Q-step

I wonder what a bottle of Pol Acker actually costs. They just gave me two full bottles in my room!!

One year they gave us a bottle of Pol Acker for winning the dance contest in the Queen's Room. We brought it to dinner the next night to share with our table. When the wait staff told me there would be a $15 corkage fee I told them that I didn't think the bottle was even worth $15. They agreed and served it for free.

One of the things that makes Cunard special for us is the number of formal nights. DW and I really enjoy dressing up for dinner as it makes it feel so much different and special from what we normally experience at home. Besides, if I have to lug a tuxedo half way around the world, I rather amortize the effort over more uses per cruise!

I agree.

There will be 4 formal nights on our upcoming T/A. If there were only 2, we probably would not have book the trip.

We had 5214 on our first TA. We had 5210 on our next TA. And I tried to get around there on my upcoming TA but nothing was available.

The only noise is sometimes people waiting for their dryer to finish, or trying to get a machine, stand in the hall and talk. But it's only during the day (10-7.) Earlier or later than that most people aren't doing laundry, or the ones that are aren't very chatty. One small advantage. Being chatty myself - you meet a lot of nice people standing around the laundry room.

We try (unsuccessfully) to carry fewer cloths and just do laundry on the ship. Being closer to the laundry room makes it easy to get an open machine. We also prefer being nearer the D staircase as we find most of time we want to stop in the room for something we are already at that end of the ship (Queens Room, Dining Room, G23, etc.)

Two posters asked about the reward points. I use AMEX travel rewards. You can use points to pay for trips. You get a bigger bang for your bucks (or points) if you use them to upgrade to first/business class air travel as they price those seats 5-10 times over the cheap(er) seats. But you can use points to pay for Cunard trips. I found this out the first time I took a T/A crossing and the agent told me I could use points and travel for "free." Since then I have tried to run my whole business through my cards.

We use reward points for our tickets. So I could just use double the points and go Grills. But we opt for Britannia. We don't spend all that much non-sleeping time in our cabin. We like sleeping lower in the ship. And we like the sheltered balconies close to the water where we have seen whales, dolphins, and other sea life right outside our door.

As for cabin size: I always buy a spa pass and use the Canyon Ranch facilities to shave and shower on formal nights. That gives my wife the whole cabin to get ready without me being in the way. It's like having a two bathroom-suite.

We booked another T/A (our 4th) just the other day. We again discussed PG or QG. Deck 5 sheltered won out again.

I accumulate so many points a year from work that I don't even have to pay for the grills, and I still elect to go Britannia. I'll use the saved points for something else.

You learn something new here all the time. I've been on 3 crossings and never heard about leaving the door closed. I went back and read all the daily programmes and they say nothing about the door. I remember the hallways whistling, but never gave it a second thought. I figure that was normal for a ship travelling 20 knots. You couldn't hear it in the cabins.

Each night we would take one of our sofa cushions and use it to prop open the balcony door about a foot. We would get fresh air, hear the sea and also sometimes hear the fog horn. A few times the cabin steward would be in our room and he/she never said anything about the door. I never saw a sign or note or placard that said not to leave it open.

Now I read it's bad. Bad for neighbors, bad for the ship, bad for the A/C and bad for people who post here on CC.

I find it hard to believe that something this important (based on these comments) has been left off the programmes and cabin doors. But I promise that the next time I am on the QM2 (hopefully in 2015) I will (1) look for signs; and (2) ask the cabin steward. And more important, I will do what they say.

We request in-hull rooms near the laundry room, and hope that we don't get upgraded. On crossings we aim for around 5210 - 5214 as our first choice. (Been there twice.) I would not appreciate an upgrade to an A-level room.

I did an online search and see that there are more crossings scheduled for 2015. This year I couldn't find one that fit my schedule. Next year I found 5, three of which are WB which are my favorite.

By the time the brochure gets here, I will be all done planning the trip.

You will look great. Most people can't tell a tux from a black suit unless you're standing next to them. And thank you for making the effort to dress-up. It is really appreciated by those of us who love the look of the ship on formal nights.

We've done 2 late August westbound crossings. One on each side of the ship. I don't know what level you're booking but the in-hull balconies do not get direct sunshine unless the sun is almost on the horizon. And the upper level rooms are usually too windy to spend much time on the balconies.

We also did not spend large amounts of awake time in the room. We selected our rooms based on ship location. After looking at the deck plans, we figured it was more likely we would be coming or going to the room to/from the dining room, Golden Lion, Chart Room or Queen's room than then number of times we would be heading to/from the Commodore Club, theater or Canyon Ranch. Accordingly, we looked for rooms between the C & D staircases.

In-hull balconies are great. We propped the door open every night to get fresh air and wave noises (and an occasional fog horn.) You're closer to the water than upper rooms. We've seen whales, dolphins and other sealife right outside our room. The only downside is that you have to stand up to look at the ocean. When seated you have no real view.

