Has anyone been on a Cunard ship.

[noddy10]

If a couple get up and walk away from sitting with you for afternoon tea in the Queens Room for no other reason than telling him that you are a firefighter and not a fire officer has he presumed and when passing Aurora in BoB and consensus of opinion was that P&O were ferries think you call that snobbery and certainly didnt look for that. I also know that a lot of Cunarders were not happy when Cunard became part of Carnival the same as P&O but not at the same time because P&O and Cunard were seperate companies. Also when struck down with Noro Virus onboard and the Purser deny that it was Noro Virus because Cunard dont get Noro Virus only the lower standard mass market cruise lines think that says it all.

[Dancing Queen]

If a couple get up and walk away from sitting with you for afternoon tea in the Queens Room for no other reason than telling him that you are a firefighter and not a fire officer has he presumed and when passing Aurora in BoB and consensus of opinion was that P&O were ferries think you call that snobbery and certainly didnt look for that. I also know that a lot of Cunarders were not happy when Cunard became part of Carnival the same as P&O but not at the same time because P&O and Cunard were seperate companies. Also when struck down with Noro Virus onboard and the Purser deny that it was Noro Virus because Cunard dont get Noro Virus only the lower standard mass market cruise lines think that says it all.

As unpleasant as that passenger must have been Noddy is it not wrong to judge all Cunard passengers as snobs, every cruiseline has it's cruise snobs.

I don't know how you can know that a lot of Cunarders were unhappy when Cunard became part of the Carnival group, I was actually onboard QE2 the day it was announced and I believe it was more disappointment, most people were expecting it to be taken over by RCI who I think lost out at the last minute.

As for norovirus, don't they all play it down you appear to be very anti Cunard because of one bad experience, maybe you should give them another try you might be surprised.

[Anne D]

If I am ever rich/daft enough to pay the outlandish prices for a Q1 suite on Queen Vic, you can forget about 'being greeted like old friends' - I'd expect to be carried up the gangplank on a sedan chair whilst having peeled grapes fed to me by my own personal slave/butler.

Quite agree HK Still laughing.

Why does this topic of Cunard versus P&O cause so much trouble or is it just the Grills?

I do think however that some remarks made on here could quite easily give the wrong impression .

I have so far only stayed in Princess Grill and that has been lovely. You get the advantages of the Grills experience at a lower cost . However on the next cruise I have been lucky enough to be upgraded to Queens and will be interested to see what the difference will be and whether I think the extra price is worth it.

No disrespect to Em but I would never consider having a Q 1 as the for that price I could have 3 cruises in a lower Q grade or 4 in a PG.

Anne

[GillD46]

As unpleasant as that passenger must have been Noddy is it not wrong to judge all Cunard passengers as snobs, every cruiseline has it's cruise snobs.

Too right they do! On one P&O cruise, a few years ago now, one couple we met at a cocktail party turned away when they found out my husband was only a GP and not a Harley Street Consultant as the man was. Snobs yes indeed, but it didn't make us feel that P&O was only full of snobs because most passengers we encountered were very decent ordinary people - as they are on Cunard

And as for Norovirus, our last but one Cunard voyage had Noro onboard, it was announced and appropriate measures put inplace - the same as P&O!

[Quizzical Bob]

On Aurora in St Maarten at Christmas we were advised not to get too close to the passengers from the neighbouring Queen (Mary?) on account of the raging Noro on board.

[Dancing Queen]

Bob, P&O just didn't want you jumping ship to find out what you were missing

On a serious note we were on QE over Xmas/New Year and not a sign of Noro, I thought from all the announcements and the procedures put in place from day one that it was something that would be fleet wide, the Captain spent quite a long time during lifeboat drill ( I've never known this before ) asking for all passengers to co-operate to ensure the ship stayed free of the norovirus.

[GillD46]

It was the same on the QE in January, Jo, and seemed to work really well.

[Boris+]

Not that I have to justify our reasons for having a Q1 several times last year - to begin with I stated ages ago that I was going to spend time researching and working out which was our favourite ship and what was our idea of the most suitable accommodation etc for us - and that also includes different cruiselines. I am still in the middle of that; I feel strongly that if research is worth doing it needs to be thorough - and so it has to include different types of QG accommodation - and maybe PG somewhere along the way too (and eventually the equivalent accommodation with other cruise lines).

