david,Mississauga

We have stayed in one of those Deck 13 Club staterooms twice and have two further bookings. In addition to the shower door, the bathroom is more elegant with a marble counter; the bed-side tables have marble tops and the balcony door is the sliding type. I am not a serious photographer, but these pictures will give you an idea of the bathroom.

Exactly 50 years ago my wife and I were on the QE2 crossing from Southampton to New York. We had sailed to England on the France. It was a fast crossing and since then we have never experienced its equal, even when the QE2 was still doing five-night trips. The ship had been delayed leaving New York and had arrived in Southampton 13 hours late. Cunard gets full marks for the way they handled this situation. We had received a letter at our hotel, which I have reproduced below. I recall there were no queues and food and excursions with meals were provided. We departed about 14 hours late at 1:00 a.m. of the 3rd of October (so I was told as I was asleep) and arrived in New York on time at 9:00 a.m. on the 7th. Without going into extensive detail of all the changes we have seen on Cunard in that half a century, I have attached the fare chart and some of the bar menu. It's hard for us to believe now, but in 1973 the Canadian $ was worth a little more than the US $. Our fare was $380 pp in Canadian funds. That was for a Tourist Class (Britannia Restaurant) midships outside two-bedded cabin with porthole. The Bank of Canada inflation calculator says the equivalent amount this year is $2512. A gin and tonic cost 20p which was 50 Canadian cents. Today that would be $3.30. The bar menu doesn't give measurements, but even if the drinks were one ounce they were cheap. Obviously drinks were not a major profit centre for shipping lines in those days. There was far less entertainment on this voyage than there is this century. There were three classical musicians, including a young flutist Ransom Wilson. There was nothing else to interest us. Even when young I had no interest in the pop music that seemed to be everywhere. There were no "insights" lectures. On our crossings in the 70s and 80s there was no string orchestra or harpist. A Cunard brochure of the time, bragging about how modern the QE2 is, said that "there are no violins on the QE2." Thanks a lot, Cunard. For a long time Cunard was not our favourite, although we took several crossings when there were very few alternatives. For a while the Union-Castle ships were our favourite and after their demise the P&O's Canberra appealed to us. I hope other members of this forum will reminisce about their earlier voyages.

Yes, that sounds like the same cruise. Although my wife passed the test for mobility and was granted permission to use the tender, she decided on the day to stay aboard. We had nothing special planned. I went ashore with friends. we had no queuing either going ashore or returning because it was a quiet time. Somewhere I have a brochure from many years ago when Cunard offered Alaska cruises on one of their lesser-known ships such as the Cunard Countess or Princess. I'm sure there are people on this forum who would know the details.

All that Cunard says about 2025 is: "Queen Elizabeth's remarkable Alaska itineraries will be announced in the coming months, so please check back soon." Others may speculate as to when that will be, but that isn't helpful. The Alaska seasons have always been announced later than other voyages. A Cunard World Club rep told us at a reception that the itineraries for Alaska are more likely to be amended than other voyages, so to avoid upsetting too many people they are set later. On our cruise this June the port of Juneau was dropped not too far in advance of the cruise, upsetting many people, so that doesn't always work. We have taken the QE Alaska cruise on each of the three years they have been operated. There is a lot of competition on that route and fares drop, often long in advance. We noticed that for each of our cruises. We book fairly early, but never at the earliest opportunity and have always been happy with the fares and availability of accommodation.

On our cruises on the QE this year and last I noticed that Singapore Slings did not appear on any of the bar menus we looked at. But staff could make them on request. The price was reasonable - well within the limits of our drinks package.

We have enjoyed the Dover Sole (when in the Grills) and the rack of lamb (in all restaurants). Most of the time a simple gin and tonic is fine with us, but we do like some of the Commodore Club drinks. All Consuming Passion is our favourite. We had plenty of OBC on our last two QE cruises so we enjoyed the Chieftain of the Clan and the Commodore's Cure.

I will just add that we have taken three cruises on the QE to Alaska and at each one Sitka was not a tender port, even though on two of the cruises they said it would be. There is now space for two large ships at the pier, so generally only small ships tender. The port is about five miles from the city. Free shuttles are provided for those who have not booked tours. The tenders serve the very heart of the city, which is an advantage. The CLAA will have detailed berth information closer to the date. https://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SIT-Sitka-2024.pdf

I hope it hasn't changed. As I said we purchased them on the QE in June of this year. We also made a booking. Everything was handled efficiently.

My wife forgot her cane once on a Québec-NY-Southampton voyage. There was a dealer in wood products on the pier in Halifax. We bought a charming wooden walking stick which worked well. On another voyage I had a temporary injury so I bought one at the same shop. If a metal cane is preferred there might be some at the Atlantic Superstore which is very close to Pier 22 where the QM2 is docking. If not, there will be other sources in Halifax.

Future Cruise Deposits are still available to those in the US and Canada. We bought two on the QE just three months ago. I hope they have not been discontinued since then. The cost for us was $390 pp in Canadian funds, so obviously it would be less in US funds. They offer the same on-board credit as booking a cruise on-board and they are valid for four years and are fully refundable.

We have taken the QE Alaska cruise three times and the arrival in Vancouver was as easy as it can be. We never spoke with a border official and simply walked off the ship. There were no formalities in Victoria either.

As I am neither a mad dog nor an Englishman we have chosen a starboard balcony cabin on our w/b crossing next year to avoid the sun. (Sorry, having just listened to a birthday gift recording of Noel Coward singing his own songs I couldn't resist.)

