If the QE2 is like a new Armani tux, the CARONIA feels more like your favorite old tweed jacket. That's the best analogy I can come up with after 18 days onboard CARONIA to describe the difference between Cunard's two very different ships. CARONIA may not be as slick or stylish, but she's comfy. CARONIA is newer by a couple of years but seems more like a classic liner. British-built as the VISTAFJORD for the now-defunct Norwegian America Line, she was acquired by Cunard in the 1980s and has been meticulously maintained. She's slower, averaging about 17-18 knots as opposed to the QE2's 28-30 and the difference translated into long leisurely days at sea for most of this extended crossing/cruise of approximately 5600 sea miles.
Leaving Boston on the evening of Wednesday, November 8 on Virgin Atlantic's flight to Gatwick Airport was easy: they didn't charge for the 5th checked bag (thanks, Virgin.) We were met outside the Customs Hall by a uniformed Cunard rep who, after a short wait walked us and another couple to Gatwick's Le Meridien Hotel where a hospitality suite was set up to accomodate incoming passengers. Our luggage was placed on carts and transferred to busses which left Gatwick shortly before noon for the two hour ride to Southampton. No chance to do any sightseeing (Sorry, Malcolm) but we drove right by the old Great Southwestern Hotel, now being converted to luxury condos. Apart from the docks, Southampton looked like an upscale town, or at least the part we drove through. Not what you expect for a port city and we wish we'd had a bit of time to explore.
Embarkation was easy enough, although the priority supposedly offered Cunard World Club members doesn't matter much when 72% of the passengers boarding are members. After about 20 minutes in line, we were photographed by a digital camera and issued a photo-ID for embarking and disembarking at the various ports. It was a first for us and made the process much easier. I look forward to the day when this card serves for all of your onboard charges as well. We were then directed upstairs to a waiting lounge and a word to the hostess at the gate got us on pronto. Stewards at the top of the gangway bring you to your cabin but as ours was across the hall from the entryway, it was about 10 steps.
Our cabin, an F grade double on A deck, was about the size of the the bathroom, trunk room and dressing room of the cabins we've had on the QE2 (about 150 sq. ft. total) but once we got unpacked and the suitcases that wouldn't fit under the beds were stowed, it worked. The finishes are high-quality, with a compact bath w/tub and shower, lots of real wood, wool carpets, duvets, feather pillows, a TV/VCR, not quite enough drawer space and two full length and one half length closets. It took a bit but we managed to unload the contents of two big suiters, two huge pullmans and a duffel bag and sort through the contents of the carryons.
By now it was 4 PM so up on deck then into the ballroom for that very nice British custom: teatime. They offer you enough to make a meal but the best surprise was the sight of our favorite Cunard employee, Ms. Melanie Lamey. Anyone who's travelled on the QE2 (and now on the CARONIA) remembers Melanie: her poise, charm, intelligence, tact and beauty are accented by her height (somewhere past 6 ft and climbing.) Originally a German-speaking hostess on QE2, she is now Cruise Hostess for the CARONIA and to me, as much an asset to Cunard as their ships. She looks and dresses like a model, works like the devil, never stops smiling and would have no trouble finding work as a diplomat. We love her as she makes everyone she meets feel at home instantly.
A quick trip to the Maitre'd got our table changed from the Siberia of tables for two along the inside wall to one closer to the windows in the (rather small) smoking section of the Franconia Dining Room. As CARONIA is single-seating, the dining room is a large, low-ceilinged "U"-shaped room seating a bit more than 600 passengers at a time. With windows on both sides it's bright and cheerful at breakfast and lunch but a bit tight at dinner when everyone is at his or her table. Two's exist and can be had but the majority of tables seat four, six or eight with several tables hosted each night by officers, though not by the Captain. The hotel manager hosts what could be considered the Captain's table in the center of the room's smaller section. The CARONIA may be unique in that it's galley is located one deck below the dining room and plated food is brought up by escalators. Serving stations are arrayed around the inside of the "U" and each waiter appeared to serve no more than 14 to 18 passengers.
Our waiter, a CARONIA veteran from Germany named Josef, picked up on our dining quirks at once: fresh OJ and real cream with the coffee, sugar not "Sweet'n Low," iced tea followed by regular coffee at lunch, decaf at night, etc. By the third day he even had a signal going when he saw me pick up my cigarettes: one finger meant time for a smoke, two meant the entree was gonna take a while and an almost imperceptible sideways nod meant "no, don't light it." You may not smoke but you have to appreciate that kind of seamless service. We learned as the cruise progessed how lucky we were - more than a few of our shipmates complained, some strenuously, about slipshod and slow service.
