DanielleFaye

15 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Also, I might possibly employ a different TA the next time.

Ha ha it's just the agent/contact/"Cruise Vacation Planner" assigned to me by Cunard which I thought would work smoothly - it worked pretty smoothly on Carnival.   Not even sure how I'd get a different one of those.  And she is nice, and maybe she's working hard and just not getting answers herself.  🤔

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

2. I would pursue your TA over this. I’m sure it will be fine, but I would want to be sure before I step on board. Incidentally, why isn’t s/he chasing up your flights for you? Isn’t that what TAs are for?

 

Remember you are going to have a great time, so stop worrying. If worrying is required, your TA is paid to do it.

Unfortunately I've asked her like three times to get me something official on the drinks and she promises and it keeps just...not happening. Asked about the flights on Monday and no follow up yet, don't know if I'm expecting too much.  She's very nice and promises to do things when I talk to her but then just radio silence until I call again.  I don't want to come off like a nag but it's a little frustrating.  I know I'm just a little overly nervous so I'm worried that's coloring my expectations.

Hi I'm mostly managing my anxiety about my upcoming trip (38 days!) but info gathering helps calm me momentarily so -

Big worries:

1.  My flight through cunard air isn't ticketed yet, according to the airlines, is that anything to get on their case about since it's supposed to be at 45 days?

2.  Still can't get that "special services" statement out of my cunard agent, but she says that if I bring along the email where she said she'd applied my drinks/gratuitites promo to my bookings it should be fine (email also has a note about the system being glitchy at the time).  That likely true or is she just putting me off?

More fun stuff:

3.  Husband likes prime rib as his choice of steak, does that show up on the rotating menu and is it best to just get it then, or is that something we could special order in the queen's grill?  

4.  Are the sodas for the in room mini bar coke or pepsi products or kind of what you like?  Are they the kind from the UK with less sugar by default?  I don't tolerate artificial sweeteners well.

5.  Do the "less sugar" desserts just have less sugar or do they use artificial sweeteners?

6.  Any classes like fencing or watercolor that I might want to plan to look out for? 

7.  We're on back to back bookings - can we schedule activities for our second sailing during our first?

8: Oh yeah one more - what kind of canapes do they bring to the room?  Can you ask for specific things?

Thank you!  I appreciate all the knowledge people have been sharing!

Well called my travel agent to ask some questions, used the keywords, got sent the same standard booking confirmation twice that didn't show any promos.  Sent it back saying "hey this doesn't have the info" and didn't get a new response yet.  🤔

Will try again Friday I guess, got a question to ask about insurance.

Any email address to I dunno, lightly escalate if I can't get that info before embarkation?  Would the standard number also be able to send it?  If the promo somehow got lost off my reservation is there any way to tell besides an email that says I should have it?

11 minutes ago, kinshasa said:

we are doing a similar journey in November with the same issue Cunard has told us that we will be tested on board (for a fee) two days before the stop in Southampton.

 

But why not get off and see the area?  Salisbury and Portsmouth are just a short distance away

Do you know how much the fee is?

My husband likes being on the boat and thought it might be nice to stay and avoid any stress of disembarkation and embarkation again.   Especially since we have the same stateroom.

I have booked two back to back itineraries on the QM2 M239 departing Dec 10th

and a crossing M240 departing Dec 15th.  We're in the same class, same stateroom, but the two weren't able to be booked as one voyage.

The first does not require supervised covid testing, the second does and the testing should be done within 2 days of departing.

We were actually hoping to just stay on the ship in Southampton that day and relax and enjoy the novelty.  But now I'm a bit concerned.  Can I test onboard?  Will they want us to disembark and find a testing location?  We were planning to just test on the 9th would that just be fine?  Maybe I'm overthinking things again. 

We're on a Cunard cruise that stops in Le Havre and we were thinking of taking the train to Rouen for the Christmas market and to see some of the architecture.  It looked like the train made good time or am I missing something?  Is it pretty easy to navigate from the cruise terminal to the train station and then to the Christmas Market area and back?

Are there public restrooms in the market area?  Even just portable ones for the festival.  

Do the Christmas markets tend to take credit cards, or should we expect to pay cash?  At the art fairs around here most take credit cards but sometimes booths are still cash only.

I'm on that cruise as well, our current plan was to take along some self-test kits just in case, anyway.  Hold them in the carryon luggage.  But we figure things might change.  Hard not to be nervous!

I've done the excursion that Carnival offers this March and enjoyed it.  They use a larger boat which I sometimes like because I get seasick.  Viz was poor that day so they didn't take the beginner divers out.  There were I think...six to eight certified divers and they took us in groups of four.  I brought my own regulator on the dive and they mouthwashed it for me which was kind of weird but I had no other problems with equipment.  

