QE2 - January 3, 2006 - Six Day Crossing

[eroller]

I still can't figure out where this champagne bar on the QE2 is. I didn't come across it last year on the crossing and I don't see it on any deck plan. On the little foldout map that they leave for you in the cabin I can see that it's supposed to be on One Deck, but because it's a sideways view it doesn't show how to get there. Are there any deckplans that show it?

 

 

Have a look at the QE2 deck plan in the main Cunard brochure. Look at One Deck, all the way forward, port side. You will see a single elevator (Lift) with nothing around it. Right there is where the Champagne Bar/Grill Bar is. There is also a spiral staircase that connects it with the Princess Grill one deck above.

 

Ernie

[Transatlantic Tom]

Is there a good pub near the waterfront to grab a pint and a ploughman's lunch?

 

 

Frank:

 

There is the Duke of Wellington (with a nice big fireplace AND a Cunard house flag hanging from the rafters !!) near the Maritime Museum. I think that it is on Bugle Street, a block or two inland, away from the waterfront.

 

Tom

[sfo-john]

Thanks for the info. Seems strange that they don't show it on the deckplans. Anyway, I'll be there for our get together.

[Transatlantic Tom]

I'll be there for our get together.

 

We still have to figure out the details for this.

 

The idea that seemed to be popular was that of two meetings: one the night of our sailing, Jan. 3, (as if we all don't have that one imprinted on our brains !) and then another one the next day, Jan. 4, our first full day at sea.

 

Also, someone suggested having one at The Chart Room and the other at The Champagne Bar.

 

Without getting into the topic of "which lounge, which night" quite yet...what do "members of the club" think about meeting Jan. 3rd at 10 PM, and then meeting Jan. 4 at 6:30 PM.

 

Tom

[sfo-john]

I'm definitely up for the Jan 3rd meeting at The Champagne Bar and perhaps the next night at The Chartroom.

[guernseyguy]

AFAIK the Princess Grill Bar only opens 7pm - 9pm - those were its opening hours on the July 2000 Crossing - so I think we'll need to schedule the pre-dinner meeting for there, post-dinner for the Chart Room....and later the Yacht Club....

 

Peter

[Calliope]

I still don't know which room Cheryl and I will be in. Cunard says it's part of the World Cruise and they don't assign rooms for those making a segment of the cruise until everyone making the whole World Cruise has their room assigned. This usually occurs about a week out, so they say. Well, I'll keep on calling Cunard till I find something out anyway!

 

I did find out my air today. We'll be flying to Heathrow arriving in London at 0650 GMT. So lunch at the Duke of Wellington sounds pretty plausible.

[guernseyguy]

I have just returned from a trip to Bristol, on England's west coast and visited Brunel's SS GREAT BRITAIN - one of the forebears of the QE2. As the web site says:

 

"It was the world’s first great ocean liner. Launched in 1843 to provide luxury travel to New York, the ship set new standards in engineering, reliability and speed. She was the world's first large iron ship and the first to be driven by a screw propeller."

 

If you have a few days in the UK prior to the crossing its well worth visiting. Bristol Temple Meads is 1 hour 45 minutes from London and if your travelling companion is not a Liner nut, the stop 15 minutes or so before Bristol is Bath - very Jane Austen and Georgian.....

 

There is more on the SS GREAT BRITAIN here: http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/index.php

 

Peter

[Transatlantic Tom]

 

the Princess Grill Bar only opens 7pm - 9pm - so I think we'll need to schedule the pre-dinner meeting for there, post-dinner for the Chart Room....and later the Yacht Club....

 

Peter

 

Peter:

 

Yes, shall we propose meeting in The Chart Room at 10 PM sailing day and then meet again at the Princess Grill Bar/Champagne Bar the next day at 7 PM ???

 

....as you suggest, then those inclined will meet in the Yacht Club day two, day three, day four.......

 

Tom

[eroller]

I still don't know which room Cheryl and I will be in. Cunard says it's part of the World Cruise and they don't assign rooms for those making a segment of the cruise until everyone making the whole World Cruise has their room assigned.

 

 

Surprising. Cunard is definitely assigning rooms for this segment. In fact just today they have released cabins and you can now book a specific cabin instead of a guarantee.

 

Ernie

[sfo-john]

I can't wait till December and the real countdown will begin for me!

