bluemarble

I know it sounds counterintuitive but you absolutely can do better booking through some travel agents/cruise booking websites than booking directly through Cunard. There are even sites where you can enter the specifics of the cruise and cabin category you are interested in and receive competing bids from travel agents who choose to extend offers to you. Travel agents/cruise booking websites may not always offer a lower fare than Cunard. Sometimes the benefits they offer are additional onboard credit over what Cunard is offering or cash back after the cruise for example. The cruise booking website I use does routinely offer at least 5% off the fare available by booking directly with Cunard. That's not to say I unconditionally recommend using a discount travel agent/cruise booking website. It depends a lot on your comfort level turning over control of your booking to a third party you probably won't know much about and who might end up not being as responsive as you'd like when things go wrong or you need to change your booking.

Thank you for that contribution. In the past I was able to fill in most of the QM2 crossing schedules because they kept to a set pattern with very few exceptions. For 2024 they are keeping me guessing by mixing things up quite a bit. So far the pattern is the first gala evening on crossings in ether direction is going to be either Black and White or Red and Gold and the second is going to be either Roaring Twenties or Masquerade. On QM2 at least, they are breaking the long-standing pattern that the first gala/formal evening on any voyage departing Southampton across the fleet was almost always Black and White for the theme.

That's correct, I did not attempt to inventory Christmas trees in the Q1 and Q2 suites. To quote you more accurately, that's where your reply to my inventory of 32 Christmas trees on the "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (on QM2)" thread suggested I might look for additional trees "in the spirit of enquiry". I did not attempt to inventory trees in the crew areas either for obvious reasons.

There are small signs at the base of the stairwells on deck 8 of QM2 stating something along the lines of "Grills guests only". Sorry I don't know the precise wording. I'm not certain about signage at the top of the stairways on deck 12. I don't get there very often. It's been my assumption that the grills terrace is not to be used by Britannia guests even if they are just passing through between decks 8 and 12. Whether anyone actually cares about that is another matter. I see there are past posts on this forum where it's stated there is no issue with guests passing through the grills terrace on their way between decks 8 and 12. On the other hand, I may just be imagining it but I seem to recall a post about a grills guest on one voyage who took it upon himself to confront those he saw simply passing through the grills terrace on their way between decks 8 and 12. If my memory is accurate about such a post, perhaps he was just acting on what he perceived to be the policy, not the actual policy. On the subject of being a grills interloper, I just remembered another occasion where I have transgressed into grills territory temporarily. Some of you may remember my inventory of Christmas trees on QM2 last year. That necessitated my entering the grills restaurants, the grills lounge and the concierge lounge just far enough when no one was using them to take photos of the Christmas trees near their entrances. Hopefully that was allowed "in the spirit of enquiry" as @exlondoner put it at the time. 😉

A couple of very fine photos there. To separate the photos, use the enter key to insert a blank line between them. It probably works best to add several blank lines after the text of the message before inserting the pictures. Then move the cursor back up to where you want the first photo to appear and insert it there. Finally move the cursor back down after the blank lines you added and insert the second photo there. Hope that's a clear description of the process.

Just a note about rotate functions in general to correct issues such as were encountered here. Tools to process images taken while holding the phone "upside down" will probably correct the orientation when brought into the tool. Then if you rotate them, you will end up with images which truly are "upside down". I've been tricked by that behavior in the past. Just save the images after you've done any other adjustments such as resizing or cropping and I think you'll find they will be in the correct "right side up" orientation to upload to Cruise Critic.

I'm going with Cagliari for this one. I think this photo may be a view of the tree-lined boulevard Largo Carlo Felice in Cagliari.

I'll help. Here's your photo rotated to the correct orientation. The problem probably has to do with how you are holding your phone to take the picture. One orientation is considered right side up and the other is upside down. When you take a photo holding your phone upside down, orientation information is recorded in the image telling software to rotate it 180 degrees. Most software will honor that orientation setting in the image, but the process of uploading the image to Cruise Critic apparently ignores that information, resulting in an upside down image.

Are they adjusting the dates of any of your other cslls to allow for the extra day in Port Elizabeth?

Thanks for those contributions, @esrs. I already had the schedules for the two QM2 crossings but I didn't have the M421 Norway voyage so that was very helpful. I've been told the schedules haven't been released for Queen Anne yet so I haven't started a document for the "H" voyages where you've also reported "Nothing yet".