I've also done a self excursion with a private guide with Manta https://www.mantacabo.com/  and they were on a smaller boat if you like that sort of thing.  It's a short walk to their shop from the boat but nothing too strenuous.  They were easy to communicate with via email. 

18 hours ago, tv24 said:

Mr. B is correct.  On our last crossing, we had a complimentary drinks package as a perk in our PG booking, but we could not see it on any of the info received from Cunard.  However our TA could see all perks, including drinks, on the booking that he views on line, and he sent me a screenshot.  Once on board, the Grills Concierge confirmed it all.  Annoying, but it worked out.

Thank you, sounds like this is nothing uncommon and the request for verification should be easy enough.   

I prefer more of a transparent self-service website.  😄 

1 hour ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

That's standard airline/TSA format. Nothing to fret about. 

Oh I usually don't see that on the airline side.  Just on the boarding passes maybe.  

They just made such a deal on the phone of confirming the names and you hear such horror stories of airlines being strict.

4 hours ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

If I may ask, how are they weird? Just the same names formatted differently?

Yeah the first and middle name plus title are jammed together in the first name field.

So first: Daniellefaye Ms middle: blank

9 hours ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

 

 

I would not feel at all uncomfortable about pursuing this. Neither my wife nor I consume much alcohol, but it meant we never had to think twice about getting a coffee, a soft drink, or a house wine. Our final statement was remarkably uncluttered.

 

 

That's what we were thinking would be nice, too.  I just hate having to nag.  Thank you for your help.  

There's some oddities with our flight holds too (the names are showing up weird at the airline side but not my Cunard confirmation) so I'm just anxious about anything else that might be wrong.  I've got a lot of anxiety about a crossing in general so any wrinkles kind of send me a bit spiraling.

7 minutes ago, Mr. B said:

I had my travel agent send me a Gifts and Special Services Summary statement. That includes confirmation of Grills Drinks Package, included "special buffet" visit, and complimentary gratuities. Certainly taking that print with me in case there are issues to resolve onboard.

Thank you for those keywords!

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

Given Cunard's renowned administrative chaos, I would strongly recommend getting something on paper now, before you set sail. This is much easier than trying to resolve arguments once on board. 😀

Ha ha, yes exactly.  I feel silly fretting over it - it's the promo still on after all, it'll probably be fine -  but that's what I'm trying to avoid.

29 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

For our two bookings, I never saw this on the website (US version), but did receive separate booking confirmation emails listing only the added perk.

Thanks for confirming that at least is not too abnormal.  Maybe I can ask for a better email.

I just am really anxious about this trip going well after the original was cancelled in 2020.

So I re-booked my September anniversary cruise to a December birthday cruise for my husband and this is the first time we're cruising Cunard.  We're doing a back-to-back cruise in the same suite (Q5) for the Christmas Markets (4 nights) and then a crossing (7 nights.)   Because the website wasn't working right I had to book over the phone and my vacation planner assured me that I was booking the drinks package included Queen's Grill suite option - which was the promo constantly at the time I booked in July of last year.  I think a lot of the promos would even be things like bunchofstuff  "Plus Grill's Suites include free drinks and gratuities."  I even confirmed with email later and she said that free drinks and gratuities would be on both cruises even though the first is just four nights.

I don't see this confirmed on the website when I go to manage my booking, it still allows me to add a beverage package to the cart for example.  It's also not on my booking confirmation pdf.

When I called to book my air I asked off handedly if it was there and this different agent said she didn't see it and I booked a different promo, but I didn't follow up at that time because I wanted to be more focused on air and figured I'd ask my vacation planner later.  She again said that it should be there.

SHOULD I be seeing this on the website?  Or is the promo something that doesn't show up and will be active when we board?  We're not the hugest drinkers and it bugs me that I care about this, but I didn't try to rebook for better promos like "free wifi" because I figured it's a sweet enough deal.   

Thank you, all this information is incredibly helpful!  I really appreciate everyone taking the time to share their experiences.    I was just so anxious about it, I think we've decided to try going as close to our anniversary as possible then, more romantic that way.  🥰

Hi, my husband and I wanted to do a Trans-Atlantic Crossing on the Queen Mary 2 next year for our 20th anniversary which is on Sept 1st.

But that is in hurricane season, and getting hit by Hurricane Irma in Florida makes me not trust my luck.  

Has anyone taken the trip in hurricane season?  Is it easy for the ship to get the forecast and dodge storms?  Otherwise winter prices seemed affordable and safe from hurricanes, but I've heard that the seas can be rough in the winter, is that true in your experience?  I am prone to seasickness/vertigo though it is helped by medicine and I know it's impossible to guarantee I'd like to pick a time that's the best gamble.

I guess any advice for good times to travel.  We were going to stay in Queen's Grill so that if I must be sick I can be sick in luxury.  

Thanks!