Ferretworld

Ebay is excellent for evening wear -  I have an extensive wardrobe of evening dresses from Hobbs, Whistles, Phase 8, etc etc and paid almost nothing for any of them (well usually around £10 I suppose). Vinted is also good but I find a better selection on Ebay. I know what size I am in most of these brands so my searches tend to be 'dress hobbs 14'  or similar which filters out all the random chinese brand stuff. Mostly the evening wear has been worn lightly and often I get stuff still with labels on so unworn.

11 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

Not any longer. You are referring to mid 2021 when Cunard reintroduce itineraries ( post pandemic)  on Queen Elizabeth.

The Lido has now reopened for Lunch on embarkation day until 3pm

Grills restaurants open for lunch for suite guests  .

Well that's disappointing!  Last time we went on Cunard was Sept 21 so I didnt realize it had been discontinued since then! ....and I wont even board in time for lunch!

17 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

There isn’t tea on the first day. I bet you’ll sail through the terminal, not pausing for breath if you arrive then. But I must say I would arrive a little earlier.

  I think we probable will arrive a bit earlier - 3:30 seems really late! (And I do need my scones and tea apparently).

Afternoon tea is available in the main dining room which in my opinion is the perfect start to a cruise.

We are are also going on QV later this month (Britannia class) and have an arrival time of 15:30 with last boarding at 16:00 which seems rather tight. Also seems very late - no chance to get afternoon tea on arrival.

Having just come off one of the QE Staycation cruises - the dress code had definitely changed for this cruise with jackets optional except for the gala night.  However I didn't really notice any difference in the levels of glamour from previous cruises and all our male party wore jackets every night. Women were equally dressed up with lots of sparkle as usual.

The only thing to be aware of is when you sleep with the curtains over, and the maintenance folks come to check out the equipment!

I think this is all moot now, but i've brought a cat across the atlantic (Immigration to the UK). As well as the requirements to take an animal to the USA, you would of course have to follow the Defra requirements to bring them back - which are quite demanding and you couldn't complete within an afternoon in Brooklyn.

You also would have to trade off spending time with your dog as you cannot remove them from the kennel area and deck - so while you can go and visit, you would not be making the most of the facilities on the ship.  I'm really not sure how much fun it is for the animals either - the staff are lovely but they are basically in cages most of the time (more so for the poor cat with 19 dogs!).

I have obtained a visa for Russia - however apart from the cost (over £100) and having to appear in person in London or Edinburgh, you do need to have some sponsoring tour company - for a day or two in St Petersburg I doubt you would be able to get it nor that it would be worthwhile.  Its not too difficult to get about in St Petersburg, but English is not widely spoken. You can use the CityMapper app which works well for buses etc.  Entry to the major attractions like the Hermitage are via tours so really I think you would be better off doing an excursion.

(I did not cruise to St Petersburg but was there as part of a land-based tour - we spent some additional days in St Petersburg at the end of the tour - but the visa was sponsored by the tour company).

The process is a little easier for cats as the heartworm treatment is not required. My vet in CA was also familar with the form, and I hand delivered it to the USDA vet at SFO where I was able to make an appointment. In reality very painless.

Also - I wouldnt worry about the kennel space. We booked our passage in November for the following June and was 3 or 4 on the waitlist for 2 kennel spaces. We got confirmation around March that we had the spaces for Charlotte.

A transatlantic move is stressful enough, but you just have to dot the Is and cross the Ts. We found that the TA on the QM2 was the perfect antidote to the stress of moving and we arrived in the UK without jetlag.

We had no problems with visiting Charlotte and the kennels is actually closed to visitors for some hours of the day. Our cat was not unduly stressed by her kennel stay (and of course had stayed in a cattery previously so she knew the ropes!) and we had plenty of time to enjoy the facilities on offer.

We brought our cat from the USA to the UK in June 2017. It was a very satisfactory process. Easier than shipping a cat by cargo which is required to the UK. If you are travelling to mainland Europe you might be able to take the cat with you - but for us, the QM2 was cheaper than flying!

She was the only cat with 19 dogs. The kennel was fine - she had 2 cages (required for cats so they can have a separate area for litter). The kennel was pretty noisy and smelled of dog - but they put her in the corner with a curtain in front of her cage so she couldn't see the dogs. The kennel masters were delightful and very affectionate with the cat and she really was OK during the voyage.

You can go and visit the pets and we did multiple times a day - she ate normally (they will pre-order whatever food you specify - if its available in the UK that is). We also got the sole use of the pets lounge one afternoon to get her out and play with her.

Disembarkation was as described and was the only time our cat was bothered - I think it was very noisy and she was unhappy in her carrier. All the pet owners disembark together so there were a lot of dogs on leads around us.

The paperwork is well documented on the defra site. You will need to get her proof of microchip and rabies certificate form completed by your own vet and then validated by a USDA vet. Cunard check that on embarkation. We didnt have a defra inspection on arrival.

So while our cat says no more cruises for her - I cant think that flying would have been any better for her. She was well looked after and ate fine during the journey.

We did a transatlantic last summer with 14 & 16 year old boys. It was June so before the UK schools broke up so all the few children on board were American. There were a handful of teens and my kids did go down to the teen club a few times. They also took their x-box which was a good idea. They loved the crossing: we met them for some meals but otherwise they liked exploring, going to the gym, playing deck games. We were in Brittania dining room and as late sitting, I didn't see other children, but they liked dressing up and eating with us, and often went for second desert in the buffet afterwards.

We put them in one cabin and us in another and the only time it was an issue was when we had to get asked to get a new key cards made for us to access the boys cabin. But in reality it wasn't an issue although I did feel bad for their steward at times - trying to get in to clean when they slept late!

Our boys loved the experience and would do it again. You might check what age they are allowed to roam the ship. Would have been significantly less fun if they needed to be accompanied.