ToadOfToadHall

I had to cancel once (about 4 years ago now) and got an email confirmation within maybe an hour or so. I needed it to make an insurance claim.

8 minutes ago, brian1 said:

Cheers,I googled the menu,not posh,but pub grub.Suits us fine,Brian.

That's exactly how I would describe it as well, pub grub. It was more than fine for what we wanted and for the price you could not knock it.

This was the view from our hotel window. You could have walked to the QM2 but we were on the QV !

3 hours ago, brian1 said:

We always stay in Premier Inns nationwide.This year on 4th Sept,the Holiday Inn was cheaper and included breakfast and harbour view room £150.

We stayed there 2 years ago and looked out over the harbour. Breakfast was fine, we ate there in the evening as we could not be bothered to venture far and for the price it was fine. We even got a voucher for a drink each when we arrived. All in all it was fine.

9 hours ago, showingdiva said:

, the Ibis Southampton Centre, .   The Ibis was awful - I've stayed and worked in better Youth Hostels.

I stayed there last year for a night on my tod for work and found it okay. The rooms were very hot as the A/C was not working, but apart from that it was fine.

3 hours ago, newjoisey said:

post a photo of that cream colored silk suit 

1 hour ago, pinkpanther52 said:

 

18:00 is on the early side for me but starting to think 20:30 would be too late.

 

You have hit the nail on the head with that.

We have done both and I'd say 18:00 is way too early. Yes, 20:30 is a bit late, but given the option, we'd take being a bit later than we'd prefer as opposed to being a lot earlier that we'd prefer.

Oddly, the majority on here opt for late sitting, but the early sitting is the most popular it seems.

Stick with the late sitting would be my advice.

On 3/7/2019 at 9:00 PM, Bigmike911 said:

It is open for continuing passengers, but not for passengers joining the cruise at the port. 

But they don't ask you for your cabin number so how would they know ?

I do like a mixed grill !! Steak, gammon, lamb chop, sausage, chicken breast !

4 hours ago, njkruzer said:

We used Smith's from our hotel in Southampton to Heathrow.   Very nice driver and convenient.  Don't remember the cost but I thought it was reasonable. Definitely would recommend them.

2 years ago (going in reverse to you) was £67 + £7 for them to park at Heathrow. 

A train is about £50 each, and you of course you need to first get on the tube and then get a taxi from Southampton station to your hotel. So a taxi all the way was cheaper, quicker and more convenient than the train.  

9 hours ago, nancynana9950 said:

Hello Mr Toad. I see you are from Chester. We will be staying a few days with friends who live in Crewe. When we leave Crewe we plan on taking a ferry to Dublin. Does the train from Chester go to Holyhead? There is a ferry from Liverpool but it is much longer than the one from Holyhead. I think our friends would drive us to either Chester or Liverpool. We are looking forward to seeing this part of the UK with our friends. Thanks for any information. 

Hello Nancy

Yes, I am indeed from Chester. There are direct trains from Chester to Holyhead (I've never been on it, but my wife went on it to Dublin a few years ago). Also, the train from Crewe to Chester is very good, it takes under 25 minutes and has no stops in between,  but if you were to drive it would be an hour or so.

Also, there are direct trains from Crewe all the way to Holyhead, which go via Chester. This is always the train that starts from London Euston. If you get on that train at Crewe, you need to make sure you sit in the correct half of the train. The reason is that this train is split in two at Chester; half the train carries on to Holyhead and the other half does not go anywhere. But don't worry because it always says which half to get on at Crewe and they make a lot of announcements as well. And of course once on board you can just move to the correct section of the train. Even if you were still in the wrong section when you arrive at Chester, there is still plenty of time to get off, then they split the train, and re-board the bit of the train that's left. Again, they make announcements telling people not to worry !

Toad

On 2/6/2019 at 7:10 PM, canoncruiser said:

I find the HOLIDAY INN overlooking the port to be very clean and efficient. I know there are other places folks like but the place is comfy, close, reasonable and they lay on a decent breakfast. 

