***** Qm2 July 3/2006

[Global G]

1.) My husband and I are going to meet my Aunt and Uncle in Boston when we dock on July 4th. Our paperwork says that we will arrive in Boston at 12:00. We are first time cruisers and don't know the process for leaving the Ship. Can you give me an estimate of when I can tell my Uncle to meet us at the dock?

 

2.) Can a polo shirt and dress shorts be worn during lunch in the Brittania?

 

Deb

[GRIFFITH1]

Hi Globalg . I Saw Your Posts And Since You Haven't Had An Answer Yet , I'll Give You My 2 Cents Worth . We Have Not Sailed On The Queen Mary2 So I Will Only Speak Of Experiences On Other Ships .

 

Your Aunt And Uncle Should Be Able To Meet You Soon After We Dock . We Should Be Cleared To Go Ashore Within Minutes Of Docking . They Usual Do That Very Fast And Then Announce That The Passengers May Go And Remind Everyone What Time To Be Back On The Ship .

 

Now I Have Never Had Lunch In The Britannia ,so I Can Not Answer That One . We Have Sailed With Royal Caribbean Several Times And Lunch Is Always Casual . Polo Shirt And Dress Shorts Are Always Very Acceptable On Their Ship's Restaurants. We Like To Wear Very Casual And Comfortable Clothes To Go On Our Port Of Calls . When We Come Back For Lunch, Most Everyone Has On The Clothes They Wore During The Day Unless You Get Wet From Water Sports,rain,or Tendering In .

 

Hope This Helps And Maybe You Will Get A Lot More Info When Others Get Time To Read Our Posts .

 

Boy, It's Getting Close ..................:d

[Global G]

Griffith1,

Thank you for your advice. I honestly had no idea what the procedure and timetable were for going on excursions. I am looking forward to meeting up with my Aunt and Uncle and now I will be able to give them a good estimate of when I can meet them. It will be fun to have an "excursion" with my 2 favorite "tour guides".

 

Deb

[Betsy's Mom]

I was under the impression that we tender in Boston. Do not have my documents in front of me so I can not check. This would cause a delay to get on shore.

B.

[cruiserking]

Betsy's Mom,

 

The only tender port on our voyage is Bar Harbor. In Boston we dock at the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal, in Halifax we also dock at a pier along the waterfront.

 

Cruiserking

[2cruisers in Georgia]

Hi Everybody! We've just made our reservations today to join you on the QM2. We are very excited about it. This will be our 35th cruise but we have never been on the Cunard line. Half of our 34 were on Royal Caribbean but we have also sailed on Princess, NCL, Carnival and Holland America. We love Holland America. We have stayed at the Queen Mary in Long Beach and now we want to find out what the QM2 is all about. From reading the posts, I think we have a lot to learn. We enjoy dressing up so I hope there will be several formal nights as some of you have mentioned.

 

We have not booked our flights yet (from Atlanta) but the TA recommended we fly in to LGA. I notice a lot of you are flying into Newark. Does anyone know which airport is closest to the new cruise terminal?

 

We have taken a couple of cruises out of NY to Bermuda but it has been at least 5 years ago so we aren't real familiar with what to do. I notice that some of you are buying transfers, some taking the super shuttle (is that something the airport has) and some mentioned local car service is better than cabs. What is local car service? We're not sure what to do on this.

 

Hope to see you all at the gathering on the first night. We've done the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle on Royal Caribbean and it was fun to meet the people we had been "chatting" with.

 

See you soon.:)

 

P.S. But, I really want to see those fireworks!!

[bexxma]

I just found this board. My teenage daughter and I will be on the Independence Sampler, along with a girlfriend and her daughter. For those of you who have cruised on the QM2 before, I'm hoping you can answer a few questions. Are the formal evenings in the Brittannia really, really formal or will a nice dress work? Also, what are the odds of getting upgraded. They offered me that and said there was a good chance. Thanks in advance for the info.

 

Bexxma

[bexxma]

Where in Texas are you? My cruisemates and I are all from Texas, too!

[cruiserking]

Hey Bexxma,

 

Welcome aboard the QM2 Independence Voyage!

