Alaska advice - and last day for huge Cunard discounts

[NE John]

2 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

No, on the corner of the middle block, so balcony has a bit of a forward view as well 5094.  Restaurant a lot smaller than QA - there were some not great tables in PG well away from the window that I fully expected to get. Instead...just second time Cunarders 

Cunard is luring you in with that table! 
Take it from me…it works!!

 

 

Edited September 2 by NE John

[buchanan101]

53 minutes ago, NE John said:

Cunard is luring you in with that table! 
Take it from me…it works!!

 

 

Trying to work out why…

 

P1 not P2. Full Cunard fare. Silver members (just one crossing) and OH is a Dr…

 

And luck.  No money changed hands. Always go to boarding day lunch to make sure if you have a good table you keep it… 

[bananavan]

1 hour ago, buchanan101 said:

A return for two in Club on BA will cost me 200,000 Avios (supposedly about £2k's worth, but I have 480,000 Avios) and £950. I have a 241 Amex voucher halving the Avios requirement  from 400,000. May fly out Premium Economy to save a bit.

 

That's a no brainer when Cunard want £1520 a head for - I assume - economy returns...so the same overall price as my Club class returns

 

355 days out for me for bookings, but there seems good availability for flights to Seattle year round. The return in Club is the really important one to get a flat bed on an overnighter

We will be using points as well. As I said to my husband earlier this year, there is no way we want to die with points remaining. 😇
We will drive from Indiana to Chicago for a Delta non stop flight.
We will be staying on the ship and taking the 28 day Seattle to Miami back to our house in Florida. 
The flight from Indianapolis to Seattle direct is 4x the cost of the flight from Chicago. 
Do you know what hotel is Cunard using in Seattle? 
 

[buchanan101]

30 minutes ago, bananavan said:

We will be using points as well. As I said to my husband earlier this year, there is no way we want to die with points remaining. 😇
We will drive from Indiana to Chicago for a Delta non stop flight.
We will be staying on the ship and taking the 28 day Seattle to Miami back to our house in Florida. 
The flight from Indianapolis to Seattle direct is 4x the cost of the flight from Chicago. 
Do you know what hotel is Cunard using in Seattle? 
 

Assumed as it was 330 days that was Delta as Virgin are same and in same alliance. 
 

Don’t know hotels. Will just look on booking.com or Hotels.com or a Hilton 

[Winifred 22]

2 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

Trying to work out why…

 

P1 not P2. Full Cunard fare. Silver members (just one crossing) and OH is a Dr…

 

And luck.  No money changed hands. Always go to boarding day lunch to make sure if you have a good table you keep it… 

What is being a doctor got to do with it ? 

[buchanan101]

10 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

What is being a doctor got to do with it ? 

Probably nothing. But maybe they look for titles to differentiate all else being equal. Who knows? 

[Winifred 22]

Just now, buchanan101 said:

Probably nothing. But maybe they look for titles to differentiate all else being equal. Who knows? 

I doubt it. Both my children are doctors travel annually in Queens Grill and have never experienced preferential treatment on either QM QE or  QV. 

[D&N]

3 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

I doubt it. Both my children are doctors travel annually in Queens Grill and have never experienced preferential treatment on either QM QE or  QV. 

Do they travel as Dr [surname] or as Mr, Mrs etc?

Of course it then takes the person allocating tables to be impressed by a title.

[Winifred 22]

2 minutes ago, D&N said:

Do they travel as Dr [surname] or as Mr, Mrs etc?

Of course it then takes the person allocating tables to be impressed by a title.

They use their titles. 

Edited September 2 by Winifred 22

[buchanan101]

Ok...shore excursions.

 

Juneau: Cunard want $245 each for Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Quest combined. Doesn't seem toooo bad. Can anyone recommend this?

 

Viator is £192, so virtually the same price. No brainer to book through Cunard then...

Edited September 3 by buchanan101

[NE John]

2 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

Ok...shore excursions.

 

Juneau: Cunard want $245 each for Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Quest combined. Doesn't seem toooo bad. Can anyone recommend this?

 

Viator is £192, so virtually the same price. No brainer to book through Cunard then...

I went on that Cunard excursion and it was excellent. You are guaranteed to see whales or a refund…you’ll see whales. Do Cunard so no worries about getting back to ship. You’ll be on a coach to the whale watching dock, then driven to Mendelhall Glacier, take a hike to the Falls and Glacier, then driven back to ship. Our bus driver was an excellent narrator too.I felt money well spent.  BTW, expect lots of corny jokes in Alaska, seems to be an Alaska thing. 

[buchanan101]

17 minutes ago, NE John said:

I went on that Cunard excursion and it was excellent. You are guaranteed to see whales or a refund…you’ll see whales. Do Cunard so no worries about getting back to ship. You’ll be on a coach to the whale watching dock, then driven to Mendelhall Glacier, take a hike to the Falls and Glacier, then driven back to ship. Our bus driver was an excellent narrator too.I felt money well spent.  BTW, expect lots of corny jokes in Alaska, seems to be an Alaska thing. 

Booked it. Same price as otherwise available through third parties, and good exchange rate compared with what it has been recently. 
 

Will do the Skagway train, and there are cable cars in other stops but the trips are generally very expensive so may take it easy…

[NE John]

2 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

Booked it. Same price as otherwise available through third parties, and good exchange rate compared with what it has been recently. 
 

Will do the Skagway train, and there are cable cars in other stops but the trips are generally very expensive so may take it easy…

You’ll be very happy with this trip to Alaska, especially in PG. Onboard, the Grills facilities are really nice. Hopefully the weather cooperates for you as well as on our trip. 

[buchanan101]

Cunard today have 10% off all(?) 2025 fares. Still not as good as the deal I got (about 25% off on the free upgrade), but the P1s are now cheaper than they were

 

Are they struggling to fill their ships? Not only they who've increased capacity - most lines are doing it

[bananavan]

On 9/4/2024 at 4:29 AM, buchanan101 said:

Cunard today have 10% off all(?) 2025 fares. Still not as good as the deal I got (about 25% off on the free upgrade), but the P1s are now cheaper than they were

 

Are they struggling to fill their ships? Not only they who've increased capacity - most lines are doing it

IT must be a UK thing because my Q6 is $2000 USD more expensive now than when I booked it in late June. The two suites surrounding mine are still showing as available however.