Winchester Ranger

Thanks - I had a last minute booking without an assigned cabin so I'm sure that had a part to play, but you're right, my previous upgrade came via email not a phone call.

Happy with the outcome though, thanks Cunard !!

Speaking personally it has to be a balcony cabin or nothing. I sailed TA in November and spent hours out there, the weather was wonderful, and a breath of fresh air before dinner without having to go up on deck is really nice. I always have breakfast in the cabin and watching the ocean wander by as I munch on some toast is incredibly relaxing as I sit there planning what to do that day.

Cunard called me on my cell earlier today to ask if I would be interested in a free upgrade. The offer was to go from a lower class balcony to a higher class balcony, when I hesitated (thinking about the nightmare I had with an upgrade to a linked cabin last time) the agent jumped in and said "would $150 of onboard credit help you decide" - the answer was of course a resounding "yes". So just out of curiosity I asked what else was available and he told me I could have a Q5 - for an extra $11,000. Oh the life that some must lead.

Fast forward an hour and in comes my updated reservation - along with a demand for "an overdue payment of $288". Yes, he had billed me for the upgrade. All feelings of bonhomme went flying out of the porthole as I dialed Cunard.

"Oh" said the young lady on the other end of the line, "he pressed the wrong button",

"well then press the right one" I encouraged her.

"Hmm, I'd better speak with a supervisor about this" she added "can I place you on hold".

Five minutes later and still listening to Cunard's tuneful hum along version of "We Really Don't Care" I was starting to do my impression of an old cruise ship - I was beginning to steam.

"Hi, ok then it's all fixed" came the cheery voice as if she had been gone for 30 seconds. My reply told her that it really wasn't all fixed and the apology was upgraded with another $50 of OBC attached to it, which was fair enough.

Now don't get me wrong, I ended up very happy with the situation and have zero moans. I have an upgraded cabin and $200 more to spend compared to what I had earlier this morning, but if nothing else there are 2 lessons to be learned from all of this - read whatever they send you carefully, if I hadn't spotted the overcharge tucked away below my sailing details I could have been arguing about this with those lovely people at the QM2 Purser's desk, secondly Cunard will always throw some OBC at you to make things right.

Anyway, I can start packing now, thought I'd share, toodles :D

Perfect - many thanks.

I certainly envy those sailing on M722, that's a great list.

I just jumped in and took a last minute deal on a balcony on the next QM2 sailing on May 31st, does anyone know who the guest speakers are on that voyage ?

You have no idea how serious this news is for me - Laurent is foul tasting stuff, Veuve is the sweet spot for price versus quality. If VC is no longer on board I just took a last minute booking on a "dry ship".

I wish you would all stop talking about the QE2. I have 3 regrets in my life that cannot be fixed - a TA on the QE2, a TA on Concorde from London, and a third one I don't talk about.

Afternoon tea is an absolute pleasure for me even sailing as a solo. The ability to sit back and read a good book while consuming gallons of tea and several scones is wonderful, and something I hope Cunard never changes. I don't want to be one of those old cruisers who sits in his nursing home lamenting that "I remember when Cunard used to serve afternoon tea to every guest, every single guest mind you" while conversing with the nearest hat and coat stand.

I thought we needed a companion thread, hopefully Host Hattie can forgive me. I think Cunard will learn more from some constructive criticism than they will from pats on the back - and you can bet they are regular visitors to this forum.

Having said that I don't have much to offer in the way of critiques.

Firstly - I know the economic reasons why TAs are now 7 days and not 4 days (fuel, fuel, fuel), but I will add that I would sail a lot more often if the travel time was 5 days - right now QM2 is primarily a vacation cruise even though it is badged as a "voyage, not a cruise" since you are technically travelling, but speaking personally I fly TA a lot (this week in fact) but I would rather cruise, and those extra 2 days would make all the difference for me.

Pursers staff - I haven't had great experiences at the main desk on QM2, the staff seem to be a little abrupt on occasion, and maybe a little coaching and maybe even the odd smile would help.

Pricing - Cunard seem to be making pricing more difficult to navigate. Some people have cancelled bookings with a penalty and then re-booked to save money, that shouldn't happen.

That's about it really, not much at all, which is probably why I'm itching to book again with them !!