The food was above average; not up to the "a la minute" standard of the QE2's Queen's Grill (every dish plated or cooked to order) but quite good. On an average evening one chose from four to five starters, three soups (one chilled,) salads prepared by your waiter to order, a pasta dish available as a full or half order, sorbet on request, four to five entrees and a vegetarian selection. In addition, variations on the menu selections were offered as the "spa selection;" usually the same dishes with different sauces or none. Formal nights featured lobster, (something called "Bermuda tails" but I'm from New England where we used to use it as cat food so don't like it frozen) Chateaubriand, Beef Wellington, Lemon Sole - more or less cruise ship classics. Veal seemed to appear a lot: I love it so didn't mind and one night the calf's liver with bacon and fried onions was superb. Homey, but again, I like it. Desserts were great: the ship has a terrific pastry chef as well as 3 full time bakers turning out scrumptious fresh bread, rolls, cakes and on Sundays only, a selection of Scandinavian breads to die for. Get the cinnamon-hazelnut bread on Sunday morning and you may not need to go to church as you've already tasted heaven.
Portions aren't huge but six or seven courses followed by cheese, chocolates and cookies fills you up. The wine list is not up to the standards of the food: mid-range wines at 3 x US retail, a limited list from Australia and New Zealand, poor Italian and Spanish reds (where the bargains ought to be) and stratospheric prices for the good stuff. 1990 Dom Perignon was a relative bargain at $105 but most people I spoke to were put off by the high prices. The answer is to stock more reasonably-priced drinkable wines: the price per bottle will be lower but they'd sell more and hence make more on the volume. Robert, our wine steward and good at his job, told us we were his best customers - not because we drank so much (we always had one white and one red going, usually through two meals) but because most passengers drank so little. I'm no wine snob but I'd rate the wine list as only a C plus, maybe a B minus. The food, given the need to get out 600 meals in a two hour span, rated a B plus: certainly good, varied and beautifully presented but not up to top standards we saw in the QE2's Grill Rooms.
BTW: Caviar was served twice. Your waiter can get you a double order, particularly if your tablemates don't order it, but off-menu they add $15 if you request it.
We took lunch and breakfast in the dining room every day but once for each meal. Who wants to bus your own dishes when great food and service is available one flight down from the Lido? The ship's alternative dining room, the Tivoli, is available once per cruise by reservation. The menu is oriented towards Italian food but I had a rack of lamb: certainly good but again, not spectacular. The presentation is a bit over the top with silver covers on the entrees lifted to the count of "1,2,3" and a couple of extra touches but we were perfectly happy with the main dining room. Were we offered a second dinner in Tivoli I doubt we'd have taken it.
I go on about the food but with 12 of the 18 days at sea, there isn't much to look forward to except more sea views and the next feeding which is usually about 2 hours after the last one. The day starts with coffee and sweet rolls in the Lido at 6 AM, a full breakfast buffet is out by 7, the dining room opens at 8, there's bouillion on deck at 11, lunch in both the Lido and the dining room at 12:30, high tea in both the ballroom and the forward Garden lounge at 4, dinner at 7 and a late night snack at 11. If you're still hungry, there's free ice cream (the coconut is great) from 10 to 5 by the pool and 24 hour room service with salads, sandwiches and burgers as well as full meals from the dining room menu served in your cabin by request. You can't go hungry.
Despite the horrible storms experienced in the UK just before the cruise, we managed a two day window of perfect weather with sailing slightly delayed by passengers on a BA flight from Miami which had been diverted to Amsterdam then brought back to London shortly before sailing. We headed out a bit past 7 on a bright but cold night on Thursday, November 9th and spent the next three days at sea. On Saturday, November 11th I awoke fairly early, wondering what the sound next to my head was at 6 AM. I looked out the porthole to see land - an odd sight when the plotted course on display the night before had us a 100 miles out to sea. As our cabin was next to the "A" deck entryway, it turned out to be the the crew opening the entryway to disembark a couple from Los Angeles who I learned had medical problems on the flight to the UK. We later learned from their tour group leader that they'd made it back to LA where he was hospitalized and later discharged. WORD TO THE WISE: buy the insurance. You never know. It's a ripoff if you don't use it but a godsend if you do, particularly had medical care/hospitalization been required in LaCoruna, Spain. After the passenger, his wife and their luggage were put off in the pilot boat, we resumed course and speed and arrived at the one of the prettiest places I've ever seen - Funchal, Madeira - on Monday morning, November 13th.
