Life on board - looking forward

[Dajo5601]

My heart goes out to the cruise company, as it does to many others - not in the cruise business,  I don't envy them the task which they have to get things up and running again, but with the best will in the World, there are so many aspects of life on board that I cannot imagine how they will deal with some of the challenges ahead:   (1) embarking, (2) movement in stateroom corridors, (3) number in elevators, particularly going for dining, (4) buffet service operation, (5) dining room seating and service, (6) entertainment in the Queens Room for guests, (7) deck spacing for seating & guests, (8) activity in and around the pools, (9) seating arrangements in the bars and finally, disembarkation in a limited time window, plus many other aspects of life on board.

 

I have cruises booked, I will go cruising again, I am not a negative person but the list above are the challenges facing the cruise lines and I wish them well and hope that as the time for cruising again draws near, some of the issues that I have outlined above will become clearer.  Good luck to those making the decisions, I wish you well - and see you soon.

 

Regards to all - KEEP SAFE,

 

David.

[lissie]

I think its all got a lot simpler.   No one - crew or guest allowed on board without a vaccination with a very few limited exemptions for those who can't be vaccinated (with a proper pre-departure medical approval). 

 

Then all the rest of it can go back to normal. 

 

Though the absolute scrum created in Sydney when they have over 2000 pax the same arrival time was more like a budget airline experience than a civilized start to a holiday - they can fix that by giving staggered arrival times and policing them. 

[LittleFish1976]

9 hours ago, lissie said:

Though the absolute scrum created in Sydney when they have over 2000 pax the same arrival time was more like a budget airline experience than a civilized start to a holiday - they can fix that by giving staggered arrival times and policing them. 

 

That might be one silver lining to come from the covid pandemic - people might be forced to finally abide by their allocated time of check in rather than deciding for themselves that they'll ignore Cunard's directions to them and choose their own time of arrival.

 

Hard to understand why people don't understand that it's a better experience for all if everyone does as they're asked to do.

[lissie]

9 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

That might be one silver lining to come from the covid pandemic - people might be forced to finally abide by their allocated time of check in rather than deciding for themselves that they'll ignore Cunard's directions to them and choose their own time of arrival.

 

Hard to understand why people don't understand that it's a better experience for all if everyone does as they're asked to do.

Trust me I had time to check what time everyone had - stood in that queue for  several hours - we all had the same time! 

[LittleFish1976]

1 hour ago, lissie said:

Trust me I had time to check what time everyone had - stood in that queue for  several hours - we all had the same time! 

 

Oh dear, you had time to look at their documentation? Seems odd that everyone should have been asked to come at the same time; unless it wasn't literally 'over 2,000 pax' but rather 'many'. Anyway, that must have been very irritating. The cruise lines will definitely have to do better than that in future, even by law. In Australia all businesses are required to have a 'covid-safe' plan for re-opening and running as I'm sure they are in New Zealand, also. That plan would not include all passengers turning up at the same time! Also, in future I imagine the checks the cruise line will do on embarkation will be lengthier so check in will be a prolonged affair with temperatures, checking of covid test status, and vaccination status etc.

 

[Colin_Cameron]

I’ve been thinking for months now that “changeover day” will become “disembarkation day”, then a deep clean of the ship, followed by “embarkation day”.

[lissie]

5 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Oh dear, you had time to look at their documentation? Seems odd that everyone should have been asked to come at the same time; unless it wasn't literally 'over 2,000 pax' but rather 'many'.

 

Well actually yes - because Cunard seems to love paper -  most had print outs. There were quite a few of us!  

[majortom10]

6 hours ago, lissie said:

Well actually yes - because Cunard seems to love paper -  most had print outs. There were quite a few of us!  

Perhaps they all had printouts but you dont actually know the times on each document they could as usual, especially at Southampton, ignore times and turn up as they want.

[carlmm]

23 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

 - people might be forced to finally abide by their allocated time of check in rather than deciding for themselves that they'll ignore Cunard's directions to them and choose their own time of arrival.

 

Hard to understand why people don't understand that it's a better experience for all if everyone does as they're asked to do.

 

This rather harsh verdict ignores ignores the reality of how many guests arrive. 

If you can travel by car to the port or stay in a hotel close by you might be able to somewhat influence your arrival time at the port.

Yet, everybody using for example international flights or complex long distance train connections has just to accept the airlines or train companies schedules. 

[LittleFish1976]

18 minutes ago, carlmm said:

 

This rather harsh verdict ignores ignores the reality of how many guests arrive. 

If you can travel by car to the port or stay in a hotel close by you might be able to somewhat influence your arrival time at the port.

Yet, everybody using for example international flights or complex long distance train connections has just to accept the airlines or train companies schedules. 

 

My 'harsh verdict' is based on the advice I often see on cruise boards (here) to just turn up at whatever time suits one or people saying they do just that - arrive at their preferred time. I must be overly law-abiding but it seems wrong and pointless to me for people to do so - it just creates chaos. If I'm taking an international flight to a cruise (which I have done several times) I would arrive at least the day before to avoid possibly missing departure and do my utmost to arrive at the allocated time. As an example I have had to vacate a hotel room in Bergen, Norway in the morning of the day of joining a voyage. I was able to leave my case at the port and then had to kill several hours prior to check-in time. Hotels will invariably also allow you to leave luggage for the day (or longer).

 

And rather than ignoring the reality of how many people arrive, as you say, and as Lissie shows with her photograph, that reality rather proves my point; it is already crowded so why add to the woes and go against the attempts by Cunard to spread the crowd over the course of the hours of check-in by creating surges of extra people at times of their own choosing?

 

And no, I don't expect these comments to be popular! but we are entitled to share our opinions here.

