3rdGenCunarder

When you order can you specify the vase? I love the little triangular ones.

I think they've always asked you to limit time on the heated loungers to 15 minutes in order to give everyone a chance to use them. Last winter on Eurodam, I felt like Goldilocks--one of the loungers was too hot, another wasn't warm enough, one was even out of order! I did find one that was just right and probably spend about 15 minutes in it. I haven't used the outdoor hot tubs, but from hotel experience, I find them too hot. I love the gentle warmth of the pool in the spa--I don't want to boil, just soak. Another factor in the medical incident could have been alcohol. I'm not saying the person was drunk, but alcohol does impair the body's ability to regulate temperature.

I agree that you can do Quebec city on your own. I don't know where the shuttle will drop passengers, but the port says there is one. I was at the "original" cruise dock (21) last fall and I don't recall seeing shuttle buses at the pier. There was a Princess ship at 30, and I wouldn't consider it walkable because you have to get around the harbor (Basin Louise). If you've been to Quebec City before and know the harbor walk near where the farmers market was, 30 is across Basin Louise near the large grain silos. (Yes, that's a "pop up" swimming pool in the harbor!) Depending on where the shuttle drops you, you might begin at the lower part of town. Walk the Petit Champlain at the "lower" city and try maple flavored ice cream at the Sugar Shack! What Mary called the "tram" is the funicular, which is a kind of railway designed for sleep slopes. It's a short ride, and it saves you a lot of steps. There may be a long queue, but your other option to get to the "upper" town is a long flight of stairs or a long winding walk uphill. If the shuttle drops you somewhere in the upper town, wander around there, and end at the terrace at the Chateau Frontenac to see the beautiful views. Then take the funicular down to stroll Petit Champlain. There's usually less of a queue to ride down than up. If the shuttle drops you near the harbor walk, take a few minutes to see what sort of art installations they have this year and check out the community garden that replaced the farmers market building.

I fear it would for me. Never read anything soporific in the bath--don't want to nod off and drown.

But you need space on the table for your phone/tablet/e-reader.

What a good idea! I have a cruise next year with the early booking HIA + grats. And I have more OBC than I may use. I've been sent flowers as a bon voyage gift, but never thought to treat myself to some. Better use of OBC than another t-shirt.

??? I don't see the connection to people wanting music to back a conversation. Of course, people who like to dance want music. I think it will be great if HAL puts a band on Ocean Bar on all of the ships. It was a shame to see the dance floor empty for so long.

Some airlines combine first and middle that way, too. I think the first time I saw it was Virgin, and I called in a panic to get my reservation fixed. I was assured that it would be okay that way, and it was.

Don't some of the bars have canned music playing in the background? If you want to talk, rather than listen, isn't that good enough? I don't understand the need for live music as a backdrop for conversation.

Are the pillow chocolates still Godiva?

Was it HAL? I've seen their "booze table" in some terminals.

I just looked at my October cruise. Now QG is sold out and there's one PG open. Who knows what that means...

You're waiting for cabins in a higher category to open as other people get upgraded. I'm in Britannia on my next cruise and my offer was to bid up to Club or PG. I did a quick price check online and saw that they're sold out. But QG is not sold out. So perhaps someone in Club or PG will bid and get upgraded to QG, opening a spot for me (fingers crossed!) in PG. So until they make the decisions about upgrading people to QG, I'll be waiting to see what happens. For my cruise, bidding the max would have been as expensive as booking PG to begin with, so I bid somewhere in the middle.

If you do your research, you can book online. I've done a lot of dummy bookings on HAL's site to check pricing, and it doesn't seem too hard to navigate. A lot of steps, for sure, but I know the site well enough to get around. For a first timer, I agree that it's not the best idea. After I do my price research, I call my TA. HAL's website doesn't show all the price options. My TA can quote the advantage fare, which the website never offers. I wouldn't use an app to make any cruise booking. It's too easy to tap the wrong thing on my phone screen. Plus, being on this board a lot, I KNOW that HAL's app isn't reliable.

