3rdGenCunarder

I thought those were the rules. Shows what I know!

Last winter, there was a flat fee of $25 (not $25 per bag). Well worth the cost, IMO. If you have checked bags, you don't pay any more than if you paid the airline directly. HAL just processes the payment for you. I have a United credit card, so I didn't have to pay for my checked suitcase.

I don't know what's going on with the MDR. HAL seems to want to put everyone into open dining, even if you request fixed. Or maybe that's what most people want? I was on Zaandam last winter, fixed dining, early. Upstairs in the fixed dining area there always were empty tables. I don't know how the line was for open dining downstairs, but if it got backed up, there was plenty of room to put some of the open dining people upstairs. If there are empty tables, either upstairs or downstairs, there's no excuse to keep people waiting. In the "old days" before we were more evolved, the MDR would be full and somehow they managed to get us fed in reasonable time.

Changing to QA is not ideal because they're traveling with other people. If two legs of the QV cruise have availability, Cunard should hold a cabin for those legs, even if it isn't the same cabin. That would fulfil part of the booking, then just hope the remaining pieces become available.

Did it say that they were showing you what had been bid? I simply saw a range of prices. What I believe is the lowest they would accept (as it didn't change over the time before I chose to bid) to the highest bid, which IIRC, was close to the price on the website to just purchase the fare.

Answered in the post above yours. They haven't given her a specific table, just a time slot. I have to say, a reserved time without a table attached to it is pretty useless.

Staying through from breakfast through lunch isn't lingering. It's hogging.

If it were a works canteen, the employee schedule would solve the problem. But the buffet "restaurant" is designed on the idea that people go there to eat and, when they're done, go elsewhere. The reality is that people grab a table and hog it all day, especially on "scenic sailing" days. Or they stay to play cards for hours. It's a Restaurant, not a lounge, but people use it as a lounge.

Well, now you have found us, and I hope that WHEN (trying to be positive here!) your booking issues are solved, you'll explore more of the site. There are posters on the port of call threads with a lot of information to share. It will help you plan your time in port.

This is exactly my experience with my TA as well. I get final payment reminders at least a week before Cunard's final date. All transactions show as Cunard. If you looked at my credit card statement, you wouldn't know who my TA is, or if I used one. I just checked my account last night, and saw $176 from Cunard. WHAT? My final bill was only around $7. And then I saw the minus sign. Right, a tour was cancelled and Cunard refunded to the card on which the tour had been booked. So this raises another question for @Nm hehappysailing, have you received refunds for any tours or extras that you booked?

The only communication I received was confirmation that they received my bid, and then the email telling me if I was successful. I was never told where my bid was with respect to any marker or to other bidders.

In Vancouver, they start check-in before the ship is ready, so people have to sit and wait to board, much like Southampton. There's a separate section of chairs for priority passengers. They fill that section row by row, not asking what level of priority anyone is. When the ship is ready to board, they send passengers off, row by row. It's been that way at Port Everglades boarding a HAL ship, too.

Are you sure you were at Southampton? Sounds more like Brooklyn, where the "priority" room is too small and they try to keep people out. I remember being in PG (and diamond) and the "gatekeeper" said there was no room. I looked past her and said "Oh! I see some seats." and just walked in. I know that sounds rude and pushy, but she was nasty, and I was not going to sit WAY in the back for hours, when I should be boarding in about 45 minutes. I know from friends' experience that nobody goes back there to announce "Grills passengers may board now."

Right, which is why I asked about the credit card. I don't know if there are rules about it in Australia, but in the US, agencies can take your money and then pay the cruise line, so the account shows a payment to the TA. I have never had a TA that does this; it's too easy to make mistakes (or worse). I always see CUNARD LINE on my credit card statement.

Check your credit card account. Does it show payment to the TA or to Cunard?

I just looked, and you're right, it's a multi-segment. With so much overlap in bookings, the system sometimes makes mistakes. I can't remember if it was Cunard or another line, but a few years ago, the final Alaska/coastal/transcanal overlap led to a lot of cancellations, especially on the short coastal. I am NOT trying to excuse Cunard on this, just pointing out how it likely happened. This cruise and all of its segments appear to be sold out. At six weeks, they could have started assigning cabins to guarantees. @Nm hehappysailing, did you have a specific cabin or a guarantee? I would be surprised to see a guarantee bump an assigned cabin, but anything is possible. I agree with @exlondoner, keep calling. Call your TA every day. Keep trying your login. And, although Cunard isn't supposed to speak to you about this, as you have a TA, call Cunard. You might get a sympathetic person who will talk to you. Good luck, I hope it works out.

Yeah, because I sure don't want entertainment options like guest performers or a jazz combo or guest speakers or a decent library. Nah, I'll just bring my phone loaded with tunes and books. Oh wait...I can do that at home.

My feelings exactly! I don't often cruise during summer holidays, but I was just on QE to Alaska. I didn't see lots of kids, which surprised me. Perhaps they were sequestered in the Kids Club. Most kids I've seen on Cunard get the idea of the "grown-up" experience and seem to want to act the part. I especially enjoy seeing them dressed up on a gala night, usually for the sake of having a family picture taken.

It was five weeks, but the cruise had a lot of availability. The time I didn't get it, I was notified about 10 days prior, but I didn't really expect to get it as that cruise was well booked.

I'm surprised HAL did this for you. Generally, if you use a TA, HAL won't work with you directly, must go through the TA. Smart to dump that TA. Sounds like she doesn't know HIA because you can't lose "some of" the perks. You either have HIA or you don't.

Your boarding pass should say PRIORITY on it somewhere. Even if you're "only" diamond (and board after Grills and, possibly, Club), you should be able to go into the building at any time, even as early as 11:30, and go to the check-in queue. In my experience, there are more people at stations to check people in than there are priority passengers coming into the building at that time. After you check in, you'll be sent to sit until it's time for you to board. You might have to sit and wait for as much as an hour, but you'll be sitting inside, not standing outside. I usually try to arrive around noon, but last time, my car was early, and I arrived at 11:30.

I don't see two ships dedicated to transatlantic runs. QM2 often has cruises scheduled between TAs, so they aren't running a complete transatlantic schedule now. It's been that way going back to QE2, so it looks to me like Carnival Corp doesn't see the need for a full time back and forth service.

Up to a point. They may have to consider tides, berth availability, pilot schedule and other issues.

There are some people who don't have a smart phone. With so many aspects of travel dependent on using an app, I don't know how they do it. There are paper options for some things, like boarding passes. (I always print my pass for a cruise because you never know if part of the processing is stamping "approved" or some such on the pass.) But some theater or tour tickets are strictly digital. Back when roaming was outrageously expensive, I never took my phone with me in port. Now, I always do. More than anything, I use the map function because my phone will show me more than the Diamonds International et al that are on the ship's map. I know there's a lot of bashing of Navigator around here, but after using Cunard's "MyVoyage" I will not complain about Navigator. Cunard's app does not show menus, does not have a comment option, shows the daily program as a pdf with no ability to note items and get a reminder, and while you can see your balance, you can't get all the details of your account.

I seldom saw my stewardess on QE earlier this month. She didn't introduce herself on the first day but did on the second. She didn't seem to have any rooms near mine, so I rarely saw her in passing. On the last day, I left her tip in an envelope on the desk. As I walked down the hall, I saw her in a room well down the hall from mine. I called to her to say goodbye and commented that it was a long way from my room. I think she said she had 16 rooms to do. But none of them was next to mine, so I wasn't at the end of her row. The stewards near me were male, so I wonder if I was an extra added to her chores. Is there a new policy that they try to give a female attendant to solo female passengers?