Also, many thefts from the laundry!? I know people take wet clothes out of dryers because they want to dry their own items, or may take a pair of socks by accident...but entire washloads of clothing went missing. Several other women returned to the laundry to find only their underwear missing from their washloads.

And, toward the end of the trip, shop personnel were asking passengers not to say their cabin number out loud, but instead to write it down for the clerk. This was because they had many problems with passengers charging to other people's cabins. I wouldn't have believed it, except that for Cunard to instruct all shop personnel to follow this procedure, it must have been bad. (ALthough they're supposed to ask your last name to compare against the name associated with the cabin # on their computer, they rarely do. Again, it must have been a significant problem.)

I understand that the QE2 is a pretty spacious ship. She has a space ration of 37 when all berths are full. Some budget ships only have a ratio of 19 or less. Mind you, it was a long cruise!

I assume that your previous QE2 experiences have been much better?

Sadly, you're right, but can't some blame be laid at Cunard's feet for what, running it full? The mavens in Miami know how to get the fannies in the berths, but whose fannies?

OT1H, I can't blame Cunard for wanting to make a profit - I hope they do so they can keep doing what they do well (upscale cruises) - OTOH, to fill them they need to discount and in so doing, attract passengers without a similar cruise experience, or none at all.

The experiences Vickie encountered may surprise some but didn't shock me. It's clear Cunard needs to do some work in delivering the product it promises (tradition/service/enough chairs) while at the same time attracting more passengers who enjoy what makes (made?) Cunard unique.

Can they do it? Apparantly, making a profit is not something Cunard excelled at over the past few years. Now they have to. To me, it's that simple: change the product enough to attract more (read, new) passengers without alienating the old ones. Vickie's post makes it clear, however, that Cunard may want to rethink their appeal to the crossdressing community in an effort to cut down on the underwear thefts. (And who said Brits were dull?)

1999-2000 were years of transition at Cunard and it's not at all clear to me, in light of Vickie's experience and those of others I've read that they've sorted it out.

Thank you for your comments. We are sailing on the QE2 in a little over three weeks. I believe that part of our cruise is totally booked out so I will be interested to see if the same thing happens.

We have been on cruises on the QE2 before when there has not been a spare cabin on board, but have not experienced the problems you encountered in your last cruise on her.

As for the cheating on cabin charges, maybe Cunard have to accept that not all people honest. I think some cruise lines use the plastic credit sized door key as a 'charge card'. In other words, if you don't have a card, you can't make a purchase on your account.

I did enjoy the cruise - it was certainly a different experience than any other cruise...just observing the other passengers was entertaining! I avoided the worst of the crowds by using the Lido at the end of meal times, watching shows while standing in the back of the lounge and staying off the boat deck and pool deck between 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. I also feel that, on the whole, the British passengers were relatively low key in their annoyance - lots of grumbling, heated conversations in small groups and pointed remarks, but few outbursts in public (although 2 of the fights I saw were between Brits!). I suspect it would have been different if the passengers were primarily American.

Some small examples of Carnival's influence: the shops on-board had very little merchandise and what they did have was old. We were told by shop personnel that Carnival is hiring all new buyers, new personnel and new lines of merchandise which should be in place for the world cruise. They already had the "Inches of Gold" jewelry there -- but hardly any sales. Different class of passenger than what Carnival is used to, I guess.

The drink prices were much higher than normal and I heard so many complaints about this. People weren't ordering wine at dinner - the sommeliers had nothing to do and some ended up being reassigned. The bars were not busy, or people stuck with beer. (Cocktails were about $5.00, which doesn't seem expensive by Carnival, Princess, RCCL standards but is quite an increase for Cunard.) One of the officers told me that during the first two weeks of the voyage, nearly 50% of the passengers had NO bar bill. Seems like Carnival/Cunard shot themselves in the foot by raising prices.

Also, Carnival has reduced the cruise staff's budget and so the decorations for gala nights (e.g. St. Nicholas Ball and Back to Britain) were pathetic. Picture crepe paper streamers (cut by hand, unevenly) wound half way around 2 - mind you, only 2 out of the 8 - pillars in the Queens Lounge; 2 or 3 balloons with the same uneven half-width streamers hanging down tied to 4 of the pillars; and some bedraggled cardboard cutout decorations taped to the musician's stands and 2 of the pillars. The decorations for both these nights looked like they belonged in a church basement somewhere, put up by well-meaning, but mis-intentioned parishioners. Cunard should have been embarassed - I know some senior members of the cruise staff were. It would have been better to have nothing!! (I know decorating can become very expensive, but buy enough crepe paper and balloons for all the pillars!!!) Ai yi yi!! THIS is the type of problem that turns people off - any other cruise line would have handled this so much better (let alone other upscale lines like Crystal or SilverSeas).

I am looking forward to reading your cruise review.

Lucky for us, on the World Cruise segments in Australasia, the ship is never full, only 50 - 60% of capacity, so we find that's the best time to be on her. Everything is more relaxed, and certainly no fighting over deck chairs. The only time I had to wait for anything was the paddle tennis court, but that was a congenial group, and very fair in doling out whose turn it was to play next.

Come to think of it, the only things I enjoy on the QE 2 are the evening and afternoon tea ballroom dancing, the dance music and environment, the dance instruction, and the paddle tennis. I certainly don't go for the food, entertainment, the sun and deck, etc.

