3rdGenCunarder

The PGs on QM2 feel much more spacious than those on the vistas because of the shape. They also have larger balconies, which I like.

For years, we referred to QE2 as "The Queen," as she was the Cunard queen. When QM2 came along, she was "The Mary."

The low end of the range a good deal. I expected the high end to be closer to the difference, but still less than if you just paid for the upgrade. However, the math for my Alaska cruise doesn't bear out that assumption. For my Alaska cruise, the range to bid on Q3, Q4 from PG is $715 to $2285 per person, so $1430 to $4570 per stateroom. To book that cruise now in PG, Sailing Soon is $5,118 and Cunard fare is $7,998 (per stateroom) To book that cruise now in Q3, Q4 Sailing soon is $7,998 and Cunard fare is $10,878 But with the way prices change, your starting point in PG could be more or less than the fares currently available. All you can do is try some dummy bookings to see what the going rate is and decide if a bid is worth it.

The attraction for me is the aft balcony. I love those, especially for scenic cruising. Of course, I would love to get for one of the corners with the lovely wrap-around balcony.

Dollar amounts that people have bid won't tell you much, as prices vary with cruise length. I bid successfully on PG from Britannia balcony on QA and my bid was a bit more than halfway between minimum and the "noon" position on the dial. I did about the same on another cruise and the bid wasn't accepted--but that cruise was close to sold out, so I didn't expect anything to come of it.

I got the email offer for upgrades from PG to QG on an Alaska cruise. That one handicap room is keeping me from bidding (because of the bathroom). I would LOVE to have an aft Q6 or Q5, and it would be nice to have a taste of QG. Still thinking it over.

I've heard that when a car is delivered to a Boston dealership, the wires to the turn signals are cut. DH drove in Boston once and swore never again!

There was only one other ship when I disembarked at Vancouver a few years ago and I was standing in the queue for an hour. The other ship docked first and their people got out first. I think this summer I'll do a ship transfer. I don't like the transfers, but I have too much luggage to do SkyTrain.

The problem with Canada Place is once you get down into the bowels of the building to start the process, where are they going to make you wait? Or will they send early passengers back out to the street or up into the hotel? I hope they'll at least accept the luggage. When I boarded Queen Victoria in Southampton last fall, they were holding early arrivals in a queue alongside the terminal building. Priority passengers (Grills, Diamond, Platinum) got waved through, so I went right in and checked in quickly. The odd thing is that there weren't many people in the building and most of the check-in staff had nobody in front of them. It seemed like a waste of person-hours to have staff doing nothing while there were people who could be checked in. There was plenty of seating, too. But that's their rule and they stick to it.

I love aft cabins, especially on Oosterdam and the other vista class ships. I've been above the dining room and had no issues with noise. Being over an entertainment area, OTOH, is not my idea of a good location.

Isn't that always the way it is????? 🙄

Now that you mention it, I don't recall any Lido sales on Zaandam this winter.

It would be interesting to see if the other cruise lines are doing this on busy days. If HAL pax abide by this but Princess and NCL and whoever else don't, HAL's system won't make much difference.

My husband was a teacher and he always said if he had to do parent calls, which were usually about problems, he would find a kid about whom he could make a positive call. It made his day feel better, and he enjoyed the astonishment from the parent when their kid WASN'T in trouble.

I haven't done a whale watch in New England. I did one in Iceland, and Alaska was better than that. Do some research about independent whale watches and check the descriptions to see if you can figure out who the vendor is (try googling the tour title). Ship's excursions are often large boats with a lot of people. I've gone on smaller boats in Juneau (Gastineau Guiding) and Icy Strait Point (Hoonah Adventures). Because I wasn't squished at the rail by other passengers, I was able to enjoy watching and photographing the whales. As for price, Alaska is expensive and HAL has been marking up tours more than they used to. I've only seen orcas at ISP. Humpbacks, seals, eagles on both.