Queen Elizabeth Cruise Review by Simon.Starkie
Trip Details
- Sail Date: February 2018
- Destination: Transpacific
- Cabin Type: Balcony
Summary:
Beautiful ship.
Disappointing experience.
Details:
Just got back from 22 day cruise on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth from San Francisco to Hawaii, Bora Bora, Tahiti, New Zealand, Sydney, returning home to San Francisco via 13 hour Quantas flight.
It was our 20th wedding anniversary and I wanted to do something special for my wife.
Especially since we had planned a Tahiti cruise on the Paul Gauguin in 1999 but job changes for both of us caused us to cancel.
Cunard was running a free balcony upgrade incentive, so I booked this cruise and reserved a table for 2 so we could have some intimacy.
We arrived at the Upper Britannia dining room the first night and were shown to a table for 4 people. I went to the maitre d' and asked if we could please have the table for 2 which we requested 3 months earlier. The maitre d' sarcastically quipped "Only three months" and then refused to provide the requested accommodation.
The pursers office were extremely annoying. It took them 4 days, requiring us to come to their desk each day, to get our credit card authorized.
The coffee was appalling. As an ex-pat, it grieves me to see how badly the Brits make coffee. We've been through this before when we visited the UK. Way too strong.
The drink prices were ridiculous, averaging $14 each. We don't drink alcohol but Virgin Mary's and Cokes were still dear at $4.50 and $3.75 respectively.
The food was un-imaginative "Carnival Cruise" fare although the fish and chips in the pub was decent as was the afternoon tea, stale sandwiches, scones with no clotted cream (unheard of)..
The toilet in our cabin was ridiculously loud. A man came to fix it but we noticed no improvement and he never returned despite our asking.
There was a terrible smell of raw sewage outside our cabin one night. They fixed it. But no apology offered.
There were so many sick people onboard that the main Theater sounded like a diphtheria ward with so many people hacking away. My wife contracted the same flu-like infection and remains sick even after we returned home and got her an antibiotics prescription.
Discussions with other passengers indicated the onboard sickness problem had been occurring since the ship left New York a few weeks earlier. Not sure why I escaped. Perhaps it was because of all the anti-bacterial lotion I applied hourly to my hands, nose and face every day.
The weather was rough for at least 10 of the 14 "at sea" days". Not Cunard's fault, but the promenade deck was frequently roped off due to the rough seas so no walking possible.
Regrettably, it's unlikely we will be taking any Cunard cruises in the future.
Beautiful ship.
Disappointing experience.
Details:
Just got back from 22 day cruise on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth from San Francisco to Hawaii, Bora Bora, Tahiti, New Zealand, Sydney, returning home to San Francisco via 13 hour Quantas flight.
It was our 20th wedding anniversary and I wanted to do something special for my wife.
Especially since we had planned a Tahiti cruise on the Paul Gauguin in 1999 but job changes for both of us caused us to cancel.
Cunard was running a free balcony upgrade incentive, so I booked this cruise and reserved a table for 2 so we could have some intimacy.
We arrived at the Upper Britannia dining room the first night and were shown to a table for 4 people. I went to the maitre d' and asked if we could please have the table for 2 which we requested 3 months earlier. The maitre d' sarcastically quipped "Only three months" and then refused to provide the requested accommodation.
The pursers office were extremely annoying. It took them 4 days, requiring us to come to their desk each day, to get our credit card authorized.
The coffee was appalling. As an ex-pat, it grieves me to see how badly the Brits make coffee. We've been through this before when we visited the UK. Way too strong.
The drink prices were ridiculous, averaging $14 each. We don't drink alcohol but Virgin Mary's and Cokes were still dear at $4.50 and $3.75 respectively.
The food was un-imaginative "Carnival Cruise" fare although the fish and chips in the pub was decent as was the afternoon tea, stale sandwiches, scones with no clotted cream (unheard of)..
The toilet in our cabin was ridiculously loud. A man came to fix it but we noticed no improvement and he never returned despite our asking.
There was a terrible smell of raw sewage outside our cabin one night. They fixed it. But no apology offered.
There were so many sick people onboard that the main Theater sounded like a diphtheria ward with so many people hacking away. My wife contracted the same flu-like infection and remains sick even after we returned home and got her an antibiotics prescription.
Discussions with other passengers indicated the onboard sickness problem had been occurring since the ship left New York a few weeks earlier. Not sure why I escaped. Perhaps it was because of all the anti-bacterial lotion I applied hourly to my hands, nose and face every day.
The weather was rough for at least 10 of the 14 "at sea" days". Not Cunard's fault, but the promenade deck was frequently roped off due to the rough seas so no walking possible.
Regrettably, it's unlikely we will be taking any Cunard cruises in the future.
Simon.Starkie’s Full Rating Summary
Enrichment Activities
Value For Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Cabin
Fitness & Recreation
Shore Excursions
Service
Onboard Experience
Cabin Review
Cabin BB 8018
Nice cabin, great cabin steward, very loud toilet, whistling balcony door gasket.
Deck 8
Inside Cabins, Balcony Cabins, Suite Cabins
