Jack E Dawson

lackcreativity,

Would you mind providing the web site address for the online tickets. 

Thanks,

Jack

Nicomendoza,

We are on the 10-day Venice - Athens cruise departing April 6th. I believe there are a number of common ports between the two itineraries. If your cruise is before then, we would greatly appreciate it if you would post your opinion of the included tours. 

Thanks

Jack

yhz123,

Thank you for your detailed review comparing and contrasting Cunard and Celebrity. Its greatly appreciated. My wife and I are still very much novice cruisers, with only two QM2 crossings under our belts and a third voyage on the QV booked (Ft. Lauderdale to San Francisco vis Panama Canal). While we have been very pleased with Cunard, I'm sure that at some point we will expand our horizons and sail on another line offering different experiences. With so many cruise lines out there, your report, along with reviews from other cruisers, gives us a good first step in narrowing down the list. 

Well done.

Jack

I believe these are the tables that Underwate is referring to.

Dear Lisa,

My wife and I took our first cruise in 2017, another in 2018 and have two cruises booked for 2020 and 2021. We're still hoping to squeeze one in this year. We are amazed by the ships, service and food. Even more amazed by the value for our dollar. However, we worry that the industry is getting saturated, which is great for the consumer in the short run, but worries me that quality will suffer eventually as prices are driven/held down. Also, the growth in the sheer number of ships visiting small historic ports (e.g. Venice) is causing a backlash with some communities and local governments. Where do you see the industry in 5 years with regards to these issues.

Thanks

Jack

We have made two crossings (2017 & 2018) in both cases our bags weighed in slightly over 50 lbs. It was no problem with Cunard or the airlines we flew to London on. Also, our two large bags both fit easily under our cabin bed for out of the way storage.

Please post a review after your crossing. It kind of helps some of us get through the period between sailings.

Jack

I have to agree with the way you are leaning 4774Papa. Considering the enormity of your safari trip, trying to add a crossing on the QM2 may be just setting yourself up for disappointment and/or disaster. A classic case of over-stuffing the burrito, and you know what a mess that always turns out to be. A crossing on the QM2 can be one of life's great adventures and experiences. But it is not a "now or never" thing, the QM2 will be waiting for you when the time and circumstances are right. I would strongly advise you to watch the fares on the Cunard website. They post some incredible deals. We did a crossing last September in a sheltered balcony for $849/pp (plus $100 OBT). The deal popped up on their website about 8 weeks before the departure date. Being retired, we jumped on it.  

Jack

Thank you so much. Now if I can just keep east and west straight.

Jack

YIKES, am i embarrassed!!!! Got it backwards. Do a WEST BOUND crossing to gain the hour the 5 days.

Sorry about that.

Jack

4774Papa,

You have asked some really good questions although they are somewhat subjective. I noticed that you have 10K+ postings so I took a few minutes to scan some of them in order to get some insights. You seem to be an experienced cruiser,open to new experiences, pretty easy going but value is important. I can tell you, right off the bat, that Cunard is going to be a cultural difference for you. It's not everyone's cup of tea but I think you will like it. We absolutely love it. You mention $500 airfare, that's probably economy/coach. A balcony cabin on the QM2 is more like business class (a lay flat bed and good food🙂). I would strongly recommend a Sheltered Balcony over an obstructed view. Unless you are in Club or Grills cabins, there are two allocated dining times, 6:00PM and 8:30PM. Your best chance for a table for 2 is the later seating but my wife and I have always requested a table or 6 and have greatly enjoyed meeting and dining with our table-mates. Their lives and stories are far more interesting than ours. Breakfast and lunch are open seating with no assigned eating time. You can always skip the Britannia Main Dining Room and eat in any of the more casual venues for any meal, except for the Veranda Steakhouse which has the same dress code as the MDR. Dress slacks/sports-coat (tie optional) for men and cocktail dress for women, on casual nights, while tux/dark-suit for men and long dress/evening-pants for women on the 3 formal nights are required in the MDR as well as the Queens Ball Room. Cunard allows you to bring pretty much unlimited liquor onboard but there is a $20 per bottle corkage fee in the MDR. Onboard alcohol prices are inline with what you would pay at a nice restaurant/bar in Atlanta. The library is over-the-top great. You will be surprised how many passengers spend considerable time there. The speakers program is also first rate. While there are dozens of activities offered each day on board, a lot of passengers just chill, watching the North Atlantic roll by from a deck chair, walking the Promenade Deck or relaxing in their cabins. The somewhat unique result of this is that there is rarely that rush and crush of people in any one place/activity. I find that I really have to dial it back from being the "pushy American". It's like everyone has, what is it?, oh yea, manners! 

A couple more quick points that you didn't ask about. I strongly recommend a cabin on the sunny side of the ship, starboard if sailing to Southampton, port if sailing to NYC. An added bonus is that if sailing to NYC, the Statue of Liberty will be on the port side as you sail past it at zero dark thirty on arrival day. The other point, and I feel very strongly about this, is that you should do an East bound crossing not a West bound one. Sailing East bound (to SH) lets you gain an hour on 5 of the 7 nights as you pass through the time zones. So on those five nights at 2:00AM the ships clock is set back one hour to 1:00AM for an extra hours sleep. Whereas if you do a West bound crossing to NYC, on 5 of the afternoons the ships clock will be moved ahead one hour taking that precious (an expensive) time from your day. 

