Desert Cruisers

Could you ask if a package can be bought mid-cruise? Let's say we are in port the first 5 days of a 14-night cruise. Can use cell service to get e-mails during day so don't need wifi. Could we wait until day 6 to get a package and, if so, how much it would cost?

Spoke with a HAL rep in Ship Services today about a 14-night cruise in October. Prepay is only available for Premium service at $207.99 for a 1-device plan for a 14-night cruise. That works out to about $15 per day. There is no prepay Surf package. If we wait until we get onboard, a Surf package for the entire cruise will be $209.99.

I don’t want to be a @Debbie - downer “ but you should know a few things: While most ships dock, Juneau can be a tender port if there are a lot of ships in. Did B2B on QE this summer and we tendered both times in Juneau. The streets in some of these ports are not always wide and smooth. When it’s raining hard, a short distance becomes a lot longer.

When I looked online, it was giving me a prepay price of $207.99 for 14 days. This was for a single device which is all that we need. Does anyone know what the prepay price for just the Surf package might be?

I did look online and found the prepaid rates for Premium service but not Surf service. On the cruise, we will not be using Facetime or other video apps so the Surf package may work for us. Does anyone know if you can prepay for the Surf package?

I need clarification about the cost of wifi without the HIA add-on. I looked under the FAQs on the HAL website. The Surf package is listed at $29.99/day but then there is a double asterisk with a footnote about packages. The example given was a 7-day package at $18/day. Does anyone know if there is a further discount for a longer cruise? We have an upcoming 14-night transatlantic. Is there a Mariner discount? We are 3-star Mariners. Thanks.

We hadn't really experienced it on Cunard until this recent trip on the QE. Servers sometimes didn't announce the name of the dish but just plopped it down in front of the person. It was up to the individual to announce that they had been served the wrong dish. There was just something off about service in the MDR on the QE. Hoping for better experience on our October QM2 voyage to Europe.

"Auctioning" can be asking the person to claim the announced dish. It can also include actually serving the wrong dishes to the wrong person at the table or even the wrong table. Well-trained service teams are taught how to keep track of who gets what dish. I have been a "mystery diner" for a large American restaurant company with restaurants ranging from casual to fine dining. One thing that they looked for was "auctioning" especially at their fine dining establishments. Cunard promotes itself in such a way that one should expect a certain level of fine dining especially in the evening. If it is just a pub or casual restaurant, then why all the fuss about dress code? If I dress formally, I expect more than a pub experience [which can be pleasurable but not when I'm in formal attire]. I've followed the discussion of of beer/ale prices with interest. I live in Las Vegas where drink prices on the Strip are HIGH. Found the prices for all alcohol on the QE to be reasonable as compared with the Strip hotels and restaurants. Yes, it's more expensive than a favorite local place but it's not out of line with resorts and upmarket hotels.

I read the OP's review with great interest since my husband and I recently spent 26 days on the QE sailing Alaska as well as the repositioning to Los Angeles. With this recent voyage, we are now Diamond World Club with most of our sailings on QM2. We have sailed QE before including its first Alaska season several years ago. I'm generally in agreement with the OP except for area - MDR staff. We ate many meals - breakfast, lunch, and dinner - in the MDR. We selected open seating for dinner as we sometimes eat in the alternative venues and we enjoy sharing a table with different people. We had a standing reservation for 7:30pm. We sat at tables all over the lower MDR. Overall service was adequate and very hit-or-miss in terms of quality. I don't exactly know what was wrong as compared with previous sailings - low morale, inadequate training, poor management - but something was not quite right. It was a much less pleasant experience than our last time on the QE. A few examples: "Auctioning" of food by servers among persons at a table or even between tables. This is a no-no in the restaurant world and reflects training issues. Inconsistency on the part of the senior waiter in introducing himself and his assistant. Either it is a Cunard standard or it isn't. Ditto for asking how the food is, whether the meat is prepared to one's liking, etc. Not sure if this is due to understaffing, weak service teams, or inadequate training. Banging and clanging of dishes and cutlery at the service stations was so loud it was difficult to carry on a conversation at times. This occurred even when the Captain made an announcement over the PA. A waiter chastising my husband for not placing his cutlery correctly on his plate so that the waiter knew he was done. We will be on the QM2 in October and hoping that the dining experience is better.

Currently on the Queen Elizabeth. Had breakfast this morning with another passenger who frequently cruises HAL. He mentioned that the MDR menu on HAL doesn’t change except for one daily special. My husband and I have two upcoming sailings with HAL. Lots of sea days so the MDR should be open. Very disappointed to hear that the menu is basically the same. Was I given correct info? Are there “healthy” options? I enjoy salad but don’t look forward to the same thing every day.

Ate at Coriander a few days ago. Great food. Booked onboard at $25pp.

We did bring up our concerns. For example, we spoke with the Assistant F&B Manager about our concerns and his response was “Really? That can’t be.”

Currently on the QE doing B2B to Los Angeles. Boarded July 27. These are our 14th and 15th Cunard sailings. Service, except for the cabin attendants, reception, and staff in specialty restaurants, is very “hit and miss”. Don’t know if it is due to low morale, poor training, or a combination of factors. My husband was chastised by our waiter for not positioning his cutlery correctly on his plate so that the waiter would know that he was finished. Agree with the comments re bar service. Coverage very spotty. Good luck getting a drink in the DR at lunch.

Maybe either option is okay in Liverpool but don't say "British Open" in Scotland. Very touchy subject.

The cheese selection on Princess is limited in variety and quality. Yes, there may be more options in the buffet but that's not saying much when compared with the cheese plate in the MDR. To make matters worse, the MDR cheese plate rarely, if ever, changes. As for the crackers/biscuits served with the cheese, it's all very sad. I've been served saltines with the MDR cheese plate.

Someone recently posted the daily programme from the QE in Alaska. Fixed seating is 5:30 and 7:45. This is consistent with our experience back in 2019.

Thanks for info. Not what we wanted to hear. It's interesting that different cruise lines under the same corporate umbrella can have such different policies and IT systems. Standard procedure on Princess to roll over OBC and charges with one final bill at the end. Oh well....

Thanks for the info. I like wearing them when barefoot in the cabin.

Doing two B2B cruises - separate booking numbers - on the QE. We have OBC from several sources - Future Cruise Deposit, shareholder, travel agent, & Cunard- on both sailings. Perhaps someone can give me insight as to how Cunard handles OBC... Can unused OBC from cruise #1 be "rolled over" to cruise #2? If we have a "real money" balance at the end of cruise #1 after using all of the cruise #1 OBC, will our credit card be charged or will the balance due be "rolled over" to cruise #2? The second option would be preferable since we can then use cruise #2 OBC to pay the balance. Thanks for any guidance or opinions.

We are sailing on the QE later this month. Will be in a standard balcony cabin. Are slippers still provided? I did a search of this thread and came up with conflicting answers so would appreciate feedback from those recently onboard.

No air thru Oceania. Just looking at transfer.

I know that there have been a lot of car service company changes since the pandemic. Any recommendations of car service companies for a transfer between a Southampton hotel and the Tilbury port?

Does Oceania sell transfer-only from the London airports to the Tilbury port? If so, any idea as to what the fare is?

I know that there are "rules" regarding allowable back-to-back sailings. Looking at the Emerald Princess in summer 2024. Interested in both the Fort Lauderdale to Quebec City and Quebec City to Boston sailings. Can these legally be booked as back-to-back?

Thanks a bunch!