My friend Jim and I had sailed on the January 12, 2004, maiden voyage and came away very unhappy. It seemed like everything went wrong; from service to food to entertainment and finally, debarkation. Here we are a year later and I am happy to report that there has been much improvement. The main reason -- Princess Line has come in and shaken things up. They have brought in their management and chefs and things are now running smoothly. I suspect, the most positive change is that Peter Ratcliffe has taken over as CEO of Cunard from Pamela Conover. Her blatant refusal to accept responsibility for the initial shortfalls that the ship had was disturbing. They were by no means "maiden voyage jitters," there were major operating errors.
The ship, I am glad to say, is finally coming into its own. We embarked from Ft. Lauderdale on February 5, 2005, and were kindly directed to the area where the Grille passengers were to wait. There was an initial delay as the computers weren't functioning. I would suggest that the computers be tested earlier in the day to avoid this in the future. Everything went fairly smoothly after that. The desk crew that took our info was exceptionally friendly and very helpful. We boarded the ship and entered the now familiar lobby, and I must say it felt as though we had never left. We expected to see friends that were on the last voyage to pop put from behind the corner, but it never happened.
We were greeted, but not taken to our cabin, which is a courtesy on other ships. So off we went with a basic idea of where we were going. Cabin 10081 is very nice and it had a comfortable green sofa and chair, walk in closet, full tub and balcony. The bed was not at all comfortable, it was like sleeping a slap of stone. Needless to say it was a very interrupted sleep as it was very uncomfortable. The tub is long, but very narrow. I am not fat, no matter what the furniture supplier for Cunard claimed about "obese Americans," but it was very narrow for my legs and it was not enjoyable to lay back in the tub so we opted mostly for showers. Ana Lisa, our cabin attendant, was quite friendly and very efficient. She's quite good at her job.