Captiveguru

If you search this forum you will find that, in practice, Cunard allows wine to be brought onboard in vast quantities. Case in point:

We embarked QV earlier this month in San Pedro. After getting off the plane at LAX we had our Uber driver go first to the Trader Joe's just south of LAX. Purchased 12 bottles of wine. Put them into 2 6-bottle wine bags. Carried them onto the ship as part of our hand luggage. No problems.

I purchased a copy on Amazon.co.uk. The seller did not have an overseas delivery quote, so I emailed him and he added that to his listing. The Price was GBP 75. and delivery was another GBP 7 + (I don't have a pound sterling symbol on my keyboard so I have quoted the priced with the currency id. GBP means Pounds, currently about $1.49 to the pound.) A bit pricey but worth it in my mind. Cheers Mike

75 GBP is quite a mark-up from the onboard price of 50 USD. Maybe this is why there are no copies onboard. The re-sellers might be going straight to the bookstore upon embarkation and buying all of the copies...

I don't know if this helps, but the cookbook is offered here: https://www.cunard.com/Documents/Gifts%20and%20Special%20Occassions/Gifts_Brochure.pdf See page 4.

 

"Queen Mary 2 Cookbook

- Ocean Liner Cuisine $50.00

Jean-Marie Zimmermann has released his

Ocean Liner Cuisine book, which provides

a gastronomic experience to be long remembered."

Thanks. I saw that too, but it appears to be a list of items to be purchased while onboard. I will call the number listed.

PS - I like the price. Much better than 75 GBP.

I thought I would update CC readers on my actual Fort Lauderdale disembarkation experience yesterday.

 

We registered for Self-Disembarkation at the Pursers Office the day before arrival. The stateroom info was clear and specific, arrival would be at 7.00 a.m. and self-disembark would be first off. There was a delay in getting security clearance but at 7.30 we were among the first off the ship and the first at US Customs. We got a very pleasant customs guy, were through in a few minutes and into one of the many waiting taxis. We arrived at the airport a few minutes after 8 a.m.

 

Since this thread started Air Canada moved the departure forward from 10:50 to 10:35. So we had an airport wait of over 2 hours. Every seat on the plane was filled but it pushed back on time and arrived in Toronto early. It was an A320, gentlemancruiser, so it has not yet been 'rouged' and it had decent legroom.

 

After Toronto we had a 4 hour drive home so it was a long day but we arrived home early evening, happy to have the journey all in one.

 

Clearly, the key to being able to do this was to use self-disembarkation carrying your own bags off. We don't mind that and would rather do that than sit around waiting to be called ashore to search for bags and wait for US customs. And the bonus in Fort Lauderdale is that the distance from ship to customs wheeling our own luggage was very short.

 

It was a good ending to an enjoyable cruise!

We also disembarked QV on Tuesday, 4/12/2015. Registered with the purser the day before. No card issued. Arrived Queens Room on Deck 2 at 7:00 AM. Much to my surprise there was NO CUNARD PERSONNEL in sight, so at 7:20 the self-helpers made their way to Deck 1 and created a monstrous queue. Finally an officer arrived and told those waiting for elevators to return to the QR and wait. WE were released and were off the ship at 7:45. Waited in the US immigration line for 30 minutes due to only one immigration officer on duty. I think the non-US line moved faster. We were ready to get into a cab around 8:20.

If I had a tight connection I would report to the QR and then determine where the exit would be (for a while it looked like we would leave from Deck 2), and then get to the front of the queue.

The Food and Hotel manager on QV was surprised to learn the bookshop had no copies of the QM2 cookbook.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. 75 GBP seems a bit steep... I paid 33 USD for the QE2 Cookbook. Why is that still in print and the QM2 book is not?

Waiting for confirmation that it is still available onboard the QM2. I looked at the cookbooks whilst onboard QM2 last September and am pretty sure only the QE2 book was available. Could be wrong...

Have you tried Amazon or Ebay ? There are a couple for sale in the UK but I'm not sure if they are offering US shipping.

 

Otherwise, it seems the perfect excuse to travel on QM2 !

 

How was your QV trip ? Were you able to dine in the Courtyard ? Did you see the volcanic eruption ?

Looked at Amazon and Ebay. Only those 2 in the UK. Are you sure there are copies on QM2?

Had lunch several times in the Grills Courtyard. Very nice. I highly recommend the Iced Coffee! There was one table set up for dinner two nights ago on the QG side.

The Mexican volcano was too far away, but we visited the one in Nicaragua on tour.

Just disembarked QV in FLL (having boarded in LAX). On our last day at sea the executive chef gave a great demonstration in the Grand Lobby of two recipes from the 2009 cookbook, "Queen Mary 2 Ocean Liner Cuisine."

Mrs. Guru now wants a copy and was disappointed to learn that the only Cunard cookbook for sale onboard was the QE2 cookbook. Unbeknownst to her I purchased a copy of the QE2 cookbook earlier during the voyage and got it signed by the head chef. I thought that would be a great gift, but if she wants the QM2 version I need to find it.

