TheOldBear

There is a strip of parkland near Fort Hamilton - on the Brooklyn side of the Verazzano Narrows, just north of the bridge.

This shows on Google maps as 'John Paul Jones' park right next to the bridge & 'Shore Road Park' adjacent to the Belt / Shore parkway. Getting there in the morning, then to Red Hook terminal when encumbered by luggage might be an issue.

Thanks, I didn't realise that the US citizens and the rest of us would all be in the same queue, I'd assumed you'd go straight through and we'd queue for hours lol. We're on deck 6 so it sounds as though we'll be amongst the last off as well - it's probably best not to book the 12.00 train from Penn Station! As this is just the start of our adventure we'll definitely need a porter's help with our luggage, if you don't mind me asking - how much would you normally tip them?

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

Gill

We massively overpack [use family car for transport] so we have lots of stuff. We tip a minimum of $40 for our haul of baggage. Say $10 / per normal size bag.

Gill, about what time did you get off?

Got outside just before 11. New passengers were arriving (and waiting)

A disorder that can ruin fortunes and marriages!

 

My relatively mild symptoms of G.A.S. mysteriously disappeared recently and I sold all of my A-mount cameras and lenses. I only have a handful of commonly used lenses now and am only lacking a good telephoto...which I am still waffling on based on uncertain projected use.

 

Moving completely to the Sony mirrorless system has spawned my new favorite equipment quote,"I now have a travel kit that weighs as much as a small dog instead of a fat child."

 

Selling stuff I don't use and buying stuff I will feels pretty responsible!

 

:)

 

Dave

We are looking at Alaska for 2020 - so I have some time to plan & acquire or rent some hardware. I have Micro 4/3 gear, so for Alaska I will be looking at a modest expansion [weather sealed body & zoom lens, like an Olympus EM5.2 and the 12-100 + the Panasonic 100-400. This setup [plus my current entry level body & lenses] should be compact and versatile - a pity batteries and chargers tend to be different for different bodies, I tend to bring three batteries per body

We will be taking our first Westbound TA from Southampton to New York in April next year, can anybody (non-US resident) tell me how long it normally takes to get through Customs/Immigration/Security etc? We need to make on-going travel arrangements so any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Gill

Well, I'm a NY resident - but I was also one of the last folks off the ship this past September. Cunard disembarks in stages, starting with self disembark (while we were having breakfast). Cunard scheduled transfers, Grills passengers & I believe high tier world club members come before the rest of the folks, announced from the top decks down. We were on deck 5, so there was a substantial wait in the Queens room.

There was no separation for US Citizen in the terminal's customs / immigration desks. I would recommend engaging a porter [their line is toward the left in the call] They will put your bags onto a cart, and then into dedicated porter lines which tend to move a bit faster.

If you are considering the EOS M, be aware that there are only a few native lenses for the mount. Your 50mm and 85mm primes will adapt to it but will negate any size advantage. I have shot with the Sony A6000 and A6300 and recommend the E-Mount Sonys with no reservations. I just sold my old DSLR and lenses to KEH to subsidize anew purchase and found that dumping a system for a new one isn't as hard as people think.

 

Click on the link in my signature and look at the galleries under Travel > Cruising. Anything after 2014 was shot with the Sony APS-C compact mirrorless cameras.

 

Dave

If you take the drastic step of starting fresh [Over on DP Review this is a symptom of 'Gear Acquisition Syndrome'] either a long zoom fixed lens camera [sony or Panasonic] or a mirrorless interchangeable lens system [Fuji, Panasonic, Olympus, Sony...] would be worth considering.

All the systems have partisans, but today the good news is that for the vast majority of photographers, subjects and locations the photo hardware is not the limiting factor in getting pictures that are 'keepers'.

The interchangeable lens advantage [sLR or Mirrorless] over fixed lens superzoom only seems to start after acquiring / renting multiple lenses.

A few options

• Rent a long zoom EF mount lens [about 400mm at the long end, with image stabilization] The Sigma 'bigma' 150 - 600 rents for $65 / 7 days
  
• Buy/rent a long zoom range bridge camera - large sensor like a Panasonic FZ2500, or small sensor like a Nikon P900, and use the SLR for inside and people centric shots. [FZ2500 rents for $79 / 7 days]
  
• Get a new kit - Canon EF mount would be preferred as you have some nice lenses - This could be smaller/mirrorless [EOS M series, with a EF adapter]
  

Bring extra batteries - and you may want a [rented] second camera body as well

Any special advice? My main worry is how trans friendly the ships and ports are.

My very small sample indicates no issues for the QM2 or several other ships friends have sailed on.

Things will vary port to port - there likely will be some where a DIY excursion is not advisable, at least not without extensive research.

For traveling while trans issues - if you are full time / post transition / RLE do all of your paperwork bits align? This is principally your passport + photo ID of some sort.

