bluemarble

Yes, you managed to sniff me out. That was me posting about QM2's departure yesterday on the Brooklyn Waterfront Museum's live Youtube stream as "Blue Marble". We are doing the 18-night roundtrip crossing from New York to Hamburg and back. We booked it especially for Anthony Inglis and the NSO on the current eastbound crossing. I am posting this from the Royal Court Theatre prior to the Maestro's talk on "And The Bands Played On! The history of music and Cunard".

No, I'm not seeing any changes regarding Brooklyn in 2023. Here is the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal schedule. MSC Meraviglia is scheduled to be at Brooklyn on December 23. 2023 so there's no conflict with QM2's scheduled call there on December 22, 2023. https://nycruise.com/brooklyn-terminal/schedule-bct/

I see the schedules for MSC Meraviglia have been posted past October 2024. MSC Meraviglia will be at Brooklyn on December 22, 2024 which in causing the schedule change to have QM2 there on December 21, 2024 instead of December 22. From an earlier post, we've learned the overnight at Zeebrugge on December 13-14, 2024 is being shortened to a one-day call. That means the subsequent westbound crossing will depart Southampton December 14, 2024 instead of December 15 to keep it a 7-night crossing. MSC Meraviglia is also scheduled to be at Brooklyn on March 16, 2025. That's the second day of a scheduled overnight stay for QM2 on March 15-16, 2025. I suppose that's going to be shortened to a one-day call now to have QM2 depart Brooklyn March 15, 2025 instead of March 16. There's also apparently a conflict at Brooklyn on May 4. 2025. QM2 was supposed to end her westbound crossing departing Southampton on April 27, 2025 then. That may by why the unannounced 2025 itineraries show QM2 departing Brooklyn for an eastbound crossing on May 5, 2025 instead of May 4. The last published MSC Meraviglia itinerary I see has her in Brooklyn on April 27, 2025. If she is planning another 7-night itinerary from Brooklyn on that date that would put her back in Brooklyn on May 4, 2025.

Another excellent photo. I think I prefer your earlier version with Biggles though. 🙂

Well now I feel completely foolish. Here is what I found when I went back through the screen scrapes I took of the survey questions to record them for future reference. It looks to me like they garbled the explanations for what the 'M' and 'Z' keys mean in these instructions. But there was clearly no excuse for me missing these instructions other than my being preoccupied with copying the content rather than comprehending it. A series of words and phrases will now appear on the screen. We would like to know whether or not you think each word or phrase applies to this loyalty program you have seen. There are no right or wrong answers, it is just your opinion we are interested in. Please respond using the keyboard buttons, 'M' Does not describe this loyalty program,i.e. the the word applies to this product and 'Z' Describes this loyalty program, i.e. the word does not apply to this product. Please respond as quickly as possible, as your responses will be timed. Please now place your index fingers on the Z and M keys and press the M key to continue (Please note the next screen will be practice goes) 75% complete

I agree. I figure @sfred's photo was taken at about this point in QE's past track departing Oranjestad, Aruba yesterday as shown on Marinetraffic. Note the Aruba Cruise Terminal at the upper left and the Queen Beatrix International Airport at the lower right with the runway extending to the shoreline.

I've been reading on other social media that the new $90 drinks package for voyages under five nights has indeed been rolled out for those booking on board QM2's 3-night Le Havre Short Break cruise which departed yesterday, 1 September (in line with the go-live date for QM2 in the first quote above). So far though, I am not seeing drinks packages being offered yet in My Cunard for the 18 September 4-night Hamburg Short Break cruise on QM2. Will continue to keep an eye on My Cunard for further developments on that score.

It's been quite a while since the Southampton VTS radio feed (provided by Solent Ships) has been working. It's back operating now in time for the departures of QV and QM2 this afternoon/evening. Here are today's figures if anyone is still interested. September 1, 2023 QV: 1900 pax; 980 crew (pax/crew: 1.94) That's approximately ≈91% of her 2081 lower berth passenger capacity. QM2: 2610 pax; 1266 crew (pax/crew: 2.06) That's approximately ≈97% of her 2695 lower berth passenger capacity.

