david,Mississauga

I'm sure you are right about Seattle being more appealing to US residents than Vancouver is. Cunard has likely made a business decision that it can sell cabins at a higher fare from Seattle. On the four cruises I referred to the largest contingent of passengers were from the UK. On some cruises that was followed by Australians. I'm not sure where US vs Canadian passengers fitted in. At one time, ships used to give you precise numbers of various nationalities but I think for Cunard only on Atlantic crossings of the Queen Mary 2 they do that now. Vancouver has good connections for international flights. The distance has not discouraged the large number of British or Australians to join ships there. Maybe there are more flights to/from the UK or Australia to Seattle than Vancouver, but I have no idea. The mandatory call for US-based ships is Victoria, usually on the return. I have noticed Victoria gets a considerable number of ships calling there, often for just a few hours. There is space for three large ships at Ogden Point. When there are more than three booked, a ship has to depart in the afternoon and another will take its place for the evening.

A while back there was a posting in which it was said that people interested in Alaska cruises should book really early because they fill up long in advance. While this may be the case on some cruise lines, it is not my experience. We have taken four Alaska cruises from Vancouver in the past nine years and all had significantly reduced fares - some even before the final payment date when discounts are common. This year we have received several offers from Cunard and almost every day we receive an e-mail from Holland America offering several discounted cruises, with Alaska being the first one mentioned. We also get a brochure in the post every week from HAL. Even Princess, on which we have never cruised, sends us a lot of brochures and even makes phone calls to us. We were not intending to take another Queen Elizabeth cruise to Alaska this year, but the offers have been so good we just booked one at a sharply reduced fare. We booked a Queens Grill suite (not something usually in our budget!) at a per diem rate less than half of what the equivalent would cost on the Queen Mary 2 for a short cruise or Atlantic crossing. Another reason we are taking this cruise is Cunard is moving the base of Alaska cruises to Seattle next year, and that doesn't please us at all. I think there may be an over-capacity of ships on the Alaska run. I suppose enough people book at full fare vs those who book at "sailing soon" discounts to make them feasible. Other peoples' experiences would be appreciated.

The luggage situation can be a zoo. I have yet to have a disembarkation in Manhattan or Brooklyn that didn't have major problems. I admit only once was our luggage (and the luggage of several other passengers) misplaced. One case was where it was supposed to be but there was no sign of the other one. It was behind two fences and even when I could see it I was not allowed to retrieve it. I understand the need for those fences to make it easy for staff to arrange bags without people getting in the way. So we stood for about 40 minutes until it was permitted for me to get it. Fortunately one airport bus transfer waited for everyone. Also, good luck for those who need wheelchair assistance. There was a shortage of shore staff and wheelchairs a couple of years ago so we waited in the lounge over an hour. When the friendly man got us to where the transfers were loading we were told there wasn't enough room for everyone going to La Guardia so we stood for a full hour, with my wife leaning on her stick and me. Most of my experiences in NY have been embarkations which are noticeably better than arrivals. I wish NY could be like Southampton and Vancouver where disembarkations are easy. On a positive note, everyone we have dealt with this century has been pleasant, unlike in previous decades.

We have booked an Alaska cruise from Vancouver. Had we been able to book earlier we would have paid approximately (Canadian) $12,500 for a Penthouse with the usual Grills perks. The almost identical cruise from Seattle next year costs $17,410 with the same perks. Because we are within the final payment period we could not book at what I call the full fare, so booked the Americas Sale. Although there are no perks with this, the savings was about $3,000 which is a good deal. The Americas Sale rates for the Seattle equivalent was 35% more.

Thanks to my favourable medical report I was able to book two voyages. The fares shown in "$ $" were in Canadian dollars as usual. I mention this for the benefit of other Canadians who may be curious about fares.

I don't know if it is the law in Canada, but prices mentioned in $ are considered to be Canadian currency rather than foreign. Although there may be exceptions, advertising and most newspaper articles will indicate if foreign currency is being mentioned. The Cunard site that we get in Canada is the US one, but they know I am in Canada. All fares and transfers have always been in Canadian $. I have never been able to see fares in US $ or £. Excursions which are booked are in US $ and this is clearly indicated. I hope to be able to make a booking in the next few days, so I will know soon what Cunard means by "$ $".

We have done three 10-day Alaska cruises on the QE. There are only two gala nights. On one cruise - we were in PG that time - there were three women at a nearby table who wore a different formal dress every night. By no means was this seen on many other women on the non-gala nights. But even in the Britannia Restaurant, people do dress more elegantly than on some other cruise lines, but no-one should worry about it. My wife and I always take a total of two mid-size cases and one carry-on shoulder bag for all our Cunard voyages, no matter which restaurant "class" we have booked. In addition to casual clothes, we get my tuxedo and my wife's two long dresses and one cocktail dress in the two cases. Travelling light can be done.

For those of us in Canada, Cunard quotes fares in Canadian $ but just recently the wording has been changed to: "fares shown are in $ $" whatever that means. If the fares shown to us in Canada are in Canadian $ as usual, there are indeed some great prices. But if they are in US $ a 35% surcharge is not such a big deal. On one of the later Alaska cruises there are three fare levels available. The maximum fare which includes all the Grills perks is the same as it was when it clearly showed that fares are in Canadian $, so maybe the cheaper fares are also in Canadian currency. We are anxious to book something - and our dates are flexible - but I have to wait for one more medical appointment for the purposes of our travel insurance.

