Megabear2

Overcast and cloudy here. Day 8 of trying to rid myself of the latest you know what bug, it's extremely stubborn and making me miserable as hell. Really need to get it together soon as we fly to Scotland next Wednesday for our extended jaunt to see Paul Weller at Edinburgh Castle and then up to the Highlands for a few days. After that back home for a week and I then leave the OH home alone to fly to Italy for a week. It's another run for Dutch Decoy today hopefully he can at least give me something to cheer me up. Have a good day everyone.

It is indeed true it is their review. The problem to me is that it's not a review but merely an exercise in telling us what is wrong with the clientele. Perhaps they should come back and speak about other aspects, we know they didn't like the comedian for instance but what else was right or wrong? I've read a lot of reviews of QA, most are pretty fair albeit rating the ship fairly low. As you say we all make an informed decision the best we can. I did sail the ship with pretty low expectations and was pleasantly surprised but then I was in the lowest grade cabin and did not spend a huge amount.

It is of course a choice for the individual but may I ask, politely, as the ship has only sailed a few times what your research revealed "long before sight" of this account and when? As someone who has actually sailed on the ship I cannot in any way collate my experience with that of the original poster, nor does it correlate in any way with the reports I've seen either here or on other review sites. Comments regarding food, service issues, lifts, disabled facilities needing improvement yes I've read those. Unruly drunken guests absolutely no, not when onboard or in any reports or reviews. This is not something I can recognise or associate with Queen Anne or any Cunard vessel. In fact to be picky my only ever encounter with a drunken guest on a Cunard ship was on QE2 many years ago. I probably fall into the OP's area of complaint, yes I commit the sin of sailing on P&O too, but I genuinely cannot see how someone moving a sunbed to sit in the sun or having a tattoo makes them undesirable. By that measure most modern under 40's are classified as not suitable to sail on a Cunard ship!

You're welcome. Sometimes the price drops are huge so the cancellation option saves money. We saved £1,000 on a Caribbean cruise last year by moving our deposit to another cruise and rebooking. Definitely keep you eye on prices just in case.

However the figure, even taking all your fair points into account, is still only 1% of reported norovirus is on cruise ships which is actually good. Obviously one or two ships encounter a more severe problem but overall the figure is remarkably low considering how many ships and passengers are at sea every day.

If your fare is select you are allowed one change but it would have to be a different cruise. Your price on whatever fare is locked in to that date, ie the cost of an outside cabin on the exact same day you booked your inside one. Unfortunately any price drops are not going to be relevant to your booking. Therefore as an example: You booked Day 1 Inside is £1,000 Outside is £1,500 One year later Inside is on sale at £900 Outside is on sale at £1,200 If you called to change you would still have to pay £1,500 for an outside. Your 15% deposit on your inside is £150. You could either cancel your cruise and lose the deposit and rebook an outside for £1,200 thereby paying a total of £1350 or if it's a select fare move it to another cruise which is you say only has to be 1p dearer to be transferable.

Unfortunately not, in fact they changed the law three years ago to stop the insurers charging their existing customers more than new ones. Apparently according to the AA this has helped push all insurance costs much higher and this change is very much responsible for the hikes in home, pet etc insurance too. https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/posing-as-a-new-customer-can-still-get-you-cheaper-car-insurance-despite-loyalty-penalty-ban-am6Ns6u666Y2

That's rather skewing the facts though. Yes, elderly people do have the largest number of reported cases but that's because a very large proportion of cases reported are from the care home setting. In April 20% of all reported UK cases were from schools. And we are of course talking about reported cases only to get the overall picture for the Government and health officials. A great number of all age groups will have had it but self treat at home, doctors' surgeries of course will not see those with general symptoms only the very sick. Hence care homes being monitored on a daily basis produce the highest reported number of cases. Regarding cruise ships, this is from the CDC in the US: Cruise ships Norovirus is the most frequent (over 90%) cause of outbreaks of diarrheal disease on cruise ships. These outbreaks often get media attention, which is why some people call norovirus the "cruise ship virus." However, norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships account for only a small percentage (1%) of all reported norovirus outbreaks.u

It's official... Carnival supports ducks! https://www.thestreet.com/travel/carnival-cruise-line-makes-a-bold-ruling-on-cruise-ship-ducks

This was posted 9 hours ago on the BBC. Assuming they told passengers before now. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr4x254yrxo.amp

Those are pretty standard questionnaires. The ones I've recently completed for P&O/Cunard in particular are far more detailed, not tick box exercises. You have a box to give more details on your opinion. I've had quite a few of the ones you describe as well. P&O in particular are asking quite in depth questions.

In recent months I've had a fair number of questionnaires regarding dress code both from Cunard and P&O - for the latter a very comprehensive one just this week. These all ask about perception of the dress codes, ie what do you take them to mean/describe. I take this interest to mean the senior management are looking at feedback to see if changes can/ought to be considered/made.

No, they were on each table. I too thought they might find legs .. It seemed a very good idea and meant staff didn't have to stand around in what at the time was a virtually empty area.

