NancyDrew1953

Yes, we were on the Ponant ship docked right in downtown Lerwick in the Shetland Islands yesterday. The day previously we were docked next to a Viking ship (not certain which one) at Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands.  The other Ponant ship was also in the Orkney Islands, but located away from Kirkwall.

Our ship is now headed south.  I will be staying several days in Edinburgh.

5 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Unusual Doings in Lerwick

 

 

Yesterday was a strange day, cruise-wise. We visited the town of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. Let me describe what happened. About three days ago (when we were in Edinburgh), we received a notification that our 2.5-hour shore excursion to tour the island and stop to see Shetland ponies had been cut to one hour due to a shortage of buses in Lerwick. It became a one-hour panoramic tour on a "luxury motor coach."

 

We were okay with that because, having been to Lerwick before, we knew that it was an easy town to walk around in, and if they were still taking us to the Shetland ponies, we would be happy. We had done a private tour the last time we were here and saw most of the island. Later, we heard from some crew that the reason there were so few buses was that there would be four ships in. That's a lot of ships for tiny Lerwick.

 

Then, early yesterday morning (around 7:30), there was a general announcement that they not only made in the ship's public areas but into staterooms as well. You know that is highly unusual if you are a regular Viking cruiser. It is usually only used for emergency announcements. The cruise director (a very fine fellow) came on and told us that our schedule had changed and that Venus was now docked at the pier but would not be moored there all day. We would only be there until noon. After that, we would move to the center of the harbor and use tenders to return to the ship. Until then, the morning shore excursions would leave from the pier, and there would be a shuttle bus that would go into the town until 11:00 a.m. After that, if you were in town, you would have to wait until 1:00 p.m. to take a tender back to the ship.

 

We thought, "WOW! There must be another ship coming to take our place. They must be really important to be able to kick us off the dock. And sure enough, when we went up for breakfast and could see the other side of the harbor, there was a ship anchored there, tendering passengers into the center of the town. But imagine our surprise when we discovered the other ship was the Viking Sky (thus, the photo above). The problems with coaches, piers, and docks were caused by Viking scheduling two of their ships here on the same day. And yes, there were two other ships in the harbor, both docked, but they were small Ponant ships (a French cruise line) with less than 200 passengers, so they docked at piers that neither Viking ship could fit on.

 

It was just weird. It became even stranger when, later in the day, our ship (Viking Venus) moved off the pier, and Viking Sky didn't move; they just kept on tendering. When we left yesterday afternoon, there was no one on the pier and never had been. It was just strange.

What about our day? It was pretty good. The weather cooperated (not bright and sunny, but no rain), the tour was nice, if short, and our guide was a good one. We were toured through the town and then up into the hills, where we stopped by Carol's Ponies, a Shetland pony ranch where we could get off and take photos of them. Which, of course, I did. I don't like to put people (other than those I know) into my photos, so when we go someplace like this where there are about 25 yards of fence for four busloads of people to stand next to, it can be very tough to take photos of just what I want to take pictures of...like ponies...or stones...or pretty much anything. But I did my best. Here are the results. I think the only person I got in the photos was my lovely bride Kathleen. To see the photos of the ponies (and all the other photos I will mention, please head over to my blog (no ads/no selling) at www.jimbellomoDOTcom.

 

 

After the ponies, we headed back to the ship (remember, the excursion had been shortened to an hour). When back, Kathleen headed up to our stateroom and Steve and Jamie went off to town on the shuttle bus. I walked Kathleen back to our room to get my heavier sweatshirt because the wind was blowing so hard that my windbreaker was not breaking. Then I went back down to the shuttle and took the last one into downtown Lerwick.

As I mentioned, we had been there before, and it is a photogenic town. Lots of color and history to shoot. Plus, one of our favorite British TV shows is Shetland, which is...you'll never guess...shot here in Shetland. In fact we drove by the show setting up shots for next season. And I love to take photos of places we have seen in TV and movies. Remember, we just did a Ted Lasso tour. I probably walked around Lerwick for an hour or so before I got in line for the first tender back on the ship to meet everyone for lunch. In the meantime, Venus had moved around, Sky and the two Ponant ships were right where we had left them, and we were back on board for an early sail-away. We were only staying until 3:00 p.m. because we now need the full  57 hours of sailing time to get to our next port...Honningsvåg, Norway. (Photos on the blog)

 

Lastly, on the way out of port at 3:00 p.m. I shot a few last shots as a farewell (also on the blog). We were thrilled to come back here but doubt it could happen again. In case you missed it, there were two blog posts today. That's because it's a sea day...in the North Sea. More about that tomorrow, but suffice it to say we are having some ROUGH seas. No fun for many people (not us; Kathleen has her SeaBand, and I never get seasick—this is not the case for the majority of the ship—barf bags are everywhere.)

