Alaska on QE

I also spoke to CUNARD today about the absolute mess that they have made of the dates on their website. It is frankly appalling that they have put this out in the public domain without basic checks. It isn’t just one cruise that is showing the wrong dates, it’s virtually every single one. Whoever put this together and authorised the release should be fired. This has been going on for weeks, errors all over the website and when you report it,the agents don’t work from the same website, so struggle to understand what you are telling them. It seems that QE arrival date in Southampton could be anytime from beginning of August to 16th September, depending on which sector you book. I can only assume she is going via the Bermuda Triangle.

I also spoke to CUNARD today about the absolute mess that they have made of the dates on their website. It is frankly appalling that they have put this out in the public domain without basic checks. It isn’t just one cruise that is showing the wrong dates, it’s virtually every single one. Whoever put this together and authorised the release should be fired. This has been going on for weeks, errors all over the website and when you report it,the agents don’t work from the same website, so struggle to understand what you are telling them. It seems that QE arrival date in Southampton could be anytime from beginning of August to 16th September, depending on which sector you book. I can only assume she is going via the Bermuda Triangle.

I think I see what they've done now. It looks to me like all the segments from Vancouver are being shown incorrectly starting on the end date instead of the departure date. For example, voyage Q919B (Vancouver - Fort Lauderdale) which is actually June 30 - July 21, 2019, is erroneously listed as July 21 - August 11, 2019.

To make matters worse the straightforward San Francisco back to the UK has also shot up and it also seems to have vanished off some websites (surely not sold out already).

Probably they're packaging an itinerary that starts with Vancouver to San Francisco and continues to the UK and they needed to rob inventory from the itinerary embarking in San Francisco for at least the time being.

If this means that the price returns to within our budget then I will be happy. Guess it's more waiting until they've sorted things out properly.

I’m in Vancouver at the moment, called into two travel agents this morning and they could not tell me anything about QE Alaska. I’ll be comparing prices against Viking at around £4000 but I guess they would compare with Princess Grill on QE - is that a fair comparison?

Not sure what we are going to do now. Was curious to see the price for Vancouver back to the UK but for us the price is definitely out of our comfort zone :evilsmile: To make matters worse the straightforward San Francisco back to the UK has also shot up and it also seems to have vanished off some websites (surely not sold out already).

 

I had hoped we may have been able to book the latter cruise while we are on board in January but thinking we might have to look either for a different cruise or (gulp) maybe something with another line.

 

Ill health has ruled out booking sooner and I think we definitely need the extra couple of months to see how our recovery and recuperation continues.

 

 

In the meantime I'm off to buy a lottery ticket :D

Things changed overnight. The SF to Southampton has reappeared on a number of websites but the price range is ridiculous - over £600 pp in one case!! On some websites there is no price just call the firm - not sure what this means - perhaps only a few cabins left/huge price - who knows?!! And on other sites the SF to Southampton is not there but the Los Angeles to Southampton is.

Will just have to wait until January and see what happens. If the price does go up then I may well look at other cruises. I have a couple in mind but not sure which so 'watch this space' :)

Things changed overnight. The SF to Southampton has reappeared on a number of websites but the price range is ridiculous - over £600 pp in one case!! On some websites there is no price just call the firm - not sure what this means - perhaps only a few cabins left/huge price - who knows?!! And on other sites the SF to Southampton is not there but the Los Angeles to Southampton is.

 

Will just have to wait until January and see what happens. If the price does go up then I may well look at other cruises. I have a couple in mind but not sure which so 'watch this space' :)

Not sure what Cunard are up to with the QE cruises. The SF-Soton is almost sold out on the Cunard website, yet plenty of availability on LA-Soton. Just 2 nights difference, yet £1500 difference in price. The UK_USA airfare is also very high at around £800. Maybe some sites are offering the cruise with alternative flights. The 21 night Sf-NY cruise also has flights at almost £1300 - does seem to be very high.

I'm doing the 17 night Japan-Vancouver and the flights from Cunard are "just" £920 which does seem low compared to the flight costs on the June-Aug cruises. My 17 night was shown as almost sold out a few days after release, but there are now some extra cabins available but mainly on a guarantee basis yet still good availability on the 27 night cruise.

