alc13

A gesture of goodwill would have been to coordinate all of the claims with the Port Authority instead of leaving you to fend for yourselves with no information or guidance. Much more value in that than reimbursing you an additional $250 per bag. And even that response took them a month to formulate. We won't stop sailing with Cunard; we like it too much, and so far it's better than most other lines. But I'm disappointed.

I have to say, I'm shocked that Cunard won't take financial responsibility for this. It's not even all that much money compared to whatever their annual expenses are; assuming, that is, that pitching luggage into the water is an uncommon occurrence. I wonder if this is standard practice in the cruise industry.

I'm so sorry, D&N.

But it's good advice. It's also worth remembering that the fault in this case was with the Port Authority. Cunard only fails for its abysmal customer relations.

I had to google that building. Did you enjoy the exhibits?

Besides what @Pushpit recommends, rest/sleep and plenty of fluids will help. Hope you are better soon. I'm enjoying your blog.

Thanks for the update, and good luck with recovering at least some of your belongings.

I wholeheartedly agree with that!

We humans do love fried foods.

Yes we can!

The difference may be that a grilled cheese sandwich is pan-fried in melted butter. If you spread soft butter on both sides of a sandwich before putting it under the grill it would probably come out the same.

Maybe Cunard doesn't have a rep in NYC but the customer relations part of this seems inadequate. I understand bitob's frustration. I suppose from the corporate perspective a handful of suitcases doesn't matter much, but if it happened to me, I'd want more and better communication.

Oh, dear. You in the UK are missing out on a very delicious sandwich!

That is a pathetic example of a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. For one thing, it looks like it never saw a grill, griddle, or frying pan. I think they used toasted bread. For shame, Cunard!

What a miserable situation. Very sorry those of you who have lost luggage aren’t receiving more prompt and helpful attention.

Photos from Brooklyn show extreme flooding. Wow. Very sorry for all those affected, including anyone trying to get to QM2 to board, or having to go homewithout their luggage!

Totally agree that flours differ. All ingredients probably have regional differences. It's why it's often so hard to recreate dishes from abroad at home. Oh, wait, what was the point of this thread?

Thanks for your update, @Oahucruiser.

We were unimpressed with Crystal and Silversea. High end hotel food, in all honesty. The best food we've had on a cruise ship was on Hapag Lloyd. Also, very good caviar.

I don't think anyone realistically expects Michelin star cooking on a cruise ship. Totally different mindset in the kitchen. But the food can be delicious nevertheless.

We've done so-called luxury lines and been underwhelmed (Crystal, Silversea). All-inclusive just meant mediocre wines for free, and the butlers were indistinguishable from cabin stewards (we never have any special requests). The sea day lectures tended towards idiotic. Admittedly we've always been in the Grills on Cunard, but that offers the closest to a truly luxurious cruise experience we've found, given everything else available to see or do on board those beautiful ships. We have a Seabourn cruise coming up in December (totally itinerary driven) and I expect it to be comfortable; but given the relatively low cost of the cruise fares I don't expect it to be luxurious, at least according to my understanding of the word.

Lovely analysis @Pushpit. Methods, results, conclusions. Do/did you work in the sciences, by any chance?

So perfectly said I'll just quote it. Thank you, MrsPeel55.

The Ports forum on Cruise Critic is helpful for learning about ports that are mostly served by cruise ships. And then the usual online sites like Lonely Planet, TripAdvisor, and so on, for larger ports, will help you sort out what you'll want to see. The tour aggregator site Viator will probably have information about tours in your ports that would be very similar to the ship's excursions, and those have customer reviews.