TheOldBear

You would need to be able to pay the 'out of network' costs [e.g. US hospitals and doctors are not part of UK National Health] and transportation expenses. Since available policies and coverage options vary by residence / citizenship you would need someone with proper local knowledge [just as for US folks, we recommend the 'trip insurance store'].

The starboard side 'relaxation lounge' is past the locker room entrances. The Thermal Suite is in the middle with lots of surrounding rooms - no place for windows.

The Manhattan schedule https://cruise.nyc/MCT-schedule does have a few Princess sailings, but the Manhattan October 19 sailing is a Viking ship. Note that the cruise.nyc schedules are the official schedules as posted by the cruise terminal operator [always subject to update - but they are the current schedules]. Some terminal operators [e.g ABP in Southampton UK] have schedules including arrival and departure times, but cruise.nyc only lists the scheduled day.

There is an overhang with a rubberized walking track from the Lookout, above the deck 13 balconies then down steps to the 'sun deck' area

As stated, thermal suite admission is included on the day of massage services. For just the thermal suite - check the prices on board. We usually find that a three day pass is less expensive than two individual days, and often the price per day is reduced further with more days and longer sailings. The days need not be used consecutively [skip a day or two], and multiple entries he same day are permitted.

I think the original poster was interested in arrival timing, not departure timing. The NY Cruise web site does not list scheduled time of arrival pier side, and the ship's earliest disembarkation time is likely some time [an hour? half hour?] after the ship is secured to the dock. With those limitations, I would set an alarm for no later than 90 minutes before the scheduled arrival pier side [2 hours before earliest disembarkation ]. [I wonder if the purser's desk could share when the Pilot is expected on board - that would be a good time to set an alarm] If you have a view to starboard, you may see the Coney Island 'Parachute Drop' tower. The ship's tv channels may offer a bridge camera view or a ship's track to gauge your approach.

As stated in previous replies - the QM2 does not do 'repositioning' cruises. Instead the schedule is based on crossings, with side trip segments at either the North American or European ends. The crossings and most of the side trip segments may be booked as one 'voyage' or the individual crossings and cruises can be booked piece by piece. An example from our sailings - this fall's eastbound crossing starts in Brooklyn, has port visits in Newport RI & Boston MA - the Eastbound Crossing starts from Boston. Arriving in Southampton, many passengers will disembark, and be replaced by passengers who have booked either a one way cruise to Hamburg, or a round trip stopping at Hamburg. In Hamburg some passengers will disembark - having started at either Brooklyn or Southhampton. Some new passengers will board, and may be planning on disembarking at Southampton, LeHavre or Brooklyn. Arriving at Southampton, some passengers will disembark and others will board. The next day, QM2 arrives in LeHavre and once again some passengers disembark while others board. Finally QM2 makes the westbound crossing and all passengers must either disembark or otherwise leave the ship to 'zero out' to allow boarding by US rules. At each port stop [Southampton, Hamburg, Southampton again, LeHarve] the 'in transit' passengers have to option of going ashore or just staying onboard. This long example is just one of a dozen or more crossings and side trips. There is also the option of taking one crossing, disembarking for a land vacation and then later rejoining for a crossing going the other way. Some folks will plan on a combination of a land vacation, a QM2 crossing and another line's repositioning cruise - if that best fits their schedule and budget.

I bring two formal shirts - and use the ship's laundry service to clean and press when necessary.

Just checked the USA version of cunard.com - you can log in to an account, but once logged in there is nothing useful you can see or do without a login. Even the 'pay my balance' needs you to enter booking reference, not pick from a list.

We may be seasoned TA travelers - we have done six crossings so far on QM2, but have never done a repositioning sailing. The crossings have been on round trip sailings with both eastbound and westbound legs, and no flying. There are multiple options for London to Southampton - rail, bus and car service. There are discussions about the options over in the Cunard forum and the Western Europe / British Isles forum. Posts by "John Bull" are usually informative about transportation and lodging options.

The NY Cruise web page has schedules through year's end. Princess seems to be using the Brooklyn terminal - schedule at https://cruise.nyc/BCT-Schedule There are several threads on this forum where hotels are recommended for Brooklyn departures [we are almost local, so have not explored any hotel options].

The 'always available' options should still be available, even when not printed on the Britannia dinner menu. Our most recent sailing [November 2022] we only needed the 'always available' choice of entree twice over a 26 night cruise [we did the 'always available' tomato soup for many nights]

Mrs Bear has some mobility issues - we bring a rollator mostly for waits in terminals, but she also uses trecking poles instead of canes. We have only had a normal Britannia balcony room - not an accessible one [I did request a shower seat on the personalizer for our next sailing] Around the ship _almost_ everything is on the level - there are a few exceptions, off the top of my head I can think of both accommodations and problems: Both the Royal Court and Illuminations have deck level seating toward the back of the theatre main entrances. The Royal Court has indicated handicapped seating near the aisles for folks who can handle a ramp or a couple of steps. Illuminations has steps or ramp access from the deck 3 lobby. QM2 has 'half decks' as a bypass around the Britannia dining room and Royal Court [e.g. Deck 3L] these are served by dedicated lifts at either end. The Art Gallery occupies one of these decks, and is common route from the central lobby area to the Queens Room At the forward end of deck 8, there are steps and a ramp up to the elevator lobby and the Library The Spa pool on deck 7 and the Pavilion Pool on deck 12 have a chair lift to bypass steps and ladders. The outdoor deck 6 'Splash' and deck 8 'Terrace' pools do not have lifts. Handicapped access to the deck 8 terrace is by crossing through the Veranda restaurant. Some topside areas - like the "Lookout" are only accessible via staircases. Our room was right by the 'D' lifts and staircase - Mrs Bear found it preferable to walk from Carinthia to the D lift by walking through the pop up restaurant area between the C and D lobbies.

Have you checked the directions on the NYCruise site? https://nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/directions/

There should be many past discussions in this subforum - just search the ports by name. Most Norway ports will have a tourist web site - e.g. visittromso.no with local attraction guides [maps, transit and tour vendor information] We last did the Norway and Northern Lights sailing in 2022 - with weather diversion [forecast freezing rain], we missed Alesund and Staganger - and gained Zebrugge Bergen looked to be quite walkable, but we opted for the 'sights and sounds of Bergen' tour as it featured a visit [with concert] to the Edvard Grieg museum. It was raining when we got back to the pier, so I elected not to take a trip on the funicular. In Tromso, Cunard runs a shuttle bus into town, and there is a Tromso city bus route stopping just outside the port gate [check the visit Tromso web site for rout and fare detail] We did three excursions 1) Concert at the Arctic Cathedral, 2) A visit to the Polarea Aquarium & Tromso Wilderness Center, and 3) A Cunard's northern lights bus tour. Trondheim was quite walkable - we took the ship's shuttle into town and spent time [and had a nice lunch] near the Cathedral. Mrs Bear elected to take the bus back to the pier - I decided to walk. If I had known about the next day's diversion to Zeebruge I would have visited a few more Trondheim locations, including ones off the direct route to the pier.