Queenvee
Members-
Posts
237 -
Joined
About Me
-
Location
Fairfield County, CT
-
Interests
Ballroom dancing, trivial pursuit, beaches
-
Favorite Cruise Line(s)
Cunard, Crystal & HAL
-
Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
Now, I'm focused on Scandinavia. But love the South Pacific too; trans-atlantics are great.
Recent Profile Visitors
The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.
Queenvee's Achievements
Cool Cruiser (2/15)
-
Just chiming in since I disembark the QE on March 28th at the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal, not Yokohama. So confirming that yes, the OP's voyage leaves from the Tokyo terminal. Note that there is a Hilton hotel within less than 10 minutes walk from the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal. You can google the location of the terminal and see all that's nearby, including transportation options.
-
Since it appears that Cunard has cancelled all NZ cruises/ports for 2025 (as discussed in the other CC thread), I suspect that IF they resume NZ cruising, bookings would be open to everyone at the same time so you would not receive first chance to book.
-
Glad to see that the change to a solo pianist has actually happened! Lots of seats around the piano, which are always popular.
-
I sail on HAL and Cunard and like both. In general, these are some similarities: fellow passengers are generally well traveled and enjoy the arts; the lines' focus on their maritime history; understated yet elegant decor; and wide promenade decks (on the smaller HAL ships). Differences: more international mix of passengers on Cunard; in general, passengers dress better on Cunard both during the day and evenings (on HAL, there's a lot of more casual "outdoor" style clothing worn during the days, and sometimes at night); on Cunard's non-Formal/Gala evenings, a sizeable percentage of women are dressed up - not in long gowns but what I would call cocktail dresses and many men wear a sports jacket/blazer, often with an open-necked shirt (no tie). Daytime attire for a north Atlantic TA is usually slacks for women (sometimes nice jeans) and a tailored top - not a sweatshirt or flannel shirt. If you're walking the decks, you wear warmer clothes! When reading in a lounge, attending a lecture or playing trivia, slacks and a nice top (when I say nice, I mean a bit fashionable, decent condition (no rips or pilling) and something that shows a bit of effort has been taken.). I often wear a sweater with a scarf, along w black pants. When I walk on the decks, I wear EMS wind-resistant pants and a fleece jacket. Formal evenings I wear long gowns and dressy/cocktail dresses each night. But, that's me. It sounds like you enjoy dressing up so I say go for it! On Cunard, you won't be overdressed. (Whereas on HAL, I was often one of about only 10 women in total wearing a long gown.)
-
Great info - thanks everyone! I'm a solo traveler so will only have the $135 credit to work with but I like the idea of planning carefully to use my 24 hour period over 2 days (e.g. 3:00 to 3:00 the next day). Six days should work for me. I like disconnecting as much as possible, and will use WIFI in ports too.
-
@Victoria2 and @NE John I have a similar question and would appreciate your thoughts! I am on the 18 day QE voyage, Sydney to Tokyo, March 10-18, 2024. I am Diamond level so will get the $135 internet credit. I don't know what the daily rate is, but I'm sure the $135 won't cover all 18 days! So, just to confirm, I can work w/Purser's Desk to set up daily access (good for 24 hours) whenever I want to connect? Now that Starlink is so great, I'm thinking about connecting every 2-3 days. Thanks for any insights!
-
I'm glad to hear about the return to the one singer; as many other posters have stated, the duos were often not so great and that area became raucous. I missed the daily Lincoln Center on Stage performances on my August 23 NS voyage. Guess you win some, you lose some...
-
@Down-Unders Did I see that you're on the March 10, 2024 Sydney to Tokyo voyage? Me too! You may want to look at the Roll Call for that cruise since it's pretty active; some people are arranging non-ship tours, etc. (If you haven't used Roll Calls before, go back to the CC Board main page, select Roll Call/Cunard then pick Queen Elizabeth and March; the specific threads will appear. Note that the roll call is for the full 28 day cruise, but plenty of the people posting are only on for the first leg.
-
I was on QE circumnavigation of Japan in 2019 and at that time, shuttle buses were provided but you may want to check w/Cunard to see if that's still the case.
-
If you didn't want to say anything yourself, you could have asked the waiter or manager to talk to her. I've done that in the past.
-
Do I really need to pack my Chromebook, a bible, or a pack of cards?
Queenvee replied to Mr and Mrs A's topic in Cunard Line
I don't remember seeing a Gideon's bible in the staterooms. -
FYI...On the November 19, 2023 QM2 crossing, the ship was full and there was one dance host couple - man and woman. A dismal reduction from a few years ago when there were at least 4 male hosts on crossings.
-
Interesting topic and one that I've grappled with in the past! I've chosen to rent cars previously, but last month I spent a few days in Brighton prior to embarking on QM2 TA. It was easy to take a train from Gatwick to Brighton but my plan of taking a train from Brighton to Southampton was squashed by train works (apparently Sundays are the days when train service is often disrupted). What would have been a quick and inexpensive train ride turned into a two hour, £180 cab ride from Brighton Central Station to Southampton's Mayflower terminal. Searching train options showed 4+ hour journeys, involving 2 or 3 changes often including a "replacement coach service"; coach options were worse and required going to London's Victoria Station. I called a few car services (versus taxi) and they all quoted fares in the £170 range. So, a taxi it was. Lesson learned about weekend travel! I'll be on the QM2 again next November and am planning on spending a few days in the South Downs/Eastbourne area. Instead of a Sunday to Sunday crossing, mine is Wednesday to Wednesday so I think it'll be easier to take a train to Southampton (unless I decide to rent a car; good to know the rental return place is near the pier).
-
@bluemarble Thanks for posting the schedule. I didn't realize that other lines will be using the Brooklyn terminal quite heavily. I wondered why many of the TAs now start on week days, versus the Sunday to Sunday schedule that Cunard has been following for a number of years. (Of course, I remember back in the day when the crossing took 5 days so that was a whole different thing!). My annual November crossing now leaves Southampton on Wednesday, Nov 13 and arrives in Brooklyn the following Wednesday. I can imagine the headache it must have been for Cunard to re-work their entire schedule, particularly for itineraries that had ports. Someone mentioned that using the Manhattan terminal is more expensive for Cunard than Brooklyn - anyone know if that's the reason they use Brooklyn? I always assumed it was because the Manhattan terminal was smaller than Brooklyn.