glojo

I am certainly not a tree hugging, left wing politically correct yah, yah but I do respect the opinions of those that disagree with my post.

Just checked the UK Government site and the minimum wage in 2021 was £8.91p per hour.  Or approximately £356 per 40hr week

We are all different.  We all make decisions and most of us make decisions that others might not agree with.  Yes, I served in the navy for 12 years but quit when I got married.  my very own personal choice. My thoughts are we are either 'married' to the navy, or married to our wife and family.  My personal thoughts, my personal decision. (53yrs of a very happy marriage) I 100% accept that others will disagree with this type of decision.  Respect to those that opted for a career in the navy.  I was lucky and could earn as much ashore as I could afloat. Clearly these agency workers are not as fortunate.

There is talk about indians earning a salary working on a ship that stands them in good sted when they get leave to return to their own country.  fair point but...  Does that make it right?  they have no employment protection, no sick pay, and I just could not believe that after working for one agency (and one cruise line) for thirty years they were simply cast adrift.  My opinion and yet again, respect to those that disagree... 

Have those that disagreed have pensions?  is it a case of, "I'm alright jack!"  It does rather smack of the good olde days of the empire with our own punkhawallah  🙂

Apologies to those that disagree but in my goody two shoes world it is wrong  But please, let's not insult folks that have differing opinions.

Gratuities to me is a posh word for passengers subsidising agency staff pay 

Tipping is now more important than ever!!

A topic raised by one of the editors of Cruise Critic

I accept that tipping is a hot chesnut with both sides of the debate feeling they are right but..

Surely an editor should really be trying to improve the standard wage of those employees hired by agencies that treat their workers like cattle!!!  Why should tipping be more important now??

I say this because I have personal experience of knowing an excellent stewardess who had served on Cunard ships for thirty years and she was about to retire.

What pension will you get I naïvely asked?  We are all aware of the extraordinarily long hours they work and whether we agree or not with tipping, they do rely on tips\gratuities to make up their wage.  But what about a pension or even a farewell gift from the agency??

"There's the door close it on the way out!!!!"  Nothing... Zilch.  Not even a thank you and even though they work for a specific cruise line, that counts for nothing.

My point to this editor is should they not be vigorously campaigning for better pay for these agency workers??  Let's all try to shame the cruise industry into paying a fair days pay for a fair days work.  Campaign for the cruise industry to register with countries that support a minimum wage and employee protection legislation.  Disregard the rubbish about registering with certain countries so that a captain can perform weddings!!  Poppycock.

Let's see and hear the staff of this site getting vocal about the pay of the extremely hardworking members of the crew. do NOT put the onus on passengers to subsidise their poor pay, NO........  Let us see Carnival and EVERY other cruise line take on their books every crew member serving on their ships.

Let us put the onus on the cruise line to pay these workers a decent wage instead of relying on passengers to subsidise the wages of these dedicated, hard working agency workers.

Suffice it to say I disagree with the point raised by CruiseCritic

regards

John     

On 11/19/2021 at 12:49 PM, nosapphire said:

I suspect that this fairly recent clause is required by their insurance underwriters - whether or not it will be enforced I have no idea - but if it is an insurance requirement, I expect to see this clause added to more and more cruise lines.

I went and had a look on Cunard and P&O websites (never been on Cunard, I like P&O)

It is interesting that these lines both say that assistance will be offered when it is safe to do so (and then give a long list of ports with high tidal ranges where wheelchair users should not go ashore) but Saga have gone the other way by making it clear that they will not do so at all (although I bet the crew do still assist).

The other systems you describe in the dining rooms, lounges etc - I have seen all of this on Saga, so that should not be any different for you.

Maybe this, added to the complaints about the volume and constancy of "muzack" on the new ships, are an indication that Saga are aiming at a totally different market nowadays.

 

 

Hi Nosapphire,

Well done for checking other cruise lines and I can only talk about my experience with Cunard regarding ports with high tidal ranges.  

The ship always made announcements regarding ports where the tides were exceptionally high.  The announcement gave the times you could go ashore, along with times you had to return.

Borderline examples would see the use of a caterpillar type vehicle (rubber tracks as opposed to tyres, like a tank 🙂 )  This vehicle had a platform that kept the wheelchair horizontal and it could navigate a steep gangway (not my choice of transport)

Like folks are suggesting, I agree that once on the ship, the crew may well be exemplary but...  

when you are clearly told: 

Assistance that is not offered:

Carriage of passengers up and down gangways in ports other than embarkation and disembarkation ports.

