Queen Anne

[Portsmouth]

So to continue with my thoughts ......
The Promenade deck might not be to everybody's liking. It's not that wide in some places and views are blocked in some places by life boats. If you just want it to exercise and walk/jog the number of steps you need then it's probably fine.

Lets move right to the top...deck 14 fwd is where there is a mini-putting green and a court for paddle tennis. I did have a go on the mini putting green and lost so we won't mention that again
There is no deck 13

Deck 12 is where the commodore club is. If you pick the right time its quite peaceful with nice big windows. These is a menu on the table and if you like history it mentions each commodore and when they got knighted and all about them...makes a nice read if it's you're first visit having a nice drink relaxing. It has a different feel when there's music going on and was quite full and as there were no seats available we went somewhere else.
There is also Churchills the cigar room but it's not for me ....so I didn't go inside.

Sorry have to stop as somethings come up

[Onelife]

Thank you Onelife for such a well crafted explanation and Stephen I had to laugh when I saw your reply... ( sorry Onelife )

CaroleF......your mention of room service reminded me......I made a huge mistake on this cruise.....I didn't pay enough attention to my onboard credit. I took advantage of an offer whilst booking and had a large amount of onboard credit....well it was huge for me. I also booked the trips I wanted to go on before the cruise and also the restaurant Tramonto so I couldn't use it on them.
Cut a long story short I realized on the last night quite late we still had over $30 onboard credit....so it was a case of use it or loose it time.Well unfortunately you can't use onboard credit in the casino as that's what I would have done ....shops were all closed & didn't want to drink too much that time of night so we opted for room service and just before midnight ordered the premium burgers and chips just to use it up

Hi Portsmouth, you along with a few others do find Stephen’s sence of humour quite funny…It will come as no surprise that I don’t

Moving on, I was looking at one of my old threads the other day where you had posted your thoughts on the ‘Grand National’ with I have to say, what appeared to be some degree of knowledge. This combined with you mention of casino’s this morning makes me wonder if you enjoy a flutter from time to time? As in the past years I’ve always posted a thread about the holy grail of racing which is Cheltenham, with my daily selections, stakes, and win to lose ratios. It will be nice if you like me support the betting industry with our yearly contributions and will look forward to your input should my hunch be right that you do enjoy, dare I say it, the sport of Kings, along with the millions of racing fans such as myself.

[david63]

win to lose ratios

In your case should that not be the other way round?

[Ray B]

Nice review Portsmouth, one thing I never have at the tail end of a cruise is OBC, the good lady see to that.
You mention Churchills, the cigar room, I take it ,it's in name only now.
The end of your last post, to much information mate.

[david63]

You mention Churchills, the cigar room, I take it ,it's in name only now.

No - smoking is allowed on Cunard in the Churchill's lounges

[Ray B]

That's a surprise David, is that because they lean more to America than the U K ?

[Portsmouth]

Moving on, I was looking at one of my old threads the other day where you had posted your thoughts on the ‘Grand National’ with I have to say, what appeared to be some degree of knowledge. This combined with you mention of casino’s this morning makes me wonder if you enjoy a flutter from time to time? As in the past years I’ve always posted a thread about the holy grail of racing which is Cheltenham, with my daily selections, stakes, and win to lose ratios. It will be nice if you like me support the betting industry with our yearly contributions and will look forward to your input should my hunch be right that you do enjoy, dare I say it, the sport of Kings, along with the millions of racing fans such as myself.

OK, I'm back again, Just a brief diversion from Queen Anne.....yes you are right Onelife, well spotted....In my younger days I used to follow the flat racing especially those running in the classics 1000 guineas, 2000 guineas, the Derby & Oaks. Never spent that much on the betting as it was mostly about getting pleasure from sometimes seeing my selections win or get placed. I also enjoyed a day out at Royal Ascot when the Queen was alive.
Also took an interest in The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe but I haven't done so for quite a while.
I also took an interest in National Hunt and like so many others Desert Orchid was a favorite horse to watch....so yes I sometimes have an interest in the big races at Cheltenham, Kempton and the Grand National ...... You can probably remember Jenny Pitman first woman to train a Grand National Winner.

[Portsmouth]

Right lets get back to the Queen Anne....just let me say I've enjoyed reading all the comments in between my posts...oldbluefox I didn't hear that many Americans on board but there was a large group from Japan, a small family group from South Africa ...A lot of Brits on board but you could also hear plenty of Scottish accents.

