Victoria2

Never tried to order the Verandah's Wagyu beef so don't know if you'd get that but you can order just about anything you like as long as the ingredients are on the ship. Our favourites are Dover Sole, Crispy Duck but give the staff time to shoot the thing, hang it and cook it 🙂- usually three days, Indian and Chinese evenings and just about anything else which might take our fancy if the menu doesn't suit that night.

Not sure what's disappointing. Of course it's personal choice. Horses for courses as I have said and maybe I misinterpreted your comment in #68 which to me seemed to imply differences in ticket price could involve silly money. Not in our experience , although that can happen for flights booked direct, if bought on the day of travel. Now that can involve silly money! Been there and done that! Once.

I think I have to answer this. We have yet to have had a cost differential in the thousands. Yes of course using points/FF air miles will save thousands, depending on the class of travel and we have used them in the past before we changed airlines for personal reasons and area of the world and so wanted a Cunard package, but since then, I can honestly say, the price differential has no way been in the thousands between booking direct with the airline or through Cunard. If that had been the case then we might have decided on a different course of action. There comes a point where a difference of thousands of pounds, would definitely be a deal breaker for us but then we have been lucky and got reasonably priced flights which I must stress again, were NOT thousands of pounds different.

Cheaper still is using FF miles which we have done in the past until we changed airline allegiances. Then all we paid was the tax. Now that IS cheaper than any Cunard flight! 😄

I think it has been made quite clear, it's horses for courses. A ship will not wait for delayed passengers unless it's a plane load and even then, possibly not, and fly/cruise passengers will hopefully be bused/flown on. We have seen that in action although not a Cunard cruise. For some, the price differential will be the sticking point, for others the peace of mind any issues will be up to the cruise line to solve, will be the panacea. For the former, a scrutiny of travel insurance t&cs will be of particular importance. Basic cover will not necessarily be the solution if things go pear shaped. I have yet to learn if all passengers not on Cunard travel and who are affected by the re routing of QM2 will have their extra costs reimbursed if insurance doesn't cover. Basically, will/ has Cunard put its hand in its pocket for all affected?

No. It doesn't ignore. War/pestilence/weather are all remote possibilities, but they are there. You seem to be able to go a week prior to any long haul cruise. I would take a punt those in work carefully arrange dates which would not include a buffer of a week so you factoring a week's buffer is a tad of the 'I'm all right Jack' scenario. Cunard wouldn't get us anywhere if the above scenarios occur but if possible, I would hope they would get us to a port to join the ship as happened when we were on a Caribbean cruise years ago. Plus most on this board are travellers rather than just tourists and as such, will have a pretty comprehensive travel insurance in place. I would hazard a guess most holidaymakers, have a basic/ minimum policy. Yes, buyer beware but so much easier to let an umbrella organisation [Cunard] take the strain. So you do it your way but don't discount the thousands who like the ease of mind a fly/cruise booked on the same ticket with a cruise company. Not a cruise issue but I got caught up in the Ash Cloud travel. I learnt the beauty of my wrap around insurance policy. Many folk lost varying amounts of money. I didn't.

The current proxy statement apparently includes a recommendation to vote in favor of the shareholder benefit For what my vote is worth, I have voted on the proxy form but didn't see this which is why I said I have missed it. If it happens, great, if not, I have the fun in watching my 100 shares double and then some in value having already recouped the initial in cruise obc. As I said, all good fun. 🙂

I must have had a different form sent as I didn't see any mention of shareholder benefits. That or as a CCL novice, I wasn't looking in the correct place which wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, being a bit slow with anything to do with financial reports etc.😃

Travel insurance is a minefield and not everyone will have that cover even if they assume they do. Which ever way it's looked at, booking all travel with Cunard has its merits, cost effective or not.

Depends on your cover.

and if there's no aircraft movements due to weather etc but the ship at the other end [maybe thousands of miles away which is where our flights used to end up] is OK to go? Thinking for instance, it's a bit difficult to join a TA after the ship has sailed. 🙂 We might not make the ship but we'd get our money back. No one has addressed that yet. I get it. We will avoid risks and book with Cunard. Others will book direct and hopefully with excellent travel insurance.

1 We buy the ticket we want, on all fronts, rather than chance an upgrade 2 Our agent is available but our plans are set and we don't change them unless it's for an emergency and if we do, and we have done, we learnt airlines always have what I am terming compassionate seats. Full fare, granted but the seats are there. 3 Haven't tested the theory our agent can do just as much as direct but I suspect he can. 4 Think we've established one way fare info. 5 I was top tier on an airline Pre Covid just through vacation trips to the US so know all about personal airline consultants. Horses for courses, and all that.

