This was the 14-day eclipse trip from Southampton to NYC via Zeebrugge, Norway and Iceland. We traveled on the Queen Elizabeth 10 years ago and have been on numerous cruises on various lines, with Seabourn our most frequent.
Embarkation was smooth and with minimal lines. Our stateroom (Britannia Club) was ready within minutes of our arrival. All public venues open and we enjoyed lunch in the buffet (King’s Court). The ship is long with many open spaces, well maintained. The ship is over 20 years old and in really good shape for its age, with rare exceptions. This was a full ship, and it often felt crowded. There are limited washing machines on board and my wife participated in what we called ‘washer wars’ three times. Very competitive to get a machine and your clothing was in a basket if you weren’t there when it finished. Next refit, they should expand these facilities. Cunard cannot fix rude passengers.
The cabin was clean with only a small issue with the carpet not completely tacked down at the balcony door. The bathroom is smallish with a single sink and a walk-in shower with a shower curtain. This and the decor make the bathroom dated. Our cabin attendant Noel was efficient and reliable.
We enjoy social ballroom dancing, and this is one of the principal reasons we chose this eclipse cruise. The Queen’s room is spacious and the dance hosts friendly. The sea day ballroom dance lessons were excellent, even with the large crowds that gathered. Simon and Heidi were wonderful instructors, especially for new dancers. The music was a mix of recorded and live. We enjoyed 14 evenings of dancing. Only Cunard and Crystal have such spaces and dance hosts. Well done!
My wife also attended dance exercise sessions and line dance lessons. She enjoyed both and they had almost enough room in the Queen’s room for the attendees.
Britannia Club dining was very good to excellent. The food on this trip was a step up from our experience 10 years ago. The staff was also excellent. This is a premium cruise line, not a luxury ship and one of the primary differences is the food quality and menu variety. We were more than satisfied by what Cunard provided in the Britannia Club for premium-level cruising. They only flubbed three orders over two weeks, two omelets and a missing appetizer. We also had 4 table mates that were engaging and interesting people, a pleasure to sail with. Looking around, this was the rule in the Brittannia Club and not the exception.
King’s Court (buffet) dining was a different matter. While breakfast was good, lunch menus were monotonous and it was surprisingly bland and even tasteless. We avoided lunch after a couple days and headed to our Britannia Club table instead. Really, how do you extract all flavors from sweet and sour pork? The typical buffet grazer was generally considerate, with slow, meaningless meandering. The buffet always felt crowded. The serving staff was generally attentive and efficient. Look at your dining utensils! We had two dirty forks and a partially washed knife.
The specialty steak house Veranda was a disappointment. My wife’s fillet was okay. However, my ribeye could have been purchased at any grocery store in the States. As in pre-wrapped not butcher cut. Service was very good.
We had an in-room breakfast twice. Another distinction with a premium vs. luxury brand. Cunard just dropped off the tray, while Seabourn would put down a tablecloth and arrange the food. Not a big issue, just a comment about service level expectations.
The two couples massage experiences were very good, not excellent. The gym was crowded and well equipped. Several non-functional aerobic machines didn’t help. My wife did yoga in the room since the yoga classes were full and cost extra.
The speakers on board were mixed as far as content and engagement. Not everyone wants to hear about criminal justice in the UK. Most were interested in the solar eclipse talks with a Royal Astronomical Society speaker. The Canadian astronaut was the most engaging.
We did not attend any of the production shows, we were ballroom dancing. Having said that, none of the shows were interesting enough to pull us away from the Queen’s room for even an hour. Shipboard entertainers were adequate at best. Somewhat disappointing given the size of the ship and the affluence of the passengers. None were bad and none were great.
Shore excursions were what you would expect on a premium line. Nothing spectacular and nothing of poor quality.
Here is the biggest complaint we and other cruisers had. The itinerary was to include an overnight stay in Reykjavik with the solar eclipse in the late afternoon of the first day in port. Less than a month before sailing, our Cunard excursion in Reykjavik for the second day was cancelled without explanation. I mean, just an email saying the excursion was cancelled. Upon checking the itinerary we found that the ship was leaving the first night. There was no other communication or explanation provided. The rumor was that the captain wanted to leave the evening of the eclipse and head to NYC. Was this a fuel or port (cost) saving decision? One cannot predict storms a month out. (We had excellent seas the entire trip.) No rationale provided by the crew during the voyage. The eclipse speaker didn’t even know of the itinerary change! This was just handled poorly by Cunard.
We had a very enjoyable trip. We will likely sail Cunard again when an itinerary appeals to us. We know what to expect with Cunard, very good overall.