babscruiser

We are sailing on the Queen Elizabeth in February, traveling from Sydney.   We have just received an e-mail from Cunard advising us that on non-formal nights men must wear collared shirts, but jackets are optional.    We are assuming that the more casual attire is designed for the Australia-based cruises. 

We are taking a 14-day cruise, Sydney to Sydney, on February 17, 2020.  Does the Queen Elizabeth have a passenger chorus anymore?

We have traveled on the QE and the QM2 many times in the past and have found the chorus to be a very enjoyable activity.  But, we haven't sailed on the QE since she began sailing mostly in Australia.   Has anyone sailed on the QE lately and did they have a chorus?

Babscruiser

Do Holland America cruises have religious leaders (Priests - Anglican or Catholic) and Protestant ministers on board to perform religious services?

If so, do the cruises have to be a certain length?

Having been on the 2019 World Cruise in January and disembarking at Dubai, I was wondering if, in light of the troubles in the Gulf of Hormuz, whether Cunard will still keep Dubai on its itineraries for the World Cruises.  

Dear Safarigal --

In January 2019, we sailed on the Queen Mary2 from New York to Dubai --- the opposite of your trip.  We enjoyed reading your blog and felt that we were reliving our cruise through you.   I found it interesting that the Choir did the same songs that we sang during the Crossing and the Southampton to Dubai segment.   I guess Andrew decided that the music we did was a big hit and he wanted to recreate it throughout the cruise.    However, I don't know how I would have felt repeating the same songs for each segment if I had been doing the full World Cruise. 

      Thank you for posting your blog.   We really enjoyed it -- plus, your photos were great!

       We would love to see any pictures that you took during your stay  on the QE2. 

        All our best,  Babscruiser

(P.S.  My husband never got up to dance either.)

We will be taking a cruise in the Mediterranean in late August on Oasis of the Seas.    At dinner in the Main Dining Room, will we need any dressy clothes - jacket for the men, dressy dress/pants for the women?   What about on formal nights ( if there are any)?         [We usually sail on the Cunard ships where dinner attire is  required in the dining rooms, so we need some clothing advice from all of you as we are traveling on a different cruise line.]    Thanks for your input.     Babscruiser

We are going on a Mediterranean cruise in August with our family, including two grandchildren ages 6 & 9.   They probably will want to participate in various activities - rock climbing, zip line, water surfing, carousel, etc.    Are these items an extra cost?   If so, could you tell me how much they might be?  thanks.

I cant' believe that Cunard hasn't fixed this issue.  

We received a runaround from the U.S. Cunard Customer Service when we were sailing from New York on the QE in January 2018.  They gave us different embarkation locations each time we called & initially were insisting that Cunard "never sails" from Manhattan.   Ultimately, we were able to ascertain that in fact the QE was sailing from the piers in Manhattan.

In January 2019, when we were sailing on the Crossing from New York,  the e-ticket (which we didn't receive until we called them to ask where it was) said that the QM2 was sailing from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and that's what happened.

It has been our understanding that unless there is some conflict with a Princess cruise ship leaving on the same date, the QM2 always sails from Brooklyn (probably because it is so long that it juts out to far into the Hudson River).

   Barbara Neale

The choir performance is usually on the last afternoon before the end of the cruise, or, in the case of the World Cruise, the day before the end of a segment.  Our concerts were in the Grand Lobby, but in some cruises the have been in the Theater or in the Queens Room. 

       In addition, Cunard cruises have a sing a long open to everyone at least once per cruise. 

Before we embarked, I had asked the Message Board whether there were passenger choirs on the QM2,  just as they were on QE and QV.     I never received a definitive answer to my question. 

Having just returned from our QM2 cruise, we can report that there were passenger choirs on both segments of our trip (Transatlantic Crossing and then Southampton to Dubai).

Each one was ably conducted by Andrew, one of the pianists on the ship.   The Crossing choir had around 50 members and the Southampton to Dubai segment had closer to 70 members!

We sang songs from Scotland, England, Ireland & Wales and even we Americans and Canadians were able to learn the full selection of tunes.  

