Queen Victoria Review
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We sailed on the Cunard Queen Victoria 2-week Christmas voyage from Los Angeles roundtrip to Hawaii in the Queen's Grill level of service this year -- December 21, 2011 through January 4, 2012. I have to say, the service, accommodations, food and itinerary were outstanding. I have been a frequent traveler on Crystal Cruises (Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony) over the years. In comparison, I would give a slight edge to Crystal for their fewer passengers on board, and better embarkation/disembarkation experience. Otherwise, the Cunard experience was really really tremendous.
Stateroom Accommodation -- I travelled with my mom and her service dog. While I love my mom, we do like our space. Also, although our service dog is small, a deck was essential.
Our stateroom was QV4188. The room was one of the larger Queen's Grill "standard" suites (same price as most others), and had over 700 sq ft (including the balcony). (Thanks to Joe at PG Travel who helped arrange this!) It was at the stern of the ship on the 4th deck. As a corner unit, it had an unusually large wrap around balcony. The balcony was also deep. The balcony easily held 2 lounges, 2 tables and 2 chairs -- with lots of room to spare on the other side. Being at the back of the ship, we did get a bit more noise -- perhaps from the stabilizers. Certainly we got some noise from the anchor being lowered and raised. Our neighbor passenger requested to move because of sensitivity to the vibration/humming, but we did not find this to be a problem. I note that we did seem to roll on the waves a bit -- other passengers commented on this too. Not sure if we had rougher seas, or the ship's size contributed a bit. That said, my mom really liked being in this location, she says it was the best spot on the ship, as you could watch the wake, see the rainbows in the rain, and be lulled to sleep by the rocking.
Cabin Review
Penthouse
Stateroom Accommodation -- I travelled with my mom and her service dog. While I love my mom, we do like our space. Also, although our service dog is small, a deck was essential.
Our stateroom was QV4188. The room was one of the larger Queen's Grill "standard" suites (same price as most others), and had over 700 sq ft (including the balcony). (Thanks to Joe at PG Travel who helped arrange this!) It was at the stern of the ship on the 4th deck. As a corner unit, it had an unusually large wrap around balcony. The balcony was also deep. The balcony easily held 2 lounges, 2 tables and 2 chairs -- with lots of room to spare on the other side. Being at the back of the ship, we did get a bit more noise -- perhaps from the stabilizers. Certainly we got some noise from the anchor being lowered and raised. Our neighbor passenger requested to move because of sensitivity to the vibration/humming, but we did not find this to be a problem. I note that we did seem to roll on the waves a bit -- other passengers commented on this too. Not sure if we had rougher seas, or the ship's size contributed a bit. That said, my mom really liked being in this location, she says it was the best spot on the ship, as you could watch the wake, see the rainbows in the rain, and be lulled to sleep by the rocking.
Inside the stateroom, we had a decent sized "living" area for the sofa, desk table and chair. We had 2 twin beds, which was a bit cozy, but for 2 weeks we managed. We each had separate closets and my mom used the separate dressing area/table just outside the bathroom. The bathroom was rather large with 2 sinks, and tub with jets and a separate shower cubicle. The room also had a nice granite counter, small cooler fridge and bar sink. We were very comfortable.
Internet/Television. The internet service was spotty at best. Don't even think about Skype -- the bandwidth is just too small. Honestly, the television availability was terrible -- but you are not on a cruise to watch tv, right? Bring DVDs. (The library is very extensive, too, and has lots of books peruse and DVDs to watch).