Megabear2

I am considering a solo Alaska cruise next year as an additional 70th birthday present to myself. As my husband and I are sailing QM2 three week transatlantic which arrives back in Southampton on 15 August, I seem to be realistically looking at the itineraries at the very end of the season including the relocation cruise. I have absolutely no idea about anything Alaska save I understand I should sail the Inside Passage? I'd be very grateful for opinions on the itineraries at the very end of August and into September as to which might be the best for hopefully scenic cruising, relatively okay weather/sailing conditions (will i need my winter woolies/snow gear!) and fingers crossed ease. I note also two cruise lengths I'm looking at 10 night ones but happy to change that if necessary to get best itinerary. As I'm going to be alone again I'm looking at the cheap end of the scale, probably an outside or at a push balcony. Also I note an operational overnight in Seattle is necessary. I assume Cunard still organise this, but wonder if the transfers etc are still included as I've had previously in other parts of the world. Seem to be no transfers to airport available in advance either, assume I can buy onboard? Thanks for your help.

ICF is looking at this cruise. Not sure if he booked but held off when the prices rose expecting a drop. There are very few inside left and unless loads drop out at final payment I do not see this dropping if at all. Interestingly I booked 35 nights QM2 on release. My balcony cabin (glass not sheltered) was £7200 plus $680 OBC. That's now well over £10,500 as is the 2026 QV version. Cunard insides aren't selling like P&Os which indicates the new clients over there may be some of the disgruntled looking for a more refined cruise. Interesting times indeed. Meantime I'm hoping my upgrade comes through for Aurora. If it does it will be £1200 ess than the quoted price when I booked. I took select only to choose dining to tie in with the family and if Saver had been a proper option booking now would be £300 less than our outside select.

There currently aren't many cabins left on this cruise. A handful of outsides on deck 4, 2 on deck 5, only midship insides, a couple of deck 11 front facing deluxe balconies and clusters of midships balconies. It's sold very well. I'm guessing they expect it to sell out so are trying to move the remaining balconies in particular. If you look at a lot of the cruises until March there are balconies left but the insides and outsides are sold out. I think it's becoming likely the "new" cruisers aren't prepared to pay high balcony prices, the changing demographic (just for you Zap!) seems to be not prepared to think the balcony is worth it.

No longer 2 full days. Arrives early afternoon, departs afternoon. Very poor. Tallinn is also pretty rubbish. Arriving evening which is actually late night, departs afternoon. Aarhus arrives early evening, departs early evening. Unfortunately the email saying more port time is a complete lie.

Latest update on my monitored cruise on Aurora in August. Inside Saver £2798 Select £3058 OBC £120 Outside Saver £3098 Select £3598 OBC £200 Balcony Saver £3398 Select £4698 OBC £280 Deluxe Saver £4998 Select £5398 OBC £280 Mini Suite Select £9858 £400 OBC Inside cabins are now rising again. Outside savers have risen £100 but select has dropped £100. Interestingly the balcony cabins are the ones they are reducing significantly. The select price has not changed since 10 June, having dropped on 5th to £4858. The lowest select fare was 30 May at £4698. We are now at a much lower saver fare with a £600 drop since 10.6.24. The select stays the same. Deluxe balcony is unmoved. Looking at the balconies currently on sale there are around 12 on Deck C, most of mid forward, mid aft and aft on Deck A with a handful of midships and 10 Lido Deck. I have now made my upgrade bid 2 days ago at just above the minimum which would make any balcony offered just over £150 more than the current on sale select fare and substantially above the saver (the balcony saver is now £300 less than the price I paid for my outside F deck cabin). We shall see.

Good morning another beautiful day. Assistance dogs are very topical over on the Cunard board at present due to two unexpected canine guests being taken for walkies away from the kennels. Apparently one was "barky and nippy"! The difference on assistance dogs and emotional support dogs has been the topic for a couple of days. Cunard and P&O have a strict description of what an assistance dog is and the terms under which they can be carried. https://www.pocruises.com/accessibility/life-onboard/assistance-dogs Incidentally the Cunard kennel guests often include cats. I have a friend who works in a law office who every year brings her two over on QM2 for a six month work spell. They are very well known by the staff as a result. The daily exercise is a popular entertainment as well. The dogs/cats have their portraits taken with their special bellboys near the end of the voyage. There is also a fire hydrant and lamppost in the kennel area for the dogs' pleasure.