Now I may be getting a little full of myself here but if you are interested, I've posted a couple of slide shows to YouTube from our crossings in 2017 and 2018. You can search HGQM2-2017 and HGQM2-2018. The 2018 crossing also happened to be the Fashion Week voyage. Very interesting but I would probably not do it again. If you do look at the slide shows you will see that fashion is not my forte. 

Hope you give Cunard and the QM2 a try and if you do please post a review.

Jack

Thanks. I'll check both sites for airpot info.

My wife and I are both Star Alliance Gold but I just assumed that the lounges would not be open that early. I imagine that we will start boarding by 6:00AM. We do have a 4 hour layover in Zurich and will hit the lounge there for sure.

Jack

Good information, thank you both. 

We are planning a cab to the airport. Maybe schedule for 4:00AM which would allow for an arrival of closer to 2 hours before flight time. We are staying at the Athens Hilton. Not sure where that is in relationship to the airport but I'm sure the Concierge can advise us and arrange for a cab at the appropriate time. Hopefully there will be some good Greek coffee to get us going that early! We normally steer clear of early morning flights, especially International one's, but this was one of the few saver-points options that had only one connection, a comfortable layover time and still got us back to Chicago at a decent hour. 

Jack

My wife and I are on the Empires of the Mediterranean - Viking Sea voyage in April of next year that disembarks in Athens. We have arranged our own flights (using points) back to Chicago on Swiss Air with a change of planes in Zurich. Unfortunately the first flight (ATH-ZRH) departs at 6:30AM. Can anyone tell me what time Athens security and/or Swiss Air open in the morning. Ideally, we would like to check in and drop off our bags at 5:00AM, 90 minutes before flight time. 

Thanks

Jack

Thank you Giustot for a very interesting review. I was particularly interested in your details regarding the QG product. My wife and I have made two crossings on the QM2, one in a sheltered balcony and one in Britannia Club, which also offers anytime dining. I have a 70th birthday coming up next year and we are considering both PG and QG. Your review has provided excellent insights. The Q6 suite looks very well laid out. Your pictures are great. It looked like you had nice warm weather. 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience. I think there are a lot of us on this Board who need a "fix" between voyages on the QM2.

Jack

The good news is that the flight from PR is a long flight and the airlines are building in extra time into their flight schedules these days in order to improve their on-time performance ratings. So, you will likely arrive early, maybe as much as 30 minutes. If you are connecting to another Delta flight its their responsibility to get you to YYZ if you miss your connection due to late arrival. However, Cocopico is correct that if you call Delta about this schedule change they will probably allow you to change flights without a penalty fee. You might even have the option go going through Laguardia or Newark airports. On the down side, I believe 41 minutes is a "legal" connection which means that they technically don't actually have to do anything for you. The big factor is if they have seats available on other flights in your fare code. My experience with the airlines is that being nice really helps. If you don't get the results you want, politely finish the call and then call back until you get a sympathetic agent.

Great review Thorsten. We enjoyed your impressions as a first time on QM2. 

Jack

I was a charter member of CLEAR and, for the 13 years that I lived near Orlando, found it very useful. Great staff. You still had to take your shoes off and laptop out but it typically only 2-5 minutes to clear TSA. I moved to Chicago 4 years ago and it is not available here so I let my membership drop. Four years ago the cost was about $125/year and $10 per person for each family member. They are always running promotions to join for $50-$90 the first year. I found it especially useful when I took business trips to the Asia/Pacific Rim. When returning through SFO where after clearing Customs I had to re-enter through security. If I had a tight connection back to Orlando, CLEAR was a lifesaver. 

Jack

40 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Such infractions can be reported. It is a matter of safety for the entire ship.

I agree completely Peregrina651, and on occasion I have been successful in reporting it but generally it is difficult to pinpoint which balcony the smell is coming from. 

As Haworth said, such occurrences are rare but when you take just one cruise a year, and there is an inconsiderate smoker 2-5 cabins up-wind, that's all it takes to restrict using your own balcony for the 7-10 days of that cruise. 

Although my wife and I are both nonsmokers, I have no problem with the designated smoking area on Deck 8. However, what tends to happen is that those smokers either don't realize smoking on their balcony is prohibited or choose to ignore that restriction. It is so discouraging to set up to enjoy a meal or a glass of wine on one's balcony only to have cigarette or cigar smoke come wafting in. 

Jack 

My wife renewed her GE back in April and received her new card in the mail in approximately 4 weeks.

Would certainly enjoy hearing back from David rut (OP) as to his experience. Did he get seasick? Were any of the suggested remedies put to use? If so, successfully? How was his first QM2 TA?

siforest65,

I was in the same boat (literally) a few years ago and found many good YouTube how-to videos. Even so, it was a challenge for me and still remains so. Typically it will take me 4-6 tries and 15-20 minutes to get a really good result. But oh the satisfaction that comes from it. I'm afraid I'm a bit smug the rest of the evening, The piece de resistance is to be sitting in the Commodore's Club, at 12:01AM, and with a single motion untie that tie, ah la Frank Sinatra. So stick with it and enjoy.

Jack

Thanks flashfearless, kind of like the Viking Jupiter recently on its maiden arrival at Piraeus Port and as was the ship in Venice?

Jack

Nice photos/videos. Thanks for sharing. Great job by your son putting it al together. 

Jack

Great advice VintageCCG. Unfortunately, I believe David has already completed his crossing. Hopefully we will hear from David as to how things went.

As to your last point, I once heard the great America's Cup skipper Dennis Conners say in an interview, that despite a lifelong career on boats, on very rare occasion certain boats and/or wave harmonics have caused him to become seasick.

Jack