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I'm glad I'm not the only one. I think I brought home a kilo of Fortnum tea last fall, plus various nibbles. I'm not a marmalade person, so I'll leave all of that for you. What's your favourite Fortnum tea blend?

Seconding the checking the weather before you go, but much will depend on how you deal with cold/damp. I tend to run warm, so I was able to comfortably eat lunch in a park in my shirtsleeves in London last November, while folks around me were wearing sweaters and fleeces. I can't recommend the QM2 TA experience enough - I've done it three times, and will be booking a fourth when I'm on QV in January.

I tend toward maximalism in my packing. For my last number of cruises (3 TAs, one including an extra week in London beforehand, 1 7-day to Alaska, and 1 7-day CA/NE) I take a 25" checked bag plus a 45L backpack that can either be carry on or checked, depending on how many checked bags are included in my fare. For the TA with the week in London beforehand, I checked the 45L backpack and had a laptop bag and a tote-style purse to carry on, as I was working in London and needed to take laptop + work materials. I'm doing a Cunard 16-day Panama Canal full transit in January (FLL - SFO) that I'm suspecting I'm going to need a second full sized suitcase, potentially along with the 45L backpack. Between multiple weather types (Florida & Caribbean through to rainy & chilly San Francisco in February), needing to dress for dinner (including multiple gala nights), and my addiction to shoes, I suspect I'm going to need the space. (Even though I will likely do at least a couple of loads of laundry while on board for daily wear items.)

All of the items listed above - muster drill, drop off hand luggage, unpack, check dinner reservations as necessary. I also tend to find a lounge to have my one alcoholic beverage of the cruise - on QM2, this is in the Commodore's Club. I walk the ship - if it's a new ship, finding 'my' places, if it's a ship I've been on before, it's re-acquainting myself with 'my' places (again on QM2, this is the Carinthia Lounge.) I might walk the promenade deck. I then always change for dinner. Especially if I've been running around on embarkation day, I frequently feel kinda grubby, and it's nice to have a quick rinse off and change into something fresh for dinner.

When I was on Zuiderdam in early September, the only live music was the Billboard Onboard (dueling pianos), the band in Rolling Stone Lounge, and a solo guitarist who was doing contemporary (Dylan, etc.) a couple of times in the main theatre. No classical music at all. The former Lincoln Center Stage area was completely unused - it sat empty the entire week. Even Cunard, who don't have a "formal" classical music program, generally have a pianist who does classical recitals, a string quartet, frequently a harpist, plus the band/orchestra for the Queen's Room, and the rock band for the club. There is live music all over the ship, at multiple times a day.

I've done both ways as a Canadian, and enjoy the onboard Westbound experience slightly more, although as david says above, this is mitigated by the absolute shambles that is Brooklyn customs & immigration. I have NEVER seen more irritable, angry, and just plain nasty staff as I have in Brooklyn at disembarkation. Yelling at passengers who are just trying to figure out where to go seems to be an everyday occurence. They have never had enough staff - they are always surprised and frustrated every time the QM2 arrives and they have to deal with her ~2700 passengers. Boarding in Brooklyn is also somewhat of a nightmare - lineups for days, in a cavernous warehouse-type space. But since you have to deal with Brooklyn at one end or the other (even if you're going on to Quebec City afterwards, you still have to disembark and go through US border control), I'd opt for the Westbound.

I've both taken and not taken suits on cruises, but I think the only time I've ever used one was on one cruise where I used the thermal suite in the spa.(But I've not done hot-weather cruising, only transatlantics, Alaska, and Canada/NE.) I'm planning on taking two suits for my Panama Canal transit in a few months, since the heat will likely make me more interested in swimming.

When I was in London last fall, I splurged on Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason, and it was divine. Spendy as anything, but beautifully presented, the space is lovely, and the service was top notch (I managed to squeeze in as a solo without a reservation.) They had their whole menu of teas (or close to it), delightful sandwiches with unlimited refills, warm scones with silver pots of clotted cream and jams, and a masterpiece of patisserie on top - four confections that were all delightful. I tapped out after the sarnies and scones, and took the cakes 'home' to my airbnb, where they provided lovely desserts over the next couple of days.

Yep. Planning for a lot of linen and light colours. But I'll also be ending up in San Francisco in February, so chill and rainy, most likely.

They weren't monitoring boarding times in Boston a couple of weeks ago, and they typically assign boarding times about 14 days prior?