I have to come clean. I was an interloper for about one minute on the stairway leading up to the grills terrace during our last QM2 voyage. I've seen photos of this window posted several times on various social media and it finally dawned on me where it must be. So I took my chances and snuck halfway up the stairway to take my own photo of this view. Please don't turn me in! 🤣

Thanks for that. The 3-night QE cruise in 2024 with no gala evenings under discussion here is very similar: Melbourne-Burnie-Sydney. As I look back through my old dress code and theme schedules, I see it's standard practice for there to be no gala evenings on that 3-night itinerary.

Plusgrade is the company that manages the upgrade bidding process. When you receive the email from Cunard stating you are eligible to bid on any upgrade, the link they provide in that email takes you to "upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/...". The Plusgrade website states they partner with Azamara, Celebrity, Costa, Cunard, MSC, Norwegian, P&O, P&O Australia, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Uniworld and Virgin as their cruise clients. They have many more clients in other industries especially airlines (they list 77 airline clients).

I can confirm the schedules. There was indeed a call to Saint Vincent, Cape Verde Islands scheduled for QE on April 30, 2017 during the last segment from Cape Town to Southampton on the 2017 QE world voyage. I also have a call there listed for QV on May 3, 2016. That was also during the last segment of the 2016 QV world voyage from Cape Town to Southampton. Those calls by QE and QV are the only scheduled calls to Cape Verde I have documented for the current Cunard fleet. Both are listed as maiden calls in the brochures. I have a couple calls to Cape Verde documented for QE2 during 2000 and 2001 and one call documented for Caronia during 2003. We've seen Cape Verde on our "Where in the World?" thread thanks to @Lanky Lad contributing this photo from his call there on QE2.

Getting back to the details of the gala evening for your 5-night Tasmania cruise (voyage Q409A). Am I correct that you only have one gala evening and it's on March 6th, the sea day between Sydney and Melbourne? If that's correct, those who have booked the 3-night Short Break cruise from Melbourne to Sydney on March 7th to March 10th (voyage Q410), the second part of your cruise, apparently have no gala evenings on their schedule.

Here's the link to the "What to pack page". The link can be found under "Experiences" on the Cunard US website. https://www.cunard.com/en-us/the-cunard-experience/what-to-pack The part describing the Smart Attire dress code states the following. "Smart attire simply means a dress shirt and trousers, skirt and a top, or a cocktail dress. Essentially, choose something along the same vein as you’d wear to a stylish restaurant or the theater on a special occasion." For the record, here is the definition for the Smart Attire dress code as stated in the daily programmes once on board. "After 6:00pm on board, we ask that you wear smart attire. This means smart collared shirts, evening tops, trousers, skirts and dresses. Jackets are optional." I just noticed they now state "smart collared shirt" in the onboard Smart Attire dress code (from my September QM2 voyage). Earlier versions of the daily programmes simply stated "collared shirt". Perhaps that helps inform our discussion about whether polo shirts are appropriate or not. I suppose that depends on whether polo shirts are considered "smart" or not. Jackets are not required on Smart Attire evenings but a blazer would certainly be appropriate. Many gentlemen do wear jackets/blazers/sport coats on Smart Attire evenings even though they aren't required.

It appears the Cunard FAQ is having issues today. When I check the FAQ on the Cunard US website at https://www.cunard.com/en-us/frequently-asked-questions, I only see these 10 questions. (Q) Can I order photos after my voyage? (Q) Do you offer videography? (Q) What is included in the Weddings or Commitment Ceremony at Sea package? (Q) What is included in the Renewal of Vows package> (Q) What is included in the Engagement package? (Q) What added extras can I add to our Celebration at Sea with Cunard? (Q) How does the Ceremony Specialist support planning my big day? (Q) What happens prior to my wedding day? (Q) What could my wedding day with Cunard look like? (Q) What is the difference between the Cunard Upgrade program and the complimentary upgrade I opted into at the time of booking? The Cunard UK FAQ goes one better with a total of 11 questions. The UK FAQ has this additional question. (Q) What is the process for ceremony/special event photography? When I hop over to the Cunard website for Australia, I'm seeing no questions at all in their FAQ. I know I shouldn't be surprised about an issue with Cunard's websites. Anyone else seeing more than I am on the Cunard FAQ?

