Queen Victoria Reviews

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Introduction: This was a 14-night cruise into the Western Mediterranean - our first with Cunard and in fact a first cruise anywhere for JacqTar. Sailing from Southampton, the itinerary was: Gibraltar - Alghero (Sardinia) - Civitavecchia (Rome) - Livorno (Pisa/Florence) - Monte Carlo - Barcelona - Lisbon. The Ship: The Queen Victoria is a large ship whose exterior is rather anodyne. It aspires to be a classic liner yet fails to offer a true promenade deck. For shame! It is also not possible to find a forward position that isn't encased in glass or Perspex - at least, not without accidently wandering through a Crew Only door. The interior is rather beautiful with sweeping staircases, elegant public rooms and fine artwork aplenty but finding your way around takes time. Announcements were in English only, except for noonday navigational announcements which were in French and German also. The on-board currency was the US dollar - one of several illusion-breakers that this might be a British ship. The passengers with whom we came into contact were mainly from the UK and the US. There were four formal nights which was at least one too many. The dress code was uniformly adhered to although the requirement for men to wear a jacket even for the least formal meals was tiresome - as the Britannia restaurant could be quite warm, I tended to remove mine almost immediately. I often wore smart jeans for non-formal nights - just not blue jeans. Girls have it so much easier - even for formal nights where elegant cocktail dresses were perfectly fine. Embarkation and Disembarkation: These were quickly and efficiently organised in Southampton where we experienced minimal queuing. Having the crown jewels subjected to elbow-fondling by Security made me wonder if Cunard might be taking the concept of 'personalised service' to extremes. The passenger safety drill was conducted before sailing. Cruise cards were collected during disembarkation. Cabin: Ours was probably the most 'exposed' cabin - about as far forward and as high up as possible - yet it was still a smooth experience. It was comfortable and well-furnished with a good en-suite. The disadvantage of an inside cabin was mitigated somewhat by having our TV tuned overnight to Channel 47 - using it as our window to the outside world. The cabin steward (Nelson) was very good. I asked him not to turn down the beds at night - just leave the chocolates. Dining: The Britannia dining experience was excellent with the occasional curiosity - for instance, Appetizers and Soups (the spelling of the former being another illusion-breaker that this might be a British ship) did not always have a vegetarian option indicated. The entrees however always did. In general, the food rarely disappointed (except for potato mash which was invariably potato mush) with the artistic presentation of the desserts being a particular delight. The wine waiter was overly fond of over-pouring such that a bottle barely sufficed for four glasses. We had to ask him to stop it. Standbys, though not indicated on the menu, were always available. We were a table of ten and got on splendidly. A toast was offered on the last night at our second-sitting dining table to "Friends" - an indicator of the quality of Table 313. The 24-hour Lido buffet was always excellent with a tremendous range for all meals. Strangely though, cakes predominated and biscuits were rarely sighted although cracker plates usually included digestives (sometimes that's all you want with a cuppa). The restaurant managers to whom I spoke stated that there was no way to ensure your plate is not taken away by enthusiastic waiters. However, this may be due to a preference that new utensils should always be used. Fish, chips and mushy peas in the Golden Lion pub was almost perfect - it was delicious save for the batter which left too much of an oily film on the plate. The white-glove service afternoon tea in the Queens Ballroom (the lack of an apostrophe meant that we were unsure if it was named for royalty or gay divas) was very enjoyable although there was only one actual tea dance. An identical tea was also available in the Lido. The menus were presented to guests at the last formal dinner - a questionable gesture as the final night's menu was therefore missing. Entertainment: The lecture programme was rather lacking. I was rather hoping for an astronomy lecture, perhaps out on deck, but was disappointed. The port talks were enthusiastically presented by a not-particularly-natural speaker who had immense difficulty pronouncing any name that wasn't English. The shore excursions were promoted without too much of an annoying hard-sell and proved popular. We preferred to do our own thing at our own pace, but many others told us that they were of high quality at even higher prices. There was useful information for independent passengers which was appreciated. The shows in the very impressive theatre were justifiably