[guernseyguy]

Peter:

 

Yes, shall we propose meeting in The Chart Room at 10 PM sailing day and then meet again at the Princess Grill Bar/Champagne Bar the next day at 7 PM ???

 

....as you suggest, then those inclined will meet in the Yacht Club day two, day three, day four.......

 

Tom

 

All of the above....and possibly the Yacht Club from Day one too....it goes on later than the Chart Room - and all you West Coasties will be wide awake - it will be the middle of the afternoon for you - so no excuses or flummery over 'jet lag'!;)

 

Peter

[sfo-john]

Well, I'll have already been in London for a few days getting acclimated in the pubs...

[signman]

Frank, I would definitely try to take a cab to Cobwebs. Usually a big crowd on sailing day. Fare should be under 10 pounds. What you will spend there????? Probably more.

 

Directions to Princess Grill/Champagne Bar are simple. One Deck, Port Side, just inside "C" Stairwell which is forward.

[juliecat]

 

If my plane gets in a 8:30 am, what time can I expect to get on the transfer bus?

 

If we get on the bus at, lets say 10am, and boarding starts at 2 pm, what happens at lunch? My DH is a diabetic, so these things need to be planned for.

 

Allis154

 

When I've done this in past years the early arriving passengers have been transfered to a hotel while the shuttle service waits for the later arriving passengers. They set up a reception area with tea, coffee, pastries and newspapers. The hotel also has a full service restaurant in case you need a full meal. My flight arrives from SFO at 7am, so I'm hoping this arrangement is still in effect!

 

Flight arrangements received but no cabin assignment yet,

Julia

[Calliope]

Surprising. Cunard is definitely assigning rooms for this segment. In fact just today they have released cabins and you can now book a specific cabin instead of a guarantee.

Ernie

 

Ernie, as you have mentioned before, you just keep calling Cunard LA till you get the price that you want, I'll keep on calling until I find out which room Cheryl and I are in. My hypothesis is that we'll know in less than a week, judging from what you have just posted. Then again since I'm such a good customer and booked through an agency that has several groups a year on Cunard ships, I'm sure they'll wait to put Cheryl and me into a Oueens Grill room, yea right! ;-) Seriously though, a C-2 room on Three Deck would be quite nice. My partner and I had 3142, and we both loved it.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Well,

 

I know I said a few days ago that I wasn't going but what can I say... Got another enticing e-mail with even lower fares and now I find myself going after all. The dates are really not convenient (not impossible, but not convenient), but there is a point at which one can't really say no.

 

I am in a C5... As Ernie mentioned as of today they are now booking specific cabins. We (we being my dad and I) are in 4154 which looks pretty nice. Of course an upgrade would be even nicer ;) , but I am still very happy with this cabin. I think it is about as nice as it gets as far as C5s go. An original first-class cabin would still be a nice surprise though!

 

The lower fares in question are a "flash" promotion which I think ends today. I assume "today" means "midnight LA time" so if you are really, really quick you might have about another hours to catch this if you haven't booked yet. Purely for informational purposes, here are the fares I was quoted for this "flash" thing:

 

M6 - $599

M5 - $649

M4 - $700

M3 - $799

M2 - $849

M1 - $900

 

C5 - $999

C4 - $1049

C3 - $1099

C2 - $1149

C1 - $1199

 

P3 - $1999

P2 - $2099

P1 - $2199

 

Q4 - $3499

Q3 - $3799

 

Interestingly, they are offering categories that were never offered before at cut-rate fares. Also interesting that M7, C6, P4 are gone (but these fares are lower than they had been).

 

Also should note it was not necessary to be a past passenger, or have gotten a mailing or anything else to qualify for this.

 

Alas most of you will probably read this when it has already expired, but it demonstrates that if you have not booked yet you should still keep your eye out for potential fare drops as obviously they are desperately trying to fill the ship.

 

These fares were for new bookings only so I would not expect the rest of you to get the reduction but if I were already booked at a higher fare I'd have my agent call Cunard and ask for an upgrade or a shipboard credit or something. I don't know if they will do it but it should be worth a try.

 

We don't have air arrangements yet. I expect to have them very soon as everyone else seems to be getting theirs. There are 17 flights a day between JFK and LHR so they should be able to manage something non-stop...

