Jack E Dawson

Pennbank, great job downloading the image. We board the QM2 a week from Sunday. I've downloaded your image to my phone and will do a quick spot check to see if there have been any significant changes. I'm sure there is always some tweaking that goes on over the years as demographics change but we will see.

Thanks again.

My wife and I both liked it but didn't give it too much thought.

BTW Wisconsin Travelers, there is a small cafe in the SH terminal or at least there was last May. It is located just to the left of the check-in desk against the wall by the windows. My wife and I enjoyed a split of sparkling wine and a light snack (sandwiches available). we joined a nice couple at one of the tables and waited for our boarding call. Although we arrived on the Cunard bus from Victoria London about 15 minutes before our scheduled time we had a 2 hour wait before boarding.

Last May (2017) my wife and I took a TA on the QM2. In the afternoons we enjoyed relaxing in either of the two hot tubs on the stern of deck 8. However, we found the temperature of the water in both of the hot tubs to be not so hot. Normally a hot tub is maintained within a degree or two of 102F (39C) but I estimate the water temperature in these specific QM2 hot tubs to be 88-90F (31-33C). We are now booked on the Sept. 2 Fashion Week TA and are looking forward relaxing in one of those hot tubs and watching the ship's wake spill out from the stern. Does anybody have more recent experience with these specific hot tubs? Hopefully this was just an anomaly on last year's cruise and not the norm.

Thanks

My wife and I have booked the Fashion Week TA. Having never been on the Fashion Week Cruise before, we were wondering what related activities will there be that we are allowed to attend. We already have he list of speakers but are wondering if there or other events, such as fashion shows, that are open to all passengers.

Thanks

Yes, the tux I bought included studs (2 extras), cuff-links, cummerbund and bowtie.

Good point Bigmike911. I had not taken that into consideration. There are a lot of Prius Ubers out there.

Thanks

Most tuxedo rental shops and stores like The Men's Warehouse will sell you a used tux for $125-$175. That's how I bought mine. I was able to go through the inventory of my size and pick out a tux that showed no signs of use. It was freshly dry-cleaned and pressed. While there were many styles to chose from I, selected a classic design that should always be appropriate onboard on the the QM2. The salesman even gave me a discount on two new tuxedo shirts.

Great review Tonopah. My wife and I took our first ever cruise last summer and it was also on the QM2 doing a Crossing. We are in complete agreement with your observations and opinions with the exception of the Pol Acker. We absolutely loved it however I suspect that is more a reflection on our lack of wine sophistication then on the quality of the drink:) Much to our surprise we find ourselves leaving in a couple of weeks on another QM2 TA departing SH on Sept. 2nd. We will retest the Pol Acker and hopefully tryout the new menu at Veranda.

Thanks VCCG. Will look at that again on M833.

Thanks Shuffleboard Dude, your comments are appreciated. However I have to say that over the last 3 years I've become a big fan of Uber. In general the Uber cars are cleaner and nicer but more importantly, so are the drivers. I currently have 6 retired friends who are Uber drivers and all make far above minimum wage although they mainly drive for the social interaction. While this is anecdotal and not scientific, I think it is representative. Also, the Uber app allows for tipping which I almost regularly do. Finally, I like that there is accountability. I get to rate the Uber driver and he gets to rate me, its a good system of checks and balances. On the other hand, I can't imagine not taking a cab in London, its part of the wonderful experience.

My wife and I are on the Sept. 2nd TA during which the new menu will be in place. . I tried to make a reservation last night and all but the very latest times were booked up. Not sure I want to eat a heavy steak dinner after 9:00PM so we passed but that does tell me that the new menu may be popular.

Will be arriving Brooklyn Sept. 9th on the QM2.

Is Uber allowed to operate at the terminal?

Are taxies available without a reservation?

What is the approximate cost of a taxi for 2 to LaGuardia?

Thanks

Deck Chair

My wife and I will be on the Fashion Week cruise with you. Perhaps we can buy YOU a drink!