popular - the resident musicians and dancers were excellent although the music hall presenter needs gavel training. Light reflections on the box and balcony screens proved a distraction. There was no crew talent show and the waiters' renditions of "Happy Birthday" were 'a cappella' rather than 'alla chitarra'. There was a passenger talent show which proved that, inside, everybody's an entertainer. However, not everybody appreciates that generally, it's best left inside. JacqTar loved the ballroom and the dancing. I attended some of the (many) dance lessons so, although not a fan of the Big Band sound and era (unlike JacqTar who is) I can now just about struggle through a rumba, waltz or foxtrot. She may even enjoy dancing with me one day if I ever work out which is which. Fortunately, the attentive dance hosts were more than adequate substitutes. All the musicians, without fail, were excellent, although there was a tad too much reggae from Nexus. The casino seemed little used when we passed by and we had no interest in art auctions. Pub quizzes (three per day) proved very popular. We even won on one occasion but you'd have to accumulate a lot of win vouchers to get a decent prize, so we just kept them as a souvenir. Public Rooms and Spaces: There is an outstandingly beautiful and well-stocked library, plus internet room, card room (with bridge courses and competitions), lounges, bars, pools and hot tubs, and deck space aplenty which includes areas for shuffleboard (we enjoyed a game before dinner most evenings), quoits, paddle tennis, table tennis and a golf driving range. JacqTar thought the covered Winter Gardens was a particularly pleasant place to relax. There were launderettes on every deck with washers, driers, ironing boards and irons, baskets, wash basins and sachets of powder. The convenience of this cannot be over-estimated. There are play zones and outdoor areas for children and teens, but there were very few of them on the cruise. Fitness and Spa Centres: Suffice to say that these had excellent facilities and proved popular. Trying to get from A to B was usually exercise enough for us. Ports of Call: These were all a success, and arrival and departure was always on time if not always at the most convenient berth: - Gibraltar A half day (a full day would have been better after two days at sea) - Alghero A full day, and an excellent day - Civitavecchia A very full day, and a most excellent day - Livorno A very full day, and a most excellent day - Monte Carlo A full day, and an excellent day - Barcelona A full day, and an excellent day - Lisbon A full day, and a good day (it would have been 'excellent' had it not been for the morning rain and the attempted afternoon robbery) Summary: This was an extremely enjoyable cruise on a clean, stylish and well-kept ship where we found staff and crew to be polite and helpful (in contrast to Cunard ashore where a couple of inquiry emails before the cruise failed to elicit any response). Understandably, although disappointingly, fellow passengers were generally even further removed from the prime of youth than we were. Also, I've had weekend breaks in the Channel Islands including flights and accommodation for less than the cost of driving to and from, and parking in, Southampton, so the ability to use northern ports would be a much more attractive option in future.

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Cunard exceeded all of our expectations!! This was our first ever cruise and taken to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, two significant birthdays and retirements so we were looking for something very special and we were not disappointed!! THE SHIP First impressions were excellent, boarding took just 30 minutes and baggage arrived quickly. Champagne and fruit in stateroom. All environments were spotless STATEROOM Stateroom 8084 (P1) balcony state room with bath. Having stayed in hotels all over Europe and USA we were pleasantly surprised with the layout and size of the stateroom. Actually bigger than a room in 5* hotel in Venice last year! Plentiful storage space. Stateroom steward Noel was incredibly efficient, replenished fruit daily and room cleaned whilst we were at breakfast so we had use all day Also one of the quietest rooms we have stayed in STAFF Ist class, everyone we met was utterly professional, nothing seemed to be a problem and we were dealt with efficiently and with courtesy Names and preferences were remembered Meeting Captain Olsen at a reception was fun. The head chef came around tables at night on two occasions DINING Food in Princess Grill was excellent, varied, fresh and hot and fabulous waiter team, Emmanuel and Christian, nothing was too much trouble for them. We requested and had a table for two which meant we had the opportunity to meet and talk to fellow diners at adjacent tables without the restrictions of being on a table of 6 or 8 The wine waiter was knowledgeable and held over unused wine from night to night. Used Lido buffet on