Depending on where you are located, you may want to also consider Holland America from Boston. They tend to use smaller ships, able to dock 'downtown' in Hamilton.

is it warm enough to be in a swim suit on Queen Mary transatlantic, on June 10 cruise

There are always one of the two indoor pools - The Pavilion pool on deck 12 [with retractable roof] or the Spa pool on deck 7 [extra charge].

I have seen folks in the deck 8 'Terrace' pool & hot tubs even when the ship was sailing through a tropical storm remnant - with force 11 winds on the bow. The shape of the superstructure offers quite a bit of protection from the wind while the ship is underway.

Is this a new Cruise Critic record?

 

A smoking thread that got past Page 1 before the information started to dry-up and got replaced by vitreol !! :rolleyes:

 

JB :D

One comment I recall from an onboard lecture comparing the original Queen Mary with QM2 "Today on QM2 there are only two spaces where smoking is permitted, on the original Queen Mary there were only two spaces where smoking was forbidden - and one of them was the operating room in the ship's hospital"

I would say things have improved immensely

Hello, My husband and I will be taking our first crossing on QM2, Sept. 9 to Sept 16. We are experienced cruisers and have been on many cruise lines. I do understand the Britannia and the Grills. On this first voyage we will be in Britannia as all the higher categories were booked.

On our last round trip crossing, we shared a table with a couple sailing in Queen's Grill who preferred to have dinner in Britannia - they apparently saw no problems with having dinner there.

In looking at our itinerary I see that we have two formal evenings, one a gala ball and the other a roaring twenties ball. We do love to dress up but if someone could explain these balls it would be helpful.

My other concerns right now is can we preorder bottles of alcohol to drink onboard? I see where I can buy wine packages if we want and some other goodies prior to boarding.

Do you have to make reservations for the planetarium? Is there a fee?

 

Being in Britannia where are we not allowed to go besides the grills restaurants?

I know I will have more questions in the next few months and I certainly would appreciate knowing as much as I can before boarding.

 

I already have learned a lot from these boards( what a godsend) and look forward to learning even more.

 

Thank you all.

Cunard's QM2 interior is non smoking - except for the cigar lounge, and the crew's pub. I think during the last refit they may have increased the 'negative pressure' on Churchill's - and least I do not smell anything next door in the Commodore Club. [Apparently there were problems/complaints before the refit] There is an outside smoking area to avoid near the 'Terrace Pool' aft on deck 8.

Confused here :confused: ....You had labels attached to your luggage indicating your 'assigned stateroom' (Well before you placed them onto the baggage belt )

 

How did you find out they were originally delivered to your old stateroom.

Back in 2010 the upgrade fairy diverted us from deck 4 to deck 8 [next door to the library] - and the luggage was delayed. After the muster drill, I went looking for it, and it was on the service stair landing across the corridor from our original stateroom.

You may want to search for "Veranda" on the Cunard forum, and see what folks have written about the restaurant. We took a look at the posted lunch and dinner menus - and decided that the cover charge was not worth it.

We had a gap of eight years between second and third cruise - and ended up with the same waiters as on the second cruise.

We are about to embark on our roundtrip TA cruise aboard the QM2. How close to the Verrazano bridge does the smokestack pass?

I think at a 'higher high tide' [full or new moon] the stack clears the bridge by about 10 feet or so. It looks more like inches than feet.

We have the early seating for dinner, and are planning to skip the dinner to observe everything there is to see as we leave NYC. (We figure we have another 13 nights for dinner!) What have others done? With a group of 7, I feel badly that we're missing the first dinner, but don't want to miss the views. I am thinking I will stop by the dining room to let them know, so no one is waiting for us. What recommendations/suggestions do you have? Thanks!

You will want to tell the folks in Britannia [ Maitre'd desk is just inside the deck 2 center doors] that you likely will not be dining there that night (also use the opportunity to see just where your table is located). You may be able to get a reservation at the (extra cost) specialty restaurant, instead of just the regular Kings Court buffet.

We usually select late dining so this is not an issue - but if the ship is underway at 5, you probably will be leaving lower New York Bay by 6:30 or so [Coney Island 'Parachute Drop' tower visible to port] so you might be able to get back to your table.

We too will be on the M929B crossing! Not going through Heathrow, stopping twice in Southampton, once in Hamburg and Lehavre (no driving, trains, time and hotels to see them!) and the National Symphony are the appeal for us! We enjoyed the QE2 one-way crossing and a Carribean cruise on the QM2. See you onboard!

Its a trifle early - but I guess I should bump the roll call thread, blow some of the accumulated dust off and check it for freezer burn :D

I recall seeing Cunard logo corkscrews for sale - one of the few practical items in the shops

Nothing.