In mid-November, the temperatures rose to about 80 degrees by noon on a gorgeous sunny day. We took a half day island panorama tour which offered plenty of scenic views of this lovely island. We retuerned to the ship for lunch but headed back to town in the afternoon and ended up at Reid's Palace, a grand old hotel overlooking the harbor for tea and a lesiurely walk back to the ship at dusk. Interestingly, the CARONIA was berthed next to it's former running mate, the SAGA ROSE, ex-SAGAFJORD, now operated by the British line Saga Holidays. We were told the ship caters to an older, upscale British clientele but the exterior comparison of the two ships, almost but not quite identical, was striking, as CARONIA's upkeep looked far better.
We sailed at 11 PM and did not see land again for six days. This is the part I looked forward to and CARONIA did not let us
down. I'm an early riser, so my days fell into a regular pattern: coffee in the Lido at 5 or 6 AM followed by a ciggy at the stern followed by leisurely turn on the deck at dawn followed by an hour reading in the deserted ballroom until it was time to rouse my partner for breakfast followed by a trip to the gym then an an hour on deck then very competitive team trivia at noon which occupied about half the passengers. We only won once, almost always coming in second as our main competitors were lead by two guys who not only brought the trivia books on board but actually memorized the answers. Get a life. Still, it's the most mentally challenging thing one does all day and another nice way to meet new people. After that lunch, a swim and sunbathing, perhaps a lecture or dance lessons (NOTE TO DANCERS: they take it very seriously here.) The band, the trio and the piano player, Bryant Olander, are all great but Bryant, who entertains at Trivia and the 4 PM tea dance as well as evenings in the Piccadilly Club, the ship's lounge/disco, can play anything.
Great personality too. Likewise the cruise director, Andrew Graham, is a talented dancer himself as well as a dance instructor, having trained the actors and extras in the Australian film STRICTLY BALLROOM. If you don't dance, there's a movie every afternoon and evening in the ships's 200-seat cinema which is also used on Sunday mornings for an non-denominational service lead by the captain. On Friday evening Jewish passengers could attend services led by a rabbi from New Orleans onboard as a passenger. Unlike the QE2, the CARONIA does not regularly carry clergy except during major religious holidays.
Bingo is at 5 every day: $10 for one set, $20 for 3 sets of cards. Played often; never won. The final day snowball was $2100. The lucky winner could pay off his bar bill.
Then dress for dinner, perhaps a drink before dinner or one of the many parties held either in friend's cabins or in one of the bars. The captain entertains at least half the passengers in groups of 20-30 each night in his cabin: we went up on the last night of the long leg at sea. The ritual is lightened by drinks and canapes, a staple of all the bars on board at cocktail time. Still, it's polite conversation, a wander around his private deck that wraps across the forward superstructure and off to dinner as described above. After dinner the main show is held each night at 10 PM in the Ballroom preceded by after dinner dancing and while a few nights were good (a Polish woman violinist, an Irish comedian, the ships production company) the bulk were sort of Liberace-style piano players and singers who'll never get to the big show rooms in Las Vegas. It was OK in a cheesy sort of way. I mean, it's not like "this act's no good, let's go down the street" because the nearest street (or land, for that matter) is 1000 miles away. You either enjoy it, put up with it, go to the bars or the casino or go to bed. Most of the passengers go to bed. By midnite the ship is asleep, with perhaps 50 revelers still awake.
The casino is small and sedate. I played the (tight) slots enough to know I wasn't gonna get rich that way. The White Star (Cigar) Bar is forward of the casino on the port side and leads to perhaps the prettiest public room on the ship, the wraparound Garden Lounge. By day there's a 180 degree view of the bow and the horizon, by night, the tiered room sometimes offers dancing but seemed underused as an alternative except on the nights the ship's classical musicians, a piano quartet from London's Royal College of Music performed. Known as the Newbold Quartet after their leader, a very talented pianist named Samantha Newbold, they were for us the best entertainment on board. We attended each of their 5 concerts which were held first at 6:30 and repeated at 9:15 so you attend either before or after dinner. Again, tasty snacks passed with your drinks made their performances all the more enjoyable.