There have been many comparisons between Seabourn and Cunard's QG. Friends have recently had their first cruise on Seabourn. They loved it. They told me they had a small suite. Seabourn's website gives the measurements of the ocean view suites as 295 sq. ft. and the Veranda suites are between 246 and 302 sq. ft. not including the balcony From the photos they are similar to PG on Cunard's Vistas. Cunard's smallest QG suites are about 500 sq. ft. which I believe includes the balcony. These differences should be considered when making comparisons.

I noticed the same as WantedonVoyage did. Our first crossing was in 1973, just after the first renovation so I can't comment on the original. A lot of what we saw on our first crossing was the same for many years, but there were changes each time. We dined in the Britannia (later Mauretania) Restaurant three times between 1973 and 1988. Each time it was completely different. On our first experience with the Columbia Restaurant I got the impression it had no specific décor that I could describe. The food and service, however, were great. It lived up to the words "first class" on our tickets. Many years later, as the Caronia Restaurant, I liked it much better as it was more traditional. A lot of QE2 fans would disagree with me, but I liked the interiors of the ship far more on our last voyage in 2008 than on our first. The last cabin we had was almost identical to the first one we had 35 years earlier. The only difference was the shower curtain had been replaced by a glass door. (It can be done!) It had been a Tourist Class (Britannia) cabin originally but over the years it was promoted to Caronia class.

We found the same disadvantage with the QE2 promenade. On most of our crossings the stairs to the next deck were closed due to wind a good deal of the time. It was possible to go inside near the Queens Grill on the starboard side and go forward a bit and back out on the port side. Although I have no interest in the QA, to be fair the promenade deck, however narrow, does go all the way around with no need to climb a flight of stairs.

On principle I prefer to use rail services whenever possible. One thing I can't understand about the Skytrain service to the airport is why there is no specific place for luggage. On airport trains we have used many times, such as London and Toronto, there is ample place to conveniently store your luggage. We have managed the Skytrain several times, but unless we are travelling fairly lightly - such as for a one-way train trip, not a cruise - it isn't convenient. If we were younger and if my wife's mobility was better, we could put the bags under the seats as suggested. My good lady can handle train travel, but can't help with luggage. There are large spaces for bicycles, mostly empty. On one trip our friend put one bag in the empty spot and was told by another passenger that he could be fined for doing so. He said he would take the risk as there was nowhere else for it. Getting a taxi at the pier can be difficult, but certainly not always. Some times there has been no or very little wait and other times the queue was enormous. One time we rolled our bags to the hotel where we stayed before the cruise and asked the staff to get us a taxi. There can be a wait, but there was no standing for a long period of time. If we have a lot of OBC we can use the ship's coach transfer - and even if we have to pay we now do so for convenience. This can be expensive, but this year Cunard is charging Can.$102 per couple. Last year it was $120.

My experience is the same as "pushpit": prices do drop, sometimes quite significantly. We usually book long in advance and have never booked the Sailing Soon Savings rates that appear after final payment due date. Of course, fares can go up a lot just as often. The fares on the Alaska cruises seem to drop significantly, and frequently even before the payment due dates. For medical reasons we have not yet booked an Alaska cruise for this summer, but hope to be able to do so in a fortnight. Most of the cruises are now within the payment due period so the fares are Sailing Soon. But on the four cruises we are planning to choose from, the regular fares - including the perks usually associated with the Grills - had already dropped in price. Of course, there are no perks on the sailing soon savings. Perhaps Alaska is an unusual situation in that there is ample accommodation available in all categories on almost every Cunard voyage. We noticed that for our Alaska cruise last year Cunard was almost giving away the lower category cabins a month before the date and even the Grills were a lot cheaper than what we paid a year in advance. It is not just Cunard. Almost every day I get an e-mail from Holland America offering low rates on Alaska cruises. Princess sends us an e-mail about once a week, even though we have never cruised with them. Possibly there are too many ships going to Alaska from Vancouver. Maybe Cunard is moving the home-port to Seattle for this reason.

It depends on whether two or more consecutive voyages are being sold as one voyage as well as individual voyages. One of my favourite trips is to take one or two segments of the annual Southampton-NY-Québec-NY-Southampton four week trip. Each segment is available separately or as two or all four. (I'm not sure if three of these segments are sold as one trip.) The first time we went from Québec to Southampton it was cheaper to book the two segments separately. For our next booking on this routing - in the opposite direction - it was cheaper to book the two segments as one 14-day voyage.

On two of our Vancouver to Vancouver Alaska cruises on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, passengers were permitted to disembark in Victoria the day before arrival in Vancouver. I watched as they were quickly processed by the border officials who may not have been aware of the Act. But on last year's cruise Cunard finally realised this was in contravention of the law and it was prohibited. The daily programme quoted the relevant legislation. Some passengers did it anyway, by simply going ashore with most others and not returning. The purser's office had said passengers whose final destination was Victoria could take their luggage ashore but had to return to the ship. I have no idea what happened to them or the line.