IB2

There is no way that going to the CT will get you away from the crowds or be relaxing! The area suffers from massive over-tourism, especially when the cruise ships are in. At peak times the trains are so crowded you can’t always get on, and some of the small villages have been known to have queue just to start walking (shuffling) down the narrow main street The usual complaint is ships switched from Spezia to Livorno, making it a longer trip to the CT. My recommendation would be to go see Lucca, or alternatively the maritime museum in Spezia is excellent, there’s a characterful covered market, and some good shopping. The gardens laid out by the waterfront are pleasant. Spezia is light on historical character, having been the principal Italian naval base during WWII and suffered a lot of bombing.

Worriers are immune from missing the ship, since they will get to the port way early, staying nearby overnight if they have a long trip, and are usually ready to embark hours early, at the front of the queue. So, don’t worry - as a worrier you won’t miss the ship - those few who do will all be non-worriers, who didn’t worry enough.

A sensible precaution, surely, would be to embark with at least one set of clothes in the next larger size up from the rest of your wardrobe?

Firstly, you need to check the legalities around the rabies injection, which will have a legal lower age limit and comes with a three week waiting period before you can apply for your documents to travel. I have done four crossings with a dog and seen a young puppy just the once. Puppies actually cope better with unfamiliar experiences as they are still within their socialisation period, but - as most owners do anyway - you would need to spend every hour the kennels are open with your dog, and manage its interactions with the others. A week in cramped conditions with little opportunity for exercise is stressful for any dog, and although Cunard advertises the experience as some kind of holiday for the dogs, really it isnt. You also need to judge the puppy’s temperament to make sure it will cope with the confinement. Much of a TA is spent sitting with the dogs in the kennel rooms, since it’s often wet and windy out on deck (especially westbound), and you want a dog that is capable of sitting or being held calmly, or sleeping, for a good amount of time, next to other owners and other dogs. A puppy from a breed that needs constant stimulation isn’t going to do so well.

The solos are in high demand and usually sell out within a few days of booking opening. They’re special cabins and you should say no to an upgrade, if you are lucky enough to bag one.

Westbound tends to be quite windy, as the ship is heading into the prevailing wind, which acts a discouragement to spending too much time on deck. The last couple of days as the ship nears the US can be quite warm at that time of year; the earlier days depends on luck of the draw with British and mid-Atlantic weather. People usually express a preference for westbound TAs, but if you enjoy time on deck the eastbound is usually better, and if you are lucky the ship’s speed can almost cancel out any wind and you can sunbathe in very calm conditions going east.

My last crossing, I met a woman was moving house using the ship for most of her stuff, and she said she came on board with 21 cases and boxes, and that the ship was storing a fair few of them for her. I got the impression the ‘must go in your room’ is advertised as a disincentive to people thinking of bringing lots of stuff, but in practice if you do you will probably get some help from the ship to make it work.

I just received an email (actually the same one twice) from Cunard about the above, with an attachment setting out the details of my long-ago booked 2024 westbound, and I am looking at it and can't see anything that Cunard hasn't already confirmed previously Am I missing something or is this merely a routine re-confirmation communicated in an over-dramatic way?

Air fare inflation since the pandemic has been considerable, significantly of course due to higher fuel prices and the financial position of the airlines. The advertised Cunard prices for 2024 no longer include an air fare, like they used to, so you no longer get a deduction if you don't need one or prefer to book separately

None of the conditions in #3 can possibly apply if they have pet cabins. I am happy to be patient and wait until someone who actually knows something comes along.

Thanks, but most Hurti ships have pet cabins so they are obviously different.

That’s not good at all. As a solo traveller you want to be seated with others on a large, convivial table, not stuck in your own table next to a couple in the hope that they don’t mind you playing gooseberry.

It would be highly odd for the dogs not to have any access to deck space, for reasons that any dog owner would understand. I am in no hurry and happy to wait for replies with some actual first hand experience to come along.