Back to deck 12....this is where the library is located....its a great place to relax read a book and look out of the windows. Some of the hardback books are huge....I looked at a huge book on watches, every page seemed to have a picture of a expensive watch brand and information about what made it special along with an idea of price....I really didn't realize the vast number of expensive watch brands there were. If you do decide to sit and relax in the library then you should be aware that on a sunny day you might have to put up with a bit of noise ....as I mentioned earlier the paddle tennis court is just above the library so there maybe people playing whilst you try to relax below. I was lucky due to the weather being cold on the way to and from the canaries no one was playing

For those hoping I'd mention Spa or beauty salon .....sorry just not my thing
For those hoping I'd mention the gym....didn't visit [my main exercise at the moment is stretching ( in my stateroom) or walking]

Deck 2 ....this is where the queens room is......this is very different from the one on Queen Victoria. It has a half moon shaped dance floor. To be honest I didn't tend to stay there too long....sometimes it seemed to be a bit overcrowded. When I went for the well known 3:00 afternoon tea, I got there for what I thought was a bit early 2:45 and found almost every table taken We got lucky getting the last free table,I think afternoon tea in the Queens Room, served with typical Cunard flair is worth doing at least once on a cruise...

Going forward from the Queens room is the Royal Court Theatre. To be honest I prefer the entrances on Deck 3 as you can get a better look at what seats are free. It seems to me that every seat has a decent view and let me also mention the seats are comfortable. I enjoyed the couple of shows I saw including Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of) a play with songs based on Jane Austen's novel which was also shown in the west end London. There was also a performance of Brief Encounter which I did not see. There were also several Cunard Insight talks which many people love to attend.

[Onelife]

Moving on, I was looking at one of my old threads the other day where you had posted your thoughts on the ‘Grand National’ with I have to say, what appeared to be some degree of knowledge. This combined with you mention of casino’s this morning makes me wonder if you enjoy a flutter from time to time? As in the past years I’ve always posted a thread about the holy grail of racing which is Cheltenham, with my daily selections, stakes, and win to lose ratios. It will be nice if you like me support the betting industry with our yearly contributions and will look forward to your input should my hunch be right that you do enjoy, dare I say it, the sport of Kings, along with the millions of racing fans such as myself.

OK, I'm back again, Just a brief diversion from Queen Anne.....yes you are right Onelife, well spotted....In my younger days I used to follow the flat racing especially those running in the classics 1000 guineas, 2000 guineas, the Derby & Oaks. Never spent that much on the betting as it was mostly about getting pleasure from sometimes seeing my selections win or get placed. I also enjoyed a day out at Royal Ascot when the Queen was alive.
Also took an interest in The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe but I haven't done so for quite a while.
I also took an interest in National Hunt and like so many others Desert Orchid was a favorite horse to watch....so yes I sometimes have an interest in the big races at Cheltenham, Kempton and the Grand National ...... You can probably remember Jenny Pitman first woman to train a Grand National Winner.

Yes’, I remember Jenny Pitman, one tough trainer not to be trifled with. I’m quite fortunate in that I can conjure up through what’s known as “mind’s eye” many of the Grand National finishes and can see clearly Desert Orchard winning the King George chase at Kempton for the third time. But I do agree with you in that you don’t have to bet to enjoy the equine beauty of seeing these horses compete in top class races.

I’ve visited most of the Midland’s tracks from an early age as I was a runner for my uncle who was a bookie…. the running however mostly consisted of delivering cups of tea and bacon sarnies.

Anyhow, we'll leave it there, as I'm sure our members find your cruise reviews far more interesting than my donkey waffling.

[kaymar]

I'm enjoying Portsmouth's review of QA. We went on QM many years ago and really enjoyed the ship and the service we received. I would certainly go with Cunard again although I feel the ports are very much designed for the American tourist 'doing Europe' so there is very little variation from the itinerary we had already done.
One afternoon we went down for afternoon tea which was really lovely and civilised - all sat at little tables, waiters in white gloves bringing a variety of little sandwiches, teacups and saucers (no mugs!!). We sat with a very elegant and wealthy American lady who had been around the world umpteen times but who was absolutely charming and interesting to listen to. Meanwhile there was a seven piece band playing and people were dancing. That's civilised for you.
There were certainly plenty of (wealthy) Americans onboard and many Chinese who seemed to like bananas for as soon as bananas were put out they disappeared like snow off a dyke into the clutches of our Far Eastern friends.

"disappeared like snow off a dyke" Now, there's an expression I haven't heard since I left Cumbria 60 years ago, obf. It will probably be literally happening this weekend. Hope you've managed to stay warm this last week.

