Covepointcruiser

We are currently on the QM2. Very few in masks but many passengers are coughing and appear to at least have a cold if not flu or COVID. We had a table for six on the first leg from NYC and at the beginning of the next leg two table mates disappeared. We asked about them, for three days until they finally confessed that the two had COVID. We were never tested although we were clearly close contacts. Luckily we have not caught it and it has been 7 days. Guess this is a risk we all take when wandering in public ashore or at sea.

It is definitely disappointing to those sailing on the Venture but on expedition cruises they should expect changes. We once took a cruise especially for a three day visit to Egypt. Didn’t happen. We drifted outside of Alexandria for a day hoping the port would open as it had closed due to severe winds. Had lots of company as all ships bound for that port were waiting outside. The Captain had to finally give up and we headed to Greece and had an extra day there. We had been on the ship from Dubai and had no ports until Greece. We were very disappointed and had to plan another cruise to visit Egypt. We were refunded port fees, that’s it. Now we don’t count on a visit to a particular port and are never disappointed.

I believe most have heard of the additional Viking accident on their new ship. While returning to Ushuaia they were hit by a Rogue Wave. Four cabins had their windows broken in and one women from the U.S. was killed. This happened while they were returning because of the passenger with the broken leg.

Glad Seabourn is opting for safety. As we all know there have been deaths this year and major accidents on Antarctic voyages. In a normal year many ships don’t make it to the Falklands and South Georgia may be almost as difficult. It’s an Expedition cruise and is inherently dangerous. If sailing without the stabilizer was safe I am sure the Captain would have continued with the original itinerary.

Cunard offers breakfast and lunch in their Suite restaurants (Princess no Queen’s) Grill every day of every sailing in port or out at sea. I believe the MDR also offers the same. If you want white linen service every day of your sailing this is the line to choose.

Don and Iain would love a crossing on the QM2, there is no other experience to match the Queens Grill. They have said they have Cunard on their “short list”. The only negative would be the more formal dress especially on gala evenings but Don and Lain dress very well even on informal Celebrity. I enjoyed the photo of the long inside passage on the Solstice. On the QM2, on Deck 9, we have counted 960 steps from the Commodore Club to our cabin aft of stairway D. A little less than 3 times around the complete promenade on Deck 7 is one mile.

We are on this voyage on this voyage and are told it is sold out by passengers wanting to bring additional family members. Could be that some cabins are held back for quarantine. Some passengers may want to be settled into another cabin if they test positive while cabin mate is testing negative.

Osman is very attentive on the current sailing. He asks if he can do anything special at our table at each lunch. Five out of six days he has prepared appetizers and entrees for us. Tonight we are trying Peking duck. One of our table mates says the steak tartare is the best he has ever had. The food is almost faultless on this crossing, much better than before COVID.

We are on the QM2 right now and will be on through 12/22. All the the Christmas decor is in place now except for the gingerbread village. We only have a few children on this crossing and I hope we pick up many more in Southampton for the Christmas markets segment. No Christmas related menus so far on this crossing.

It’s interesting, on Cunard you are visited by the upgrade fairy. It’s a no cost upgrade and at times we have been upgraded from Britannia class, regular verandah, to the Queens Grill lowest level suite. We are on the QM2 now for 19 days and the ship is full, 2300 passengers -150 K ton ship. The first crossing is a Literary cruise with about 20 popular authors plus the editor of the London Times book review and past editor of the New York Times book review. BBC TV and radio hosts are chairing discussions with the authors. We are really adding to our “books to be read” list. The upgrade fairy works well for Cunard because once you eat in their top restaurant, you are never quite as happy in the lower level restaurants. I have looked at the menus in the Britannia, regular MDR, and there are much better choices than in Luminae.

9074 has one arm chair, one small sofa and one desk chair. There is no curtain and no seat in the bathtub/shower.

The Commodores Lounge has been very busy this crossing when we have used it. We enjoy the string trio and obviously many other passengers also enjoyed them. We did find two seats but a table had to be brought to us from the Boardroom.

On our current sailing the Queens Grill is fully booked and all tables have been used each evening. I doubt that an additional guest on this sailing would be permitted. Dining at 7:30-8:00 ensures you are at peak times. We have had to wait for table side courses and were even told we were too late to have our appetizer pasta prepared for us. They do need additional staff and it appeared there were on two wine stewards in the QG so your wine glass is not refilled in a timely manner. First world problems and the food has been he best we have had in The Grill on the QM2.

They won’t notice if you wear the same outfit. My husband was fine with a blue blazer and tie for the more formal evenings. We had very few underdressed passengers on our Greenland cruise.

On the QM2 now and we have a deck 13 and there are cabins, very nice ones, on that deck.

We are on the QM2 now for 19 days. Most crew members are not wearing masks. A few passengers are and some of those have coughs. There is a respiratory virus going around in the U.S. it’s likely some passengers are infected.

My husband is very hard of hearing so masked crew members make it very difficult for him. He needs to be able to read lips especially when the crew member speaks with an accent. At least on Seabourn they will lower their masks if someone can’t understand them so I hope they will do the same on the QM2.

If the writers on the literary cruise are giving talks we will have a diverse set of talks. The writers have written books about many different topics so their talks should be interesting.

If you are too sick or compromised to be vaccinated, would your doctor advise traveling on a cruise ship where you will be, most likely exposed to the virus?

The Planetarium shows, if not available, will not cause me any concern. My understanding is the shows have not changed since the QM2 was launched and we have seen the same ones on six different trips. Some of the chair are still broken. I will be interested in some of the literary presentations but won’t miss seeing them in the planetarium, there are much better venues on the QM2.

Did the folks with rebound COVID happen to take Paxlovid? It’s common to get another round of COVID.

If it is a weather related port closing early notification to passengers is not possible. We have had ports skipped with no advance notice. We have also been on a ship outside of a port for seven hours (along with many other ships) hoping the port of Alexandria would open. Unfortunately it didn’t and we lost our main reason for taking this particular cruise. Bad weather happens and it is as bad for the cruise line as it is for the passengers.

When did they put a hot tub on the Royal Suite Balcony? We had a bathtub, same as you would have in a master bath. It had jets but was not filled with water. It was nothing like the spa we have on our deck, always ready with hot water, and also comfortably fits more than one person. It took up a lot of space and we never used it.

Actually the menus for the Britannia and recent photos show a wonder selection of foods better than I experienced in 2019. It’s sad the OP had a bad experience as most passengers are quite happy.

If you don’t want to be around folks who won’t dress up avoid the Kings Court or Lido as you are permitted to dress down in that venue.