QE First Time Cruiser Question

My husband and I have just booked our first Cruise and its with Cunard on the Queen Elizabeth to celebrate my husband's 50th birthday.

We are cruising on June 14th 2016 to the Norwegian Fjords for 9 nights.

After great deliberation with have booked direct with Cunard and chosen cabin 5116 (balcony obstructed view) and we would love anyone's comments on this and any other advice or recommendations.

We are currently waiting for the Voyage personalised to come from from Cunard and see all the excursions!!

We are both very excited and would be delighted to talk to any other cruisers

Your very first cruise :) You will love Cunard I'm sure.

Your obstructed view can be seen here on the link below, just click on 5116. We had a similar view on the QV recently.

https://ask.cunard.com/help/fleet/qe_obs

You should be able to see details of your voyage on your Voyage Personaliser within 24 hours of booking:

https://vp.cunard.co.uk/login/

But I doubt you'll see details of your excursions until next year. You'll receive your excursions booklet about 6 weeks prior to your cruise. Meanwhile you can see typical excursions on Cunard's Destinations page. Just click on each port of call you will be visiting to get an idea:

http://www.cunard.co.uk/destinations/regions/baltic-norway-fjords-cruises/

Hello Minnie29 and welcome to cruise critic.

DH and I have booked voyages as much as 18 months in advance. We find anticipation and preparation lovely parts of the joy of cruising.

You will find there is much on the internet which will help you decide what to do in each port. There is, also, a cruise critic section where members describe ports and tour options (around the world). Depending on the location (safety and language), DH and I sometimes wander on our own. In other places, we have enjoyed fabulous tours that Cunard has arranged.

Joining a cruise critic roll call can also be fun. Everyone shares excitement and tips and possibly arranges private (non-Cunard) tours together.

We were on the Queen Elizabeth for 36 days in 2013. She is a wonderful ship and our time on her was outstanding. Often her captain is Chris Wells, who is our absolute favorite ---lots of personality!

Do ask questions on this Cunard board or on the roll-call for your voyage. You will find many helpful people on cruise critic.

Do also report back. We all like to heard other people's experiences… Plus, we all just like to hear about ship-life.

Happy sailing!

Hello Minnie29 and welcome to cruise critic. DH and I have booked voyages as much as 18 months in advance. We find anticipation and preparation lovely parts of the joy of cruising.

You will find there is much on the internet which will help you decide what to do in each port. There is, also, a cruise critic section where members describe ports and tour options (around the world). Depending on the location (safety and language), DH and I sometimes wander on our own. In other places, we have enjoyed fabulous tours that Cunard has arranged.

Joining a cruise critic roll call can also be fun. Everyone shares excitement and tips and possibly arranges private (non-Cunard) tours together.

We were on the Queen Elizabeth for 36 days in 2013. She is a wonderful ship and our time on her was outstanding. Often her captain is Chris Wells, who is our absolute favorite ---lots of personality!

Do ask questions on this Cunard board or on the roll-call for your voyage. You will find many helpful people on cruise critic.

Do also report back. We all like to heard other people's experiences… Plus, we all just like to hear about ship-life.

Happy sailing!

Minnie29, have the most amazing time, Bon Voyage! :)

Hi Minnie29,

We are looking at the cruise you have booked as a serious possibility for our next booking. We have just made the final payment today for our next cruise which will be on QE in september in cabin 5114 - next door to the one you have booked. We haven't been on QE before, only QV which is a beautiful ship. I'm sure QE will be just as lovely. The excursions for our Sept cruise (departs 30th Aug) have been on our voyage personaliser for sometime already so you see them quite a long time in advance.

Hopefully we will see you on a roll call for your cruise once we get booked as well. It looks like a good cruise - the fjords are absolutely stunning.

Just wanted to say, excellent post, I agree with all that you've written, and you've said it far better than I could have attempted, thank you :)

 

Minnie29, have the most amazing time, Bon Voyage! :)

Hello, Peppern! Nice to see your post.

I think you sailed once again, while I was off the board for a while. ….I hope all is going well for you.

Jimmybean

Hi Camgirl,

Thanks for all your comments. Would be great if you booked the cruise too. And please let me know what your room 5114 is like on your cruise this year.

I know its next year but I am so excited already and everyone here on the forum is so lovely and friendly.

Happy Cruising

Hi Minnie29,

I think there is a pretty high probability we will book that cruise but we will wait until after our next cruise so that we can benefit from a little extra on board credit by either booking on board or buying a future cruise credit on board. Once you are hooked (and you will be, I'm sure), you will be able to do that too.

Our very first cruise was a 7 night cruise to the fjords on QV. We were totally hooked by the end. It was a fantastic introduction to cruising for us!

I will certainly check out the cabins and report back later.

I totally get where you are coming from, I am always super excited to book a cruise too, no matter how far ahead!

My husband and I have just booked our first Cruise and its with Cunard on the Queen Elizabeth to celebrate my husband's 50th birthday.

We are cruising on June 14th 2016 to the Norwegian Fjords for 9 nights.

After great deliberation with have booked direct with Cunard and chosen cabin 5116 (balcony obstructed view) and we would love anyone's comments on this and any other advice or recommendations.

 

We are currently waiting for the Voyage personalised to come from from Cunard and see all the excursions!!

 

We are both very excited and would be delighted to talk to any other cruisers

Hopefully you will love Queen Elizabeth. I have cruised on her twice. The last time was for two months from Sydney to Southampton and only disembarked on 3 May this year. She is such an elegant ship. I love the formal nights on board something that Cunard is known for.

The Captain at the moment is Alistair Clarke but we had Capt Inger Klein Thorhauge, a really lovely lady. These two seem to be the Captains allocated to QE at the moment.

Do feel free to ask any questions when you think of them.