Queen Anne

[Portsmouth]

Last month I had the opportunity to join some friends for a two week cruise on the newest Cunard ship, Queen Anne.
I was happy to be on a cruise enjoying the entertainment and food and calling in at the ports we visit and maybe relaxing on the balcony.

Embarkation was very easy, I got there about 15 minutes before the Priority time given and after dropping off cases went up and was checked in very quickly. Had to have photo taken as I hadn't done that bit online but it was no problem. As we hadn't eaten anything since about 7:00 we went up to the buffet ( called Artisan Foodhall) on deck 9 before going to find our stateroom to drop our hand luggage off.

A few fellow passengers were bothered because of creaks in their stateroom and a couple of times saw Cunard staff moving passengers to new staterooms on the second morning. I was expecting this on a new ship.....you have to get used to a bit of the odd creaking and tapping on a new ship as it can take time to settle. So although I also had a bit of creaking it didn't really bother me as by the second night I was used to ignoring the odd creak which only really happened with rougher seas.

I will continue this post tomorrow but to sum up ....my overall impression of the Queen Anne was very good due to a few things like great staff all over the ship. Even going up or down stairs the cleaning staff would smile and said good morning sir (maybe because I look at them and smile and say hello ) In the Club Britannia dining room the waiting staff were excellent and always made sure our glasses of tap water were refilled. So many positives on this cruise

[david63]

Be interested to read more as we will be on QA in August.

[Ray B]

We look forward to more Portsmouth.

[CaroleF]

I've been reading this morning that Michel Roux is going to take over two restaurants on Cunard ships, Queen Anne and Queen Mary 2. He's going to open his former restaurant Le Gavroche taking over Sir Samuel's on Queen Anne and The Verandah on Queen Mary 2. He's also taking some of his former restaurant staff with him. Now that I would be interested in sampling. I've always liked his style of cooking. It seems as if the difference between Cunard and P&O is ever widening.

[david63]

I've been reading this morning that Michel Roux is going to take over two restaurants on Cunard ships, Queen Anne and Queen Mary 2. He's going to open his former restaurant Le Gavroche taking over Sir Samuel's on Queen Anne and The Verandah on Queen Mary 2. He's also taking some of his former restaurant staff with him. Now that I would be interested in sampling. I've always liked his style of cooking. It seems as if the difference between Cunard and P&O is ever widening.

I think that you may have misread that if this is what you are referring to https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/cunard-sto ... che-at-sea.

That was last year and it was only for a short period, not a permanent change but if it was then I would have no hesitation in going as I have fortunate enough to have eaten at Le Gavroche.

[Portsmouth]

So to continue with my thoughts....I was in a Britannia Club balcony cabin. When entering the first thing you see on the table is a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine with two flute glasses. Nice big comfy bed. The full length mirror is to be found when you open the first wardrobe door.
The bathroom has a big shower area,really good ! with a glass door and the shower itself is good as well. The soaps are in containers with a good brand name Penhaligons. TV is large and has plenty of different sections. The only thing about this is it is fixed to the wall opposite the bed so if you want to see it from the sofa it's not as good but I did hear Cunard may be changing it so screens can move ...

The area with the desk was a bit busy when you put your bits and bobs on it as the coffee machine also took up a bit of room but not really an issue. I like having a Latte or cappuccino but prefer to get them in the coffee lounge ( don't mind paying the extra cost ) so that machine went up above out of the way. In the top draw is the usual hairdryer.The balcony had the usual two chairs and small table

Anyway for me, I was happy with my stateroom and let me repeat again....for me the bed was really comfy to sleep in.

The Grand lobby has no great " Wow " feeling but I liked it and seems nicely spaced out...was never really that busy. They also have a games room on deck one and it was good to see it being used by several people playing different games ( including chess but you should take a look at the chess pieces as quite unusual) Also on the same floor is a place called the drawing room and when nothing is going on in the atrium then its a nice place to sit and be away from the lobby but I never used it.

The restaurant I was in for dinner was of course Britannia Club and this is quiet a large restaurant and when you enter depending where your table is, you go left or right. The service from the waiters was excellent although that might have been because going in at 6:30 not all the tables had people so maybe we got a bit more attention.Also most evenings the Head waiter came by to say how are you and make sure everything was ok. I thought that was a nice touch.I'll speak about other places we ate a bit later because I want to mention about a bar just around the corner from the restaurant. It's called the chart room....its quite a long room almost in 3 sections. This never seemed to be over full and we always manged to find a table for four if we went further away from the bar.It's a nice place to relax and chat unless you're nearer the bar where there is sometimes a bit of live music.

Ok that's about it for today....Still bit more to talk about ...like Golden Lion & Bright Lights Society but that can be for later.

[Ray B]

Good review Portsmouth.

[Stephen]

Thanks Portsmouth.

[Onelife]

Your posts have been a great addition to the forum Portsmouth…keep up the good work

[Jan Rosser]

Your posts have been a great addition to the forum Portsmouth…keep up the good work

You’ll be sending Portsmouth chocolates next - perhaps we should warn him

[Portsmouth]

Thanks for the kind comments.....so to continue with my thoughts....
There is one thing may have heard about deck 10 and deck 11...the middle part is for those who booked Princess Grill or Queens Grill. It's not that much of an inconvenience as it's easy enough to avoid just by walking through the buffet or a lower deck when you are going to another floor. It's just something you get used to if you want to get to deck 12 from the middle of the ship.

