TheOldBear

9 hours ago, rtdiva said:

Do you the patient pay upfront to the attending medical personnel then get reimbursed when returning home? Thus needing credit cards or a check?

The insurance typically reimburses after the fact - so for many things you need to pay up front. 

For example, on our 2019 crossing, we needed to visit the ships medical center - and the charge to our credit card was immediate [not part of the end of voyage charge]

9 hours ago, rtdiva said:

Or does your insurance company send money?

For some circumstances the insurance company will make arrangements for shore transportation, hospital treatments and return transport to the US.

This is something to check in the fine print when comparing policies & carriers. You will want more coverage here if you are climbing K2 than on a cruise from Boston to Bermuda.

9 hours ago, rtdiva said:

We’ve never bought insurance. 
ann

Its not an exciting topic, but you should read some of the available information - take at look at the FAQs and blog articles over on https://tripinsurancestore.com - the Q&A session is still active here as well

1 hour ago, Bell Boy said:

I just hope they will replace those horrendous corridor carpets ! 

 

A couple of years ago I heard a tale from a reliable source ( senior housekeeping ) apparently the person in shoreside who signed off those 'QM2 corridor carpets' was eventually moved to another department in the Carnival enterprise  🤣

Thats not the sort of thing that requires a dry dock period - it just needs a maintenance 'availability' - time scheduled without passengers. [and a way to get new stuff on, trash off while employees or contractors work]

There's been lots of time since the covid shutdown.

47 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

Having nothing whatsoever to do with the original question, but how foul would the weather have to be to NOT have a pint or two? 

It would need to be something beyond simple rain - it has rained every time we’ve visited and we prepare for that. What’s the history of November tropical storms or blizzards in Southampton?

2 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Actually, it is quite logical - no one can absolutely guarantee that they will leave before Day 2 (what if your cruise is delayed or cancelled, or you break a leg and can’t travel etc etc)

Or, if it’s foul weather in Southampton, and we decide to stay onboard for the turnaround day, instead of heading to The Dancing Man for a pint or two.

I'm rather hoping that by November 2022 this will be a moot point - the pay in advance for a test you know will never be administered is a bit strange. 

Your broker should be able to assist.

We opted to transfer the coverage from our canceled 2021 cruise to our 2022 booking.

9 hours ago, Reggiefan said:

In 2022, there is an October 25 eastbound Transatlantic crossing featuring Anthony Inglis and the National Symphony Orchestra, and a December 3 eastbound Transatlantic crossing featuring a literature festival. For those who have been on crossings with the orchestra and during the literature festival, are those good times to sail? It seems I read somewhere that the ship may be too busy during the lietrature festival. Anyway, for any who have sailed during those events, what was the trip was, how was it different, and can you recommend those crossings?

We have done two NSO crossings [round trips in 2017 and 2019] and picked our upcoming 'Norway and Northern Lights' round trip because it incorporates the 2022 NSO sailing.

The NSO crossings have two evening concerts [American music one night, "The Last Night of the Proms" English music] with the second night featuring a passenger chorus. The passenger chorus has a couple of rehearsal sessions during the week, and is divided for first and second seatings. Mrs Bear sings soprano and I sing bass and we ended up on opposite ends of the back row. The NSO members have some smaller scale appearances, including daytime concerts and sitting in with with some of Cunard's musicians [Queens room, Carthinia]

Anthony Inglas has a popular lecture that fills the theatre.

6 minutes ago, Katheryn B said:

In the past, our current attire we had on was fine for the first night as some of us did not receive our luggage in time. Is this still acceptable. Thank you in advance for your generous assist.

 

Even Cunard is a bit flexible on embarkation day.

It would help to know what cruise line and ship you are sailing on - some ships have no discernible dress code 😉

Mrs Bear and I make it a practice to wear or bring everything needed for the first night in our carry on luggage.

48 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

Anywhere in the cone spells trouble.  And the "reliable" models look like they are converging.

