Colin_Cameron

Braemar in the Corinth Canal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPkrmTELao8

6 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Just saw this Cruise Critic article posted earlier today.

 

Cunard Reaches First Milestone in Build of New Cruise Ship

 

Some interesting tidbits about the Queens Room and the theatre. Nothing about the promenade though.

"... don’t touch [the design of] the Queens Room." Is that the design of QM2's Queen's Room, or the QE/QV Queen's Room?

"Simon added that passengers have given the line the greenlight to change the new ship’s theatre." Is that a change from QM2's RCT or QE/QV's RCT? They are entirely different concepts.

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

 

I imagine it’s purely a matter of luck what you get.

I'm with exlondoner on this one. Your nights 1 & 2 could easily be (for example) nights 3 & 4 of mine and nights 8 & 9 of exlondoner's and ...  

I'm fairly sure it just depends at what point in the rotation through the options they are at.

Regards, Colin.

The theory is that if you have one booking reference it is one voyage and you get one allowance. If you have two booking references it is two voyages and you get two allowances (the world cruise being an exception to this).

However the theory and the practice don't always align. Whoever 'resets the clock' at the start of the second leg has been known to take the easy option and just give everyone a new allowance.

6 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Here's a link to a document describing the suggested attire for the themed balls.

 

https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/CU_dress_themes.pdf

 

Thanks bluemarble. That’s exactly the document I was looking for.

Colin.

There used to be a description and 'suggested attire' for the different themed balls somewhere on the Cunard FAQ and/or on here but I'm having trouble finding it. Anyone have a link?

The usual ones are OK and the likes of 'Valentine's Ball' and 'St Patrick's Day' are self explanatory. But what about the 'Mariner's Ball? And how do an 'African Ball' and 'South Pacific Ball' fit with a formal night?🤔

Colin.

Last month we docked at Quai Richard Waddington. There didn't appear to be any other options so guess that would be the norm.

According to Google maps that's a 3.2 Km (2 mile), 40 min walk to the cathedral where the shuttle dropped us. Having used the bus on the first day we walked part of the way on the second and saw the bits of the town closer to the dock.

Regards, Colin.

On 8/22/2019 at 10:33 AM, Victoria2 said:

In QG, which is the restaurant to which Clipperin referred, ...

Taking my most recent QG menus that I have to hand (QV) as an example; every night the cheese is listed as one of the dessert options, fish dishes are listed under the entrees, and soups and salads are listed under the appetisers. (On five of the nine nights the soups and salads were the appetiser options.)

Of course you could order more than one of these in the same way that you could order two mains, and that applies in Britannia as much as in Queens Grill. But as you and others have pointed out the limiting factor is not the ability to order but the ability to consume. That, I would suggest, is because the menus, and in particular the portion sizes, have been designed as a three course meal and not a four, five or six course meal.

Colin.

15 hours ago, ClipperinSFO said:

Do people even have a cheese course any more?

I'm afraid that the cheese 'course' has become an option of the desserts, in the same way that the soup 'course' and the salad 'course' have become options of the starters and the fish 'course' has become an option of the mains. And the inter-course palate cleansing sorbet has disappeared altogether. 😞

11 minutes ago, ClipperinSFO said:

So there is no longer a "Not Wanted on Voyage" tag that will put baggage into the hold for the duration of the voyage?  Am I dating myself?

Both those statements are correct😀(Unfortunately)

49 minutes ago, Gary999 said:

Here are my photos of the Britannia À Carte  I hope they are useful  

Garry,

In 30 years of sailing with Cunard, on 10 different ships, I have never seen that menu.

I was aware of what was on it, I’ve ordered some of the dishes on occasion, but I’ve never seen it in print.

Thank you, Colin.

1 hour ago, siforest65 said:

Old wives tale?

Yes. But that doesn't mean it doesn't work. 😁

We've done this if we've forgotten to pack the stopper and it seems to help.

