North West Newbie

11 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

But if it's being (probably) lifted on Dec 2nd, how can it possibly be relevant to,a cruise in April??  Of course some of the quarantine rules may well still be in place.

I was responding to your ‘belief’ that “.... you [I] didn’t think UK citizens were actually banned from travel abroad” which, in England, we presently are save for a limited number of legally permitted reasons.

13 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

What travel ban? There are many requirements about quarantine and self-isolation. And advice against various forms of travel like cruising. But I didn't think UK citizens were actually banned from travel abroad.

 

As to the crew, they are of course essential, and would have to obey whatever quarantine rules there may be on arrival in the U.K. But few of them are in a high risk age group at any rate.

My understanding is there is a travel restriction in place in England until 2 December. Whilst there are permitted exceptions, going on holiday is not one of them. See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus#:~:text=Print this page-,COVID-19 travel guidance,rules that apply to you.

78. Copenhagen

72. Hamilton

77. Port Kelang

54. La Coruna

10 minutes ago, Lanky Lad said:

I think it's a lens a bit like they have in Lighthouses.

A Fresnel lens?

7 minutes ago, LewiLewi said:

I heard two shots of Pfizer and two shots of Moderna. 

Yes, I read that the 5 million doses of Moderna the UK has recently ordered will be enough to vaccinate 2.5 million people.

57. Stavanger

62. Monte Carlo

@sfred, I was expecting you to have jumped in to get #44!!

43. Oranjestad

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

That is not correct 5172 is on port side of ship and 5199 and 5211 are on starboard side and are available are in poor position but like I said from the start are both in poor position as they are right next to lifts and stairs and is what I originally said and possible noise from people using stairs and lifts. Also like previously said my TA has asked Cunard for cabins 5171, 5175, 5179, 5183, 5187 and 5191and they have said they are not bookable for the roundtrip but all are available for west/east bound 7nt crossings.

You have misconstrued what I said and I am well aware that 5172 is on the port side. The point I made was that your statement “but every cabin on the starboard side of the ship are not available for 14 nt roundtrips but everyone is available for 7 nt west/east bound trips” was not factually correct. My reference to available cabin numbers (port and starboard) which ARE available for the roundtrip are NOT available for the respective one ways and it therefore follows that your statement cannot be correct.

You may have meant to say that your [my] preferred choice of 4 cabins on the starboard side of the ship are not available for 14 nt roundtrips but everyone is available for 7 nt west/east bound trips but that is not what you said and it is not for others to second guess.

I remain perplexed why it is so important for you to be on the starboard side of the ship when occupying an inside cabin? Why don’t you book 5172 (I know it’s on the port side) and save yourself from upset? This really is a first world problem.

As an aside, I would hazard a guess that less people book the roundtrip and perhaps Cunard allocate more cabins to the single crossings. If the situation was reversed and you wanted to book a one way and Cunard had allocated all your preferred cabins to the roundtrip would you be as vexed?

35 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Yes holding back cabins that are available but you want book 2 individual 7day TAs or 23/28 nt voyages must be horrendous for Cunard to not to care about bookings and are happy to refuse custom so that they can make more money.

The only deck 5 Mid-Aft inside stateroom presently available for the first Grand Voyage (M220A) is 5198 (port side and near a lift) and there is none available on the other (M223B).

Cunard are clearly not holding back your preferred starboard inside cabin(s) for either of the 28/23 longer voyages where, as you say, they can make more money.

13 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Cabin 5172 is available but every cabin on the starboard side of the ship are not available for 14 nt roundtrips but everyone is available for 7 nt west/east bound trips which of course makes more money for Cunard. Rather strange that is.

That is not correct. The staterooms that are presently available for the roundtrip (5172, 5199 and 5211) are not available for either the WB or EB separately. As @Underwatr  has tried to explain this is how they manage the inventory otherwise mayhem would break out.

If you have a specific stateroom request, why not do as @Windsurfboy suggested and contact Cunard directly. Otherwise, why not book 5172? Personally, I don’t see why it is so important to be located on the starboard side of the ship when are booking an inside cabin.

9 hours ago, Underwatr said:

I understand your issue to be that your four desirable staterooms are not available for the RT crossing. . 

The "other logical conclusion" is that If the stateroom is available to book on the 7 day itinerary it will not be bookable on the 14 day roundtrip itinerary without some lucky intervention on your behalf. Have you done the legwork to determine stateroom availability on the 7-day legs? 

 

In my experience the inventory for a 14-day roundtrip booking will be held separate from invenory for the component 7-day crossings. This is actually for the benefit of passengers wishing to book the round trip, since it ensures that there are staterooms that will remain available for booking for the entire 14-day period.

 

EDIT: Add the Grand voyages to the puzzle. There may indeed be few staterooms available in any category for any given city pair.

 

 

 

I think you have it spot on.

Having just reviewed deck 5 Mid-Aft availability for the roundtrip in question, 5172, 5199 and 5211 are available for the roundtrip but are not for either the WB or EB separately. Furthermore, on the EB which continues to Hamburg, there are 8 staterooms to choose from to Southampton but anyone wishing to travel on to Hamburg can only have 5163 (which incidentally is not available if one is only booking as far as Southampton).

Managing the stateroom inventory must be a pretty complicated process which undoubtedly will throw up some anomalies from time to time.