 

 

 

With regard to the two non-Viking ships in the Shetland Islands, I am on one of the Ponant ships.  Although a French ship, all the passengers are American as the ship had been chartered to Tauck for an extended period.  There were only 153 guests aboard. Although I have cruised with Viking (and enjoyed the experience), the experience of a true small ship is incredible (albeit at a higher cost). 

7 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Plusgrade is a third party who handle all the bids for upgrades. All upgrades are now outsourced to this company who will invite you to bid on upgraded accommodation. If successful you still pay Cunard or your T A  but only have a limited time to do so. Upgrade acceptance  T and C s are different if you are UK or North American based. It’s best to read them first to check the scheme is suitable for you. 

Although in the UK, you can still opt out of the upgrade by not paying, in the US, it is an automatic charge to you credit card — no ability to change your mind.  A possibility critical difference worth highlighting.

On my May QE cruise, I also had an upgrade offer although I booked through a US based TA.  According to my TA, agents do not receive any information or commission on the upgrade if you are successful.  

4 hours ago, TowandaUK said:

We recently visited voyage sales and booked a taster voyage on QM2. I asked about the planetarium. I was told that it was due to have a major refit. He said it was going to be fitted with state of the art LED walls to give a truly immersive experience and that it could also be used for concerts. He gave no time scale. 

Interestingly, I just disembarked the QE about a week ago in Tokyo.  While on board, I was talking to a very senior officer and discussed the planetarium on the QM2.  As an aside, although the shows are definitely dated, I love the planetarium.  The officer indicated that the work would not occur until the next QM2 dry dock; he indicated an approximate date, but I don’t recall it now.  More disturbingly, he said it would transform the area into a multi purpose space that would include a special dinner theater area, sort of like Bright Lights on the QA.  When, I asked if that meant scaling back or eliminating the planetarium, he became very noncommittal as I think he realized he was disclosing something he probably shouldn’t.  I will be sad if there is no planetarium.

I just disembarked the QE on May 26 in Tokyo, having spent the past almost three weeks aboard her in Japan, with two stops in South Korea and one in Taiwan. I loved the food, the entertainment, and the service was outstanding from my perspective.  However, if you were disappointed in the QM2, then you may not be happy on the QE as the menus are basically the same and the entertainment is very similar.  For example, the production shows in the theater are the same on all of the Queens, except the new QA.  Likewise, many of the other entertainers had previously performed on other Cunard ships.  In Japan, we had a couple of unique entertainers since the demographics were predominantly native Japanese speakers.  As a result, for example, we had a Polish violinist (who was superb) and who was extremely fluent in both Japanese and English and several other languages.  But, most of the music, speakers, dancing, etc., were very similar to my QM2 experiences last year.
 

This was my first time on the QE, having mostly done the TA crossings on the QM2.  With the exception of ship design,  I found the QE and QM2 experiences to be almost identical — in my view, wonderful.  I dined in the Club this cruise and found the service impeccable as always. From discussions with other passengers, service in the MDR was great except for the normal first night typical passenger confusion.  Maybe some of the service issues you experienced on the QM2 was due to transferring the more experienced staff to the QA.  The QE had not lost many staff to the QA during the Asia segment, but several I talked with were going over to the QA later on.  I think that Cunard is attempting to spread the more experienced crew members from the three Queens over the now four Queens.

I loved my experience on the QE so much I’m now booked for another QE cruise this fall.  However, if you were not happy on the QM2, I’m not certain that you would be any happier on the QE. 

I just had excellent Beef Wellington on the QE last night. It has been on offer one night of each of the two segments of the Japan cruises I am currently doing.  Food has been good to very, very good on board.   On night, I selected something I didn’t like (nothing wrong with it per se, but not exactly what I was expecting); however, my waiter quickly spotted that I was not enjoying it and immediately offered a replacement. Wait staff and other staff have been extremely proactive.