I made the point because many hotels state quite clearly that you are not allowed anything (including a bottle of drink, even soft ones) for consumption on their premises (it's quite topical, if you don't believe me ask Mr Google). I did not say they search you, that is what you have decided I was saying. No doubt many do take a bottle with them, most likely from duty free, but I am merely pointing out that it is becoming more widespread to state nothing other than food and drink provided or purchased on site. There's also the fact a hotel doesnt scan you on check in and relies on trust whereas the cruise line does the opposite. As for wanting to sell drinks packages that's really a very old argument that bears little relevance to not allowing anything other than a litre of wine or a bottle of champagne to be brought onboard.

Those buttons were in use on deck 1 atrium and games room on QA Around Britain cruise. I pressed one and a minute or two later a lovely chap arrived to take my coffee order.

Depends where you are travelling. It is very common in some European countries to say only food and drink provided or purchased in the hotel may be consumed on hotel premises. The policy started in common package holiday destinations to help hotels with the problem of fake claims of food poisoning but has expanded quite a lot since the pandemic. If you read enough reviews you'll find even things like a bag of crisps given to your child have caused problems.

Goodness! How do I know which one I should be booking then?

Very interesting from a normally high spending passenger perspective, but not really a proper comparison overall regarding most passengers experiences but it should not be questioned as to voracity. I'd liken this to a Waitrose customer visiting Lidl to buy groceries on a one off and describing how they found the experience. Would they do it every week or would they miss their little extras after a while? Arvia operates more or less the same itineraries year in year out, virtually the same ports every single cruise. Clearly the Saga and Cunard ships will offer variety. Would this be a problem to our more discerning guest who travels more high end? To get this clearly enjoyable experience he has used the top cabin and the paid for restaurants which is fine but does the itinerary not changing bother him in the long term - it is the same for 2024, 2025 and 2026 as it was in 2023? I guess I'm saying is this intended to be that one trip to Lidl! Using the paid for restaurants on any line will obviously give a skewed vision of the general cruise experience. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, particularly when the thread states clearly what it is comparing. Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you found it.

Very overcast and humid here. Topping up the greenhouse watering at 5.30am this morning the outside thermometer showed 17 degrees. It's only meant to be 23-24 degrees today so taking advantage to deadhead the pots, bags and baskets. Currently overrun with cucumbers from my three plants, we now have 6 ready to pick and 2 in the fridge with at least 30 more forming! I've asked my OH if he can find a cucumber soup recipe as a result! Got a bit carried away yesterday and booked a week in Ischia at a spa hotel for the period between our Scotland trip and our Aurora cruise, seemed a shame to have 5 weeks with nothing in it! Never stayed there although I've had many holidays to Sorrento and Amalfi that took in trips to Capri. I had wanted to choose Croatia to be honest but so many hotels had warning about smoking being allowed in bars and restaurants it put me off. Ischia looks like an adventure with a 2 1/2 hour ferry trip from Naples. Apparently I'll be picked up at 5.30am for my return so I hope I'm not too relaxed or I might miss the boat! Now holding for Cunard to book a couple of Queen Elizabeth cruises for next year and the 2026. They seem to be as bad as P&O on answering calls these days. Carnival House really does need some extra staff. Have a great day everyone whatever you are doing.

As a Cunard officianado I was completely surprised by that ship - my friend booked us on and I thought I'd absolutely hate it. Quite the reverse in fact, I ended up loving her. It was indeed modern but having now sailed on three newer ships in the two years since including Queen Anne, Arvia and Norwegian Prima I have to say it is the most innovative ship I've sailed in recent years and to this day I'm in awe of the tender platform and the actual boats.

The "Magic Carpet" although odd looking does at least serve a genuine purpose. The tenders and landing deck on this ship are truly amazing and access for the disabled and wheelchair users is a breeze.

No, not unpopular with me, I'd normally do the same but £1300 is currently the price for a business class flight on BA for this September so an economy flight at that price seems very high. I'll have a chat with them tomorrow, as flights won't be released for a few months I assume it's easy enough to add them.

Next silly question from me! Decided to go with the September cruise and about to book while the room is available, however in light of the suggestion I look at purchasing my own flight and adding a night or two in Seattle I am thinking of just reserving the cruise. Am I correct that if the other option doesn't work out I can add Cunard's flight at a later date? Normally I would just book the flight with Cunard but at £1300 it seems to be double the current asking price for this September never mind next. The cruise itself is coming in at £1700 so the flight just sounds silly money.

Thank you. Actually that one would work time wise and there appears to be a single outside cabin on offer as well. The one I was quite keen on was (Q526) which calls Ketchican, Juneau, Skagway, etc. I hadn't thought about port time so will revisit.

Thank you, that's very interesting. Cunard want £1400 for London to Seattle to London and £1500 for London to Seatle San Francisco to London on the repositioning cruise. I have looked at the repositioning to Miami in September as the price is fairly good but my concern is how much of Alaska you see on the repositioning. It is very helpful to know the flights can be bought for less as obviously September flights aren't able to be priced yet.