 

As far as Southampton goes... Do I take the posts above to mean that Cunard keeps everyone in a hotel at LHR and then transfers them to Southampton later? Or does one transfer to Southampton, and the hotel where they "hold" you is there?

 

I thought I might want to meet some UK friends who are not sailing with us in Southampton for lunch... I have never done this before but on cruises from European ports we have been taken from the airport to ship right when the flight arrives (early morning) which would be my preference in this case. Lunch in a hotel is a nice touch - nicer, really, than dumping pax in a terminal early in the morning and then expecting them to sit there for 6 hours to board the ship! - but it does not do much good for those who want to wander off on their own. If I want to arrange to meet people I need to know beforehand...

 

On meeting on-board... Well, will we all be finished eating dinner at 10 PM the first evening? I have no problem with it myself, if we go to dinner at 7 or thereabouts we should be finished by 10 but what about those taking second seating in Mauretania? Similarly on the second night, a 7 PM meeting should not work for first seating Mauretania people, though those of us in Caronia and the Grills (do we have anyone here in one of the Grills?) should be fine.

 

Anyhow, looking forward to meeting all of you in six weeks. It should be a great crossing.

[eroller]

Ernie, as you have mentioned before, you just keep calling Cunard LA till you get the price that you want, I'll keep on calling until I find out which room Cheryl and I are in. My hypothesis is that we'll know in less than a week, judging from what you have just posted. Then again since I'm such a good customer and booked through an agency that has several groups a year on Cunard ships, I'm sure they'll wait to put Cheryl and me into a Oueens Grill room, yea right! ;-) Seriously though, a C-2 room on Three Deck would be quite nice. My partner and I had 3142, and we both loved it.

 

 

It's possible you might already have a cabin assignment. If your travel agent uses POLAR (I imagine they do if they book a lot with Cunard), then they can pull up your reservation live. One of the reasons I think cabin numbers were released today for new bookings is that all the guarantees were assigned. Just a hunch, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it! ;) In fact I believe that now Cunard is requiring cabin assignments for all new bookings, and no guarantees.

 

Anyway, good luck with the upgrade. Cunard doesn't seem to be doing too much of that on this sailing. Maybe one category if you are lucky.

 

Ernie

[eroller]

I am in a C5... As Ernie mentioned as of today they are now booking specific cabins. We (we being my dad and I) are in 4154 which looks pretty nice. Of course an upgrade would be even nicer ;) , but I am still very happy with this cabin. I think it is about as nice as it gets as far as C5s go. An original first-class cabin would still be a nice surprise though!

 

Nice cabin Doug. One of the largest in the category, but a few others are larger. ;) Anyway, you can't beat the location. I would also love an original 1st Class cabin, but Cunard doesn't seem to be doing much upgrading on this crossing. Why should they, they are practically giving it away to begin with.

 

 

 

 

 

These fares were for new bookings only so I would not expect the rest of you to get the reduction but if I were already booked at a higher fare I'd have my agent call Cunard and ask for an upgrade or a shipboard credit or something. I don't know if they will do it but it should be worth a try.

 

It's not going to happen. Cunard/Princess do not protect existing bookings on any Flash Promo. They make sure flash promos are not offered until after the final payment date, so those already booked can't cancel and rebook without a substantial penalty. They will not offer upgrades or onboard credits to existing bookings either. They may do this with some promos, but not a flash promo. One reason is that flash promos are only offered during a very limited time period, usually five days or less and always require full payment within 24 hours .... no option extensions. Of course strange things are known to happen with POLAR, and I know of one reservation that was given a longer option date. When a Cunard reservation agent was asked how this occurred, they had not a clue. ;)

 

 

 

Anyhow, looking forward to meeting all of you in six weeks. It should be a great crossing.

 

I'm up for meeting on the first night and second night, once we finalize the time and place. I tend to stay up late on these crossings as there is no reason for me to get up early. I'm sure you will find me in the Yacht Club most late evenings after the show.

 

Ernie

[dougnewmanatsea]

Nice cabin Doug. One of the largest in the category, but a few others are larger. ;)

Yes but mine is in a better location ;) ...

 

They will not offer upgrades or onboard credits to existing bookings either.

Too bad. Still, I think most everyone booked on this crossing did pretty well...

