RJChatsworth

We have been on 55 cruises with Cunard and never come across this situation before. I was just wondering whether this occurred due to confusion between the agent and Cunard. I don’t think this has been mentioned before. i understand agents sometimes block book a number of cabins for resale and perhaps the error occurred in the individual cabin numbers agreed between the agent and Cunard. In this situation a particular cabin number might be sold twice. Just a thought!

Thanks. What about Aricebo?

There seems to be a lot more people sitting facing walls in QG than PG. Must remember not to tick upgrade box when in PG! Why would the design people think passengers would want to look at wall when the sea is in the opposite direction? I just don’t get it. You pay all that money in the best restaurant on the ship to look at a wall. Or to even look at it 50% of the time if you swap seats! Was it asking too much to consider turning the tables through 90 degrees?

Thanks buchanan101. That’s great and just what I wanted to see. The grills look wonderful as does deck area and lounge.

Should have said we need a ‘Selbourne’ scrutiny!

I am a bit disappointed so far, not with QA, but what I guess last evening was a ship largely full of sales people on freebies who’d I’d hoped would want to share what they enjoyed, particularly if sales agents. We have seen Balcony Club but what about OG and QG too. And not just the sleeping area but bathrooms too! I’m sure many want to know about walk-in showers, like I do. And more photos please of public areas and some narrative atmosphere, cosiness, meal choice and quality, and quality of fittings and fixtures? Hopefully nothing Spartan about the ship! Perhaps I’m asking too much!

Last time we flew from London Heathrow to JFK, prior to a transatlantic crossing, the cab queues were long in bad weather and we were struggling with luggage. We had arranged our own Avios flights on BA. Next time we repeat the trip I want to book a Limo service in advance from JFK to a Manhattan hotel. i am sure some Brits have gone before me in this respect and sussed out a reliable Limo service from JFK. Would they share their experiences with me, please? Many thanks.

Something I have been meaning to mention is that a few days into the Northern Lights cruise both my wife and I developed ankle rashes that didn’t half itch at night. Of all the cruises we have been on this has never happened before. Antihistamine tablets helped a bit, then we saw an empty packet of antihistamines outside another cabin and wondered whether there were other sufferers. It went as soon as we got home.

Fionboard - agree with you. Even sailing away north of Norway (the furthest north Aurora had ever been) in all the snow squalls our cabin was beautifully warm but on other occasions very cold, particularly in port. We were on deck 10. I couldn’t get over the numbers in short sleeves and shorts. They must have thought they had booked a Caribbean cruise and wouldn’t give in! Far more in numbers, however, we’re wearing heavy jumpers and overcoats in the MDR. The poor waiters were dressed as normal but their superiors in the restaurants were wearing P&O crew anoraks.

Thanks for info. I missed Captain’s noon announcement about this as I couldn’t find him on bow camera channel audio on final sea day. We were on QV a couple of years ago when we went close into Brixham to pick up the pilot. It was quite hairy cos the seas were rough there.

Megabear2 - you are absolutely correct and a great boon for those getting on a bit or have mobility issues. Dragging fairly heavy hand luggage from a cabin at the back of the ship to a holding area in the Curzon Theatre at the front of the ship to find lots of passengers sitting on the floor with much luggage from the lifts onwards was not helpful. Having negotiated them to get into the Theatre to find none of the staff had any idea how long we should be standing there is not good. If one is able bodied then it’s probably ok and why should we sling our hooks on to other lines because in this instance P&O doesn’t wish treat us appropriately? The blurb in the cabin talked about waiting for disembarkation in the luxury of the Curzon Theatre. Complete blah!!!

The P&O cruise line is largely for a British market, so why does Carnival believe we should be poorly treated in respect of embarkation and disembarkation? Staying in one’s cabin is a real bonus on Cunard and if you don’t like your disembarkation timeslot you only have to call the front desk and it is adjusted.

Something else I didn’t mention about the entertainment director was that on the last evening when the Headliners had completed an excellent show culminating in a Les Mis tribute and standing ovation, he said we’ll all get a questionnaire and he was touting for 10s for the entertainment department as we all want to keep our jobs, including me, he said! I personally found this totally naff.

Thanks Selbourne for your post. I remember how you banged on about green beans morning, noon and night. Well they were still appearing on the menu but not quite so often. However, they are now ‘the finest’ green beans!

It was quite rough in the channel last night and probably too rough for the pilot to board. I wondered what would happen then I noticed we tracked in close to coast near Margate and I assume pilot boarded somewhere there. I noted a Fred ship coming up the channel went close to Brixham to presumably pick up its pilot. Good advance planning by Southampton pilots!