Does anyone know where I can purchase a copy of the QM2 cookbook?

The Courtyard is accessed through the restaurants so the evening dress code will apply.

No jacket required at breakfast, lunch or tea though.

Thanks. I understand this issue, but is one allowed to remove one's jacket upon arrival at the GC table?

Last minute wardrobe check for LAX-FLL...

Expecting warm weather. We love to dine al fresco, but wearing a jacket can make it so much less pleasant... Don't get me wrong, generally we love Cunard's formalities, but for outdoor dining?

I am seeing QV's departure from Los Angeles tomorrow scheduled for 8:00pm. With the usual procedure of check-in closing 90 minutes before departure, that means you would need to be at the port and checked in by 6:30pm. A 1:55pm arrival at LAX would be cutting it too close for my comfort but should be possible if there are no major delays.

 

Regards,

John.

Thanks. I do not like it either, but it is a non-stop flight...

BTW - Where did you find the departure time?

Our flight now scheduled to arrive LAX at 1:55 PM. When originally booked the scheduled arrival was 12;55 PM.

Are we cutting it too close?

All are in the Caribbean or Central America. Glad none are on the QV's itinerary this month.

http://cruisedestination.net/2014/10/27/top-10-most-dangerous-cruise-destinations-in-the-world/

last fall on QM2 we attached our Cunard tags once we arrived at the embarkation port. The porters had staplers.

We embark QV in LAX next week. Plan to attach the Cunard tags on arrival at the port. I do not trust the airline to not remove the Cunard tags.

No one else is intrigued by the idea of seeing a volcanic eruption from the ship?

http://www.universetoday.com/119670/stunning-photo-of-volcanic-lightning-at-volcan-de-colima-in-mexico/

Will we be able to see this from the QV as we travel along the Mexican coastline?

http://www.weather.com/news/news/colima-mexico-volcano-erupts-video

Not too sure what fax numbers you have used, however, I believe this is the telephone & fax numbers to be used for Cunard/Carnival ' North American Brands'.

Tel 0800 872 6779 ext 30317 Fax 661753 0180.

 

You should only need to fax through proof of ownership 'once', afterwards you email 'shareholderbenifit@cunard.com' (after balance has been paid) with details and booking ref number etc.

 

Good Luck. :)

 

 

oops ! sorry thinfool overlooked your reply .

You numbers are correct. I faxed the proof of ownership yesterday. Called today and they confirmed it had been applied. They offered to send a confirming email, which I now have.

Thanks for everyone's help. The instructions on the website do not seem to apply to North American bookings.

Why did you send it to the UK?

Because this is what I found at Ask Cunard:

How do I apply my shareholder benefits to my booking?

To apply your shareholder benefits to your booking please forward the following items to us via fax or post (address below):

Your name

Booking reference

Ship

Sailing date

Proof of ownership of Carnival Corporation or Carnival plc shares (for example, photocopy of shareholder proxy card, shares certificate or a current brokerage or nominee statement). (if your shares are held within a nominee account you can also provide a letter or email from your bank/broker quoting your name, number of Carnival shares held and a current date))

For your own security it is most important that your brokerage account/client number is blocked out together with any information not pertaining to Carnival shares before sending this information.

All applications are to be sent for processing to:

Shareholder Benefits Team

Carnival UK

100 Harbour Parade

Southampton

Hampshire

SO15 1ST

Fax. 023 8065 7360

Email: shareholderbenefits@carnivalukgroup.com

Applications should be made after the cruise balance has been paid but no later than two weeks prior to departure.

Applications will not be accepted once on board the ship.

Tried to fax my proof of share ownership to Cunard to the # on the website. Not sure it went through so I sent the information via email to the eddress on the website on Monday morning (2 weeks and 12 hours prior to sailing).

Today (Tuesday) received an email reply that the UK office could not process US bookings. Was given another fax number. Faxed the proof of ownership today. Fax success was confirmed by by fax service.

It is now less than 2 weeks before sailing. When and how will I receive confirmation of my Shareholder Benefit OBC?

Thanks for the review. We are traveling the reverse route (LAX-FLL) next month on QV. Can you comment on the ports?

OK, they corrected the name of the vessel, but is the QE really, "One of the world's most famous cruise liners..." ?

Hi Captiveguru. I don't know the answer to your question but I do know that weather and sea conditions, unforeseen ship events and an altered itinerary in addition to other factors such as how many ships will be in port that day are factors. Just as no one can forecast if their plane will land on time, no passenger can predict so far in advance what time they will clear US Customs, as recent events prove.

 

I hope it works out well for you. Best suggestion I have is to follow this forum since many generous passengers on board take the time (and expense) to keep us updated. Cheers, S.

I understand that the start of debarkation can be delayed by many factors. My questioned assumed the ship docked on schedule. Sounds like getting through immigration could take quite a long time.

We went straight after dinner and were generally able to get a box

How long before showtime would that be?

Any advice as to how early to arrive on "non-production" nights?

Where and when does one sign up?