ExArkie

Just curious, how many sailings are required to constitute an opinion for the entire line? From my experience, we had a horrible experience on HAL (really poor quality food, service was almost nonexistent, etc.) on our first time with them and I don't even consider HAL as an option when we're looking. Conversely, we had a great experience our first time on Cunard, NCL, and Celebrity and returned to book additional trips with each. Not all aspects always held up to their first time, but sometimes it was even better.

We have had nine Cunard trips, all transatlantic with one each on QV and QE, the rest on QM2. We have received free upgrades on seven of them. Four were P2 (or as noted upthread, a P3) to P1 on QM2, one was Q7 to Q4 on QV, one was given in response to a significant price drop (P1 to Q5 on QM2), but the big one was last December, when we booked a Q5 as a celebration of being back on QM2 and we’re upgraded to Q1, the Balmoral Suite duplex. I found out about the upgrade when I went online to verify we had all the documentation in place a month or so before sailing.

Before castigating Delta for their response, know that some tickets are sold to a third party who assumes all responsibility for them. Under the terms of the airline to reseller contract, the airline is not allowed to make any changes even in the event of a cancelled flight. Don’t know if this applies here, and maybe Delta deserves to have scorn heaped upon its head, but it’s possible the entire blame belongs to NCL.

That is what AmEx says in their site. Others on Cruise Critic have reported that they received AmEx platinum benefits using different travel agents, there being a code for the TA to enter in the reservation to activate the benefit. From what I read, not all TAs have said code. Best bet would be to ask your TA and find out. I am not an expert on this topic, having booked our trips to which the privileges program applied through the AmEx site.

The AmEx Cruise Privileges Program, which is triggered by paying the entire fare with the platinum card - and having the TA input the correct code on the booking (had one that didn’t once) - for NCL sailings includes OBC in varying amounts depending on cabin category and one dinner for two at Le Bistro. This is a standing program and not a part of the periodic card offers. The details are available from the AmEx platinum benefits page, which has a link to the participating partners.

Not that I recognized the island in the photo, but I know that Vitus Bering was a Danish explorer working for the Russian Empire. I'll go with the Bering Strait. You didn't ask about the island itself, but in an attempt to get a little extra credit and based on my idea that it is the Bering Strait...it seems to be a reasonable facsimile of Big Diomede. It's a bit hard to discern the exact outline of the island with the cloud cover, but from what I saw, all photos of it appear to be shrouded in clouds.

I realize that I am an exception, but I actually read the contract before making a reservation. Okay, “paranoid” may be more accurate than “exception.” While it does state they can move you for an upgrade at their discretion, it doesn’t actually say they cannot move you for any other reason. It does also state that the fare paid is for transportation on the named vessel and does not imply that one has a right to a specific cabin one had selected, other than they have to right to collect the applicable fare for your chosen cabin. Doesn’t say they have to give you that specific cabin, though. The wording is such that a challenge to being moved (other than an upgrade) would have to involve legal proceedings of some sort to iron out exactly what is authorized. I can make a valid argument for either side as to what the cruise line may be legally entitled to do in this situation. I still think they should call you and tell you about it, regardless of contract language.

I saw the first photograph and thought, "That looks familiar." Did not have a chance to follow up for a couple of days, at which time the second photograph had been posted and the port identified. The reason it looked familiar? I was on QM2 at Le Havre on 14 December 2022, when the Web cam image was captured. I did recognize the port from the second photograph.

Good points. It is pretty useless speculating why the change happened absent any explanation from NCL, who presumably knows. Perhaps the plumbing fell apart such that one cannot use the toilet? Too many possibilities, not all of which mean someone more important or who offered more money was given preference. However, the most important point is the NCL definitely should have informed the customer, regardless of the reason. Very poor customer service not to have done so.

To me that's the wrong perspective. I can't agree with evaluations based on what the assumed conditions are to establish a given price, just whether the final price is justified for the service/product I receive. If a state bases their gasoline tax on the assumption that one drives 15,000 miles a year in a vehicle that gets 20 miles per gallon, should I be entitled to a refund of the gas tax I pay because I drive fewer miles in a more fuel efficient vehicle? With Free-at-Sea, I'm paying roughly $20 for a drinks package (ignoring the possibly - probably - higher base fare with FAS than without). Without a package, that would get me two drinks at $8.33 each plus their 20% gratuity. Anything that I consume that is more than that is over and above what I'm paying. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

The term “USian” has been used, mostly online, for a couple of decades. Never caught on in general parlance. Merriam-Webster-Webster defines “statesider” as an inhabitant of the continental US, which excludes Hawaii, Alaska, and all territories. Doesn’t seem to be a good term that refers only to United States residents and includes everyone.

