Grendelsmother

As Hattie says, thanks for doing this on our behalf. We're very much enjoying having our sartorial prejudices confirmed.

If you haven't discovered the delights of Boundary Mill at Colne, you could be in for a treat. They seem to have a huge range of labels at excellent discounts. One of the things I bought there for our last cruise was a beautiful lace vest to wear under a jacket with silk trousers. You'll find lots of trouser 'n top wearers, in all parts of the ship. (Though I do love wheeling out the bling and swishy skirts for formal nights.)

Remarkable video ! Thank you for creating this. I doubt I'll ever do this trip so this "slice" is a treat indeed.

I certainly wasn't disregarding the unpleasantness for those NV sufferers who posted about their recent voyage and am full of sympathy ( especially as have just recovered from something similar picked up in a primary school). How this sort of outbreak, the water problem etc are handled can make such a difference to people's subsequent reflections. Cunard sometimes get things wrong, even when individuals are trying to do their best. (We have a particular experience best not shared here, but perhaps after a couple of gins some time, somewhere......). As a CC novice, I am enjoying the cut and thrust of the discussions, but occasionally wonder whether people who've not travelled with Cunard could be frightened of who or what they might encounter if they ventured on board. Best wishes to all for safe and happy voyages !

Thank you for such a positive and, in our experience, unsurprising post about your recent voyage. We're boarding on 16th August and in the midst of all the pre cruise prep and excitements, there had been a worm of fear occasioned by recent posts. It is, of course, usual that those who have issues will raise them while the contented will say nothing; I will endeavour to remember to be delightedly thankful about our voyage - including the pleasures of planning !

It's infuriating to lose the ports which were the main focus of a trip;in 2012 almost 50% of our cruise to the Holy Land and Egypt was rescheduled while we were at sea. There was huge disappointment but we prefer to be alive than to be a glossy, western target for a terrorist's delight. Cunard has a duty of care to its passengers, crew, ships and reputation - omitting Istanbul (as others' are also doing) is a "no brainer". It is hard when you've planned and anticipated a trip but the, as yet unknown,pleasures of alternative ports will hopefully prove differently stimulating. We would have been unlikely to discover places such as Termessos or Malta if violence had not occurred. Be open to new pleasures - you may be surprised! And all the delights of the ship will still be yours. We wish you safe travels in this fragile but beautiful world.

We've sailed the Eastern Med on QE in late November ( post Thanksgiving) and found the temperatures very acceptable. We swam on board most days and wore tee shirts and capris on shore. We only needed sweaters on one day when we hit rough seas.

On our first Cunard cruise, we flew to Med with (what we considered) very tight luggage restrictions (1 x 21kg checked bag each + 5 kg hand luggage pp) for 12 nights and succeeded in taking dinner jackets (black and white) and 3 proper "evening gowns". We had a wonderful time. The contrast between busy port days with lots of adventuring and the elegant calm we found on our return "home" was excellent. Our son (late 20s) and his friends loved the QE and its grandeur; "dressing up" is part of being aboard a Cunard ship - even the less glitzy "Informal" nights (which are seriously tidy!) mark the evening out as a special time and part of the fantasy you can enter into for the duration of your trip. We encountered none of the uniform code complainers that some posters here occasionally appear to be but we did have a wonderful time.

As always, such sound advice. Thank you all for your thoughtfulness.

Ah,we'd overlooked the scanners ! Are they the same size / type of machine as at airport security ? (You see how naive we are ?)

Having only boarded overseas, we're not sure whether there are any restrictions about carry on luggage at Southampton. Will a garment carrier (Antler type, to hold 3 suits/jackets) be OK ? Many thanks to all those of you who know so much !

Thank you Orvil for adding to the helpful replies. We are very much looking forward to our trip and all its delights.

Best wishes to you too.

Thank you Stewart and "Jimmy" for such prompt, detailed and very helpful replies. From reading the boards, it's very clear there's such a wealth of experience out there so I hoped someone would be able to demystify the S'hampton process - and indeed you have. We can anticipate our trip with something else crossed off the "Things to worry about" list. We're very grateful for your help.

Compared to many who write here, we are relatively inexperienced cruisers; we love Cunard but have only done fly cruises so the process of embarking in Southampton is a mystery. How does the system work ? When will we receive our suggested arrival time ? Can our driver drop us close to the entrance ? We'll be QG. Thank you in advance for attending to what will be for many, a relatively trivial matter !