Pre-voyage brochure

[welshgirl001]

I very carefully avoided "going green" and looked forward to getting my pre-voyage documents in the mail.

 

I was all ready to browse the book and :eek::eek: shock horror no shore excursions..................just a page referring you to the web site.

 

The book is now mostly cunard care info and luggage labels, and mine have no cabin details as it was not allocated at time of posting the book. The dress code page is still there..........for now anyway:rolleyes:

 

Very disappointing..................so i am now forced to look online

 

I expect it wont be long before the book will be extinct.

I will not give up my book until the very end though.

 

Julie

[Underwatr]

Withthe exception of the new fold-and-staple luggage labels I haven't really seen any difference in the pre-voyage book since I started cruising with Cunard 2.5 years ago. It never seems to have any information I hadn't found weeks earlier via the Cruise Personalizer pages.

[sfbearcat]

I hate the fold and staple luggage tags as they are not durable..mine were half ripped off when my bags showed up in my cabin..glad I put 2 on each piece..they need to go back to the old ones..and stop being cheap under that "green" lable as every night my bed was full of paper flyers for some sale or special event..and in the trash they go.

[Oahucruiser]

I very carefully avoided "going green" and looked forward to getting my pre-voyage documents in the mail.

 

I was all ready to browse the book and :eek::eek: shock horror no shore excursions..................just a page referring you to the web site.

 

You will also find that the shore excursions that you book online now have to be paid with your credit card right then and there instead of booking them and paying on board. We have credit on board and plan to use that for shore ex so we only booked the first two tours in case they fill up before boarding.

[Dajo5601]

You know, I respect everybody's views and comments re the luggage labels that you print off, but I have never had a problem and in fact my wife is amused at the struggle that I have in getting the printed ones off our luggage when we put the cruise line's own luggage labels on for our return home journey.

 

Quite simply, I print them off on photographic paper, attach them to the luggage and staple them as advised and with a wide roll of sellotape, cover the whole label and I can tell you, you need scissors to remove them.

 

Come on folks, us "cruisers" can overcome these simple administrative issues....

[bepsf]

Since this is my first Cunard cruise, I only have my experiences with HAL, MSC and Celebrity to go by...

...but I found that the Cunard package to be the most complete and thoughtful of them all - even compared to HAL's package from 8 years back.

None of the others provides you a complete calendar including dress codes for specific nights and special events.

None of the others gives you a personalized deck plan with the location of your cabin highlighted.

None of the others gives you plenty of pre-printed luggage tags with your name and cabin number on them (anymore)

None of the others gives you a shore-excurion planner that is specific to your itinerary.

Heck - HAL doesn't send you anything via mail anymore other than sales brochures and their monthly magazine. Only if you're part of a group and your TA goes the extra mile to get you some luggage tags will you receive some sort of printed materials from the line.

Needless to say, I was most pleased with the package I received from Cunard.

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I am booked on the Queen Elizabeth's 10-day Mediterranean cruise that departs on November 29. I received a very nice Pre-Voyage Documentation and Shore Excursions booklet in the mail that includes full details of all of the shore excursions. As mentioned in the message above, the booklet contains a lot of information and is customized for my particular cruise. Considering that lines such as Princess, Celebrity and Holland America no longer send out any pre-cruise documentation, I think this is a nice touch.

 

I don't like the new style of luggage tags used by the cruise lines, but I have never had any trouble with them. During my last cruise, I saw people with luggage that had clear plastic baggage tags that held their paper cruise tags. This protects the paper tags from being torn off, damaged in the rain, etc. I ordered a set of these reusable clear luggage tags (they are especially made to hold the cruise luggage tags) and received them in the mail yesterday. I am going to use them on my Queen Elizabeth cruise.

 

I booked all of my shore excursions on the Cunard website and was not required to pay for them in advance. For my cruise, they add the shore excursion charges to the onboard accounts.

 

I am looking forward to returning to Cunard. My last cruise with them was three years ago.

 

Chuck

[Underwatr]

I booked all of my shore excursions on the Cunard website and was not required to pay for them in advance. For my cruise, they add the shore excursion charges to the onboard accounts.

Yeah, that has changed. Did you have the old Personalizer or the new one?

