What don’t I like about her?
I’m not sure that I should be critical. As soon as we returned home Cunard sent us a record of our voyages on their ships starting with my first voyage on 1 June 1965 – a transatlantic on the original Queen Mary (still in Long Beach, California as a floating hotel). A total of 39 Cunard voyages making up 728 nights at sea.
I understand why Cunard felt that they needed to cater for a younger clientele but when I discussed some issues with the Pursers department I was told that the average age of the passengers on that voyage was 72.
What upset me and many others was that in Tenerife and in Gran Canaria there was no shuttle service for the able or disabled. It was said to be a short walk into town which it was not. These ports have invested millions building new terminals. That means that the ships are further away from the areas that passengers want to visit.
There is a long walk through the terminals and then a long walk to the shops and cafes. So people gave up. They couldn’t walk that far. When I raised the issue with the Pursers department they told me there was nowhere for shuttles to drop off and pick up passengers. There have been suitable places for the last 20 years so why have they disappeared. I was told that the local authorities wouldn’t provide such places. Why would they spend millions on massive new terminals and then make it difficult for passengers to get into town to spend their Euros?
It seems to me to be a cost saving exercise which seriously affects passengers who want to go ashore without going on an expensive tour organised by the ship.
The layout of the ship is poor in many areas. The promenade deck has lifeboats which block your view of the ocean. Presumably that was to enable more cabins to be incorporated with unobstructed views.
The Queens Room is disappointing. It’s a major feature on Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and QM2. Sadly on QA it feels as if it’s a passageway.
The design is poor because if you are seated watching and listening to a band playing on stage you can’t see the band if people are dancing on the dance floor. If you sit on the floor above watching the band below you there are no waiters nor a bar.
We liked the Artisans buffet on deck 9 for breakfast. Omelettes cooked to order as you watched were magnificent but what annoyed me was that if you wanted a croissant with marmalade you had to queue up at one counter to be given the croissant and then go to another counter and queue up for a dollop of marmalade. Every day I would ask the Senior man in charge if he could also place one of his big jars of marmalade on the croissant counter. No I can’t he said over and over. Someone has devised a plan and we have to stick to it! Gone are the days when those little jars of marmalade were plentiful!
During a day at sea we like to have a sudoku competition. Me against Jane and Kim. The ship issues a different sudoku every day. On the other ships they can be collected from the library, which is midship, each morning. On QA the library is not midship but is way up forward on deck 12. A long walk. Ok it’s good exercise for an old chap like me but it seems such a waste of time. When I asked the librarian why they couldn’t be made available in other more convenient areas of the ship, she said that was the rule and nothing could be done about it.
Access to the internet is enormously expensive. I think I paid $280 for access for 2 weeks. If only 1000 of the 3000 passengers paid for the internet that’s $280,000. Someone will no doubt tell me how much it would cost Cunard’s to bring it to the ship.
Yes I’m an old moaner but I am not happy about the way in which standards have deteriorated.
As Diamond passengers (many voyages sailed) we are entitled to a complementary meal in one of the speciality restaurants. We chose the Sir Samuel’s – a steakhouse at the stern of the ship. The menu looked fabulous but when we read it more closely we found that only one of the many steaks on the menu was available to us. It turned out to be a tough fatty piece of meat which was difficult to eat. What a terrible way to treat your long standing customers.
We do have one more Queen Anne voyage booked but after that it will be back to our favourite Cunarder – the Queen Victoria.