frankp01

There are fireworks tonight, both at 6 and midnight. While it's warm, it's depressingly cloudy and damp, so we'll probably take a pass on both. Tomorrow, however, will be the Mummer's Parade. And any time it's in the 60s on New Year's Day, you've gotta go to the parade, a tradition with roots from Colonial times.. Mummers Parade - Wikipedia Best wishes for a healthy new year and lots of calm seas.

We were on a wait-list for a QV balcony, for quite a few months. I kept checking the website, religiously, to see if anything came up. Finally a guarantee balcony became available. I'm not crazy about guarantees, but we grabbed it. A week later I received a notification that we had cleared the wait-list. What I don't know is if the wait-list was also a guarantee cabin. In any case, we had our agent cancel the wait-list request.

Agreed, 100%. What would make it even more amazing would be to disembark and see the ship from outside of the dock. I'm sure that would never happen, though.

I'm in the same boat, so to speak. When trying to enroll to receive marketing emails the website wouldn't accept my usual email account, so i used my business account. The Christmas card arrived via the work account. Cunard is really dropping the ball* if not sending the card to past passengers! * Sorry for the US sports analogy

I have always self-disembarked, leaving the ship as soon as it's cleared. What's never been clear to me is, if we've vacated our cabin, can we walk off much later or do we have to disembark when first called?

And, apparently, there's no deadline to book the "entire cruise" package. On a 7 day voyage, on the third day, you could book the voyage package, which would be for the last 4 days at $15 each.

I've only ever sailed out of the Ocean Terminal (there are two primarily used by Cunard in Southampton). We're usually through the terminal so quickly that I've never noticed any amenities (food stand, reading material kiosk, etc.) It's mostly just a cavernous waiting room. I'm sure someone will chime in if I've just been unobservant.

I was thinking exactly that! or two thermal mugs.

Has that reopened? I was going to suggest that location, but it was closed in December. And I seem to recall it still being closed in July. It's a spot I relied on, so I hope it's eventually brought back. And I was following this thread to, hopefully, find its equivalent on the QV.

By suggesting a range of dates, and departure airports, to our travel agent, the fares he returned to us varied by several hundred dollars! By departing on Thursday, rather than Friday, and from Philadelphia versus NYC, we saved quite a bit. And all of the fares were much less than those I'd found on my own. I don't recall if it was due to the final payment date but we weren't able to change our seats immediately. Not too long after We were able to change our seats (and, for that matter, pay to upgrade to Premium). And we accumulated frequent flyer miles. I'd definitely use Cunard Air again.

That's counter to what my physician and the pharmacist suggested. They both said to wait 2 days after ceasing simvastatin.

Indeed. I'm on a statin, which is one of the drugs with which it interacts. But I only have to wait two days after stopping the statin. If I do test positive, I'll stop the statin, then wait and see how the symptoms progress. I was planning on delaying the paxlovid 3 or 4 days, anyway.

I don't plan on using it unless I have a pretty bad case. I guess, the problem is, not having had it (yet), I don't know how to judge what 'bad' is. I have one friend and two acquaintances who have caught COVID. My friend said it was no worse than a bad cold. Since you can start a course of Paxlovid up to 5 days after being tested positive, I'll wait and see how mine progresses. If I don't get any sicker than feeling like I have a cold, I won't bother with the paxlovid. I'm also carrying two week's worth of cold and flu medicine that I'll use, instead.

I can confirm that, at the moment, *is* free in the States. I asked my doctor if he'd prescribe a 5-day course, just 'in case'. We have a 3-week voyage, so I'm carrying on a course of Paxlovid. Which had no out-of-pocket cost. I don't know if that's due to the feds subsidizing it, or due to my prescription plan.

Thank you for asking for clarification!

While I have not used them, two good friends from London did, in January. They needed a test to return to the UK. That's when requirements were even stricter than now, and their test met all of the requirements. I can't swear to this, but knowing my friend, I'm 90% certain he just walked in.