Did you receive a breakdown of passenger nationalities? Would be interesting to see it .

Breakdown on our September 2000 - Southampton/New York crossing was -
USA - 681: UK - 512: German - 193: Canadian - 42: Netherlands - 40:
Belgium - 31: Australia - 25: Switzerland - 18: Sweden - 13: Ireland - 11:
Spain, South Africa, Luxembourg - 3 each:
Czech. Norway, Italy, Japan. Denmark - 2 each:
New Zealand and Poland - 1 each

Thanks Vickie.

" They didn't like her costumes (one was completely see through over her breasts which was NOT popular at all).."

Was the Irish comedian Pat Mooney? Big man in hideous sequined jackets? If so, he WAS hilarious - sorry to hear the rest were only so-so.

quote:

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Originally posted by Vickie:
I did like the voyage and will sail on her again in 2002...

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Vickie, I am surprised that you are considering cruising on the QE2 again when you regarded so many aspects of the cruise to be poor:

"I've never been particularly impressed with the food..."

"In general, QE2's cabins are smaller and less luxurious than on other ships and the fittings are dated and/or worn".

"I don't expect much from on-board entertainment - after all, if the performers were really good, they'd be on Broadway or at least Las Vegas!"

I don't get it? Why give Cunard another chance when you could get so much more for your money on other ships/lines? (Everyone here rates HAL, for example). Cunard do not deserve your loyalty!

I recently cruised on the 'Black Watch' which certainly does not have the QE2's reputation or history. Although Fred Olsen is a small cruise line, I regarded the food, service and entertainment as excellent. In fact I though that both were so good, I could not suggest how they could possibly improve them!

I appreciate that it is all subjective. However, I personally would not return to a ship that did not offer high quality food, service and entertainment, plus good accomodation? After all these are a major part of the experience.

In fact on the Black Watch, I could not understand why many of the entertainers were not on Broadway, or London's West end? In fact I hope that some of the young singers and dancers will be one day, they were that good

A couple of points in your review set me thinking. $5 for a cocktail didn't seem excessive to me either so I dug out the bar menus from our previous trips (I'll steal anything that isn't nailed down ) and they show cocktails were $4.50 in both '98 and '99. I got the impression that a lot of the (UK) passengers were first time cruisers, perhaps expecting cheap duty-free prices, and not realising that the measures were considerably larger than at home.

You said that, 'Carnival's impact can clearly be seen'. Having sailed with Cunard more than a dozen times on various ships we've been anxiously watching for signs of Carnival's influence and so far they seem to be relatively minor: The 'Inches-of-Gold' sales; the art auctions; and new 'old' uniforms, which weren't as bad as I thought they might be. Apart from the cut in the cruise staff's budget, what other changes have you seen?

You mentioned that the cruise staff weren't much in evidence. Do you know who they were? We weren't much impressed with Les (as deputy cruise director) and agree wholeheartedly about Maureen. She's also an excellent dancer, but no-one ever asks her.

Is that the same Sheila Ferguson that used to be in the Three Degrees? If it is I'd have been surprised if she didn't sing lots of 70's and 80's numbers, but maybe they booked the wrong artist for that cruise (or maybe ended up with the wrong passenger mix for the artists they had booked ).

Yes, the Sheila Ferguson on board had been in the Three Degrees and I'm sure that's why she sang '70-'80s songs...but the audience had no clue who she was and certainly didn't know her songs. The see-through dress got so many comments the next day from men & women ("indecent", "shocking", "disgraceful") that I made a point of going to her next show to see if she would wear it again....and she did!?! I fault Cunard for not anticipating their audience (it's a 2 week cruise with 3 ports - who'd they think was going to be on board??) She probably would have been a huge hit on NCL, RCCL and maybe Princess but another entertainment mis-calculation by Cunard/Carnival.

quote:

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Originally posted by Malcolm:

" They didn't like her costumes (one was completely see through over her breasts which was NOT popular at all).."

Not popular, why ever not? It would be very popular with me!

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hahaha sounds like a good show ay Malcolm! :P

Umm there isnt really any point in Whinging, deck chairs and drinks are hardly going to ruien the QE2 experance and it seems like the passengers were bad, not the ship or staff.

quote:

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Originally posted by Vickie:
The see-through dress got so many comments the next day...that I made a point of going to her next show to see if she would wear it again...

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So would I

Did you take any pictures Vickie

quote:

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Originally posted by Vickie:
...she sang '70-'80s songs...but the audience had no clue who she was and certainly didn't know her songs.

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Vickie, a similar thing happened on my 'Black watch' cruise!

The Dance Company did a great 1970's show based on the Disco classics of the era. But many of the oldies got up and left! They obviously had never heard the songs.

The strange thing is that the 1970's were 20 plus years ago - they were hardly new songs! Many of the passengers would have been 30 to 40 then, did they not turn their radios on that decade?

quote:

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Originally posted by NAL:
It seems unfair to me to blame Carnival for
many of the short-comings of the QE2. It has
been my experience that the problems began
long before Carnival was in the mix. There
are so many ships out there who run circles
around QE2.

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NAL--Would be interested in hearing a few of the ships that you consider superior, and briefly why?