I was on a HAL Vista ship a few years ago. The QE is vastly superior in almost every way: not only the library as Roy said, but a real atrium, a real theatre, a Commodore Club with various types of live entertainment, especially the string orchestra, piano or harp and the ability to get a decent cup of tea almost everywhere on board. On the HAL Vista the Commodore Club equivalent (Crowsnest) never had any background music other than recorded rock/pop or whatever it may have been. There's plenty more I could mention, but that is enough. To be fair the HAL ship had a real teak promenade deck, the lack of which is the only thing I don't like about the QE.

Canadians book under the terms of the US site. So deposits are refundable until final payment date of four months before the voyage. For our voyage a year ago the vaccination and testing rules by both the Canadian government and Cunard were still in effect. Cunard had quietly dropped their offer to re-book or give a credit for passengers who test positively. I saw nothing to be offered to those who were not vaccinated. I don't want to guess what Cunard's policy would be if vaccination requirements are reinstated after the final payment is made. I would hope Cunard would be fair.

Indeed it does. Over the years I have had our booking "re-priced" when the fare drops. The last time I did that we had to cancel and re-book, so it was a bit of work for our agent. From my observations most - but certainly not all - fare drops occur after the final payment date. There is a seven-night voyage coming up soon where the fare for a sheltered balcony dropped from about $2600 to $935 (Canadian funds). We aren't taking that, but I couldn't help but notice it when looking at other trips.

One consideration is the ease of disembarking. I have not once disembarked in New York without at least one major inconvenience. Some people are lucky and get through with ease, but not us. I have disembarked in Southampton about four or five times more than New York and not once have we had an issue there. Unless there has been a change since the pandemic, UK immigration inspection is held on the ship during the crossing so you simply get off in Southampton. If in transit through New York it is less of a palaver. We are doing that again in a year: Southampton-NY-Québec. The only concern is the mob-scene at border control, but the last time we did this itinerary (in reverse) the screening person sent us to a sort of express desk and we didn't have to queue for an hour. Of course we had to go through security. After a wait of less than two hours we were allowed to re-board. This is as good an experience as we have ever had at a New York pier.

For the few years that Halifax was included on two crossings, it was an eight-night trip to or from New York with the Southampton-Halifax portion taking six nights. My late travel agent said he would discourage clients from booking the QM2 for an embarkation in Halifax for an e/b crossing. If there was an urgent situation - or horrendous weather - the call could be cancelled and the passengers would be out of luck. The w/b crossing is less risky. If the call had to be cancelled passengers would be taken on to New York. In addition to the one crossing when we disembarked in Halifax, we have taken three Québec-NY voyages that called there. Also, I have seen the QM2 in Halifax several times. I have not known there to be a cancellation.

One of the aspects of the Grills I enjoy is the "tableside shenanigans." I do not like trends in dining which are become far too frequent on land: e.g. obnoxious loud music, over-spiced food (I like pepper but prefer to have some control over how much), piling food up so I have no idea what is beneath the top layer, stainless steel cutlery instead of silver, silly plates on which the cutlery slides on to the floor. I also miss "silver service" which also went out 30 years ago, although it occasionally appears in the Grills . Even on our first Cunard voyage on the QE2 50 years ago we had traditional silver service in Tourist Class. I like being offered a selection of vegetables and potatoes so I can decide which ones I want and how much of each. The trend today is for chef to make that decision for me. How dare a chef put Brussels sprouts on my plate without warning me! Sadly we can't travel in the Grills all the time, but I savour every moment when we do. When we are in Britannia or Britannia Club we enjoy that too. I have never eaten in a Michelin-starred restaurant and probably never will, so obviously I know nothing about food. But I enjoy my Cunard cruises and crossings.

Sorry, unintended duplicate.

Because our bookings are handled by the U.S. office, Canadians get the same benefit as Americans. I remember when Cunard used to advertise the availability of FCDs in the daily programme. Now, you have to know they are available. So lately, as Underwatr said, they are a well-kept secret.

I hope the QE will remain on the Alaska route. With the itineraries being set for the other three ships, if it isn't the QE then there won't be an Alaska season for Cunard. The QE is not far from Vancouver on the furthest published cruises for 2025.

That looks like the RMS St. Helena beside the QE2. I regret not taking a line voyage on that ship when it was possible to do Southampton - Cape Town or vv.

I would like to have seen more Atlantic crossings on the QM2. It is difficult getting a suitable round trip from NY, and I don't mean returning the same day or a month later. If Cunard won't increase the crossings I wish they would re-instate the occasional calls at Halifax. We managed to do that only once and disembarking in Halifax was the easiest arrival we have ever had on a crossing. There was no queue for immigration (actually we didn't even speak with an officer, the purser's staff did that) and the railway station and former railway hotel are just across from the pier. There was no need to fly anywhere. One thing I like is the QE will remain on the Alaska cruises - not the Queen Anne as Cunard had said would be taking over those. We have taken the Alaska cruise on each of the three years since the QE has been doing those. We will skip next year but will probably do it in 2025. I know the itineraries have not been announced yet (they are always later for Alaska) but it is obvious the QE will be doing them.

I hope this means that Cunard has re-introduced this convenient transfer of the wardrobe contents. As I mentioned earlier, a few years ago our steward told us they no longer do that. He even asked the head housekeeper but the rules could not be bent.