D&N

Bad or drunken behaviour is fortunately very rare on any of these short cruises. The very cheapest lines and Mini-Cruises on North Sea ferry routes sometimes attract stag or hen party type groups that can be a bit noisy. But even Cunard's shortest trips would generally be more expensive than most of those groups would want to pay. Very rarely there is a news report of an incident resulting in passengers being arrested at a port or on return. I think the last I recall several years ago was on a P&O cruise to Norway, which wasn't a mini cruise. Nothing to do with the cost or length of the cruise, just idiots that couldn't control themselves. But so rare that nobody should be put off booking because of the chance.

I've seen lots of YouTube videos of these short cruises. The vloggers tend to be those trying out QM2 for the first time without committing to the time/cost of a Transatlantic. So they do attract many first timers but I haven't seen any signs of unruly or drunken behaviour. They all seem to make an attempt to dress appropriately for gala nights as well, although some perhaps look a little outside their comfort zones.

I came across an Airwrap that claimed to be rated at 1,300W. That seems fairly high to me for a hair dryer. My wife's short and hard hair only needs dried when going out in cold soon after washing and her traditional drier is 1,200W. I suspect the ones in the cabin drawers are much less. Can you compare the rating on the one she took last time? Theoretically if it's not any higher it should work. Of course someone that actually has tried one can give a better response. I prefer polish! 👨‍🦲

We bought some Australian Wagyu at our local hypermarket in their Christmas specials for 2018 (photo). Asking price was €99/kilo, but we had a €20 off €100 voucher (we bought some other things too). We browned in a griddle pan then rested in a low oven. It was delicious. Bought some more on special order from our butcher a few years later at €180/kilo! Cooked it the same way but it wasn't quite as memorable. We can get several excellent French breeds of fillet for about a third of the price. I wouldn't buy it again unless I found a really good offer.

The OP still seems to be around and amongst their current tally of 6,269 posts don't seem too bothered as to whether it remains on topic or not.

For 2025 they offered one, which our agent booked then got changed. This time it was only A2s. We would settle for an A2 on deck 12 but prefer a particular group of A1s, and the combination of agent's and my own efforts succeeded in releasing one. If forced to book as two segments, on principle we wouldn't go. I enjoy sailing on QM2 but there's plenty we can do here on staycation.

Most of what you say is correct. There are no TGVs between Le Havre and Paris St Lazare. They are all RER Express, generally operated by the fleet of OMNEO Premium double deck trains that was delivered a few years ago. However you can't buy tickets for those journeys on the NOMAD RER website. It directs you to SNCF Connect, where it offers you flexible tickets and, at a slightly cheaper price, a ticket restricted to a particular train. That ticket can be changed before travel for a fee. For all online purchases a coach and seat number is issued with the ticket, but a flexible ticket is available for all other trips without a reserved seat. I don't know if the local staff actually implement and enforce the seat reservations! I understand that the fullest trips on that line are the commuter journeys in the early morning so it shouldn't be a major problem finding a seat on the 12:03 service. Le Havre has one TGV service per day, but it goes to Marseille and skirts round the south of Paris.

Have you phoned Cunard? If you identify that a cabin or selection of cabins that you would be happy with are being sold on both the 7 and 14 day cruises, phone them and ask that a request be made to the "berthing team" to release one of those cabins to the 21 day itinerary that you want to book. In our case, if we had booked as two separate crossings, we would have paid 22% more. It seems like a very crude attempt at yield management to try and sell cabins on shorter trips for a higher total amount of money.

As @LittleFish1976 has discovered, if there are overlapping itineraries Cunard only allocate cabins to one of those. In our case they generally allocate all or most of the grade we want to two 7 day itineraries while we want to book that grade for the combined 14 day trip. When my agent told me none of that grade were being allocated I sent an email to Cunard who sent a sympathetic but non committal response. My agent then spent some time persuading them and our first choice was available when bookings opened today. The cabin concerned suits us but doesn't appear to have any particular attractions for others. There are a reasonable number of them in the grade but they weren't planning to allocate any of them to our itinerary. Seems bizarre to me.

The link to Ts&Cs is in post #5

No. Remarkably few doubles of spirits are priced above the limit. We're only really interested in Grand Marnier and it's $10.30 for 50ml.

Other than being given a very small glass of limoncello or other liqueur free at end of a meal we don't normally order spirits, preferring to wait until we walk home and have a nightcap once we've settled down. However I'm fairly sure that most restaurants in France offer spirits in 4cl measures or larger.

That'll be the old geezers that are still overtaking youngsters on our seafront runs!

I checked the itineraries that our preferred cabin could have been allocated to just after 1pm GMT. It stood out as not being available amongst all those around it on a couple of those, and it wasn't available on any. I went back to my coffee knowing either it was ours or someone else had it. An email came in a bit later thanking me for my booking with no explanation of what was booked. When the phone rang I said "someone has our cabin". "Yes, me of course!" was the reply. Then the mundane part of giving payment details. 🙂 That's another round trip Transatlantic in September 2026. Would have preferred June but suppose we'll get to see some of what is done in drydock fairly soon after the event.