Regarding the buffet it is called Artisans Foodhall and is divided into sections where the staff hand you your food rather than everyone serves themselves....it seems to work quite well and whilst there was the odd queue for some items I never waited that long. With this idea of making sure the staff served you I was slightly amused that the last section that had slices of ham & small slices of various cheese was self service and you can take what you wanted off the trays.The tea station was good as they have clean tea spoons near the start, a place to put the rubbish like the tea bags and another holder for used tea spoons.....on my Marella cruise they used thin wooden stirrers like in Costa cafes

You may be wondering what the food tasted like....from my perspective, I never had a bad meal there. They also cook you pasta whilst you wait.
Sometimes it can get a bit full at lunch on sea days and you have to wander a bit to find a table but I used the Britannia club restaurant for breakfast mainly so I can't comment on how busy it was in the morning.
On the subject of food....I did find some of the dishes in Club Britannia to be a bit on the small portion size wise but I was never hungry and also you could have soup after your starter if you want,before the main course, which I had and enjoyed ( choice of 2 soups ) They also had 3 mains that were on the menu every night if you didn't fancy the mains choices and also some specials on the following page which had to be ordered a day in advance ...I've already forgotten what they were .....it's been so long

Continuing with the food...there is a wellness cafe on deck 10 just above the swimming pool in whats called the Pavillion where the roof can open up.The food looked really good with nice choices and healthy The main bit of the Pavillion is on deck 9 which is a short walk away from the Artians Foodhall and you can get burgers there if that's what you like.Also they have a big screen where films are shown.

I did have a meal with my friends in one Specialty restaurant, which I booked in advance....Tramonto ( mediterranian/Italian ) for some reason the restaurant wasn't that full maybe only the second day but the food was really good and well presented and as it was £18 per head I thought it really good value.

Try to get back later to continue but have some stuff to get on with....

[Onelife]

Your posts have been a great addition to the forum Portsmouth…keep up the good work

You’ll be sending Portsmouth chocolates next - perhaps we should warn him

I wish you hadn’t have said that Jan, I wanted them to be a surprise

[oldbluefox]

Too true. They'll be a surprise alright

[Onelife]

Too true. They'll be a surprise alright

“Where there is hope... miracles can happen"

[Stephen]

Yes, I usually go for the healthy options too Portsmouth, especially at breakfast where I succumb to the smells of the full English fry up

[Stephen]

Too true. They'll be a surprise alright

When he's suddenly legging it to the loo

[Portsmouth]

Hmm, I don't really know what the references to chocolate mean but it's obviously a source of amusement to those in the know......
As we are on the subject of chocolate for those who don't know ....your housekeeper leaves a small square of chocolate each evening for each person, in a Cunard wrapper....and also the Cunard Daily Program to advise you whats on the next day and what the dress code is.

Dress code really seems to be important on a Cunard cruise....you will not feel out of place wearing a Tux and bow tie on formal nights. I don't have a tux or bow tie but wearing a dark suit and tie with a smart shirt meant that I did not feel out of place. On this 2 week cruise there were 3 formal nights always on a sea day....I don't really bother with Cruise Critic but I was told during the cruise, they have a list of what themed formal nights are on the Queen Anne and the date they are on. Ladies also dressed up well on formal nights.

Anyone got any questions yet ?
Still to mention...Queens Room, Golden Lion, Bright Lights Society, Commodore club, Promenade deck and Carinthia lounge
but that's all for tonight

[Onelife]

Hi Portsmouth, Re; Chocolates…

Please excuse me if I get a little emotional while writing this, but up until recently I enjoyed celebrating forum members Birthdays by sending them boxes of keefy chocolates…. this kind gesture was much appreciated, as noted by the many thankyou messages I have received over the years, however, due to covid and several other factors, some members didn’t receive their chocolates over an extended period … this, can you believe, resulted in abusive messages being posted on this forum…this was reported to the Administrator who sadly took no action, indeed looking back at the abusive messages this evening… his was one of those who upset me the most.

I of course didn’t take it any further due to my non-confrontational personality …Yes’ it did hurt, but there is only so much one can take…it was for this reason I decided to donate the £thousands I would have been spending on chocolates to the more appreciative Republican Party….they’ve only themselves to blame.

[Stephen]

Portsmouth.
You’ve got more chance of an audience with the pope than getting some cheapo Chinese reject choccies from the anti royalist.

Bye the way, I’m enjoying your review.

[CaroleF]

I'm really enjoying your review Portsmouth. My chocolates from Keefy must be lost in a post box somewhere, they never reached me! I've only sailed with Cunard once, Queen Elizabeth on a five night cruise, and I think we were unlucky in our waiters in the evening, in fact the Maitre d' came and apologised on the third night and we had a different waiter after that. We also had a disappointing order from room service - at the time Cunard didn't supply kettles etc in the cabins. An order of tea and hot chocolate resulted in tea with no milk and cold hot chocolate. These are extremely minor incidents but after many cruises with P&O and having heard so much about Cunard's White Star Service when we were just on a short cruise these small things mattered. We loved the ship, after that my husband was not keen to try Cunard again. Maybe now I'll have a rethink.

[Onelife]

Hi Portsmouth, whilst it’s been a long time since I donned on my Dress Suit it was one of the things that I really enjoyed doing when going on a cruise, especially as, according as my wife… “I dress like an old rag and bone man for the best part of the year”. I’ve never been into fancy dress (irrespective of what Stephen would have you believe) so I’m not so sure themed cruises of any description would be my thing.

[Portsmouth]

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

[oldbluefox]

I decided to donate the £thousands I would have been spending on chocolates to the more appreciative Republican Party….they’ve only themselves to blame.

Good luck with that one

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[Ranchi]

We resorted to picking up birthday cards last summer on Sky Princess. I suppose it’s an effect of the Plus package. Unfortunately they had removed the cards from the shop by late autumn. (& I refused to buy giant Toblerone so it was Elastoplast boxes - or Band Aids as the OBC was in $)

[oldbluefox]

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.