ah030

I hope so too.

Now another announcement. All crew was asked to report to emergency stations "for exercise" purposes only, due to a "simulated" emergency: a fire in the crew galley on deck A, zone four. This announcement was made first outside the staterooms, and then inside the staterooms themselves following the emergency tone. Seems like a strange time to do simulated emergency exercises.

At this point I think we are about 600 miles off Bermuda. Sea is fairly calm.

It seems like we'll have rough weather anyhow, AND not enjoy Bermuda, so I am still whining privately in my own mind :)

I'm sure the decision was for the best.

How's the weather treating you now, dadsbdaycruiser?

I'm in the QE right now. We have been having a very rocky evening, although, IMO, not as much as Tuesday night. Tuesday night was the first time I can ever recall being seasick to the point of actual illness on any seagoing vessel, in my life. I guess I can tell myself that it takes seas so rough to change the entire itinerary of a serious ocean liner, to make me seasick ;)

In many parts of Asia, it's considered common courtesy to wear a surgical mask around wherever you go if you have a cough or cold. I think this is a great custom and would make a lot of sense on a contained environment like a cruise ship!

On my voyage on QM2 in 2017, I was at the buffet and saw a well-dressed gentleman do the following: cough and hack into his hands, pick up a piece of fruit, inspect it, put it down, cough into his hands, pick up another piece of fruit, put it back, etc. It made me think twice about the buffet.

I think it can work, because there are websites for similar purposes, and they work very well! :)

There are websites for couchsurfing, where people offer to host travellers in their homes for free. I have been a member for 8 years and have used it over a dozen times as a traveler and more often, as a host!

There is a version for long-distance cyclists, where people open their homes for cyclists to find a warm shower.

There are websites for workaway, where accommodation is offered in exchange for some hours of daily work. The workers often are young people on gap years, and share rooms.

There are websites for car sharing, where someone who is planning a trip from, say, London to Berlin, offers available seats in their car on the trip in exchange for fuel money.

It works because on all of these platforms, after each interaction, both parties give each other references.

I think it also works because the people who are interested in these arrangements are generally pretty flexible, accommodating and considerate. And if someone isn't, then their references will reflect that!

I think all these things could be unpleasant for folks who have very specific needs or who are unable to be flexible... often through no fault of their own. And, they can also be unpleasant for people who are uncomfortable sharing space with strangers, which is perfectly understandable.

During my holiday in England this month, I spent part of it in a youth hostel, and another part in a workaway arrangement in a hotel. At various times during the month, I've shared a bedroom with a total of 4 female roommates: all of whom were strangers to me when I met them! Have shared bathroom facilities with a total of 3 more women and 3 men.

Every one of those experiences was perfectly fine and there were no problems.

For the elderly ladies above, I could understand if someone would be kept awake by a snorer, and isn't comfortable sleeping in earplugs. But a snorer wouldn't bother me at all, so it could work!

I think it's a great idea. I'm learning web design and app development. I'll have some free time while on the Queen Elizabeth for the next week, so maybe I'll start building a prototype :)

I am booked on the Queen Elizabeth cruise!!!!!!! Woohoo! I called Cunard 4 or 5 times yesterday after seeing these messages from all of you that cabins were opening up. I called the British line, the International line, then the American line.

The American line was the first to admit having availability!!! They had a BF cabin as the only thing available. I pounced on it!!!

As I was on the phone with the American line, the International line actually called me! 5 hours after I had spoken to them! To offer me that very same cabin!!!

At no point did I ever get an email from the wait list!

The American agent I spoke to said my cabin was a "guaranteed" cabin and therefore might not be part of the wait list. That was very interesting!! FYI for future folks in this situation!!

Thank you God!

This is such a great community on this board. Thanks everyone who replied to my post and helped me! Thank you to those who emailed me, and to Babette!

Hi all, I tried posting this around 10am UK time, but it looks like it didn't post. Here's what I tried to write:

Argh!! I called Cunard just now, and they said nothing is available, despite the Cunard website STILL showing oceanview availability!! (Thank you all for alerting me to that by the way, I saw your messages first thing when I checked my email!)

I called at the Cunard UK line at 10am, and was told nothing was available, and didn't know why the website was showing availability. I called back 20 minutes later to talk to a different customer service agent, just in case the first one was somehow mistaken, but the second agent told me the same thing. I then called the international line, just in case they had other information. The international line also said there was no availability.

So, I guess I will wait until the American customer service line opens in two hours, and try them as well.

Also, even though I am on the wait list for QV, I never got an email stating rooms were available, even though I was told that I would get an email if anything opened up.

Some of these TA sites appear to use identical booking interfaces at least as far as cruises are concerned. Three of the heavily advertised sites were all identical even to the background images. There was one that didn't even list Cunard, perhaps because the fares would be too high for their target customer base. The one that I eventually used had a different user interface than the others and was very straight forward. It only holds a stateroom for 10 minutes where Cunard holds for 15.

 

And not one day too soon! Just out of curiosity I checked the TA site today and it now reads "sold out". Now that it's active in the VP I can exhale.

Which website did you find this on? I'm also trying to get on a sold out Cunard cruise :-\

Any luck yet ?

Not yet.... Still checking daily...

I've seen many suggestions that people with questions about Cunard contact Babette, due to her longtime expertise. However, her last post was over a year ago and there doesn't appear to be a direct message option. Does anyone have contact info that could be passed along?

I need to return to the US unexpectedly soon and cannot fly...

Jan 7th sailing of QE from Southampton to NY is completely booked.

Jan 7th sailing of QV from Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale is completely booked except for the Queen's Grill, which unfortunately is out of my reach.

I have joined the waitlist for both... am #2 for QE and #7 for QV.

I am in Southampton so I'm available to sail last minute.

I've contacted about half a dozen travel agencies both in USA and UK... they were very kind, but couldn't help.

Any other suggestions anyone can think of?