jrmende63

On 5/18/2022 at 7:58 AM, exlondoner said:

 

That's really good news, and I am very pleased for Cunard. While I'm sure there are lots of people still using up Covid credits, let's hope they have got lots of new business.

Cunard has earned our business. This will be our first Cunard sailing. Can't wait to see Queen Anne in person!

On 8/27/2022 at 5:57 AM, kaisatsu said:

I feel like somehow people are overlooking Leknes! To me that is a huge difference. The Lofoten Islands are actually considered by many Norwegians to be the most beautiful place in the country. Tourism has increased there significantly since it started making the rounds on Instagram, so cruise traffic has been more restricted in recent years.

 

I would hands-down choose the Cunard itinerary for Geiranger and Leknes. Losing Bergen is a disappointment, but it’s also fairly easy to visit Bergen on a non-cruise trip. Whereas Geiranger and Lofoten are much more logistically difficult to get to.

 

I have actually done a Cunard cruise to northern Norway in early June (on the QE2), and I didn’t really notice the snow on the mountains. Traveling in mid-May I see an increase, and traveling in August I notice the decrease, but I feel the noticeable difference is May vs June rather than June vs July. Those few weeks probably won’t make a noticeable difference, especially since year-to-year variations will have a much bigger impact. Additionally, in early June it can be hit or miss getting to some places like Mt Dalsnibba near Geiranger where the roads may not open until later in the month.

 

As for the Cunard experience, it’s still formal but slightly more relaxed than is typical on a trans-Atlantic. There were a lot of people cruising for the ports and the scenery, so some people from our Roll Call were even opting out of the MDR altogether. We enjoy dressing up a bit so we stuck with the MDR. Our first evening, a man assigned to our table actually showed up without a jacket, but the maître d’ just came and offered him a loaner to hang on his chair. There were probably some long-time Cunard customers who were aghast, but generally everyone took it in stride.

 

One of my favorite memories of that cruise was when we stopped in Geiranger, because we opted to hike up into the hills from the ship. We had planned one hike and then decided to tack on a second to visit another overlook, but we were short on time and the trail was very muddy (early June). We were rushing and ended up in ankle-deep mud! When we got back to the ship, it was surreal to be getting onto this former ocean liner in such a state! We did go straight to our cabin, where we proceeded to rinse ourselves off in the shower!

 

We were on a 2-week sailing, so we had a handful of formal nights. I was actually expecting full black-tie, but there were several women in long dresses, rather than gowns. And while there were a lot of tuxedos, many men were just in black suits and tie. The black suit-and-bowtie seemed most common. I did opt for a ball-gown one evening for fun, but I was among a very few. Ethnic formal wear was also very well received (perhaps more so than on less formal lines where it can garner strange looks and staring).

 

I will admit that the class-based system felt a bit weird being in Scandinavia, but the only time we even noticed it was when a Queen’s Grill passenger loudly and haughtily cut to the front of a tender queue. Most people just rolled their eyes a little.

Thank you for the Cunard experience description. We are sailing on Queen Anne October of 2024. That will be our first Cunard experience. We like to dress up, so it will not be a problem.

I booked a few days ago on QA. I am very excited to go to Norway and the Arctic circle.

Of those stops,  I have only been to Bergen. I was there Early May and there was flowers everywhere. 

19 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

You should have plenty of time, although “safe” is an absolute that is impossible to give 😀

National Express have services directly from T5. 

After you exit airside into the public arrivals hall, leave the terminal building through the way out directly in front of you, passing between the lifts for the car park. There are numerous numbered bus stands on the roads outside (it is still under cover) - National Express use 11-15, which will be to the left on the first road, so no need to cross any. 

6 hours ago, sddsddean said:

Just to add to Eagle's info, go to this link https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAQQw7AJahcKEwjA6a6i2bD7AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heathrow.com%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2Fheathrow%2Fweb%2Fcommon%2Fdocuments%2Fat-the-airport%2Fairport-maps%2FHeathrow_T5_Map.pdf&psig=AOvVaw1gfTftAIT4OdRUsCIoY-LA&ust=1668619056973203

and scroll down to the last map. You will be coming out of 18 (in green) International arrivals and 'walking' down the map to the 'Entrance' in the centre.Walk to your left (which is right on the map!) and you will come to bus stops 11-15. On the map, grey is pavement (thats  a sidewalk to you) and white is the roadway. All as clear as mud!!

 

Simon

 

Thank you so much. This has helped me tremendously.

Adding my questions in here bc it is to do with the National Express bus. We are landing approx 0910 in Terminal 5. I know we have to go through passport control and immigration.Will not be retrieving luggage as we are carryon only. Would we be safe in pre-booking for 1100 bus to Southampton? And how do we find the bus pick up area?  

Thanks. Looking forward to our second time in Europe!

I tried to book G506, Iona, a 4 day cruise to Belgium and France in 2025. But the Online agency that us US peeps are made to use did not have the booking yet for that cruise. I will wait for a call back that they have spoken to P&O.

On 10/28/2022 at 11:16 AM, The Wolfman said:

Goodness me - if can afford the price of the ticket-cruise surely you can afford the price of a bottle of wine on the ship. 

Rude..Yes I can afford a bottle of wine. I wanted Gin and mixers for the cabin. 