This is the policy of SAGA and is it wise to ignore this clear information.  Truth be told my wife and I were going to book the February Caribbean Cruise but we opted to take our money elsewhere.  A shame as the ships look nice, the service sounds good but this 'discrimination' is not to my liking.

Hi nosapphire

Thank you for the very constructive reply and I certainly do not disagree with your valid points.

SAGA are being untruthful regarding their literature or in plain English, they are lying...  Their crew do NOT assist wheelchair users to board their ships at the point of embarkation.

I do not disagree with you about your remarks regarding job description, but perhaps SAGA might want to think about what other cruise lines do to allow wheelchair users to go ashore.

Onboard Cunard\Princess ships whilst on the cruise

When approaching the gangway, the security staff will usually see us approaching, they will then call to a crew member who is just stood by the gangway.  That person will come across and hey presto, off we go.  

I have NEVER had a crew member push us further than the gangway.  We have never asked for that, never expected it, nor do we ever need it.

In my heart, I agree with you that the crew on SAGA ships MIGHT assist wheelchair users BUT...... Is it sensible for ANYONE to ignore the clear statement by SAGA that they WILL NOT assist wheelchair users to leave the ship, and more important to board the ship whilst on their cruise.

I thought my question to them about tides etc was a very valid one, but their response speaks volumes about their attitude toward wheelchair users:

For our ports of call, our crew are aware of water levels and
accessibility, if they are going to be different on your return to ship, we
would be able to advise you of this before you decide to go ashore,
allowing you to make an informed decision.

100% agree with you regarding tenders, no way could I board one and no way would I expect the crew to even attempt this...  What happens in an emergency??  We go on a cruise with our eyes wide open!!

Coach tours.... Again, unless there is a coach adapted to take wheelchairs then tough, we 100% accept that. 

Folks have to make there own decisions regarding SAGA, just be aware of the lies in their literature. perhaps we might want to take with a pinch of salt anything else they might print.

Some folks might feel I am exaggerating the attitude of SAGA and that would be a fair comment so here we have the link

https://travel.saga.co.uk/accessibility-and-support/saga-cruises.aspx

The relevant paragraph and the large bold type is what you will see on their site

Assistance that is not offered:

• Carriage of passengers up and down gangways in ports other than embarkation and disembarkation ports.

Join us on a cruise but do NOT expect to leave the ship until you disembark!!!

What a difference between cruise lines..

We have sailed multiple times with Cunard so I will only talk about our experience with that cruise line.

Approaching the main restaurant.  One of our waiters would keep their eyes open for our chariot, and as we approached the doors the waiter would take over the helm.  We would pass by all the other waiters standing at the door and I would ALWAYS say hello to them and this became just one of our many very happy memories.  The waiter would take me to our table, the second waiter would then appear with my tray and cutlery.  They would always have a welcome grin and would always treat us with respect.  Indeed the maitre d' made a point of cutting up my meat for me.  Compare that attitude with SAGA.

I have attached an image of myself and my wife to highlight the size of my chair and to point out that I might not be overweight??  Note how we are ashore and this picture was taken by an off-duty crewmember who had joined us briefly for a chat.

For the life of me I still do not get what folks are saying.

Of course a see-saw pivots in the middle but really??  What on earth are we talking about?

If ANYONE were to believe this silly suggestion, if the ship's bow rises 30ft, then a very simple question.  How far does the stern travel under water?  Simple question and for those that still insist the ship pivots on the centre line... If the bow rises 30ft, does the stern go underwater 30ft?? 

No waffling, no throwing insults, a simple question.  If the stern does not drop by an equal amount, then unless the ship is hinged!!!!!  The pivot line is NOT halfway down the length of the ship.... Simple

I have always booked disabled cabins on either the Queen Elizabeth or the Queen Victoria..  These are balcony cabins roughly on the outboard centreline of the ship and I have nothing but praise for the stability of these vessels.  On one World cruise crossing the North Atlantic, the weather was so rough we were delayed getting to New York.  Me being interested in the ship's movement, I had a very accurate spirit level type app the only time the ship rolled more than two degrees was in the South China Sea when we were ordered by the Chinese to turn the ship about 

I think the best advice I have read here is for you to check the width of the scooter, then leave enough room to be able to turn the thing as you enter the cabin, and then....... CONFIRM with the ship the door width of the actual cabin.  Taking the word of 'someone' on the Internet might not be the best way forward 🙂

There is no way anyone should be allowed to park their scooter in the passageway and I accept you would never do this. 🙂.

