CUNARD: Choosing the PERFECT Cruise CABIN: Our Tips & Recommendations!

Thank you, that was very interesting! I'm planning a transatlantic cruise on the Queen Mary 2 shortly before Christmas, so it will be quite cold. It will be my first cruise ever and I was planning to choose a sheltered balcony cabin. The cheaper ones are also very nice and I see your point that a balcony would be of better use on a warm cruise, but I imagine it will be fascinating sitting there in my winter jacket, watching the calm or stormy sea. :) I wonder though, when it's very windy, are passengers actually allowed to use the balcony?

The inside cabins are obviously the most economical and as you point out, it gives one practically the same access to most of the ships facilities as spending oodles on high priced staterooms. One can always find somewhere to view the waves. It seems that the one thing to keep in mind is that one will get $100-$200 worth of dining pleasure per day when looking at stateroom prices. Its all quite a bargain. I must remark that the availability of the two-seat couch offers little unless one could watch the tv from it.
My last of three cruises was sixty years ago.

Super helpful and informative, thank you

Fascinating and educational video. Until now, I never understood how the cabins fit into the whole. Thank you for this great information.

Question: When booking online, how to choose the grade is obvious. We want to choose and inside cabin. But, my Q is about choosing a specific cabin. Are we assigned our cabin by Cunard, or do we choose our specific cabin? When booking through a Cunard agent, he will charge $260 more per person, but says we can choose our cabin. Can you clarify the cabin selection process for inside cabins? I want to book very soon. Thanks !!

I have a question for you; I need advice.
I plan to take my 20 year college student Godson and his roomate with me on the QM2 to Europe. By myself, I would probably go for the Princess Grill.
This would be their first time.
I will have my own stateroom, and either next door OR adjoining would be for "the guys".
So, my question for you is what category would you suggest?
No inside room. Balconies are a must.
Your advice, please.

FYI.... if the inside cabin is presented as "horizontal" (ie. coming in from the longer side of room), the room's door location does away with any/all seating arrangement(s) (be it a small sofa/ 2 person seetie or seatie area with easy chair, with table...

Do a video on what happens in each category if you hit an iceberg.

Just to thank you Ritzy, I have now booked 3 cunard cruises, Norway on QM2, Northern Europe on QA and Transatlantic QM2. Really sound advice in all your videos which saves me making mistakes and misassumptions. I really do wish you good fortune

Looks lovely & a refreshing change from those, uncouth family orientated ships with their water slides, giant Disney characters and seemingly endless, inane pool side activities.
Do these ships generally tend to be more adult focused?

One reason we are booking an inside cabin for our cruise to Norway in late June is to ensure darkness when we sleep. I know the curtains on outside cabins are decent but you still get light filtering through and at that time of year daylight is 20 hours in Oslo and 24 north of Trondheim

I usually booked an outside cabin with a window only. I found nowadays due to cost cutting across the board, windows are not cleaned as often as in years ago!

Is afternoon tea available if I booked one of the first 3 levels? That is something I do enjoy.

You talk of Princes Grill. It is Princess Grill. Our favourite category on Cunard.

Still not sure if prices are per person, double occupancy?

What are prices if you are single person?

Oooh, I do like the look of those Queens Grill suites. They are bit pricey for a single traveller though. It's Britannia Inside for me...

We booked a cruise for next year on QM2 doing a R/T from NYC to Quebec City. It is an interior cabin with a window overlooking the Royal Promanade. There are very few of them at midship on decks 5 6 7 and not well known about. Grab one if you can for the same price as a standard interior stateroom.

How much difference is there in the food served in the main dining room vs the club or grills? I get that their isn’t a real value for money argument but if someone decided to really go all in and book a queens grill suite on a crossing would they leave feeling their money had been well spent?

Because the food is the difference here. So if you get virtually the same dining experience in Britannia Club as you do in the grills then it’s hard to justify the upgrade.

Very well done review. I particularly appreciate your delineating the percentage increase as you go up the chain. Really highlights the difference.

I was wondering about the QM2.

Thank you for producing this video.

Price is per day ?

Superb!

Once again, your insight is invaluable! (I commented on your other video, "Cunard Queen Mary 2: still the world's most LUXURIOUS cruise? Full REVIEW and Ship Tour"). As a "never-having-cruised" person - the, ahem, "Carnival" like atmosphere on most ships doesn't much appeal to me. But a luxury crossing of the Atlantic, checking out of the day-to-day connected world, arriving on the Continent without jet lag, certainly does appeal. This video was extremely helpful as I was trying to figure which kind of cabin I should consider. Thank you again!

Thank you for this wonderful review. I booked an inside cabin on Queen Anne northern European cities cruise sailing at Christmas next year. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this beautiful new ship. 😍

You could mention the free champagne and liquor in QG cabins. It all helps and Cunard are not renowned for freebies.

One of the things you missed out about the Brittania Club Balcony rooms is that you get and increased on board spend, also the menu is different from the Brittania restaurant as there's more courses (5) and more choices at each course. It's a much more peaceful restaurant, especially for breakfast and lunch. Balconies are also slightly bigger.

This is a very useful video. There is another reason to book a cabin with a balcony regardless of the weather. My wife gets quite seasick and being able to sit someplace and watch the water helps immensely, so we even do book in cold weather.

We recently cruised in a Britannia Club balcony on Queen Elizabeth, followed a few weeks later by a Britannia Balcony on Queen Victoria. The only difference I noticed was dining location (Britannia Club vs Britannia Restaurant) and Club is provided with complimentary bottled water. Everything else, including cabin size was the same, so I don't think the substantial price difference is worth it. First time on Cunard and absolutely loved both ships.

