D&N

We would be interested to see more too. One problem is the vast choice Cunard offer. The wine list, which is mainly bottles but includes ports and wines by the glass is over fifty pages long. Then some of the lounges offer additional choices. Another problem is that Cunard don't keep the information on their website updated. The Commodore Club menu they offer shows spirits in 1oz and 2oz measures. They changed last year to smaller 25ml and 50ml. They still show small glasses of wine at 150ml and they were increased to 175ml. There is a fairly small list of wines by glass that fall within the package. If you're not too bothered by where wines originate there's probably enough. For us, we'd like to see much more French wine by the glass. You can probably get many classic cocktails in the package but many of the fancy ones are over the price limit.

Just do what they do in the Med. Cannes to Monaco should take about two hours, but some ships sail out to sea and go round in circles for a while.

Perhaps not. The current show has been described as having "Heavy audience participation". If much of it is unscripted and the supporting actors are constantly changing it may well be different every show.

Cunard perhaps intended to be generous by increasing the small glass size to 175ml. We were perfectly happy with 150ml. I found that an ideal size to easily control consumption. Six glasses a day of the larger size is like having an extra glass. At 150ml there was a chance that more wines would have fallen within the package price per drink.

That ties in with programmes that were posted from last September and December. When we were on nearly two years ago it was 8am every morning. I don't know of a way to find out in advance. Just the programme that you receive the night before. We went shortly after breakfast last time. We missed some dance classes/practice by doing that. We'd prefer to go before breakfast, but still catch BC restaurant opening times. Would also be beneficial to leave breakfast later and extend our fasting period.

Is that you in the cage? 🤣

What is the champagne that P&O provide? We don't drink the Pol Aker on board. If anything we take it home. We simply don't eat or drink in our cabin. We like going to lounges and restaurants for that. Our cabin is for sleeping, showering and changing in.

I should perhaps point out that Côte de Roses rosé is from the Languedoc region. Cunard's own label wines come from the same area and we find all of them drinkable. Wine purists might claim that is a region better known for the vast quantity it produces rather than the quality. At home, we wouldn't buy a bottle of wine from there. We'd stick with more upscale wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux and Côte de Provence or Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence. But we do buy lots of three and five litre boxes from the region, which we decant and drink on a daily basis. The bottles come out for Sunday dinner and special occasions.

https://www.ter.sncf.com/normandie Is the local regional link for Le Havre to Rouen. If you can't read or figure out the French, your browser may be able to translate for you. https://www.sncf-connect.com/normandie-train-nomad I don't normally use this, but it's the equivalent linked to the current SNCF mobile app. You'd need to muddle around to find info. Again a browser should offer translation.

I'd normally opt for a main and dessert. There's three of each there I'd be happy to pick. I would eat all five of each if I didn't have a choice. I'd not normally think about a salad or soup, but if forced to have three courses, I'd probably choose between the terrine or crab and shrimp.

I've been seeing comments about seats for weeks or possibly months. From the photos and videos I've seen, although some of the seats may have a similar shape, the actual structures are quite different. Some in lounges look much more padded and more reclined than those at tables in eating facilities. There are some large ones that are probably very comfy and supportive but do look a bit like what you might find in a nursing home. My point; there seem to be a wide variety of different seats to suit all tastes. The renders perhaps suggested there was a standard basic seat type throughout the ship.

Think they've got the date wrong. Their YT video of the Spa was posted about six months ago, but I think it was based on a sailing to Norway over eight months ago.

https://www.youtube.com/@BROMOCOInternational/videos Bromoco International. I'd never heard of them until their videos appeared. I think there's six videos and another done as a case study.

Is this the one? If so, we'd probably prefer it as well. Vivino claims it's fractionally less dry, slightly less acidic and has stronger flavour. In France it would sell for about a third of the price of Whispering Angel. We have thousands of rosés to choose from here and there are many Cote de Provence Cru Class wines much cheaper than W.A. I get the impression most W.A. goes for export. I only see it here on overpriced restaurant wine lists.

How recent were the reviews? It's not something we had time to use, but I understood it had a major refurbishment in November. The specialist company that treated the stainless steel central whirlpool section posted several videos.

I've followed the price of Whispering Angel in relation to the package limit since 2018. It's never been within the package limit. When they increased small glass sizes from 150ml to 175ml last year, it ensured several would be over the limit. Having said that, It doesn't bother us much. I sourced a bottle here, it's not common to find it in our local supermarkets and vintners. It was very dry, but didn't really have much flavour. Perhaps it wasn't the best bottle, although it didn't taste off. The Cunard Rosé suits us fine. We drink it for refreshment rather than to pair with good food.

It's a sparkling wine that makes no claim to be champagne. It's a "blanc de blancs". That means it's made from white grapes, most champagnes/sparkling wines include some red grapes with their skins removed. Some blanc de blancs are made exclusively from chardonnay grapes. Pol Acker doesn't claim that, so it must be a blend. It's perfectly drinkable if served very well chilled in chilled glasses or used with another liqueur in a spritz of some sort. It probably tastes awful if someone finds it in their cabin and serves it semi-chilled in room temperature glasses, but you could say the same for most champagne.

We thought they were for photo opportunities.

From a FB post; "roadworks on A34 near Oxford they had forgotten about until they were at a standstill". But I didn't get impression they were delayed that much.

I'm sure they're very good, but they don't look like dancers! 🤣 Then again, couldn't they play on the "band" stand and let folk dance to their music?

The breeding pair from our nearest river appeared this morning with six cygnets. There is a group of folk that keep an eye on them, and in one of the pics you see daddy telling a woman to get the food out of her backpack and throw it to his hungry kids. She obliged a minute or so later. I've included a FB link to someone else's much better close up of mum and babies than I got with my phone from the bridge above. This group usually survive until adults. The pair in the next river along the coast have an issue where their nest is overlooked by seven floor flats, and gulls swoop down and attack the young. Hopefully their support group will prevent that in future following a loss of about half their chicks a few years ago.

I just saw a picture of the Queens Room. I suspect some purists won't like it but I can see some positives. The floor has a curve all the way round from the acute corners either side of the stage. In practice that means it only really has two "lines of dance". We can dance for ages following the main line of dance, turn in the first tight corner, cross in front of stage to another turn, then another lengthy line. If one gets bored part way along you can always throw in an extra turn here and there. The seats near the floor look very practical. Probably wishful thinking, but if the gold bases swivelled that would be ideal! Face the table whilst taking our refreshments and when the music starts simply swivel round and launch ourselves onto the dance floor. The downside so far is that I haven't seen it being used for actual dancing yet. And of course since it's not a transatlantic liner we won't be on it.

Maybe you have the ship to yourselves! 🤣 Not really. I know of three ladies that are on board with you.

I remembered to check the specification of those coffee machines yesterday. It'll easily fit under the bed next time giving us that extra space. Nora detests coffee, and I only drink it from real coffee machines in the lounges.

They vary what they state in their publicity material fairly regularly. In the daily programmes they have a standard section that doesn't change very often. It says: "top and skirt or stylish trousers, or a dress". I've posted screenshots of that in other threads.