I'm amazed we all dare leave our cabins with all these little beggars out to get us!!!😅 Over thinking is just so not me but luckily I'm a washer so will ignore all the dire warnings and carry on as I have been doing for the past decade or so.

I totally agree going a few days earlier could/will probably negate most flight issues but for us, if going long haul, which we're not now as our cabins of first choice would not be available, it's not just the flights which can be problematic, it's the ship itinerary too. A change of itinerary can easily screw up travel arrangements. Luckily at the moment, it won't be an issue for us.

Good call Batman! Didn't occur I should qualify my buffet regime as it's obvious one doesn't double dip cutlery but that's more a taste transfer and also meat to fish to salads etc for me than salmonella so thank you for highlighting this in case I set a trend! 😄

As did we. Although not quite as canny as david63, our outlay has just about been recouped through additional obc, with the added plus of the shares almost doubling in price. All good fun and to quote a well known UK chain store's slogan, every little helps! 😅

I like that term, 'risk management'. Booking your own flights and managing any change in travel schedules is a risk we were not prepared to take. I remember a Caribbean holiday [not Cunard] when a cruise organised flight was delayed due to seriously bad weather. The ship left on time, without the couple of hundred delayed passengers. They were bussed to the next port of call. I would want all that sorted for me rather than deal with it ourselves. Horses for courses. Risks were/are not for us.

Which is why I never use provided utensils and use the cutlery pre wrapped in napkins. I have seen less than hygienic passenger practices but no way am I giving up on my occasional Lido lunch treats. I usually go for the food 'at the back' too making sure my sleeves do NOT trail in the food on display. Lido buffet? Yum yum. Pick'n mix on a plate. 👍

Not a family member but has become a friend over the years. There are many agents out there, just as good. The trick is to find one. 🙂

OK, you won't give any details so I assume one is as good as the other and and you are right, t doesn't matter in the slightest except when saying one can control one's flights if booking direct with an airline, when the issue revolves around booking direct or through Cunard where one has just as much control, is to obliquely infer one system has more control than the other which is giving a false impression of the booking facility available when choosing flights and booking with Cunard. Neither one is more efficient than the other and neither one is less efficient. Personal choice is all

You haven't really answered my question. You said you want control and I asked what do you do for 'control', that I haven't specified?. I take that you won't use an agent, but our agent is our go-between and books our flight requirements with Cunard and so they're not agent booked flights, they are Cunard booked flights, cruise and flights booked with Cunard by our agent. Cunard booking our exact requirements is exactly the same, control wise, as you self booking your flights but with the added protection for us if things go whatsist up, it's in Cunard's ball park to sort it out somehow. So please correct me if I'm not seeing the whole picture, but the only difference apart from the cost differential is our flights are bundled up with the cruise for our own peace of mind, and your flights are booked separately. As such, we are just as much in control of our flight choices by dictating our exact requirements to Cunard, as you are by booking direct with the airline. We have just gone about booking in a manner which suits us, as you do to suit yourself but the control is there, either way.

For me I like to be in control of my flights. This comment crops up so many times. We choose the airline and through choosing the routing/itinerary, we choose the aircraft and thus the aircraft configuration; we choose which class to fly in; we choose the routing/itinerary and as we pay when the flights become available which is usually approx. 11 mths in advance, we choose our seats as soon as the scheduling is released. All this is on our Cunard booking/ through Cunard and comes under one booking reference and all facilitated by our wonderful TA. I am genuinely interested david63, so costings apart, please would you tell me what more you do in order to be in complete control of your flights?

On a just in case tomorrow's date is pertinent basis, I have sent through more OBC requests so thanks for any heads up on this.

Which is why we book through Cunard and have the cruise and flight on the same booking invoice/booking reference. Each to their own. Having had an anxious time decades ago when a hurricane might have caused havoc with our booking, it's now up to Cunard to get us to the ship somehow should plans go awry or give us a full refund.

Family comes first. How true. We book well in advance to make sure we get the cabin of our choice due to the lack of cabins in the grade we want but it's a gamble as to what will be happening two years hence. We have cancelled two cruises, both for uninsured reasons, over the last two years and lost most of one booking and the deposit on another. Family comes first. Always.