[Portsmouth]

Just went back to my suitcase as I remembered where I put the Cunard Daily Programmes I brought back with me....so now I can give you all a better idea of what entertainment we had .
Sunday night at the Royal Court had Foggie Flax with his comedy....I had high hopes that this would be really good but left feeling it was OK but didn't blow me out of the water. Queens room had the Queens room musicians doing soul & motown

Monday Royal Court it was the comedy play Pride and Predjudice ( sort of ) which I mentioned earlier and enjoyed but the times are a bit unusual as they are 4pm and 8pm and there is a reason for this......and in the Queens Room was Big Band celebration classics from legends like Glenn Miller Duke Ellington. The reason they didn't have a 10:15 performance in the theatre is that they were showing a ( blockbuster ? ) film at that time ......Deadpool & Wolverine

Tuesday....Gala evening ( Black & white ) I decided to put on my clowns outfit ....size 20 shoes, Big red lips, shiny red nose, hat with flower and of course a large horn to make sure every one knew where I was .......no just joking .....of course I wore my suit and tie.
They had a port presentation in the theatre at 10am then Cunard Insights at 11:00 am had Robert Powell doing a talk on Charles Dickens and he used his acting skills to use different voices for the different characters in Dickens books. I don't know if this is true but I was told he was a last minute replacement for Gregg Wallace who got caught up in that scandal.
Showtime at the Royal Court was The MacDonald brothers ( from Celtic anthems to pop classics ) they were very good and for the Queens Room it was Gala evening with the Queens room musicians followed an hour later with an aerial performance to Bond

Wednesday.... still at sea en route to Funchal Madeira, in the Royal Court was a show called Imagination, a futuristic show combines contemporary performances with state of the art technology to leave you wondering what's real & what's virtual. I really enjoyed this show.
Queens Room had Foggie Flax again at two different times....I saw a tiny bit of his act again as I was walking past and realized he wasn't my cup of tea .....Sorry Foggie if you are reading this

Right ....now I'd like some information from members ...let me know if all this day to day stuff bores you and I'm going on too much then I'll go straight to the last bit of my cruise about Golden Lion, Casino & Bright Lights. If you want a bit more of the day to day events let me know and I'll continue.

[Jan Rosser]

I’m enjoying hearing about all your experiences Portsmouth - love to hear it all - thanks for doing it.

[Ray B]

Portsmouth, you are doing a grand job of giving a flavour of Queen Anne through your eyes. I would like to see more reviews as members take a cruise, giving us a little glimpse of their trip..
Carry on my man.

[Stephen]

Boring the life out of me……….only kidding Portsmouth

Keep up the reviews. Enjoy reading them.

[Onelife]

Boring the life out of me……….only kidding Portsmouth

Keep up the reviews. Enjoy reading them.

It’s funny how you can PM me saying you find Portsmouth’s posts boring… then come on here and suck up to him as if you were a baby on a bottle.

[MaureenB]

Please continue with ALL the events on board. It's been really interesting. We get so few cruise reports nowadays on the forum that it makes yours even more special.
Thank you

Maureen

[CaroleF]

I love reading any review of a cruise, the more detailed the better as far as I'm concerned. Portsmouth you're really giving us a good flavour of a Cunard cruise, please continue.

Carole

[Stephen]

Boring the life out of me……….only kidding Portsmouth

Keep up the reviews. Enjoy reading them.

It’s funny how you can PM me saying you find Portsmouth’s posts boring… then come on here and suck up to him as if you were a baby on a bottle.

Depends whats in the bottle.

[Happydays]

I've enjoyed reading your report, keep up the good work

[Portsmouth]

Well......been out in the countryside all day. First chance to see your replies....seems like you're more than happy for me to continue the days events schedule.....
So it's time to carry on....if you see this post and not another straight away, its because I'm probably still typing .....just a bit slow... can only use one finger at a time

[Onelife]

Well......been out in the countryside all day. First chance to see your replies....seems like you're more than happy for me to continue the days events schedule.....
So it's time to carry on....if you see this post and not another straight away, its because I'm probably still typing .....just a bit slow... can only use one finger at a time

You could have told us you were going out for another walk

[Portsmouth]

Thursday.....we arrive in Funchal Madeira ...this will be an overnight stay. We had breakfast before making our way to get the free shuttle Cunard provide to where the lift station is in the town....(some of the other cruise lines charge a small fee) So what I haven't mentioned is that I've been here before several years ago so I'm not bothered about the Toboggan Sled Ride that so many people want to have a go on.

The other thing I haven't mentioned is at the beginning of the cruise we realized my other half had left her reading glasses behind so reading the menu etc was difficult. My reading glasses were too strong for her to use for more than about 30 seconds. So I did a google and found that there was a newsagent in the old town that sold those cheap reading glasses like you can get in Poundland. So we strolled along to the old town with name of the street but had a job finding it....asking for help we found we had gone well past where we thought the shop was. Anyway we found it, nearly missed it as it was a tiny newsagent but they did have the reading glasses at the strength she needed.

