babs135

But presumably if they don't, does that mean that they don't get any of the 'perks', ie gratuities and drinks? Not too bothered about WiFi.

If 3 adults share one cabin would the third person be eligible for the Princess Plus fare with inclusions?

We've recently disembarked from the Mediterranean cruise and these are my personal thoughts. A little background information first; this is our first time back on the Mary after an absence of 5 1/2 years and our first non-transatlantic voyage on her. Our first shock was the number of pre-teens and teens on board. We are not used to seeing so many, over 150 apparently, and although they were largely invisible/well behaved one did wonder why choose Cunard when there are ships with more facilities available sailing out of the UK. I'm assuming that school holidays and lots of intergenerational groups was the reason. The second shock was the old chestnut - the dress code. As this was a cruise rather than a crossing I'm assuming that is why there were a number of raised eyebrows at how people were dressed. On the whole, people in the MDR dressed well (there are always the exception to the rule), but out of the dining room..... After 6 pm and I saw a youngish lady going into Sir Samuels in what I initially thought were floral designed knickers - they were in fact the shortest pair of shorts I have ever seen!!! Is it really that difficult for people to pack a pair of decent trousers/skirts, etc? Our feeling, and that of others we spoke to, is that Cunard is struggling to work out where to position itself; stick rigidly to the dress code or relax it? If you relax it, where does it stop? Perhaps the answer is to make the QM2 the formal ship and the other 3 more relaxed? We had a fab time and I must compliment Captain Hall on his swift decision to replace Villefranche (forecast of bad sea conditions) with Alghero in Sardinia. This announcement was made within a couple of days of sailing. The only grumble we had was that on the morning of our arrival in Sardinia we had a very long wait to be tendered. Poor communication by Cunard as to the delay led to one gentleman asking why ALL the tenders were not being used (I'm sure maritime law would say that some tenders need to remain on the ship) and then in a loud voice to those around him he called out the Captain as a liar!! He brandished his phone which showed the weather for Villefranche and announced that the weather was good and why weren't we there. I did ask him if his forecast showed the sea conditions but was ignored and when I tried to explain the difference to the couple sitting next to me they were not interested, just simply lapping up what Mr. Bigmouth was saying. Later in the day the Captain informed us that the sea conditions had actually been worse than forecast and I later learned from a reasonably reliable source that a Royal Caribbean ship had unsuccessfully tried to dock but failed and had not been able to port elsewhere so had merely had a sea day. All in all, it was a great cruise with good table companions, good food (portions seemed to get bigger as the cruise progressed)! and for those people who grumble about the state of the ship - mainly on another social media website - I didn't go round looking for rust spots, tired furnishings, etc - I went on a magnificent ship to have a good time and we did.

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Back home and yes, we did get 'lost' on numerous occasions !! 🤣. Will post comments later.

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Thanks and bon voyage for your upcoming cruise.

TOMORROW!!! Off to board the Queen Mary 2 after a too long break of over 6 years. We have sailed on the other Cunard ships, but they are not the same!!

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6 and the suitcases are finally out of the wardrobe.

Surely part of the charm of the QM2 is getting 'lost' ?🤣🤣. We are sailing on her next week and it will be the first time in over 6 years (we've sailed on the other 2 ships) and looking forward to navigating around the most magnificent ship.

This is a photo taken using a Samsung camera Although not the best I took, I chose this to show the colour at the bottom of the 'streak'. Whilst the green was clearly visible to (my) the naked eye, the colour was not.

10. Time to get the suitcases out?

I agree with the friend. Just keep snapping away. It was amazing what showed up on the camera that I just hadn't physically seen.

Whilst we haven't ruled out going to Rome it also seems a bit of a shame not to explore the port itself. Is there plenty to see? I've started to do some research but it's always nice to hear from people who've been there. Thanks.

You've been given information re the ports so I won't repeat. We did the cruise in October last year. As has been said there will be an expert on board and he will also hold a short seminar on how to take the best photos. Interestingly enough, he rated phone cameras rather highly and comparing hubby's photos from a point and shoot camera to my phone camera, he was right! Re being informed of possible sightings: The captain told us to leave the TV on the bridge cam channel which has no sound and if he feels conditions are right he said that he would broadcast into the cabin. The call did come. - 2.30am!!!! We'd left clothes ready and once dressed we opened the door only to be nearly trampled by the rush of people. The aft deck lights will be switched off so be aware of the potential of walking into a table. But it was (and will be) worth it as we were treated to a display of colours. What was interesting was that on checking my photos there were colours clearly visible which the naked eyes had not seen. A fabulous cruise and one crossed off the bucket list.

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I'm thinking about booking this crossing for next year. Would love to hear from someone who's done this and what happened.

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Know what you want from a cruise, do research and then do dummy bookings. Don't forget to clear any cookies off your computer before you start. Yes, P&O is cheap and there is nothing wrong with them, but if you want something a little more upmarket then I'm afraid that you will have to pay for it. Often the cruise lines you have mentioned will offer either free extras or special deals (Princess has a couple of packages which for a little extra per person per day includes drinks, wifi and gratuities). Factor this into your search. P&O may well include gratuities in their pricing (wish all ships did), but they've cut their extras down to the bone. For example, especially as you are sailing with children, no free ice-cream, fruit juices only free and available at breakfast. 3 months later on the Queen Victoria these were available virtually 24/7 (only closed for cleaning!) Only you know what you can afford and what is important to you as a family. Whichever line you choose to sail with I'm sure you'll have a great time.

23 days. Still resisting the urge to get the cases out. We usually wait until the week before sailing.

I would love to try a suite such as mentioned by George C but find the prices prohibitive. We like to cruise 2 or 3 times a year, usually in an inside cabin, so if we were to take the plunge of paying the extra we'd probably have to just do the one cruise. Tell me how I could convince DH to try something different!!!!! His argument would be that whatever cabin you are in, you are all going to the same places.

27 days.

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