My wife and I were thinking about taking a cruise on one of the new Saga ships, but on reading their online literature, warning bells rung.

This literature quite clearly states that the crew only assist wheelchair user up and down the gangway at the ports of embarkation and disembarkation??

I felt sure this was a typing error, but no, I had it confirmed by SAGA that this was their policy because of 'HR'????  Unbelievable.

I then asked what I thought was a simple question.  "What if when we go ashore the angle of the gangway is not too steep, but when we return we cannot negotiate the gangway, WILL YOU LEAVE US ON THE JETTY?"

Answer, "Saga policy is we only offer assistance at the port of embarkation\disembarkation"

I then pointed out that their claim was factually incorrect, which did not go down too well, but those of us that are wheelchair bound will confirm the following.....

When embarking, at the port terminal, we are shown where the waiting area is.  We are then met by a port wheelchair assistant, then off we go through the admin area, then wheeled onto the ship, and up to our cabin.  A brilliant and much appreciated service, but is this as per the literature, or is it done by the staff at the port?  I dislike intensely being either lied to, or deliberately given false information!

I cannot comment about SAGA disembarkation but our experience has been, we are given an area on the ship where we are to muster.  We wait at that location for a port wheelchair assistant to take us off the ship.  We are then wheeled into the terminal to locate our luggage and then the wheelchair assistant has always wheeled me to our vehicle.  Is this possibly similar to what takes place with SAGA? 

I am not daft and accept that the crew MIGHT indeed help wheelchair users on and off the ship during the cruise.  BUT.......  If the literature states it is only available on embarkation\disembarkation, then thanks, but no thanks.  We are not prepared to take that chance.

We usually cruise with Cunard, I am approximately 16stone and the crew always have a smile when they push me up the gangway.  We all laugh about my heavy, reclining wheelchair and not once has any member of the crew shied away from us as we approach, indeed quite the opposite, they walk forward to meet us and we all share a laugh or two.  If I dare to try and assist the crew as we make our way up the gangway, I am very quickly told off (in a polite manner)

What a difference in cruise lines.

To SAGA, I say, SHAME ON YOU    

Here we go again and yes I partially agree with what getting older is saying and if we are in really rough weather go as far frrd as we can and as we walk it is like we are at a funfair.  As the ship goes up, it is quite difficult to walk as our legs appear to get heavier and then as the ship drops, we start possibly grinning as it feels weird as our legs get lighter.  Go right to the stern and walk, yes there might be the slightest and I mean the slightest of movement up and down but I have NEVER experienced anything to compare to being right at the front of the ship (below decks)

Hands up all those that have experienced the whole stern going under water

Hands up all those that have experienced the front section of the ship being under water and NOT just spray, solid green water!!  Yup me more times than I can recall

We have seen that image of the goat on a see-saw and if we are to believe our 'experts' then this is how the ship behaves in rough weather...  The bow goes up and the stern goes down by an equal amount!!

That is all I am talking about, the pitch of the ship, our experts say as the bow goes up the stern goes down.

Hands up all those passengers that have been eating in the main restaurant on a Vista class ship and that restaurant goes under water!!!

Hands up all those that have been on a Vista class ship and solid green water has reached the upper deck level with that upper deck superstructure.....  Yup, please put them down

Look at the attached image where the ship has just a 2.5 degree pitch and I have rotated it from the centre line!!  Nuff said.

But yes, I guess all those that say the centre has its axis amidships are indeed correct and the stern regularly goes under water 

Here I go again

Look at the attached image and lets think about this ship crossing an ocean at say 10 knots.

It steams toward a 30ft wave.  Does the front of this ship rise by 30ft and as all you folks are suggesting, the stern will drop by 30ft because the axis is in the centre of this vessel

I am saying the axis on these huge very modern cruise ships for the pitching is at the rear of the ship and there is very little up and down movement.  Are the most luxurious suites at the stern for marketing purposes, are the main restaurants at the stern for marketing purposes 

That see-saw image says more about the poster but hey ho perhaps only one wave balances a 100,000 ton ship.  

Yes I am in the minority of one but hey ho

This is not about who can circum navigate the World more time s than anyone else but I guess I trump you.  

I have done it on small ships of 2000 tons and no stabilising equipment, 5000 tons with simple by todays standards stabilising equipment and then onto modern cruise ships with their highly sophisticated stabilisation technology.

