babs135

Sorry to hear about those people who have Covid. As an illness it is a strange beast. DH, our adult DD and myself were on the Victoria last December and towards the very end of the cruise it became apparent that there was Covid on board; in fact the people in the cabin next to us were in isolation and we saw the nurse one morning taking swabs. The 3 of us shared a cabin, were together virtually 24/7 and then had a 5 hours drive back to Manchester. 24 hours after returning home DD tested positive, we immediately did our own tests and were negative and continued to remain so for 3 consecutive days. We then stopped for 24 hours before testing again for 2 days and were still negative. DD tested positive for 3 days. Still trying to work that out.

I'm pretty sure that we booked a Cunard Fare but where can I check to confirm? I can't see anything on the booking form.

Am I allowed to do this? We are booked on the Victoria's Xmas cruise and there is a chance that we may have to change dates. I don't want to cancel but merely change to another cruise in 2024. We don't have to pay the balance until the end of September by which time we should know what is happening, but I'd like to know whether a transfer is allowed and then I can at least make a start at looking what cruises are out there!

This is interesting, Cruising to Nome: The first U.S. deep water port for the Arctic to host cruise ships, military (msn.com)

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We visited our local branch of this firm for a quote for a transatlantic crossing on the QM2 plus 4 nights in New York. We gave her the date. Ten minutes of furious typing (clock above the agent's head) I asked if there was a problem. No, she said. A couple of minutes later she announced that she couldn't find a ship called the Queen Mary 2 but there was one called Majesty !!!!!! Needless to mention we walked out. We went home and booked online.

The frustrating part of this story (and others of interest) is that you never find out how the matter was resolved, etc. In this particular case I'm wondering if he didn't have the correct insurance and didn't want to admit it to a wider audience. We've read stories before of people cruising to America and the Caribbean but whose insurance only covers them for Europe.

I suspect that there is a problem with his insurance.

This is an 'odd one'. Cruise ship passenger airlifted to hospital says: 'I wasn't even ill' (msn.com)

I seem to recall that there was a bear named after Cunard's female captain Inger Thorhauge. I am assuming that Cunard has chosen to 'retire' the bears after a while in order to keep them exclusive, otherwise they are missing a trick by not making them available all the time. We will be on the QM2 in July and the Victoria in December so hopefully if there is a new bear available we will be able to purchase one.

Unless things have changed, you will find that the Captain will open one of the crews' decks (5?) to accommodate all the people so finding a spot shouldn't be too hard. I also seem to recollect that the crew were handing out ice-cold flannels which were very gratefully received!!

We did a Northern Lights cruise on the Queen Victoria in October and the captain told us to put the TV on the bridge cam channel (usually no sound) so that if he thought that the Lights would make an appearance he would broadcast an announcement into the cabin. At 2.30am the announcement did come and woke us up!!!!!

As we approach June is there any news about this year's bear?

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Bluemarble, I thought about these cufflinks when we were on the Victoria cruise which visited the drydock in Cadiz. If this had been on the QM2 I'm assuming that they would have used one of these blades? Can you explain what the temperature means please?

Wow, seriously impressed with your efforts. Ever thought of sharing with us mere mortals? 🤣

DH, DD and myself cruised over Christmas and New year. We shared a cabin, were together virtually 24/7 and travelled home by car. 24 hours later she tested positive for Covid, we did not. None of it makes any sense, but we will continue to cruise.

Who in your family does the research and do you stick to it? A background to the following story: I do the research for all ports and if I see something that sounds interesting I will share it with DH and if he is in agreement I will print off The Plan. I will add that we do not necessarily stick to The Plan as if something catches our eye we will go off piste and may ditch my research. It usually works very well. But Last night when looking at our visit to Rome he suddenly accused me of over-thinking everything! There was a pause so I asked him if he meant that we should merely 'wing it' in every port, or that he could do some research himself. There was another pause followed by a reply from him saying that as I clearly enjoy doing the research he was more than happy for me to continue; and with that and a big grin he turned and walked out of the room, leaving me sitting at the computer slightly flummoxed by the whole conversation! Men!! 🤣🤣🤣

Just leafing through this topic and the Windsor Castle comment caught my eye. Travelled back from Cape Town to the UK in 1969 on her. There were 4 of us complete strangers in a cabin with no toilet, etc!!! All luggage was kept in a separate area (apart from toiletries and similar) and if you needed something from your suitcase you had to trot along and ask the crew member if he'd find your suitcase, take it out, and then return the case to the be placed back in the room. Great times and as has been said, crossing the equator was a sight to behold with Neptune and his trident ruling over everyone. I don't want to get embroiled in the you must wear this, you can't wear that debate but my take on it is quite simple. If you are taking a cruise/voyage on Cunard do people not do any research beforehand and check on the dress code? And if so, and they still, book, why don't they then make at least some effort to adhere to the 'rules'? Or am I missing something?

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Daughter is now looking at Queen Anne itineraries - I can't keep up ! 🤣

Some good points here. From what I remember, family members didn't like the entertainment and/or the food. Lots of other niggles. They gave us the impression that they were bored!! Would point out that these are people who have sailed on other lines so they do have something to compare. Will ask them if they can be more specific. Re asking our daughter where she wants to go; she's flexible to a large extent and she will do her own research until we've picked out a few itineraries to look at, along with hers, before booking anything. Again, she's cruised before so is not a novice. Thanks for listening to me. (or should that be reading me)? 🤣

Just to clarify, it would only be the 3 of us on the cruise, DH,DD and myself.

Looking at a cruise in June next year. No destination as yet, but chose the month as it will be our daughter's 50th birthday (gulp) and we'd like to celebrate the day whilst on a cruise. We sail mainly with Cunard but when I put June into an agent's website some really interesting and different itineraries pop up with Holland America. The problem is that several members of the family and also friends have sailed with HA and did not enjoy the experience for different reasons. So, the question is do we totally take HA out of the equation or do we try them for ourselves and hope that they were wrong ?

Close enough to say it's actually Pier 59 which is where the Titanic should have docked. An old article but interesting. Pier 54: The Titanic's Arrival Destination – New York, New York - Atlas Obscura