I'm unsure what you are disagreeing with I state that there are groups dedicated to traditional cruising and some of their members judge others, which group, poster and comment are you referring too? How are they not judging? You need to be specific here.

I've sailed on Cunard, Crystal, Regent, Silversea, Atlas Ocean Voyagers, Celebrity X, Azamara, Oceania, HAL and RCL. We hold high status levels in several of those lines too. So I have some experience.

If you really have sailed Cunard, then you will know that they do enforce their dress code unlike some other lines. So my comment about them demanding people be suitably attired is correct.

Silversea more dressy? You're being a little naive here in my opinion. You need to take more than a cruise line into account. Caribbean cruises frequented by a large proportion of Americans will not be as dressy as a European based cruise full of Europeans.

As for misunderstandings, you appear to be guilty of that here. I didn't think my previous post was that hard to understand. I stated that many other lines are trying to attract a younger demographic and have thus relaxed their dress code as younger passengers don't want to wear formal ear on holiday. Whilst you may have witnessed a few making an effort, which is quite admiral. These are the exception to the rule. You only need to follow the investor relations podcasts of the big three cruise companies to see their strategies here. Norwegian, Carnival and RCL groups are all seeking a younger clientele as any experienced cruiser will tell you.

indeed. thank you.

Oopsie. I also have some experience. I believe you mean well-heeled.

Maybe they have to get healed from being beaten up by the dress code police.

At gala nights, I saw many men dressed in suits rather than tuxedos. I didn't keep a scorecard, but I would guess that almost half were wearing suits. I suppose a lot depends on how one interprets "dress accordingly for traditional formal nights." (This was in Britannia, not one of the Grills.)

In context it means following the cruise lines specific guidelines, which vary from line to line.

I appreciate some may have rather odd interpretations of this though. That said when Celebrity X dropped 'formal nights' to 'Celebrity Chic' the internet was filled with several hundred threads very quickly as people struggled to understand their rather ambiguous wording!

I was just upgraded to Princess Grill. I had upgraded to Balcony Club and for just $500 more per person they upgraded me to Princess. Since it's only me, I had to pay for 2 people, but it was worth it to try out the princess suite since it's on a 13 night Caribbean cruise. Enjoy your cruise, and congratulations again!

Recently returned from a one-way crossing on the Queen Mary 2 (Southampton > NYC), done for my spouse's birthday. I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it far more than I thought I would (cruises aren't my thing). Once I finish up my career and we have less pressures on timings, I look forward to doing another and perhaps making this a part of our regular treks to the US. FWIW, some thoughts for those considering the passage.
High points:
- Unplugging: one week without internet connection - we didn't opt into the package - was a wonderful break from the hellscape of modern reality. I read at least a dozen books, strolled the deck listening to music on EarPods, savoured being away from it all.
- Intentionality and the "slow travel" vibe: on the whole, the crowd was anything but the usual cruise persona and enjoyed, like us, the un-rushed movement from one to another point of the crossing. It struck me as anything but the type of superficiality that I associate with the usual cruise environment.
- Different spaces to provide variety: the library, a pub-style bar, a piano/lounge bar, coffee shop, library. There were several very good piano concertos in the afternoon, meetings of different groups (e.g. GLBT, reading groups...).
- Surprisingly good wine list in the general dining areas, along with a nice selection of drinks elsewhere: the prices, while a bit higher than landslide, were not unreasonable for being in mid-atlantic.
- Well cared for and appointed gym: it was often busy, but never full, so keeping fit and healthy isn't a concern.
- The dressing code was not nearly as onerous as I had feared: I packed one suit, smart clothing and a few ties. A bit more than half did the "tuxedo/evening gown" thing on so-called gala evenings, whereas others wore suits or more formal attire then.
Low points:
- Service was spotty and generally unpolished: some staff were good, others really quite poor. Over 7 days we learned which ones to avoid, although few of them seemed to be in a good mood. Perhaps Cunard pays poorly or they are at the end of contracts?
- Extra charge restaurants are not worth the expense and are better avoided: the Veranda Grill was entirely mediocre, with a shockingly bad wine list for its billing and sloppy service; the speciality space (our was billed as "South Asian", called Bamboo) was vile, the service inept at best and definitely not worth an extra euro.
- The buffet areas were absolute zoos, as if fresh meat had been thrown into a cage of wild animals. TBF, the food on offer was pretty poor there, but one can always go to a restaurant or order to cabin.
- Disembarcation in Brooklyn was a mess, taking well over 6 hours, with lines stretching well over 500m at one point. Cunard blamed US border services; US border services claimed they weren't informed of the ship's arrival.
- Cunard itself comes off as amateurish, organizationally speaking and in terms of customer service. We had no end of troubles with our booking before leaving, spent many hours on the phone resolving them time and again, and were left with the impression reminding me of Alitalia on its worst bent. The UK office fought with the US office and vice versa, there is no dedicated EU office (which leads to hiccups in booking protocols and rules for passage), and while everyone admitted that they had made mistakes, no-one took responsibility for fixing things.
A final word of advice: Upgrading to Brittania Club is something I would very much recommend this to any, as it gives dedicated table and servers, and means evenings in a quieter space without waiting in line. The ma�tresse d'h�tel (Mary Jane) in our club area was very attentive and easily the best staff of all, always giving good advice on what to order or avoid. The food itself batted between acceptable and good, with reasonable variety: I keep my expectations low for such things and was generally pleased in response.