Edited January 28, 2021 by LittleFish1976
additional comments

[tacticalbanjo]

Even if you are coming by car its hard to meet the required time.

 

It takes a little over an hour for me to get to Southampton by car but it could be much longer if there are roadworks or a car crash causing traffic on the M3. So I try and make sure I leave at least an hour and a half for contingency. So there's no chance I'm turning up at 3pm even if they put that as a check in time - if I hit any kind of traffic I'd be late and denied boarding. If I get there early, the cab isn't going to drive around Southampton for an hour. So I'm stuck at the port and may as well check in. The only way you would ever be able to aim to be at the port bang on time was if you were staying in a nearby hotel and even then you'd probably want to arrive half hour early for the later times so you didn't get mixed up with school pickups.

 

Cunard knows that it's almost impossible for most people to try and keep to any sort of time. People arriving by coach arrive when they arrive as does anyone arriving fresh from the airport and that helps spread things out a bit. 

[lissie]

9 hours ago, carlmm said:

 

This rather harsh verdict ignores ignores the reality of how many guests arrive. 

If you can travel by car to the port or stay in a hotel close by you might be able to somewhat influence your arrival time at the port.

Yet, everybody using for example international flights or complex long distance train connections has just to accept the airlines or train companies schedules. 

Well my pic was from Sydney. Almost all of the guests were Australian, but many/most would have flown to Sydney to cruise.  

 

You'd be a bloody idiot to fly the morning of the cruise -most would fly the day before. There are many hotels very near the cruise terminal at The Rocks, literally walking distance.  There are also lots of cafes/restaurants/bars to hang out in.  From observation I'd say the majority of us walked  (possibly from the nearby train/tram station) (we sat at the  rooftop cafe at MOMA observing before we made the mistake of joining the queue)  The rest were dropped by car/uber/taxi. Didn't see any big buses. 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by lissie

[Solent Richard]

On 1/25/2021 at 4:48 PM, Dajo5601 said:

My heart goes out to the cruise company, as it does to many others - not in the cruise business....

 

Regards to all - KEEP SAFE,

 

David.

So does mine David.

 

Indeed, we get an almost daily reminder as those ships laid up in and around the Solent pass us saint into or out of Southampton to resupply. And of course not just Cunard, there are some pretty big beasts without passengers...

 

 

*****

[sfred]

3 hours ago, Solent Richard said:

So does mine David.

 

Indeed, we get an almost daily reminder as those ships laid up in and around the Solent pass us saint into or out of Southampton to resupply. And of course not just Cunard, there are some pretty big beasts without passengers...

 

 

*

Very sad to see QM2, and all the other ships, floating dormant.  It must be very spooky aboard, with empty and silent corridors, cabins, and public spaces.  Have you heard any commentary by the caretaking crews of what life is like aboard?

 

 

[Solent Richard]

15 hours ago, sfred said:

Very sad to see QM2, and all the other ships, floating dormant.  It must be very spooky aboard, with empty and silent corridors, cabins, and public spaces.  Have you heard any commentary by the caretaking crews of what life is like aboard?

 

 

No, we are in Lockdown (of a kind).

 

However, with careful use of my telescope it's obvious that the crew are now occupying balcony cabins.

Having posted those photographs we were treated to Queen Elizabeth's departure yesterday evening during 'second sitting' dinner. 😁

[ew101]

On 1/27/2021 at 5:37 PM, Colin_Cameron said:

I’ve been thinking for months now that “changeover day” will become “disembarkation day”, then a deep clean of the ship, followed by “embarkation day”.

What is the deep cleaning for? 

[newjoisey]

4 hours ago, ew101 said:

What is the deep cleaning for? 

ticket sales....what else 

[Host Hattie]

On 1/29/2021 at 9:46 PM, sfred said:

Very sad to see QM2, and all the other ships, floating dormant.  It must be very spooky aboard, with empty and silent corridors, cabins, and public spaces.  Have you heard any commentary by the caretaking crews of what life is like aboard?

 

 

There is at least one crew member posting on instagram if you have an account.

[frankp01]

On 2/5/2021 at 1:13 PM, Host Hattie said:

There is at least one crew member posting on instagram if you have an account.

I was going to post the same.  I follow one of the members of the medical staff.  Is that who you follow?

[Host Hattie]

Yes, I think so, seems keen on yoga

[sfred]

1 hour ago, frankp01 said:

I was going to post the same.  I follow one of the members of the medical staff.  Is that who you follow?

 

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

Yes, I think so, seems keen on yoga

 

Not being on Instagram,  I haven't read any of the postings.  Are there are any highlights from the medical staff member's experiences that are sharable here on CruiseCritic?  

 

I've always been fond of roaming the Cunard ships in the very early morning, to watch the sunrise when the weather permits.  Aside from the occasional other early-rising passenger and the crew getting the ship ready for the day, there are usually almost no other people about at those dawn hours.  I can imagine what QM2/QE/QV must feel like at the moment, with empty and quiet spaces.  Maybe there is the occasional ghost haunting the decks and rattling chains?

 

[frankp01]

2 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Yes, I think so, seems keen on yoga

Yup, sounds like the same guy.

[Host Hattie]

7 hours ago, sfred said:

Not being on Instagram,  I haven't read any of the postings.  Are there are any highlights from the medical staff member's experiences that are sharable here on CruiseCritic?  

I'm not sure if this will work

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKgvVUvF9yn/?igshid=1fsldm5eet6d6

[sfred]

That link does work -- thanks @Host Hattie..  I noticed that one of the comments on the photo of QM2's empty kennel area was an offer to send Olive and Mabel labrador videos.