Petulia

IMHO Liverpool seems a better choice for the naming ceremony than perhaps an alternative like Southampton. She’ll get a great a welcome from the Liverpudlians.

On a commercial note, having done a brief look-see on the current cruise bookings for this itinerary, there seems to be rather a lot of availability in the grades below Queens Grill. I even found a large number Princess grills available! There’s two promotions running for the next few days and I would think Cunard will be very keen to fill these cabins. 

We also invested several years ago in a couple of portable rails mentioned by Bigmac above. They are so useful in sorting out what you need to pack and what goes with what. 
 

Shoes wise, a low heeled pair of black evening shoes ( very comfortable) and Skechers for daywear..slip ons and sandals. So lightweight and easy to pack.

Have a great cruise all of you, we love the QV and have enjoyed our time on her. 

14 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Yes, Queen Victoria was in drydock at Harland & Wolff in Belfast from May 2 to May 22, 2022. That was just prior to her return to service on June 5, 2022. Similar I suppose to QM2's previous drydock from August 27 to September 26, 2021 at Damen Shiprepair in Brest to get her ready for her return to service in November 2021.

Yes and I also read that QV was in Newcastle prior to Belfast where apparently much of her carpeting was made to walk the gangplank! 
 

She certainly had some very smart quality flooring when we joined her in Sept 22. In fact she looked immaculate..in our opinion. 

Taken from cruisemapper website….location of three ‘Queens’ but not the QE!

14 hours ago, bitob said:

Unexpected good news

 

i submitted my claim to the port

 

i just got very generous offer!!!

 

only about 500 less than I requested

offer is thousands 

Bitter sweet after the experience you’ve had, but great news in the circumstances.

I wonder if your still missing case will surface somewhere at some point? 🤔

3 hours ago, seafarer68 said:

My husband surprised me with a bucket list cruise on Monday (leaving Friday) as a birthday present...only to have the cruise cancelled due to the Israel/Gaza conflict. He is desperately searching for an alternative cruise now  and think he might have found one,another bucket list cruise.... 12 November 2023 Northern lights  Queen Victoria...

 

Has anyone done this cruise?

 

Does Cunard also give you a month's grace to celebrate your birthday on board?

Have you checked availability yet? According to Cunard’s website this cruise is looking just about full with maybe the odd cabin not taken. 

7 hours ago, Underwatr said:

I get the feeling that we've given up on Cunard ever repairing the reclining seats in Illuminations (or have they been fixed??).

On our voyage in Oct 2006 OH’s seat was broken, hope it’s been fixed since then 😯

Whilst Southampton has its merits I would personally prefer to head over to the New Forest which is nearby. It has so much to offer from scenic forest drives and walks, roaming ponies and donkeys…check out Beaulieu and very picturesque coastal villages and country pubs. 
 

Hiring a car or car/driver would get you there in less than an hour. It once took us just 30 mins from hotel to dock side. 
 

For a taster or inspiration the website - thenewforest.co.uk is a good place to start. 

Just a thought. 🙂

1 hour ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

Shame it got chaotic after a normal smooth earlier disembarkation. Road traffic a bit high with QM2 and another ship in port as well today.

If you’re heading back up north today, the weather is not good here. High winds and persistent heavy rain. Take care. 

2 hours ago, LovesToRead said:

Are the cabin walls metal and magnetic? We like to use magnets to post schedules, maps, etc.

Thank you!

It took us too long to work that but now that we know….so useful.

I got a pack like the ones shown above, never thought of trying them on the ceiling though…..🤔

It sounds as though his current tour of duty hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Capt Hashmi! 

Wishing you calm seas as you cross the Bay of Biscay en route to Cadiz. 
(Using Cruisemapper.com to locate the ship)

A treat/must for many is having mid Afternoon Tea served by waiters in the Queens Room or if it is too busy you can also help yourself to sandwiches, scones and cakes in the Lido. 
 

The lunchtime made to order stir fry meals in the Lido are very nice and I also recommend trying some of the soups from the MDR dinner menus. 
 

Have a great cruise. 

3 hours ago, exlondoner said:

A Carnival press release and a site about what to call your babies. Neither of them Oxford Classics experts, I suspect. 🙂

Maybe  C a r n i v a l   decided to nick a few letters from their name and re-arrange them? 
 

Just a thought. 😉

I haven’t looked at the new itineraries as yet, but if they’re the same old, same old then there’s not a lot of incentive. 
 

We have a couple booked on the new ship next year, so are focusing on those for the moment. 

I thought they were brothers too. ☺️
 

They were on the late June cruise on QV and entertained us in the Winter Garden and on the stage at the rear of deck 9. 
 

‘Dad’ was very friendly and chatty when we saw him about the ship. 

3 hours ago, Chart Room Princess said:

Has anyone else received this survey on the Cunard World Club? It asks about types of benefits you would prefer in a loyalty club. I received the survey this morning.

Yes, received it a few hours ago, haven’t opened the email as yet. 

The prize is a £500 John Lewis voucher, what are they offering in the US? 
 

Still surprised there’s been no email notification of the 10% discount on 2024 cruises. 

 

Cunard regularly email us, but have heard nothing from them about this offer. Hmmm. 

 

Yes, on our cruise in June there was a half bottle awaiting us in the cabin. 
 

But then nearing the end of the week’s cruise…another one appeared! 😮

Pleased to hear you’ve had a good start to your cruise and hope that you enjoy it as much as we did on the same itinerary in June, when we had perfect weather and sea conditions. Have a great cruise. 

It’s a shame that Flam is no longer open to most? cruise ships. Offering a scenic village with amenities to walk round and mostly for us, the weather was very pleasant. Unlike Olden where it was always cold and VERY wet. 💦☔️

Many thanks @Victoria2 for sharing your cruise with us on the QV and your subsequent ‘musings’ . It’s a ship we enjoy sailing on so always good to see positive reviews and also bring back memories of our own cruises…which wasn’t that long ago for us. Lol

Looking at Cruisemapper, she seems to be half way between Haugesund and Bergen in gale force conditions and high seas. 🌊🌊🌊

 

19 hours ago, Goldeye said:

We currently have a Brittania balcony suite booked midship deck 6 with a larger balcony on the Queen Victoria. I just received an offer to bid on an upgrade for about 500.00pp on a Brittania Club suite. Is there any big advantage to upgrading? Or upgrading to a Princess Grill suite for 1200.00pp? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

 

 

 

Hi, I know the cabin(s) you are referring to as we have stayed in the starboard side one on QV. The balcony is much larger than the neighbouring Britannia cabins and the Princess Grills cabins next door and along the corridor back up to midships. 
 

For us it’s all about location and the position of Club balcony cabins forward on deck 8 under the pool decks aren’t quite so good. 

Regarding the upgrade to PG we have stayed stayed in those cabins a number of times, including the identical ones on P&O and Princess, and now find them to be a bit tired and dated, particularly the bathrooms. In the past couple of years Cunard seemed to have hiked up the PG prices dramatically and so we no longer find them good value. 
 

So to sum up, you already have a cabin in a great location like the grills cabins and have a much larger balcony, which was also supplied with two sunloungers and chairs when we stayed there. 
 

All IMO of course 😀

3 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I didn’t intend to book QA, but I want to book a cruise next year. I don’t fly, QE is away from Europe, QV is doing flycruises, and QM is on her TAs. So what am I left with?

Indeed.
 

We are in the same boat…...literally. 😏