Bejay219

Thank you, we will be able to give an accurate time to leave London. Looking forward to our first time on Cunard. If we get there a bit early, do they have a place to sit and wait?

What is the earliest you can board the ship in Southampton if you are in the Princess Grill. We are trying to secure private transportation from London to Southampton, we don't want to arrive way before we can board. The only information we can find is boarding is from around 1:00 to 3:30 but Grills have early embarkation. Our crossing isn't until near the end of June, so we don't have any of the final paperwork. Thank you in advance!

I have posted this in the past, but it obviously is still going on. We, unfortunately, had the same cracking and popping on the Beyond and Ascent in Sky Suites. The Beyond they were able to move us to a quieter suite. The Ascent Madien Voyage (B2B) same exact noises we used earplugs, white noise machine (from phone) an pillows over our heads. First week, sold out cruise, couldn't move us. They brought the team of engineers from the shipyard who were on board, I had a recording of the noise and said it was the same thing on the Beyond. They got to work and spent half a day trying to fix it. Then it was turnaround day, started up again, back to the Retreat, saying we just wanted sleep! Ask for the team from the shipyard to come back... They had left the ship in Ft. Lauderdale!! They took us to an empty suite a few door down... Same thing! The Ascent engineers came up, worked for several hours, said there was nothing more they could do. We will not book another cruise on either ship again! We have sailed with Celebrity, on all their ships, over 21 years, but there is something wrong in the design/build of these 2 ships. Guess they will just keep handing out FCC, but it's not fair to the customer to know which cabins/suites are affected.

Thanks for the update, enjoying a glimpse of what we will see in June!

Looking forward to your report! We will be doing the Churchill extension in June after the Into the Midnight Sun on Venus. We are very excited about the Churchill experience.

Thank you, that is helpful, we thought a 15 ft. cord was a bit too much.

Thank you, it's all a bit confusing! We don't mind paying for it, but the information on Cunard site is very clear they don't supply it and 15 ft of extension cord?

New to Cunard, we will be sailing the Transatlantic in June, Princess Grill. My husband uses a CPAP machine, when looking at our Onboard Questions it says they do not provide Distilled water and you need to bring a 5 meters (15 ft.) extension cord. Every cruise line we have been on will not let you bring extension cords. We are traveling on 2 different cruielines for 7 weeks before, really don't want to drag around the cord. We will be embarking in Southampton, are there stores nearby that sell these things?

We were also Loyalist for 21 years, reaching Zenith in 2021. It saddens us as previous to all the changes and cut backs, we always had wonderful cruises on Celebrity. We love the Edge Class, many weeks spent on Edge and Apex, but the Beyond and Ascent have lost something for us. We LOVE the ship design, especially the Retreat Sundeck with all the shade, but far too many additional suites that take away from the experience. Also the creaking and noises on both ships that we experienced, we would never go on again as we cannot be assured that the suite won't have the same issues. We will look into Oceania, for now after Transatlantic on Apex in May, we will be on Viking Ocean for 30 days, then Cunard QM2 for westbound Transatlantic. And we are booking the Anartica with Viking Expedition ship in December. Not saying that we will never do Celebrity again, but in Suites, there is no longer any value except laundry.

Would appreciate it if anyone has any information on renting a tux on board. My husband is also tall (6'5") and we will be traveling for almost 2 months before we take the westbound transatlantic on the QM2. We will be hard pressed to take any more suitcases as we have to be prepared for warm temperatures and northern Norway!

Thank you for all the information and suggestions! Our Transatlantic Cruise is only 6 nights in June, would there be one or two gala nights?

I downloaded the email as it was sent to me, only thing I deleted was my email address.

I just thought some of the things they were pointing out as the differences were like "what they don't tell you is about all the nickeling and dining that happens after you book, and once again when you get on board". We would probably not go on VV, but I have to give them their marketing people, they are certainly not pulling any punches when it comes to this email and the last. I can imagine they are watching the boards to see what the big negatives are and running with them. Just a guess.

Gmail - Fair & Flexible Fares_ The value you should get elsewhere v2.pdfReceived an email from Virgin Voyages yesterday and it sounds like they are purposely talking about the difference in Celebrity and VV. This is the 2nd email of this kind in recent weeks. You have to hand it to VV, they are addressing Celebrity's missteps head on.

#4 (from Post 728). Not to forget you pay the same in tips (that are no longer included) in a Sky Suite as you do in the higher suites... but without the same service! We will believe that they are adding back in the Butler when it is confirmed, as they have lost our trust on these matters. One day you have this, then they take it away... now bringing it back? When Shoreside Concierge called me in December about my upcoming Ascent B2B, I told her we were not happy with the changes including the Butler. She said the guests "love" the Sky Suite Team approach, if so, why change it back?

We had 2 very noisy weeks on the Ascent B2B, Madien Voyage in a Sky Suite. The Retreat Concierge had ear plus avaliable, we wore those along with white noise from our phones, husbands Cpap machine noise and a pillow over our ear while lying on our side. The team from the ship yard in France was on the first week, fixed the noise from one part of the room. Unfortunately, they flew back to France and thd other side started up and was worse. The Ascent engineers spent over 4 hours and couldn't fix it. We had the same problem on the Beyond. Never had this problem on many cruises on both the Edge and Apex (or did we hear about any). We will not book either the Beyond or Ascent again unless they fix these rooms suits. Although some report not hearing anything (which is good) it is not fair to the guests that unknowingly will get the problem rooms.