 

Actually, the Cunard cruises are usually two B2B one-way sailings...often on the Queen Mary 2.

 

You can sail to Southampton, stay for two weeks and sail back to NY on the QM2.

There are usually a couple of round trips that have a few days sailing a Southampton to Southampton round trip before the return Southampton to NYC leg. Useful, if the normal interval of two weeks between crossings is inconvenient.

We have an adult passenger on our itinerary that has a French passport that was issued this year in Los Angeles. He has a valid California drivers license. I am told he holds dual citizenship. Can he travel from Miami to Caribbean and back to Miami with this? NCL rep had no idea and sent me to CBP for answers. They were closed. We’re all checked in online with no issues. Since this is our first cruise, we have little knowledge. Any help?

You are _not_ going to get a definitive answer on this forum. [but I will venture a guess]

If this is a 'closed loop' cruise, where US citizens can cruise without a Passport by supplying all the documentation that would be required to obtain a passport [uS Birth Certificate & Driver's License is typical] then the French Passport may be ignored.

For other cases, it gets complicated - e.g. a Consular Report of Birth Abroad in place of a BC. Perhaps, if time permits *and* the paperwork is available, a US passport would solve any complications.

It is _possible_ that NCL will be able to use the French passport on their manifest, but that will lead to complications at the end of the cruise for re-entry to the US. Get a written statement in advance from CBP.

Hi All! Inexperienced cruiser here looking for some help regarding cruises from US to Europe. My parents have always wanted to go to Europe, but my mom’s a very nervous flyer. They are both retired and are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, so my siblings and I are looking into whether they could cruise instead. In my research, it seems like most cruises between US and Europe are one-way. Is it possible to tie two one-way cruises together, and any suggestions on how to locate them/which cruises are best? Here are a few other notes:

 

• New York might be the best departure port, though we would consider any US departure port
  
• We are interested in efficient routes to/from Europe, and would like them to have one or two weeks between cruises to tour around Europe
  
• Amenities on the ship are less of a priority than efficiency
  
• Cost is a consideration, but we are interested in looking at as many options as possible
  

Thank you all so much in advance! We are excited about the possibility of making this once in a lifetime trip a reality for our parents!

Not too surprisingly, I will join the chorus advocating Cunard. You probably will want to browse up the forums page to the Cunard forum https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=54 and also see the current sailings and offers over on cunard.com

As was stated, most QM2 crossings are non stop NYC to Southampton or the reverse. Usually there are a couple each season that have additional stops [Halifax NS, Iceland]. There are also round trips that are more than just a pair of crossings - for example, next years M929B also has a round trip Southampton to Hamburg, and a stop in Normandy on the return leg. Others may head north to the Arctic Circle in between a pair of crossings.

Some of the crossings are special event crossings - the eastbound leg last year featured the English National Symphony, with a passenger chorus on stage for the last night's performance. There are usually Jazz and Fashion crossings too.

There are also resources here under 'ports of call' about touring and transit resources [check under 'Europe' for the 'Western Europe' and 'Mediterranean France' forums in particular]

Not sure they are talking about Gypsy Cabs. The last time we were disembarking at Red Hook we noticed a line of Black Cars and they appeared to be the legit Livery Cars. I had pulled out my phone and was in the process of summoning an Uber X car to take us over to Gramercy Park...when a Black Car driver asked me if I wanted a ride. I told him where we were going and he said $50 which got a fast laugh from me. I told him I was just going over to Gramercy Park and was summoning Uber....but would let him take us for $30. He told us to get in his nice Lincoln and we had a pretty good deal. He was displaying the normal NYC Livery license.

 

We know NYC very well and understand the taxi rules (including Green Cars). I did not understand how the Black Cars could be soliciting at Red Hook, but obviously the authorities were "blessing" the practice. We saw both NYC Police and Port Authority Police and nobody had an issue with those Black Cars.

 

Hank

I think I've hailed a cab once in the past 40 years either visiting or working in NYC [mostly subway and shank's mare after getting off LIRR or parking] - but I believe that the town car pickup [subset of 'livery cabs'] is available at ports [airports, cruise port, bus terminal, train station] in designated areas without a prior reservation. Most of these areas also have taxi stands for yellow and green cabs.

Only yellow cabs can take street hails in the 'inner boroughs' - both green and yellow cabs can take street hails in the outer boroughs. This was supposed to ensure more taxi service for the outer boroughs.

This is often discussed on the Cunard forum, and the “East Coast Departures” forum.

I cannot make a personal recommendation, as we either drive & park, or have a family member drive.

Two car services frequently recommended are Dial7 and Arecibo. Check the forums for contact info and typical prices.

You could do a NY-Southamption-NY round trip on Cunard. The ship is cleared by UK Customs on the eastbound leg, so there is no need to get off in Southampton.