To respond to the comment above, the specific “Festival participants” were the ones booked through the Sunday London Times (at the time I originally posted I could not recall the name of the newspaper that seemed to be the main sponsor of the event). According to discussions with those who booked through the paper, they were provided the lanyards and various other incentives the specific details I no longer recall.

The lack of access to the computer room reserved by the Festival was a major negative for me.  Although as correctly pointed out by another poster above, there are computers in the library, demand far outstripped supply with the computer room unavailable.  The fact that other areas were roped off for the Festival, such as one evening during prime cocktail time, two lounges were closed, was a negative to me.

As to the lectures, as the Queen stated, “recollections may vary”, but I did not find them up to the normal Cunard standards of topics and very promotional by the authors.

I am certain that if you enjoy the Literary Festival, it is a wonderful event.  However, my experience is that if you prefer the regular QM2 TA experience, I would avoid this.

I’ve done theTA crossing several times. On any QM2 crossing, I find more activities than I can ever do in a day.  However, as much as I love the crossings, the one I did that coincided with the Literature Festival was my least favorite.  My experiences in 2022 differed from Pear Carr.
 

Although some activities are open to all passengers, my experience in 2022 was not all were. Furthermore, certain areas of the QM2 were closed to regular passengers at certain times. As a recall, one of the lounges was closed a couple of evenings for the Literary group and the Connections rooms, which I liked to use for the computers, were closed most days, for their special events.

Instead of the variety of Insight lectures, the various authors spoke.  These were open to all passengers; however, I did not particularly enjoy the presentations as the ones I attended were essentially authors just promoting their books. If you enjoy the authors or discussion on the writing or publishing process, this may be more interesting.  
 

In my experience, those that were booked as part of the Literary Festival had special lanyards and seemed to only want to associate with other Festival participants.  In fact, I had my only ever unfortunate shared table experience when I was seated with some from the Literary Festival.  Hopefully, your experiences will be better.

On 5/6/2024 at 7:17 AM, NancyDrew1953 said:

Tried the Grand Imperial Brit in my QE cabin last night. My tastes may not be very sophisticated, but I actually enjoyed it.  Plus part of the appeal is just that it feels special to have it in my cabin.  I much prefer a bottle in my cabin to a glass of something as I board when I am weighed down with carryons, a practice that I have experienced on other ships.  

Today a second bottle of Grand Imperial Brut appeared in my fridge!

I thought maybe it was in lieu of the Captain’s World Club reception, but just received an invitation to the reception.  So, I’m surprised to receive the second bottle two days after the first one.  It’s great that I’m enjoying it.

2 hours ago, BEAV said:

My 7-day Crystal cruise in July is USD $4K. Distilled water no charge.

 

My 25-day Cunard cruise is September is US $4K. Distilled water not included. 

 

Life lesson: You get what you pay for! 

I’m happy to pay a reasonable amount for distilled water, such as on Holland America and on other mass market lines. It is very disappointing that Cunard has decided to price this much above what other comparable ships are charging.  As an American on the QE in Japan, carrying my own water onboard is not a good option for a relatively long cruise.  

Tried the Grand Imperial Brit in my QE cabin last night. My tastes may not be very sophisticated, but I actually enjoyed it.  Plus part of the appeal is just that it feels special to have it in my cabin.  I much prefer a bottle in my cabin to a glass of something as I board when I am weighed down with carryons, a practice that I have experienced on other ships.  

Currently on the QE in Japan.  In my cabin (Club Balcony), was not Pol Acker, but instead 750 ml of Grand Imperial Brut from France.  It is described as a white sparkling brut, but I haven’t tried it yet.  No ice bucket, just sitting in the fridge.

Currently on the QE in Japan.  The price for distilled water is $22.80 for a 500 ml bottle. Not Happy. On Holland America, the price was $4.99 for a US gallon. 

19 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

I don't think you will regret it.  As  a solo traveller I often than not will opt for Club Dining (requesting a table for two- for solo occupancy) 

The Club Dining concept suits me well, mainly for the 'open evening dining concept' and the dedicated table and wait staff . As an avid dancer the Queens room is certainly an attraction for me in the evenings, so I prefer to be able to come and go as I please, having saying that, I do enjoy a little interaction with the guests on those tables for two adjacent to me.

