Many of us wondered about what appeared to be private box seats on the second level of the Royal Court Theater. Were these seats going to be for Grill Class passengers only, or first come first served, or maybe they were not even private??

Well, they are private boxes and they will be open to everyone ..... for a price. Leave it to management at Princess to come up with another revenue producing opportunity. Remember that Princess is the line that also pioneered "enhancements" such as paying for a premium dinner or breakfast served on your balcony.

Back to QV, Cunard will offer a "post-dinner package" open to all. Guests who purchase this package will escorted to a private room for dessert then to their box where they can sip champagne (extra charge I'm sure) during the performance. They have not established a price yet.

Frankly I don't think I've seem too many cruise ship shows that I would be willing to pay for .... regardless of where I'm sitting. Usually I like an aisle seat for a quick escape if necessary. The one major exception is the ice skating show on the Freedom and Voyager Class ships of Royal Caribbean. It's superb.

Also, in case you were wondering, the Princess/Queen's grill private deck space on QV will be accessible by private key card. This will keep the riff-raff from walking through the deck area like they can on QM2.

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Originally posted by eroller:
This will keep the riff-raff from walking through the deck area like they can on QM2.

Ernie

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:

Thank God! Another reason to book a cruise on this liner!

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Originally posted by desirod7:

Bruce, you are baiting me

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Originally posted by desirod7:
Bruce, you are baiting me

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Well, many hotels have similar, one cannot visit certain floors or areas unless you have the card key, or the required 'regular customer status'. Just as airline lounges, areas on other cruise ships and on ferries. I don't see the problem.

That would be Gay

Greetings Ben.

[ 03-29-2007: Message edited by: Maasdam ]

BTW, are there still real theatres/opera's/ concertbuildings being built with "boxes" ?

When most other cruise lines are virtually classless, Cunard have continued to maintain the various grades of dining and now theatre ‘boxes’ etc. We should not be surprised because ‘class division', is one a Cunard’s unique selling points, so it’s hardly going to go away. There will always be someone willing to a pay a high price for extras.

Although I am essentially anti class division, I can accept the concept of the more you pay, the bigger and better your cabin gets and the better the dining experience gets – that’s life. What does bother me is that one pays more to cruise with Cunard (even in the Britannia or Mauritania grades) than with many other lines, yet get excluded from certain deck areas and public rooms.

O.K. NCL have their Garden Villa’s, but at least those not in them are not paying through the nose to be onboard the ship.

Of course if you don’t like Cunard’s style, don’t cruise with them.

[ 03-29-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

Exactly, people always want something extra. A quick read around any cruise forum will yield tons of questions along the line of 'what extras do I get in Concierge Class', 'do I get a Butler', 'what perks are there with xyz' & 'do I get this that & the other'. People want it, people get it, on every line out there. Cunard is no different and quite why people still seem to have this fixation on 'class distinction' and a pigeon hole filing system for every human being out there, is beyond me.

If someone wants to pay extra for something why shouldn't they, if someone doesn't want to, then that's fine too, but no reason to harp on about someone else who has, the choice is there. Some may choose an 'owner's suite' for one cruise, and an inside cabin for another. Some may sail a Carnival ship one week and Hebridean the next - choice. We are lucky to have it; in days of yore, those 'glory liner' days, the choice was not there, you had your place in the pigeon holes of society, thankfully gone, now it is personal choice alone.

There's no way I would pay extra for a box in the theatre, but if others want to, so what - likewise with a bit of private deck space. Many will have their own balconies anyway.

Ships these days have so little deck space space which is the main problem. QM2 is in a world of her own in that respect and a small area for certain passengers use is no big deal. There are also kids areas, pools etc, what's the difference.

Pam, as for why people still seem to have this fixation on 'class distinction', many of us think it is alive and well. John Lennon put it nicely at the Royal Variety Performance 4th November 1963 “Will all the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? All the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery”.

Interestingly the Theastre boxes rarely face the stage and did not always offer very good views. They were more about being seen i.e. “look how important I am”. This may well be their main usage on the Queen Victoria?

In fact the boxes in a Theatre on the stage right normally face the boxes on the stage left, so the Nobility could see who was in attendance, who was wearing what and which ladies were accompanying which men.

she entered to 'hello southampton' then looked up to the boxes and said 'hello winchester'.

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Originally posted by PamM:
Do you look at those in a box and think wow.. I certainly don't ...

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No not normally, but we all enjoy 'perks' don't we? I don't really have a strong opinion on the QV Theatre boxes.

However, the corporately owned Loggia boxes at the Royal Albert Hall (and other venues) which are 'free' for the selected Company employees (often those at the top rather than the bottom) with food and drink being served, are very nice. I’d much rather have a free seat in a box, with all the 'trimmings', for any show that I fancied, than have to pay for a seat.

On a cruise ship I’d rather be in a Grand Suite than an inside cabin.

I don't sneer at people who Travel in ‘First Class’ on a long haul flights either, but I wish I could afford the extra comforts myself. Call me a Marxist if you like, but I think every passenger should have adequate leg room, not just the wealthy or those with expense accounts.

(I know there are financial arguments about much of the Airlines profits coming from First class, but I'm not totally convinced by them.)

[ 03-29-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Johan:

BTW, are there still real theatres/opera's/ concertbuildings being built with "boxes" ?

J

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Originally posted by Johan:

BTW, are there still real theatres/opera's/ concertbuildings being built with "boxes" ?

J

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
Personally I would never pay for a show on a cruise ship at the entertainment level they currently have.

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Right on! I mean really, paying to see a cruise ship production show? Of course there will be those that will be willing to do it, no doubt in hopes of being noticed. Personally if I looked up at those boxes I would think what a bunch of idiots ... taken for a ride.

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Originally posted by eroller:
Personally if I looked up at those boxes I would think what a bunch of idiots ... taken for a ride.

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I know that I'm being controversial, but I have similar thoughts about the Princess and Queen Grills on board the QE2 and QM2.

Of course Luxury is often all about paying a lot more money for something a little bit better. For example is a £100 bottle of wine ten times better than a £10 bottle? Not to most of us, I assume?

Looking at a six night crossing in summer on board the QM2, upgrading to the Princess Grill from an Oceanview 'Britannia' cabin cost at least £133 per night extra (£800 or $1,575 per crossing) to upgrade to a Queens Grill cabin, it cost at least £358 extra per night (£2148 or $4228 per crossing).

Now I don't doubt for a minute that the Princess and Queens Grill cabins are better and the food and service are excellent, but the price! Can posh nosh and a bigger cabin on the same ship REALLY be worth an arm and a leg?

Of course being a hypocrite, I'd accept a 'free' upgrade.

[ 03-31-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Can posh nosh and a bigger cabin on the same ship REALLY be worth an arm and a leg?

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Of course being a hypocrite, I'd accept a 'free' upgrade.

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[ 03-31-2007: Message edited by: CGT ]

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
Seems to me that the different classes Cunard has is for snobs,etc.IMHO. Frosty 4

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Hey, I know some people that have LOTS of money absolutely NO class at all! The problem with seperating a ship into 'Class' is that even the Molly Browns in this world can buy a duplex-suite. Imagine booking a grand suite and have the Beverly Hillbilly's sitting next door in your private box seats and balcony...

[ 03-31-2007: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]