You  talk about stabilisers being around for 500yrs which is obviously in the days of sail and whilst I served alongside Lord Nelson, that was only 200 years ago but what a pity that when built the RMS Queen Mary or indeed RMS Queen Elizabeth did not have stabilisers but perhaps they were indeed over 500 years old  (apologies for my banter)

I measured the degree of roll in those hurricane force winds with an app that was deadly accurate but of course the master was making our crossing as comfortable as possible and yes modern cruise ships are really a box with a very short bow, not good for handling rough weather at any sort of speed and yes, the Queen Mary 2 is the exception 

SS Oriana, SS Canberra and SS Uganda are ships of a different era and PLEASE accept I am NOT suggesting for one millisecond that those fine ships would be as stable as the HUGE, modern cruise ships of 100,000 tons and above.

Just checked Canberra and she was just 45,000 tons but a nice ocean going liner, the RMS Queen Mary was larger at 80000 tons and boy did she roll i am not talking about those ships.

I agree with your very valid point about paying little or no creed to remarks made about the passengers  comments regarding weather but the ship was slamming into the huge troughs of VERY large waves which caused 'a degree' of shuddering with some passengers getting distressed.  The master of the ship I am proud to say was captain Wells, a captain I hold in the HIGHEST of regard, a master mariner in every sense of the word.  We were due to cross the Atlantic by the Northern route but in his opinion it would not be advisable and off we went to the southern route and whilst it delayed us by 24hrs, he did an excellent job of navigating those awful seas but compared to my experiences in the Artic, those seas did not compare and yes I have seen the front quarter of a tanker being lifted out of the sea such was the weather, but did that tanker have a bulbous bow?  🙂  Sorry my humour again

The excellent reference book is talking about numerous aspects of loading the ship, liquids etc etc etc

You are continually talking at cross purposes and I cannot understand why.  

Tell me in rough weather when the bow of a ship, or indeed the front of the ship leaves the water.  

Is this by magic?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am NOT talking about a bulbous bow which is an excellent invention and all credit to that chap that thought of it.

Look at this bulbous bow that leaves the water as the ship moves through the sea

Tell me in simple words why the front of the ship rises and yes, we all accept there are troughs in waves but what is lifting it 

Now look at the stern....  Is that going under water or is it fairly smooth?

Cruise ships have stabilisation equipment that leavers me amazed at their stability but the up and down movement is not so easy to control.

Just use that boot line as a reference and that is by no means what I would term as rough weather and I served on ships of less than 2000 tons and trust me in rough weather they did indeed go up and down 🙂

Oh and the old Queen Mary used to roll terribly although did she have modifications?  I only ever saw her once crossing the Atlantic at a speed we could not match 🙂 but that was from a different era

16 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

You have been provided an excellent reference publication by a professional Deck Officer, who has studied this subject extensively for passing Certificates of Competency. The book written by Captain Derrett is considered the most authoritative publication for this subject matter.

 

To respond to some of your comments.

 

The flattening of a wave at the bow is not flattened by thousands of tons of ship, but by the design of the bulbous bow. Elementary computational fluid dynamics state that the bow creates an almost equal and opposing wave, which cancels the original wave. This equalises the wave action along the hull.

 

 

 

 

I fear that you are missing my point.

When the ship is chugging along into a head sea at maybe 10 - 14kntsThe 14ft  - 20ft wave it steams into will try to lift the front of the ship including your bulbous bow.

With the wave trying to lift the ship, the weight of the ship as it moves over this wave will displace the water or try to flatten it.  I am not talking about a bow wave which we all accept the bulbous bow works wonders with.  

Pictures paint a thousand words and as I said in my first post, look at the QE2 when she had her last crossing of the Atlantic.  look at her boot line and if you are trying to tell me a bulbous bow flattens a wave so there is no pitching then we are clearly going to disagree

Ah, but have we the Golden Rule book for 'Uckers?' 🙂

Thank you flatbush for that excellent link and we all accept that if you are on a 250ft yacht and at the top of a mast, boy will you roll if no sails are hoisted and there is a heavy sea.  The diagram confirms what I am saying about the stern having the least 'up and down movement' 

Most cruisers have always tended to say the middle of the ship is the most stable and of course if you are at the stern and low down, I guess that would be the most stable, but boy would it be noisey and possibly fraught with lots of vibration.