I've said this so many times on this board - The Club dining concept is a 'Half Way' house to the Grills. 👍        

I very much second this comment.  For me, the best benefit was the same wait staff for every meal, who after my first meal accommodated my eccentricity of lots of ice in my water.  The wait staff is more experienced in the Club and since they have fewer tables and the same guests, they provide an overall better dining experience.

On 1/24/2024 at 2:15 AM, tiggis said:

Cunard seem to invite bids irrespective of whether there are any vacancies at the time of making the offer. Presumably they want to be prepared in the event of cancellations. This happened to us on a recent Christmas cruise where we heard only around a week before sailing that our bids - well above the minimum - had not been successful.

I am on an upcoming cruise on the Queen Elizabeth, which I purchased as one cruise, but consists of two shorter cruises.  My cruise is shown as SOLD-OUT, but the two individual shorter cruises are not sold out.  I'm in the Club and have been offered the opportunity to bid on the Princess Grill at an attractive price.  I am considering bidding, but when I looked at the two shorter cruises, the available Princess cabins shown are different cabins between the two cruises.

Before I bid, I am concerned that the QE would require me to change Princess Grill cabins in the middle of my booked (longer) cruise.  Cunard's FQA does not seem to address this.  Does anybody have any insight or thoughts on this issue?  

This is so helpful.  Is there anyway that this chart or thread could be pinned at the top for future reference?  Maybe someone more knowledgeable with the workings of CC boards make a request to the Viking board moderators?

I am currently on the Encore from Athens to Dubai with a stop (one day) for Luxor on November 27.  Most seemed to be doing the ship excursions due to the logistical challenges of Luxor in one day.  However, there were no issues or concerns with those who traveled independently.  I did one of the ship tours, but talked with others who made private arrangements. Very safe.  The war is far away from here, but circumstances can change.

6 hours ago, SLSD said:

Thanks for saying that you agree with me about the need for the MDR to be open for breakfast and lunch,  I've taken a lot of flack in this group for saying so.  I'm not OCD normally, but have always avoided buffets as I don't like food sitting out with utensils handled by everyone.  I HAVE dined in the Colonnade at the buffet--but not sine our first cruise on SB and only a couple of times on that first cruise.  We do dine out on the veranda of the Colonnade ordering from the very short printed menu.  

For a different perspective, I am currently on the Encore on the Athens to Dubai journey with many sea days (I believe 10 so far, but have not counted them). The Restaurant (MDR) has been open on sea days for breakfast and dinner, but is almost deserted.  For breakfast time, the number of passengers have ranged from a high of 10 to a low of 3 (including me).  Although I dine there every sea day (mainly for the quiet in the morning), frankly I wonder how Seabourn can justify opening it for breakfast.  When there is an event at lunch in the MDR (Galley Market, etc.), the turnout is good, but otherwise there are very few passengers there. The times I eaten lunch there (5 sea days), the count has ranged from 5 to about 25 maximum.  From this view, I understand why Seabourn does not bother to open the MDR on port days and question if it even makes sense to open for breakfast (or possibly lunch) on sea days.  Each voyage is different, but my assumption is that Seabourn has studied the situation and concluded that there is just not sufficient demand to open.  

10 minutes ago, zelker said:

@NancyDrew1953  We were originally booked to do Athens to Singapore but cancelled earlier this summer, and now we're really glad we did.  So which Egypt port did they cancel?

It is the Sharm el Sheikh stop in Egypt that has been cancelled. We are still scheduled for Safaga (Luxor), but the date has now been changed.

As I mentioned, although disappointing, I am still looking forward to this cruise. — my first time on a small luxury ship, plus the Suez Canal!

I know that the cancellation of the stop for Petra will be a major disappointment for many.  Although I am not that well travelled, I’ve actually spent time in Jordan and at Petra, and for me, Petra falls into the category of “one and done”.  Everywhere else we are visiting, including the substituted ports, are new to me. All in all, I still very much anticipating the upcoming journey.

On 11/5/2023 at 10:07 AM, alc13 said:

I didn't judge it at the time, but I think half or maybe the majority were from Japan.  Others were from Australia/New Zealand, USA, and elsewhere.I am booked on an upcoming Japan voyage with QE in May 2024.  According to my very experienced TA, while the passenger demographics can and will vary somewhat by voyage, the norm is usually between half and two-thirds from Asian countries, with mostly from Japan, but also South Korea and other countries.

