tgetz

Thank you so very much... So what was the dress suggestion for the Mariner's Ball. I can figure out the others, I think, but not sure what to wear for that. Also do you happen to have a link to any pictures of passengers dressed for any of the balls???

Blue marble, that is great information for a lot of travelers. Very nice of you to share. Since you are interested in the theme nights, just wondering if perhaps you know what some of the theme nights have been on previous world cruises? We are booked on the QM2  2023 world cruise and it is way too early to be looking at shore excursions, so because we are so excited  I am looking at some of the outfits I might pack- that is hoping I gain no more weight. I know there are blogs from people that have sailed before but i can't seem to find them. Certainly not an important thing to do, but it keeps the excitement up. 🙂   

thanks Stewart for your answers

underwatr,

I understand your observation about taking a shorter cruise on Cunard before booking a world cruise if  we were unhappy with our last Cunard. I would always recommend to anyone to take a least a one week cruise on a line before embarking on a really long cruise and especially a world cruise. I guess I should explain. We  were not that unhappy with Cunard, just underwhelmed. We were in a queens suite and our balcony view was somewhat marred by the tenders on deck  8, this time i very carefully chose a cabin back behind the tenders. We were so surprised that a ship that had so many formal nights did not have a full length mirror in the room. Now they do. We had previously sailed on Holland and in the Neptune suites their little dressing room had a small sink. I loved that and our queens' grill didn't even have a dressing area at that time.  Now there is a lovely dressing area. We were not that impressed with Todd English and that has been removed. We were very disappointed, that when i asked for decaf coffee, I was given hot water and a jar of decaf to make my own.  Now there is a coffee machine in the room. We sailed in 2005 and there were definitely some weaknesses in the staff. But the ship, we loved. I have kept up with the QM2 since then and so many things seem to have been 'fixed' that we didn't like and now Holland seems to have done away with a lot of the things we previously liked about Holland. They have removed that extra little sink in the class of ship they use for the world cruise, there are not nearly as many flowers as there previously was, and way less music on board. Who knows what will change for all the cruise line when they do finally get to sail. So i think we are making the decision that will work for us. I am not thrilled with going East first and loosing all those hours, 🙂 but we really prefer the itinerary on Cunard's  2023 World over Hollands. But thanks for your tip. I do appreciate it.

One more question for you Cunarders. Is there somewhere on board that we can exchange currencies for the ones we might need in ports? Thanks 

Thank you LewiLewi for your opinions. The only time we did a world on Holland, the afternoon bridge was in the foyer area of the upstairs dining room. Very crowded and you were very far away from any of the windows, so since we are booked on the QM2 for this  world cruise we will have to 'suffer' with the windowless rooms for bridge. 🙂 I agree that the other two Cunard ships seem to have nicer card rooms, but for this itinerary, we are pleased to sail on the QM2. I really appreciate your comments comparing the two because we definitely wanted to be sure we could play duplicate often in the afternoons. Our last cruise on HAL we were so disillusioned in all the cuts we swore we would never sail on Holland again. Then when Orlando was 'fired' we thought we might try it again. Now who knows what will happen on any of the cruise lines. They are going to have to make money to stay alive, but hoping they will not cut all the things we love so much. 

Lakesregion,  thanks so very much for all your answers.12. I can certainly do without potato chips but i do occasionally like to splurge and have some with a sandwich at lunch. I never eat French fries, though. I know I am odd. Once on a Celebrity cruise when we had the penthouse, I asked the butler for a few chips and he came back with a huge family style size of chips like you find at Costco. No way could we finish that but what a nice gesture.

11.The great lectures are very appealing.

10. So it sounds like with a little tip the steward can find a spot for some empty luggage. On our last world cruise luggage, shipping was free both directions so we were very generous with what we packed and we had a total of 16 or 17 bags, I think. 

9. The shore event sounds like it will be memorable.

8.We enjoy gala nights but there will be 76 sea days on this cruise and that might get old near the end of the cruise so hopefully, it wont be quite that many. 

7. The new mix of people sounds great to us, and like you, we thoroughly enjoy the Australians. Always good for laughter.

6. We so enjoyed the various 'specialty dinners' on Holland . Always a reason to dress a little nicer, have some better wines and dine.  If memory serves me, the grill dinners are all great. I think on Holland we needed the special dinners because there wasn't as much variety available. 

5. If I  am understanding correctly there may or perhaps may not be organized duplicate bridge on a segment, depending on the passengers.?? We do love to play bridge and watch the world float by and so having organized bridge on sea days is a big factor for us.  

4. Movies on tv is ok, but I was really more wondering if there were newer movies shown on a large screen. Holland seems to choose movies that are filmed in an area we are headed to and sometimes they are really really old movies 🙂.

