3rdGenCunarder

I must get 2 or 3 cruise brochures every week. Lines I've never sailed and one line I sailed 10 years ago and swore never again. Don't worry about stuffiness. Cunard has been tarred with that reputation undeservedly for many years. It's possible to be classy, elegant, and traditional without being stuffy. Cunard passengers are well traveled interesting people. You will not be in a ship filled with Hyacinth Buckets (pronounced Bouquet).

P&P was confusing because all the performers were women and they looked very much alike. The only way I could keep track of who was who was by the costumes. Kudos for music choice though, especially Elizabeth singing "You're so Vain" about Darcy.

That's unfortunate. On the Northern Lights cruise last fall, everyone at our table commented on how much they loved Haugesund. Nothing extraordinary, but a normal small city with cafes and normal stores where locals shop. After the Arctic Train in Narvik and cable car in Tromso and several nights with the lights, we all felt that we could decompress strolling around a lovely port.

I agree about the fishbowl feeling in the CO dining room (Koningsdam). @fsdj1097, you didn't say if you've got open dining or fixed. I did early fixed when I was on Eurodam, so I didn't pay attention to the open dining queues, but I'm pretty sure there's a separate queue for CO (which includes Neptunes). If you've got fixed dining, check your assignment. There are 2-tops along the rail looking down over the lower section. They give you a feel of not being closed in with a crowd. Perhaps ask for one of those. Unlike the Vistas, the Signatures have Tamarind. Don't miss that!

Good advice. I do spend too much time seeing the world through my camera. When I'm in Alaska (two weeks!!!!), I will try harder to just be there. That said, your pictures are excellent, so the time spent with your camera/phone hasn't been wasted.

@buchanan101, which play did they do? I know that there was a problem with Pride and Prejudice on early cruises because one of the cast members was ill or injured. On the Around Britain, one of the guest celebrities (no, not Ms Imrie) volunteered to step in, so I did get to see both P&P and Brief Encounter. Movies in the theater is a surprise. I thought they would continue to show those in the Pavillion.

It's dumbing down to those of us who have sailed Cunard for a long time and enjoyed a greater number of formal nights. Yes, I can dress up all I want. But there's an ambiance when everyone (or most everyone) is dressed up. I do dress above the minimum every evening. Not formal, but better than what Cunard describes for the casual nights. I know, I know, those of us who have sailed Cunard for a long time are getting older, and cruise lines don't seem to give a rat's about what we think in their quest to attract younger cruisers.

Ah, glad they got a replacement. She did say they'd ordered one. Smart to keep tabs on it. As the saying goes, once burned, twice shy.

Were they glued down? I can imagine those becoming souvenirs. After one of our first ports (Kirkwall) I wanted to send a few postcards, so I went to the purser's desk to ask if they had a "posted on board" stamp as they used to do on other ships. The woman said well, yes, they did have one...but it had already been stolen!

Is the 14-day cruise a B2B? In that case, you can buy the pass for only the first week and then you can buy the second week on board. The pass is good for consecutive days, so you would have to use it every day for the first week.

I just booked QE to the Caribbean 2026 and saved almost 20% off the Cunard fare. (launch fare)

Some categories are all triples. I believe all the Sig suites on Eurodam have a sofabed. All the Neptunes sleep 3 or 4. The PInnacle suites sleep 4. So if the system restricts couples to doubles (which seemed to happen to a few posters above), that means a couple cannot book any higher category than a Vista "suite." I'm sure HAL doesn't mean to make that restriction, but given their IT, if they try to block double reservations in triples or quads, that's what will happen.

I don't think there are any Neptunes for only two people. Blocking couples from Neptunes is ridiculous. If you're looking seriously, not just browsing, call HAL to see if you can get that Neptune.

It's always been true about not using OBC at the casino, but I've always been able to use it for the gratuity/service charge. As someone said above, that charge consumed most of my OBC right away, and that was a few weeks ago. I think that was a wrong answer. @Wedgie Wedgie, ask again. Or check your onboard account to see if the OBC is being used for the grats.

Check on the passport requirement. In the year or two after covid, the train trip was up and back on the train without a border crossing. Before that, some of the excursions did cross into Canada so that they could accommodate more people by offering the train one way and a bus (with a stop to see something along the way) in the other direction. Because the exchange point was in Canada, we had to show our passports to a VERY serious-looking Mountie. The US point going back just waved the bus through.

I agree with you. I love the Vistas and the Signatures feel like stretched Vistas. Don't like the Pinnacles. Never say never, but it would take a special itinerary to get me on a Pinnacle again.

So they're using window tables to entice people to choose open dining?

Does that button actually work??????? Didn't have that on the Around Britain cruise.

mid/late July into September. Find one of the pools in the creek and watch the behavior. A bunch of salmon will just hang out there, swimming enough to beat the current but not move upstream. And then someone gets a little to close to someone else...and the water erupts with jumping salmon. You might see a seal come upstream to fish.

Congratulations (said grudgingly from a Rangers fan). You must be very confused about weather and seasons, going from FL to AK and watching a winter game in June!

That's good news!! A long time coming, but better late than never.

Whether I book through the cruise line or on my own, I always go at least one day ahead, usually more.

I travel with one of those because my camera battery charger plugs directly into the wall (US socket). In my Britannia cabin on QV last fall, the rather blocky charger didn't fit below the little ledge above the outlet. I had to charge the battery in the library.

I agree. If I look out the window for too long facing backwards on a train, it bothers me. But if I'm not looking out, the direction doesn't matter to me. Your brain is used to what you see moving forward, with what you're seeing coming toward you. For some people, focusing on things as they're moving away from you makes your brain unhappy. @Aew0431, you're right that midship has less motion, especially if the ship is pitching (moving forward and back). Rolling side-to-side affects all areas the same, although for both lower is better. Motion affects different people different ways, so you won't know until you try it. I love the feel of pitching, but DH was uncomfortable with that. His solution was to sleep. Roll was less of an issue for him. The worst thing for me is a bouncy excursion boat. If I'm worried about a rough ride on one of those, I'll take meclizine. Although I'm rarely seasick, I keep ginger ale and crackers handy "just in case." A ship's doctor once told me if you're feeling queasy, eat. Sounds crazy, but if you're only mildly uncomfortable, keeping something bland in your stomach (hence the stash of crackers), is soothing and may keep you from getting worse.

Cunard's rules for UK passengers may differ from US rules so I don't know what they will let you do about adding flights. But you may be better off booking flights on your own. Although Cunard will let me add a flight later (US), I haven't done that for the last few cruises because Cunard's airfares were more than I could book independently. I called a few times hoping they might load some less expensive flights, but no luck.