The week of American Thanksgiving started Monday morning with landfall in Barbados, berthed alongside BLACK WATCH, CRYSTAL SYMPHONY and the VEENDAM. We took a Land Rover tour off road to see otherwise inaccessible areas of the island most tourists miss. By now the temps were in the mid 80's so the breeze from the open vehicles felt good. The Eastern, or Atlantic side of Barbados is wild rugged coastline, reminding me of Hawaii and complete with surfers and dramatic cliffs falling to the sea while the sheltered beaches on the Western, or Caribbean, side are much calmer and better suited for swimming. All told it reminded me of the west coast of Florida: resorts like Sarasota or Naples but for Brits and about three times as much for hotel rooms or meals. Plenty of shopping in Bridgetown, too, but nothing in town that one couldn't buy at the branches in the cruise terminal.
Dominica was next and while there isn't much in the way of tourist infrastructure, the scenery is spectacular. Some of the passengers on our tour said it reminded them of Vietnam with misty mountains and lush green valleys. Our tourguide to the Emerald Pool said the island was used for some of the background shots to the movie JURASSIC PARK. Following the rainforest/waterfall portion of the trip, it was back on the bus (for another hour and a half) to be rowed upriver to a bar in the "jungle." Corny but fun and a tropical downpour cooled us off. "Jungle Juice," the local all-rum drink warmed us back up (do they plan these things?) then back to the ship late for our only brush with room service, Ceasar salad, a cheeseburger and apple pie. Perfectly fine after an apology that because of a number of late tour returnees, there would a slight wait: 15 minutes. Sheraton should do so well. It was so beautiful we went back ashore to swim and explore an old fort above the cruise pier.
Wednesday brought us to Antigua. With no tours scheduled we goofed off, enjoying the ship more or less to ourselves before lunch but finally so bored that we walked into town. With two other ships in port, it was hot and crowded without much beyond the T-shirt shops and our second pass at the jewelery stores.
Thanksgiving morning meant we were in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, the Dutch port on this tiny island divided into Dutch and French sides. Here we saw a butterfly farm before circling into the French side for more shopping before returning to the ship. We went back into Phillipsburg in the afternoon where I finally got a watch. NOTE TO SHOPPERS: the best deals are here.
For Americans, the busiest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving. Imagine arriving in St. Thomas along with about 10,000 other passengers, mostly American and all hot to spend money. There were at least five ships in port or anchored and the streets and stores were jammed. We didn't buy a thing but enjoyed wandering around.
The last two days up to Ft. Lauderdale after the bustle of the ports seemed anticlimactic but it was good to be back in the US Monday morning. Our Delta flights, despite my best efforts, got us home about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. I say "despite" as I, for the first time in my life, managed to lose the boarding passes on the first plane from Ft. Lauderdale for the connecting flight from Atlanta to Boston. Thank God for e-tickets. We, and all our bags, were home safe. NOTE TO AMERICANS WHO OVERPACK: Delta nails you for the extra bag: $75.
THE GOOD: The crew and staff we dealt with were great. The Captain, Ron Bolton, was visible, made smalltalk, wandered around, gave great noon talks from the bridge and even stood at the gangplank as we disembarked, shaking hands and wishing us a safe journey home. Never had that happen before. Our waiter, busboys, bartenders and stewardess all got their tips doubled: they were special and the service was great. CARONIA is big enough to offer plenty to do but small enough, especially on a longer cruise, to get to know your fellow passengers.
THE (NOT REALLY THAT) BAD: The Ballroom is flat, not tiered, so bad sightlines from the back of the room. The Lido is too small with overflow into the Ballroom at breakfast and lunch. Eat in the dining room: the food's better anyway. How hard can it be to put on a pair of pants? The wine list (see above.)
THE UGLY: Too much brown water, way too often; allegedly sediment in the ship's water tanks but hey guys, buy water filters. They work at my house. Some days the tub was the color of tea. Or worse, coffee. It'd eventually (three tubfulls one day) run clear but when you've just popped in to take a shower and dress for dinner it's an unwelcome delay. And we all got colds - really nasty hacking-cough colds. According to rumors on board due at least in part to mold in the a/c system. Maybe so, maybe not, but worth cleaning out the ducts in the hopes of eliminating any potential problems.
FINAL THOUGHT: I'd go again, in a minute. She's my new favorite old ship. It'll have to wait but we put down a deposit for an "open booking" for 2002: we've a year to make up our minds where we want to go but it'll be on CARONIA. Larry Pimental, the Chairman of Cunard Line, was on board for the final leg over the holiday weekend. I told him (more briefly) what I'm telling you: it was great and Carnival has made it better, not worse.
[This message has been edited by bostom (edited 12-01-2000).]
[This message has been edited by bostom (edited 12-01-2000).]
[This message has been edited by bostom (edited 12-01-2000).]