Alot of people certainly think so!! I have to personally admit that I have had guests say this to me over the past few weeks and I am desperate to ask exactly what makes a cruise guest common - I have lots of images flying around in my head of what guest they encountered on their table - I don't know why but every time that a common cruise guest in the grills gets mentioned I automatically think of that character from keeping up appearances called Onslow, with his white vest and cap!
Obviously this is not the fault of the guest who managed to get himself a bargain, they may not be keeping the fact that the got the Queens grill cabin for a great price a secret - and why should they? .......but this can grate on the die hard grill passenger which leads to a lot of ill feeling.
Is It Cunard That Have Caused This?
This was always going to happen when you start to cut the price on your famous suites - I don't really know of another cruise line that has such famous exclusive restaurants on board which are as well known as these two grills - I would say its a tad unfair to say there are more common guests - I think it would be better to say that Cunard are making the grills less exclusive!
There are plenty of commoners who are now lottery winners and in the poshest cabins.. lets face it there must be several new millionaires each week since the lottery started..
ReplyDeleteIts not just wealthy Lords now on Cunard... could just be rich... commoners spending their winnings.. eating peas off their knifes and drinking tea from their saucers..
Im puzzled Tony how do the other passangers know what you paid ???? they dont they just assume because you dont talk ''posh'' you are poor ..not so you could be a millionair?
These days .. you just cant tell !!!
Southwinds.
I recenty was in the Queens Grill and I have to admit that a lot a people did not dress approriately. On Formal nights, when you are supposed to were evening dresses, many ladies did wear blouses which was were annoying.
ReplyDeleteYou can usually tell the tone of the ship from the amount of tatoos on show. The posher the ship, the less tatoos there are. You hardly see any on Cunard cruises.
ReplyDeleteI don't have tatoos and would never abide them.
ReplyDeleteI have never cruised with Cunard as my wife and I do not agree with a regime where there is a restaurant 'out of bounds' to cruisers with 'cheaper' rooms.
We have cruised with P&O since 2005, this year will be our 7th cruise and 2012 is already booked.
We have a property renovation business in France where we live - I do the physical work and my wife the multitude of paperwork.
I work daily in a pair of 'grubby' jeans and T-shirt but when I board our ship I dress accordingly - both myself and my wife love to dress for dinner - lounge suits, tux, etc and superb dresses/shoes for my wife.
We would dread sailing with a line that allowed shorts & T-shirts for dinner - God forbid!!
So please don't class us all in the same mould - we have spend many thousands on cruises and can carry ourselves without any problem at the side of some, more 'affluent' but certainly embarassing passengers who have forgotten how to behave - sadly, the older they get, the worse it gets!!!
Don't tattoos and intelligence, or the lack of it go together?
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine a lady in a low backed cocktail dress sporting a 30 yr old tattoo (or now a big wrinkled blue blotch) in the middle if her back !!
Yes friends its going to happen.
Recently we cruised on a P&O ship and I completely agree with this article. The prices of all P&O and Cunard cruises have come down to quite incredible prices. On our cruise, had we had multiple tattoos and been rather large, then we would have fitted in perfectly with this cruise. Unfortunately for this cruise, we didn't have tattoos and so suddenly felt in a minority. Definitely it was a different crowd of people on the cruise, to what we have been used to on previous cruises. It has made me wonder if I will continue cruising with P&O. This year I will be fussier about what cruise I book.
ReplyDeleteHaving experienced Grills on the old QE2 and last year Grills on the QM2, I have no hesitation in saying that yes there are too many people of the variety that one is wishing to escape from by having preferred to voyage using the Grills experience. It is not their backgrounds which I object to but their lack of manners, their lack of finesse/etiquette (all of which can be acquired but they are so ignorant that they do not know that they are causing mild embarassment to others). It is not how much money one has, it is how one conducts oneself. My very bad experience on QM2 caused me to downgrade myself to the Britannia grade on the new QE as I certainly wasn't going to pay a further 10,000 (single traveller)for a 13night cruise to watch people eating like pigs at a trough. In Britannia grade, it was easy to spot those not used to eating out. The number of people who cannot hold a knife and fork correctly and cut their bread rolls is increasing but to those 'in the know' it is an obvious give away, especially when the same folk are trying to pretend they are better than they are.