occasion, mainly for snacks, coffee and tea. Room service swift, very efficient and helpful FELLOW PASSENGERS Average age is circa 55+, predominantly British, middle aged, middle class married couples so not a cruise for late night ravers, "drink as much as you can" stag parties, thrill seekers, young singles or families with small children (although we did note that comprehensive facilities are provided for children) It was noticeable that all the passengers seemed to adhere to the dress code, this was part of the fun and added to the special nature of the ship. There was an emphasis on ballroom dancing in the evening so basic lessons for non dancers would be a tip ON BOARD FACILITIES Used Gym most days, well equipped, immaculate and seemingly under-used by most quests (despite copious food consumption at three full meals a day) there seemed to be a lack of staff for instructing users on equipment, we did see on elderly lady on a running machine in a long skirt and flip flops!! Caught some of the presentations for various ports of call and places to be visited, entertaining and well presented by James Anderson-Smith Shopping in Arcade was a little surreal, can't think why anyone would want to spend time to shop and pay West End London prices with so many other things to do Some contributors on this site have complained about the presence/persistence of the on board photographers but we decided to have a memento of our cruise and took a package of photographs, QV binder and DVD and therefore we were happy to have photographs taken on various nights and selected the best ENTERTAINMENT Saw three shows and found them entertaining in a amazing theatre (very reminiscent of best London theatres) and saw three films on "at sea days" A good variety of very professional music and musicians at various locations, piano, harp, orchestra and jazz. EXCURSIONS We booked bus transfers to Rome and Florence due to the distance from port but other than that made our own way at all other ports. VERY MINOR NEGATIVES The first (and only) lecture I attended ,ostensibly was on French Impressionism but after 10 minutes turned into a sales pitch for the on board art gallery where there were paintings and prints for sale by a modern day "impressionist" The system of $13 pp per day gratuity added to on board bill is explained in advance as a way to reward all staff, and that's fine however every drinks bill had a line left for additional gratuity? a little tacky? Cunard may want to re think this as there is either a blanket gratuity system in place or not. We did in fact hand envelopes (with additional thank you gratuities) to our waiters on our last morning as not actually sure what percentage of our $13 pp per day gets to them In conclusion, and despite the very small negatives, I think we are now spoilt for other cruise lines as the bar has been set so high. This is one of our best holiday experiences in 50 years .We are so pleased and impressed that we are in the process of booking with Cunard (same ship, same grade of stateroom, same Grills package) for their Eastern Mediterranean cruise in April 2013

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My wife & I have just been on Cunard's Queen Victoria to Portugal, Spain Madeira & the Canaries. If we didn't know better we might never go on a cruise again due to our experience. Fortunately we do know better having previously cruised on the Celebrity Constellation. Here's why we'll not cruise with Cunard again; Food Much of the food was of works canteen quality. Bananas so bruised & over ripe they were inedible. We were told this was because we'd been at sea for 3 days! Fruit was only available at breakfast time whereas on the Baltic cruise we did on the Celebrity Constellation four years ago it was available all day. There were tough fleshy orange coloured budget Spanish tomatoes. How much more would nice sweet red Italian ones cost? Such penny pinching is pathetic. What does this say about Cunard management? More about marketing BS than substance I'm afraid. In the Golden Lion pub the definition of cappuccino was ordinary budget coffee with a squirt of cream from an aerosol can. The coffee on the Red Funnel Isle of Wight car ferry is better than on the so called 'White Star Service' Queen Victoria. Laughable! The ice cream from the machine was watery budget quality. Every variety of tea was available in tea bags, but it made no difference once milk was poured in it just tasted of UHT milk. Someone said the semi skimmed was fresh milk & so it was, in which case why not the whole milk too! The brown bread toast wasn't much better than cheap white bread dyed brown. The buffet food in the Lido was in containers that were often unlabelled so it wasn't clear what the food was! The desserts left out in the afternoons in the Lido were of budget quality. The sandwiches were 'find the filling'. On one day there were nice rolls with tuna & corn. But one day only! If you wanted a cream tea with clotted cream in the