si_boy

5 hours ago, thedarklord said:

Thanks for sharing this, it's appreciated.
Trying to make a partial payment on the app right now. Whilst it shows the Pay in full amount as being £xxxx, the 'Pay Other Amount' box has a $ sign rather than a £ - is that just a just the app being stupid and not translating the character, or does it (hopefully not!) mean that I need to convert £750 into USD, and enter that value?

To confirm, just made part payment using the app and it incorrectly shows the $ against the payment. I entered an amount (over £750) and it has correctly appeared against my Amex card.

Paid off £1,000 of the balance owing early January and had the £150 credit on the online statement very quickly. Very efficient and made a lot of sense.

We have taken onboard QV twice this year a power adapter that converts a single uk outlet to 2 outlets. The reason for taking is that the placement of the sockets onboard on the wall by the desk do not allow larger phone adapters to be plugged in.
We never had any problems with these and they were not confiscated. I suspect when it is x-ray scanned it just looks like a normal charger. 
A quick search on the web and there are USA equivalents.

1 hour ago, sfred said:

Back aboard from a very pleasant day in Ghent...

 

...and...

 

Oh No!

 

 

We had the same onboard QV on Thursday (we disembarked yesterday) except our stateroom steward helpfully got out the suitcases from under the bed and placed on the mat on the bed.
We got the message!!

Slightly off topic but same cruise on QV as the Chart Room “fire” we also had a medical emergency one evening when there was a tannoy announcement for medical staff to attend a cardiac arrest in the Britannia Restaurant, deck 2.
We never heard anything more but there were two ambulances waiting on the dockside when we arrived at Funchal. 

@sfredbeautiful photos of the sunrise, had me confused for a minute as QM2 was not supposed to dock at Zeebrugge until I read back a page and saw Ålesund and Stavanger being missed due to the weather.

Hope you have a great day.

14 hours ago, Lanky Lad said:

The smell lasted a week. The Chart Room only fully opened again today.  

Agree the smell was awful but did not affect the cruise in anyway.
The crew worked hard to get that area of the Chart Room open again and we watched them yesterday morning transferring bottles bar to fill the bar.

Did not observe any signs of Covid and crew told us a couple of days ago that for them wearing a mask was optional. We took this as meaning rates of infection onboard were low, but we might have been wrong.

22 hours ago, Wonky said:

Boarding QV tomorrow and have 1230 on boarding pass but when I looked online it says 1315🤔. 
Will report back tomorrow.

Just off QV this morning and had a wonderful time down to the Canaries.
Speaking with other passengers, apparently there are quite a few doing a B2B and staying on for Amsterdam and Bruges.

Hope all goes well and you are onboard smoothly.

33 minutes ago, swjumbo said:

Totally agree and apologise if you think that my comment was directed at the OP. 
It wasn’t.

It’s just that on CC there are lots of similar questions.

Cunard seems to revel in the sense of occasion. We’re about to experience it and will be suitably dressed up to the nines!

I don’t think you can ever be overdressed on a Gala night on Cunard. It is an occasion and one to be enjoyed.
Fewer and fewer opportunities to wear finest outfits and not feel out of place.

Just off QV and talking with other pax, like us they have a wardrobe for Cunard cruise wear.

It is one of the reasons most pax choose Cunard.

A week ago at Southampton it was chaotic to get on QV and the only time I have experienced it like this.
No one was allowed to board before 1pm which seemed unusual and caused subsequent delay.

It got worse when they started to call passengers to board, QG and PG first followed by pax that arrived at the terminal earliest.
It was only when a Diamond pax asked what was going on did they adjust to Diamond and Platinum next but by that time it was too late and pax were just joining a queue.

