firegal2539

Thank you Millieloulou, I appreciate it. I am a little apprehensive because I have never been out of the USA with the exception of Canada (which I love), the Caribbean, Mexico (which I don't love). I have taken over 50 cruises but never transatlantic. When I decided to take the cruise I spent hours reading reviews, watching YouTube videos and I finally quit because so many of them just talked about everyone onboard was very old, very stuffy and you just couldn't make friends. I decided I would form my own opinion and booked the cruise. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year onboard QM2. Candie

JT1101, Thanks for the information. Luggage Forward is picking up my huge suitcase this afternoon and I finally was able to get a hip length rain coat, a zip up sweat jacket, 4 sweaters, hat, gloves, and scarf. I can barely rolled the suitcase, so I hope the airline will take it when UPS brings it to them. Again thanks to everyone that helped me, Candie

OMG I didn't realize it got that cold at sea. Wow. Thanks for the picture. Candie

You are all wonderful and so kind. I can't wait to get onboard and go to lectures, tea, shows, casino. It is only 3 weeks away. Candie

Thanks everyone this is so helpful. Candie

Thanks for the info. Ever since I had Covid-19 my internal thermostat has been messed up. Since I caught it three more times my doctor says my body is messed up. I think I might try layers and scarves. I didn’t think about scarves. Thanks for the great advice. Candie

Hello, I am looking for advise for my Transatlantic cruise on QM2 in December. I am doing the round trip starting in New York. I like to walk around the outside decks. Will I need my heavy winter coat to do this? It is big and heavy and will take up a lot of room in my luggage but I don't want to freeze. I have a lightweight hoodie and could put a sweater under it but again I don't want to freeze. Any help will be appreciated. Candie

No there was a duo.

We had a day at sea and I played in the casino. Had a great dinner, all the table was happy. We did a stop in Port Canaveral. About half the ship didn’t get off. I spent time in the Crows Nest. Beautiful views from there and there wasn’t an empty chair. Breakfast in the dining room. Another fabulous dinner in the dining room. I did want mention I had my Specialty Dinner at the Pinnacle. It was an amazing dinner. I had the Candied Bacon, so different but fabulous. I also had the Lettuce Wedge, the Filet Mignon and Crème Brûlée. It was better than any restaurant I have eaten at. Today was disembarkation. Easy peazy. Now I am home. I wanted to stay and do another 10 days but they wouldn’t let me. Thanks everyone, Candie

I just got off Zuiderdam and the maitre di told me if your set time is 5:00, you need to be at your table no later than 30 minutes after 5:00. You can’t expect the Galley to make an appetizer, entree and dessert 1 hour late. You can speak to any maitre di about changing your dining time or moving from set to anytime, but you can’t change again. It isn’t for 1 day, it is the rest of your cruise. You still have to wait for a table for Anytime dining. A couple I became friends with said they waited first night for 45 minutes, second night about 25 minutes and every night after about 15 minutes. All of these changes are if the dining rooms have available tables and the maitre di will do it.

Today we are in Boston. Able to get off at 8:15. No sun, a little foggy, about 70 degrees. Very easy disembark. Did a Holland shore excursion, Accessible Boston. Pretty bad. The bus driver’s first tour and didn’t know anything about Boston so the tour guide had to tell her where to turn and what streets. The guide had about 20 sheets of paper and just read from them. Downtown Boston has 2 lane streets. 1 lane for turning and 1 for straight. All tall buildings and the guide would say “look between the two grey buildings and there is a statue of George Washington. Behind the church on the corner you can see the roof of the library. You couldn’t see anything. That was the whole tour, peeking between buildings. For $90 it should have been a lot better. Back on the ship I ate fried chicken at the Lido. The chicken is crunchy, crispy and tastes great. The rest of the food, not so much. At night I watch all of the On Demand movies, it helps me fall asleep. They are free and some new ones to watch. Will try to post later, Candie

Actually I have booked 3 more HAL cruises for 2024.

Questions first, yes trivia is 3 times a day and crowded. The Music Trivia is in the Boardwalk. My waiter is Made but there are 2 of them. The handicapped cabins go fast. I try to book as soon as the cruise opens. Yesterday was Halifax, another beautiful city. At this time all fall colors are in glorious display. I scootered around the port area, visited some shops and boarded the ship. Last night a dancing show that was excellent, thoroughly enjoyed. Dinner was lobster which you had to pay for, $20. Also a Dressy night. Today is Portland Maine. Did a tour of Freeport. Again a wonderful tour. I wanted to talk about the ship. It is clean, bright, shiny. I don’t see any areas that need painting or shiny up. The passengers are all so nice and the Canadians are just so kind. Tomorrow is Boston. Candie