Just checked out the Australian site and all dates and prices are up. No booking/even checking specific categories though until Oct 31st.

As excited as I am to see Alaskan itineraries, my goodness those really are steep entry prices! A 10 night cruise is priced at more than $10,000 (single supplement) for a balcony and more than $30,000 for Queens Grill.

Yikes! That's the same cost as travelling solo in Queens Grill for a 26 night Christmas/NY voyage on QM2!

Just checked out the Australian site and all dates and prices are up. No booking/even checking specific categories though until Oct 31st.

 

As excited as I am to see Alaskan itineraries, my goodness those really are steep entry prices! A 10 night cruise is priced at more than $10,000 (single supplement) for a balcony and more than $30,000 for Queens Grill.

 

Yikes! That's the same cost as travelling solo in Queens Grill for a 26 night Christmas/NY voyage on QM2!

Hi Austcruiser, I feel the same and since both Oceania and Viking start Alaska in 2019 I may just “jump ship”. Absolutely glorious day here in Vancouver - my daughter had her Canadian Citizenship ceremony this morning. Trevor

Cunard sent me an e-mail Monday advising when Alaska cruises could be booked and provided a link to view the cruises. The result: "No cruises found" again. This evening (Tuesday) I received another e-mail apologising for giving incorrect dates for the Alaska season and inviting me to check for the correct dates. I got the same result. How strange that four cruises start in Vancouver yet no information is to be given to us in Canada.

Can Canadians book via a US travel agent?

Cunard sent me an e-mail Monday advising when Alaska cruises could be booked and provided a link to view the cruises. The result: "No cruises found" again. This evening (Tuesday) I received another e-mail apologising for giving incorrect dates for the Alaska season and inviting me to check for the correct dates. I got the same result. How strange that four cruises start in Vancouver yet no information is to be given to us in Canada.

The email advises that the Alaska itineraries may be booked from 30 October at 6AM Pacific time, but everything on the website says 31 October.

(Not related to your issue, just an observation that they're still trying to figure this all out at Cunard HQ.)

I received an email from Cunard: Thank you for your interest in Alaska, by Cunard. We experienced some technical difficulties with our website and some sailing dates for our new 2019 sailings were not displayed correctly. The dates have been corrected and all sailings are available to view.

Finally!

Hi Austcruiser, I feel the same and since both Oceania and Viking start Alaska in 2019 I may just “jump ship”. Absolutely glorious day here in Vancouver - my daughter had her Canadian Citizenship ceremony this morning. Trevor

Congratulations to your daughter! I hope you've been well too. I'm envious of the weather in the northern hemisphere given we are about to go into the torment of summer (it's going to be a hot one).

While I won't likely jump ship, I'll certainly look at what QM2 and QV are showing in terms of voyages and prices for 2019. I'm a bit disappointed really as Alaska would be a great cruise and even more so on a Cunarder. Hopefully some day. I've still got my QV 2018 Med cruise to get excited for - almost able to book flights for Sept-Oct next year and I've been busy putting together other parts of the trip.

It seems so long ago dining on QM2 crossing the North Atlantic. I'm eager to get back on board post refit. It looks amazing. I just hope they don't up the prices on her too, otherwise I will seriously consider jumping ship!

I received an email from Cunard: Thank you for your interest in Alaska, by Cunard. We experienced some technical difficulties with our website and some sailing dates for our new 2019 sailings were not displayed correctly. The dates have been corrected and all sailings are available to view.

Finally!

I received that email, too. The link took me to a list of cruises with the corrected dates. But when I clicked on any of the cruises, I got "page not found." So they fixed one thing and messed up another. The next day it all was working.

For the people who mentioned the 30th vs the 31st, past passengers may book on the 30th. Then it opens to everyone on the 31st.

I sailed Holland America's Eurodam last month. We booked a suite. I will not sail HAL line again - it just did not come close to equaling Cunard, though Alaska itself is wonderful. Yes we did Glacier Bay and yes it is amazing, but it is not a "must-do" in the sense that on Cunard you will still be visiting Mendenhall Glacier, Hubbard Glacier or Tracy Arm, all amazing in their own right.