afternoon then forget it. The cream again was out of the dreaded aerosol can with the same consistency as shaving foam. Though there was someone trying to convince us to go for the 'Veuve Clicquot' afternoon tea for which one had to pay extra, by saying the normal tea was nowhere near as good! No doubt he was right, but you wouldn't expect Cunard staff to be slating something Cunard were offering. On the Constellation there were experimental culinary journeys for free & stir fries every day & a much greater variety of pasta dishes & salads than in the Victoria Lido. Salads in the Lido were very basic. In the Victoria Britannia restaurant my wife's steak was rare when she asked for medium. Duck was overcooked & tough so inedible on two occasions. There was water dripping for a week from the ceiling above the hot water station in the Lido. So they placed 'do not slip' signs around the area & numerous towels as a trip hazard over the floor to catch the water over flowing from the ice cream container they'd put there to try & catch the water rather than mend the leak. The hot water station at rear of ship was closed during the day time so anyone at the rear wanting a hot drink had to walk half way along the boat to the hot station in the mid ships. I can only assume this is due to the 10% staffing cuts I'd heard Cunard have made to save money. The hot water stations were badly laid out. One would expect them to be laid out in the order of cups, tea bags, hot water, sugar, spoons & finally a container to put the used tea bag in. However the order was different to this so people were bumping into one another back & forth. Deck layout The whole of the upper deck of the Queen Victoria is designed as a giant sun deck. There are two outdoor pools. Not much good in the Bay of Biscay in March! There was a charge for use of the tiny indoor hydrotherapy pool. I only saw someone in there once perhaps because of this. Whereas the deck layout on Celebrity Constellation & Eclipse is of a much better design. Each has an indoor pool at the mid ship called a 'Solarium' with glass roofs so not weather dependant. One of the nicest places to enjoy the view when leaving port is to sit on the rear deck of a ship where one can look back & take in the view as the port slowly recedes into the distance. Perhaps to be dining there alfresco at the same time. This is possible on the Constellation & Eclipse which have dining tables round the rear of the ship in the sunset bar with unobstructed views. Whereas the Victoria was just a mass of sunbeds like Blackpool beach with yet another pool & the view if sat down was spoiled by tinted glass panels presumably to stop draughts hitting the people on sun beds, some of whom looked like they'd be prone to hypothermia! In fact the glass panels were all round the ship & spoiled the feel of it. All a bit tacky. The peace was disturbed each time we left port by a loud mediocre club band playing almost nothing but reggae. What's wrong with peace & quite! How many typical adults would want to start dancing at 5pm? The only people dancing at these so called 'sail away parties' were two male & one female Cunard dance partners trying to sell overpriced 'champagne'. Yet more tackiness! The Victoria upstairs restaurant & some of the highest deck areas were exclusively for the 'Queens grill' passengers which is Cunard's synonym for 1st class. So whilst this might have the effect of making that minority of passengers feel 'special' it made us feel somewhat 2nd class & probably the rest of the Britannia class passengers too. Actually I'd say at times more like 3rd class taking into account the standards. I do not think this is the correct business model for the 21st century. Prices weren't marked in the Jewellery shop. I asked the sales assistant why. He said they never price jewellery in exclusive jewellers. Funny how Parkhouse & Wyatt in Southampton have ??28,000 watches in their window with the price marked. Yet Cunard are so snobby they don't mark the prices! The 1st thing I want to know is what something costs. Then there's a sign saying 25% off prices. But off what price if it isn't marked in the first place! The sales assistant said he could judge what people could afford. In other words they'll sting you if they think you have a few bob to spare! My wife asked if they had T shirts for children as a memento. The East European sales assistant with characteristic East European Brusqueness simply replied 'no' ! We noticed on our balcony & in other places the Victoria is showing signs of rusting. I hope Cunard got a corrosion warranty as she's only four & a half years old! For several days the bar area of the mid ships pool was covered with tarpaulins & welding was taking place! Our friends found they couldn't touch the handrail in their balcony cabin for several days because on the first day someone varnished it & presumably had put it on too thick so it remained tacky! On the upside our state room was kept immaculate by our steward Braddi who