Does anyone have any experience? The company website says that most ships have pet-friendly cabins, and lists those that don’t, and I know that (obviously) you have to take dog food etc. But there’s nothing anywhere about what other facilities (if any) are open to dogs; ferries that allow dogs generally provide at least some open deck space for necessities. Where can you take dogs on the coastal express?

It's an inconvenience to me because it shaves two days off the time I have for my US road trip, and will award my dog two more days in captivity aboard the ship's kennels, where I will be with him during the day and so unable to disembark and visit the extra stops. It will save me money, as the two nights accommodation is paid for and the extra OBC will cover another bottle of wine. But that's not really the point - all sorts of people have all sorts of plans for and around their crossing, and Cunard appears to have dropped the ball somewhere with its 2014 planning.

Six day crossings in both directions were possible, still with contingency time, because that’s how the schedule started when the ship was first in service. As I understand it the change to a seven-day crossing was made for financial/marketing reasons, as selling a round week at sea was considered easier in the market, and having passengers at sea for the extra day maximised on board spend. It also means that they can work to a weekly pattern with most of the departure days for east and westbound TAs falling regularly on the same day of the week.

(moved into this thread): I haven’t seen this change mentioned so just to flag that the original seven day eastbound TA due to leave NY on 6 Oct 2024 has, because of port availability, been advanced to a 4 Oct departure and will make additional stops at Boston and Newport before crossing the Atlantic. Existing bookings are being offered refunds or a small amount of extra OBC as compensation. Good news for those wanting to combine a TA with a mini-cruise experience with two shore days; not such good news for those of us who will have dogs on board, or who can’t embark on the earlier date.

I'm with those that say this isn't really necessary, or the done thing.

For price, possibly elsewhere. For choice, Cunard.

Collect Characters, hoard your dragons and you can’t go wrong…

They've been like that for four years at least. The nighttime lockdown can be a challenge especially westbound when the clock change adds an hour.

If you have a dog you do get high priority for disembarkation, and are normally off between 0830 and 0900. The formalities with the doggie paperwork and with immigration are done on board during the week for an eastbound, so you walk off in procession with the dogs and once you have retrieved your luggage you are good to go. The kennels opening times - during which almost all owners spend with the dogs - are 0800-1200, 1500-1800, 1930-2030.

They sell out exceptionally quickly, because they’re good cabins - light and bright with large windows and modern walk in showers. I nabbed two for 2024 and despite phoning at the very minute that the booking line opens, more than half of them had gone by the time I got through. Because, I suspect, online bookings go through quickly whereas I had to wait on the phone because I needed to book for my dog as well. If you stay close to forums like this, the release dates for each season’s crossings are always discussed well in advance. You won’t save money booking one of the singles, compared to single occupancy of a double, but you do get more for the same money. I think a TA would be a great first cruise for a newly retired person - with the option of adding a Norwegian or Canadian cruise onto it, if you want to experience a more ‘regular’ cruise experience during the same trip. There’s tons to do on the ship, and the fact that you’re on your own won’t be a big deal at all. The ship gets a more mixed crowd, in terms of age, on a TA (although very few children, which many would regard as an additional plus), and I’d certainly recommend doing a TA in preference to a segment of the world cruise, where a significant proportion of the ship is likely to be on their last ever voyage.

You don’t need a tapeworm treatment to do Cunard, westbound. There’ll be no check of your dog’s paperwork on disembarkation on Brooklyn, and all you need to worry about is meeting Cunard’s requirements for boarding and meeting your state of destination’s requirements for importing a pet. The latter, you will have to research for yourself. It would be very wise to get a vet’s ‘fit to travel’ certification, shortly before departure, as you will be at sea for seven days without any vet on board, and it is in your interests to have had your dog certified as fit to travel before you go. This page should answer your remaining questions: https://www.estaform.org/us-travel-guide/how-to-bring-a-dog-to-the-usa-from-the-uk

The financial issue for them is the amount of debt they had to take on to keep afloat (!) during the pandemic. Together with rising interest rates, that represents a significant burden and we wait to see if they can make it back above break even.