5 hours ago, Underwatr said:

The two-nighter between Southampton and Hamburg (in either direction) is a bit problematic because Cunard feels it necessary to fit in a formal night although the majority of the passengers will be disembarking the next morning. I think that affects the number of people who make the effort.

I did a similar two-nighter a number of years ago and one night was listed as optional - formal/casual (this was in the days of the three tier dress code). It turned out to be one of the dressiest formal nights I’ve come across. 

Just follow the road that the Outlet Centre is on, Coble Dene, towards the river. Just before you go Splash! the ferry/cruise terminal is on your right and the usual berth is on your left (we did once dock right at the terminal).

About half a mile uphill towards the outlet, but that means once you’re laden with packages it’s downhill back to the ship.

Colin.

Yes, about half-a-mile. (But it is uphill)

Google maps, satellite view, actually has Balmoral in port.

Colin

10 hours ago, bluemarble said:

I don't know if it is unprecedented to have had three separate helicopter evacuations during two consecutive crossings, ...

A few years ago we had 3 (4 patients) within 30 hours.

Colin.

And just to add to the confusion...

In some ports the shuttles are not provided by Cunard but by the port authority, or city council, or chamber of commerce or whoever. And then there is usually no charge for anyone.

Colin.

Would be interested to see if these voyages look the same on the Australian or New Zealand version of the website.

I know that some of the 2020 equivalent voyages (on QE) didn't show up on the .co.uk site until the changes in the website.

Regards, Colin.

The internal colour scheme is different.

The large centrepiece wall panel in the Grand Lobby is a metal casting on QV and a marquetry panel on QE.

The Sports Deck has a canopy cover on QE and includes bowls and croquet.

The forward lifts all stop at the Commodore Club level on QV but on QE one of them goes up to the Sports Deck.

The staircase between the upper and lower levels in the Britannia Restaurant is different, QV has one either side of the entrance while QE has a central staircase.

The roof on the Winter Garden/Garden Lounge opens on QV but not on QE, and is a different shape.

I'm sure there are plenty of others but the two ships are definitely more alike than different.

Regards, Colin.

We had a similar experience recently. We were told by one company that there has been a big jump in claims against annual, world wide policies. And therefor a big jump in premiums.

We found it was cheaper to go with a single trip worldwide AND keep our annual policy but reduced to Europe only for other trips.

Only advice is to keep shopping around and explore all options.

Regards, Colin.

Hi,

Yes, free washing, drying and ironing.

Don't take your own powder. Due to the processing requirements for the waste water you have to use the powder provided. Also free.

You don't say which ship. On QV and QE the laundries are directly above each other but on QM2 they are scattered about the ship so the nearest one may be on the deck above or below you.

Regards, Colin.

Ha! All replying at the same time.

23 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

Anyone else wishing to comment, on their 'Recent' time changes , excluding overnight trips to Europe .

I suppose it depends on your definition of recent

We have had the clocks put forward mid-afternoon on one eastbound trip.

And I have heard of one captain who used to do it all in one fell swoop. Can't remember the details but it wasn't during the night. Either upon boarding, ie. you wound your watch forward five hours as you walked up the gangway, or I suspect, as the lines were let go.

And another time our clocks were changed three times in one night, forward, backwards and forwards again! Talk about loosing track of the time.

Colin.

On 1/8/2019 at 5:29 PM, Host Hattie said:

Does anyone have any photographs from 8th January 2004 ?

Not the 8th., but a dull and overcast 2nd Jan 2004

Anyone done one of the one night repositioning cruises?

Got friends who are booked on the Balmoral Rosyth-Newcastle later in the year and I was wondering what the dress code is likely to be. 

Or any other insights you'd care to share.

Thanks, Colin.

18 hours ago, Eurovisionfan said:

However, if there was a celebration of nations and how we can all work together, I'd definitely be first in the queue and would be happy to wave lots of flags.

It's called the crew show. 👍

Colin.