southwestie

I was about to say that Cunard started a trend when they allowed the tacky Jess sign. Money speaks sadly.

Yes Money talks, Cunards Money, they arranged the whole thing

I know this may be tacky for a cruise liner, but are passengers allowed to hang a material sign from their balcony cabin when coming into a port? I have never seen one on Cunard liners but can't seem to find any information on restrictions.

I have seen it done and done see any reason why not, depends what it says maybe:)

lots of ships hang signs and flags

Perhaps it is also a question of "Hobsons choice"

 

For instance, I am a stickler for dressing formal for dinner, so only choice is Cunard (maybe Crystal)

Limited in amount of lying , so again confined really to a 2/3 hour flight - Florida to New York city, so again little choice except Cunard

Love sea days, can only walk short distance, so its Transatlantic, again only choice is Cunard.

Like assigned seating at table for 6-8 for dinner, do not like open seating for dinner so again choice is limited

Enjoy lectures, so again limited in choice of ships

 

Under the circumstances, it is a "devil you know" (Cunard) even if sometimes you have had a bad experience, It is cruise -Cunard or stay home.

 

It is unfortunate that at my age I can remember when a passenger really was regarded as being a "special" instead of just a "number on a piece of paper"

Quite agree

BA usually very expensive for one way flights at least when booking your own flight. Re 23 kg cabin bag, you need to be able to lift it into overhead locker and it has to conform to their size limit.

BA are right now and been for some competing with the likes of easy jet and are often the very best best deal, still as with many airlines its often cheaper to buy a return open ticket rather than a one way ticket, Cunard does use them a lot so the cost is with them anyway. unless you have to book yourself

The bag whicg can be 10/12kg more than others does have to be lifted into the locker, goes without saying, however the stewards on the plane are always happy to help with this or they will sometime stow at the front of the plane for you

Robin....this has come up before. We had our sheltered balcony booked for almost a year.....three weeks prior to the voyage, they upgraded us to deck 8. :eek: Took a lot of effort to get our cabin back.

 

That said, we've also had a chosen cabin on deck 8 and loved it. Ours was between lifeboats and we had a fine view. Watch out for unexpected workers being on the lifeboats. Quite a surprise to wake up to see them there.:)

Yes. I think from obstructed you go to sheltered. Balcony, from there it is deck 8 unobstructed :)

I'm not keen on deck 8. You never know who is out there

If I might suggest BA as they allow you to take 23kg in the cabin as hand baggage as well as 23kg in the hold,

Thanks Rob....I never knew that was an option. We kept one big case on the balcony once. Talk about an atmosphere downer. :(

your welcome, I always find they try there best to help ,

If you book the cabin you could even be upgraded to an in hull sheltered balcony, no gaurantee , but we have many times

we take too many bags, those that dont fit under the bed are always taken away by the room steward and returned, never had a problem with them doing it

Robin, I do understand your point. I don't care for noontime cocktail parties either and have never attended one.

 

We recently sailed with RCL, 14 day T/A, after not having sailed with them for 6 years. I was quite impressed with their loyalty program. They offer free cocktails with impressive heavy hors devours from 5:30 til 8:30..... presumably, an hours worth before first and second seating. We did at times, stop for a cocktail before going to the cabin to dress for dinner. That practice wasn't allowed for many because you had to be properly dressed. My daytime outfits were totally appropriate as evening attire.....so I was always welcomed. We truly enjoyed being treated so graciously.

 

On the other hand.....the RCL board is filled with people telling others to "wear whatever you want, nobody cares". RCL has no choice now but to accommodate really badly dressed people.

 

So, I guess you just have to pick your battles. :rolleyes:

Your right, RCCL does have an amazing loyalty programe , one of the best I would say, i love the Diamond lounge . and yes they do allow people to wear almost what they wish.

Cunard is still number one for the dress, passengers and space etc, there are just a few small things that seem to have changed and really if put right would make it 100% :)

Could be worse, NCL

Hear Hear. I used to have an affection and loyalty to Cunard but not any more. Now they are just a company that provides me with a cruise. I know from experience that I can't expect them to go "that extra mile" if needed or to be loyal to me as a long standing customer. And I don't regard myself as "an invited guest" at the Senior Officers Party, it's something that I have paid to attend, it's nothing special.

Agree:)

You have missed my point entirely.

Quite missed the point id say.

Im happy to book Cunard and have done many times and will continue , we have plans for 3 TAs later this year.

However, I am happy to make known rudeness and point out mistakes etc, Cunard need to know so they put these things right and make the whole experience better, but I am also happy to try other lines as well, this makes makes you understand where Cunard either gets it right as it mostly does or indeed gets it wrong:)

They were the same at the last senior officers party I attended as well, just stood in a group among themselves and ignored "their guests". This party was at 11.30 in the morning(!) which meant most of the guests came to the party without eating anything. Everyone got very drunk very quickly and a lot of people told the senior staff how rude they were as they tottered back to their rooms at the end.

They never used to be like this, on the QE last time they all joined in and formed small groups and it was in the evening as well, I am not keen on the morning ones, too early for me.

