elmsliebev

the option to buy wasn't there, it only said buy on board.

Thanks for the reports. We join QA on 23rd. I'm pleased we might get a glimspe of QM2 as we had our honeymoon Transatlantic crossing on her 15 years ago. Have you tried the Indian restaurant on board yet? We've booked there for the first night, very much looking forward to it. I'm intrigued by the coding - I started my working life as programmer on mainframes back in the 1980s! No way would we have been able to code on holiday - it was handwritten coding sheets and then to the punchroom 😀

thanks, that's really helpful. Looks like 2 days. We have 2 sea days and my mobile provider allows me to use my phone for calls, texts etc in Norway as if at home so I can keep in touch with the olds. Plus hopefully wifi in cafes of course.

they do have internal lifts on QE. When we had Covid we had to use them to be moved to our isolation cabin (a balcony rather than our booked inside cabin)

we have Gold status so will get $45 onboard credit on QA for the Internet. I don't need it for the whole trip so was planning on a couple of days at $18per day for the basic package - not bothered about streaming. Cunard's website for My Booking says its $18 if bought beforehand or $24 if bought onboard. It also says "You have been gifted complimentary internet credits: Gold members receive $45, Platinum members receive $80 and Diamond members receive $135 (all in USD).Once you board your ship, you can use your credits to purchase internet by the day or for your entire voyage, according to the prices shown here." The "prices shown here" have the $18 first and the $24 in small print! So does "the prices shown here" mean $18 or $24? I was easier when you just had a credit for minutes! The website won't let me buy in advance it says "Use your credits to purchase internet on board". Any thoughts?

I'e never used a thermal suite on board a ship so I'm not clear what's involved. Can anyone tell me what it consists of and if they have special offers once onboard? It's $59 for a 2 hour session if you book before going. Thanks

we saw it here in Blackpool a few months ago. Loved it, thought it was very funny and very well done. I will definitely go and see it again onboard later this month.

presumably only those outside the soft drinks covered by Simply More or is it those as well? And coffee? I'll probably be buying the odd Lyres alcohol free cocktail so I would expect to pay the gratuity on those.

thanks, I'm assuming it will be the same for us then.

I notice that Simply More is now saying gratuities are included along with drinks with meals, etc. We booked before the change to drinks being included in Simply More but later upgraded to Simply More to include drinks and wifi for a device each. However, my account still offers the opportunity to pre-pay the gratuities. Has anyone found that the gratuities are included in a booking that didn't originally have that? We sail in October and are based in the UK. TIA.

I hope they do start the ocasional TA - it would be much less bother for us! 😀

Glad you enjoyed the ceremony. We're booked on her in a few weeks and were just saying it would be wonderful if Cunard do start some cruises from Liverpool instead of so many of us always having to go down to Southampton. We sailed from Liverpool with Cruise Maritime and it was so easy and quick, just an hour from home.

My Nanna was a Scouser, and I support Liverpool FC, so I should also declare an interest!

not sure. There are certain conditions - current account plus a mortgage or savings account I think. We had a letter this week and details are on the website too.

we got the port shuttle to the gates, then a coach from there to the big car park/drop off point in Bruges. It's about a 15minute walk through a nice park to the centre. It all worked very well. I think Solent Richard's blog gave the info. If more than 2 of you, a taxi is probably better value. I think it was 18euro each for the bus, but not certain.

the £13 is the monthly fee for the bank account. Aviva now underwrite the travel insurance part. The monthly fee also includes mobile phone insurance and car breakdown cover. It's still £13 the moment. Plus Nationwide are in the process of giving their members £100 "dividend" which covers a fair chunk of that outlay.

sorry, probably immigration. Whichever it was it was the worst experience we've had boarding any ship, or even passing through immigration after flying in. As I said, for US and Canadian cititzens it wasn't as bad as they could use the machine-readable tech, but the rest of us had 3 officials to handle us!

we boarded QE in Vancouver in 2022 and it was by far the longest waiting time we've had.There were 3 ships in but everyone was queueing in the same space. I think it took us about 3 hours. The longest wait was for going through US customs as non-US or Canadian citizens so hopefully it won't be as bad for you. Priority groups seemed to get through the initial check in quicker but still had the joy of customs to come! We then had 10 day in Alaska and were staying on QE through to Miami. Re-boarding as intransit passengers wasn't much quicker!

I do love a pub quiz! I was about 14 when Slik were around. It's just one of those odd things that stick in my memory.

i remember him first of all in Slik, with the song Forever and Ever. Around the time of the Bay City Rollers! Would love to see him now.

safe travels. We are trying Oceania (Regatta) for the first time in October from Tokyo to Singapore and have the long flights via Abu Dhabi to look forward to, though not as long as your flights of course. Look forward to reading about your trip. What's the itinerary for the cruise? We did a few Croatian ports in October last year with P&O and loved them all, Zadar was particularly beautiful. We have happy memories of Villefranche as it is where my husband proposed!

thanks, that's pretty much what I thought hence asking just in case anyone had direct experience. I'll find out soon enough!

If (I know it is an "if" so far) they have tightened up on bringing alcohol onboard, what's the score with alcohol free wine? Cunard do have some alcohol free wine but apart from the rose, it's not to my taste so I was thinking of bringing a couple of bottles of AF red and an AF fizz. I assume I'll still need to pay corkage if we want to drink it with dinner. Or will we?

you can also request lactose free milk for the cabin if needed. Also, we had no problem getting coffee made with lactose free milk in the Commodore Club and Carinthia on QE.

oh wow. What a wonderful thing to do. We went to Arlington in 2019 and found it very moving. I've also been to the American Cemetery in Normandy and the British Military Cemetary in Bayeux, where my great uncle is buried. It's important that we continue to remember.