19 hours ago, majortom10 said:

yes loads of cabins available I only gave my TA 4 of our choice which they have said are not available but they are if you book individual 7nt TAs to New York and return but not available to book for roundtrip. The cabins they said are available for roundtrips are either very far forward or aft or ones next to lifts or in poor positions. Booking 2 x 7nts TAs would cost Select Fare before discounts £2648pp where 14nt roundtrip is £1749pp in same cabin so that is why Cunard are holding back cabins on roundtrip TAs except for poor cabin positions.

Just checked and 5172 [IC grade] [the Midships end of Mid-Aft] is available to book for the roundtrip at £1,749 per person. That doesn't seem to be a poor position.

14 nights, Roundtrip Transatlantic Crossing – July 2022 – Cunard.pdf

45. New York City

40 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

My theory is Cunard are holding back better cabins in midships in the hope that I would book what they told my TA was available which was rooms backing on to stairs or lifts or at the front or rear of the ship or cabins underneath restaurant and other noisy areas. Unfortunately even though IA,IB or IC inside cabins on deck 5 midships were nearly all available they wouldnt let me book them. So Cunard have lost a sale and Iwill look elsewhere with another cruise line.

Thank you for clarifying that it is your theory and not mine.

I was simply identifying that your reply to @Underwatrwas not factually correct because your proposed roundtrip does in fact fall within bookings for a "Grand" cruise as @Underwatrhad enquired.

45 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

If your theory was correct how come there are many cabins available to book on 14 nt roundtrip TA on 29/7 but Cunard will allow me to book 7nt westbound then followed by eastbound TA covering same 14nt period but at a higher cost. There is only one logical conclusion is that Cunard do not want people booking roundtrip TA unless they have poorer positioned cabins even though cabins are available elsewhere on the ship in midships within the same cabin grade. Cunard would obviously be happy to take bookings for 2 back to back  from  Southampton and then return from New York or book a cabin on one of the Grand voyages of 23 or 28 nts because it makes them more money that is why Cunard are deliberately holding back decent midship cabins so they can make more money in the hope that those wanting to do roundtrip TA from Southampton would be happy to accept cabins in poorer position of QM2. Well sorry I wont when my first 4 choices of cabin are all available but Cunard will not allow me to book one of them. 

And what theory would that be? Please don’t shoot the messenger.

4 hours ago, Underwatr said:

Does either TA also fall within bookings for a "Grand" cruise? Sometimes there are so many ways to book a given accommodation at a particular time that any particular start-end port and date will have limited availability.

4 hours ago, majortom10 said:

No just straight forward roundtrip and cabins are available if you book individual TAs and not roundtrip so proves Cunard are holding them back. For interest my TA has said it is not uncommon with Cunard that they hold back cabins and say they are not available when they are they just hope you accept poorer position ones and they sell others as individual TAs or segments to make more money.

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Cunard are selling roundtrips for July 2022 because I was given cabin numbers that were available this morning but they were in very poor positions on QM2 obviously holding decent cabin positions for 7 day TAs.

 

@Underwatr has a point. @majortom10's proposed roundtrip in July 2022 seems to fall within two back to back Grand Voyages out of New York:-

Grand Mediterranean Highlights, 28 Nights [NYC-NYC 08 July 2022 to 05 Aug 2022] (M220A)

Grand Rotterdam, Bruges And Hamburg, 23 Nights [NYC-NYC 05 Aug 2022 to 28 Aug 2022] (M223B)

Plus, there are other intervening shorter voyages.

9 minutes ago, Dranuc2016 said:

It may be possible that because of the CDC limitation on cruises longer than 7 days, Cunard is only selling 7 day, one way crossings, and not round trips.

In the future,  if that limitation is still in effect,  they would have to cancel and refund the round trips

That may well transpire to be the case but @majortom10’s point is that Cunard is selling a roundtrip but his preferred cabin(s) are only available if he books the roundtrip as separate back to back crossings which increases the overall cost.

37. Saguenay (I've left #40 for @sfred!)

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

yes loads of cabins available I only gave my TA 4 of our choice which they have said are not available but they are if you book individual 7nt TAs to New York and return but not available to book for roundtrip. The cabins they said are available for roundtrips are either very far forward or aft or ones next to lifts or in poor positions. Booking 2 x 7nts TAs would cost Select Fare before discounts £2648pp where 14nt roundtrip is £1749pp in same cabin so that is why Cunard are holding back cabins on roundtrip TAs except for poor cabin positions.

Have you taken account of the fact that it is possible to remove the included flights on each of the separate crossings with a Cunard Fare and receive a discount which will narrow the difference? I seem to recall this is around £200 per person per flight. There is also the onboard spending money to consider and compare what is included in each of the one ways against the roundtrip.

6 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Absolutely disgusted with Cunard that at 0835 this morning having only been on sale since 0830 my TA tried to book a roundtrip TA that I have pre registered with them. All 4 choices of cabin are according to Cunard sold out, but low and behold book 7nts from Southampton or 7 nts from New York and all 4 cabins are available. So plainly obvious Cunard only allow bookings on Roundtrip TA in poorer positioned cabins and saving better cabins for those that book 7nts. So Cunard have lost a booking as I will not book a cabin in a poor situation just to please them and their games.

Have you considered booking 2 one ways and selecting the same preferred cabin? I know from experience that splitting a longer voyage can be cost effective but not always.