Dear Deck Chair,

Your reports are excellent and as noted already, make one feel that they are on board the QM2 crossing the North Atlantic. Actually, my wife and I will be on the QM2 in just a few weeks and have booked cabin 4138. I noted in your first post that you are in 4122 and were satisfied with that location. from your prospective, do you see any issues with thew 4138 location?

Thanks

My wife and I, along with another couple, have just booked this cruise for April of 2020. Its never too early to start planning and have found all of the above responses to be very helpful. We have only cruised before on the QM2 doing trans-Atlantic crossings. Reading these posts makes me realize there is so much we don't know that we don't know! Getting off the ship at ports on a daily basis will be quite a change. Also looking forward to the Viking experience. We do love the formal and tradition oriented atmosphere of the QM2 but thought we might be ready to expand our experiences. This will be the fourth cruise on Viking for the couple we are traveling with and they have assure us that while the experience will be different , the quality will be at the same level. Now just 600 days to go before departure. We did purchase the Silver Spirits package so that does give us just enough time to practice making the most of it:)

Thanks again for all of the great information and the links.

Currently on the Queens, Fixed Dining allows for two seatings per table per evening. Open Dining allows for only one seating. So in order to convert 50% of the MDR tables to Open Dining would require 25% more tables and of course 25% more space. So despite any poll results its doubtful that Open Dining will be expanded.

Slight panic attack this morning. Woke up wondering if our Deck 4 cabin might be directly above G32 or the Queens Room and we would be hearing music till the wee hours of the morning. A quick check of the QM2 deck plans shows that we are above the Britannia MDR. Hopefully that will be a quiet location.

Yes, Dee and I will be the ones looking hopelessly out of place.

On Friday my wife and I received an e-mail from Cunard advertising a sheltered balcony on the QM2 TA departing Southampton Sept 2nd (Fashion Week) for $849/pp plus $100/pp OBC. We bit and made the booking. This will be only the second time on a cruise ever and the first was a TA on the QM2 last May. However, on that voyage we were in Balcony Club. Balcony vs Balcony Club has often been debated on this site. Based on our one experience, we thought the dining flexibility, expanded menu and other perks were worth it. Now we will have the opportunity to make a decision based on first hand experience. For $849 can we really go wrong? We will take on the experiment and see. Of course everyone is different but we will be happy to share our experience in this thread.

My wife and I never ate at the Veranda as we just couldn't find anything on the menu that we liked. I think that's our problem as we are not overly adventurous eaters (bone marrow...count me out). However a good steak, a really good steak, is something we both greatly enjoy. Sometimes traditional done great can be as enjoyable as new and creative. We sail on Sept 2nd and look forward to giving the new menu a try. Will report back our impressions.

Thank you all for the excellent detailed information. This is exactly the advice we were looking for. Hattie, thanks for the link to Safarigal's blog. Safarigal, your blog is most interesting and so well written. I followed the blog while you were still on the trip and couldn't wait for each day's posting. Your writing style is so good I went on and read all of your journey's.

We have narrowed our cruise choices down to either the Fjord cruise with a B2B E-W TA (a total of 14 consecutive nights on the QM2) or the Southampton to Dubai (via Spain, Greece and Israel) 19 night cruise. The two are pretty close in price. We are planning this for 2020.

Again, thanks all.

Just wondering what hotel does Cunard use in Dubai?

Last May we stayed at he Alexandra Hilton Curio in Barcelona. It has a good location and was a nice hotel but not really up to normal Hilton international standards. However it had a very good rate. All things considered, would stay there again for the location and value.

babscruiser,

Sorry you have not received a reply to your question. We are looking at this voyage ourselves and would also want to stay a few extra days in Dubai. Our other concerns are; is there enough time in Israel to see both Jerusalem and Bethlehem, does a 19 night cruise with only 3 stops make sense. We will continue to monitor this thread.