 

I tend to stay up late on these crossings as there is no reason for me to get up early.

True, with no ports why get up early?

 

That said I usually do try to get up early at least once (or two or three times on a big ship like QE2) to photograph the public areas with no people in my way. Could do that late at night as well though ;) ...

[guernseyguy]

Yes but mine is in a better location ;) ...

 

Enjoy the views of New Jersey as we sail up the Hudson.....;) .....me, I'll take Manhattan.......I've got an identical cabin but Starboard (and I know, we'll both be on deck!). All that said - the slightly 'bigger' C5 cabins are either further forward or aft, and many are 'Porthole down a corridor' configuration - we've both got great cabins in excellent locations. The only other CARONIA grade unequivocally better are the C1s. C2 - C4 has many cabins smaller, or poorer configuration, their only 'upgrade' being a tub vs shower.

 

BTW, Cunard did honour this 'Flash' promotion price with an onboard credit for the difference between what we'd paid and these prices when they ran this promotion earlier. Thats quite a few Dry Martinis.......

 

See you onboard!

[Allis154]

When I've done this in past years the early arriving passengers have been transfered to a hotel while the shuttle service waits for the later arriving passengers. They set up a reception area with tea, coffee, pastries and newspapers. The hotel also has a full service restaurant in case you need a full meal. My flight arrives from SFO at 7am, so I'm hoping this arrangement is still in effect!

 

Thanks, Juliecat. That makes things a little easier.

 

As for the get-togethers, we probably won't make it to the first one, but we will try. If our flight arrangements for this flight is anything like the last time we went, we will have been travelling for 28 hours by the time we board the QE2. Not fun at all. We are hoping for better flights, but are not holding our breath. We should know something in the next day or so.

[eroller]

 

BTW, Cunard did honour this 'Flash' promotion price with an onboard credit for the difference between what we'd paid and these prices when they ran this promotion earlier.

 

 

 

That wasn't a "Flash Promo" that was offered earlier. It was just a reduction of rates that still applies until December 31 (based on availability). I received a refund for the price difference when that reduction was first offered.

 

This Flash Promo has already expired (November 14), and it was only offered for a total of about five days. Either you got in on it as a new booking or you lost out.

 

Ernie

[eroller]

Enjoy the views of New Jersey as we sail up the Hudson.....;) .....me, I'll take Manhattan.......I've got an identical cabin but Starboard (and I know, we'll both be on deck!). All that said - the slightly 'bigger' C5 cabins are either further forward or aft, and many are 'Porthole down a corridor' configuration

 

 

I agree about the higher C-grade cabins not necessarily being better. Location may be on a higher deck, but the cabin configuration is not any better. You do get the bathtub which is important to some people.

 

I had a choice of one of the midship C5's on Four Deck, but I opted for one further aft. It's slightly larger and meant for three people, so it has a sofa, three closets, and two dressers. The bathroom is still small. I figured my brother and I would enjoy the sofa, extra floor space, and extra closet room. I don't get seasick (I actually like the motion) so the midship location is not important to me. I also like the layout ... the sofa is in front of the porthole, and the beds are near the sofa. So no long hallway to get to the porthole. There is a long hall when you first walk in that has the three closets and bath off it. At 214 sq ft I think it's one of the largest C5's you can get, and actually larger than many cabins in a higher grade. Might have to have a little cocktail party! ;)

 

My last QE2 cabin was 5206. VERY small ... so this cabin will feel like a mansion in comparison.

 

One question for QE2 alumni .... do Four Deck cabins require "deadlights" in rough weather, or is that only on Five Deck and below? That could be an advantage to being on Three Deck or above.

 

Ernie

[guernseyguy]

At 214 sq ft I think it's one of the largest C5's you can get, and actually larger than many cabins in a higher grade. Might have to have a little cocktail party! ;) Ernie

Sold! Though I've always fancied doing a "Marx Brothers" in an M7 (or whatever the smallest cabin is called now) in the scene from 'A Night at the Opera'. Any volunteers? For those who don't know this one, you can read all about it here:

http://www.nightattheopera.net/stateroom.html, or hear it here:

http://www.nightattheopera.net/nato10.ram

 

As to deadlights, I have heard that some naughty people close them themselves....so the steward thinks its already been done....and can then be reopened.....

 

Peter