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bluemarble

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    Iowa
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  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Cunard
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Northern Europe

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  1. They did things a little different this year with the big announcement of most of the 2026 itineraries all at once on February 20th. In the past they've generally announced the world/grand voyages (winter/spring) itineraries for two year hence in March and the summer/autumn itineraries in September. Covid did play havoc with that schedule for several years though. Anyway, this year the 2026 world voyages went on sale for Cunard World Club on March 6th. The remainder of the newly-announced 2025/26 itineraries went on sale to Cunard World Club members on March 7th. All itineraries went on sale to first-time Cunard guests on March 8th. I booked a segment of QM2's 2026 world voyage on line via the Cunard website as soon as bookings opened on March 5th. I had logged in to my Cunard "My Account" in order to identify myself as a Cunard World Club member. I don't know if that's strictly necessary since there is a field on the guest information page during the online booking process for you to enter your Cunard World Club number. I would have booked that voyage with the online travel agent I normally use but they hadn't yet listed the voyage I wanted when bookings opened on March 5th. I later transferred the booking to that travel agent when they did list the voyage. In the past I have booked a voyage with an online travel agent on the day bookings opened for Cunard World Club members. Some UK travel agents offer a pre-registration process where guests can register their interest in a voyage and specify their cabin preferences. I'm not aware of any US online travel agents who advertise a similar pre-registration process although there may be some who I've just not managed to find.
  2. @Janay11, based on the clues you've provided, I'm guessing you booked Cunard's "Explore with More" promotion that was going on in the US into early January. One of the perks of that promotion is the following (emphasis mine for the part specific to your QM2 voyage). "Alternative Dining Offer – Guests sailing on voyages up to 20 nights in length will receive one dinner at the Lido Restaurant (available on Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth), Kings Court (available on Queen Mary 2), or another select alternative dining venue aboard Queen Anne. Guests sailing on voyages between 21 and 83 nights in length will receive two dinners at the Lido Restaurant, Kings Court, or another select alternative dining venue aboard Queen Anne. Guests sailing on voyages 84 nights or longer in length will receive three dinners at the Lido Restaurant, Kings Court, or another select alternative dining venue aboard Queen Anne." So yes, that second "Special Services Gift" is most likely two free dinners at QM2's Kings Court Alternative Dining venue. As @D&N has mentioned that's sometimes referred to as the pop-up venue since a portion of the King's Court buffet is turned into a themed restaurant with table service during the evening. The three standard themes offered at various times during most QM2 voyages are Bamboo (Asian), Coriander (Indian) and La Piazza (Italian). They may offer a theme called Nordlys on cruises to Norway and a theme called Riviera on Mediterranean cruises. Enjoy! Edit to add: That "Explore with More" promotion came with this perk as well. "Hotel and Dining Service Charge Offer – Offer based on pre-payment by Cunard of the suggested Hotel and Dining Service Charge in the amount of $16.50 per person per day for Grill Suites and $14.50 per person per day for all other staterooms." That would explain that first "Special Services Gift".
  3. Interesting question. I priced all the 2025/26 QM2 crossings between Southampton and New York on the Cunard US website using the listed "from" fares plus taxes, fees and port expenses for each general category of cabin (Inside, Oceanview, Balcony, Club Balcony, Princess Grill and Queens Grill). On average, calculating the per day fares across those six categories of cabins, I found the US fares were 7.8% higher sailing westbound compared to eastbound. That's a bit more than a wash considering the duration of a 7-night westbound crossing is approximately 6.6% longer than a 7-night eastbound crossing (162.5 hours westbound versus 152.5 hours eastbound using the usual scheduled 5:00pm departure and 6:30am arrival times in both directions).
  4. Thanks, @sogne. Here's a link to the article in the Daily Echo. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/24205061.cunards-queen-anne-welcomed-southampton-flotilla/ This article also mentions an official blessing and plaque exchange ceremony to be held whilst Queen Anne is alongside the Mayflower Terminal on April 29th.