Everyone appears to think I am talking about rolling but a modern cruise ship has amazing technology that keeps it upright.  We sometimes see horrific pictures where the cruise ship has suffered mechanical issues but by crikey apart from that they do not roll and by do not roll I am saying apart from an emergency turn, on a World cruise and going through huirricane force winds\seas our Vista class cruise ship never rolled more than 1.5 degrees but yes during our passage trying to avoid the actual hurricane, passengers were all swearing the sea state was the roughest they had experienced.

My main point has always been about where the ship's 'fulcrum' is when pitching or going up and down.  A number of posts are talking about a ship rolling......  Nope, that is not what I am talking about. 

Up..........  and down......  Up and down movement 🙂    I am saying the part of the ship that rises up and goes down the least is at the stern and not as some folks insist amidship.     

13 minutes ago, Greg4502 said:

It is fact. Simple wat to see. Hold a pencil between your forefinger and thumb. Now move the pencil so the lead moves up and down. You can see the movement, at your fingers, is less. Same with the rolling motion. Stand a piece of paper on it edge. Move the top of the paper side to side, with the paper still on the table. The top of the paper, is the top of the ship. There is less movement at the bottom than the top.  

Unfortunately I do not really understand, are you talking about the ship's rolling movement?

We crossed the Atlantic in the middle of January on the Queen Elizabeth, we had a balcony cabin midships deck 7 which for accommodation is the second highest deck, deck 8 being the highest.

Me being me, I had a very accurate spirit level app on my mobile phone, the Queen Elizabeth is not the largest of cruise ships but during this awful weather, the most we rolled was 1.5 degrees and no, that is not a typo.  The ship hardly rolled but we were listening to guest saying how this was the worse weather they had experienced in 20 years of cruising, the restaurants were practically empty and note how they are all at the stern.

, but!!

The sensation of movement from the front two thirds of the ship are mainly the ship shuddering!!  By shuddering I am talking about how the bow of the ship really digs in causing it to slow down.   I used to smile as my wife would hold onto the handrails in the corridors, this movement can most definitely be disconcerting along with the rise and fall of the ship but unless the ship has a power failure or for reasons best known to the captain, the ship steams broadside to oncoming seas or maybe has problems with its stabilisation equipment.

To best highlight the lack of rolling movement, I have a very large wheelchair and whilst in the restaurant or on the upper deck, I sadly never applied the brakes......  Yup, one day up in the buffet the ship did a very sharp, hard turn and off down the buffet I went 🙂  It was extremely funny as the movement of my chair was very slow and we all had a laugh, but yes, crockery was broken and items did fall onto the floor but in all the rough weather, never once did anything like this happen.   

When we all next go on a cruise, get one of these apps and be amazed at the lack of roll motion . 

Totally agree with you about the ship pivots at a set point and let's look at what we both agree upon.

Let us imagine a 14ft wave lifts the bow of a ship, when the bow is lifted, where is the pivotal point?

A simple question with a simple answer.

The pivotal point is at the back or the stern

I can hear folks screaming that a ship would behave like a see-saw and as this 14ft wave reaches the middle of the ship, UP comes the stern.

I am clearly in the minority because I say this is NOT the case.

This 14ft wave lifts the bow, the ship moves forward and the thousands upon thousands of tons of ships weight slowly squashes this wave and it get flatter and flatter, BUT, way way before this flattened wave gets anywhere near a third of the way along the ship, another 14ft wave might be lifting the bow and again this waves moves down the ship and slowly gets squashed until by the time it reaches the stern, it will be a slight swell.

To highlight this, go to the stern on a rough day and look at how clam that water is.

Another example, if warships are in a battle group in really rough weather, the largest ships cuts through the waves with the smaller ships taking station line astern.

If we doubt what I am saying there are plenty of youtube clips showing the old QE2 in company with a modern Cunard ship and they are crossing the Atlantic in storm force winds.  You will see the bow of the QE2 lifting high up into the air, the next minute dropping right down into the water.  Then look at the white line going down the side of the ship.  You can see the shops movement quite clearly and the only location where there is minimal movement is the stern.  That rises or lowers at most just a few feet compared to midships where it is far greater.

Now, I am not saying the stern might be the most comfortable, you might have a cabin that picks up a lot of vibration but how many modern cruise ships have their most expensive suites at the stern?    

If we doubt what I say, simply put a cardboasrd box in a bath and then with a rod, lift the front of the box as high as you want and see if the stern or back of the box goes under water

I need someone to explain to me why a cabin located in the middle area of the ship has less up and down movement than cabins located at the stern?   I simply do not understand why this is accepted as fact :(

Apologies for asking a question that most folks simply accept as fact

Televisions are new but not interactive unfortunately.

