stan01

Not available at all, or premium at an extra cost?

There are always Vegetarian/GF choices for lunch and dinner. I suspect that's the direction they went to satisfy what the most people are looking for.

I would not use the term "caliber" of the crew. I think they are very overworked (short staffed), and don't have time to provide the level of service they'd like to.

Do you mean the transit from Athens after disembarkation on Nov 3 to Singapore around Africa to bypass the Red Sea? They are going to do that with no passengers and minimal crew again.

Thanks for the great explanation! Will see how it goes for our next bookings in 2025 and 2026.

Are there any tips for multi-leg airfare in conjunction with transatlantic cruises? Such as flying from the US to Lisbon or Barcelona then from the Caribbean to the US? Our experience as a US west coast traveler was that FlightAware gave us "good enough" fares and connections for international business class and Caribbean/domestic first class that we didn't bother to seek other alternatives.

We've stayed at the TWA Hotel as well before, and will do so again. It's almost as convenient for Delta or American as it is for JetBlue. The inclusive hotel room and transfers is one of my small complaints about FlightEase. You have to have a long discussion with TA, PCC, or call center about what's actually included in the quoted fare. The first time we used FlightEase no one told us it included an overnight hotel (or transfers) until we called about 15 days prior to embarkation and found out that a hotel was included but had not been reserved nor communicated to us. The hotel was on a separate itinerary that was not sent to us. Where we did find FlightEase useful was on transatlantic cruises with one leg to Europe and another leg home from Caribbean. Also premium fares were competitive.

Bring your own (and a 10 ft / 9 m charging cable).

Have to go through US customs on arrival at JFK, so I don't think there is a connection even if someone wants to fly a redeye overnight. Plus plenty of places west of Mississippi don't have a red eye/

Brits have it better than US/Canada middle and west coast residents. There are nonstops from Barbados to London on both BA and Virgin plus they don't have to enter the US on Barbados round trip cruises. For Americans and Canadians on the west coast there is an extra forced overnight. You either have to stay the night in Barbados and leave on an early morning flight (6:00 AM on Jet Blue, 8:00 on AA) or leave in the afternoon and spend the night at an airport like MIA or JFK before flying to the US west coast the next day. Clearing customs at Miami can take hours on a bad day even with Global Entry. I'm glad Seabourn is using San Juan more in 2025/26 season for Ovation. Better air connections in the US and no passing through customs in the US. The Brits won't agree with me as they will lose their nonstop and have to deal with US immigration.

Now that it is open again I'm sure it will get many enthusiastic, positive reviews.

I'm surprised you can't see flights for March 2025 in FlightEase as bookings for most airlines open about 330 days out. If I can't see flights and book myself I won't use FlightEase. Just curious if you've called Seabourn to see what's going on?

Barbados is a real problem because American dominates flights to the US and they pulled themselves out of FlightEase back in May. I'm not sure if AA is back in yet so flight choices are very limited. So that one may be AA's fault not FlightEase's fault.

Not mentioned yet, but surprisingly smaller Sojourn and Quest have more Penthouse suites than larger Ovation and Encore. So if you prefer PH suites that's one consideration. There's a dedicated Sushi restaurant on Ovation and Encore, plus the larger Solis and gym. One more deck so another flight of stairs to climb for exercise. Probably a little more competition for pool loungers and Observation lounge prime seating on the bigger ships. Overall they are pretty close.

Internet is another one; included with many other t cruise lines now but not even for Grills passengers with Cunard. It's just a list of extra charges that you have to keep in mind but when these are all added up other cruise lines become competitive in price with Cunard.

Cunard Brittania is probably the top tier of the so-called premium cruise lines that does not offer at least complimentary wine/beer at meals. Cunard Grills (at least for Americans), Seabourn, Regent, Oceania, Silversea, Viking Ocean, new Crystal, Explora and some of the suite enclaves on mass market lines all do through various policies or promotions.

Please do not do this. This is called doxing. Most of us do not want our names on the internet without consent. Respect people's privacy. Would you want your name exposed that way?

You have handled this well, and it sounds like Cunard did too once they were made aware of the situation (by you). The travel agency (the company) has failed miserably.

Maybe leave the decision on what is prepared tableside to the maitre d' and the kitchen? We've only been on one QM2 cruise and there was no harpist in the QG Lounge at tea time the days we were there. We prefer the Observation Lounge anyways, and there the pianist is providing background music not a recital. So yes we do converse with our table mates while the pianist is playing.

Have the travel agent call her contacts at Cunard and confirm this is the answer (and of course book the cruise with the travel agent if she gets you the answer you want to hear).

I'd look at the deck plans for the specific ship you want to go on, figure out what you want to do, and then call Cunard (or your travel agent) back. For example on QM2 there are interior cabins near the PG suites on Deck 10, but there are no balcony cabins on that deck. On the other ships there are balcony cabins on the same deck and close to some PG suites. I think if you talk with specifics you'll get a better answer than talking in generalities on this one. I'm guessing you'll have to pay for 2 people in the Princess Grill, plus a single supplement for the other cabin unless you can convince them to somehow credit you for the fact that no Britannia meals will be eaten.

Using third party booking agent websites to assess availability might not always be a good idea. Sometimes those agencies buy blocks of cabins from the cruise line and resell them, so those cabins are not actually available to other agents to book (or available for direct internet booking from the cruise line).

We were in Queens Grill in 2024 moving from a Q5 to a Q4. We did check. The butler told us to pack everything, including formal wear. We escalated to the head of housekeeping and they sent us a one page formal letter telling us to pack everything. We asked for a hanging trolley which they also did not provide. My guess is if you just leave the items hanging they will move them because they have no other choice, but if you ask for permission, you'll be told to pack everything. This is likely dependent on the people so could vary depending on what they want to do.

Glad you are confirmed on board, but they have done the the bare minimum. You are owed a partial refund if you don't get the balconies. Did the travel agency ask Cunard to prioritize your upgrade back to the balcony you've already paid for? Changing cabins is an inconvenience. We did it in July 2024. You have to pack your suitcases each time, be out of your room at 8:00 AM. You will have to go to the Pursers desk to get the new key each morning. You are definitely owed some compensation for that. Especially since this appears to be the travel agency's fault.

When the primary purpose of the travel agent is to provide money back as an on board credit or debit card and to solve problems customer support staff can't handle or by seeking exceptions to cruise line policy -- there's something wrong with the model.