14 Nights - Italy

The reservations process was great. When American Airlines changed our flights, the agent was awesome to work with them to tweak the times because the new connection time was too tight for our family. The transfers to get to the ship and back were seamless. Great flights, the shuttle service was on time and accommodating both directions. The ship onboard and offboard process was seamless and easy. We were pleasantly surprised to find flower, candy and champagne waiting in our stateroom. Our niece/travel agent is a gem. The cabin steward and purser staff were very helpful and friendly. The wait staff in the Brittania were subpar compared to other cruise ships. They learned our normal drink order habits but didn't learn our names or act at all friendly. They were very robotic. I think perhaps each waiter had too many tables. The food wasn't very good. Maybe I'm not used to British tastes. But to me it was very bland. They selection wasn't as varied as I've had on other cruises. -The Brittania formal dining was nice and had selections that sounded nice like Beef Wellington, Lamb, Steak, etc. They were ok but not the fabulous food you expect. Even seasoned travelers on "The Queens" said the quality of the food had diminished from previous years. -The Lido buffet general consisted of leftover selections from the night before. You had 2 choices, the buffet line of hot food and salads or the pizza/pasta station. We were amazed that there were long periods of time that the Lido had zero food available. This was especially a problem when you got back from a shore excursion and needed a late lunch. If you missed the window, you had to wait for Tea time food or wait for dinner. No food at all in the gaps. -The Golden Lion had good burgers and fish and chips. It should be larger because people really craved this type food vs the Lido or Brittania dining. -High Tea (extra cost or a certificate) was good and greatly enjoyed. Shipboard activities were geared towards a very gentrified and older crowd. There were many art lectures, history lectures about British subjects, etc. I really expected more lectures about Norway/Vikings/etc. The only one was the intro for each city and what tours were offered. There were also Bingo/Trivia/Bridge games. The one that I did enjoy was a watercolor class on each sea day. The evening entertainment in the theater was low budget singers and dancers. There was one juggler/comedian who was funny and one old guy comedian who told REALLY old jokes. I wish the ship had a covered/heated pool but alas it was outdoors and closed for obvious reasons. The stops in Norway were great. We saw the Northern Lights which the crew would announce if they became visible from the ship. We really liked the Polar Park excursion in Narvik. We were sad that were diverted from Haugesund to Stavanger due to high seas. We missed out on the Viking Village excursion due to the change. (Cunard promptly refunded our payment for the Haugesund excursion) I know, you can't stop the weather. We went to Stavanger instead which has a great history. Cunard quickly posted an alternate set of tours to choose from. Luckily, we booked the Leisure bus tour with waffles and coffee as it was really cold and rainy the day we were there. I didn't fully understand to go ahead and book Tea and Lido alternate dining without the vouchers in hand. Because I waited until we were onboard, we weren't able to do the Lido Alternate dining (Which was the only place they served Norwegian food). We did book the High Tea with Champagne. The AAA bonus stated this was free. We only got 2 vouchers although there were 3 in the cabin so we paid for our daughter to attend. There were only 2 vouchers for the Lido alternate dining also.