That's correct. The webcam is at the Tour Royale in Toulon. That's a very recent capture from QE's call there on October 25th.

Here's another webcam capture showing a Cunard ship departing a port we've seen before. There may be enough detail here to work this one out.

Just a bit of warning that you are entering potentially contentious territory here. There has been considerable discussion in the past concerning whether polo shirts are considered appropriate or not on Smart Attire evenings. That partly stems from the fact that the "What to pack" page on the Cunard website specifies "dress shirt" for the Smart Attire dress code while the onboard Smart Attire dress code as published in the daily programmes specifies "collared shirt". I don't think we've ever reached consensus on this forum regarding polo shirts. The second part of your question is easier to answer. A tux is never required. The Gala Evening dress code allows a dark suit as an alternative to a dinner jacket/tuxedo.

I suspect the gala evening for your 5-night cruise (voyage Q409A) is going to be on the evening of your sea day between Sydney and Melbourne. If that's the case, the situation you are facing is that there is also a 2-night cruise being sold from Sydney to Melbourne (voyage Q409), "Australia Short Break". That's similar to the situation I mentioned earlier where gala evenings on the 2-night cruises between Southampton and Hamburg often don't have a theme. I'm not entirely sure what the logic is, but I suspect it's because a significant number of passengers will be ending their cruise the next morning in Melbourne so they won't be much interested in participating in a full blown gala evening with a theme. Sorry you have been caught up in one of the exceptions to the rule that gala evenings follow one of four themes.

I've started a new thread titled "Dress Code and Theme Schedules for 2024" where I've posted links to my initial versions of the 2024 schedules for QM2, QE and QV. Let's put additional replies about what you are seeing for your voyage's dress code and theme schedule on that thread. You can view what I have documented there to see if your voyage is one for which I still need the schedule. I trust @Host Hattie will want to make that new thread a sticky.

Here are links to partial dress code and themed evening schedules for 2024. As was the case with the schedules for previous years, these are compiled from what other members have found on "My Cunard" within the daily calendars for their voyages. QM2: QM2 2024 Dress Code and Theme Schedule QE: QE 2024 Dress Code and Theme Schedule QV: QV 2024 Dress Code and Theme Schedule This is still very much a work in progress at this point. Once again I will need your help to fill in the many gaps. If you can fill in any of the gaps in these schedules, please post here what you are seeing in "My Cunard" (or have learned elsewhere). I'll need the name of the ship, the dates of the voyage, and the dates and themes (if any) for all the "Gala Evenings" on your itinerary. If you see anything that needs correcting, please post those corrections here as well. It's my understanding that Cunard have not posted any dress code and theme schedules for QA yet. It also appears that Cunard have not yet posted any schedules for QE beyond February 2024 sailing dates. If you see any schedules for QA or any schedules for QE beyond February, please post what you are seeing here. These documents reside on my Google Drive so I'll be able to update them there with your additions and corrections without needing to attach new versions here. The links I've provided here should always retrieve the latest versions from my Google Drive.

No, gala evenings do not always have a theme. Most do but not always. During the world voyages, they scatter a few gala evenigs without themes into the schedule probably to attempt to avoid overload from repeating the same four themes over and over. They may include gala evenings with no themes on some of the other longer cruises presumably for the same reason. New Year's Eve is another occasion when they schedule a gala evening with no theme. In the past, they sometimes called it a New Year's Eve Ball but that's gone by the wayside since they only use the four standard themes now (plus Ice White on QE Alaska). They also tend to have gala evenings with no themes during the short 2-night segments between Southampton and Hamburg. They usually also designate those as optional gala evenings for those disembarking the next morning.

No, they don't necessarily rotate the themes. They do rotate them on back-to-back transatlantic crossings where a significant number of passengers book round trip crossings. Looking at the schedule for QE's last Australia/New Zealand season, they mostly scheduled Black and White along with either Roaring Twenties or Masquerade (or both) for the themes. I only see one Red and Gold theme scheduled during all of the last Australia/New Zealand season and that was relatively early in the season during December 2022. It's a similar situation with the QE Alaska season where the themes were Ice White and Masquerade for each of the Alaska cruises this year.