OceanMonarch

Our May 10th TA seems to be in need of a Meet & Greet and I was wondering how do we set one up? There seem to be a number of newbies to Cunard, and since my husband and I have sailed on QM2 before I thought I'd (gulp) volunteer. Any suggestions from Cunarders would be much appreciated...

Hi Darlene,

Thank you for stepping forward and organizing this Meet & Greet.

Do you know if the clocks go forward one hour on the first sea day of this voyage at noon?

Last year, on the QM2 when we sailed eastbound they did change at this time. It is not a problem (I do prefer it when the clocks are changed at night though) but the lunch period does gets shortened somewhat. So long as people are aware and make plans accordingly.:)

Tracey

If you arrive early then you will board according to your arrival time, i.e. depending on the letter you are given as you arrive.

This will be after the priority passengers have boarded.

Presumably if priority boarders arrive after general boarding has started then they will be sent to the front of the queue.

Thanks Glenndale:) This was our experience from 2 previous sailings. Everything seemed to work well, both for Britannia and Grills passengers. Not quite sure why the 'powers that be' changed the priority check-in procedure according to earlier posts. Or have they?:confused:

Irony of all ironies, my husband just retired from teaching English and my career for 25 years was as a professional screenwriter. There is a "Meet and Greet" for the May 27th TA listed here under "Roll Calls" and also several people have been corresponding on the May 10th TA Roll Call. You might head on over to those two pages for more details and that way we might meet at a Meet & Greet instead of a chance encounter while reaching for the same book in the library. :)

Great idea!:)

On Deck 5 you're likely to receive a boarding time of 3 PM, barring any VIP status. As of December 2014 there was no overt policing of arrival times (and really no place to wait other than the lounge area normally intended for those who have already checked in).

Thank you Underwatr - you are correct. I called Cunard yesterday and we do have a 3 pm boarding time.:( We will be driving through the night, taking our rental car back and would love to be able to board when all the formalities are completed as we have done the last two years. We are OK with standing in line, taking our turn, but just want to be able to board, rather than be told to stand to the side and wait for this 3 pm slot.

Do you think this will happen? Or, am I worrying unnecessarily?

Is there still time to see the maitre d' at this later boarding time? I know the lifeboat drill is around 4 pm.

What check-in time do you have ?

Our last trip we had a check-in time of 12 and it wasn't a problem when we arrived a few minutes early (not many, the queue to get into Ikea in Southampton held us up for a while).

Welcome Host Hattie!

We have not received our pre-cruise documents yet. But, we have sheltered balcony stateroom on deck 5 so we are assuming that we will have a later check- in time. We truly hope that the 'policing' of check-in times by security personnel is not necessary; some passengers like to arrive early and others like to arrive later. :)

A very good friend of mine works for the security company at the Southampton port and told me starting from December the check in times will be strictly enforced.

So if you have a 14.30 check in and you turn up at 12 you will not be allowed to check in before 14.30.

Has anyone any updated information on check in procedure at Southampton and New York following recent changes to the priority line?

We have a long road journey to the port and arrive quite early (around midday) in case of travel delays. Will we be turned away if we try to check in before our scheduled time?

Ha, ha, Ha!!! Not at all. We are Phil and Darlene and we live in Goleta, California. We took our first TA in 2010 and loved every minute of it. Looking forward to the RADA performances and tea in the afternoon, long walks on the promenade deck and staring endlessly at the wake of the ship as the Atlantic slips past us. And the QM2 Library! The most relaxing place on earth to daydream and let your imagination run free. We've got a stateroom on the 8th deck just to be close to it. What can I say? I'm a writer so I feel right at home next to a room filled with books. Hope to see you on one of the crossings!

Our names are Tracey and Jerry and we have a stateroom on deck 5. The library is our favorite place on the ship too - we spend a great deal of time there during the day. My daughter, Ceilidh, who is in England for a year teaching classics, sailed with us last year and was very impressed with the selection of books having worked as a librarian in the US. She is hoping to sail back in the summer with her partner - who is actually on a script writing course at Bath University.

My husband and I will also be doing those B2B crossings, going over on May 10th and returning May 27th. Looking forward to it, and perhaps we will meet you during the journey.

 

Darlene

It would be wonderful to meet you both. We live in Williamsburg, VA but we are both Brits. Hope this doesn't deter you:)

We are doing just this in May - Eastbound on the 10th and Westbound on the 27th. We have previously sailed just one way and flew the other. However, with the costs of flights these days there is very little difference in sailing both ways; none at all if you add in the OBC.

We do prefer the Westbound journey - an extra hour on several days and the clocks were changed during the middle of the night instead of noon.

It makes for a wonderful relaxing beginning and end to your vacation.:)

Thank you, Karl nj for confirming that the Optima Platinum card can not be used.

I did call Amex again during the week and they apologized for giving incorrect information on my earlier call. Oh well...

Thank you everyone for your input.

It seems that a knowledgeable travel agent is the way to go!

It appears that you do not have to book with Amex Travel to obatin this OBC - agencies have a system to log in into to obtain this 'tracking number from Amex 'http://www.americanexpress.com/ASDOnline.

Perhaps some travel agencies do not participate in this program, although I am surprised this particular agency does not. They are a very large online company based in Texas.

A final question to those who have obtained this benefit? Did any of you use your Optima card? Having spoken to Amex, even they are confused over which cards can be used. This is a quote from an earlier thread.

I received the $300 SBC plus Wine plus free first night dinner in Pinnacle and I used a Amex Platinum Optima Card. Annual Fee: $0.

Will book today if I can get this sorted out.:)

There is a great deal of conflicting information concerning this benefit from Amex.

Does anyone have a very recent experience using their Amex platinum card?

I called Amex this morning (1 800-492 3344 member benefits) and asked if I could use my Optima platinum or my business platinum to book my cruise through my online travel agent. I was told 4 times (because I asked the same question 4 times) that I could use my Optima card to obtain the $300 OBC but not my business platinum. Great! I thought. What do I do next?

I contacted my online agent and apparently 'they don't work with the credit card companies or handle any programs they may offer.'

I thought that this OBC came via a 'tracking number' issued by Amex when you paid your voyage with the Amex card. It has nothing to do with any travel agent/cruise line OBC?

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Thanks for feedback!

We are new to Royal Caribbean and would like to find out if it is possible to join May's re-positioning cruise (Brilliance of the Seas) in Norfolk, VA instead of sailing from Tampa. Has anybody done anything similar in the past?

Do Royal Caribbean generally give permission for a request such as this? We have been advised that an answer could take two weeks but we have to make full payment first. We know that there will be no reduction in the cost of the cruise.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.