islanderr

It's good to see all the reviews from the press junket this last day or so. I don't see any mention, however, of the quality of internet connections. I believe that Anne was to be the first Cunard ship to roll out SpaceX's Starlink service. Any sign of that? 

I am booked on the Queen Anne cruise of Northern Europe and Scandinavia, starting June 30. Quite excited as you can imagine.

I was surprised to see as I booked this online that the default dinner seating was early (6 p.m.) We're in the Queen's Grill and from our previous two Cunard cruises, we had the freedom to show up at whatever time we liked (within the overall dinner hours). Does anyone know if they are in fact creating two seatings on Queen Anne? 

There's quite a bit of strife in Israel this last month. Here's an account from today's NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/06/world/israel-attack-news

We are scheduled to cruise out of Israel on the Encore May 22, or one week later than the original poster of this thread. We have not received a notification from Seabourn yet, but I now see that Jerusalem has disappeared from the itinerary. We'll just have to roll with the punches.

Not sure where he's sleeping. We were told by Osman at dinner last night that he dined in the Princess Grill restaurant.

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Thanks, this is very helpful.

 

At those rates I'll probably do like I planned and bring a Dryel kit on board with me.

Here is the list of laundering prices on board right now. (And by the way, it's been a shaky day today!)

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We have been urgently advised that we have simply not lived until we enjoy a Cream Tea including Devonshire Clotted Cream. Has anyone who has recently traveled aboard the QM2 enjoyed a Cream Tea at any of the ship's afternoon teas?

What is the charge for the behind the scenes tour?

$120. Takes about 4 hours.

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Yes, I was #2 on the tour. (Shades of "The Prisoner" for old TV fans)

 

Other stuff on the refit

• Love the new LED "stars" on the planetarium dome when the room is being used for lectures.
  
• Don't love that the many of the reclining chairs in the room are re-broken
  
• The Carinthia Lounge is beautiful, but I'd rate the light lunch as a near-miss (or perhaps thiiiis close to success). On both of our visits, there were perhaps 2 items that appealed by description and appearance, but one of them was not good. They really could use a printed menu du jour at the tables.
  STILL - given what it replaced, it's a HUGE improvement.
  
• We won't be repeating The Veranda. It was good, but there were some minor issues and fundamentally, it just doesn't seem to be worth the $50 surcharge.
  

 

-Mark

I was on the same voyage. I tried signing up for the behind-the-scenes tour at 10 a.m. on the first full day. I was put on the waiting list. I was ready to give up hope but a magic letter arrived on Thursday informing me that a second tour would be held on Saturday afternoon. Yay. A total of 17 (!) attendees participated in that second tour.

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Purely guessing either a norovirus issue or a security check.

 

No reason given on Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/cunardline/status/864155554821935104

 

Have a great cruise.

We just heard that since this was the first TA of the year, the Coast Guard was on board for an inspection. That's fine. But the lack of information for more than an hour was disconcerting. Finally, we were released from the room two at a time into a hall teeming with hundreds of other passengers from around the ship. This was all on the Terminal staff and not Cunard, I know. But a better embarkation plan would have been appreciated.

We're on board now and enjoying a delicious lunch, so all is now right in the world.

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Anyone have any idea what's going on at the Brooklyn Terminal? We arrived more than hour ago via Cunard transportation, on time for our 12 noon embarkation. The terminal staff stashed us in a room for about 200 Platinum and Queen's Grille passengers, and there we have sat for an hour. Outside in the main hall we can see hundreds of others milling about, but no info. The ladies room is out of toilet paper and soap. Hmmm.

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Hi all

 

As an entirely unrelated question, can anyone also please help with advising what time Queen's Grill passengers can normally embark at New York for an eastbound Transatlantic - and is the sailing still usually 4.00pm?

 

Many thanks and kind regards.