ReplyDeleteOnly travelled QM2 Q7 once-never again! I whole heartadly agree with last poster re fellow travellers. Although not regarded as a luxury cruise line, Celebrity have 2 of the nicest suites afloat aboard their 4 Millenium class ships. At 2500 sq ft with 8 seater dining tables inside and outside and small kitchen where food is plated ready for service we can enjoy intimate service under the stars - not a commoner in sight!!
ReplyDeleteIf you wish company the one speciality restaurant aboard with a cover charge of $90 attracts a very quiet and well dressed clientele - not a tattoo in sight!!
Having taken this option a number of times we can thourghly recommend.
Over the last year or so, cruise lines seem to have raised their brochure prices to a ridiculous degree. What used to be £100 to £120 per night is now £150 to £180. The result is they can't fill their cabins and have resorted to heavy discounting attracting a clientele that would otherwise be priced out. Cruise lines need to keep their brochure prices a bit lower and keep their loyal customers without loosing income whilst those people who think a cruise ship is Butlins at sea would find a holiday in their own price bracket.
ReplyDeleteSo cutting your bread roll instead of breaking it open ( that is probably the wrong phrase- i don't know the posh ! one )puts you in the lower classes then ! As for tattoos my husband has 2 but no one will ever see them as he had them so they knew where to line up the radi-therapy machines, god forbid if passengers had to declare all tattoos, he would never be able to sail again
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I assume that ALL these comments are made 'tongue in cheek'. Given the number of 'split infinitives', mixed metaphors' and hanging prepositions, I suggest that contributors, to date, would be pleased if the tattoos had the correct spellings. Assuming, of course, that those same people could tell.
ReplyDeleteHurrah! I agree with the above. Although I did not have the doubtful "pleasure" of eating with the "elite" in the Grill. I found my table companions (all solos) in the Britannia restaurant excellent company with perfect table manners and dress code. Having been brought up by a ship's captain I was taught how to behave at a very young age, but not to judge people by how much money they had. By the way my father had an anchor tattoo on his arm, but it seems that made no difference to the Royal Family!
ReplyDeleteSadly the Queens Grill onboard the Cunard ships is just a marketing ploy - they pedal their past but sadly in truth these catagory rooms and associated goodies such as private promenade and restaurant are VERY disapointing! So snobs and common folk enjoy being ripped off by an American giant - Carnival who knows nothing about quality!
ReplyDeleteIt makes me laugh to see many of these comments are made by people who look down on others for daring to have tattoos, or who don't "break bread and cut cake" yet they can't even spell tattoo, and don't know when to use the word fewer instead of less, or how to spell wear!! If you are that posh and went to fee-paying schools then I would seriously consider getting your money back!! Yes, I agree that all passengers should wear appropriate clothing and behave with decorum but not all people who are 'posh' do, and not all people who are 'common' fail to!
ReplyDeleteI had just written a rather protracted post on the declining standards of cruise ship passengers, also the lowering of standards of the ships them selves over the years. After being on fifteen cruises we have seen a reasonable insight on these things. Perhaps it is just as well that it disappeared when I attempted to post i,t or I may have had a super Injunction from the cruise lines.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is a misconception here that one either cuts or breaks a bread roll. No, the posh people pop them in whole, having first removed the plum and silver spoon.
ReplyDeleteBritish snobbery is alive and well. It must be exhausting spending so much energy and time on trying to put other people down in order to feel better about yourself.
