PG Grade Cabin / Princess Grill - QE2 / Iberian Shores Cruise

[rjms74]

I am contemplating taking the 9 day Iberian Shores cruise on 21 October later this year & booking a PG grade cabin on a guarantee basis. I was wondering what the Princess Grill is like for guests travelling alone & whether you can join larger tables or are there many tables for 2 in this Restaurant? Re the menu in this Rest. do they offer an a la carte selection is in the Queens Grill, place the next days menu in your cabin with the next day's program & can you order 'off menu' items when you like? I also wondered if anyone has had one of the PG grade 2120/2113 cabins and what they are like? From what I can gather they are even smaller than a CA grade cabin. Has anyone else booked this cruise?

 

Kind Rgs & Thanks

 

RJMS74

[solosailaway]

For what it's worth, I booked a PG guarantee on a trip last fall and was upgrade to a QG cabin. Each time I have been on the QE2 I have dinned in the Queens grill. However, once I was invited to dine with as a guest in the Princess Grill and loved the food and service. At the time, the menu was a bit smaller than the QG but it was right on par. I think the Princess Grill room has a more private "supper club" feel. So on my trip last fall, I booked a PG guarantee and was bumped up to the Queens Grill. I think one of these days I will request to stay in the Princess Grill dining room even if I am in a QG cabin. That is what my friend did that I joined for dinner one evening in the PG. My travel agent said she thinks that Cunard sells a few PG guarantee cabins to fill the QG cabins via upgrades.

 

Ships Sailed:QE2,Crystal Symphony,Caronia,

QM2 in Jan 2004

[wotec]

We just returned from a segment of the World Cruise - Hong Kong to New York. We booked a Q3 and enjoyed the Queens Grill where we had a table for 2. The main reason we book a Q3 is we like a nice spacious comfortable stateroom, plenty of closet space and larger bathroom - so the stateroom is more important to us than the experience of the Queens Grill. We originally planned to return home from Southampton but were having such a grand time on the World Cruise and hated to leave before reaching New York along with those who had been on the entire voyage, so we added on Southampton to New York, again in Q3 and kept our same stateroom. Very glad we did - 2005 World Cruise ends in S'hampton and you transfer over to Big Mary to NY (surely that will be a grand experience but for the sake of history, we were glad to sail into NY for the last time on the World Cruise).

 

For a change of pace we requested a table for 2 in Princess Grill for the Trans Atlantic voyage and were accommodated. We know other passengers who book QG category but prefer to dine in PG but that is difficult to be sure you are getting - if PG staterooms are booked 100%, there are only enough tables in Princ & Brit dining rooms to accommodate those in PG staterooms.

 

Finally, to answer your specific questions: There were quite a few tables for 2 in PG - mostly on the "balcony" which is a few steps above the main area where you enter - if you come in from the cozy Champagne Bar these tables are to your left and right before you step down into the main dining room. I think those are the nicest tables in the room - they are "banquette style" and very nice. We saw 3 large tables - 6-8 at the table - I'm pretty sure there were several passengers traveling solo at those tables. Re: the menu - they offer most of the same as QG a la carte items - they are listed in smallish print in lower left of the menu (rather than on 2 seperate pages like QG menu). We received the next day's menu under our door nightly (same offerings as QG). We LOVED the Princess Grill - found it more intimate and the ambiance more to our liking. Quieter too. There are 4 of the most marvelous art deco statues made from mother of pearl and coral. The entire mood of the room, the staff and the passengers is a bit different. In BOTH dining rooms there were couples dressed very well/stylishly ("to the nines") and other couples dressed "adequetely". (In QG, twice I saw a man and woman at a table for 2, the man was wearing a shabby wind breaker - in the dining room on an informal night - at a table next to several elegantly dressed ladies - too bad for everyone - nothing is sacred). I think the passengers in PG generally are a bit younger and more lively! Both of our waiters had been in PG for years. The maitre'd, Andrew Nelder, has been in PG for 20+ years (although he alternates to QG when David Chambers is on leave) and is a master at his profession besides being a really nice man and a walking book of history on Cunard. I ordered several items off the a la carte menu and they were better coming from the PG kitchen than same item in Queens Grill.

 

We will hopefully be traveling on QE2 soon after her refit. We prefer PG to QG for dining but "a must" is a QG stateroom for us. Rumor has it that during refit the bathrooms will be redone on some of the PG staterooms). As you know, both categories have access to Queens Grill Lounge and it is fun to have cocktails with new friends there and then just stroll into dinner in QG. Re your reference to a CA grade, I think the QG Lounge is a nice bonus with QG or PG staterooms - it is a lovely place to retreat to any time of the day-especially if I were traveling solo I would take a PG over CA. Hopefully, that nasty little bathroom by the entrance to QG Lounge will be the first to be rehab'd in Germany! As you are traveling solo, IMO you'd have more fun in PG dining room and you'd enjoy the QG Lounge for the opportunity of mingling when you are in the mood - - go for the PG stateroom! Have fun!