[Scrapnana]

Hi,

 

I am booked on the Queen Elizabeth's 10-day Mediterranean cruise that departs on November 29. I received a very nice Pre-Voyage Documentation and Shore Excursions booklet in the mail that includes full details of all of the shore excursions. As mentioned in the message above, the booklet contains a lot of information and is customized for my particular cruise. Considering that lines such as Princess, Celebrity and Holland America no longer send out any pre-cruise documentation, I think this is a nice touch.

 

Chuck

Did you book yourself or go through a travel agent? When I booked, my travel agent said I would only get luggage tags- nothing else. I posted about this in September and found that some people get documents with a TA and others said they only get them if they booked directly with Cunard.

[Glenndale]

Yeah, that has changed. Did you have the old Personalizer or the new one?

 

I booked a shore excursion on Monday for my upcoming cruise on Sunday 11th.

It charged it to my onboard account, this was using the new VP.

I think the new luggage tags are awful.:eek:

[2irisheyes]

Paying for shore excursions at the time of pre-booking applies to Cunard cruises starting with certain cruises. In the case of Queen Elizabeth it is for cruises starting with Q225 which departs on 9 December and all cruises after that one. I only quote this one as this is the one we will be on. There were two other cruise numbers which I assume relate to QM2 and QV and presumably depart around the same time so passengers departing on earlier cruises are not affected.

[Jimsgirl]

I can highly recommend using the plastic sleeves mentioned by "seacruises9"

 

I purchased several of these a couple of years ago when Cunard first used the new type of luggage tag.

 

They are very strong, and will last for years, I do not use the plastic ties that come with the tags, but other plastic ties I have, you cannot pull these off, you have to use a pair of scissors.

[Underwatr]

My only concern about the plastic sleeves (I got mine at the local AAA) is that the "lanyard" for attaching the sleeve to the suitcase handle is long and it seems that the tag could more easily be torn off beasuse of that. Some sort of alternate tie (maybe a zip-tie) like Jimsgirl mentions might not be a bad idea.

[welshgirl001]

Since this is my first Cunard cruise, I only have my experiences with HAL, MSC and Celebrity to go by...

...but I found that the Cunard package to be the most complete and thoughtful of them all - even compared to HAL's package from 8 years back.

 

None of the others provides you a complete calendar including dress codes for specific nights and special events.

None of the others gives you a personalized deck plan with the location of your cabin highlighted.

None of the others gives you plenty of pre-printed luggage tags with your name and cabin number on them (anymore)

None of the others gives you a shore-excurion planner that is specific to your itinerary.

 

Heck - HAL doesn't send you anything via mail anymore other than sales brochures and their monthly magazine. Only if you're part of a group and your TA goes the extra mile to get you some luggage tags will you receive some sort of printed materials from the line.

 

Needless to say, I was most pleased with the package I received from Cunard.

 

In the past i would agree that the package was as you mention but my disappointment was there was absolutely NO SHORE EXCURSION PLANNER and as i had no cabin assigned no deck plan and no cabin number on tags.

This is for the xmas QV cruise so i am thinking it is the new way going forward.

I think we are in a changeover period and not for the better:(

The itinerary and dress codes was there as usual but it would be nice to have docking times like some travel agents show

[seacruise9]

Did you book yourself or go through a travel agent? When I booked, my travel agent said I would only get luggage tags- nothing else. I posted about this in September and found that some people get documents with a TA and others said they only get them if they booked directly with Cunard.

 

Hi,

 

I booked my cruise through a travel agent. Interestingly, I live in Chicago, but my pre-cruise documents were mailed from England.

 

Chuck

[seacruise9]

Paying for shore excursions at the time of pre-booking applies to Cunard cruises starting with certain cruises. In the case of Queen Elizabeth it is for cruises starting with Q225 which departs on 9 December and all cruises after that one. I only quote this one as this is the one we will be on. There were two other cruise numbers which I assume relate to QM2 and QV and presumably depart around the same time so passengers departing on earlier cruises are not affected.

 

Hi,

 

According to this, I am booked on the Queen Elizabeth's final cruise before immediate payment of shore excursions is required (my cruise concludes on December 9). This new policy does not surprise me. I know that other lines (for example, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Holland America) already require payment for shore excursions when booked. This doesn't really bother me, but it prevents applying onboard credits to the payment of shore excursions.