ReplyDeleteAgree with comment regarding Cunard - an american company marketing these cruises as the old class system where everyone knew their place. Surprised they are not calling Britannia class steerage. In my view the cabins should dictate the price not the facilities including dining. Travelled on QE2 some years ago and after that experience have chosen not to travel with Cunard again. Cruising has become more accessible to everyone and table manners etc will vary. I do not like the big table set up and prefer to dine with my husband, that way how other people behave when eating does not affect me.
ReplyDeleteso if a certain mr beckham and wife complete with tatoos were to join your table you would be un happy....hmmm i think we know who the [excuse pun]pond life are here
ReplyDeleteGuffaw Guffaw Guffaw
ReplyDeletePosh indeed because you break bread instead of cutting it. I have never heard such rubbish. Ever heard the phrase don't judge a book by its cover!!
I have good manners get on with all types of people and I have plenty disposable income but would not class myself better than anybody until I got to know them. Some of these people on here would be your worst nightmare to be seated with and I mean the ones who consider themselves POSH Most are arrogant, ignorant and usually pretty thick. Cunard are stuffy, old fashioned and the blazer brigade are welcome to it. Hold on to your caps chaps.
I go on a cruise to enjoy myself and relax with family. Enjoying myself does not include watching whether someone cuts or breaks their bread role, pulling a fellow passenger up on how they hold a knife, worrying whether or not someone has better dress sense, earns more than me, speaks better then me etc. I do not refuse to speak to someone based on the fact they have a tattoo. I like to take as I find and cannot abide the phrase I heard on my recent cruise "They are not our kind of people". Perhaps if we all made the most of our holiday, consider how lucky we are and simplying get on with life we would all have a more enjoyable and pleasant time!
ReplyDeleteI went with a Relative on the old Queen Elizabeth a few years ago. No children allowed, and you had to dress for Dinner. The Ladies were in long dresses, and the Men in Dinner Suits. It was wonderful and we met some lovely people. Two millionaries were sat at our table and you could not have met such nicer people. It was just perfect,and the dress code should be implemented on all Adult only Ships.
ReplyDeleteRidiculous! Why do we have big tables. I want to be with those I care about not strangers
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I cruise to suit ouselves, nobody else. We do not care what other people eat or wear, as long as they don't bother us. We are not interested in anybody else and have a wonderful time doing just what we want and being with each other. We wear smart clothes but would not wear anything other that what we were happy in. I have paid for the cruise and will not be dictated to as what to wear.As long as I am clean tidy and never late for dinner then I dont care if it is a Cunard ship or a Thompson ship. The cruise lines are not telling me what to wear.
ReplyDeleteI found this discussion so very depressing. The views expressed also highlight for me why being allocated to a table for 6 can be so risky. It smacks of everything I hate about an elitist system that operates on the basis of feeling better than everyone else because they have either inherited wealth or chosen a high earning profession (like banking). Distinctions are being made on observable characteristics such as dress and manners rather than values or even education (judging by the poor grammar and spelling of some of the comments.) I found the two tier system of eating on the QM2 irritating and was surprised at the lack of silver service in the Britannia Restaurant. (I understand that this is standard on P&O). However, in many respects perhaps it is for the best. The only rudeness we encountered on our recent voyage was from a couple who had decided to leave the security of the Grill to breakfast in the King's Court. He was dressed in his RAF blazer, she in a cashmere twinset and pearls. We wished them a good morning and they reacted as though they had been stabbed between the eyes with a sharp blade. They then turned their backs on us without even responding. I would add that both my husband and I do comply with the social mores of the liner in terms of dress because we are both interested in our appearance and spend a great deal of money on our clothes. However, we do not consider that this makes us better people than others who choose to spend their money in other ways. This is not to argue that there shouldn't be an enforceable dress code. Only that people shouldn't be so shallow as to feel superior for complying.
ReplyDeletecruised with royal caribbean a few years ago and an american couple were horrified when we descibed adverts (arnie) on tv inviting brits to move to california. wonderful cruise/ship.Mariner of the seas, if you read this--- good morning capt johnny - keep it up!
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