nhow

 We changed the flight to the day before and booked a night at the Radisson Blu which is near the cruise terminal. Cost much but better than the agita.  I tried to get a flight with O but our travel agent couldn't do it from the UK. Thanks again to everyone for the most helpful suggestions and info.

Wow, thank you so very much for the excellent advice.  We were thinking it would be a good idea to change to a flight a day or two earlier but are choking on the additional costs... flight change fee, difference in price of flights and hotel cost.  I tried to get help through Expedia but they are not customer friendly to put it mildly.  Sadly we were not able to book flights through O because they do not handle any from the UK. 

I guess we will have to change flight dates and bite the bullet cost wise.  The cruise is to celebrate a big birthday for both of us so don't want to risk missing it. 😎 to be continued... 

We are booked on the Jan 6 Nautica cruise departing from Cape Town.  If our BA flight from London is delayed what are our options?   The flight is due in at 8am but not sure how late we can board or if it is possible to join the cruise at the next port.

13 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

Yes, once you are diamond status, Cunard World Club Lunch vouchers should be delivered to your cabin at the start of your voyage. Can't say how well that will work in practice for promotions to diamond status that occur during your world voyage though. Hopefully they have that process worked out and it will go smoothly for you.

 

Essentially each voucher is good for the $25 cover charge for lunch at the Verandah or the $19.50 cover charge for dinner at the Alternative Dining venue at the Lido/Kings Court. I was not aware you could use the voucher for dinner at the Verandah for an up-charge, but based on what Scarlett W has reported, that up-charge for dinner at the Verandah ought to be $39 minus $25 = $14.

Sounds like a good deal.  But who knows when/if we'll get a voucher.  Probably not in time for Valentine's Day (we'll get Diamond 4 days before).  Still, many thanks for all the very helpful info.  Looking forward to our cruise perks or no perks.  Hope the rain forest is still there.

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

If this helps, here is the actual wording taken from the voucher I received on our July 7, 2019  eastbound crossing crossing on QM2.

 

CUNARD WORLD CLUB LUNCH

 

As a Diamond member of the Cunard World Club, we are delighted to invite you for lunch in our exclusive restaurant Steakhouse at The Verandah located on Deck 8. Alternatively you may prefer to have dinner in one of our specialty dining venues in the Kings Court on Deck 7. This voucher is valid until 13 July 2019.

 

Early booking is highly recommended, please call 25400 to make your reservations for Steakhouse at The Verandah or for the Kings Court. Please present this voucher to the restaurant staff. Cunard will pay your 15% gratuity, and other charges will be charged to your account.

 

==========

 

For the record, here are the regular prices for the various extra-cost dining venues on QM2.

 

Lunch at Steakhouse at The Verandah: $25.00

Dinner at Steakhouse at The Verandah: $39.00

Dinner at Kings Court Alternative Dining: $19.50

There is often an embarkation day special offering dinner at the Kings Court Alternative Dining venue for a reduced price of $14.50 that evening.

 

As far as I know, the "taster menu" concept is a thing of the past and that wording may be old verbiage that hasn't been updated. Note there is no mention of taster menus in the wording on the voucher itself. There are "Tasting Platters" mentioned in some of the Alternative Dining menus, but those are essentially appetizers. If you choose to use the voucher for dinner in the Alternative Dining venue, I think you are entitled to the entire menu and not just those tasting platters. But I've only used the voucher for the Verandah lunch, so I can't say that for certain.

I understand a lot better now.  So I guess one gets a voucher for the alternate restaurant of one's choice rather than simply being able to go whenever you want.  Makes sense.  Many thanks for all the info.  I think we have a lot to learn.  :-)

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

There are links to the menus in the Welcome sticky at the top of this board.

Thanks.  I've downloaded them.

3 hours ago, Scarlett W said:

 

You pay the difference between the set price lunch menu and the set price dinner menu, sorry I don't know how much that is as we have always chosen to go in the evening any side dishes would also be charged as an extra. 

That makes sense.  Thanks.

1 hour ago, Scarlett W said:

Sorry to question this but are you sure ? according to the WC page Diamond members are still entitled to a complimentary lunch in the Verandah/Steakhouse, if you prefer to eat there in the evening you can pay the difference between the lunch menu /dinner menu or at least that was the arrangement a few months ago has this now changed?

OK, I'm a bit confused.  If you eat at the Verandah at dinner what do you mean by 'you can pay the difference between the lunch/dinner menu?'  And I'm assuming the $39 cover pp also applies.  Thanks for clarifying.

Indeed you are correct about lunch at the Verandah.  We were mainly interested in perks for dinner.  Does anybody know what the 'taster menu' consists of in the Lido alternative restaurants?

Oh well, just read the fine print....no freebies at the Verandah (it's now a $39 pp supplement).  Applies only to the alternate dining at the Lido.  Sigh....at least it's another option once in a while if we get tired of the Britannia.  

