ExArkie

House wines in France and Italy are usually quite acceptable to very good. House wines in the US are usually drain cleaner.

I am pretty sure that the minimum connection time at DFW is 40 minutes, or at least it was a couple of years ago. A 30-minute connection should not be allowed, but obviously it was. I would call and ask about changes. With AA in DFW, a half-hour would be a big risk, especially figuring it’ll take several minutes to actually get off the plane on the incoming flight before you can even start toward the connecting gate. For the post about CLT connections, the minimum connection time there is 40 minutes. If your flight comes into Councourse A and the departure is from Concourse E, I’d say you will never make it in 40 minutes.

We used Luggage Forward for a December 2022 crossing, with them picking up our suitcase about 6 weeks prior to the embarkation date. We didn’t put Cunard tags on it - obviously, well before they were available - and it was delivered to the cabin without a problem. Perhaps it has changed now, but Cunard luggage tags were not required for Luggage Forward in the past.

Acknowledging your post as humor, I feel it necessary to point out that Switzerland does actually have a maritime history and an official navy. Try a search on the Swiss historical museum for relevant articles.

Does this mean they will have to replace the Illy machines in the Grills cabins? I don’t know if Union Coffee makes compatible pods for Illy, but I have seen some Keurig-compatible pods from them.

They have offices in Healdsburg in Sonoma County, but the wine is labeled as “California,” meaning the grapes are grown somewhere in the state but not within a specific AVA.

Agreed. Ste Michelle also has partnerships with other wineries in France, Germany and Italy. (Maybe more…I haven’t paid close attention) Leveraging the brand wouldn’t necessarily limit one to American wines only.

Perhaps repositioning/transoceanic cruise should be added, since those tend not to attract groups of family and friends. But those are also almost always more than 12 days, so they’re probably already included.

My understanding is that Royal charges single passengers 200% of the per person double occupancy rate. Never sailed on them, so no first-hand experience.

We have done a westbound December TA a few times. I had a contract to teach in the UK and Ireland a few courses, which ended a week or so before the TA. These December TAs are generally the lowest prices during the year, which allowed us to book PG. The Christmas decorations are definitely a strong point. Only issue I found was the sunset time at the end of the year means you are entering the Solent in the dark. Not a big deal for us on board, but my mother (around 85 years old at the time) complained it was not as exciting to watch us on the Isle of Wight Web cam as it had been for our late Spring departure.

We keep sparkling wine or champagne chilled at all times for unexpected special occasions, like sunset.

In a previous thread, it seems that the decision was that the “Early Booking Have It All” bonus lasted until HAL decides it no longer applies.

Did you check the bottle size? When I ran an Internet search, all of the ones for less than US$50 a bottle were the 375 mL half-bottles. Did see a few places where the 750 mL full bottle was US$50-55

I read it as most issues were due to the maiden voyage being the same as the shakedown voyage, which was a really bad decision, and understaffing, which is becoming an issue for most lines. There are some obvious design issues related to storage (Princess Grill cabins on the other Cunard ships have significantly more wardrobe space than this), size of the venues relative to passenger capacity, etc. Essentially, what I have read elsewhere implies Cunard is trying to have a new experience and market to a new segment with their new ship, but don’t quite know how to move from the old methods to the new. Be interesting to see how - or if - they work it out. Edited to add: Thanks for posting the link. I would probably never have stumbled over it otherwise.

The one time we booked a PG guarantee, we ended up in a Q5.

We had a PG room (10066) on a QM2 crossing with a door connecting to the adjacent cabin (10064). I don’t recall ever hearing any noises through the door. Got a bit loud in the hallway once, but that wasn’t the question.

That’s usually the way it works. I will add that if one of the 100 “available” fifers expires, there will be another added to take its place, but that is a slow process for trying to get new offers.

We are booked on a HAL transpacific for next Spring, having sailed them once before about ten or so years ago. From my reading on their boards, the classical music appears to have vanished with termination of the Lincoln Center contract, although some report instances of it reappearing on some cruises. My only (very small) quibble with Celebrity has been a dearth of classical music and jazz. You are definitely right about the differences between HAL and Celebrity on suite perks, based on what I have read.

As I recall, a couple of years ago Sycamore Partners acquired Ste. Michelle winery in Washington state. Ste. Michelle in turn owns a couple of others, including Erath and A to Z in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. All of which make decent quality wines, a few truly outstanding ones (that also sell for outstanding prices!), and some in partnership with some European winemakers. I have completely lost track of which companies own which wineries these days, so there are possibly more involved than this group.

I thought about what I said and realized it could be taken personally by some people. While I attempt to be humorous, if there are fans of Mexican wine on this board, I do not mean to disparage all Mexican wines. Some from the northern Baja region, for example, are quite good and compare favorably to many Southern California wines. The one served to me by a business associate in Mexico City was not in that category.

Actually, I did try it. Definitely a large improvement over that merlot from Mexico.

We have three Celebrity sailings in a Suite, although none were on one of the Revolutionized ships. Our average cost per person per night was just under $300, including all of the booking costs. One was transatlantic, one was transpacific, which tend to be less expensive (and are our preferred itinerary). If the only Retreat fare available was over $1000 per night per person (by your definition of “thousands”), we wouldn’t go.

Correct. They are a “candidate” for EU membership, which implies some progress, but they have been a candidate for about 20 years, which definitely implies a lack of progress. I have an acquaintance in the government there - his job is not related to EU membership - who gave up on tracking their progress years ago. “If it happens, it happens” says he.

Wouldn't it be simpler for Cunard to offer the US-booked Grills passengers whatever drink package is currently being sold? I cannot understand why they think separate packages are an advantage to the passenger.

Within limits...I've had a few wines in Mexico and China (land-base trips, not cruises) that I am still trying to forget. Of course, that also applies to a few US wines, too.