Port staff blamed pax arriving earlier than their allocated arrival time but we saw boarding passes with 12:45 and this was at 1:30. 
Hoping it is better for you @LadyL1

We were on QV in August for a 7 night Norwegian fjords cruise and would say 95% of men wear a tuxedo and bow tie on Gala (formal) nights. A dark suit is fine and would not be out of place. 
Quite a few dress according to the theme and we were surprised by how many dressed in outfits from the 1920s for the Roaring Twenties themed Gala night. Maybe as high as 25%
Black and White Gala night is easier to choose an outfit for, few wore masks for Masquerade themed Gala night.

Sorry to hear Mr HH has been confined to cabin for most of your cruise.
We have enjoyed your regular updates and will also be onboard QV on the 30th.
As it is Roaring Twenties formal night have many passengers dressed wearing outfits from that era?

Marine traffic still showing as moored.

Just read medical emergency onboard QV

We have in the past used the seasickness wristbands to good effect. Can normally be worn without you knowing that you are wearing them.

As you are in the UK, Boots sell them for less than £10

We had this message before boarding QV on 14 August at Southampton.
Checked the Cunard FAQs which read stateroom can be allocated right up to the time of embarkation.

We finally had our stateroom number 3 days before embarking.  It changed again 2 days before boarding .
Apparently luggage labels can be printed at the port otherwise where would the porters know where to deliver the luggage.

We were on the same cruise and as Platinum members we had high expectations which were mostly met.
We were aghast that there was no ship photography whatsoever including at Gala nights and walking through the area of the ship where they usually display all the bright and glossy photos was just an empty and wasted space.
A kind waiter offered to take our photos on the main staircase which was a nice touch, good photos too and better than our selfies!

Agree with all your comments A2BACRUISER, many of the loyal Cunard passengers are not getting any younger and Cunard need to be thinking of this when considering the future.
We are only in our early 50s.

As others have mentioned no sandwiches at lunchtime in the Lido and replaced by a pizza and pasta bar. In fact many of the stations at the Lido were closed and empty unlike previous cruises. Noticeable at breakfast and lunch.
We came away thinking Cunard had made a number of decisions to save money.

A new thing was being able to see the dinner menu for the MDR in the morning which helped inform our choice as to where to eat that night. We are used to seeing the menu at around 4pm each afternoon. 

Disemarking on the Sunday we did spot that the dinner menu was exactly the same as the previous Sunday when we embarked, so they are repeated. Saves on the printing of the menus…

With other cruises lines moving to ‘all inclusive’ Cunard need to think of how to best take this forward. Yes there is a coffee or soft drinks package, but at $10 a day each for each package, for the 2 of us this would be $280 plus the daily gratuity and no alcohol! That’s extra.

We often found the Queens Room fairly busy, until it was a few minutes before 10pm and the place emptied as everyone went to see tha late show.

Those that went to the early show were probably in bed at this time enjoying  a nice cup of Horlicks.

I can understand Cunard not printing brochures and future cruise schedules can be viewed online while onboard without the need to take an Internet package. I realise that lots of people like to read a printed brochure, and if one was available I would probably have picked one up.

An interesting one when comparing to previous cruise is the lack of activities during the day. If you read the daily programme it still spanned the two pages, but when you looked closely so many of the ‘activities’ was Catzz in Commodore Club, guitarist in the lobby etc. you get the idea.
No harpist on this cruise and we are so used to seeing the blonde lady, I forget her name.

Maybe she is on QE or QM2.

Against all this there are some positives, canapés served in Commodore Club one night were plentiful and it wasn’t a Gala night. Crisps and nuts, followed by canapés followed by hot canapés including spring rolls. We had to decline as we would not been able to eat dinner.

Having read my post I really should add a review ! 

On 8/22/2022 at 1:24 PM, 2BACRUISER said:

On QV last week for roaring 20's nite I saw a chap in white collarless shirt with rolled up sleeves and a flat cap. He was allowed in Brittania dining room suspect inspired by peaky blinders perhaps but not sure what his aim was 🤔🤔 most men wore black tie and lots of ladies in flapper dresses and beads. 