 

The track labeled 'COT2 goes over my house - Time to stow anything loose outside

52 minutes ago, Marianna49 said:

Are there any travel agents that offer incentives for booking a cruise through their agency?  Does anyone have a recommendation, thanks.

As was stated, travel agents cannot be discussed on these boards.

On the other hand, try taking a look at the 'Find a Cruise' and 'Deals' links at the top of the page.

6 hours ago, babs135 said:

Doing my family tree and I've discovered that a cousin was a merchant seaman during the second World War and served at least part of the time on the Queen Mary (in 1943).  He is shown as a fireman. Could someone please explain what this would have entailed?

A fireman is part of the crew tending to the ship's boilers. His responsibilities would include tending the oil burners, fuel purifiers and transferring fuel from the main storage 'bunkers' to the pumps, pipes and tanks feeding the burners.

6 hours ago, babs135 said:

And

I see on the records someone (not family) was a donkey man!  What is this?

And finally,

The ship was sailing at this time between Greenock and New York. Would it have taken the recognised Atlantic route? 

In wartime, the ship would have used evasive routing - going around the known hunting grounds for UBoat 'wolf packs'.

6 hours ago, babs135 said:

 

Thanks 

28 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Originally took fcc . They never did this even though I had asked to move the money to a future cruise. I decided to cancel everything with the uncertainty in Europe.  My travel agent called twice. Each time was told I would be refunded to credit card used when booking. Approved August 2. Still no credit. How long will this take? Its over 2k.credit card company says 3-5 days. Travel agent says approved does not mean they have actually submitted a credit to Chase. 

 

 

 

 

 

It varies - my $UNNAMED travel agent put all Cunard reservations in for refund, without asking about fcc options. The refund was on my card a week later (5 business days)

Cunard offers a bus excursion for northern lights viewing on both nights in Tromso [6 and 7 November] that seem similar to offerings from some of the local services.

I'm looking at a van tour offered by 'polar adventures' where the description states that they will travel pretty far to find the best viewing probability [and to bring a passport - may need to cross a border].

The roll call thread has been pretty quiet, with 15 months to go. It might be too early to mention that as an option over there.

Our next cruise [October 2022] is Cunard's M234A - a 26 night NYC round trip Norway and Northern Lights cruise. The QM2 spends two nights in Tromso, so tours from there represent the best aurora possibilities.

We have Cunard's "Norway and Northern Lights" 26 night NYC round trip [this includes a 12 night Southampton round trip]. The cruise features two nights in Tromso [November 6 & 7].

1 hour ago, M&M cruiseaholics said:

We are on our first Transatlantic cruise in May 2022.  Need one way flight from London to the States.  What is the earliest flight time we should take from London with ship debarking in Southampton?  What transfer options do we have from Southampton to London?  How many hours in advance of flight should we arrive at airport?  How many months in advance is a good time to purchase flights?

 

Thank you for your help.

Mrs Bear and I have avoided flying by booking round trip sailings - but that's not an option for everyone.

First, check over in the 'cruise air' forum https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/77-cruise-air/ for similar questions.

Second, check with your cruise line [or travel agent] about air options. For example, Cunard has a 'Cunard CompleteAir' program that may have better prices than standard airfare.

Third, check again with your cruise line - for example Cunard has combined tours and airport transfers from Southampton to Heathrow.  

3 hours ago, Minnesota Rookie said:

Hey all, We are actually tentatively thinking about doing something really crazy in 2022--cruising back from Rome to one of the Florida ports so we can 1) avoid that awful air flight back, and 2) get a cruise in along with a land tour of Italy and 3) see some of the farther western places  (perhaps Morocco? Gibraltar? Canary Islands?) that wouldn't normally be on a Rome-Rome roundtrip. But here is what I am wondering: there are generally five or six days of sea cruising while crossing the Atlantic and I am not real good for just sitting around and staring at the sea and sky. We are too old to do much pool activities or bar activities so...what have you who have done a Transatlantic found to do for the long sea days when there are no stops and excursions? Will I end up going crazy from doing too much reading and playing board games? Thanks for any counsel or suggestions!