John,

You are an absolute star, thanks so much, that fixed the issue. You were right about it being that particular crossing, so if I end up booking that cruise I'd like to buy you a drink.

I always thought the solo upcharge was 75% or 100% depending on cabin class - right now I am seeing a $799 balcony per person rate in Brittania (BZ) come in at $2,743.21 without any extras.

Am I missing something - shouldn't that be more like $1,500 ?

Sure enough it's down AGAIN today.

I'm starting to wonder if "Internal Server Error" is the name of a ship?

I think I'll check on prices in the 2 weeks running up to the first New York to Southampton sailing, and if I can remember I'll update this thread with actual rates. Let's be honest, they get you with the onboard costs anyway, the cabin is not their best profit center.

They are also quoting the crossing as 7 days now as well, I seem to recall mine spanning into an 8th day. If only they would go back to 4 day crossings I would be able to sail so much more frequently.

The last time I sailed on QM2 Cunard were selling off empty balcony rooms for $500pp for the New York to Southampton crossing. Does anyone know how soon before the actual sail date these last minute prices typically start to kick in ?

I have done that in the past, but checking for trends and getting an idea of current pricing isn't worth wading through the call in queue. That's one of the reasons I really like NCL's website because you can chat immediately with a reservation agent on line.

Oh well, moan over, as of right now the website is back up and available, maybe they saw my post ;)

I have lost count of the number of times I have tried to book a cruise on Cunard's website only to be greeted with the words "Error 500 - Internal Server Error" - their eCom availability is terrible, do they even have an SLA for system uptime ?

Come on Cunard, light a fire under your IT Infrastructure guy.

I complained regarding the exact same thing on an Eastbound cruise and was given an additional $500 OBC. Complain, but do so very politely and always to a supervisor.

It wasn't open on embarkation day on my crossing - I think they expect the first meal to be dinner, at least it was for me. But I suppose there's always King's Court.

For "at sea" days the best advice I can give is to get their early so you can get a good seat, it was always packed out. The food was quite frankly superb, especially the chicken curry or the steak and ale pie. Either of those with a cold pint of lager was a treasure.

I got an amazing price for a business class return flight from the UK to the US - internal US flights tend to be fairly cheap to start with.

With the exception of one cruise, I've always sailed solo. I much prefer it - extra space, freedom, and no arguments :)

Even when I cruised with a partner I found that we would go off and do our own thing during the day, only meals were taken as a pair. Solo cruising is one of life's great pleasures - for me :)

Ive sailed solo in the QG twice (QM2). Once in a Q6 and once in a Q1. While I felt the Q1 was excessive for a solo passenger, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

You actually answered another question I have always wondered about - if anyone ever solo'd in a Q1. Hats off to you, that is amazing.

And thanks all for the input, great answers.

I solo'd in a regular Brittania balcony cabin and quite honestly I loved it, but there are some very attractive prices for QG during the winter crossings that I am tempted to spring for.

All the usual arguments about QG vs. PG. vs Brittania aside I was wondering if anyone has solo'd in a QG suite, I suppose it's the dining arrangements that make me think twice - it seems quite cramped in there and more configured for couples than solo groups, although those 2 seater tables seem to be practically touching each other.

Any thoughts appreciated, I'm just musing on it.

Was there an explanation as to what caused to ship to shudder? Regards,Jerry

No one mentioned it and there was no announcement, to be honest it was my "Twilight Zone" moment because the impact was so severe and everyone just carried on talking. It felt as if we had hit something and the entire ship shuddered, and not even the slightest tremor for the rest of the 8 day crossing. As I say, just one of those strange moments.

I assumed we had quartered into an unusually large wave and true to her design QM2 had simply smashed through it.

Mercifully it was not a repeat of the incident involving the original Queen Mary in December 1942 when she encountered a rogue wave 92 feet in height that so very nearly took her under.

Just remember the old cruising rule:

Cabin above, cabin below, is all you really need to know.

:)

Sitting at dinner one night (late sitting) and mid-atlantic the entire ship shuddered as if it had been hit by a giant hand, up until that moment three days in to the crossing it was hard to believe you were even on a ship because there was so little movement. The rest of the voyage was completely smooth.

I looked around for the startled expressions and no one reacted, not even in the slightest. It always struck me as odd due to the severity of the impact.