Victoria2

Not seen that in FAQ as I've never had the need to ask but some folk DO take/have a bed put in their cabin instead of the Cunard bed eg a 'Profile Bed'. No question is too dumb. 🙂

I've come over to read this highly entertaining and informative thread and just to let you know, no question is too 'dumb'. 🙂

Interesting misguy I think having gravy served with your steak is quite unusual, unless that's another 'divided by a common language ' difference. I'm not a great one for sauces and am not used to gravy unless it's with a roast dinner. If I have any sauce eg peppercorn, I always ask for it 'on the side' and any actual gravy is served by the waiter from the gravy boat.

The 10th May is a maiden visit of the ship to The Canary Islands rather than 'the' inaugural sailing.

Excellent news. I hope the Maiden goes well and folk enjoy the experience.

The paella was pretty good too. A little heavy on the chorizo but apart from that, again, delish!

Will it be ready!! Ha. The thought had definitely crossed my mind. 😀 We will go with the flow and if there is slight minor chaos we'll roll with it so I think yes, we are really looking forward to the new ship. Golly, I wouldn't have said that two years ago!🙂

Be little devils and have both!!😄 We do. An 'Indian evening' doesn't necessarily follow Coriander, just as Italian doesn't follow La Piazza. I had a great Nasi Goreng in July with a definite QG chef's tweak. Delish! Just ask!

They are alternative, chargeable dining venues for all. Can't help with the cost as we use our Diamond freebie.

If you know what's on the menus, ask the M'd if they can replicate it in the Grill's kitchen. or wait untill the menu is in rotation and ask then. I must admit, I only ask for the Mandarin Crispy Chilli Beef and to be fair, it does sometimes come with the chef's own twist on it but it saves us having to make a trip to the Lido pop up. https://www.cunard.com/content/dam/cunard/my-cruise/dining/alternative-dining/bamboo/bamboo-sample-menu.pdf However, we only dine pop up if with friends who aren't dining with us daily as the restaurant more than meets our needs eg, Indian evening/itallian evening/Chinese evening/ crispy duck gorge in etc. Just ask your Head Waiter who will ask the M'd. He will sort it for you.

Not at all. Didn't cross my mind.🙂

Yes please. edit although the fact you include 'excuse to dress up' would exclude you in some minds from the non trad passenger profile. 🙂 The beauty of the evolving cruise market is the perceived trad Cunard cruiser will gradually disappear as more and more folk of differing ages and outlooks take to the line. This does NOT automatically mean the basic Cunard usp will completely disappear. It will just be available to a wider market as folk realise Cunard is not the stuffy and starchy holiday experience some would have it be believed.

Understood and yes, I will continue to read your Cunard travels. What I particularly smiled at was your comment which inferred the reality was a little different from perception from reading this board. Spread the word!!😀 Hope you enjoy the rest of your time on QE and this won't be the first and last Cunard experience.

Golly, some folk can't wait to berate the product before it's even launched. I am not a slob. I love tradition and have hundreds of Cunard nights under my belt. I am sad we can't travel on QV as she is fly cruising and although given the choice we would not choose QA, she is our alternative and we're looking forward to our cruises for '24 and '25. What I won't do is assume this new Cunard ship is a step 'down'. She will be different but hopefully, in a good way. As an aside, it was great to see a walk through of one of the cabins we have booked! 🙂

We needed an ESTA even though we didn't leave the cruise terminal as we had gone through immigration and were therefore in transit in the US. Beat me to it BigMac1953

Not sampled the pop ups on QM2 but have on her sisters. Bamboo is our favourite and is delicious, followed by Coriander. If dining with friends not in QG, we will use our Diamond freebie in a pop up. Other than that, we order most of the menu in QG so don't bother. We haven't bothered with the Italian pop up as we have had great Italian evenings [off menu and organised well in advance] in QG but as I don't know to what extent off menu ordering is available in PG, I would say the pop ups are well worth a visit.

I couldn't sleep last night so spent ages following jam19872016 travels. Really interesting and it's great to get the insights from a young'ish [to me] cruiser who does not fit, to some, the perceived 'traditional' Cunard passenger. Just wish he could post on this board too ...hint hint. 🙂

If you look at #12, I mentioned from a UK perspective and this thread was addressing a UK member's questions. I have no idea what happens in any other country. I suggest you approach your own agent to obtain any further clarification. Our flight, cruise and hotel are all on one booking through Cunard via our agent and we are prepared to take the hit the flight will be more expensive through Cunard in order to obtain the protection a [UK] package gives. As for hotel, it was part of our package and I agree with david63 on run of house issues which is why we take the cheapest hotel Cunard have to offer and then book our own, again, as mentioned in #12.

There are poor and excellent agents in every country. The luck is in finding the excellent ones. Most agents worth their salt have 'connections' and it's how proactive agents are to help, which count. bitob obviously has a great one, as have we.

Think practically. In today's litigious world, Carnival would be sued to heaven and back if anything harmed a hair on their clients' heads so whatever the itinerary, the safety of the ship and 'contents', as always to be fair, will be paramount.

Excellent. Well travelled obviously but apparently you don't normally do fly cruises so you asked and you got replies edit and well meaning advice

In this age of travel uncertainty/ship dry docked/ airline strikes, it makes sense to pick your own flights but have them on the same booking as the cruise so if one part goes whatsit up, it's not your problem.

Good idea but for future reference, to be in complete control, although it's often more expensive, choose your own flights but have them packaged with the cruise so if the cruise is cancelled, the whole package is cancelled. Similarly, if a strike grounds your flight, it's up to Cunard to get you to the ship.

I will add to this, and this is from a UK perspective, I'm not sure why we had a hotel bundled into the package [[maybe package rules?] but as we book a certain hotel chain if possible, we take the cheapest hotel offered, then book our own. We then take the pre booked hotel limo airport to hotel but cab, hotel to cruise ship docks.

The only caveat I'd add to watsonbeau's excellent post is you can book your own flights and have them bundled with a hotel into a Cunard package. This is what we do long haul and then if there is an issue with any part of the package, it's Cunard's problem to sort, not yours. You can dictate the airline, date and class of travel. Transfers are usually included too, but as said in #9, for a short flight, I would go with the offered Cunard flight.