I'm fully aware you aren't the only one on this thread with these views but this thread wasn't about non visible disabilities but has taken a side track. I'm guilty in that I mentioned the topic in respect to one comment regarding our very well respected friend Selbourne. He and I vehemently disagree about lift use by people with hidden disabilities, we have discussed the issue very many times in a civilized manner. There has been countless discussion between us and others on his problems with fake priority boarding and the reasons he no longer uses that route when disembarking a ship. With regard to personal, we had a discussion, I accepted your opinion and left it. Overnight people offered their stories, I rejoined the conversation because frankly one person in particular sounded extremely upset by how you responded and I thought it unkind and unnecessary for that conversation to continue. That's not personal it's suggesting enough is enough and maybe time to leave and return to the original topic of the thread, ie the accessibility form completion, walking sticks and occasional use of wheelchairs etc.

As one of the another persons taking this "personally" I would have thought that by now instead of causing extra distress to those who have a different view through personal experience it might be kinder to stop dissecting their situations? At the moment it seems that you are just going out of your way to pour more oil on the fire, we know your opinion, I accept it and perhaps now might be a good time to stop arguing with others who wish to tell of their experiences. As you say an open forum is for everyone and if someone wants to speak of life on the "other side" there doesn't seem to be any point in continually repeating the same points, after all they've been moved to write to give the alternative view. Of course we take it personally. We are the other side of the coin to the ones you claim abuse situations, and actually our family members are the ones who are made, whether intentionally or not, to feel very bad by the looks and comments they receive. As I said before it's not very nice to have someone say to you "there's stairs over their mate" (as happened to my husband on Britannia) when he lives not only with chronic pain from fibromyalgia but also has several parts of his heart not working. No one would dream of writing or speaking in such a way about someone with a visible disability, surely it's not too much to ask for the same respect without assumptions as to whether someone is genuinely in need.

I hope Mrs K isn't too bruised and battered and her bruises bloom to lovely shades of yellows and mauves.

Not sure of the purpose of HIDDEN but for a number of years they are correctly identified as non visible disabilities and as others have said it's very simple: able bodied and disabled passengers should stop questioning what others are doing. https://disabilityunit.blog.gov.uk/2020/12/17/living-with-non-visible-disabilities/

I've no problem with people having opinions. I have a problem with every time someone mentions a non visible disability this abuse of priority boarding etc is trotted out by someone or other. You unfortunately are just the latest in a long line and no I'm sure it isn't personal but as I said earlier it is extremely easy to be upset. My hackles rise when I read how sympathetic people are to non visible disability because if the posts over the years on this subject are anything to go by plus our own experience with lifts on cruise ships it's a very long way from the truth. Of course there are people who think having assistance gets them priority and early boarding but it's not how it happens. Our last cruise from Southampton we had 4.00pm boarding along with family members including an autistic child and an 83 year old in heart failure. That lateness is probably a shock to the real frauds and why they rise up like Lazarus, but they are a minority and should be accepted as such rather than making the genuine feel uncomfortable. It's not nice to have to explain to a lift of strangers why you need to use it and rather than judging it should be accepted that everyone, able bodied, disabled or otherwise is perfectly within their right to do so.

No I wasn't there but I live with a man who has a life threatening illness who is constantly judged by people who think they know all about his capabilities because they see him being active (very much a part of his care plan is to be active for as long as feasibly possible both for physical and mental health). It is hurtful and distressing to be judged in the way described on these boards, not just by you but many others. If I did see it I wouldn't have the audacity to comment on it because the fact is I would not know that person's circumstances. What I can say with certainty is that the public, particularly in the UK just make assumptions and are extremely fond of putting their opinions on to open forums making anyone affected by non visible disability defensive and upset.

The "point" is you have absolutely no right whatsoever lawfully to judge the people you refer to and this is the whole reason why those who have non visible disabilities get extremely upset when threads like this one go down that track. I assume you are medically qualified if you are so certain they are fit and well. Perhaps if you're so sure you should challenge them, or perhaps not ...

