exlondoner

Did your mother gain weight - or is she not telling?

Perhaps the dearth of cabs was because you were practically last off the ship, and they had all been used up and then gone somewhere else. I know at the local station there are usually loads waiting to meet the trains from London, but sometimes, if you are last through the barrier, they have all gone.

Remember Grills lunch on boarding day is almost invariably 1.00 to 2.30, so I really don’t think you will have a problem.

Or PAYG?

Interesting thought about the Vista air conditioning. Of course, Arcadia may simply have been sulking, as she was originally going to be Queen Victoria for Cunard, but was demoted to P&O. I don’t know how important it is for NZ to rebuild its tourist trade. Perhaps not very.

I don’t eat eggs at all - not an allergy, just extreme dislike - but my husband would never dream of eating them with salt or pepper.

I think it is possible that a lot of people who are booked on the new ship for 2024 are waiting to see what she is like before committing themselves for 2025, which after all is a long way ahead. We contemplated doing that, but thought, on what is likely to be a popular Med. cruise, that the prices would be higher. But it is such a long way ahead, we may not even be fit enough.

I was going to mention it, but couldn’t think of a witty and original way of drawing it to your attention.

Why would you not? Would she ever forgive you?

I trust you have the next one booked. 🙂 Mind you we booked a one-off holiday of a lifetime on QE2 (and Concorde) in 1997, and our bank balances have never been the same since.

Work - so soon. That is cruel.

And where is our hero? Isn’t it time he was up? I do hope he hasn’t succumbed to some ghastly withdrawal symptoms.

I’ve never done it myself, but have seen and heard of many bringing the stuff on board in some quantity. Either way, I wouldn’t let it affect whether you decide to book.

Spoilsport.

Yes, I can see the earlier finish to lunch is more inconvenient for those coming back from tours, but equally the earlier start is helpful for afternoon tours. So swings and roundabouts, I suppose. And similarly with an earlier breakfast enabling more people to avoid the Lido before tours. But this was presumably equally tiresome for all passengers, not just those who hadn’t recently boarded. As to the Japanese food in the Lido, by your own account there were lots of other items. Isn’t it good they tried to get English speaking guides? So do you have an idea what proportion of the passengers were Japanese. Was it actually as many as half? You had the dismal experience, compared to the first cruise and I am not dissing that, as you claim, though I’m not really sure what the word means, but to let it make you feel like second class citizens seems a real shame.

Earlier in the summer, I had to have all my meals from room service for six days, because of Covid. As far as I can remember, cruets arrived with lunch and dinner, the glass sort, but not at breakfast. After it was over, despite the joys of choosing from the Grills menus rather than the room service one, I swore I would never eat a meal in the cabin again, even breakfast, unless I had to.

And was it posted by someone in a position to know? Or possibly someone who simply doesn’t like the idea of the new ship? Is there any way to tell? I’m not sure Cruise Critic is likely to be the best source of commercial info.

So, if I follow you correctly, the other lines all know what they are doing, but Cunard (or rather Carnival with its Cunard hat on) hasn’t got a clue. And yet, whenever I get a vague idea of looking at booking an extra cruise near the last minute, they either seem pretty full or vastly expensive. Strange that.

The biofouling was an issue that led to some port cancellations last year, as far as I remember.

Well, it is a start. I assume you are going to turn up a bit earlier, if only to avoid being dangerously late, if you see what I mean.

I expect Cunard have thought about that. Why no mention of Alaska?

Did you ask for S+P? I never use the stuff (or eat eggs for that matter) so have never noticed whether it arrives or not. But I can see that in the Covid era they might have stopped delivering them unless requested to avoid extra cleaning.

That’s OK then. I wonder what they use for room service.

Hmm, two types, do they get them mixed ever?

I thought QE was the one going to the Caribbean, not QA?