However, the main reason for having a 'bumper' year last year was that it was a special year for me personally, and having lost the great majority of my family having a big event was out of the question - qed we had several cruises, and combined my special year with the aforementioned research and trying to keep my chin up.

Laugh if you want to, I did what I wanted to and got through 2012.

Em

[Anne D]

The novovirus was on the Queen Mary a couple of years ago and it was dealt with swiftly and efficiently. The Captain gave very regular updates and cleaning was being done in all public areas continually . It was announced when the ship was free from infection and this was only a matter of days. I think there were only a few passengers affected as the whole thing was nipped in the bud so quickly.

[noddy10]

With regards to Cunard Dancing Queen yes other cruise lines might play down the seriousness of Noro Virus but never known P&O to deny it and they have always acted swiftly and profesionally. On Cunard they were cancelling shows most of the dance company were ill and a lot of people were ill but the Purser still flatly refused it was Noro Virus with an arrogant attitude. After complaining when I got home directly with Cunard and providing medical evidence did they finally admit it was Noro Virus and then tried to fob me off with a cruise credit voucher which I told them to stuff.

[Anne D]

Hi Noddy

They certainly didn't hold back any information from us on the QM and as I said before we were fully and regularly informed. Perhaps your experience was a one off although that is no excuse.

Anne

[Dancing Queen]

With regards to Cunard Dancing Queen yes other cruise lines might play down the seriousness of Noro Virus but never known P&O to deny it and they have always acted swiftly and profesionally. On Cunard they were cancelling shows most of the dance company were ill and a lot of people were ill but the Purser still flatly refused it was Noro Virus with an arrogant attitude. After complaining when I got home directly with Cunard and providing medical evidence did they finally admit it was Noro Virus and then tried to fob me off with a cruise credit voucher which I told them to stuff.

Noddy you are just one person that has never known P&O to deny it, I'm just another person that has never known Cunard to deny it, it doesn't mean either of us are right or wrong just the circumstances that were on any particular cruise, it doesn't make you a liar if I say I have known P&O to deny it ( which I have ) different captains, different crew all situations are handled differently, they shouldn't be but very often are.

[Belle53]

Boris
What a lovely way to spend a special year, it would be very interesting to read a report from one of your cruises

[Boris+]

Hi Belle,

Yes, it was lovely - although I do sometimes envy people who still have enough family to make doing an event worthwhile.

I'll never forget the first time we went through those double doors - I'd passed various sets of double doors and wondered what was within.

Em

[gfwgfw]

Sadly never cruise on any of magnificent Queen's

BUT

We had a great holiday at Long Beach Cal, USA

Staying in a very wee cabin

On board Queen Mary I

She has been tastefully restored to her original spec

But for me the onboard artifacts collection had the original pages of the Soton Echo that I subbed many years since

Depicting the arrival of beautiful MM to our shores

How nice is that

Graham

[Boris+]

Hi Graham,

Yes, I know what you mean - we had friends who were married in California, and had their initial honeymoon stay onboard QM (one of the happy couple doesn't have sea legs).

The photos were smashing, and I understand they had a wonderful stay.

Em

[gfwgfw]

Morning Em

Credit to our cousins tother side of the pond

The doomed Mary has been lovingly restored her original glory

On small off putting aspect though

They have moored a very ugly ex Russian Submarine cheek by jowl to the Mary, and looks totally out of place

We have stayed on her twice, once is enough in my opinion

Do hope all is well on your patch

Lubooo

Graham

[Boris+]

Hi Graham ,

All is well - we've just been out to get anniversary gifts; the sun is shining, it's a lovely day. See you in August.

Em

[Silver_Shiney]

If a couple get up and walk away from sitting with you for afternoon tea in the Queens Room for no other reason than telling him that you are a firefighter and not a fire officer has he presumed ...

No, he has correctly assumed that he is not good enough to sit with a hero.

[Boris+]

Hi Alan,

One thing I did wonder about this particular situation - if someone innocently said that they worked in the Fire Brigade, did this touch a bit of a raw nerve with the person/people who got up and walked away? We'll never know if those people had a bad experience, a sad memory and just couldn't cope with it - so they just quietly walked away. I'll bet that is what was behind it.

I know that if somebody was sitting at a table with us and said that their occupation was something which was going to cause a personal upset, if they wouldn't change the subject and went on and on about it, I wouldn't be able to cope and we would just quickly and quietly leave the table. Mind you, we would make up a polite and plausible excuse so as not to hurt anyone's feelings before leaving.

