Germancruiser

I, too am feeling blessed to have experienced all these ports in the years before- with sometimes only one ship in port. That´s the downside of the cruise boom- every coin has two sides- every year cruise lines cough up another vessel carrying up 7000 pax- well overtourism is the logical follow up. So if I want to go back to one of those cities I will go before or after season. I, too prefer nowadays many sea days - preferably Transatlantics.

Amazing sold out that early- I do not see the lure- an indoor dining spot- even though a very nice one- without a view out to the sea- call me oldfashioned but that´s why I book a cruise.

Oh I know how useless does discussion with the donkey guys are- I had the same, when I refused to use the donkeys after I saw how bad those poor things have been treated by their owners. I used them twice- but would never do so again. Those owners have no respect for their animals.

Oh the early days of cruising- how one can miss them. Santorin is georgous- always has been. My first visit was back in 1983- as a 14 year old. In them days there was no cable car- it was either walk or the a donkey. So we all took the donkey- only one ship in port- with less than 500 pax. Been there many times since then. Used the cable car- the donkey- walked the path down- NOT UP. If you are in port with so many other pax just book a tour- as many already said. Masstourism has arrived on the seven seas long since- and took out the lure of cruising a good deal- for me anyway. For me- I prefer and enjoy a nice long Transatlantic or cruising those destinations out of the season. Had that on board Infinity this March- not too hot. Always the only ship in port. I avoid ships over 3000 passengers. A nightmare of the first order is arriving in- I know that is off topic- let´s say Nassau- lined up with 6 other ships - all in all around 30 000 visitors- lol.

I am not sure if it´s only me- but I never got to fill out any comment cards - online or other on the last Cunard voyages. Did they stopp that altogether? With the Service on my last ( June 2024) QM2 experience it would not come as suprise, if they did not ant any bad comments. LOL.

As " Miss G" I also was on this voyage with the four hour delay. I wrote a little review myself- and I too, experienced the worst Britannia Service ever. Well saying the least it was a hit and miss. Cunard line has it´s loyal fans- loyal cruisers and rightly so. I sailed Celebrity for many many years- and still switch over to them from time to time. Never- ever in any of my 19 cruises with Celebrity did I experience such bad and such lackluster staff in the Main Dining Room. I just yesterday compared the prices for a Transatlantic ( both 14 days) on board Celebrity Apex and Queen Victoria - same embarkation port- almost identical ports of call. Asked for the price of a balcony cabin on both ships. The fare on board Queen Victoria is almost double the price of Celebrity. That is all well and good- if you want the " Cunard feel" one is prepared to pay more. But for that service of Cunard in June- I am no longer willing to pay so much more for the same itinerary. I am not decided as of yet.. but Cunard has to be very very carefull to maintain their Service level or bring it back up to scratch. I am sure there is a reason I never get any comment cards from Cunard to fill out, neither online nor otherwise. So - yes I quite understand the OP - esp. since it was the first Cunard experience.

OH what utterly nonsense that 4 class idea is. If Britannia Class is considered 4th class- I am happy to take that anytime. Does one really feel " 4th Class" when sitting in one of the wonderful Lounges on board QM2- say Chart Room Bar, Commodore Club, Champagne Bar? I do not want a behind the sceanes tour- other then the technical part- etc. I do not want to see the accommadations of the crew- as one mentiones already- it is their sanctury - the only place they have for themselfes. Nobody forces anyone to work on a ship- sometimes the crew members feed whole families from what they make on their contracts.

Thank you bluemarble- that is exactly the information i seeked. You helped me a lot. It is quite a distance to CDG - Paris- so I just wanted to make sure. Again thanks a lot.

My next voyage is planed and booked ( well almost) ! It ends in Le Havre. The question is- does Cunard provide or offer transportation from Le Havre to Paris- Charles D.G. ? Thanks for all answers.

To the OP- well they annonce the end of ship in Service for the company a bit in advance, when the time is right- maybe your son can put the proposal a bit a head- so to fullfill his dream. God god no- the loony bins would overflow when we could tell the future. LOL.

Oh nooo- I never would want a 5 day crossing- the longer I can stay on board the better it is. For me that´s the whole point of it. I do not see it as bad form of Cunard- things happen on the high seas. We also arrived 4 hours late in NY- emergency right at the start and drifting for 8 or so hours in the midst of the North Atlantic, due to some technical problems. Cunards first priority has always been the safety of their passengers - right from the start in 1840. So no not bad form - Cunard- kudos Cunard for taking care of their passengers.

That would be my plan when I retire- going- whenever possible over the Atlantic by ship. LOL. Waiting for the ship to come back to NY for two weeks. Perfect- but still a bit to wait for that.

Oh I so wish they- Cunard- would have to two TA- Liners - so I could go over with the ship- stay - maybe a week or a few days in NYC and then go right back to Europe.