There are so many things covered under the Act as it was all encompassing. Many people would say a disabled person constitutes those who have blue badge parking or are in receipt of disability benefit but of course there are so many other disabilities. The truth is probably that a large proportion of the population consider rightly or wrongly the disabled to be those who are in a wheelchair. The situation isn't helped by various schemes for people who have non visible disabilities such as the sunflower lanyard or the Did Card - the latter is only available to those registered for benefits or under medical supervision. You rather miss the point I'm afraid. It's not for you or anyone else to "identify" anyone. If you wish to believe they are fraudulent it is of course your personal opinion but it isn't for the public to judge individuals. You would be in the group that watches my husband about his daily business and thinks it's wrong for him to require a lift as he swims, walks etc with little effort. He uses the lift because stairs are a serious hazard to his health and he is advised by his health professionals to avoid them unless essential. Ironically assistance on boarding and disembarkation doesn't even mean priority boarding.

You are registered disabled under the Equality Act 2010. https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010#:~:text=You're disabled under the,to do normal daily activities. Sadly I find most have very little sympathy about hidden disabilities when it comes to lift use on ships.

Thank you. A big ask today with 30 runners in the Royal Hunt Cup. I'd hoped for Newmarket on Saturday which was the alternative but tye trainer is keen for him to take his chance today. The girls are growing fast, a couple more months till they are weaned. The first one is an independent little madam!

Thank you for the information. We have 8008 booked so it is really good to hear you had a great time.

No, it was a punters nightmare! Been some great racing but so far I've only managed one second place. Two more races to hopefully get out free as they say. Dutch Decoy tomorrow ...

What will be will be ... we had nothing planned save in Skagen so everything is a bonus. We didn't pick the cruise or know anything about the destinations as we are joining our relatives. I'm sure I will find plenty to enjoy wherever we go. Just nice to go somewhere different.

Thank you. Every port on this itinerary is new to us so we haven't a clue!!

We have just received an itinerary change informing us our itinerary has changed and we have more time in port. Looking at the details it appears we now have two extra overnight stays, one in Tallin and one in Aarhus. We also have an overnight in Helsinki. We are quite pleased the ports are unchanged despite the time in Tallin now being split over two days but shorter on the original day. These two extra overnight stops are currently not showing any excursions. I wonder whether anyone has overnights in these ports and if there are any suggestions on what we could think about doing to make the most of these evenings? Also I know some of you have been able to find approximate departure times on some sites. I'm interested in tye definition of "afternoon" times any guidance much appreciated. Thank you. Our new itinerary is Kiel Arrive Early Morning, Depart Afternoon At Sea Helsinki Arrive Early Afternoon, Overnight In Port Helsinki Depart Afternoon Tallinn Arrive Evening, Overnight In Port Tallinn Depart Afternoon Visby Arrive Early Morning, Depart Afternoon At Sea Klaipeda Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening Bornholm Arrive Early Morning, Depart Afternoon Aarhus Arrive Early Evening, Overnight In Port Aarhus Depart Early Evening Skagen Arrive Early Morning, Depart Afternoon At Sea Southampton

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It's another glorious day! For those who were wondering Remy's second name is Hugo. First day of Royal Ascot for me so off to Berkshire later today. Just been doing my early morning watering of the greenhouse and to my surprise I now have over 30 mini cucumbers on my two plants. I've been trying a new support system this year and it seems to be encouragingly good. Surprised to see a few bunches of tomatoes as well. It looks like all change fairly soon as my neighbour told me yesterday they are putting their house on the market on Friday. Not sure how my cat will like that as their garden is very much his jungle! Previously the house was rented to some doctors and it was where my cat lived until they left him behind. I hope everyone is well and that those who have been poorly or a bit down will feel on the up today. Particularly good wishes that Riley's mum is feeling more comfortable and enjoying her new arrival. Whatever you all have planned ENJOY.

There seem to be five(!) face ache threads. The one where some letters from the CAA mentioning P&O are quoted in full is entitled P&O Maleth Aero Complaints. Personally I am not a face ache user but my OH is and because I looked at one post on his account he's now being inundated with this stuff. Reading between the lines from posts I have a feeling the food being referred to isn't the normal stock of meals/drinks. There seems to have been some other offerings to those stuck on the planes on the ground - lots of mention of chocolates, water, soft drinks etc. If that is the case they must have been the world's most expensive and luxurious snacks if they're worth £500,000! The passengers in Antigua/Barbados on the other hand appear to have literally been abandoned once they reached the airports so no food there.

I'd never heard of them until I read your post! At least these guys seem to have more aircraft if breakdowns occur - 33 in the fleet apparently.