 

Chuck

[seacruise9]

My only concern about the plastic sleeves (I got mine at the local AAA) is that the "lanyard" for attaching the sleeve to the suitcase handle is long and it seems that the tag could more easily be torn off beasuse of that. Some sort of alternate tie (maybe a zip-tie) like Jimsgirl mentions might not be a bad idea.

 

Hi,

 

I ordered my tags over the Internet. There probably are differences in the tags according to the manufacturer. On my particular tags, the "laynard" is not overly long and seems sturdy. I will see how well they last. I usually put two tags on my large suitcase (one on the top handle and one on the side handle).

 

Chuck

[Underwatr]

Mine is similar to this:

 

 

The lanyard is a plastic loop that you pass through itself, if you know what I mean. It has to be long enough to pass the tag holder through the loop when you attach it to the bag handle.

[mescat4]

Hi,

 

I ordered my tags over the Internet. There probably are differences in the tags according to the manufacturer. On my particular tags, the "laynard" is not overly long and seems sturdy. I will see how well they last. I usually put two tags on my large suitcase (one on the top handle and one on the side handle).

 

Chuck

would gratly appreiate it if you could post the link for the plastic luggage tag holders you ordered.

Ev

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I purchased my plastic luggage tags on Amazon. You can search for "cruise ship luggage tags." The tags that I purchased are "cruisetags, cruise ship luggage tags (8 pack)."

 

Chuck

[2irisheyes]

I looked at the plastic covers for labels online here in UK but I refuse too pay the money they are asking plus the postage which is more than the cost of goods. Also I do not want such long plastic things dangling from the cases. I intend to use tie on with string card labels (the old fashioned sort) and write the details large with waterproof marker pen. If Cunard and other cruiselines are saving money, I can do that too.

[capnpugwash]

I looked at the plastic covers for labels online here in UK but I refuse too pay the money they are asking plus the postage which is more than the cost of goods. Also I do not want such long plastic things dangling from the cases. I intend to use tie on with string card labels (the old fashioned sort) and write the details large with waterproof marker pen. If Cunard and other cruiselines are saving money, I can do that too.

 

They work perfectly well and the staff still manage to deliver the luggage.

[Jimsgirl]

I am on a cruise for March 12 2013, and was amazed to receive pre cruise documents this past week.

 

I liked the advance "dress code" but can well understand that newcomers will be at a loss as to the dress for such , given their names, there is no a Black and White Ball. Personally I always wear my normal formal attire for those nights.

 

The really BIG change is in the shore excusions, (I do not go ashore ) it seems that in order to pre book you have to pay using a credit card. I wonder if paying with a credit card will also apply tothose who book once they get on board.

 

Reading my documents it does seem that Cnard will no longer allow passengers to use their "on board credit" to purchase shore tours.

 

Another whittling away of passengers choices?

 

This is not a good idea Mr.Shanks, time and time again you fail to consider the real passengers- instead it is some idiot in your employment , who does not cruise, who says -

 

"I have a great idea, if we make the passenger[pay with their credit cards for their shore tours, then they will have to spend their ONC on board and that will increase our profit margin".

[2irisheyes]

Jimsgirl - I know you said you remain on the ship so the quote is for the benefit of those who do use the ship's tours and hope to use obc for that purpose:

 

"Can I use on board credit to pay for shore excursions?

 

If you choose to pre book shore excursions, then you must pay for these at time of booking. This can be done via the Voyage Personaliser and you must have a valid credit or debit card to do so.

You may book shore excursions once you are on board and these will be charged to your on board account, which will be settled at the end of your voyage.

If you have on board credit then this is deducted for the balance of your on board account so you are therefore able to effectively use any on board credit given to you to pay for your excursions, however please note that booking shore excursions on board may result in higher prices than if you were to pre book them."

 

You do not say who misinformed you but the above should clarify the matter.

[cruiseluvva]

I am on a cruise for March 12 2013, and was amazed to receive pre cruise documents this past week.

 

That seems extraordinarily early doesn't it? We are on the QE on the first leg of her World Cruise on January 6th and have received nothing.......not even a cabin number!