frankp01

This is from the same crossing. It looks like 4 is black, 5 & 6 are white...

That hadn't occurred to me. We just saw the Pirates of Penzance. I need to brush up on my pirate dialect.

It's definitely the QM2. But it's probably deck 5, which, for a sheltered balcony, is always the deck I request. There's no chance of being over a theater or restaurant or under the promenade or restaurant. While going through some old memorabilia I discovered we'd had the same cabin on deck 5, almost 10 years apart.

This gives you an idea of why you can't see the water when sitting on a sheltered balcony. This was in December. While you may not be able to see the water, it's at least sheltered sufficiently that it's actually comfortable. I'm not sure I'd have been sitting on a 'regular' balcony at that time of year.

The ferry from Wall St to Red Hook is only about 10 minutes. And it couldn't dock closer to the QM2 pier. It's maybe a 5-10 minute walk from the cruise terminal exit to the ferry dock. If you're heading to 34th St, then yes, you'd change ferries. You can change at Wall St, but sometimes the connection works better at one of the other stops. It pays to download the app. It will calculate the best route for you and you can buy the tickets there. The New York NYC Ferry Service by Hornblower

We have stayed in New Jersey (once in Jersey City and once at the Newark Train Station) and taken the ferry to Red Hook. There are two hotels adjacent to the Jersey City Exchange Place station. From those hotels it's maybe a 5-10 minute very pleasant walk along the promenade to the Paulus Hook ferry terminal. There's a ferry from there to Pier 11, at Wall Street. Then it's an easy connection to the Red Hook ferry. The downside is that the Paulus Hook-Pier 11 route doesn't run all day, so you have to catch one of the morning ferries, and it doesn't run on weekends at all (boo). There are also ferry routes from 3 other spots in Hoboken to Pier 11.

The ferries actually have a fair amount of room for luggage. With barely sloping boarding ramps. As long as you have rolling luggage, you should be OK. Here's a photo of quite a bit of luggage for the three of us. Leaving Red Hook we often take the ferry to Wall Street, then change to the ferry to E 34th St. There's an express bus from the ferry terminal to Penn Station. It does involve two changes, but otherwise it's very painless (and faster than traffic, sometimes)

You're being unkind. It may be a bit of an acquired taste, but it's really not that bad. And, if you have to doctor it, my preference is with a bit of maple syrup. For many, it's the texture that offends. But it's really just polenta, at its base.

Precisely!

I'm not sure that policy changed. In San Francisco this past February everyone had to disembark, even those not planning to go ashore.

We had our travel agent price several flight options: both out of NYC and Philadelphia, and several travel dates. Doing so let us pick from a range of fares: from as low as $300 to $450 (one way, US to London). I thought those fares were extraordinarily good for a one-way flight. I'd suggest doing as we did and select several travel dates to see if the fares vary much.

There's also the option of taking the ferry from 34th St to Wall St. From Penn Station there's a crosstown express bus. It has a bus lane, so it's not quite as subject to traffic as taxis. The route is considered "Select Bus Service". You have to have paid in advance, but that means you can enter from the front or rear doors. And the bus has a very low-floor, so it's only about a foot up from the ground, and no stairs. It's easy, even with our large rolling bags. The bus drops you off directly at the 34th St ferry dock.

We were on that one, too! I originally wasn't planning on going ashore. Once the tendering started, though, we decided to have lunch in Newport. I got some very atmospheric photos of the QM2 shrouded with fog. I was so glad we did go ashore.

I'll throw my preferred overnight into the mix. We stay in the financial district. If it's a weekend the rates can be quite good. Granted, there's not as much touristic activity. But you can walk past the Cunard building. And the Museum of the American Indian is in a customs house with beautiful murals of steamships and port activities. And there's the WTC. On departure day simply walk to the Wall Street ferry dock and approach the QM2 by water... The best way.

Oh, that was a drencher! My poor umbrella bought the farm. It was blowing so hard we finally just gave in and got soaked to the skin. I'll throw another site to visit into the mix... The Halifax library is a beautiful building. It's up on the hill and has a nice rooftop cafe. You can enjoy lunch on the roof (Assuming no repeat of 2022) with a view of downtown and the QM2 in the distance.

Oh, I don't know.... Maybe say we can't disembark? (Wink). You have a point, what could the penalty be?

Thanks for confirming what I thought. Since we usually book a train around 3PM, we have a very luxurious morning, which is why I always wondered if we could just walk off later. And a slow-moving queue wouldn't bother us.

They also didn't fly!

Yes, Cunard has lost quite a bit of goodwill by not explaining the reason for the bottle in the fridge.

Agree about Cunard Air. We booked one way to LHR. We asked for fares from two airports (EWR and PHL) and a range of 3 dates. Surprisingly, by using PHL and by selecting one of the non-weekend dates we got a *dramatically* lower fare than booking directly with the airlines. So play around a bit with your flight over.

I should point out, however, that people traveled in outfits far more formal than now. On the QE2, 'informal' meant jacket and tie.

I honestly don't remember if I bought the stamps from the purser's desk or if I carried them aboard. I wasn't sure which nationality's stamp to use! We were sailing into NYC, but the red post box is British, so, technically it's as if it had been posted in Britain! Once the mailpiece is in the post box there's no way to track it back to a specific passenger. So I may have bought the stamps from the purser, affixed them to the cards, and dropped them in the box.

Back in the "old days" every night was formal. Except for the first and last nights. That's because your steamer trunk wouldn't have been delivered yet (or it had been taken in preparation for disembarkation).

Another 'to do' rather than 'thing'... Send yourself a postcard from onboard. The QM2 is a Royal Mail Ship, so you'll get a nice postmark...

Here's not something to not forget, but something to be sure not to do. Don't place your boarding pass and passport in the bags you're checking. We had a travelling companion who had her eTicket in the bag she checked at the port. That wasn't that big of a deal, since her reservation could be looked up. But on our last flight to London we were checking in next to a couple who had placed their passports in the bags they had just checked. Their bags were long out of sight when they were asked for their travel documents! Geez I felt sorry for them. When you arrive at the terminal, the stevedores will be hustling to take your bags. Make sure you keep whatever you'll need for the next few hours in your carry-on bag.