We stayed there on our last cruise.  I'd say it was fine for what we paid (about £120 for bed and breakfast (but I got it for nothing with my loyalty points)). A voucher for a drink when we arrived, they booked our taxi for the morning, breakfast was fine and we ate there in the evening as we did not want to venture out. 

I'd stay there again.

On 2/5/2019 at 6:27 PM, Hawaii136 said:

For 150 pounds we have booked smiths airport car service. Door to door service from exiting ship direct to our London hotel.

We used them to take us from Heathrow to our hotel in Southampton before our last cruise. They were very good, I would certainly recommend them.

4 hours ago, airugo said:

I know this is a guessing game but what is weather on QM2 during late April?  Is it warm enough for shorts or too cold.

I know a lot of people regard the QM2 as very exclusive, but I don't think it's got its own climate !

11 hours ago, airugo said:

I will be doing a transatlantic cruise in April.  It seems people say that you can dress in jeans in the AM  then dress smart casual for tea and finally dress for dinner.  Will I need to change clothes 3 times a day?

 

That's only two changes a day.

Unless you count getting dressed in the morning as a change of clothes !!!

5 hours ago, Camgirl said:

Sometimes I wonder if I cruise with the same Cunard as other posters! 

 

So do I.

5 hours ago, Ubarrow said:

 I suspect that the ingredients are cheaper and the process has been industrialised in a way that has led to a blandness.

Last year on the QV, Mrs Toad made this very same observation about Afternoon Tea.

Previously, sandwich fillings were things like slices of meat (ham, beef mainly), cheese (but just cheese), and maybe things like prawns. But last year the fillings were mainly "mush". So cheese was bulked out with mayonnaise. The same was true for generic seafood, i.e. a mushy paste that tasted somewhat of fish. I can't recall being offered a ham or beef sandwich, or if I was, it was very rare.

And the same goes for the cakes and pastries. Before they were many more individually made items, but last time they were mainly cakes that are made in a large tray and then sliced into individual portions.   

So this means that the cost the ingredients is reduced as well as the time taken to prepare the food, hence a cost in labour.

The trouble, as has been said above, the bean counters shave a few pennies here and a few there, until your reach a point where you push something over the edge. In this case, Afternoon Tea has been cut back so much that it's not worth bothering with anymore.

This is what you need:

11 minutes ago, reader135 said:

I didn't know you could ask them to store things.  This is our first time on Cunard, thanks.  

Either do I, it's just a guess actually. But I can't see why they wouldn't as a case is not that big a box.

When you board, could you not just them to store it for you ? You have said you want to take it home anyway.

On 10/29/2018 at 11:34 PM, fizzy1 said:

Agree. No app either !! So much better on the app

I use access the site's website on my phone's browser and it looks pretty much like the full website. 

16 hours ago, BellaAnna said:

Exactly!  I use to come to the board quite frequently and enjoyed it.  Now it is so sleepy here I hardly bother.

what a great loss to our Cunard family!

That does certainly appear to be true. The level of posting has declined massively.

Did people know it was going to be updated and hence unavailable ? For me, I visited the day after the change started and thought it very odd there were no new posts. I came back sometime later and again found no new posts. What is going on here I thought ? I visited a few more times over the next few days and concluded something was up. Finally I spotted something that alluded to one forum being open and found a thread about the updates. 

So I wonder if others found no new posts, and decided to venture else where and have just not returned ?

3 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

Are there any interesting pubs or restaurants that our fellow Cruise Critic folks love visiting in Southampton?

 

The Duke of Wellington (close to the Holiday Inn) is a very good pub. A had a cracking ribeye when I was there a few months ago for work. 

1 hour ago, VintageCCG said:

My friends in Portsmouth informed me that 10 hours in Southampton is about 8 more than is necessary ...

 

No, they are wrong there. 10 hours in Southampton is 10 hours too long.

In January yes, in November then probably not. 

1 hour ago, Ray66 said:

The change in itinerary might be due to Storm Adrian which is due to hit the UK from Europe.

 

Finally I get a storm named after me !