Author Topic: Afternoon Tea on Cunard  (Read 169 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Online Rob Lightbody

  • Administrator
  • Queens Grill Diner
  • *****
  • Posts: 12331
  • Total likes: 15847
  • Helping to Keep The Legend Alive
    • Rob Lightbody dot com
Afternoon Tea on Cunard
« on: Oct 05, 2024, 01:42 PM »
Cunard tries to sell itself nowadays as "the fine line" and their advertising appears to align themselves to posh London hotels.
But their afternoon tea, is a weird sort of Americanised theatrical version of British afternoon tea (still being served in the London hotels, if anyone at Cunard wants to take a look).

The waiters come on to a teddy bears picnic music for some reason, along with clapping in time to the music... to me it just seems weird.  I am guessing this isn't just a Cunard thing - is it?  How long has it gone on for?  Which ships?  Any assistance to help me understand appreciated.  I also think some of the musical accompaniements during afternoon tea aren't right - to me it should just be light piano music.

When I was lucky enough to find myself on Silversea recently, this American-Italian line managed to pull off a better version of British afternoon tea than I saw on Cunard.  Quiet, discreet and delicious.
Passionate about QE2's service life for 40 years and creator of this website.  I have worked in IT for 28 years and created my personal QE2 website in 1994.

Online Peter Mugridge

  • Queens Grill Diner
  • *****
  • Posts: 3608
  • Total likes: 3446
  • At Mach 2 three days after being on QE2...
Re: Afternoon Tea on Cunard
« Reply #1 on: Oct 05, 2024, 09:33 PM »
I think you're right in that it sounds like it's American senior management types imposing what they ( incorrectly ) think is the British way of doing things.
"It is a capital mistake to allow any mechanical object to realise that you are in a hurry!"

Online cunardqueen

Re: Afternoon Tea on Cunard
« Reply #2 on: Oct 05, 2024, 10:37 PM »
Quote
The waiters come on to a teddy bears picnic music for some reason, along with clapping in time to the music... to me it just seems weird.   

Let me try that next time l have afternoon tea at Grosvenor House London, it might start a new trend , but they really shouldn't start mucking about with such a British thing. And whats with this clapping thing 

However l recall a great many years ago at The Ritz (The one in London) in 1991 you were offered 2 sittings 3 and 4.30pm at the princely sum of £17.50. Today it's offered from just before lunch till early evening, and your limited to 90 mins and lord knows what the price is. But then its a major source of income, and you can never really be sure exactly what is made on site these days

Mindyou the Americans . lovely people as they are, can't even make a decent cup of Tea       
From the moment you first glimpsed the Queen,
 you just knew you were in for a very special time ahead.!