I trust @Solent Richard won't mind me posting a link to his blog. His posts under "Queen Elizabeth - A Day Visit" include a photo of the Garden Lounge showing the artwork which was there originally. Looks like it was a scene featuring a pond with a statue and water fountain. https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2013/08/02/queen-elizabeth-a-day-visit/

My mistake. Yes, the drink price limit for the Beers, Wines & Spirits package was increased from $12 to $13 sometime late last year or early this year. I had looked up the previous limit from a World of Drinks brochure I had downloaded that was a couple years old. That's where I went wrong. By the way, the "A World of Drinks"/"Drinks Options" page on the main Cunard website has been updated. Here's what it now says about the Beers, Wines & Spirits package. Beers, Wines, and Spirits Option For voyages over five nights, US$70pp per day inclusive of 15% service charge. (On board price is US$70 pp, per day, inclusive of 15% service charge).For voyages under five nights, US$85pp, per day inclusive of 15% service charge. (On board price is US$90pp, per day, inclusive of 15% service charge).Enjoy an array of beers, wines, spirits, liqueurs, and cocktails up to $13.50 per serving, as well as all the benefits of the Premium Soft Drinks Option. Plus, you'll also receive a 20% discount on drinks retailing above $13.50, some bottles of wine, Cunard Wine Academy, and Cocktail Master Class activities. There appears to be a typo since they have quoted the on board price as $70 instead of $75 for voyages over five nights. Also, the wording "For voyages over five nights" really ought to read "For voyages over four nights" or "For voyages of five nights or more" instead. Sigh. I was hoping to see drinks packages starting to be offered today in My Cunard for my upcoming 4-night Hamburg Short Break cruise next month, but they aren't showing up there yet. My booking for that cruise still says drinks packages are "Only available on cruises over four nights." I'll keep checking and post if/when drinks packages are offered in My Cunard for that 4-night cruise.

Your mention of the increased $13 price limit per drink for the Beers, Wines & Spirits package brings up a difference worth mentioning regarding the limit for that package listed in the flyer for voyages of under five nights. The flyer for the Beers, Wines & Spirits package for voyages of five nights or more (at $75 per night on board price) does indeed list an increased price limit of $13 per drink. The flyer for the Beers, Wines & Spirits package for voyages of under five nights (at $90 per night on board price) lists a slightly higher price limit of $13.50 per drink. And just to add some confusion, there are separate Terms and Conditions documents for the different voyage lengths. Both of those Terms and Conditions documents indicate the price limit per drink is $13.50 regardless of the voyage length. So it will be interesting to see if the price limit per drink for voyages of five nights or more is going to be increased to $13 (per the flyer) or $13.50 (per the Terms and Conditions document).

Yeah, the Emergency Contact details hasn't worked correctly for years in the Cunard US version of My Cunard, and as sometimes happens with bugs like this, no one seems to be working on fixing it. I've had the same symptoms as you on several bookings over the past few years. I can enter my Emergency Contact details (as the lead passenger) but not my wife's. But then I can't modify my own Emergency Contact details once entered. Attempts to enter or modify those details results in this error message displayed in faint red near the top of the screen. "Invalid Emergency Contact Address - State" The only way I've managed to get the Emergency Contact details entered for my wife or changed for either of us is to call Cunard Customer Service and have them update the information. They seem to know about this long-standing issue with My Cunard as it's apparently a very common request for the Customer Service reps to handle.

Here's a link to an earlier thread I remembered where it turned out the "Missing Immigration Information" email was triggered by issues with the Emergency Contact details.

Also from the Cunard FAQ for travel agents: Voyages of five nights or more Cunard World of Drinks flyer for voyages of five nights or more Voyages of under five nights Cunard World of Drinks flyer for voyages of under five nights Edit to add: I suppose I should not be too surprised to see the flyer for voyages of under five nights retains this wording. 🤔 "Please note: All Drink Options are only available on voyages of five nights or more, for purchase only on the first two days of the voyage and must be purchased for all remaining days of your voyage."

From the Cunard FAQ for travel agents: World of Drinks Voyages of five nights or more Voyages of under five nights My Cunard price On board price My Cunard price On board price Beers, Wines and Spirits $70 $75 $85 $90 Premium Soft Drinks $30 $35 $30 $35 Speciality Hot Drinks $12.50 $15 $12.50 $15 Soft Drinks $10 $12 $10 $12 Voyages of under five nights The packages will be available to purchase via My Cunard from 30 August, however the on board go-live dates vary. Queen Elizabeth from 17 August, Queen Mary 2 from 01 September and Queen Victoria from 15 September.