 

Peter and Beverley

About 6-8 weeks prior to your journey, the Voyage Personaliser for your trip on cunard.com will be updated with E-Ticket information. Included will be your requested Arrival Time at the Pier. (Or, if you are not internet-conversant, Cunard's main customer service telephone number should produce this information for your booking.) Presumably, Cunard does not want all 2,000-plus passengers showing up at exactly the same time (or too early, before the ship has been cleaned from its arrival earlier in the day). So Cunard's guidance on when you should arrive will no doubt keep the process moving smoothly, rather than just showing up at some random time in the morning.

My wife is a swimmer and asks if there is a pool suitable for lap swimming on the QM2? We've looked at the photos of the Pavilion Pool, which might do the trick, but it has no lane set aside for lap swimming. Any advice from swimmers?

We're considering the same choice. I suggest you look up the Verandah menu. It offers some interesting gourmet dishes, but they may not be to everyone's taste.

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Thank you all for your kind suggestions!

My wife and I will soon make our first journey to England, aboard the QM2. We'll also be staying in London and the Cotswolds for three weeks before the return cruise. We'd like to prepare a bit by reading books before or during the journey that will provide helpful context for what we are about to experience. When I mentioned this to friends, they suggested "The Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James and "Notes from a Small Island" by Bill Bryson. I'm not talking about guide books that list places to visit. We're much more interested in books that help us understand the British people and their state of mind.

Any thoughts?

Do you mean the Tapatalk forum app, Hattie? Your message was the first I have received from the Cunard Line forum in three days. Typically, I receive a half dozen or so messages. So, yes, either people have been writing less, or there is a problem with the Tapatalk app.

Thanks so much, HB, for the time and care you took to report on your trip. Your writing was a wonderful example of gentle travel correspondence. Thanks again!

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... and they are rather spotty. A lot of downgrades for the process of cruising (embarking, customer service, etc.), to the extent that the actual experience of being on board the QM2 is nearly shouted down. There is a well-nuanced review from Blue Riband, but other writers were not so understanding. Looks like Cunard has some work to do. Here is a link to the reviews (which start with a previously published review by a Cruise Critic staffer):

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=294

I don't know anyone who wants slow internet! If people aren't using their packages it may be that they are too frustrated to try. People of all ages are online now

If people have no family, or business to conduct then perhaps they are fine going weeks at a time without contact, but there is no reason why the rest of us cannot keep in touch. This is nothing newfangled. Remember, even on the titanic the wireless Marconi was in constant use.Just the mode has changed.

At this stage in my life, I travel frequently and as much as I am in remote spots, I have to have a way to contact my family. In foreign countries I get SIM cards to overcome that obstacle.i guess I will be using my phone more than I thought.

Hopefully, cunard will leap into the new century!

I heartily concur. Cunard's competitors are advertising faster and cheaper internet connectivity. I hope the company plans to move in this same direction soon.

From another thread:

I have not been able to update this log due to abysmally slow on board internet speeds. Last night I burned up 47 minutes just trying to read a couple of emails. I'll give some updates now that I'm temporarily on a land based connection.

First, thank you, Blue, for persevering and posting your report via a land based connection. Much appreciated.

But this again begs the question of just how slow the QM2 internet connection is? I have seen earlier complaints about the service, and it now appears this issue was not addressed in the remastering. I suspect this is very important to a small number of passengers, somewhat important to a larger group, and not even remotely important to yet another group.

Is internet connectivity onboard as unreliable as it sounds? Is it much better in the public-area computer stations than it will be in our cabins?

The Voyage Personaliser is now back up. Cunard published the following message:

"We are sorry that you may have been experiencing problems accessing Voyage Personaliser.

"We are now back up and running, however you may still see some intermittent issues as we continue to bring everything back on line.

"Thank you for your patience."

I have no intention of finding out how the wind is on 14.

The photo that you posted is labeled Cabin 4129 but you mentioned in your opening post that you have 4128. Or do you have both rooms?

Cunard has now posted a wonderful time-lapse video of the construction thus far, with a special focus on the work on Deck 13:

Just to close the loop on this thread, I received the following helpful message from Cunard today:

"The new Cunard wine lists are in the process of being completed and will shortly be released. These should be available online as per the current menu within the next 2 to 3 weeks."

So there you have it. I foresee happy hours of obsessive research once the new lists are released. :)