What an excellent resumé of Cunard's cabin choices, thankyou very much!
We have just returned from our first ever cruise aboard Queen Victoria (to the the Norwegian fjords), where we had a Britannia Balcony cabin up on deck 8 (forward). The cabin itself was lovely and the views from the balcony were amazing, even during slightly inclement weather.
We dined in the beautiful Britannia restaurant for the most part, but the Lido restaurant up on deck 9 was convenient and perfectly adequate too!
Now, having dipped a toe into the cruising scene, we are going full throttle and are considering booking the 35 night Queen Mary 2 cruise around the Caribbean in January 2025.
Given our recent experiences aboard Queen Victoria and your excellent breakdown of the cabin categories, i would say that a forward Britannia balcony cabin would be ideal for the warmer climate, do you agree?
Thankyou once again for the information...most useful!

Dear Sir, thank you for your great analytical review and suggestions. I am considering Southampton to NY in the foreseeable future and being single, prefer to dress and dine informal all the way. Your video really helped me to come to a decision which cabin to book etc.etc. Bon voyage!

When comparing the different balcony cabins (not club, just standard balcony) there appear to be three types: sheltered, balcony and obstructed. I understand what an obstructed view is and also what a sheltered balcony is. But what is the difference between 'sheltered balcony' and 'balcony'? Is 'balcony' similar to the club cabins, where they are more open?

You forgot to mention that the grill suits also have their own bar and sun terrace. These need factoring into your equation as it does make a difference to the overall cost. Some people are prepared to pay a little more for more exclusivity.

I am a Britannia boy. I have travelled in QG once, but that was on a short Hamburg trip and shared with a friend. On other things, I couldn't afford anything above regular Britannia. Always a balcony though. Even in bad weather, I still like fresh air, and even mid-Atlantic in December or January, there are still very nice sea days.

If you are a solo traveler, would you have a lonely cruise if you booked one of the Grills? In Britannia, you can choose to dine at a larger table with other guests

You did not mention handicap accessible cabin and is there an increase in price?

Great Scott, this review was perfect! Please keep up the good work. Ta very much indeed.

I have very much been enjoying your cruising videos, Bill. Thank you. I think you should stress to your viewers that if you are crossing or cruising on your own, you will have to pay double the advertised cost. It is my understanding that Cunard has recently added some very few single occupancy cabins, but I believe they are all Britannia Class-so no concierge or butler service. I sail Grills Class, because when you do, everything and everywhere on board is available to you. With a request to the concierge you can dine in the Princess Grill, the Britannia/Club dining rooms, and of course all of the other buffet and specialty restaurants. You can also have luggage sent ahead so you don't have to worry about your formal clothes (and wardrobe for an extended UK/EU trip) on your flight to New York, Southampton, etc.) and it's nice to find your things freshly pressed and hanging upon embarkation, which is streamlined for Grills Class guests. And, I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but crew members/staff are more deferential when you present your Deck 11/10 key card. And, as I say, with a simple request to the concierge, you might enjoy a tour of the bridge, crew areas, etc. Asking a Junior Purser for such things rarely results in a satisfactory response, unless he has the option to refer you to the concierge. But do please keep up your very informative and entertaining videos! I enjoy as much what you don't say, with an eye-roll or a smirk, as much as what you do report!

Just finished a 13 day cruise on QM2 June 2023 with inside cabin, loved it all

👍👍👍

On our first cruise on QM2 we booked a sheltered Britannia balcony cabin for an October cruise. We found that we could sit out on it every day. It was a very nice cabin but on our last cruise we needed an accessible cabin. As it was November we booked a Britannia outside but we were a little disappointed with the size it was on the small side. In 2021 we got a fantastic deal on Queens Grill. I saw the cabin online it was amazing. Sadly we never got to try it out as it was cancelled due to the pandemic.

I really wanted to see the split level cabins with price comparison.

Had a balcony on an October crossing. Made sure we chose portside - going west - and it was really quite pleasant as was in the sun, and the wind was quite strong and off the starboard bow - so starboard balconies must have been quite unpleasant by comparison

Queen's Grill also adds the services of a butler.

Thanks very much for this! Me and my other half are fortunate enough to have a Britannia Club Balcony room for a coming two week cruise. I'm still not really sure what the real difference is though – is the menu different at the Britannia Club dining room?

To further add to the complication: each of the five grades described then has the added component of midship, forward, or aft, with midships being the most expensive within that grade and prices tapering off as you move toward the front or back.

On top of that, the "balcony" cabins have multiple sub-selections--including the upper deck open balconies, the obstructed view balconies (mostly on deck 8), and the sheltered balconies on decks 4, 5, and 6. And then you apply the midships/forward/aft calculation to whichever sub-selection has been made. It can be quite complicated, but it's pretty straightforward with diagrams and pricing guides at the time of booking.

Love these informative videos.
Thank You. 😊

Could you please tell me if your aloud to smoke on board ?

This was a very well explained description of the cabin choices. Thank you. So many people think that Cunard ships are more segregated and "class-conscious" which, of course, isn't true.

On QM2 there is a division between glass fronted and 'sheltered' balconies. We have booked the sheltered balcony for several QM2 autumn and winter crossings. The wind over deck could be 'force 11' but the sheltered balcony provides an oasis of outdoor calm.

We love Queen Elizabeth and always travel Britannia class balcony it represents all we need we are experienced cruises and will be aboard in January 2024