I’m not sure what else you would like to know of our crossing aboard Oriana. We had excellent lectures, one by a fellow from Portsmouth who was wild about Lord Nelson and lectures on ocean liners by Peter Boyd Smith, owner of Cobwebs in Southampton and Kenneth Vard who wrote a book Liners in Art. Do you need pictures of the ship?

Let me know.