3. As you said, who knows what the new requirements will be for a World Club status change, but I was just wondering if by the last segment, we might have some free Wi-Fifi. Again, definitely not a deal maker or breaker. I just like pointing out to my husband positive differences in HAL and Cunard. 

2. I thought the lounge served wine but couldn't remember if the it was free. It is free on Celebrity in the club for suites, but not on Holland in their suite lounge.

1.My husband has a walk in wine cellar at home so we shipped 18 bottles  of wine I think on the airplane for our last world cruise. He has some really nice bottles and he prefers to share them with friends with a nice meal.  ON HAL we pay a corkage fee and never mind doing so. We also will probably go to some wineries on some private tours  on this cruise in Australia and in South Africa and wondered if we could purchase wine and bring it back on board.

Thanks again for all your time in giving such explicit answers. I will pass on all this information to my husband and we will make a decision by Thursday. We have a cabin being held but have not put the money down yet. We already  have money on the HAL 2023 World cruise.

Again thanks...

We sailed on the QM2 about 15 years ago and were underwhelmed, but we understand a lot of the issues we had were straightened out shortly after that. We have taken many cruises since then but none on Cunard. We did the Holland world cruise in 2018 but we are seriously considering the QM2 2023 World cruise but I have a lot of questions and I know some of you all will have all my answers. I love cruise critic.

First, can you bring on as much wine as you wish? is there a corking fee? If you go to a winery on a shore excursion, can you purchase wine and bring it on board?

We will sail in a Queens grill cabin. Does the lounge serve wine at night before dinner? We cannot remember. IS it free or do you pay? I know we would get some wine free for being in a grill suite.

Does your world club status change during the world cruise, or only at the end like on regular voyages?

Are there movies most days? Are there bridge instructions on sea days? Is there organized duplicate bridge on Sea days?

Are there many special dinners, for a fee of course, that include wine pairings or perhaps a special theme? Holland had many and even some murder mystery dinners and we loved those.

I have seen many people complain about the many people that sail segments, and say it disrupts the world cruise. Are most people in the suites on for the full cruise usually. Even in any cabin, did you feel the segments were disruptive?

How many gala nights each week were there typically?

What were some of the on shore memorable events offered on other Cunard  world cruises?

Will the room steward store your luggage for you?

I know the lecturers are considered some of the best on the seas. Do they have potato chips anywhere on the ship?. I know that is not a British thing and Viking has none, but Celebrity does.

That is all my questions for now.. 

Thanks so much for any information or any comments comparing the QM2 to Holland. Of course, at this point none of us knows if what we are accustomed to will remain the same when cruising begins again.

Holland used to have dance hosts . Not sure if they do anymore. we met two different couples that loved to do a world cruise because the wife liked to dance and the husband did not, and the wives could find partners on the cruise.I do know that the 2023 Holland has several singles already booked and there are several who go every year, so HAL does do quite a few 'events' for singles.

thanks

Since we will be responsible for getting our bags home from the UK, I am definitely taking less on this cruise, but I always like to be prepared for anything so no way could I get by with a carry on and one bag. ------

Do they offer popcorn on Viking when there is a movie? I know some friends that even though Holland does have popcorn at the theater, they did take a popcorn machine on their world cruise? Nah, I probably won't take that. What I did take on the last  world, was a door decoration for every holiday, Christmas, New Year's, Valentines, Mardi Gras, etc. Then they came up with a new rule and nothing could be on your door. Since this time we are way on the  back of the ship, I won't be taking decorations, no fun if we can't share them.

But this does bring up a new question. On the world cruises does Viking store your luggage if requested?

Our last world cruise was 128 day and had cold weather, hot weather, and an African safari. We were in a Neptune Suite on Holland and since luggage shipping each way was covered we took- please don't laugh, but total of 17 bags. One bag was just our formal wear, which we won't need this trip. One bag was a case of wine for my husband- he loves his wine. Won't need that this trip.  One bag was scuba gear, not sure about that yet. One bag was for the safari, not doing that and I took way more than I needed of cosmetics and stuff. Really hope to take way less this time. But I will say I had everything I could possibly want. 🙂 My packing list was three pages two columns' on each.. Now you can laugh at  me.  I even took 2 fold up hammocks which were great for extra storage and more chairs in our cabin. We do like to entertain. Thanks for your help

We have not been on a Viking cruise yet but are booked on the 2023 world cruise in an aft explorer suite. I can find a few videos of explorer cabins on other Viking ships but they just sort of quickly go over the closet. I am assuming the Neptune will be the same as all the others?  I can see there are two drawers in the bath area, and two tiny drawers on the night stands but are there any other drawers? Are there drawers under the bed? Are there drawers in the  closet? I can't even really tell how much actual closet space there is. We plan to take a Viking cruise when things settle down before final payment is due on the world but not sure we would book an Explorer suite and not sure I could get someone in an Explorer to let us in to look at the actual storage. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thans in advance