But you did answer my question, which was, if the cord *is* confiscated we do get it back. We'll have several days in San Francisco, so it doesn't matter if we're delayed disembarking. As @Lakesregionsuggested, however, I've also found several hardware stores (ironmongers) not too far from our hotel, so I may decide to just buy it in San Francisco, before boarding the train.

I'm aware of that. Anything electrical I carry is completely non-surge protected. Ouch. That's an aspect I hadn't considered. When our friend's kitchen knife was confiscated, she simply retrieved it from one of the security desks at the same disembarkation line everyone else was using.

I'm very familiar with Moynihan. But that's where we're starting the sailing! We're ending up in San Francisco and returning by train. But you do have a valid point. We'll have a few days in San Francisco where we could buy the cord. I have the same adapters! I use them on the power outlets on either side of the bed (on the QM2). That way I can plug in the bedside lamp and my laptop (since I often work from bed). Those adapters are so small that I'm sure they don't raise much attention on the xray image. A 6-foot coil of wiring might stand out, however.

We'll be returning from our next Cunard voyage on a 3-day train trip. The particular train cabin we have reserved has its power outlet in a particularly inconvenient spot. To rectify that, I'm planning on taking along a five- or six-foot extension cord. We won't need, or use, that cord onboard the QV. But I don't know if explaining that, at boarding, is sufficient. If it's confiscated, I'd like to know that it'll get returned at disembarkation. On a previous trip, we had a friend who had bought a kitchen knife at a port call. That was confiscated when she boarded but was returned when she disembarked. I'm hoping the same would apply here, but would like some additional confirmation from any others who might have had this experience. As a workaround, I've considered mailing the cord ahead to the hotel where we'll be disembarking. But I don't know if a hotel will want to hold a package for four weeks. I know they'll "hold for arrival" for a few weeks, but 4 may be pushing the envelope. I guess I could ask a neighbor to mail it, a few weeks after we sail, so it wouldn't be at the hotel quite so long. Any insights?

Not having used the gym I can't comment on the free weights. I can say that you need a spa pass to use the thalassotherapy pool, steam room or saunas. All of those are coed. You might think that 7 days without a port call is too long. But Cunard has a long history of planning enrichment talks and activities. If I'm not mistaken, there may be a 'sticky' thread above with scans of the daily programmes, which would give you an idea. Ok, sorry, I lied! I don't see the daily programmes as a sticky. I know they've been posted several times. I'd post a link, but searching using a phone is not as productive as doing a forum search on a laptop. If I track them down, I'll post the link. Otherwise I can scan mine, from December, if necessary.

CVS does testing in their MinuteClinics. Unless you answer yes to this question Are you seeking a COVID-19 test because of high transmission rates and difficulty maintaining recommended social distancing? you'll be charged. Otherwise they'll bill insurance. Because a rapid test is only done with an office visit, a test is about $120. I've had my last two tests, for sailing, at CVS. I have no experience with either of these providers, but they both offer proctored tests via a video call. qured.us Chequp.com two more: Azova.com (video) BloomLabs.co (in person, midtown Manhattan)

That was BA's dropping the ball. When we flew into the UK in December (at the height of quarantining, contact tracing, etc.), we had to prove our vaccination and testing status only when boarding in the states. We never had to show any of that documentation again.

If BA takes Qured's certificate, I'm fairly certain Cunard will as well. I've used two different test results, and both were accepted with hardly a glance. (I think the main thing they looked for was that test was identifiable as mine (name, DOB, etc.) Since Cunard is accepting Rapid Antigen tests, the standard is pretty low (Antigen tests aren't particularly sensitive/accurate).

Why not use Qured again? I see they do certified tests both in the UK and US. I wasn't familiar with them, but having glanced at their website, I think I may use them for our January voyage. Unless, that is, you don't recommend them.