In keeping with the Alcohol and spirits theme, Where would I buy Gin and Tonic, mixers and beer in Southampton? 

I appreciate your answer!

Very anxious to see what Princess has to offer for October 2024 for Arctic crossing and Northern lights cruise. Any ideas when it should be open for booking?

On 9/27/2022 at 3:56 PM, ONECRUISER said:

I'm in USA, never Cruised this line. Anything I should know about Booking from USA and Cruising this line and as an American? Thank you

I am a fellow USA citizen. I booked online by calling the number on the P&O website. This is a number to a  Travel agency. It is the Only one that we as US Citizens are allowed to book though. 

On 9/25/2022 at 4:41 PM, canderson said:

Wish they'd offer a dark chocolate option.

We got dark chocolate  on our Silhouette cruise in April/ May.

On 9/19/2022 at 6:23 AM, Chrisdriving said:

Will they still have her then?, personally i would hope so but worry they will sell the ship by then.

 

 

I hope so! If not then we will be taking a land trip to Alta and Tromsco

I have not sailed on NCL so I can't compare it. But I have been to Alaska twice and Norway once. Norway is Alaska on steroids. Norway is gorgeous. We loved Alaska, but we LOVED Norway.  This looks like a good itinerary. 

I don't think you can go wrong even if you didn't like the ship.

Can't wait for R420 ( October 17, 2024) for our turn on Aurora.

Thanks for the review.

I am very sad to hear of Her Majesty's passing.

On 8/31/2022 at 9:57 AM, NutsAboutGolf said:

Thanks!

How much did it cost?

Were there different starlink speeds offered?

Was a different reduced speed non-starlink internet offered?

 Don't know the cost bc it was included in our sailing. No different speeds offered or  non- starlink offered.

11 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Care to be more specific as the press release states a "tremendous amount of positive feedback"?

My feedback was not positive. We were in the forward starboard side on deck 12 of the Freedom of the Seas. When the internet worked, it was great. When it did not work and dropped our connection, it was at an inopportune time and lost the entire presentation I was working on. It was not a one time dropping of the connection. This happened many times over our b2b cruise.

We were on the Freedom of the Seas with the trial run. It kept dropping the connection for us. 

 A few were wearing suits, dinner jackets at dinner on Chic night in May on Silhouette.  Most were just nicely dressed. If you bring them, you won't be out of place. If you don't, you still won't be out of place.

Flam was not allowing ships the other day. I am not sure why, but a captain for Azamara posted he was not allowed to go to Flam. He did make another stop.

I received my refund 7/30/22 from May 7, 2022. I called the engagement center to find that yes, they got my emails but no one initiated the final step for me to be refunded. They apologized and said they would push it through. It came in 4 business days.

On 6/6/2022 at 10:32 PM, Benthayer Gonbak said:

 

i have yet to figure out precisely what the US requires to return if you’ve tested positive.  Do the airlines refuse boarding if you’ve been positive in the last 10-14 days?  Or is a negative test enough?   Who pays for the quarantine if you get off in the UK since they don't require quarantine?  Jim and Iian seemed to struggle, at first, with trying to make sense out of the rules but certainly had room in their plans to make lemonade out of lemons!   
 

i know at one time the rules were also different if you were asymptomatic which is a whole ‘mother can of worms. Even for just returning to work seems to be fluid.  
 

i have little doubt that if I get COVID I will most likely be hospitalized, but I still like to try to understand what the rules might be if by some miracle I don’t end up hospitalized!  
 

So far I’ve not traveled on any public transportation that everyone wasn’t either tested or vaxed, but that will change in September if I cruise from Florida.  
 

 

As of Sunday, it won't matter as the entity that required the negative test one day before my flight, the CDC, has canceled the requirement of a negative test to enter the US. 

As for who paid for my hotel stay.....I did with Celebrity reimbursing me. But my hotel had a quarantine package. It was nice for them to have the package.

On 6/3/2022 at 4:01 AM, the penguins said:

Just a few points to clarify the interesting discussion on this thread.

We were on the Fjords Cruise (7 to 14 May) and the subsequent 12 night  Baltics cruise.

Fjords - passengers 2400, no attempt to social distance, very few masks and Covid cases amongst passengers reached just over 1%. No actual numbers announced. No testing for B2B passengers.

Baltics - passengers just over 1000 (more crew than passengers), no attempt to social distance, very few masks. By day 9 Covid cases amongst passengers had reached over 3% (the highest number announced was 37 passengers but after that nothing) Compolsary mask wearing in the theatre was introduced first followed by "strongly recommended" in all other indoor venues except when seated and or eating/drinking. Nothing was done to enforce the latter.

I believe if passengers were routinely tested at 7 days (as the crew are) Covid cases would way exceed the figures currently being announced.

Quarentining - the use of this phrase when referring to the UK is totally misleading. There are no requirements to quarantine in the UK - you are recommended to self isolate but are under no obligation to do so.

Disembarkation in Southampton - if you board a cruise in Southampton and disembark from the same cruise there are no Passport checks. This applies to all cruises not just Celebrity.

First off...I am a US citizen. I was required to quarantine per my country's rules. Since I wanted to go home, I did what I was required. Secondly, Why would I spread that horrid virus to others by going out into the public??