Just heard from Cunard that we will have Diamond status as of Feb 10 when we arrive in Rio.  Probably won't make a huge difference except more wifi and possibly a free dinner at the Verandah.  It does sound as if disembarking in Southampton will be horrendous whatever status we have.  

Getting off at Southampton last January after a cruise to New York and the Caribbean was a total nightmare, supposedly

down to problems at the port, not Cunard.

BTW, I mistyped my original post.  We should become diamond level about 30 days into our next cruise, not 10 days.  It should be around mid-Feb.

Thanks for your replies.  The status will be based on the number of nights (150).  I was hoping we could have dinner at the Verandah Restaurant for either our anniversary or Valentines's Day.  But we may just miss both as the next segment starts on 15 Feb!  Oh well, lots and lots of wifi and possibly a more pleasant disembark back in Southampton.  Fingers crossed.

When we were on a world cruise in 2016 we were awarded two levels mid-cruise, first gold, then platinum.  We are going to earn enough points for diamond level

about 10 days into our next world cruise in 2020.  I asked a World Club rep when exactly we would get our diamond leval and she said we would not be upgraded until

after the completion of the cruise.  This will make some difference as we were looking forward to a few of the perks of diamond level during our upcoming cruise.  Has Cunard's

policy changed since 2016 or were we just lucky on that occasion?  Thanks.

That is most helpful.  Many thanks!!!

Has anyone who has been on Queen Victoria recently (this past year) been able to watch movies on a usb stick (flash drive) plugged directly into the tv's usb port (without connecting to a tablet or laptop)?

Thanks.

We are not going to use a tablet and hdmi cable.  We're taking usb drives with movies on them, then plugging into the TV's 

usb socket.  Only cable I'm looking for is a short extension from the usb socket to our usb drive in case the socket is hard to access.

Interesting idea.  We were thinking of just bringing some usb drives with movies.  It's worked before and doesn't require a connection to tablet or laptop.  I was just thinking we might need a short extension from the usb stick to the usb slot on the tv.

I assumed it was. I'll probably bring a few usb drives and maybe an extension in case it's in a hard to access position. Thanks again for your help.

I think they were looking for USB charging ports but it did say there were USB ports on the TV...so hopeful. Thanks for the link.

We are sailing on QV for 78 days around S America this Jan-Mar.  I was wondering if the flat screen tv's in Britannia Balcony cabins have input

connectors for USB drives.  We would like to be able to watch some of our own movies without needing to bring a laptop and cables.  
Thanks.

We have just discovered that Saga misled us about no need for visas on group shore tours.  C and M said I would still need visas for all these countries.  I have canceled and am receiving a full refund.  Thank goodness we found out in time.  I can only imagine what would have happened if we showed up for the cruise and were informed that I would not be able to go ashore in any of the countries requiring visas (they were the ones we were particularly interested in seeing).  Very unimpressed and disappointed with Saga and will never book with them again.  Sticking with Cunard!!

My husband and I are booked on the Saga African Asian cruise in January 2020.  He is British, I am American.  I purchased the cruise.  Saga say they will get all of the required visas for my husband at no extra cost, while they say I need to get my own visas at an additional expense to me.  I was not at all happy about this and was going to cancel when Saga said I would not need any visas on Saga organized shore tours or when on the ship.  They said I would need a visa only if I went ashore on my own in those ports where they were required.  OK, then they sent a list of the shore tours to my husband only (I am the registered lead passenger and am paying for the cruise).  The ship, Marco Polo, is not owned, only leased, by Saga so I am worried that the information they have given me is not true and I don't know how to check it out.  

My husband and I are booked on the Saga African Asian cruise in January 2020.  He is British, I am American.  I purchased the cruise.  Saga say they will get all of the required visas for my husband at no extra cost, while they say I need to get my own visas at an additional expense to me.  I was not at all happy about this and was going to cancel when Saga said I would not need any visas on Saga organized shore tours or when on the ship.  They said I would need a visa only if I went ashore on my own in those ports where they were required.  OK, then they sent a list of the shore tours to my husband only (I am the registered lead passenger and am paying for the cruise).  The ship, Marco Polo, is not owned, only leased, by Saga so I am worried that the information they have given me is not true and I don't know how to check it out.  

My husband and I signed up for a Saga cruise to Africa and India this January.  Saga will get the appropriate visas (free) for my husband who is a UK citizen.  However because

I am a US citizen (UK resident) they refuse to offer this service to me.  When I rang them about this they told me I would not need any visas if I signed up for shore trips in the

countries where visas are required.  They said this was because I would be covered by a group visa for all the people on the shore excursion.  Although this is expensive and

I am denied the benefit accorded to my husband I figured I would probably be taking shore trips in most of the places anyway.  The only thing is, I've never heard that one could

avoid getting visas by doing this.  Has anybody else heard this?  I don't feel comfortable embarking on a cruise where I don't have the visas I need if this turns out to be incorrect

information.