The standard description for transatlantic sea days is “Nothing to do, and not enough time to do it”

So far,  Mrs Bear and I have made four crossings on QM2 - a pair of round trip sailings, with much longer “Norway and Northern Lights” round trip planned for 2022.

QM2 spends most of the year on crossings, sometimes with cruise segments at either side of the Atlantic.

Cunard offers full day programs, including special theme events. Our 2019 sailing featured the Anthony Inglas & English National Symphony with two evening performances (one with a passenger chorus) on the eastbound crossing, followed by presentations and performances by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts on the westbound.

We would go for more days. A rough comparison is that a QM2 Queen’s Grill suite for a 7 day crossing is quite close to our Brittania Balcony for our  upcoming 26 night sailing.

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Not knowing your cruising history, but, I wonder, since you like TA round trips, were you able to take advantage of the crossings that permitted a 2-3 day visit to London or Paris and returning on the following crossing?  I know S. S. France offered such crossings from time to time.  Not sure if any of the Cunard vessels did so.  

 

I like your idea to choose those crossings "by theme".  I have seen those listed in the Cunard brochures and some are attractive to me.  

Some round trips have the crossings scheduled to make this fairly easy. Our 2019 crossing had some folks disembark in Southampton, and re embark in LeHavre after taking a “road scholar’  tour in Normandy. We stayed onboard while the ship sailed to Hamburg and back.

Next years sailing has a 12 night “Norway and Northern Lights” cruise (M235) between our pair of crossings (M234a) 

12 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Thanks for your post.  Interesting to compare experiences.  My experience was during a Caribbean cruise while yours was during TAs.  

We really have no interest in traveling to hot places - and we have been picking transatlantic round trips ]by theme] to avoid the need to fly anywhere.

Our table for 6 was next to the QM2 "hosted" table [in the Britannia dining room, by the big tapestry]

Over the course of our cruise, the Captain hosted the table about 4 times, other senior staff [Hotel Manager, Chief Engineer] a couple of times. 

One night it was empty during our late seating.

Other nights it had performers from the National Symphony [eastbound] or the RADA for the westbound, hosted by their senior folks.

We take advantage of being local to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal [at least no bridges or tunnels to cross] so we usually massively over pack.

If we eventually plan a trip that requires flying, we'll probably ue a combination of carry on and forwarded luggage, avoiding bringing [for example] formal clothing for a land tour.

For my current booking [October 2022], I have a BU guarantee - not an assignment.

The agent at $UNNAMED_TRAVEL_AGENCY did not see the available cabins that were visible to me on the Cunard site.

1 minute ago, JB52 said:

Hi, I'm planning to take the Viking San Juan to Barcelona cruise within the next two years.  I'm completely unfamiliar with the ship(s) layout of the cabins, decks, and public areas but would like to find out the quietest cabin possible.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!  

The forums for 'Viking Ocean' and 'Cabin Selection Tips' may have better information.

For a start, look for rooms where all the surrounding spaces [above, below, forward, aft and across the corridor] are passenger cabins.

Another thing to look for is a location that is midships, and on a lower deck [less perceived motion when the ship rolls or pitches].

51 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

I had heard of the word 'sidereal', but had no idea what it means.  Still don't really understand it.  

 

I saw a sextant in a wooden box a couple of weeks ago at a garage sale.   Pretty cool device.  Mrs Ldubs said I was not to even think about it.  She was probably right . . . . again.   

Sidereal time is not quite 24 hours to the day.

Its the time between two zenith alignments of the same star. Or the Earth's rotation period relative the fixed stars [the 24 hour period is relative to our local star, the Sun].

Quoting from Wikipedia:

A sidereal day is approximately 86164.0905 seconds (23 h 56 min 4.0905 s or 23.9344696 h).

This is the driver for the changes in the night sky as seasons progress.