I stepped on the Zuiderdam on Friday, September 30 in Quebec City. My first stop was my cabin. I am in a Signature Suite right at the front of the ship on deck five. It is an accessible cabin and it is beautiful. It has a balcony door and a huge picture window looking from the front of the ship. My scooter and everything fits with lots of room left over. I love it. The ship holds between 1900 and 2000 passengers. Right now there are 1852 passengers on board. It is the perfect size for me. 11 decks with lots to do. Starting at 8 AM until 12 Midnight, you can stay busy. It has the Rolling Stones lounge, and Billboard Onboard. Fantastic music, great drinks, and great passengers to talk to. Every day they have new art classes, teaching you to color, paint, do origami, etc. I have eaten all three evening meals in the main dining room and it has been excellent. I have also eaten breakfast in the main dining room, and it has been amazing too. Our first day was at sea with so much to do. Second day was Charlottetown and it was beautiful. Even though I use a scooter I was able to get off the ship and ride all over the port. The third day we are now in Sydney and it is an idyllic port. Great for people that love to take pictures. Absolutely beautiful. I have been in the casino all three nights and doing OK. Winning a little not losing. I went to the comedian show last night and he was excellent. I went to the dance show on the first night and it was all right. It’s not my favorite show. Tonight is another dance show. If you have any questions that I might be able to answer. I will be glad to try. This is only my first Holland America Cruise, but I will try to be helpful if I can. I am putting a few pictures I took of my room, the ship and both ports Later, Candie

In December will be my first Cunard cruise. Listening to many of you bickering/spatting/fighting about the food makes me wonder if I made the right choice in sailing on Cunard. I want friendly tablemates, not stuffy and obnoxious, with good food and great service.

I think the 2,286 square feet is the Grand Suite with the balcony footage added in.

I took 3 Crystal cruises and was heart broken when they filed for bankruptcy. I booked another after I received an email from them that they were cruising again but I didn't know that they had removed the casinos off of both ships. I cancelled my cruise. I go to the casino every day and enjoy that time that I have to gamble. Now I have heard they are adding the casinos back but will be much smaller. They hope to do this while the ships are still sailing, no drydock, and have it done before the middle of 2024. I will wait to make sure they add the casinos and when they do I will set up another booking. Thanks for your information, have a wonderful day. Candie

bitob, This will be my first cruise on Cunard. I decided I wanted to move to luxury cruising and right now am trying to plan and book either Seabourn or Regent. I am still working on that. I was taking about 8 cruises a year but was never really satisfied. I enjoy the ports and the days onboard but found that I wasn't really enjoying the whole thing. I decided to move up to Holland and have 3 cruises planned on their ships with my first one being next week. I really thought about did I want to cruise 8 times a year and not feel happy and satisfied or did I want to cruise 3 times a year, pay quite a bit more but enjoy the whole experience so much more. That is when I booked 2 Cunard, Christmas 2023 transatlantic and Christmas 2024, transatlantic and a stop in Rotterdam. If you have any information about what I should do on the Queen please let me know. The library will be my first stop. I want to listen to all the lecturers and see the planterium at least twice. I also need to find Homer Simpson somewhere on the ship, NO CLUES Please. Please give me some suggestions. Candie

I just got off of a Celebrity cruise two weeks ago. I can honestly say I will give long and hard thought to cruising with them again. I wrote a review so I won't go over it again but just to say it was the worst cruise food I have ever had. I have sailed X several times and was bitterly disappointed with this. Very limited choices, food arrived at the table a long time after it was ordered and was barely lukewarm when presented and tasted horrible. There were lots of other problems besides food. I have been cruising for many years and remember one of the main reason for cruising with the wonderful food and service. Unfortunately not any longer on Celebrity.

Cruise till you drop, If you have time look at Holland. I spent 3 hours looking at Holland last night and there must have been 30 or 40 Alaska cruises ranging from 7 to 21 or 28 days. Lots of great cruises. Candie

Yes Boston is definitely worth a pre-cruise visit. There is so much to see.

karmamule, I booked my first Holland cruise for October of this year going from Canada to Florida. I booked one for next year also but I am thinking of changing it. I spend about 3 hours last night looking at all of the cruises on HAL and am interested in the Greenland/Iceland but unfortunately all accessible cabins are gone. I found another that is 21 days which does the ABC islands and also does Panama but I think the handicapped cabins might be gone on that one too.

hubofhockey, I was orginally born and raised in Worcester Mass. I have been to Maine several times but not for an extended period of time. When I was looking for a cruise to Canada I found the Holland leaving from Quebec City and ending in Fort Lauderdale next month. We will stop at Portland. Because of my disability there were two shore excursion choices and I took the one that will go to the original L.L. Bean store. Now I wish I had chosen the Kennebunkport tour. I might change when I get on the ship the first week of October. Thanks for the information, Candie

WestLakeGirl, I agree. I can't fly for more than 3 hours at a time because of a blood clot problem so I can't go to Europe. I finally booked a roundtrip Transatlantic on Cunard, going from New York City to Southampton and back to New York City. The Transatlantic I really wanted was already sold out. In 2025 I am doing the roundtrip transatlantic and have added Rotterdam (Amsterdam) and one other port, so I will finally get to see some of Europe. I would love for Celebrity to do a roundtrip transatlantic from Boston or New York City to Southampon and return but with maybe the Rotterdam stop and one or two others, around 19 days. I love sailing the east coast of the USA. I would love to do a Quebec or Montreal down the coast, including Halifax, Portland Maine, overnight in Boston, Newport Rhode Island, overnight in Charleston South Carolina and stop in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami, it would probably have to be at least 14 days. I would like to do the same on the west coast, start in Vancouver, overnight in Seattle, Astoria, overnight in San Francisco, San Diego, and get off in Los Angeles, maybe a 10 day cruise. Candie

I prepay for all the reasons listed. I don't want the tips going up and having to pay more when the cruise rolls around. I like knowing that when I board my ship I don't owe a penny, everything is paid for and they won't touch my OBC. I use my OBC for the casino and I don't like the money messed with. Candie