 

Yes, the formal nights are very formal. I would look at some of the recent posts in regards to dresses as I usually go with a tux myself.

 

As far as an upgrade, I doubt it. This trip is an extremely popular one and will be sold out. You will have a wonderful time aboard the mighty QM2 she's an elegant and beautiful ship.

 

Cruiserking

[bexxma]

Thanks, King. Don't know which I'm looking forward to more, the ship or the fireworks in Boston Harbor. How lucky can we get???????

[cruiserking]

Thanks, King. Don't know which I'm looking forward to more, the ship or the fireworks in Boston Harbor. How lucky can we get???????

 

Fireworks on the Queen Mary 2 in Boston while decked out in your fourth of July finery; priceless.

 

Cruiserking

[Global G]

I had the chance to see the fireworks and to listen to the Boston Pops last year on July 3rd dress rehearsal. I can't believe that I will get to see the fireworks from the Queen Mary 2 this year. What a great way to celebrate!

 

Deb

[GRIFFITH1]

Where in Texas are you? My cruise mates and I are all from Texas, too!

 

HELLO BEXXMA AND WELCOME TO THE BOARD !

YES, WE ARE FROM TEXAS . WE ARE LIVING IN NEW BRAUNFELS AT THIS TIME BUT ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MOVE . WE JUST SOLD OUR HOUSE AND CLOSE 0N THE 25TH SO WE ARE TRYING TO GET MOVED OUT BY THEN . WE LIVED IN THE HOUSTON AREA FOR 47 YEARS BEFORE MOVING TO NEW BRAUNFELS (LOCATED BETWEEN AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO). WE WILL BE LIVING IN OUR WEEKEND HOME FOR THE SUMMER . THAT WAY WE WON'T BE RUSHED TO FIND A HOUSE TO BUY . WE ARE MOVING TO TYLER, TEXAS FROM THERE . THAT IS WHERE MY PARENTS LIVE . WE HAVE JUST RETIRED THIS YEAR SO WE ARE SORT OF CHANGING EVERYTHING . WE PLAN TO STAY IN TEXAS THOUGH . WHAT PART OF TEXAS DOES YOUR CRUISE MATES LIVE ?

 

JUST THINK, WE ONLY HAVE 50 DAYS LEFT UNTIL WE SAIL AWAY !

[2cruisers in Georgia]

Hi Everybody. We have just made our reservations to sail on the QM2 with you and are very excited about it. We haven't booked our airline reservations yet and just wondered if anybody knows which airport is closest to the new cruise terminal? :confused: Thanks for your reply.

[GRIFFITH1]

Hello "2 Cruisers In Georgia " . I Have Some Good Friends In Tifton , Georgia . Beautiful State .

 

We Booked Our Flights Back In February. Did Not Know About The New Red Hook Terminal At That Time . TA Did Not Know Either And Advised Us Newark,NJ Was The Closest And Easiest To Fly Into . I Read On The Board (Cruise Air Topic) That La Guardia Is A Little Closer To The New Red Hook Terminal Where We Will Be Boarding The Queen Mary2 . I Decided To Stay With What We Have .

 

You May Want To Book Your Flights Soon To Have The Time You Want To Fly And Get The Seats You Want . We Are Flying In On The Same Day About Noon . You May Want To Do That Or Fly In The Day Before To Rest Up Or Do Some Sightseeing . We Have Been To New York Several Times And Loved It . I Use To Go Once A Year For The Beauty Show They Have Every Spring . There Is Just So Much To See And Do There .

 

We Also Booked The Cunard Transfers . I Would Liked To Do The Super Shuttle From The Airport But There Will Be 4 Of Us And A Lot Of Luggage . My Parents,My Husband,and Myself. We Are Doing A 9 Day Road Trip In A Rental Car After The Cruise . That Is The Reason For All The Luggage . The Down Side Of The Transfer Is That You Have To Wait Until The Coach Fills Up With All The People That Have The Transfers . The Good Thing Is That You Don't Have To Worry About How Much Luggage You Have With Your Party . We Don't Like To Rush With My Parents So The Cunard Transfers Seems Like The Best For Us .