I think the survey can be completed on a desktop if you realize (as I did not) that the "Z" and "M" icons seen in my reply #27 are not meant to be active buttons on a desktop (as they are on a phone) but rather indications to type the appropriate "Z" or "M" key on the keyboard to answer the question.

See this post from @Bell Boy.

It does appear the Cunard Australia website is lacking in the amount of detail provided about the OBC amounts compared to Cunard's other sites. It's especially problematic when I check the current "Big Balcony Event" promotion. Nowhere can I find any mention of specific OBC amounts being offered, even in the Terms and Conditions for that promotion. In the US, we usually get a detailed chart in the Terms and Conditions listing the amount of OBC being offered depending on the length of the voyage and the grade of accommodation. But for the "Big Balcony Event" on the Cunard Australia site, all I can find is this blurb about OBC. "On Board Credit (‘OBC’) is per person in USD. Amount varies by stateroom type and itinerary duration as specified and is applied to the first two guests only in a room. For cruises 2-6 nights, there is no OBC applicable. On Board Credit is non-refundable, non-transferable, cannot be redeemed for cash, cannot be used in the medical centre or casino and expires at the conclusion of your cruise. OBC offer valid for new bookings only made during the Campaign Period." When I start a booking and "View fares" on the Cunard Australia site, I am able to see the amount of OBC being offered for the "Cunard Fare", but not for the "Big Balcony Event". This is for a Britannia Balcony on the 14-night New Zealand cruise (Q335). Here we can see I am being offered $230 OBC per stateroom with the Cunard Fare for double occupancy, but all it offers for the Big Balcony Event is "EXTRA money to spend on board". Not very helpful indeed.

This is another case of something that appears to be on Cunard's radar based on this question from the survey. Not necessarily being demoted a tier but the general concept of losing benefits after a period of inactivity. "It is reasonable for points to expire if I don’t cruise for 5 years [Strongly disagree] [Somewhat disagree] [Neither agree or disagree] [Somewhat agree] [Strongly agree]"

I'm cheating a bit since this photo isn't quite from July. It was taken August 4, 2016 from our sheltered balcony on deck 5. This was during the westbound portion of a roundtrip crossing on QM2 that begin in New York on July 24, 2016. It does show sea conditions that might be of some interest even if it was taken a few days past July.

QE's originally scheduled call to Livorno on 12th October 2023 has also been changed to La Spezia. So far the QE itineraries on the Cunard website are still showing Livorno for 28th September 2023.

Oh, yeah. Another "Duh!" moment for me to be sure and more evidence they intended us to use the keyboard to answer that question even though they look for all the world like buttons to be clicked. I suppose they were meant to look like the keyboard keys to be typed rather than buttons to be clicked now that I look at them again. Thanks for your insight.

Oh, Duh! It never occurred to me to try typing "Z" or "M" on my desktop PC keyboard to answer that question. I didn't notice any directions to that effect although they might have been there on the previous screen for all I know. That's the obvious solution others figured out but I didn't to get past that issue on a desktop/laptop. Thanks for your follow-up. Edit to add: Does anyone have a theory for why they chose the letters "Z" and "M" to denote what is essentially a No/Yes (Does not describe/Describes) survey response?

Thanks to @babs135 providing the schedule for the QV Christmas cruise, the Queen Victoria 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule is now complete! There is only one 2023 voyage remaining for which I do not yet have the dress code and theme schedule: Queen Elizabeth Voyage Q335 (New Zealand) December 3-17, 2023 (14 nights) If anyone is on that voyage, I would be most grateful if you could let me know the dress code and theme schedule listed in the Day Calendar section of your booking in My Cunard. A hearty thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project to get us this far. Now that we are on a new browser page, I'll copy the links to the documents forward here for easy access. QM2: QM2 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule QE: QE 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule QV: QV 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule

I agree that's standard behavior for My Cunard. My bookings show the message "Your stateroom will be allocated closer to departure" before changing to show the cabin number I have booked. That message doesn't display for 10 seconds for my bookings (more like 1 second for me), but it does display briefly on my bookings. The login process "spins" for about 10 seconds before it shows me anything about my booking. That behavior is normal as well.