Only a few a ships are allowed in GB per day, and that is a National Parks Service rule. And Holland America and Princess and a few other lines seem to have a lock on Glacier Bay. Personally I will take the QE and Tracy Arm any day over HAL & GB. The Parks Service will come on board and speak about the wildlife, etc. We saw wildlife everywhere, not just GB. And some of the best views of the glaciers & scenery are from the air, on the float planes and helicopters. I cannot wait to board the QE and head to Alaska!

I have asked our Travel Agent to book us on the Vancouver -New York segment tomorrow when bookings open up for previous cruisers. We will only need to fly one way to Vancouver since New York is our home port. The itinerary looks wonderful!

Over the past week Cunard has sent me two e-mails inviting me to peruse the Alaska cruises and today they advise me I can book. When following their links I still get the message that there are "No cruises found." Many others have said the California office of Cunard is "hopeless" and after they messed me up twice on one voyage earlier this month and now this nonsense I have to agree.

Although I have no intention of booking this today, I would be interested in seeing the Canadian $ fares so I know what to expect when I do book.

I called the Cunard CA office and had no problems today, only a long time on hold. But I am used to that since I book tons of Disney trips :rolleyes:

She booked my voyage, the extras with gratuities, etc. included & my OBC. I received all correct confirmations in my email while I was still speaking to her on the phone. Maybe it is just who you get when you call that makes difference

So they fixed one thing and messed up another. The next day it all was working.

Still broken here.

Can Canadians book via a US travel agent?

Yes. I do it all the time since they give terrible exchange rates for CAD bookings.

 

Yes. I do it all the time since they give terrible exchange rates for CAD bookings.

Not necessarily. My recent two voyages were booked on-board the QM2 a year ago. The Can.$ fares were only 20% above the US $ rates. My trip last year was booked at a rate of only 10% over the US rate. At the time I booked these three trips the bank was charging close to 30% so the Cunard Can.$ fares were a big saving.

For a short while earlier this year Cunard's rate for Can. $ fares was 35%, but as best as I can tell it has since dropped to about 20 % or a little more. That is still better than paying in US $ and paying the bank's exchange rate.

David, I would be grateful if you could post some Canadian prices when they appear. I am out of the country so I'm getting UK prices on the internet. My return home is on a TA from Southampton on Nov 19 and I'd be interested in knowing Cdn prices before discussing a future cruise deposit on board.

Cunard has finally posted information available to us in Canada. I have made a chart of minimum fares for two of the 10-day Alaska cruises. As I feared, this does not appear neatly when posted. Sorry, I have to go out and can't fiddle with it any more.

31 May 10 June

Inside: $2159 $2039

Outside: $2699 $2519

Balcony: $3959 $3599

Club Balcony: $5159 $4799

Princess Grill: $8399 $8039

Queen’s Grill: $11399 $11039

I also spoke to CUNARD today about the absolute mess that they have made of the dates on their website. It is frankly appalling that they have put this out in the public domain without basic checks. It isn’t just one cruise that is showing the wrong dates, it’s virtually every single one. Whoever put this together and authorised the release should be fired. This has been going on for weeks, errors all over the website and when you report it,the agents don’t work from the same website, so struggle to understand what you are telling them. It seems that QE arrival date in Southampton could be anytime from beginning of August to 16th September, depending on which sector you book. I can only assume she is going via the Bermuda Triangle.

Cunard has finally posted information available to us in Canada. I have made a chart of minimum fares for two of the 10-day Alaska cruises. As I feared, this does not appear neatly when posted. Sorry, I have to go out and can't fiddle with it any more.

 

31 May 10 June

Inside: $2159 $2039

Outside: $2699 $2519

Balcony: $3959 $3599

Club Balcony: $5159 $4799

Princess Grill: $8399 $8039

Queen’s Grill: $11399 $11039

Thanks very much. The info is very helpful. Those are very expensive fares on a per diem basis. I will visit the future cruise office as we return home on the Nov 19 TA.