Hi Glojo,

This is exciting for you.well done

Did we not meet on the 2014 world cruise? ;)

Might have done, might not have done :) :) Did we have fun, or did we have fun :)

 

Thanks for that nice email and we have replied.

Just booked the full 2019 World Cruise on the Queen Victoria.

I am trying to read about the recent upgrades during her short refit. Inter-active televisions?? Tea and coffee in the cabins :)

Would it not be more relaxing to just accept that if an area was deemed unsuitable, the cruise ship would simply reroute, why would the cruise be canceled? I like to think that perhaps no itinerary is carved in stone?

The deed is done..

On the QM2 I see there are just THREE Britannia class adapted balcony cabins and guess what? They are right at the stern of this very large/long ship. Great if I want to stay at the back of that beast, but wheeling my chair over thick carpeting is not easy. Wheeling it the length of that ship a couple of times a day with my spinal injury will be a challenge I would soon get tired of.

THREE cabins speaks volumes regarding who they want and do not want on that vessel and I guess I will stick to the two smaller ships that offer FAR, far more adapted Britannia Balcony cabins and far superior balconies.

Looks like these smaller ships have THIRTEEN Britannia balcony cabins. Nuff said on that subject and I fear some love affairs just take longer to develop than others and for me and my better half, it is the Queen Victoria for our cruise.

Hi, John!

 

Glad to hear you are planning another world voyage!

 

Haven't been on either Mary or Victoria so I can't help you there but.... Does one of the itineraries appeal more than the other? Do you want to go around the world again or stick with mainly the Eastern Hemisphere?

 

Give my regards to Gloria!

 

Kathi

What a very pleasant surprise to hear from you, I was going to see if I could find our previous roll call and see who is still above terra firma :)

Wise words as usual and as you know, I am extremely lucky to have an amazing wife, the itinerary of any cruise is down to her and she is happy to simply start sailing the high seas again.

Do you think your first cruise influences any future decisions you make when selecting a cruise?

As you know, our very first dip into the ocean, was without a shadow of a doubt the most amazing experience, the people we met were amazing, the experiences we had will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

We tried cruising with Princess, enough said and next month we are off to Mykonos... Sadly, even though we booked this holiday over 12 months ago, the hens teeth were nowhere to be found and we ended up with an adapted cabin on eight deck (the last one once more)

Back on topic.. If we cannot find a suitable adapted cabin on the Queen Mary, then I feel it will be the Queen Vic.

I have never sailed on the Queen Elizabeth, but have taken three long cruises on Queen Victoria, and a lot more on Queen Mary 2. Given a choice I will now only take Queen Mary2, She is big enough that you never seem to get a crowded feeling and her cabins are nicer and a bit more spacious compared to QV. The one thing I really like about QV however is the Royal Court Theatre.

Thank you for the reply and since writing my post I have watched some impressive video clips of the 'short' refit this ship has just had. I say 'short' purely because of the time she has been out of service but during this short peroid she has had some very impressive improvements.

If we were taking a shorter cruise (magic play on words which Kathi might spot), then maybe I would consider a more expensive cabin. I take onboard what both your good self, and giddy pea person has said and whilst the cabins might be bigger on the Queen Mary (I have no idea if this is the case). I am far, far more interested in balcony size.

I am disabled and the two smaller ships offer some very sympathetic cabins which put most other ships, companies to shame. These adapted cabins are only just and I say this with a straight face, they are just slightly more common than hen's teeth. We are still in the month of September 2017 and yet there is only one cabin left on the Queen Victoria which I\we would want.

I am studying the itineraries but there is not that much to choose between the two ships but so far, the amazing balcony on the smaller vessel is trumping all else.

I am now thinking about the World Cruise in 2019, Queen Mary or the Queen Victoria? What a shame there is no Queen Elizabeth but variety is the spice or should that be the sauce of life?

The Queen Mary is an acquired taste and at the moment that taste may not have been acquired, but folks might be able to convince me. As we might recall. my wife and I started our cruising with a World Cruise and here we are again thinking about another, decisions decisions..

.

For those of you that have sailed on the two smaller ships, what attracts you to one rather than maybe the other? I accept the rear ends are different, but would you stick with one or are we all happy to simply sail with Cunard?

I need to very quickly make up my mind as believe it or not, on the Queen Victoria there is just ONE cabin left of the type we want.