babs135

Finally he's replied to reiterate that they will only use the Queens Room in off times. He further claims that the events don't interfere with normal passengers activities. G32 is used mid-day and the ballroom between afternoon tea and dinner. Any other activities are late night, usually after 11pm. Doesn't seem to understand that this will still impact on the regular passengers.

An hour ago on a Cunard forum on another well-known social media site an organiser of the vintage dance group has posted information about upcoming crossings!! I have asked him if it's true that they will be turning away regular passengers. I am still awaiting his response.

Just caught up with this thread as I've been on the Victoria's Christmas cruise (and yes, we enjoyed the dry Dock experience!) and hubby had a toasted 'English' muffin as shown in Camgirl's photo most mornings. Cake-like muffins were available in the buffet.

2 to the actual sail date, but the holiday starts tomorrow with a drive down to Southampton and an overnight stay.

A frequent question asked here is whether xxxxx ship is going through the old or new locks; I've asked this question myself. Is there any way we could have a pinned list of ships that meet the requirements for transiting through the old locks?

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Once again thank you for all your help and advice. Lots to think about. We've driven in the USA and Europe so are familiar with driving on the 'wrong side'.

Just do a search for vintage dance groups To confirm dates for this particular group will be April 30th, May 26th and July 14th

Thanks everyone for your comprehensive replies. Yes, it will be paired with a cruise but as we are looking at 2024 we still have time to make a decision. Leaning towards the Rocky Mountaineer, although I quite like the idea of a self-drive. Do these come with directions and pre-booked hotels? We've done a self-drive in Australia and it was great to have hotels organised. After a long (ish) drive the last thing I'd want to do is search for a hotel.

Much as I would like to do both I have to think of the cost so which would you choose and why? Would we as senior citizens with some mobility issues find Denali too much?

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But what's to stop you getting Covid if you forgo cruising in favour of a land based holiday? Covid is not going to say 'ah, you're in a hotel so I won't infect you'. It is simply everywhere. In the meantime DH (who is vulnerable), our DD and myself are very much looking forward to our Christmas and New Year cruise on the Queen Victoria. Let someone else cook the turkey for a change! We will, of course, take note of any precautions that are (hopefully not) issued by the Captain.

Re the smell in the Winter Gardens. We were on board in mid-October and to be honest if we had to pass through we held our breath it was that bad. Do we know what the cause is?

I truly hate the phrase that we're going to have to learn to live with it, but to some extent this is the truth. Masks alone don't work. We had a hotel based holiday in March/April where protocols dictated a supervised test 3 days before boarding the plane and again on arrival. Masks were worn just about everywhere and the vast majority of people did wear them. BUT 2 days on returning home hubby, daughter and myself came down with Covid!! Goodness only knows where we'd picked it up. So what's the answer on a cruise ship? Your guess is as good as mine!!

The next cruise for the vintage dancing group will be on the 18th May. See my post #45 for more details. Sound like an 'ugly' lot.

The group's website is not difficult to find and is showing a crossing departing from Southampton on May 18th. What stands out is a comment which states that unless you have booked with them you will be turned away from any of the venues. There will be 5+ private parties and 1 cocktail party. Apparently regular passengers will be jealous of how they are dressed and envious of the fun they will be experiencing !!! How patronising. I do understand that Cunard is a business and in these troubled times they don't want to turn custom away, but I'm glad I won't be on board.

I've just had a toasted teacake for supper and it suddenly occurred to me that I don't think I've ever seen any on any of the Cunard ships! Am I right or are there teacakes lurking somewhere just waiting to be toasted? For the benefit of those who don't know what a teacake is: A teacake in England is generally a light yeast-based sweet bun containing dried fruit, typically served toasted and buttered.

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We were on the Queen Victoria's cruise in October and were extremely lucky to see the Lights clearly on 2 nights and very hazy a further night. We were advised by the Captain to leave the tv on the bridge cam channel which has no sound and if he thought that there was a good chance of seeing the Lights he would broadcast into all the cabins. So at 2.30am the call came!! I honestly thought that not many would turn out, but when we opened the door the corridor was heaving with people rushing on deck 😁. I'm posting a couple of photos which were taken from the deck of the ship. And I simply used my Samsung phone.

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Following with interest as we're on the Victoria to the Canaries over Xmas.

You are right. Took the ferry to Vancouver Island but decided to fly back. Never been in a seaplane before, no door into the flight deck and as we are sitting right at the front we could see exactly what the pilot could see. Fantastic experience.

A clue . Photo which was taken nearly 20 years ago and was taken from a SEAplane travelling at low(ish) altitude from an island to the mainland which is very close at around 30 minutes.

Yay, I'm making you work !! A clue is that it's not a recent photo so what you can see will not necessarily be what you would see now. However what I will say is it is a popular seasonal port.

Don't know for certain about Cunard, but if it was with P&O and you tick yes you will be denied boarding, even if you've ticked in error. I suspect it will be the same for Cunard. The problem question seems to be the one referring to a cough. Many people have a non-Covid related cough but if you tick yes that's the end! There really should be a further drop down box where you can state that it is non-Covid.