MLB also has very limited service (my wife’s parents lived nearby). Last time I looked, it was Allegiant, American, and Delta with flights to/from five airports total. And not many flights a day. MCO definitely has more options, is generally less expensive, and - as you noted - essentially the same travel time to the port.

Definitely agree…on both the wine (There are several reasonable sparkling wines available at low prices. Spanish cavas tend to be the best quality per unit price, in my opinion) and being happy to be just going.

Should it be of interest, there are tools online for removing background from a photo. I used one to remove the back yard from our photos to upload during online check-in for a different cruise line last year and it seemed to work acceptably for the purpose. Just Google "remove background from photo" and pick the service that works for you.

Could be even worse - the westbound December 2022 crossing had an issue with the tides coming into New York, according to the captain. He said our estimated time under the Verrazano bridge was 3:30 AM, with the Statue of Liberty coming up shortly thereafter. Decided not to get up for this particular experience (our sixth crossing on QM2). I was awakened around 3:30 AM, most likely by the change in noises coming from the ship, glanced out the window to see where we were in relation to the bridge and noted that we were pulling up to the Brooklyn dock. Probably would have had to be out at around 2 AM or so for the bridge.

The key word being "almost." The new sparkling wine, in my opinion, isn't better than Pol Aker. (Actually, I didn't have a great problem with PA - inoffensive and somewhat bland, but not horrid.) The new stuff, which was in our PG cabin in December, has slightly less depth of character, but again not offensively horrible.

The notice posted on the mail box said to use US stamps, or it did when we were on a westbound crossing last month. Perhaps the notice is different when traveling eastbound?

To confirm: I have a copy of the instructions for claiming shareholder OBC from our last two crossings in 2022 (instructions downloaded in July of that year) and 2018 (instructions downloaded in February of that year). The part about blacking out one’s address is in the 2022 version, not in the 2018 version. Interesting, since one’s address would be attached to the same reservation for which one is applying for shareholder credit.

We were also in QG on that TA and were amazed that what we ordered was a vaguely seafood-tasting brown semi-gelatin with no identifiable lobster pieces. The table next to ours had a similar reaction. Other than that the food was good to excellent, if more limited in scope than our 2019 crossing.

We were also in the disembarkation group last Thursday. Having purchased QG (our year to splurge), we were in the 8:00 AM group for departure. We arrived at the gangway at about five or six minutes after 8 and were in the taxi leaving for JFK by 8:40. Never had a better experience in Brooklyn…well, at least not arriving into the cruise terminal there.

Looks suspiciously like the aft view from the ship about a week ago, on the Christmas Market trip… Edited: Sorry, I missed the post that says it was indeed from that trip. Definitely the coldest I have ever been in the Netherlands.

If you go to the Cunard Web site via on board wifi and click "Manage My Booking," you will go to the UK site, from which your US booking usually cannot be accessed. However, I was able to find my upcoming reservation via on board wifi by going to my.cunard.com, which opened the page where one enters the reservation number, name, and birth date to access a US reservation.

Currently on QM2 and talked to one of the tech crew for Illuminations (and other venues). The issue with the planetarium seats appears to be that the design was discontinued some time back and potential replacements would require ripping all seats out and replacing the whole lot. Then, in process of working through those issues, the company making the seats went out of business. It's evidently been a multi-year process to find a new vendor who can match design requirements, but they have now signed a contract. New seats are supposed to be installed starting early in 2023.

Update on Southampton boarding process December 10: We had a 1:00 arrival time noted on our boarding passes, with everything submitted (photos, credit card, etc.) during on-line check-in. We checked out of our hotel at about noon, took a taxi to the Mayflower Terminal, arriving around 12:20 (didn’t note exactly). They looked at our boarding pass, directed us to the priority line (PG), and we waited a total of about 15 seconds before being called up to the desk to verify passports. There was a printed page taped to the desk that said if we had appropriate symptoms and/or personal contacts, please notify someone (with more details than that, of course)The lady asked that we read it and respond. We then went to sit and wait for boarding, which they had said was expected to start at 1:00. At about 12:45 or so, they announced boarding was commencing and called the QG passengers to the security line. Shortly thereafter, PG was called, when we went to get in line. Security took only a couple of minutes, possibly shorter if one does not carry a laptop (necessary for my business). We were in our cabin by 1:00 or very shortly thereafter. Efficient and smooth process, probably the least amount of trouble I have ever encountered boarding.

If I have no clue, yes. Rarely does anything match close enough to say definitely where a photo was taken, although I have been surprised a couple of times where an almost identical photo showed up on image search - I noted that somewhere up thread. It is usually only good to give a clue where one might be. Lately, I have not had much research time, so if I don’t identify a location from my own experience, I usually don’t get back to it before someone else identifies it.