You should all try joining the chorus on your next cruise.          Happy singing and sailing.    Barbara  from the U.S.

We just returned from 26 days on QM2 (New York to Southampton to Dubai) & had two large suitcases.  They fit easily under the beds in a Britannia balcony room.   

Barbara

Our E-Tickets for the Transatlantic cruise on QM2, leaving New York on 1/3/19 says that we are sailing from the Brooklyn Terminal (in Red Hook)

Barbara Neale

We spoke to Cunard's  U.S. Office.  They stated that QM2 would be docked at the Brooklyn Terminal (Red Hook) on January 3, 2019.  The NYCruise website says the same.     We're sailing Transatlantic on 1/3/19.

We will be sailing on QM2 from NY to Dubai in January 2019.   Does anyone know if they will  be having a Passenger Choir during either of these two segments?

I have sung in the  choruses on the Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, but I have never done it on the Queen Mary2.  Since the Southampton to Dubai segment has many days at sea, I was hoping that they would have a chorus.  It's fun to do and it gives us an opportunity to meet other passengers.

     Barbara

In January 2019, we will be sailing Transatlantic on QM2 to Southampton and then continuing on from Southampton to Dubai also on QM2

Can we exchange our American dollars for British pounds at the persers' desk on the QM2?

And, after we leave Southampton, can we exchange whatever is left of our British pounds back to American dollars?

     Are there any restrictions on making these exchanges?

Years ago, we had been able to do this, but we haven't tried lately.  Thanks for your help.

    Barbara

For those who may be interested, the extender in Dubai includes the hotel, breakfast, transfers from the ship and from the hotel to the airport (this information comes from Cunard to our travel agent). We were also advised that the Cunard Care insurance that we bought for the cruise will continue through the extender period.

Babscruiser..

Hi Jack---

No one ever replied to my post. We are still planning on the Southampton-Dubai segment of the World Cruise. We also signed up for the extender in Dubai. Has anyone out there received any information on the particulars of the extender?

A number of years ago, we sailed to Israel and took a port excursion to Jerusalem & Bethlehem. There will be enough time to see both since the excursion is a very long day. Out intention is to do the tour to Jerusalem on one of our days docked in Haifa and to take a port excursion to Masada & take a swim in the Dead Sea on the second day. We'll be exhausted at the end of the 2 days, but we have plenty of sea days after that to recover.

Regards, Babscruisesr

We will bet taking a segment of the World Cruise in January 2019, Southampton to Dubai.

We want to stay on in Dubai for 2 nights after we disembark. Has anyone ever signed up for this extender? What is included? Was it worthwhile doing? Thanks for your input.

Babscruiser

When you take a round-trip tranatlantic crossing, do they have different insights speakers, different evening entertainment and different afternoon concerts, different dinner menus, etc. for the 2 crossings? I assume that they do, for I can't imagine anyone would want to duplicate the previous experiences during the return trip. For those who have done the round-trip crossings, what did you find? Barbara N. (babscruiser)

We have recently bought shares of Carnival Stock and have been told that with 100 shares, we can apply to Cunard for Onboard Credit. Does anyone know where the form is to apply and are there any regulations regarding when you can submit the form? I'm sorry if this question has been asked before, but we couldn't find it when reviewing recent message board postings.

We just received our E-Ticket for the trip and it just says "Port: New York" - which could mean either location. Cunard doesn't make it easy for any of us. Regardless, it appears we are all agreed that the QE will be docking in Manhattan (55th Street on the West Side) and we will be boarding there on January 17th. Thanks to all of you who responded to my very first post and I will look forward to meeting Greg and any of the rest of you who will be on that cruise. We are looking forward to getting out of the deep freeze of New York City. Regards, Babscruiser.

Thanks, JohnKen3. The trouble is that we called Cunard who said that they "never" cruise from Manhattan. We know that we docked in Manhattan on the QE a few years ago when we returned from a cruise from Los Angeles. Is Cunard once again giving us bad information?

Does anyone know where the Queen Elizabeth will be docking when it does it's overnight in New York on January 16-17? We will be boarding on January 17th and want to be sure whether it will be in Brooklyn or Manhattan.