Thank you for the information, that is very helpful.

I thank you for your responses, we want to enjoy our time on the QM2 and also respect the dress code. Celebrity used to be years ago tux and gown/cocktail dress, but have in the recent years moved to "Evening Chic" which is almost anything goes, including jeans. As the dress code loosened, so did the behavior of some of the guests. Viking Ocean he will wear the jacket at the two restaurants, collared shirt is required, most guests are well seasoned travelers and behave as such. Maybe in a future Cunard cruise we will not be traveling for so long before and be able to bring all the proper attire. As to ordering clothes via Cunard or a store in London, my husband is very tall, we would have to see if they would carry his size. We will just decide to eat at other venues or room service on those special nights and be able to get a better idea for future cruises.

We will be on our first Cunard cruise, Transatlantic in June. I have a question about the attire for the Gala evening, we are staying in the Princess Grill. Would there be alternative options (for dinner) for a gentleman to wear a navy blue jacket and grey dress slacks? We are taking a Transatlantic over from Ft. Lauderdale (on Celebrity, booked a long time ago) the first week of May, we will be on Viking Ocean for 30 days, then staying in London (9 days) until we board QM2. We will be gone 2 months and with 2 other cruises plus days on land, packing is going to be an issue. We will not be able to bring "Gala" style clothing. Any advise would be appreciated. We are spreading our wings and trying something new other than Celebrity (21 years in suites, highest level in loyalty program). We are so looking forward to experiencing a sailing on the QM2.

We were on the Madien Voyage and the following week on the Ascent... Trust me most nights we had the creaking}/popping sound, Sky Suite 10145. Our neighbors also had problems. They had a team of engineers from the Ship Yard in France on board the first week. They listened to my recording, and I told them it was exactly the same noises that happened on the Beyond, they worked for several hours. It was much better, we slept well for 2 nights. Then on turn around day, that night it started back up again. We spoke to the Retreat Concierge and asked to have the Ship Yard team come back but we're told they left and flew home! The noise was constant every couple of seconds. Not all suites experienced this, but a number of people shared thier experience and were told (as initially we were) that the ships was "settling" which is not true. The second week the Ascent Maintance team came in, opened up the ceiling, spent several hours and said they couldn't fix it, it was in the walls. We were offered a different suite several doors down, but when the Head Butler took us down to see it, within seconds it was creaking/popping also! I am not an engineer, but the design of the ships Beyond and Ascent, adding more suites could be the problem? We spent weeks on the Edge and a month on the Apex in the same area and did not have any problems. Also sailed over 21 years on just about every Celebrity ship, never the problems of the Beyond /Ascent. We will not sail on these two ships again.

21 years of booking only Celebrity or Royal suites, last year we made it to Zenith. We have since been booking Sky Suites as prices have soared. In suites we do not get "Cruise Only" rates. So the only "perk" that we can use is free laundry and a percentage off of specialty restaurants. There is no value in booking Sky Suites anymore, they have taken away- -Tips -On board credit -Butler (replaced by an overworked "Retreat Host", Head Butler that is not present and Retreat Concierges who are overworked. -Paying the same gratuites as the Iconic Suite with less service. -Food being delivered by random Room Service staff instead of Butler, no personal service. -Looking at trays of food/wine glasses in the halls (just offAscent) -Only 2 bottles of Evian, all other things you are charged for, have to have minibar emptied and bring your own soda etc. from the Lounge or bars. -Being up charged for wines and the increase in prices for drinks in bars (Eden and World Class Bar. This has all been taken away from us, and replaced with much higher cruise fares. We, for the first time, did not book another cruise or pay for "place holders" for future cruises. We have one more cruise for next spring, we will wait and see if we continue, so sad as we, until recently, loved Celebrity and were huge fans. -

We have always done Celebrity Suites, Royal and a couple Penthouse (very special occasion). Only recently started doing Sky Suites as prices are so high. We are on B2B on the Ascent (Madien voyage last week), first cruises since all the changes, not a fan of "Retreat Team".

After 21 years, only doing suites, looking at other options also.... Sad as we have always been in the "cheerleader camp". For the first time, we have not booked any new suites, only have one left, booked a long time ago.

Tee Rick, I don't think the Suites would fill up if it wasn't for the "Move up"! They try not to have empty suites, so it's impossible to tell if they are selling out or "Move Ups" / Blue Chip people moving up from lower categories at a much reduced price. Your thoughts?

We are were on the Madien voyage of the Ascent (B2B), CC never sent us an invitation to the CC Welcome. We decided to show up anyway, it was packed, one of the CC hosts spotted us, I said we never received an invite. She said the same thing about Retreat Hosts and that she had called and left a message (which she did not). About 2 hours a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, wine and a note appeared, the note said "Welcome to the Infinity"! The next invite for Zenith Lunch they spelled husband's name wrong, this week it was my name wrong! Ship is beautiful, crew is great, Officers are not interacting. Very different from our time together on the Apex! Madien voyage we were the 9th and 10th on the ship, no one greeted us except a server from Oceanview, after B2B, enter back onto the ship, no one to say Welcome back! Lots of other differences from the Apex, especially with new "Retreat Hosts.