On this party i was not feeling 100% but it was before dinner so we went along, we decided too sit and pleased we did, it was quite odd to watch them, as I said one or two moved and started to chat but most just stood there and chatted to them selves,

But the QM2 never had a chocolate midnight buffet?

Never. This is not in the style of the dinning mode of Cunard.

If it is true, what happened ?

Yes, who was the hotel manager inboard ?:D

I have not seen one before on QM2, however QE and QV both have them

Another example of the "don't care" attitude now so prevalent on board unfortunately. 10 years of regular crossings and a marked deterioration in quality. This was the day before the disembarkation procedures were published for "arrival in NYC" on this eastbound crossing.

You can see why many are now sailing with other lines and why Cunard make amazing deals for these crossings, we have the weeks booked for the next crossings and will simply book as the deals come out

Of course everyone makes mistakes. It's the way they are rectified that is the important thing.

Your right , had they arrived with a sign or made a short announcement it would been OK, but nothing, the officer didnt care at all, shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

The senior officers party was odd as well, the officers just stood around and chatted to each other with drinks, only 2 or 3 went out and spoke to people.

Its sad, but you really can see the cut backs in cunard and there are many.

I've no axe to grind, only ever having done the Grills.

 

Unless the Britannia restaurant is significantly better than every other MDR I've been in then I reckon the extra is worth it, bearing mind that you also get more cabin real estate, etc. But it's easy for me to tell someone else to splash $6k+.

 

Bear one extra thought in mind - if you have a PG Guarantee then there's a reasonable chance of an upgrade to QG, especially on longer, more expensive cruises where they can't fill every cabin at list price.

 

On our last Norwegian voyage we went from a Q7 Guarantee to a Q1. It'll never happen again, but what a treat!

 

 

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I would say there was indeed a very high chance of an upgrade, and that would be even better:)

Take the Grills, you will regret it forever if you done, unless you plan on booking a P or Q grills in the future, go for it and enjoy the best experinece :) you can book a sheltered balcony at any time, but you wont always get the chance of a Grills deal

The dining room is larger, food is better, you can dine when you wish and hardly a soul will look in on you when they pass by, if they pass by:)

I was on the QM2 one November in the big force 11/12 storm, phew that was a ride, I started to feel queasy in the morning and was told to go and get the candied ginger from the restaurant, well I felt better within 5 minutes, i then had lots of ginger ale in my drinks, it works, I was at the CC meeting in commodore club and told people feeling sickly, and the ones who said they dont like ginger left lol, good thing I like it,

Ginger worked for me 100% and im told apple jiuce does as well and you that free in the buffet area, enjoy your crossing:)

well done, we had a deck once, no problems at all, in fact it was the couple in the next cabin that were noisy,both deaf poor souls, a quick word and they were fine too,

Never had a bed that moved though even when it was the Nov force 11/12 phew:)

I sent a donation myself and many friends have also, I see today 17th that both the USA and UK have got aid and help through, so those poor people should start to see a clear, get some food,water and help asap.

Dec.org have raised over £33 million so far alone, but that will never help the loss of loved ones or take away the fear of it happening again.

keep donating, we all have made friends with different waiters and crew on board Cunard ships and other ships , I keep in touch with many and there families, so far I have not heard from anyone at all, its heartbreaking

Thank you for that very detailed review of the restaurants, wow, I have printed off the main details for our cruise next February.

Thank for taking so much time and trouble, this will save us much time im sure:)

I do not believe that it will ever be possible to anticipate and prevent every possible malfunction in a system as complex as that of a large passenger ship. For decades the aviation industry has striven to ensure that all major systems on airliners are designed and built with double and sometimes triple redundancy, simply because malfunctions do happen, no matter how strict the inspection and maintenance regime. If every single critical component of a 150,000gt ship were to be "physically checked" against the unlikely possibility of a malfunction, then I very much doubt if there would ever be time for that ship actually to leave port.

 

Perhaps we should all pause for a quick reality check here. Instead of promulgating unsubstantiated rumour and gossip, it would really be nice, just for once, if someone actually thought to congratulate the crew of RMS Queen Mary 2 for their professionalism in dealing with the situation, and to thank the Commodore for ensuring that the crew were trained and exercised to a level appropriate to maintaining that professionalism. This is particularly the case in the present situation as it appears that, not only did the crew have to cope with the fire itself, but they had to do so in sea conditions that were clearly less than conducive to such emergency action.

 

Thank you Cunard - looks like a fantastic job, very well executed.

 

J

You right 100%, I did just that as soon as I had a few emails from some of the crew early this morning once the net was back to normal. what with this and the bad weather they had, they all did well

they did do well, it must have scary for some and most all no one was hurt, I watched her arrive under the V bridge this morn, beautiful weather and she was along side around 12.05 our time.

Cruachan

hope to see you again soon on a voyage

Thanks Rob6852. Regards,Jerry

I have a lot of friends on board, if I hear from the later I will post the details, hoe the internet comes back on for them.

Thank you mariepr thats helpful for the people joining on Friday for the crossing

I had a few email and messages from the ship and all seems well, mind you the last was 12 hours ago I dont see a problem now at all, they can make any running repairs on the 14th/15th if they had too so that the crossings are not affected,