Based upon shore excursions being offered, it appears that just about all choices are the same, except English or Japanese speaking options.  In a couple of places, there is one or two offerings in one language but not the other —sometimes English and sometimes Japanese, but it doesn’t seem like there is more choices in one than the other.

I’m on the upcoming November cruise on the Encore.   Earlier the stop in Israel was cancelled and Rhodes was substituted. Notified yesterday that the stop in Petra and one of the Egypt stops have been cancelled with a second stop in both Oman and UAE substituted. Plus a couple of changes to the dates for other ports. Although fully supportive of the changes, it is still a bit disappointing.  Although understandable,  this will be a much different agenda than planned.

Seabourn has already refunded the excursions booked for the cancelled locations to my credit card.  I have been pleased with Seabourn’s responsiveness; however, for the two new ports they have not yet announced any excursions.  They indicated that they will have excursions to book once on board.

3 hours ago, Tallante said:

Thank you for your reply.  I’m not wishing to offend either but I have sailed with Seabourn for over 12 years and know exactly what is my responsibility and what is not but it was nice of you to remind me. I do not feel entitled to the ‘best of both worlds”  as you so nicely put it,

 

During our cruises with Seabourn, mainly in the Far East and Australia, we have used Air Miles of which we had thousands from when my husband worked all over the World; I wasn’t aware that these could be used with Seabourn Air, perhaps could let me know if you they can be. Nowadays however I fly from Madrid, which we cannot book through Seabourn UK and therefore I take a cruise only fare.

 

The original post was solely regarding the announcement re 2025 cruises and why has there been no information re late 2923 and 2024 cruises in this area.  Nothing else.

With respect to your comment on late 2023 cruises, Seabourn has provided their plans.  I am on a Seabourn cruise later this month in this area. Right after the attack on Israel, Seabourn cancelled our stop there with a substitute planned in Greece (Rhodes).  Other than that, the schedule is unchanged and includes Egypt, Jordan, cruising the Suez Canal and onward.  
 

I haven’t been following what Seabourn is doing for the 2024 cruises, but for 2023, they have definitely sone a very good job of keeping the upcoming passengers informed based on my experience.

A couple of comparisons from my perspective based on my experiences (on HAL in Australia/New Zealand earlier this year and on the QM2 late last year - both times standard balcony cabins).

As others have stated, activities are generally more plentiful on the QM2. In addition to evening entertainment, the day time Insight lectures are generally very good to great.  There is also a real library on all the Cunard ships (QA will have one).  
 

QM2 still provides nightly turndown service with chocolates every night, but no towel animals ever (unlike HAL).
 

Quality and variety of food in the main dining room is better on QM2, but the service in HAL main dining room is generally better.  The buffet, particularly salads, is better with HAL.
 

Service on QM2 is good, but not as friendly or cheerful  compared to HAL.  Also, senior officers are somewhat more visible on HAL. In my experience, problem resolution is slightly better on HAL.

The one big advantage HAL has is in the area of technology - better Wi-Fi (although hopefully QA will be as good) and a much better app.  The number of in room movie and TV choices are also better on HAL.

I really envy your World Cruising…..it is my goal (someday).

6 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Here's an update about the AQV decision to exit the Great Lakes:

Ship lay-up costs prompted American Queen to exit Great Lakes

 

Several points in the article still don't add up for me:

(1) Great Lakes cruising is a 6-month season [true]

(2) AQV tried them in Mexico, but the lack of a pool hurt passenger satisfaction [ok]

(3) they don't have a buyer for the ships [so no real plan here]

(4) these ships were originally designed for coastal cruising [so why didn't AQV try using them for that instead of giving up so easily?  Are they not PVSA compliant?  And if not, who would buy them?]

(5) they plan to revisit coastal cruising sometime in the future [so after they take a bath on these ships, they will built new ships for this market?]

I agree that several of these points don’t seem to make sense.  In the winter - spring of 2022, these ships were doing coastal cruises, and at least, the one I was on was about 85 percent full.  Just speculation, but I would be concerned about the overall viability of the American Queen cruise line.  The ongoing problems with refunds noted in this Board sounds like the Queen is about to go the way of Vantage Travel (bankruptcy and liquidation). Although I have had many great trips with them in the past, I would be very wary of booking anything, including river cruises with them now.