Cunard arent daft .....just think of the savings on EVERY cruise for not holding Wardroom parties ....captains cabin parties etc.....thats old cruising..its all about new age cruising.....you want to eat in a different place? great add on $25.....they dont want to be bothered with 'special' parties anymore.... unless you want to PAY for it.......I even think captain cocktails will scale down as some of the clientelle cruising now just cant be bothered with it and they are the folks the cruise companies listen to. they arent interested about what happened in the past ....but trade their new wares on that basis.
I tended to think that these special parties were great PR for Cunards loyal passengers, there was nothing nicer than getting all dressed up and off to a party somewhere. The QE2 social scene was alway very kind to me, something l wont ever forget, and you did meet many and varied interesting people, not to mention friends from previous voyages. It was always nice to think that in those days someone onboard actually took the trouble to be bothered to invite people to such parties.
It seems to me that with QE2 she was the end of an era, the glory of the formal transatlantic crossings, even in the days of the Queen Mary/Queen Elizabeth you still read about the social parties. And now with the new brigade, Carnival, they seem to making Cunard conform to the rest of the fun ships, I always thought Cunard was just a step away from the rest, now it seems they are blending in with the rest, and who wants to pay for a meal in some hyped up onboard restaurant where the celebrity name hangs above the door and that as close as hes probably been in the past 2 month.
My last view of the Kings Court on an embarkation day was nothing short of a feeding house for the mad, forgive me but the lido was never like that on any of my embarkation days, then again we did have the glorious afternoon tea to look forward to, remind me do they still do such things on the new ships on sailing days.
It strikes me Cruise princess we saw Cunard at its best in our hey days of cruising, and while it was great back then, now it appears its not so great, BUT Not so great for a great many more which is what the new brand of cruise passenger wants.
The dress code, years ago would anyone have dared trip the light fantastic on a formal night, in anything other than a formal outfit? Now people have the idea we can dress as we please, Is this really the way we want to be going??
(and forgive me if dared stray into the off topic waters)
