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Queen Victoria - World Cruise Sector |
| Reviewed By: Moran, BOLTON on 9th May 2008 |
| Cruise Line: Cunard Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Queen Victoria |
Sailed:
March,
2008 |
| Destination: World Cruise |
Age: 65+ |
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We recently joined the Queen Victoria in Singapore for the 5-week sail to her home port of Southampton and it was an excellent and special experience for my husband and myself. We had no problem with embarkation or disembarkation and our luggage was outside our cabin before we arrived there. This was a great start, compared with some previous cruises. She is a beautiful ship with well-appointed and furnished public rooms and facilities, and we found her easy to make our way about. We had lots of favourite places and never had a problem finding seats anywhere, outside or inside. We loved the shows and found the singers especially to be most professional, possibly the best we've seen at sea in nearly 40 cruises and on many different cruise lines. Our Entertainment Director, Alistair Greener, was also totally commited to his job, most professional, articulate and always smiling, and also possibly the best we've ever come across. We enjoyed most of the ports of call and the shore excursions, although we found them, as usual, rather expensive. The best thing here was that in the ports of call, Cunard do not yet charge for the shuttle buses - as do other cruise lines. We were very lucky with our wait staff who were attentive and caring on both the different tables we used in the Britannia Restaurant and found the Maitre'd, Jean Paul, to be extremely helpful when we needed to change tables because of the poor situation of our first one. The food was not consistently good or presented consistently hot, but mainly it was enjoyable. The hot food in the Lido Cafe could have been more varied and interesting and there could have been more choice of cold food.
Our cabin steward was the best, one couldn't have asked for more. He was quiet and polite and just did the job to perfection.
We did, however, hear of lots of other passengers who were not as lucky as us, and as Cunard boast of their White Star Service, I think they need to ensure that the service we received is available all over the ship and to every cruising passenger. Some friends of ours who hadn't experience Cunard before were expecting a couple of notches up from the likes of Princess Cruise Line, but were disappointed to find that in some service areas, this was not the case, and I agree that there is little to choose between them, apart from the hype.
Our balcony cabin was nicely furnished, adequate in size, lacking in drawers and with a small bathroom, but the hanging space was good and we believe that the bedside cabinets are soon to be replaced with three-drawer units.
Our only problem with the ship's company was on the Tour Desk and occasionally at the Pursers Desk where the staff seemed to have an "attitude" problem. There was no way anybody was left thinking that the "customer is always right".
I would recommend this ship and the cruising experience because I do believe that even though there is room for improvement in some areas, Carole Marlow will be under some pressure to ensure that it is made.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Most - Britannia Restaurant and Lido Restaurant | | Entertainment |  |
| Queen Victoria Singers and Dancers | | Shore Excursions | |
| | Staff |  |
| Arnul, Cabin Steward | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Lectures | | Cabins | |
| Could be bigger. | | Overall Rating | |
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