Thank you Miss G- for mentioning the music on the Terrace Pool- I thought exactly the same thing- wonderful memories- wonderful songs- not to loud, not intrusive. Sometimes I thought- oh my I hope I hear this song again, when I come up next.

I agree only thought about it from the passengers Point of view! That was the question asked! For the crew it is really better the other way around- as it is in fact!

I found there was absolutely no difference on both legs of the voyage! What I always find- the fresh fruits on board Cunard ships are much much better than on board Celebrity or Hal ships!

Well on the westbound leg I would have prefered the hour to gain at midday - and on the eastbound the change at night! To put the clocks forward at 12 always seemed to shorten the day lol! We are early risers - so we have been always to early for breakfast and such on the westbound leg ! It lay be different for those who like to sleep in!

Oh dear I am far from good with names- Patricia Hodge and Steve Edge come to mind - there more of course - very well known to the British lol!

Thank you Miss G- at the westbound leg of our voyage we had 5 sea days- so Mary had to speed up a bit- and I am sure we took the exact route you mentioned. The second leg took 7 sea days- I presume they arranged it that way, because of the " Theater and Musiccal - themed second leg- to give them more time for all the shows and lectures and such. Many promminent entertainers and actors on board for the eastbound leg. Wonderful entertainment all around on this second leg. ( The first was totaly fine, too- of course) I did one HAL cruise so I can not compare HAL with Cunard, I sailed mostly with Celebrity, in the food and service compartment both are very similar. NOT shipwise, though. LOL.

After reading the wonderful report of Miss G- thank you by the way for letting us taking part of your voyage, I thought I write a bit about my- our experience. We decided on a Sheltered balcony cabin on Deck 6. Wrong decision- nobody is to blame but myself- lol- I overlooked the fact that the cabin ( 6262) is very close to the children area. So a nap in the afternoon was almost not possible- for some reason exactly then it felt like a 100 kids running wild on the corridor. I do not blame the kids- just my own decision. Well- lesson learned. After 30 years of cruising I am more than happy to only have sea days- which is why Transatlantic voyages - preferably on board my favorite ship out there- QM2 - are now the thing for me. There is really no ship that compares with QM2- she is unique- I can only agree to all Miss G wrote about the ship itself. There never seems to be crowded lounges- so many wonderful nooks and crannies to read or watch the sea go by. I only found the service this time very very slow at times- esp. in the Carinthia Lounge or Sir Samules. Britannia was really a hit and miss this time- we had Anytime Dinning-which worked perfect on my other voyages ( this my 6th TA and my second Double TA) ! Breakfast in Britannia was sometimes downright catastrophic- mixed up orders- forgotten orders- long waits for coffee or tea refils - no one came round with pastries and such. So we ended up mostly in either Kings Court or Carinthia- both very good- and I usual avoid Buffets. After the refit earlier this year that magnificent ship was in wonderful shape- great new upholstery in both Carinthia Lougne and esp. in the Commodore Club. All new ( and much much better) chairs in Britannia. Complete new deck chairs around deck 7 including the cushions. The first leg to New York we called our " Fog voyage" almost 4 days fog in a row- which bothered me not in the least. Also the emergency in the first night and the drifting for 8 hours in the midst of the Northatlantic. The second leg- wonderful weather- almost every day. The highlight- entering New York in broad daylight- and not having to get up in the middle of the night. I felt sorry, though for those with onwards arrangements. All in all another wonderful voyage.

Yes - thanks - Jack- that can be the reason for the U- Turn - after the ship got slower than 9knt the TV Channel 45 stopped reporting- so I went out on the balcony at this time to see - if there is in fact something to see- and it was those lights I mentioned. , my balcony was a sheltered one also- and also on the port side of the ship.

Just getting back into my routine after debarking QM2 last Sunday in Soto. All in all two wonderful weeks on board my favorite ship- a review will follow shortly. The only strange happening really was this driffting for 8 or so hours in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean. Some things I am sill wondering about. We have been in the middle of the Atlantic- looking out of our balcony - just when the ship stopped, we ( and many others) saw three lights in the not to far distance- two white lights- looked like postion lights of ships. One bright red light- very bright red. No explanation for that- also " Why an U- Turn" to stopp the ship? Was the last to get out of the way for other ship traffic? Well - not that we saw so many ships passing during the crossing. If anyone has any ideas... !

Very eventfull- yes we called it the „ Foggy crossing“! ( fog for three days in a row )

The captain just came on and told us that we arrive in NY with a four hour delay- 10.30 at the earliest. All on board by 8 pm! For us in transit that is rather good- I am sorry though for those whose onwards travels have been disturbed!

Hello Jack Dawson- yep on our way now ! Habe a good rest of the voyage- we are doing the back TA to Southampton - well we hope lol!