  5. Here's a brief page about the QA drawing room on the Cunard website. https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/activity-types/bars-and-lounges/drawing-room
  6. Take a look at this earlier "Golden Lion" thread from September 2023. It contains similar images of a Golden Lion menu from QE and a Golden Lion dinner menu from QV. I dare say the menu recently posted on this thread is an exact match to the Golden Lion dinner menu from QV @Lanky Lad posted in reply #22 on that earlier thread. https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2962204-golden-lion/
  7. For what it's worth, I'm coming up with a total of 65 Queens Grill cabins of QA. Q1 = 2 Q2 = 4 Q3 = 10 Q4 = 24 Q5 = 17 Q6 = 8
  8. I think you'll find there are actually 127 Princess Grill cabins on QA. That's the count I get from various sources including Cruise Deck Plans and by manually counting them on the deck plans. Several sites including Cruise Deck Plans list 59 Britannia Club cabins on QA, so that's were you might have seen that 59 cabin count. But I think that count for Britannia Club cabins is way off. My manual count from the deck plans comes up with a total of 164 Britannia Club cabins on QA.
  9. QA voyage H526 (Spain and Portugal, 14 Nights) was originally scheduled to call at Palma de Mallorca on 18 Oct 2025, Barcelona on 19 Oct 2025 and Alicante on 20 Oct 2025. Those calls have been rearranged so that QA will now be calling at Alicante on 18 Oct, Palma de Mallorca on 19 Oct and Barcelona on 20 Oct. Ordinarily this wouldn't cause much of a fuss especially this far out. But QA was scheduled for two separate 7-night voyages (H526A and H526B) which were to end and start in Barcelona on 19 Oct 2025. A guest booked on voyage H526A (Southampton-Barcelona) has reported receiving notice their voyage is canceled. Presumably those booked on voyage H526B (Barcelona-Southampton) are receiving similar cancellation notices. Voyages H526A and H526B have been removed from the Cunard website. The reason given for this change is that QA cannot dock in Barcelona on 19 Oct 2025. I've been reading where Barcelona is restricting the number of cruise ships to no more than seven per day. At least one online cruise ship schedule shows eight cruise ships (including QA) were scheduled to be in Barcelona on 19 Oct 2025. That might explain the reason for this itinerary change where the date of QA's call at Barcelona has been moved to 20 Oct 2025.
  10. I just did what you are asking about for a US booking a couple weeks ago. I booked one of the new 2026 voyages as soon as it became available to book on cunard.com but before it was listed on the website for the travel agent I usually use. Once you have booked directly with Cunard, they can provide you with a "Reservation Transfer Request Form" pdf for you to fill out and email back to them. On that form you identify the booking you want to transfer and provide the name and contact information of the travel agency/travel agent to whom you wish to transfer the booking. Here are the limitations on the timing of the transfer as stated on that form. "Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full."
  11. Yes, that route indicated on the map for QM2's 2024 Independence Day Celebration cruise has to be wrong. The map for QM2's 2025 Independence Day Celebration is more accurate. We do indeed have record of QE2 calling at Stamford, Connecticut. The abstract log records for that voyage indicate it was trip from New York and back where QE2 must have sailed south of Long Island to reach Long Island Sound and approach Stamford from the east. And then back to New York the next day using the same route in reverse around the south of Long Island.
  12. Looks to me like the registered trademark is on the full name "Titanic II Blue Star Line".
  13. Some of you, including the OP, may recall this thread from 2013 which is where I believe I first heard of this on-again, off-again project. There are several dearly departed contributors to this old thread.
  14. The overhang on deck 11 occurs where the deck plans show deck 12 widens just forward of the boundary between Mid Forward and Midships. That includes even-numbered cabins 11058 and above on the port side and odd-numbered cabins 11081 and above on the starboard side. Here is one of my photos showing the view from the balcony of cabin 11129 with the overhang. I personally didn't find the overhang to be much of an issue.
  15. My assumption is different. From past experience with similar offers in the US, all three of the proposed fares "Our Lowest Fare", "Treat Yourself, on us" and "Cunard Fare" ought to have the standard cancellation schedule once the final payment date has been reached. "Our Lowest Fare" differs in that the deposit is non-refundable. But I'm afraid the only way you will know for certain is to call Cunard or speak with a travel agent. It is unfortunate the terms and conditions for each of the fares don't spell that out clearly.
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