 

If You Are Interested In The Super Shuttle , You Can Find Them On The Internet Or The Airport Website . They Are At A Lot Of Different Airports . You Can Also Read Up On Hiring The Private Car On The Board . There Are All Kinds Of Discussion Topics On Here . I Have Gotten All Kinds Of Helpful Advise On The Board .

 

Good Luck On Your Plans And Don't Forget We (Cruise Critics) Have Plans To Meet On The Ship July 3 At The Commodore Club (Deck 9) At 10pm.

[cruiserking]

Queen Mary 2 - July 3, 2006 -

Independence Weekend Traveling Cruise Critics

 

Griffith1- Linda

Betsy's Mom

Cleacat - Sue & Katie

Travelgals - Carol

Cruiserking/Cq6 - Jonathan & Elene plus Stu, Linda & Joe

Atticus - Revell & Chris

Eslo - Bev & Ed- Lottie & Stanley

sdb1s - Sam & Ivy

Bill and Ray - Ray and Bill

ljs0928 - Linda & Nancy

Malinda1229 - Malinda & Mia

jyoung - Lee & Rindy - John & Julie

CruiseShelly - Shelly

Global G

Sab490 - Steve & Norma

2Cruisers in Georgia - Ed & Wanda

Bexxma

[Andiamo]

Greetings.

 

Have been reading these posts for a while now and am finally ready to chime in having booked today.

 

We are Jeanne and Michael from Westchester County, NY and are looking forward to this cruise. We have been on approximately 28 cruises, and only one on the Cunard Line. It was a gem of a little ship that I think Cunard only owned for a short time. I believe it was the Crown Dynasty, and it was absolutely lovely. It was a small ship and provided us with the best dining experience ever.

 

We have mostly cruised Costa, simply because Michael is from Italy originally and we are both extremely fond of dancing to Italian music, and the fact that we can always count on Costa to provide enough lounges with dancing pre- and after dinner--an amenity we have not found in abundance on NCL, RCCL, or Celebrity.

 

I have enjoyed the discussions on evening dress. It has been fun watching others enjoy one of the aspects of cruising that I personally find exciting. I never want to go on vacation and look like: I'm gardening, going to work; going to church; at the supermarket. (Just mho).

 

Anyway, looking forward to be added to the list for the Monday night get together, that is, of course, if we are not off dancing somewhere.

 

Regards,

 

Jeanne

[2cruisers in Georgia]

Hello Griffith1. Thanks for the great advice. We seriously considered flying into Newark too after I read your post especially since the airfare is $20 less per person from Atlanta but now that I spoke with the TA again and she read something she had about the new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal that said it takes 2 hours to get there from Newark and 1 hr, 15 mins from LGA (although it's only 20 mi), we've decided to book a flight to LGA. Then we considered all transportation to and from the airport to the terminal and decided to take your advice and buy the transfers. I thought they were a little expensive too at $80 per person R/T but I think it would be less hassle and worry. Looking forward to meeting you.

 

Hi Andiamo -- Welcome aboard. Looking forward to meeting you and sharing opinions about the different cruise lines although we've never been on Costa. Hopefully we will one day.

 

Hi Everybody else! My daughter gave me a patriotic shirt for Mother's Day - Can't wait to wear it in Boston. See ya soon!;)

[travel-to-go]

We are Jeanne and Michael from Westchester County, NY and are looking forward to this cruise. We have been on approximately 28 cruises, and only one on the Cunard Line. It was a gem of a little ship that I think Cunard only owned for a short time. I believe it was the Crown Dynasty, and it was absolutely lovely. It was a small ship and provided us with the best dining experience ever.

 

Regards,

 

Jeanne

Andiamo!

