ClipperinSFO

Has been down since this afternoon PST as well. Figured maybe there was some system maintenance going on since it was 0001 GMT.

Nice to know these are back on QM2. On our last TA in December 2022 they still were not being offered and they have been high on my list of things to do aboard!

If it can't be the Ocean Terminal, at least it should be the QEII. I hope at least that the maiden TA sales from the Ocean Terminal.

Amen to that!

Big fan of Allan Cumming since he was Emcee in Cabaret way back when - and so nice to read his advocacy for slow travel, Cunard and crossings on our beloved QM2. I hope this article (despite the fact that it’s in Town and Country which probably already has many Cunard passengers on its subscriber list) will draw in more people and help overcome preconceived notions about Cunard, cruising and crossings. The more the merrier!

As a big Cunard fan, I like the additional touchpoint with the company, and the resulting gamesmanship of seeing how much OBC I can get against the price paid for the shares. It kind of adds to the fun of traveling with them and fuels the intention to have a long(er) term relationship with the company. I am sure I am not the only one who thinks this way, so when the Carnival Corp execs are weighing the pros and cons of the current program, they may factor in this resulting "stickiness". How much it's worth to them versus the cost I have no idea. Probably not all that much since anyone that holds shares is probably also an elite level in their various loyalty programs of their brands.

@david63 exactly. We bought our shares with the idea that regardless of what the share price did, with enough cruises and resulting OBC they would eventually be at zero cost. A lot harder to do when the shares are at 50 than when they are at 15.

I think @david63 is on to something and that it’s more the sheer volume of OBC requests that a low share price generates (more people owning shares) in terms of workload for CCL. In addition to the amount of money that they then have to dole out in OBC from all those requests. I could see why the accountants would raise an eye brow. Perhaps as well they think the stock will stay relatively low for the foreseeable future and so this “problem” won’t abate anytime soon.

Noted in my calendar now, thanks. So looking forward to actual pictures of her and her interiors!

This was a wonderful post -- thank you so much @sfred for your imagination. I think part of the charm of Cunard, especially on a QM2 TA is envisioning just what it would have been like to be on the Mauretania -- and its not all that far off, esp if one eschews many of the "modern" "improvements" that have been instituted since those days -- en suite bathrooms excluded of course! I remember early in my crossing career someone told me that the view of the skies and seas on North Atlantic mid-ocean is the same today as it would have been for all those who crossed on earlier liners, and thus in a way the crossing is timeless. That resonated deeply, and still does. Thank you again.

Hmmm. After having declared above "Yokohama" so confidently, I am now looking around for actual cruise documentation that states it departs from Yokohama, and I'm coming up empty handed. Maybe it's an erroneous assumption/belief on my part! Will revert if I find anything one way or the other. UDATE: Just looked at Cruise Mapper, and it looks like we are indeed out of Tokyo. Yokohama has two other big cruise ships in on the 28th, and QE is shown as sailing out of Tokyo. Oh well, will have to make Yokohama a day trip then to explore, as I was really looking forward to it. Thanks so much for calling this into question - we would have looked kind of silly showing up at the Yokohama terminal for the wrong ship!

We are on that cruise as well and it sails from Yokohama. We are booked in at the Intercontinental in Yokohama the night before sailing to give us a chance to explore the port prior to sailing. Staying in Tokyo itself the night before would be fine as they are so close.

We fly to our Cunard cruises and crossings, so I like to have everything printed and secured in the plastic sleeves ready for attaching on sailing day, rather than fuss with the folding and scotch taping, but it is indeed a matter of individual preference. @D&N has some sound advice about adding details about the QM2 times, dates and locations, since invariably what is checked in as airline luggage are the cases with all the "party clothes" needed for a Cunard crossing/cruise.

We bought the 6.5-inch length x 3.5-inch width and they work fine, without any tweaks to what comes off the printer other than a bit of trimming -- although I really like the 130% idea - if for no other reason tan to make it easier on the baggage handling crews.

