Is Cruising REALLY That Good Anymore?

It's just a rip off now high drinks package,tips etc ,has put me right off.

This was an extremely thoughtful and rich discussion. So bravo to the three of you. I found the comments on Cunard to be especially of interest after having just disembarked from the Queen Anne. I have been saying that Anne was Cunard's strategic pivot to Celebrity. If so the pivot will not have a happy ending and this is especially true of the food quality which I find to be substantially below that of Celebrity (Grills being an exception). Anne has no context within the Cunard brand. Perhaps that's by design. I sense that what Cunard is trying to achieve with Anne is more incremental on-board revenue generation. This appears to be the fatal flaw with the other Queens. Outside of Grills, Cunard loyalists are older (much older) and more thrifty. But on Anne, I saw a mostly empty empty Italian specialty dining, a very low occupancy for the 2'nd seating main dining, an over crowded Artisan's Dining Hall (an inability to clear and clean tables in Artisan's), a largely empty casino, a bland Chart Room where when they did have live music, the musicians are actually positioned outside the room closer to the bar area, a Pavillion Grill that took way to long for orders with low quality food. Cabins have the appropriate tech now (usb ports) but the cabinetry quality is shockingly poor. The ship will not age well. The gym is an improvement over the other Queens buts its deck 1 bow location is odd.
My take-a-way: Cunard is in trouble. They seem to not know where to go with their British themed heritage. They can't pull off Carnival food quality and the gap is growing.. I suspect the brand will be gone on 10 years. Maybe the QM2 will be all that remains.

Great episode.

100% on class based systems coming back. Look at hotels, the large grand hotels of yesterday are out of favour, and the exclusive small hotels are in. Cruising is no different.

Constant tv adverts indicate it's becoming a mass market product with ruthless profit motive

Agree. Cunard is not what it was. We were Diamond level but we have moved elsewhere.

Good or bad I'm afraid the cruising traditions are almost gone as the cruise lines steer towards resorts at sea-themed vessels to maximise returns for the shareholder. But, it's business; and they have to move forward as us older cruisers pop off the top they have to fill their ships and, therefore have to make cruising attractive to the younger generations.

A really interesting hour. Love the format.

Cunard, like P&O, started to go down when the Americans took over. I come from the 1950s, and in those days, crew went to Maritime School and knew their jobs through and through. My own father worked for Cunard, Canadian Pacific, and more, and friends of mine who joined the merchant Navy all went to Maritime School, whether they were waiters, stewards, bartenders, or deck hands. Same as staff who are not trained anymore. For instance, my wife worked for Woolworths after leaving school and was on the haberdashery counter but had tuition before being left to deal with the public.

We sailed on Superstar Gemini and Leo in the late 90's…they are what got us hooked on cruising…

If virgin can appeal to swingers then certainly cunard can appeal to people that want to get dressed up and relax

Another plus to cunard is how well mannered everyone was, I never saw poor behavior.

I do miss ice sculptures, and fruit carving, and the midnight buffet was neat too

What Cunard did with the addition of multiple cabins bolted on to the stern of the Queen Elizabeth was an atrocity. It not only looked ugly, but emphasized how money hungry Cunard were. I find it somewhat abhorrent, that the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Anne, both look like cookie cutter copies of Carnival`s livery and not unique to the Cunard brand. The thrill of traveling on a five star exclusive cruise ship that harks back to a bygone era, has virtually been thrown out the window. I get that Cunards Queen Anne has still retained the service one expects, but the look of the ship itself leaves me unimpressed.

Thanks for the interview. I'd have liked you to have drilled down more on Bill's assertion that Cunard is 'losing money'. Carnival Corp does not share individual brands $$ performance in their Annual Report, and I can't find any guidance on Cunard being unprofitable, so it would be fascinating as to what his sources are, for what would be quite a revelation should it be accurate. People have been saying Cunard will be sold, spun off or closed since Carnival bought it in 1998… yet in 2025 it is bigger than it has been since 1999.

The Queen Anne Library / Pickleball court is a simple fix – move the pickelball court 😆

The Queens Room is a harder issue to address, given how polarising its design is. It does remind me of QE2's double down room, but that was specifically designed for tourist class only (as originally created) and QE2 had a far lower pax count. The Queens Room was probably my least favourite part of Queen Anne.

That said, as a very regular Cunard traveller (and as you'd guess QM2 is by far my favouite current ship) I liked many aspects of the Queen Anne. The ship has more bars and lounges than the Vista Queens, I liked the commodore club, the Pavilion area is superb, and the cabin bathrooms are hands down the best in the Cunard fleet.

I also remember the days when people would stop and listen if you said QE2! These days, QM2 is what makes Cunard absolutely unique among all other brands – the last true ocean liner left in service, in an age of cruise ships.