Heidi we just put money down on the Viking 2023 world. We have done a world cruise on Holland and sailed on multiple lines but never Viking. I like to gamble so had not looked at Viking before. It will probably be good to not have a casino for that long trip, however. 🙂  Have you ever sailed on Holland and could you compare the two? I could compare Holland to Crystal or Celerity but not Viking.  We love bridge and understand there will be an instructor and organized bridge on a world voyage. What about various theme nights or special chef or wine dinners?  What else is special on Viking for a world cruise?
Holland did pillow gifts, and special dinners and buffets and had the best crew. We were always spoiled by the concierge in the Neptune lounge. However, the older ships do not have laundries on them anymore and they only have one sink in a small bath and i like the shower and bath on Viking much better. What about the crew. Holland is known for them always smiling crew. Where is most of Vikings crew from? I know the ships are very highly rated and i am looking forward to doing a world cruise on Viking. Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide. Does Viking do cruise critic meetings on board?

thanks, we usually empty the mini bar and use it for bottles of wine....We bring on wine in addition to the wine packages. Are we seeing a problem here? 🥂

I am paranoid about what the cruise lines will have to eliminate in order to make a profit now, so I am sure that played into my thinking, or non thinking .😲 Holland had eliminated so many things we were not going  to sail them any more, but with a new president, I want to try them again and the world cruise for 2022 has a fantastic itinerary.  We do have a HAL cruise in January 2021 booked but I really doubt it gets to go.. 

My blonde roots are showing.... I kept wondering what the  Sommelier Suites packages were. We always book a suite and I hadn't heard of that, but of course, Sommelier refers to wine...  It just  didn't say wine packages... Sorry everyone...

I think it has always called it wine packages before and it just threw me.  And if it had said Sommelier Suite cellar packages, like it does in some explanations, i might have figured it out... maybe. Again thanks everyone... 

When did Holland eliminate the 4 star or maybe it was 5 star discount on wine packages?? I must have missed it, but when i was looking at something else today, I noticed it is not listed anymore as a benefit. That was a huge deal for us.

I knew it had been removed after our world cruise on the Amsterdam.  We had been told they were putting in a walk in shower and that didn't happen. We did 40 something days on the Westerdam in the fall of 2019 and those SA 's don't have the extra sink, but the bath has two sinks and a generous counter top so i was OK with that, but that cruise had us saying we would never sail Holland again until they got rid of Orlando. The no cruise director among many other things, just really turned us off. Now that he is gone, I would like to try Holland again as we are 5 star and do enjoy the benefits. We are booked on the Nieuw Statendam in January and I love that bath configuration but who knows if that will sail.

We book a cruise based on itinerary, but I book a cabin based on being spoiled 🙂 Our first Holland was in a SA and we have either sailed  in those or the penthouse on Holland. We have only done one Crystal and it was a shorter cruise 10 or 12 days I think, and that was before we had begun sailing in Suites so we were happy in what they call a PH that is about 300 something feet. 

The crystal PH for the Serenity is 408 square feet including the balcony and has two different configurations. I don't know the price yet for HALs 2022 but i think they will be comparable. The size I would like will be way more expensive . BTW the HAL cruise would be 128 or so nights and Crystal's would only be 100 so the per day is way more for Crystal but both sail you back to the US. 

Too funny. I almost used the same expression. a silly "first world problem".  But for 4 months it is an issue, all be it minor. Our last world cruise on the Amsterdam in 2018 they did still have the extra sink . I am weighing the Crystal world cruise in 2022 versus the Holland. I love both itineraries, they are very similar. On the Crystal , for roughly the same price we would be in a smaller cabin so i was trying to justify doing the Holland in a larger cabin as compared to the Crystal in a smaller cabin but a much nicer ship all around. The crew on the Amsterdam world was remarkable and if they all returned, it would be another plus for Holland versus Crystal, but who knows if they will. Our 5 star status is also a plus, but we do love Crystal. Again, first world problems.. I jsut hope we will all be sailing before 2022. 

Thanks.. I was really looking at the 2022 world cruise but that doesn't  please me..  

that is what i was afraid of. I really did like having that . I didn't mind so much on the Vista ships that at least had the two sinks but it was really handy.

When they did the refurbishing  in 2018 did they remove the little sink in the dressing area in the Neptune  Suites  or is it still there. Thanks

Is  the Pinnacle suite shower on the Nieuw Statendam the real small shower like in the pinnacle on the Volendam?

The drawing shows it bigger but the only video i can find shows it being  one of those round things that are very small. 

I second your thoughts iancal