We took our time and stopped for something to eat and drink and decided to visit some random place other visitors probably don't go to. I thought it might be fun to see a small town just a bit along the coast.So we decided to catch a bus to Santa Cruz which is just below the airport. It took a while to find the right bus stop as we found when we went to the bus station found out it didn't leave from there but a bit further down the road.
Anyway we got on the bus and got to Santa Cruz. They had all the Christmas lights put up but obviously as it was daytime they were not on.

Santa Cruz a small charming town ( not exceptional ) but has a small pebble beach and a promenade to walk along & plenty of places to eat or stop for a drink.Its in sight of Madeira airport runway so you can see planes coming in. It was whilst we were enjoying sharing a wrap and having a cappuccino at a cafe overlooking the sea/promenade that I went to my pocket to check my wallet and saw a terrible sight. I was wearing light brown trousers and had stupidly left some black ink pens in my pockets and they had leaked badly at the front. Of course my dear other half expressed her slight annoyance this had happened but didn't make it too much of an issue....after all we are on holiday. Despite it being siesta time there was a shop we had been in earlier that sold just about anything except for food but it had jeans and mens + ladies clothes.

Well we found a pair of jeans that would fit me at a decent price but the legs were still too long...The shop owners spoke no real English but with pointing to the jeans and showing I needed them shorter she pointed to a hut just a bit away from the shop. In there we spoke to a lady who looked like she was in her late 70s /early 80s . Of course she could speak no English and the only Portuguese word I know is thank you. That's when a lady possibly mid 20s came in to drop something off and realizing we were tourists asked in English if she could help.
When I said was it possible to shorten the Jeans after speaking with the lady ...she said they could be done that day at about 6:30pm and she was open till 10:00. When I asked the young lady what the price would be ...
Are you ready....because I couldn't believe the price she said.........
4 Euros for shortening them that afternoon in a few hours ....Wow...I was expecting it to be much more for a same day service
Of course I gave her a good tip for helping me. Put the shortened Jeans on in her changing room and put my trousers in a bag.

Wow....I didn't realize I was going on this long.....almost like a short story
Also I got a bit distracted and stopped to watch the masked singer and had a couple of phone calls so this is taken a bit long than I thought.

Shortly I'll be back to tell you about the Christmas Lights .....followed by whats on in the theatre and Queens room

[Portsmouth]

If you have been to Madeira from December then you'll know how great the Christmas lights are...they make a real effort. Even a small town like Santa Cruz have a great display around the town centre. All over there are Poinsettia in almost every location and they are not just the red ones we have over here. Even the palm trees by the beach have lights and in the park the trees had lights all over their branches. The Christmas Lights display around the town is delightful to see. They even made a stand with bakers in their white uniforms sorting out bread on a table with christmas trees on each side of them.

We took a bus back to Funchal and rather than going back to the ship had a wander round and a look at their Christmas lights which were great to see as well and much bigger than those in Santa Cruz as Funchal is the capital. They also had an open stage where live music was being performed.
As you can imagine we got back to the ship late and obviously missed our evening meal and the entertainment onboard.
Royal Court Theatre had Andrea Amat the Virtuoso de Valancia ......she is an expert playing the flute to popular tunes.
Queens Room had " A Night at the Movies " with the Queens Room musicians the programme says Listen out for familiar tunes from popular movies and be reminded of some of your favourites as you dance the night away.
The film screen in the Pavillion was showing Queen & Adam Lambert ( 2020 )

OK that's it for Thursday.

[Portsmouth]

Friday.....so we leave Funchal this afternoon and have to be back onboard by 4:30. I was intending to be back a bit before then but was slightly confused as reading the Programme for today in the section marked Complimentary Shuttle Service in highlighted black letters it reads....
The last shuttle bus from pick up point to Queen Anne will be at 5:00pm so maybe the 4:30 back on board wasn't correct. Anyway I took no chances and made sure I was onboard by 4:00.

Royal Court Theatre had Shona Lindsay...one of the West Ends most celebrated leading ladies so they say....and indeed it is true
In 1990 she was cast as Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera in the West End becoming the youngest actress to play this role
She was also Sandy in Grease, appeared as Millie in Seven Brides for Seven brothers and been in lots of other hit shows
Unfortunately I didn't go because I was chatting in one of the bars with my friends
Queens Room was Sounds of London a music night celebrates groups, singers from London
Pictures at the Pavilion had BFIs Creature something about English National Ballet....good for those that like that sort of thing ...but not me

[Mervyn and Trish]

Glad you enjoyed Madeira. It's one of our favourite places in the world. We go twice a year most years to stay for two or three weeks. It all started with a one day cruise call in 1999.