[rjms74]

Thank you both, wotec & solosailaway for your very informative replies re PG Rest on the QE2. I have now booked a Guarantee PG Cabin for this trip and will let you know how I get on & if I am lucky enough to get an upgrade before I board nearer the time. I was lucky enough to receive an upgrade from a PG Gty cabin on a 3 night ex UK trip in Dec'02 to QG Cabin 2063 - it was an excellent short trip although I am hoping this time to dine in the Princess Grill. Can you order almost anything off menu - i.e. Beluga Caviar, oysters, Dover Sole, etc? & do they need much notice i.e. is lunch the same day to short notice? From my 3 previous trips onboard I tend to follow the menus as they are very varied, albeit I like the a la carte option.

 

Also have you both tried Afternoon Tea in the QG Lounge? I missed this on my 3 ngt trip and am surprised it is not 'advertised' on the daily programme as a venue for A. Tea.

 

Wotec - you mentioned you hope to travel on QE2 after her refit - I would be very interested in hearing of some of the changes. Thanks.

 

Kind Rgs

 

RJMS74

[wotec]

Afternoon tea, cocktails pre-dinner with hot and cold offerings served from a tray and access any time as a comfortable, pleasant place to read and be served a cup of tea or coffee in a china cup during the day in Queens Grill Lounge is one of the very nice ammenities you receive by booking at least a PG. I can't remember that the QG Lounge was mentioned in the daily program as a venue for afternoon tea and you say it wasn't on your trip. Some passengers in less expensive categories seem very defensive that access is not for everyone, like it is our own fraternity house or something really secret. Trying to explain to the person who wonders why he "can't go in there" is pointless but I tried a few times explaining that it is like staying at a nice hotel with many ammenities for every guest but if you want the "Concierge Level" with the club lounge and security/key access to your floor, you pay more. If you want to fly in first class or business class, have a bigger seat, less people using the bathroom, different menu options, you pay a premium for it but you still get there with the same pilot on the same plane. The people that feel this is a ship with classes, don't get the point and never will. As for afternoon tea itself, it is served very nicely but I don't recall the offerings being anything different from the public rooms. We mostly enjoyed afternoon tea on the sun deck.

 

During our 48 days on board there were not any fresh oysters for "on the half shell" available, nor quail eggs but we did casually ask about white asparagus and a plate of it arrived in a matter of minutes. There was a couple on board for the entire World Cruise who dined in Queens Grill, where we were the first 42 days, who would buy fresh things in port and have them prepared.

 

Caviar: In PG there is an ala carte offering of smoked salmon and caviar which was really very nice. The same Sevruga caviar was served alone (with all the offerings) one evening on the menu. I don't know what the policy in PG is on ordering caviar off menu.

 

The maitre'd in Q'sGrill asked us by the end of lunch to order what we wanted special for the evening. We had beautiful souffles a few nights, Steak Diane, and nothing really unusual although meeting both chefs, they seemed interested and willing to prepare whatever suited our fancy.

 

We will be very happy to hear from you after your return. When are you sailing? I heard on board from a crew member before we disembarked 4/25 that some of the bathrooms were being redone in PG staterooms. I quietly looked at some of the Q3's Deck 1 starboard that were vacant in the various port change days and made a note in my Cunard 2005 World Cruise as to what I call "the good, the bad and the ugly". Wish I had done it on the P1's. Have a great trip.

[2dream4]

Can someone explain to me what it means to book a "guarantee" room? I have read many e mails that reference a guarantee... thanks

[solosailaway]

2Dream4,

 

Most cruise lines offer Guarantee room rates. They tend to offer a Queen's Grill or other levels of "Guarantees" for example. So if you are able to book a "Princess Grill Guarantee" you are guaranteed some sort of Princess Grill level room. But, Cunard (or any lines) may decide to move you up to a Queen's grill cabin. You can be bumped up but not down. The cruise lines like this as it gives them flexibility. I have had good luck with booking this way with Cunard. If you are very picky on cabin size and location you may not want to take this option. A good rule is just to book a guarantee at the category you are going to be happy with and hope for a good assignment from Cunard. For me, the gamble has paid off both times that I have booked this way on the QE2 and Caronia. But be warned that older ships like QE2 can have some very odd cabin configurations in each level....even Queen's Grill.

 

Ships Sailed:QE2,Crystal Symphony,Caronia,

QM2 in Jan 2004

[2dream4]

Thank you... If you book guarantee, is the cheaper than reserving a special room and then asking for an upgrade ( if available)?