Just to finish off, we must not forget, without the Carnival investment, QM2 would not exist. In fact, Cunard was literally on its way out in 1998, and would almost certainly not be here if Carnival had not saved it. Of course, we have all noticed a reduction in onboard service aboard Cunard over the years (I remember Mauretania Restaurant dinners on QE2 with sorbet between courses, individual menus every single day – dated so they could not repeat them – and Petit four of hand made chocolate truffles, that was offered on a massive tray) … but Carnival is also responsible for saving the brand from collapse. It's a very nuanced topic. There are many, many angles to it.

Let's hope QM2 – given how special she is – remains well loved and cared for over the next 20 years.

What a comparison video between a crusie and a river cruise pros and cons etc… that would a be a decent podcast

I find your comments about Cunard really interesting. I love Cunard and have done since first sailing on QE2 with my dad in 2008 before she was let go, therefore the lasting affection for their ships is a powerfully nostalgic one. With trepidation we’ve booked onto Queen Anne in June so we’ll see but what I find most interesting are the parallels between Cunard and Saab motor cars. Beloved by so many so loyally, I’ve had and still have a Saab car. The automotive side of Saab last made cars well over ten years ago and many like to blame General Motors for their demise since taking full control in the early 90’s. Much like Carnival with Cunard, GM never quite knew what to do with the little Swedes and much of the beloved Saabness ebbed away over the years before the inevitable happened. So much like Saab as it soldiered on, Cunard and Cunarders find themselves desperately clinging to the past as their parent companies try to keep their golden years alive and relevant today and into the future amid huge surrounding competition. As the remaining Saab numbers will only ever go down yet the affection remains as enthusiastic as ever, will the same be said for a Cunard faithful as the traditionalists fade away? Who knows, but with Saab no matter how much GM cheapened the products, the fans remained but the number of those fans just weren’t enough to make money in the end. Will Cunard suffer in the same way? Who knows but I’ll close with a comment Captain Inger Olsen made many years ago when asked about the Carnival (American!) ownership of Cunard. In a nutshell she basically remarked that this might not be to everybody’s liking but put it this way, without Carnival, Cunard would have gone to the wall years ago. Just like Saab. So roll on June I say!

I'm not paritisan to any particular cruise lines and consider myself a casual cruiser. Having just been on Queen Anne we enjoyed it, but personally think they are stuck between pleasing their more established cruisers and finding a new market. Personally I think they should go all in on new market, accessible, upscale but modern, so ditch the ballroom dancing. But something pushing closer to Virgin but mashed up with the story of cunard history

I have loved watching this, thank you, I’m now wondering which cruise line is best for me.

As soon as I saw on another YouTube channel that Queen Anne Curnard is identical to Rotterdam HAL, i realized that CLL (the umbrella owner) was just a stopgap meaure to Cunard's inevitable bankrupcty. I mean, I would rather do a TA on HAL or any other cruise line. I don't see the Cunard advantage, to my hard-earned money.

Bill is brilliant. Knowledgeable, witty and we love his vlogs.

Enjoyed this discussion. After 4 cruises on Cunard, we really enjoy sailing with them. We do not take evening wear and Tux. More country club style dress.
However, the #1 negative is the food quality. Perhaps keeping all the quality for Grill passengers. 🤔 seriously I agree the traditional draw for us, after experiencing, is now the main reason to sail. Regarding service, I feel it's more to do with not enough staff v quality of service.
Bravo on this podcast 👏 👍👍

Enjoyed. Thank you. I have been on 4 cruises, having taken my first in Fall 2023 and just returned from my 4th–all on Princess. I have 3 more Princess cruises booked between this year and next. I loved the Island, Emerald, and Sapphire; I found the Enchanted too large, noisy and crowded. But I think the Grand and Coral class ships are great and am surprised you don't mention them. Excellent food and service in the MDR. Same time/table/waitstaff every dinner is an available choice ("Traditional Dining"). Promenade deck. Nightly turn down service. Superb itineraries. Excellent value for the money; whenever I've compared prices for similar itineraries, Cunard, HAL, and Celebrity have always cost more. No ship within a ship. I am sailing on the Emerald out of Southampton in June and am really looking forward.

Loved your podcast with Bill. As an Australian who prefers a more traditional experience, I don’t mind that we have the older ships as they tend to have more space, Promenade deck, Crows Nest etc. What has saddened me is the closure in March of P&O Australia, which has a 92 year cruising heritage, and the moving of its last ships (former Princess Grand class) into Carnival. Carnival is retaining many of the P&O features to appease us Australians, but that will just confuse the market as Carnival Splendour and Luminosa which sail down here are typical Carnival ships!
It may be time to try Celebrity Edge class!