I've sailed on both Cunard and HAL, and they're relatively similar in terms of the overall offering. Cunard does definitely position themselves as a premium line, but when you're on board, the differences are minimal. (I may have a different opinion after I sail on Queen Victoria (which is a Vista class, just like Zuiderdam and her sisters) this coming winter, as I've only sailed QM2 thus far.) HAL does do more of the mass market 'multiple daily announcements of what's going on' than Cunard does, and there does seem to be more of a focus on shopping and the casino on HAL than there is on Cunard.

I'm also very sensitive to fragrances - to the point where I'm seriously planning to take unscented hand soap to keep in my cabin on my next cruise. Luckily the era of overwhelming perfume/body spray (Axe is the devil) seems to be fading, but I do have a hard time finding unscented or minimally scented products. Shampoos seem to be the worst for this.

I only went once (on the sea day), and was similarly not hugely impressed. They never came back to refill my teacup, and the treats had all obviously been sitting out for quite a while after being pre-plated. I much prefer the Cunard approach. They do have a main tea offering, but you can request a different type of tea and get your own pot. The treats (finger sandwiches, warm scones with actual clotted cream and jam (in little pots; not pre-applied), and cakes and other sweet bites) are brought around on large trays and you can select what you want - if you only want cucumber sandwiches, you only get cucumber sandwiches, instead of having a tower of food most of which you don't want. They come around with teapots frequently - I don't think I've ever had my teacup be empty for more than about 30 seconds at a Cunard afternoon tea, and that was at the very end of service. You can also go up to the buffet and get the same items (scones, finger sandwiches, cakes) there, and either enjoy them there, or take a plate and a cuppa to a lounge, or out on deck if you so desire.

Last week on Zuiderdam, we had afternoon tea on two days - the port day in Bar Harbor, since we left port at 3PM, and the sea day between Charlottetown and Quebec City. The sea day afternoon tea was 'French', and I'm pretty sure that the Bar Harbor tea was themed, but I didn't attend, so I can't remember.

Today's embarkation outfit is a white tshirt under a red mid-calf trapeeze sundress. Originally was wearing heeled Fluevog sandals, but after the walk from the hotel in the heat & humidity, I've reverted to my Keen sandals.

I got a BIAB gel overlay mani on the weekend in prep for my cruise next week. My nails are super short, in part because I keep ripping off the tips, so a gel mani keeps my nails looking professional.

I've done a number of transatlantics, and have done two options - had the cruise line book my flights, and booked my own flights on separate tickets. The advantage of having the cruise line book your flights (especially the flight to the start of the cruise) is that they're then responsible for getting you TO the cruise if something happens and the flight is delayed/cancelled. When I booked my own flights, the connection to the cruise wasn't as important, as I was spending a week in London prior to boarding, so a delay wouldn't impact embarkation, and for the flight home I was able to save an absolutely obscene amount of money by flying Porter instead of WestJet.

How much was the formal/dressy dress code observed?

Is there a way to see either in the Navigator App whether you're assigned to early or late seating for fixed dining?

I'll be on this excursion in two weeks, and I was wondering how long between disembarkation opening and boarding the coach for Louisbourg? (Presuming you did the main Louisbourg excursion, that is.) I spy Tracy's Rolling Yarn Shop there on the dock, and I'm hoping to have some time to swing by (alternately, was she still there when you got back from Louisbourg?)

I'll see you on board! I'll be boarding that day as well.

Even their upgraded fares are not that expensive compared to some other flights that I've seen. I flew Porter back from EWR after a TA last fall - the flight was something like half the price of premium economy on the comparable WestJet flight from LGA, even accounting for paying for 2 checked bags, which were included on WestJet. I've not flown on Porter's new Embraer jets, which I believe is what they're using for the long-haul flights (Vancouver, Florida), but on the Dash 8s (which is what is used for all of the short hops), all of the seats are the same, with the first two rows having slightly more legroom.

It still blows my mind every time I have to hand over my credit card to have it taken away to run in a restaurant in the States. Especially since I can't remember the last time I actually signed the back of my cards - with chip & pin, signatures are effectively useless.

Definitely understand the weather iffiness, but I can highly recommend Porter, and Billy Bishop, more generally. They actually make flying somewhat civilized.

I picked up a Tomtoc Urban Sling (This one: https://www.amazon.com/tomtoc-Minimalist-Shoulder-Crossbody-Lightweight/dp/B08HSZ7HSF?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1) recently, and am finding it very convenient. I haven't experimented with it in the rain much, but it's well built, and the external zippers are inverted, which should make them more water resistant. I'm fat, with a large chest and broad shoulders, and it fits on my body quite well. It also doesn't look like a fanny pack, which for me is a plus.