We love Cunard and we love the Victoria, so once again we chose her for our summer break. A chartered flight from Heathrow to Rome went well but was a little chaotic on the airport to the ship transfer. On booking we were told we had a top grade of our cabin choice but we were upset that our balcony was smaller than our Christmas cruise when we used the saver fare option. The cabin 5133 was a little grubby - balcony glass dirty and the settee looking like it needed a clean. On the day of arrival our luggage had not been delivered to the cabin in time for dressing up for dinner and on phoning reception to ask what to do we were told in a very off hand manner to use the lido buffet. Luckily our steward sorted the problem out and we arrived for dinner in the Britannia Restaurant. The highlight of our cruise was our brilliant waitress Jane and her assistant Robinson. 100% professional. Food throughout our stay was first class and unlike our Christmas cruise where most of the food was served stone cold - on this cruise all accept one meal was piping hot. We used the other dining venues ie the French and Thai restaurants and were equally impressed. Breakfast is best in the Lido, where you can also enjoy first class lunches and I recommend the fish and chips in the golden lion pub.
Entertainment by the Royal Cunard Team was weak and not as enjoyable as the Christmas cruise but this was made up by the brilliant group Synergy and brought in acts who were all excellent. A noticeable improvement was the pianist in the Commodore Lounge who certainly gathered and kept her audience unlike the atrocious pianist / singer in the Golden Lion pub. The entertainment team in the pub were very good and ran the pub quizzes and karaoke well.
Shore days are very organised and coaches are readily available to take you to and from the best vantage point. All the coaches were clean and air conditioned and carefully driven.