Starstruckharper

Depending on traffic, the ferry from Red Hook to pier 11/Wall Street + a brief walk to South Ferry + the 1 train could get you to Penn Station faster, if you don't mind carrying your own luggage. The ferry only runs once an hour though.

Will do - from what I hear the only issue with the cabin is the noise from above - so an atrium view on deck 5 should be just fine.

(On QM2 FYI)

Hello, I got "Upgraded" into a deck six atrium view cabin. A couple questions: 1) How bad is it, really? My travelling companion and I are pretty heavy sleepers, so a bit of noise and vibration will not bother us. Plus, the extra space and window compared to the inside cabin we were in would genuinely be nice. 2) If it is that bad, should we a) pay the money Cunard wants us to pay to move back into our original cabin or can we b) complain loudly enough until they move us back for free or c) complain to the purser board with the expectation there will be a quieter cabin available that we can be moved to? Thank you, -Starstruckharper

I'm planning a pretty long trip, so I'm unfortunately going to have to take multiple pairs -- the plan is 1) Everyday/hiking boots, 2) Shower flip-flops 3) specialized dance shoes (not just for the boat - planning to do a lot of pretty serious ceilidh/step dancing on this trip) 4) black patent leathers.

How about shoes? I have a pair of black patent leather dress shoes that I wear most of the time I need to put "nice" shoes on -- will those do for formal nights or should I plan to purchase a pair of even nicer shoes?

Hello, I'll be going transatlantic this coming summer, and am curious about how many different outfits I should plan on bringing. 1: Formal nights: There's two of them -- just a tuxedo, or a dark suit for night 1 and a tuxedo for night 2? 2: "Smart attire" -- I don't have the luggage space to bring seven whole outfits for every night -- would two or three pairs of slacks, shirts, vests, ties, etc. do? That way I can mix-and-match and get seven different outfits without having to find a way to fit seven sport coats into my suitcase (and budget!). Thank you, -Starstruckharper

From the schedule, it looks like the ferry takes about 15 minutes to get to Pier 11 in Manhattan - from there it's a 20 minute subway ride to Penn Station.

Two other ships - the Viking Orion and Coral Princess - have recently had their entry permits into NZ waters revoked because of biosecurity concerns (invasive snails/other marine organisms on their hulls) - here's a pretty comprehensive video discussing the issue of hull growths (that also touches briefly on the QV's recent in-service drydocking in Spain)

One of the things I do know: If you want to get to/from the Brooklyn cruise terminal and don't want to mess with NYC cabs, NYC ferry runs a regular route between Red Hook (steps away from the terminal), Corlear's hook, Governor's Island and Wall Street/Pier 11. Here's a map, and linked is the schedule:https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/south-brooklyn/

At least on QM2, there's been a concerted effort in recent years to up the quality of the food even further -- there's a new head chef on board and from what I've read on this forum it seems like the food is the best that it's ever been.

Okay, yeah, a promenade Deck does seem like something Cunard should have kept around.

Re: Modern art: Great ships have always played a huge part in bringing contemporary art movements into the mainstream. Art Deco really exploded in popularity after it was incorporated into ships like the "Ile de France" and "Normandie" - so much so that the "streamlined moderne" art style is also known as the "Paqueboat" or "Ocean Liner" style. Once upon a time, Cunard themselves were style innovators with the QE2 -- it's nice to see them remember that ships can be at the forefront of design again!

Ope, thought of one more question: Do the TVs in the rooms have HDMI ports accessible to guests? I was thinking it might be nice to plug my laptop in and watch movies/etc. on the big screen.

Hi! A travelling companion and I will be travelling on the QM2 this coming summer (transatlantic, if that's relevant info). Every week it seems like a few more questions come to mind, and I thought it might be worth posting here (if just to give our poor cruise vacation planner a moments' rest!) 1) Are gratuities paid out of one's onboard credit account, or are they handled separately from it? 2) Are gratuities calculated on a "per stateroom/reservation" or "per traveler" basis? 3) Can one "cash out" unused onboard credit at the end of a voyage? Thank you! You all on this board could not have made a better impression in the brief time that I have know you, -Harper

Per discussion in one of the other threads, Cunard has started to announce the dates/themes of gala nights for cruises in spring/summer 2023. If you're curious about yours and someone hasn't replied to this list, you should be able to find the details on your "My cunard" page at this time. How dreadfully exciting!