I have only been in Grill rooms as a guest so my knowledge there is second hand. We had the chance once to cash in some AMEX points and move up to a Grill room, but we stayed in steerage just for the in-hull balcony.

and all served in the Grills restaurant, don't get that in the Britannia :D

You're right. Next time I'll bring some bait & tackle and a portable grill for my room. I could set it up on my in-hull balcony. Which would easier to get by security? Charcoal & lighter fluid or a little propane tank? And do you think this would run afoul of the smoking rules? :D

My wife & I talked about moving up to the Grills as we would prefer to eat around 7-7:30 (vs 6 or 8:30.) One drawback (other than price) is that we like the in-hull balcony rooms for crossings. The rooms are more stable and you get a close-up view of the ocean. We've seen whales, dolphins and a host of sealife right outside our room.

We joked about booking a B-5 and just eating in TE most nights. We figured that would be a cheaper option than the grills.

Yes. Durgin Park is still here. With slabs of meat and fairly decent seafood as well.

As some have pointed out, being under-dressed is more of a problem than being overdressed. Mainly because it detracts from the fairytale story of being on a Cunard crossing. It impacts those around you who enjoy the look and mystique of formal nights.

On our crossings I usually relinquish the stateroom to my wife to get ready on formal nights and I go shower and shave in the Canyon Ranch Spa. By the time I head back to the room to get dressed, many guests are already walking about in tuxes & gowns. Even though the CR Spa is on deck 7, I will not walk through deck 7. I always use the stairs to get away from the main public areas to get back. I don't want to spoil someone else's fairytale.

Don't overlook Cunard's Queen Mary 2. While not a "big band" cruise, there is ballroom/swing dancing every night in the largest ballroom at sea. On transatlantic crossing there are also two afternoon tea dances.

The music tends to be mostly foxtrot, swing and cha-chas, but they do throw in a few rhumbas, waltzes and quicksteps each night. There is also strict tempo recorded music playing during the band breaks.

If I understand this thread, there are people who wear tuxedos on semi-formal or elegantly casual nights. OMG. What's a disaster. While I agree one can overdo it, such as tails & gown for lunch, dressing up should not be a problem.

On a semi-formal night I wear my tuxedo, but with a long tie instead of a bowtie and cummerbund. Some of this has to do with packing limitations as I want to leave as much room for my wife's clothing. But most of the time I want to give Mrs. Q an opportunity to strut her stuff. She has a great collection of gowns, cocktail dresses and accessories, many of them vintage from the 30's. Me, being dressed in black, supplies a solid looking backdrop to ensure that all eyes focus on her.

For full disclosure I need to say that I wear tuxedos, both with bowties and long ties, frequently at home for the same reason. Dinner in one of Boston's finest restaurants, concerts at Symphony Hall and even just for cocktails at the Ritz's or Four Season's bar or Claridge's when we're in London. People are always coming up to my wife and saying "You look amazing." And then they look over at me and as an afterthought say "Oh-and, and you look good too."

The back-to-back crossings have declined the past few years in favor of the crossings with a short break in the middle. You cross 7 days from England to NYC, the ship then goes off on a five day "New" England trip, and then crosses back to ("Old") England. It was my understanding that these are more popular than a straight BTB. Tour operators even sell this as a package complete with NY hotels, bus tours, theater tickets, etc. If you have the time for a 14 days BTB, you might as well take the 19 day trip with the stopover. One crew member told us that on the trip back to England it takes almost twice as long to deliver all the luggage as so many people go on shopping sprees in NYC.

We always fly to England and take the boat back as we don't have the time for a BTB. The one-way plane ticket costs to London about the same as the one-way passage home. 7 hours vs 7 days with food & entertainment. Doesn't seem fair.

I love to cruise, but my flying comes first!

.......Cessna 210N Turbo Centurion........

Mine is a Cessna 182.

Not a turbo and the gear is down & welded, but still a lot of fun.

Our experience is limited just to the QM2, having done two transatlantic crossings. We love to dance and picked the QM2 for this reason. While we agree with most that the band can be a problem with tempos, overall they were passable. The floor is large and not always that crowded. On TA #2 we did notice a significant drop-off in the quality of the band. A few of dancers spoke to the CD and the band leader and things improved a bit.

One item that irked us on both trips: the daily programs lists there will be recorded music for dancing for about 45 minutes after the band quits for the night. However, the cleaning crew lurks nearby and if the floor is empty for a minute, they move in and set up ladders and equipment and start working. One bad song, everyone sits out and it’s over. They flip up the lights and start working.

Last fall we spent a weekend on the original Queen Mary in Long Beach. They have a beautiful main ballroom with a large floor. In their Observation Bar they have a small dance floor that slopes about 10 degrees and is bordered by stairs. One false move and it’s over. This floor would normally hold 3 or 4 couples. However there were 10 couples all dancing Balboa. We’re now learning that dance for our next cruise. It fits no matter how small the floor.

prices are outrageously high.

There must be alot of rich people on boards to pay those prices

I looked at the spa prices and they appear to be in-line with resorts. And the salon prices match-up pretty close to what one would pay at a downtown salon in Boston.

There is a Canyon Ranch here in Massachusetts. A six night, all inclusive stay at the resort there (without the spa treatments) is a lot more than what a TA crossing costs on the QM2. Maybe it makes the spa treatments look less expensive by comparison to the room rates.