One does wonder how much of a "consideration" (maybe in the form of a charitable donation?) that Cunard/Carnival has to pay for royal participation in the christening -- or is it all brought to us by the British taxpayer?

Never considered Catherine as an option. That is indeed a great idea. Queen Camilla already christened Queen Victoria.

Hmmm. That's a toughie: Queen Camilla vs Princess Anne. It's a partial "hit" (or miss) with either choice. Much as I am more of a fan of the Princess Royal, a Cunarder does warrant a Queen imo. As long as whoever christens her is a member of the royal family, I am good. It's moments like these I really miss QEII.

Excellent idea! We generally underutilize our butler.

All other reasons aside, they don't have proper martini glasses in the cabin!

We are not big in-cabin drinkers, preferring to consume our tipples in the beautiful public rooms of their ships. I wish Cunard would offer a chunk of OBC as an option in lieu of the QG stateroom bar, it would be much more useful.

Congrats on a great choice - you and your husband will have a wonderful time. We have crossed several times in the Grills, and also enjoying dressing up. Being big ocean liner enthusiasts, we approach a crossing on QM2 like @D&N seems to: in the old school, classic way of dress (for men): jacket and tie for first and last nights (the fictional assumption being that our formal wear is either being unpacked and pressed or already packed in the steamer trunks for offloading in the morning) and then black tie for every night in between. We go more traditional in terms of strict black tie for the two official gala nights, and then have fun and play with formal wear on the 3 mid-voyage nights where we are not required to be in back tie. This would include (for guys) things like smoking jackets, colored/patterned bow ties and cummerbunds, and kilts for my husband, who Scottish. As for daytime, we don't wear denim to the dining room (although we do around the ship) and we tend to wear jackets, but no ties to lunch, since, again the dining rooms are so great. In between meals, anything goes, although we stick to business casual (we do cold weather crossing as a rule, and even in summer the NA can get breezy and a bit chilly, especially when well away from land. While we are overdressed, especially on the three mid voyage non-gala nights, we never feel uncomfortable, and in both Grills feel appropriately attired giving the elegance of the room, the service, and the presentation of the food. In the evening the whole ship feels like a beautiful hotel, so dressing up helps one blend right into the setting. It's not at all snobby, just really civilized. Is this all OTT? Perhaps. But then again, a crossing on QM2 is a rare chance to participate in an age old way of crossing the Atlantic. PS: I would highly recommend a winter crossing where the drama is at its highest: seas, skies and holiday decorations. Absolutely sublime (and, shhh, they tend to be less expensive). Not to mention its a great time of year to be in New York or London.

This is great feedback on the actual experience. We are thinking of doing it with our dog, but are also wondering if we can go as far as Hamburg or Le Havre (on the occasions QM2 calls there as part of a TA) or whether dogs are limited to only the SOU-NYC segment?

@bluemarblemakes an excellent point about Cunard's allocation of Q5-Q6 inventory to the round trip vs one way (or any other itinerary combinations). They clearly see this as optimizing revenue for them at the moment, but conditions and market demand changes. As sales progress in the coming months, these inventory allocations across itinerary combinations will likely be adjusted to meet revised demand, so the Q5/-Q6's may indeed become available for the roundtrip as a single booking.

We all have a very strong interest in others having a great experience with Cunard and seeing it thrive as a result. Long may we sail!

Once we started doing repeat crossings, I developed a packing list in spreadsheet format (with two tick boxes: "take" and "packed") to help get everything sorted by day (1st/last) time of day (day/evening) formality (gala/non-gala). Being a guy on a relatively predictable as a TA vs a cruise, this is not a very hard list to put together. I would imagine for a woman on a cruise, it's somewhat more multi-dimensional. Now when I go to pack for a TA, there is a formula that results in 1 suit case and 1 roll aboard, and my back pack. What I have yet to achieve is translating that *packing* list into a *wearing* list. Things get a bit jumbled in the unpacking, so I am usually bumping around a darkened cabin to get dressed in the morning (OH sleeps in), hoping I am coming out of the cabin reasonably coordinated.