It traditionally varied between Scotland and England. When England started serving fifth gills, Scotland were still serving quarters. I read that legally spirits must be served in 25ml or 35ml or multiples of those with exceptions for cocktails. That's according to: https://sltn.co.uk/legal-qa-2019/#:~:text=In terms of weights and,two or more other drinks.) And it's suggested most Scottish venues still serve 35ml. Many years ago we decided that pouring spirits freehand wasn't healthy and started using eggcups as measures. The ones we use hold 35ml (quarter gill), and that's ideal for us. 25ml seems a bit miserly, we would need doubles or two glasses, with 10 mins between.

I like playing a game where I top up our glasses before they catch me. 🙂

The conditions when we travelled in 2022 stated: "Wine will be served in 150ml measures and spirits will be served in 1oz measures with mixer of your choice (double measures for spirits only and premium mixers are available on request)." https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/my-cunard-tcs This link recently updated on Feb 20th 2024 states: "Wine will be served in 175ml measures and spirits will be served in 25ml measures with mixer of your choice (double measures for spirits only and premium mixers are available on request). I hadn't noticed the doubles bit before.

I believe that should be the case. We never encountered a problem with that. When we travelled wine was being served in 150ml measures. I can't remember if the wait time was 10 mins or 15 mins. I see it is currently 10 mins and in line with recent menus that I have spotted small measures have been increased to 175ml for most wines. You would need to be gulping it down to empty a glass in 10 mins while eating, and an easy answer would be to call the sommelier before placing your food order, then immediately after 10 mins had elapsed. As I said the wait time restriction was never an issue. I suspect it's main purpose is to limit any attempt to order more than one drink and pass them to others not on the package. edit: Found the Dec 2019 version of Ts&Cs. It was 10 mins, and I was wrong, double measures of spirits could be available on request, we didn't feel the need to ask. We might do now since the measures have been reduced.

@Victoria2 How disappointing! 🤣 Seriously though, my point is still valid. If someone opts to pay x for y, that's their choice.

There are a few people who can ignore a saving of a few thousand, and even fewer to whom a few thousand makes no difference who don't begrudge paying a few thousand more for exactly the same ticket. Apologies for stealing and modifying that previous post. Most posters don't seem prepared to accept that. It certainly wouldn't be me. I'd prefer not to fly long haul in the first place, but if I needed to I would be looking for a good price. But if someone isn't interested in the price they pay, or they attach a different value to the perceived benefits, it really isn't any of my, or anyone else's business.

I'm assuming that's the 10:03 weekdays or 10:01 weekends to Paris? Make sure the ticket you buy has flexible in the name. It appears to be €4,70 extra 2nd class and €4,80 more in 1st. You'll have a seat reservation on your booked train, if you travel later you will not be guaranteed a seat however since you're boarding at the start of the journey it's unlikely that you wouldn't find a seat. If it's a shorter local journey they probably only sell flexible tickets anyway.

Google Lens provides a match for Suva, FIJI. There's a photo of a HAL ship that is almost identical to that of QE, not such a nice day though. And one of QV in March 2015. Building and cranes are same.

@edinburgher and those interested. I thought I'd check my engineering theory a bit further. Now I don't think that is the case. Although the timetable does show short term works. The main line from Brest runs towards Rennes. From Quimper it runs towards Rennes and Nantes, splitting at Redon. There is a single track branch off the Brest-Rennes line around Landernau that runs south and becomes the main line from Quimper on. I think it's just a case of it being a minor line with little demand. Here's the current timetable: https://ter-fiches-horaires.sncf.fr/publish/SNCFBret_FHWeb03_Hv2024.pdf Anyone planning round this should note that headings TER & TGV are trains, CAR is a bus. Be wary of the circled numbers shown above a trip, the note could indicate that trip doesn't operate on particular dates. When this timetable expires in July it should be replaced on the TER Bretagne webpage: https://www.ter.sncf.com/bretagne/se-deplacer/fiches-horaires Expanding a bit; there are TER (Transport Express Régional) websites for every rail region in France and each will have a similar timetable download facility. edit again, My I am being careless today! Just spotted these other links that are relevant: https://ter-fiches-horaires.sncf.fr/publish/Affiche Travaux QR BST fév mars 2024.pdf https://ter-fiches-horaires.sncf.fr/publish/SNCFBret_FHWeb31_Hv2024.pdf I suppose I should be thankful we live beside a simpler frequent service than that area gets.

I had a look a day or two ago and decided not to suggest it. It looks like there might be major long term engineering work going on. I think I saw one actual train scheduled per day and the few other services were buses, shown as "Car". It didn't seem a particularly good option.

Yes. bluemarble has posted them all here as usual: Looks like you have Red & Gold and Masquerade, which seems to be standard Eastbound this year. Note masquerade is Venetian Ball masks, not fancy dress. Of course you don't need to follow either just dress for Gala Evening.