Same cruise, for Roaring Twenties themed Gala Night I don’t think I have seen before so many dressed in their twenties outfits.
And not just outfits but accessories too, both ladies and men. 
Men wore the gangster hat, white silk scarf to go with their tuxedo, ladies wore the retro headband, pearls, satin gloves while carrying a black and white cigarette holder.
The ladies really looked the part with their flapper dress and accessories.

A quick look on interweb and Amazon sell as a pack 1920s accessories for ladies and men.

38 minutes ago, 2BACRUISER said:

It was actually 4 ships in Southampton this morning QV, QM2, Norwegian Prima and Brittania. We disembarked QV at 8.10am and after collection of car from cps were on the road at 8.50am. Really impressed. My review will be done in next couple days. Arrived home just over 5hrs later in North Yorkshire. 

Only 3 ships docked this morning, Norwegian Prima docked yesterday according to Southampton VTS website

Three ships docked at Southampton this morning, roads very quiet after self disembarking QV at 7:15 this morning.

Am surprised too as previously docked in Stavanger and been able to walk off into the town without the need for a shuttle.

just checked online and could not see any other cruise ships in Stavanger that might stop QV docking there.

Quite true, no additional charges so no problem. But the world I work in this could constitute fraud, or just an accident.

Maybe I am overthinking, it seems strange that there is a limited audit trail.
Certain other cruise lines ask for a signature for each drink you purchase and you keep a paper receipt. We were once charged for someone else’s drinks and the pursuer pulled out the till rolls from the previous day to check, all auditable.

Not all passengers have a drinks package so there is opportunity and benefit for this to happen.

5 minutes ago, Schmoe38 said:

This is normal. The $0 transactions can happen when you get a drink at a specific bar or if you order a drink at lunch or dinner and your server needs to get the drink elsewhere.

 

Bar servers will normally ask for your card early in the cruise but may just ask for your room number later on if the bar is busy or if they recognize you from earlier attendance.

 

Yes, someone could overhear you at a bar and could try to use your number, but reviewing your account on a regular basis will help.

 

Randy

I agree and have experienced this on other cruises, not Celebrity, where servers go to an alternative bar.
However, because we work in finance as a profession, we could account for every transaction, so these others were definitely from us.

10 minutes ago, Staci0615 said:

Could it maybe have been that the bartender keyed in the wrong room number when applying, that has happened in the past also. 

Potentially yes, the bartender entered the wrong number, but the volume suggests not a one-off mistake.

Sailed on Silhouette on a short break last weekend and checked our Seapass account regularly.
We had the Classic drinks package so coffees and soft drinks cost us nothing. We don’t drink alcohol so no additional charges, just lots of 0.00.

Checked the account on the app on the last day and there were several transactions for the Martini Bar which we never used.
All were 0.00 so no charges but worrying that our account was being somehow used to purchase drinks. Transactions appeared both under my name and my wife’s.

In all there must have been 6 or 7 transactions at the Martini Bar, Sky Lounge and one on our last day at Cafe al Bacio (we had not left our cabin before seeing this transaction)

We queried the transactions at Guest Relations who were unhelpful and provided a summary account print out and new card?

Has anyone else had experience of unknown transactions on their account or is there an explanation? Our concern is that someone else was giving our room number when ordering drinks, but would not have had the card as we had it with us at all times.
On the face of it, it would seem fairly easy for someone without a drinks package to quote a room number of someone they overheard to get free drinks and say they don’t have their card with them.
Limited verification by the servers appears to take place.

31 minutes ago, kids at home cruisers said:

@si_boy We are doing a similar Celebrity cruise to yourself out of Southampton but in August. Who did you you use for your supervised tests and did you experience any issues when boarding ?

Hi, my wife and I booked COVID tests at a Lloyds Pharmacy the day before we sailed. You can book online and pay at the pharmacy after the test.

You do the test yourself which is supervised and after 20 minutes (or 5 minutes when my wife did it!) to confirm the result the staff print out a certificate which they stamp and sign. You will need to take your passport as they record your passport number on the certificate.

We had no issues at check in at Southampton which was all rather quick to be honest.