was very pleasant & polite. All areas on board were very clean. One of the catering staff called Ootam was very helpful with gluten free food for my wife & he was always cheerful. The 'made to order' pizzas were as good as on the Constellation. One of our waiters called Paul was very pleasant, but the other one seemed like he's rather not be there. Fine but he ought to try & hide that fact! Entertainment Very good. I especially enjoyed the harpist, the string quartet & the classical pianist, though they got his programme details wrong. The Celtic Heartbeat show was superb as was the amazing Young Musician of the year Nicola Loud. You'll not hear a better violinist anywhere & she was charming too. Talks by an ex Concord pilot about Concorde & an ex BA pilot talking about navigation were very interesting. Summary Cunard seem to have created a surreal combination being stuck in past with the snobby English class system with names like 'Veuve Clicquot' & pretending to be treating you with their White Star service as if you're a film star, whilst at the same time in the Lido serving food of works canteen quality! Why would one want to go Cunard Britannia class, in other words 2nd class. There's no 1st or 2nd class on Celebrity ships. Instead everything was 1st class where it really matters yet the price per night is no dearer. Consequently in future we'll cruise on Celebrity ships.

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It is with great regret and sadness that I have to pen yet another formal note with regards to our recent voyage with Cunard on the Queen Victoria which I have to say was extremely disappointing and well below our expectations. Although we have had a long discussion with a senior purser regards to our numerous disruptions and issues while cruising on what we thought was The World's Best; we are not satisfied with a simple apology or the understanding that a full report will be logged with Cunard when we arrived back in Southampton yesterday as our complaint will not end there for the following reasons. MAINTENANCE We were instructed that the dirty balconies would be cleaned (not that we had complained) this was a routine flyer delivered to our staterooms. Needless to say this did not occur so the balconies remained grubby throughout our voyage. Mid Ship pool area pool empty and had been re painted with head thumping fumes. The bar area remained under heavy maintenance throughout the voyage Heavy grinding in mid ship area behind unattractive tarpaulin for at least 2 hours Returned to cabin to find that our balconies had been varnished this left our balcony unusable for at least 4 days due to drying time and smell it was still tacky when we disembarked. We also noted the Queens Grill rooms had not be done next to us so the essential maintenance only inconvenienced your lower grade cabins passengers. Washing of decks on at least three occasions we were sprayed with water/foam whilst on deck. On one particular occasion while we had our formal evening attire on although the crew member apologised he continued to spray us this was on the second formal evening on portside deck 3 All throughout our time on deck we were harassed by painters when they started painting in on area we move only to be what seem like followed but as most passengers felt the same you were obviously having a heavy maintenance programme operating during our voyage. On one occasion our colleagues had a cable running from their cabin while further balcony maintenance not allowing them to have their normal afternoon in their cabin Without further disruption. Every white lamp post on the Aft deck 9 was wet paint on day 8 making it impossible to relax on the deck as normal The ZIP tap located at the rear of the lido had the change filter light flashing since embarking the ship although this was pointed out to many it remained flashing when we disembarked as this was drinking water we did not use it any longer. DINING EXPERIENCE Lido Restaurant For the start of our holiday (first 4 days for breakfast and Lunch) we were unable to sit down in this area and had to resort to eating poolside in unpleasant drafts. Your staff there seemed to not really care as we were told this is not a seated service restaurant. Eventually we reserved our table with cutlery prior to getting our lunch this worked if it had not been cleared before returning with our food which on daily occasions was removed before we had finished in front of our own eyes. Not all but the majority of the staff seemed grumpy and often told it wasn't their problem to clean a table we required after waiting over 20 min's in some cases for a table. Late night food was a disgrace compared to other cruise lines Pizza or sometimes if you were lucky a baked up example of a curry we asked if anything else was available On one particular evening and was told he did not have enough time this was followed by an on board entertainer asking for some hot dogs to which he obliged to our disgust Another example of