Personally for us - any member of the Fire Brigade is a special and wonderful person; just simply because of the work which they do.

Em

[Silver_Shiney]

Fair point, Em. It reminds me of a time when I was standing in the middle of Bournemouth Square wearing my RAF cadet uniform and a man walked up to me, said "murderer" and walked off again. What, I wondered, has happened in his life to make him do that?

[Manoverboard]

I recall trying to make a sensible contribution to this type of Topic on the old P&O Forum and getting my head bitten off by the three biggest declared snobs on that site and that to me actually said more about Cunard than the three poor souls who were living in some sort of fantasy world or perhaps they just suffered from illusions of grandeur.

To the OP I would simply say that the vast majority of their passengers have by default to be normal decent human beings like GillD46, Dancing Queen and OBF however it perhaps depends upon whom one bumps into and if asked where you live it may, for example, be best to say near Sherborne rather than near Yeovil or near Henley rather than near Reading etc should you feel the need, for whatever reason, to make the right impression and not have people walking away from you as per Noddy's experience ... really odd that.

In our experience different cruise lines do seem to attract a type of person who wishes to fit the profile of that Line insomuch that Historians and Colonels etc would ' generally ' be more inclined to cruise with Swan Hellenic than say P&O because theirs is a serious concern with fantastic guest speakers albeit at a high price. Cunard can in turn attract a certain type of person, not necessarily a snob of course not but one who is used to mingling with Officers rather than Steam Roller drivers and wishes for that to remain the case during their cruise.

But as I understand it ... the chances of finding a Mrs Bucket or even a crew member with attitude seems to be higher on this Line than most according to the stories I hear from those I trust cos I aint been on Cunard yet nor am I likely to because I am totally against their Class System re segregation of ship's facilities and more importantly their itineraries are of no interest to either of us.

[noddy10]

Hi Alan,

One thing I did wonder about this particular situation - if someone innocently said that they worked in the Fire Brigade, did this touch a bit of a raw nerve with the person/people who got up and walked away? We'll never know if those people had a bad experience, a sad memory and just couldn't cope with it - so they just quietly walked away. I'll bet that is what was behind it.

I know that if somebody was sitting at a table with us and said that their occupation was something which was going to cause a personal upset, if they wouldn't change the subject and went on and on about it, I wouldn't be able to cope and we would just quickly and quietly leave the table. Mind you, we would make up a polite and plausible excuse so as not to hurt anyone's feelings before leaving.

Personally for us - any member of the Fire Brigade is a special and wonderful person; just simply because of the work which they do.

Em

To tell the full story we were sitting in The Queens Room on QE2 with another couple a lot older than myself at the time I was early 40s and the couple were in there 60s. While being served tea and sandwiches he asked what I did for a living and I said a firefighter and he said " a fire officer" and I said no just your run of the mill water squirting firefighter and at that he looked amazed got up asked the waiter to carry his drinks and sandwiches and walked off and sat at another table. At no point did he look as if he was "upset" or had had a "bad experience" just totally bemused that I was only a firefighter and walked off without his wife who followed and was plainly obvious that he didnt want o sit with his termsd"only a firefighter". So no I dont think he was upset ot had bad expereince just that he was such a snob he did not want to sit and chat and have afternoon tea with someone as lowly as me.

[emjay45]

I must admit I have always quite fancied going on the QV but like MOB have not yet found the right cruise. I am a little put off now by your story Noddy but anybody who would do that isn't someone I'd want to mix with anyhow. I certainly don't think of fire fighters as lowly but snobs like that most certainly are

[Silver_Shiney]

I must admit I have always quite fancied going on the QV but like MOB have not yet found the right cruise. I am a little put off now by your story Noddy but anybody who would do that isn't someone I'd want to mix with anyhow. I certainly don't think of fire fighters as lowly but snobs like that most certainly are

We've been on the QM2 twice and the only person we found to have an attitude was the sommelier I mentioned on another thread. EVERYBODY was charming and down to earth.

Noddy, the only time I've had a problem with firemen was in 1977-78, when they went on strike over pay. A lot of the military personnel who had to provide cover subsequently left the services to join the fire service because the pre-strike pay was higher than the military salary. That aside, I certainly couldn't have done that work, haven't got the bottle for it. Heroes, the lot of them.