June 30th, 2025
Seattle to New York
So here I am – flying to New York to join Mary in Brooklyn tomorrow. How totally cool is that!
We had experienced such a magical 90 days on the Seabourn Sojourn. Caviar and champagne on demand. Exciting new ports. Two safaris. A wonderful trivia team. Meeting such interesting people. Amazing crew. What was 2 weeks on Mary going to be like after that? Mary has been my favorite ship since QE2 went away. Is this going to be a letdown? What about gazing out of our balcony onto a lifeboat instead of the Indian Ocean? Where are all the wonderful friends we met on the Sojourn? The Seabourn Six? Tendai with my morning Coca Cola?
Just as I was pondering all of this, I read on social media that Cunard was going to start charging for room service in Britannia staterooms. I checked our booking information online. No, it said that room service was complimentary. This had to apply to bookings made after the decision to start charging. However, this was not so. Despite the fact that guests, like us, had clear information that there were no charges for room service, they were indeed being charged. Now the amount of money involved is not large in view of what you pay for the cruise, but the fact that they charge at all in my opinion doesn’t speak well for a luxury cruise line when other luxury lines are going towards being more all-inclusive. Plus, the fact that they charge for room service when our bookings say it is complimentary is disappointing.
This is all very minor, but I hope it doesn’t reflect other changes that have happened on Queen Mary 2 since our last time on board.
But then I think that tomorrow I will be standing out on deck watching the Statue of Liberty go by, making sure we make it safely under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, I will be lost in thought recalling the first time I sailed by the Statue of Liberty with my parents on Queen Elizabeth in 1962, I will know that paying for room service or not really doesn’t matter. I will be on my beautiful ocean liner, Queen Mary 2, and as messed up as the world may be, I will be in my happy place.
Meanwhile as I am writing this on our flight to New York we have just been served Salt and Straw Meyer lemon and blueberry custard ice-cream. Yum. This is a very good start to the adventure……
Is this actually June 30, not July 30??
Our TA on Virgin Voyages also charges a delivery fee for room service – not thrilled but so many other things sound great. I do think it will have a really, really, really different vibe than our World Cruises on the QE, but well try to be open minded and needed a better way home.
We had an interesting time on Virgin – the food was great and the ship really is beautiful. We were on a 5 day Caribbean cruise so I think it will be quite different on a TA, it was quite the party ship when we were on board, which really isn’t our scene. We have become quite the fuddy duddies. I do like that if you shake the App a bottle of champagne appears! And yes, I did get a bit ahead of myself, and I have changed the date. Thank you!
It sounds·like this TA may only be at half capacity – that might make it less intense. I think we are buddy duddies, too. We needed a ride home and I though maybe something total different would be fun. We’ll see.
Anything is better than flying! And you may enjoy it – I am glad we gave it a try, and there were many features we really enjoyed. It certainly is a different experience.
If your original booking said room service was complementary, they legally cannot charge
IF they are charging, do they take it off the bill for guests who booked before this went into effect and what was the date this started? Do the other Queens charge ? The room service menu on Queen Anne WV was limited, and many of the items were an additional charge, but no room service charge.
I truly hope that Cunard does not come down the Queens and make them carnival cruises.
Are gratuity still optional ?
You can still elect not to pay the gratuities they charge to your on board account 🙂
My understanding is that Cunard ‘continental breakfast’ room service is still free. Not that that makes me jump for joy. For me the loss of a true ballroom dance program with capable dance hosts has me trying other lines.
Yes, breakfast is free until 10:00 in Britannia staterooms. Where room service is nice is if you get back from a tour between the Kings Court serving lunch and dinner, and want a decent meal, room service is the only way to go. It seems petty to charge for the food then. We haven’t been to the Queens Room yet – we will probably go tomorrow and I will check out what the dance situation is 🙂
According to ChatGPT, as of June 2025, room service for breakfastbefore 10 AM is still complementary. But there is a small fee from 3 to 8 dollars per dish, not per service, after 10 AM for Britannia cabins only
They are really nickel and diming it. The prices are going up and the service is going down.
What will they think of next?
The amounts involved are small – but I agree, what will they think of next?
PS
Supposedly an email was sent out, but never received. We get an email daily without these changes being highlighted.
A good suggestion would be to let passengers know and not have them read long involved contracts to find out hidden agendas
I am sure that the voyage will be wonderful despite this room service discrepancy …
And hotel and dining room service charges are still discretionary. I read the contract from beginning to end.
Despite these annoying tidbits, I am sure the voyage will be amazing, and I’m still very much looking forward to leaving next week 💕
We never received an email about the charges, and it still said that room service was complimentary on our booking information. I only found out about the change through social media. Very annoying
Safarigal,
There is currently a thread on CruiseCritic titled “What size are the safes on QM2.” Would you be able to measure the interior dimensions of your safe onboard and either respond directly to the OP or post here and I will forward your reply.
Thanks
Jack
Yes, I saw that thread. Unfortunately we didn’t bring a tape measure with us on this trip (trying to cut back on weight), but my 13″ Mac fits exactly both lengthwise and width wise. and it seems to be about 71/2″ in height when I place an 8″ pice of paper inside. I see that one of the replies on Cruise Critic has the measurements of 8″ X 13.5″ X 13″ and that seems to be about right, except I am not too sure of the 8″ as ours seems to be a bit less. The bottom line is that our computers fit in well!