Planning to cruise

Equally, UK nationals should be aware that from November there are additional controls and requirments to enter Europe. This would affect flights to join cruises, or any other reason to visit.

Im not sure it is a case of chasing or upselling sales (although I can recall one sommelier who was very good at trying that) but needing to produce results. No doubt the fact that bar staff work hard rather than hang around can be noticed. Efficiency and sales volumes are the key to promotion. Not sure if there is an opposite result of not making the grade. The young man I refer to was pleased to be upgraded from wait staff to bar server (all some years ago) and the next step he hoped for would be effectively bar manager on a shift. Of course drinks staff are there to serve non alcohol as well as the more expensive alcohol.

The Boardwalk cafe has been in use in warmer southern hemisphere climes.

That is why it is called the Kings Court perhaps. Better than an Artisans Foodhall anyway

I am not a teetotaller and often like a glass of wine with dinner and / or more or less only on Cunard a pre dinner drink. I am just not over fussed about alcohol. It is a drink, there are others I might prefer. Call me old fashioned but tea or elderflower are often the go to choices anywhere. There is an emphasis on alcoholic drinks on all ships. I once got to know a Cunard barman well, not because we were good customers - we werent - but because being far from home he seemed to want someone to chat to and we always did so every time we met. He worked round the clock and when I asked him if he got fed up serving all these drinks even early in the day he said that in the end it just passed them by, the emphasis was in his words for them to sell, sell, sell.

Losing local housing stock to holiday use is a problem in popular, usually coastal and or rural parts, of the UK. Second home purchases have reduced supply of homes for locals and pushed the prices out of their reach. In places, such houses have recently attracted much higher taxes than non holidaybstock, to the protest of those owners. These areas attract large numbers of visitors and get very overcrowded in high season with traffic and people congestion without necessarily creating economic benefits.

Speaking for myself, I would sincerely hope not.

When we have been to what Cunard bills as Cairns the ship has docked at Yorkeys Knob some miles north.

I am sure that you will find more than enough to do. Enjoy!

I think there is more problem at Mayflower.

Club on QM2 is a separate room, 2 in fact since extra cabins were added. They are as you say at the back of the MDR which means going through the dining room unless you access via the D staircase near the QR. Walking straight into the dining room to walk through can attract some pained looks when it is thought you are queue jumping. We tend to say Club to the MD as we pass. Noisy? Not really although we once had a table next to the wall with the kitchen on the other side. Some noise penetrated but it was probabaly still quieter than being next to a service station in a dining room. It depends where the cabin is on the top decks. We felt movement in a very forward Club room on deck 12 during a rough TA crossing in January. That was unpleasant at first until we found our sea legs. More midships rooms are better. We quickly learned to think vertically not horizontally in Club on QM2. The A stairs / lifts give speedy direct access to the Commodore Club, launderette, library, Kings Court via the salon, and the rear of the theatre. The trek along the length is only necessary for the dining room.

I have found the most interesting speakers to be on TA crossings and on a world cruise where they change on segments. The best whilst also being great speakers often have academic credentials rather than being say TV people. I have heard and chatted with Maureen Ryan and Stephen Payne on such cruises. Although I do think its rude to do so I did in fact walk out of one talk some years ago along with a number of other women. It was between Australian ports, the speaker was Australian, as were great numbers of passengers. Although he was unknown to others he was apparently some sort of personality in Australia and the Australians were excited to think he was to talk and flocked to the theatre. He was so rude, sexist and misogynist, a few got up and others followed. Each to their own.

At the end of a cruise last year my husband ended up helping an elderly couple with their cases in the shed at Southampton. He is not the fittest passenger but this pair with whom we had spoken in a bar on baord were clearly having trouble with their small cases and wobbling on their sticks. Porters?

Triva every evening at 8 pm in the Explorers Lounge on port days on our VO cruises this year. On the one sea day it was around 12 noon in the theatre.

The timings above are the reason why we have now decided to try to arrive on board earlier even if it means overnighting in a hotel. Travelling on the day of departure has resulted in more than one arrival on company transfers during the talk or the start of dinner without time to freshen up. We share cdn polar s views about getting unpacked and settled.

I have no experience of P and O. I only know of MSC from my daughter and family with teenagers. She and her husband would prefer Cunard and told me that she knew I would hate MSC but that it was fine for them as the teens were having a fantastic time. I dont do party ships. I will let you make up your own mind. I do sail Cunard regularly. They are a quieter line than MSC and have regular fjord cruises. We have been to most fjord ports. You may wish to avoid a very large ship with many passengers for a fjord cruise where tenders are sometimes needed. To see the fjords you need an itinerary that does not focus on the coastal ports. You can probably do better than any of the options you have so far. I would suggest that you investigate a bit more.

Viking is an itinerary led line. Its emphasis is not on daytime or evening entertainment.

Another issue in Verandah on QM2 is its position next to a pool deck. At lunch time those in window seats have glass between them and people sitting on the other side by the pool. As there is a door from the restaurant to the outside deck it is not unknown for non diners, some in pool clothing, to enter from outside and use the restaurant as a thoroughfare despite this officialy not being allowed and imo rude. I agree that Verandah on QE and QV have a better ambience.

I am pleased to see that there was a matinee classical concert. We were told on Anne that "all that has gone", to our concern and disappointment.

Good to know, many thanks. Next year we arrive at the embarkation port a couple of days in advance. It will be good to get on board without delay. We have done a few Viking Rivers but always arrived latish after flights and transfers. That has never been good and this time we decided to get ahead.

In over 200 nights total on QM2 I have only been inside the gym for muster drill.

I have had experience of trying to do this sort of thing with Cunard but, like you, without success. We booked Cape Town to Sydney but having been to Sydney we thought we would disembark a few days earlier and visit someone. Cunard wouldnt entertain it. As it turned out it was academic anyway as we never went anywhere thanks to covid cancellation of the whole thing.

We would never go on the "horrid monsters". There are smaller ships, more itinerary based with less entertainment. They will not be to everyones taste but we find we can mix that with Cunard happily. Cancelling. We have only done so once, not wishing to repeat QA as our next cruise on her was a longer one. We knew that unless we transferred the deposit to another Cunard booking of the same or higher value we would lose it. I might have been willing to cut our losses but DH was not prepared to lose the cash! Whilst still on board we looked at other Cunard cruises of at least equal cost and decided to transfer to another longer one on QM2. We went to the future cruise office and asked them to make the change. They said they could not do so, were unable to do the paperwork. Dont ask me why. Although the person was pleasant and polite we had the impression that they were more interested in making new sales. We contacted our agent on return home who immediately organised the change to a different cruise and ship in a cabin of our choice without fuss. I am UK based.

We just go with the flow on close tables, sometimes getting chatty, sometimes it is only polite exchanges. Once we did have an issue. In PG on QV with tables side by side. Nothing wrong with the other pair, perfectly nice people but DH in particular didnt care for the mans frequent topic of conversation. Too medical, especially as at the time DH had seen enough of medical establishments for a while. We didnt want to move, we had a great window table. After a few days we realised that they were always in the dining room almost as soon as it opened. We deliberately went a little later, which suited us and were able to say something on the lines of hello, have you had a good day, oh dear I see you are leaving, never mind we ll see you again. It worked and we ate in peace. In PG since Covid the tables have been more angled, still close if you want to engage but are not face to face if you want to be less sociable.

Correction. I now see that the post referred to the QE2. Apologies. My first visit was on QM2, and the subject of my photo. She towered above the houses.