2Oldpeopleinlove

I’m with pushpit: way too much of a control freak to let an agent get between me and my details. Tried it once. Didn’t like it.

We’ve always used dollars, and no one has turned them down yet.

We also just returned from the westbound TA, and though a new knee (his) and toe surgery (mine) kept us from dancing, we noticed a decline in the number and quality of musicians onboard. Except for the classical guitarist and, to a lesser degree, the pianist in the Commodore Club, we found the musicianship poorer than before. The most annoying change was that the lobby piano was used only to play itself. In the past, we’ve loved pausing to listen to a human being playing well as we moved around the ship. Perhaps the arts are no longer a priority for Cunard. In any case, we expressed all of this in the survey we returned. That complaints about dance hosts seem to have made a difference makes me think perhaps we can hope for a return to overall better music for next October as well.

I’m sure the tip helps, but he didn’t just do the work. He was a real sweetheart. I’m glad you have such people as friends!

Primarily before, though on the one occasion we used the buffet, after as well. I didn’t get my bloomers twisted over it, but it just didn’t feel the same as past TA’s,

I kept track this last time, and after waiting until the second day to buy in and adding the 15%, we did slightly better than break-even. For us the point is the luxury of not having to think about what things cost, as we habitually do in our frugal “real lives.”

We disembarked today, and I will forever after this use a porter. For a $20 tip, he got our bags, moved us to a very short line that bypassed a very long one, took our bags and us to a taxi and even tried to negotiate the price down a bit (didn’t work, but applause for effort).

I’m not fascinated by other people’s clothing either way; however, we just returned from a TA during which we saw people shuffling around in cargo shorts, sweatshirts and sneakers or beach sandals . Yes, they were going on to the Caribbean, but this was in the North Atlantic. Either way, I saw no one enforcing anything. It was disappointing.

We feel the same way about ship’s motion etc. And we are not new to QM2. We’ll board soon and occupy 5044. I doubt either we or you will regret the choice. Happy Sailing!

I share Pushpit’s tendency to control, so the one time we used a TA to book, I couldn’t stand not have direct control of information. We book on board when possible but I always do it myself directly with Cunard. No problems, ever.

Thank you so much for your information! Very kind of you. We will look into it. However, I am thinking that any idea of hauling large luggage around in public transport with my foot in some kind of protective device will be too much, particularly given the dates in December. The replies here have been generous, but I think I’ve talked myself into returning to a car rental. Thanks!

Thank you, John! I think this is what we’ll do,partly because I may be on at least a cane next week. My John has driven thousands of miles in the UK, so we’re good. I just thought it might be more fun for him not to have to drive for once. we will stay in Southampton the night before the TA, so we’ll drop the car at the airport and taxi to our hotel.

We will be happy with two half bottles as we drink it only as an additive to orange juice in morning mimosas.

Thank you very much! But we’ve booked hotels in all three cities as we are fairly obsessed with getting to Evensong services. We’ve been to all these cities before and prefer to be fully in them for a couple of days each. So the question is about getting from one to the next. We’re probably going to go back to renting a car unless there’s some great alternative we don’t know about.

We will be moving among a few of our favorite cathedral cities for five days before boarding QM2 in Southampton. In the past, we have always rented a car and done our “cathedral and pub tours” on our own schedule, and ranging much farther. This time, we won’t have that luxury, we will have more luggage than in the past, and depending on tomorrow morning’s appointment, one of us may be hobbled by recent toe surgery. Given all that, and given a limited budget (I.e., private car hire may well be out of the question), does anyone have any suggestions based on your greater familiarity with public transport around Gatwick, Salisbury, Winchester, and finally Southampton? Or should we go the rental car route…less relaxing in some ways, but maybe still our best bet? Thanks for any advice.

Yes! And lest anyone try to tell us it’s because we’re old, know that my son (36), with his doctorate in COMPUTATIONAL neuroscience, much prefers books etc, to screens.

Today in Syracuse, too.

Heh….one might even say “intimate friends.” I certainly would love to sever that relationship when we board in a few weeks!

Being completely offline is one of the great draws of a TA for us. I know some people must be in occasional touch with work, and I am sorry for that. But the atmosphere will be ruined for us once we can’t get away from cell phone conversations everywhere. I hope it doesn’t come to that!

Yes! Shawl-sized warm scarves work this way, too.

Our first trip on Cunard was a round trip TA in December. (We’re going on the westbound leg this December.) I won’t be taking a heavy coat, just a corduroy jacket and warm scarves, along with some thin, silky undershirts. That worked well the first time, and I doubt I’ll miss my coat this time. Your experience may differ, I know. I carry a lot of heat around with me, so if you get cold easily, you may need more than I do. (Living in Syracuse seems to have retrained my Florida-raised metabolism.)

We give a couple of dollars simply because there is no life before magic bean juice!

Lovely image! We are on westbound in a little less than your 67 days, and I spent an hour yesterday trying in and choosing which dresses, etc I will take. I love the anticipation!

While we don’t look at our feet…times aren’t THAT hard!…we likely would fail your style tests most of the time. I don’t WANT to get in the way or worry about it. That’s why I asked the question. Being judged? That’s not my wheelhouse, so if anyone wants to judge us, they should make that choice. That’s not our business, it’s a simple question of WHEN we can expect not to be trampled or pushed around. We are happy to accommodate by absenting ourselves at those times.

I will seek that out. It’s the information I want. But if we stay with early dining, I suspect we might miss those easy times. Hence my question.