Jeanne,

Marc and I were on the Crown Dynasty Southern Caribbean out of San Juan (Tortola, Martinique, Antigua, Barbados, hmmm, St Thomas? Can't remember.) It's been about ten years ago or thereabouts. It was an interesting cruise. The ship had problems (at least our cabin did!) but we had a marvelous time, thanks to the people on board with us! We did the Countess the following year through the Canal- Our Captain got off the ship in Costa Rica on that trip, as she had been sold (Commodore did the staffing at the time. I think Commodore went bankrupt. I think this may have been around the time Carnival was coming on board, a couple of years after Trafalgar bought Cunard. I'm saying from memory, of course, and was not a student of Cunard history at the time. (I'm still not, but I've learned a lot here, and don't want to show my ignorance! We were only ON the ships at the time! What did we know!) We had only started cruising two years prior (both on the Crown Jewel before she was sold to Orient Star- again, while we were on the ship. Trafalgar bought the line while we were aboard the first time ! Or maybe it was the third cruise. I forget! Just watch out when cruising with us! Ya never know who will own the ship and the line when you get off! So someone can do the math for me and figure out when we were on each ship!

 

Karie,

who had paper thin walls on the Crown Dynasty- And "oh Chuck! Oh, Chuck! It's So BIG CHUCK!" (said breathlessly) was in the cabin next door~!

The extra entertainment was free!

[pnhmrk]

"oh Chuck! Oh, Chuck! It's So BIG CHUCK!" (said breathlessly) was in the cabin next door!

The extra entertainment was free!

 

You mean that you could hear your neighbours discussing the size of their bathroom?:confused:

[ESLO]

Greetings.

..........finally ready to chime in having booked today. We are Jeanne and Michael from Westchester County, NY and are looking forward to this cruise.

 

Dear & Andiamo & All,

Hello & Welcome On Board Jeanne & Michael on your first Cunard Cruise in only 46 days. We have been lucky to have cruised Cunard 15 times in the past and looking forward to experiencing the QM2 for the very first time like many of us will. Very happy to see you don't have to far to travel to Red Hook from Westchester. We ourselves only have 15-20 mins to travel living in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn.

 

In the past on Caribbean cruises we have seen Costa Line ships in the Port of Barbados and look like very nice ships. When Cunard did not come out of NYC in the past for a few years we opted to cruise on Holland America Line as we have also in the past. We even have another voyage in Oct of this year on the new Noordam out of Manhattan. Now we also have Princess Line added to the Lines coming out of Red Hook to consider in the future.

 

It would be a pleasure to meet you at the Meet & Greet. But, if you are unable to make it - Dancing somewhere on board sounds like a very good excuse.

 

Till the 3rd of July....

 

Regards,

:) ESLO

(Ed & Bev)

[travel-to-go]

You mean that you could hear your neighbours discussing the size of their bathroom?:confused:

Oh! I thought it was the magnum of champagne! :eek:

 

Karie,

who can't imagine what else it could have been!

[GRIFFITH1]

Elso ,

That Is Wonderful That You Only Have 15-20 Mins. Travel To Get To The Ship .

I Was Wondering If You Can Tell Me , Is It True What We Have Heard ...

That The Travel Time From Newark Airport

To The Ship Is "2 Hours" And The Travel Time From LGA To The Ship

Is "1hr.15 Mins" ?

That Sounds Like An Awful Long Time To Me .

 

 

Thanks For Any Info You May Have On The Subject . ;)

 

Linda G.

[cml3]

Hello Everyone,

My husband and I just booked today. Carol and Albert.

We are from RI and just wanted a little vacation without the children.

We love cruising--and usually go as a family. We have not been on Cunard our last 3 cruises were Celebrity.

Counting down the days!!!

Carol

[cruiserking]

Queen Mary 2 - July 3, 2006 -

Independence Weekend Traveling Cruise Critics

 

Griffith1- Linda

Betsy's Mom

Cleacat - Sue & Katie

Travelgals - Carol

Cruiserking/Cq6 - Jonathan & Elene plus Stu, Linda & Joe

Atticus - Revell & Chris

Eslo - Bev & Ed- Lottie & Stanley

sdb1s - Sam & Ivy

Bill and Ray - Ray and Bill

ljs0928 - Linda & Nancy

Malinda1229 - Malinda & Mia

jyoung - Lee & Rindy - John & Julie

CruiseShelly - Shelly

Global G

Sab490 - Steve & Norma

2Cruisers in Georgia - Ed & Wanda

Bexxma

Andiamo - Jeanne & Michael

Cml3 - Carol & Albert