Cunard complacency! Brittania Restaurant Evening Staff here were outstanding (in particular Kumar, Noel and Jose) as was the food quality with the high volume formal nights and semi formal nights the temperature in this restaurant was uncomfortable apparently this is the case and nothing can be done. Lunch Time (as given up in the lido) Not so good a slack service with grumpy waiters and a long wait for refreshments Food quality OK Todd English Total disgrace the concept clearly does not work your chef agreed and was given feed back at the table nice staff but never again. Prime, Coriander Bamboo Absolutely brilliant service quality of food and room temperature spot on so there was one plus side although we had to pay extra ENTERTAINMENT Fell way below our expectations especially the Royal Court Theatre. One good show in 11 weeks the rest was poor quality. Funch in the Golden Lion was without a doubt the best resident entertainer only interrupted by another Cunard quiz (way too many of these). On Karaoke evenings; staff could not wait to get off for the night and would wrap up very quickly on both occasions. PHOTO DECK Absolutely a total rip off although we were prepared to pay $150 for 10 photo's we were told we could not have that package as some had our friends with us and you could only have the package of your cabin alone total codswallop so you lost out, but would ask you to consider your environmental policies as we had around 20 printed on display all would have been shredded I assume? A big rethink in that area needed. PURSERS DESK Even here we experience complacency and aggravation after queuing for a while the person at the desk sad I can't help I need to go and asked her colleague next to her to assist she then claimed she had to make a phone call eventually a gentleman came along and assisted I explained that I wanted to pay some cash off of my account on the final evening he stated that's fine but advised I should do this before 11pm at 8.10pm we went to the desk to pay off a ??1000 in cash only to be told that they needed to change it into dollars and I could only pay off $500 around ??320 I asked why this was the case as surely it could be done electronically no cash dollars are being handed out they stated that was the daily limit per cabin, I the said at 12.01am I can come back and pay another $500 off they stated that was fine providing the card had not been charged, giving up on the whole stupidity I returned to my cabin and went to dinner on returning I had a message in my cabin on the phone stating at 9.05pm it was fine to come and exchange all of my ?? as originally requested, as it had passed midnight and I could not tolerate another trip to the pursers desk at that time, sadly just another grievance from a different part of the ship OVERALL A very disappointing time with Cunard. Your marketing team should be praised for an excellent job but your voyages do not deliver sadly.

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We took this cruise as a late booking spring break, having never been with Cunard before, but the price and itinerary were right for us. The ship is still in lovely condition internally, and the decor style is quite understated and was kept immaculate by a largely inconspicuous staff. Externally, we felt sorry for the guys touching up the 'Cunard Grey' which shows every mark, a real Forth Bridge job at every port. Whilst the food overall was good (we were in the Britannia dining room) it didn't have the extra sparkle we were hoping for, and we preferred the silver service style of P&O, with lots of veg available. It did, however, include the classic double baked souffle! Room service was very good, quick, hot food and on time for pre-ordered breakfast. The Lido self service was rather monotonous and the salad choices lacked imagination. Afternoon tea is well advertised, but again it lacked flair. We gave up trying to find the cucumber in the sandwiches, which were all of the mainly bread and minimum filling variety. I would have loved an M&S prawn mayo sandwich, but nothing like it. Entertainment was variable. The harpist and string quartet played for over 3 hours a day and were really good. The classical pianist was good, but his programme was wrongly advertised twice with no apology. The main shows were very formulaic, and the male singer not our style. We were looking forward to the lecture programme, which was very male oriented. P&O manage a much better mix, and also not very extensive. We only did one trip, which was very good. Other ports we did our own thing, The courtesy busses were always free - thank you. Main irritants - the photographers who were in your face all the time. Mistakes and poor descriptions in the entertaiment daily programme, and never an apology. Paper napkins getting in the linen napkin laundry which put paper fluff all over your clothes. Most entertaining - watching passengers line dancing on a rolling ship.

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