QM2 also has G32. I think I read somewhere that they sometimes do "silent disco."

Move? Was that the name of the bar band?

Same here, on Eurodam this winter. Very annoying on an excursion because you can't reseal it.

I have used Travel Guard for years. The one time we had to make a claim (not Covid), I dealt with them directly. Didn't occur to me to use my TA. Travel Guard was great about paying hospital bills (we were out of the country), cancelled travel, and getting us home. The problem with covid coverage is that it's now considered a foreseeable event (or some wording like that), and insurance varies as to what they cover, especially the hotel bills for a quarantine period. So check the "fine print" before you buy a policy. @FOPMan is right. Save all receipts and paperwork to back up your claim.

A number of posters have reported being told onboard that there would be classical music returning in some way. And yet, it's been months and we're not seeing a lot of reports that it HAS returned. I'm beginning to doubt it will return on any but the longest cruises.

Canada Place seems to have a lot of space in the terminal, but the system you describe doesn't use it well. I feel like I'm walking through a lot of empty space that could be put to use. They need more x-ray lines. IME, that's the worst backup. I found the immigration kiosks easy to use. And then disembarking is another backup if you want a taxi. Last June, I waited in the taxi queue for an hour because some mega ship got their people off earlier and people from my ship ended up at the back of the queue. They do a good job of moving taxis in and out, but the space limits how fast things go. Fort Lauderdale is always easy compared to other ports. But look at the footprint--each ship has its own building with its own luggage handling and x-rays and check-in desks. Few cities have the luxury of spreading out the ships that way.

Don't blame Cunard for Brooklyn embarkations. The staff there can be very unpleasant (especially the ones who guard the door to the priority lounge), but they are port employees and not Cunard employees. Adding the covid checks resulted in a complicated process and more steps in the process, resulting in an odd pathway through the terminal. I boarded in Brooklyn last fall for a Canada cruise, and it only took a few people who hadn't done or couldn't find all their covid docs to gum up the works.

I think sending all passengers through the single security point is part of the problem. The other part is the passengers themselves--there are too many! Canada Place opened in 1986. What was the largest ship back then? Possibly QE2 and Norway? Each carried around 2000 passengers IIRC. The first "large" ship I remember was Exploiter of the Seas at a little over 3000 passengers, and that didn't come along for another 15 years or so.

Motion sickness depends on the nature of the motion. I love the long up and down cycle of pitching, but I dislike the shorter cycle of rolling. DH was just the opposite. Rolling didn't bother him but pitching sent him to bed to sleep through it. The worst is corckscrewing, where the ship rolls and pitches at the same time. I'm more likely to be queasy on a small excursion boat than on a ship. I think it's the random bouncing rather than steady movement.

QE's library is lovely, especially that staircase--and I haven't taken any good shots of the library, either. I do travel with my laptop, so I haven't used a ship's computer in a long time. I've seen the computers in the library, but where is QM2's computer room? I cannot picture it at all. Oddly, I can still remember the computer room on QE2, but not on QM2.

Welcome to cruising and to Cunard! A TA on QM2 is a wonderful experience (and purists here will tell you it's a "crossing," not a cruise). There will be plenty to do, both during the day and in the evening. Cunard attracts many solos, so you won't feel like you're the only one traveling alone. Large tables are usually 6 or 8. I think 10 is too large, and conversations get fragmented. My travel agent usually requests 6, but I've been put at an 8 anyway, so ask for either 6 or 8 and Cunard will take it as an indication that you want to sit with others. On two of my last four voyages on Cunard, I've been at tables where we were all single and probably within a 10-year age range. On the other two, the table was a mix of couples and solos. It's true that late seating allows you to eat more at tea, but I prefer early. I don't sleep well if I eat late, so that's best for me. And despite having early dining, I can still do justice to a cucumber sandwich and a scone.