Excellent, informative review. I must admit I expected a more polished service than what it sounds like you got. What cabin level were you in?

Thank you for your overview. I've read similar reports like yours. I have several QM2 cruises coming up and the last one (13 nights Caribbean), I was upgraded to Balcony Club and then Princess Grills. From my research, a Balcony Club booking overall is better than the Princess and Queens grill, because all the perks are similar with the exception of a stocked complimentary mini-fridge in Queen's grill, but you're paying for it too. Balcony Club has all the perks that most passengers I would need though, like priority embarkation/disembarkation, mineral water, coffee pod machine, fresh fruit, pillow selection, velour robes, and in-suite dining. I only accepted the princess grill upgrade due to the total rate being only $1000 extra for the 13 nights, to try it out.

Thanks again!

It's been hypothesized that a lot of the better cruise service workers left during the COVID shutdown and recruiting suitable replacements has been a challenge for almost all the lines since. It's been reported that most lines are short-staffed and/or poorly-staffed (substandard) in the hotel department. All lines (at least the non-gratuity-included ones) pay pretty poorly partially made up from the hotel service charge (i.e., gratuity) pool.

I am surprised but perhaps Cunard suffers the same catering cutbacks as its CarnivalCorp wharfmates. Buffets seem bad on crowded ships in general and may have been made worst by staffing shortages.

That has a lot to do with it. I know a few cruise employees who didn't go back and found jobs in their home country. Also, MSC for instance used to port in India and after the pandemic, they never went back. That's where lots of their staff was from, and they could easily go home for a short break. Many of the current staff on many ships have no prior experience. Even hotels lost staff during the pandemic.

It will be years before things straighten out, as many of the newly hire are quitting due to burn out, so the cycle starts over.

I was on a Explora (MSC's premium line) earlier this year and reportedly many of the hotel staff there have no cruise work experience either. Not only that but they're surprisingly on short contracts (5 months). Not sure how many of those with previous cruise employment come from MSC or from other lines. I do know the kitchen staff seems to have trouble with how to use first-rate ingredients (don't blame them as it may be foreign to their food culture and they're not adequately trained in their use).

That's consistent with this "Cruise with Ben and David" review of the same ship:

TATLTAIL , if you enjoyed your recent crossing enough, you might be interested in future years in some of the longer ones offered by other lines as part of their repositioning of ships from Europe to the U.S. in the Fall, and from the U.S. to Europe in the Spring. Here are a couple being offered this year by Celebrity: