D&N

"a sharp looking sweat suit". What is that? 🤣🤣🤣 Not the Riviera we live on!

Thank you. Mercruiser posted 5 tests with download ranging from 4.17 to 32.6. Yours is within that range. What is much shorter are your "ping" times, which suggests your signal is getting to/from the server quicker and may be why you're getting good results. I don't think Starlink is operating yet on QM2. The provider "Equinix" is the same in your test as in the earlier ones. I suspect off the Spanish coast and in the Med you have been getting a better satellite link. It might even be to do with atmospheric conditions somewhere on the 20,000 mile trip to the satellite. The main thing is you're happy and can do what you need with it.

Hello @DaisyUK, If you get the chance can you try running "Speedtest by Ookla" to get a report of the internet speeds you are experiencing? It can be found at speedtest.net on a browser, or you can download the app from App Store or Play Store. Mercruiser took several readings a few weeks ago just before Starlink was installed, on this thread here:

I found a 2021 wine gift price list and used the following search term, which revealed a number of similar pdf files with 2021 prices: my.cunard.com content dam cunard my-cruise gifts pdfs

They train in our bay quite frequently.

I would think most ladies Smart Attire clothing would be just as appropriate on gala nights.

Could the answer be that those who want more formal nights, dress formally on some additional nights when formal is not required? Instead of "lugging" stuff around for fewer nights, wear it on gala nights and a few others of your own choosing. If lots of folk did that then word may get back to the "company" that there are folk who want gala nights, in the same way they are being told that some are eating in the buffet because they don't like formal. Both these photos were taken on "Smart Attire" nights. If you read the definition in the daily program you would find that we complied with requirements. Next time I will probably wear a black or white tux every night on a 14 or 15 night round trip crossing. Rationalising in that way may also reduce the amount I need to lug around.

Firstly, in my earlier post I hadn't checked that the OP was from NZ. My experience is with UK and French registered financial products. I'm not actually sure that being a French resident our UK accounts are fully covered by UK regulations although I have had refunds on fraudulent activity. We certainly don't qualify for Nationwide's travel insurance. On the 'Wise' debit card. My experience has been that I didn't need to have an inflated balance on the card. In practice I did have about double on the card when boarding QM2 because we were making a separate visit to New York a few weeks after our crossings. However the charge to: Cuk Qmary Ii Usd, was listed as being taken the day after we boarded. The card record shows: "The total of this payment has been updated. The original amount was 1 USD. The difference has been taken from your balance." Every time we spent anything the authorisation was updated but never at any time exceeded our actual spend. When we checked in to Sofitel New York we had already paid for the stay in full, and for all our planned sightseeing trips. There was just over $1,000 left on the card and they applied an authorisation for $600, probably on basis of $100/night. I didn't want to have lots of USD left on the card when we returned to France and I told them re-authorise to my credit card. When I did that the $600 was immediately released and available to spend. In summary, we didn't need to have more than our planned spend on QM2 and pre-authorisations clear immediately on the Wise card.

And if you come across 'Habit To' Band, perhaps you could comment on how much of their stuff is danceable? I looked them up on YouTube. They have some original stuff that's quite heavy. I can pick out a beat from much of it that we could dance to. They'd probably be mortified at the thought of folk doing foxtrot or quick step to it! 😀 But they do covers as well and have demo videos to get cruise and hotel work.

Another recommendation here for both Nationwide Credit Cards and Wise (previously Transferwise). As French holiday home owners and more recently residents we've used our Nationwide cards for regular spend here for about 20 years. All our revenue is in £s and most of our spend in €s. On a daily basis the GBP:EUR rate we get from that can't be beaten. If the rate is unacceptable we switch to local cards in €. We started using Wise in December 2014, initially with a small FX transfer to try them and since for all our FX transactions, including funds for buying property. We pick a day/time that the rate is beneficial. That ensures we have a fall back if the £ isn't doing well enough, and of course we need it for utility bills etc that must go through a French account. Originally Nationwide cards were fee free in the VISA Europe area and we would have paid a small commission for spend in USD. I got a Wise card to cater for that and had loaded it at a beneficial rate in advance of our trip to US in 2020, which of course was cancelled. In the last few years the fee for USD spend has been removed. The balance on the Wise card paid all the QM2 bills including drinks packages, good wines, photos, handbag & bear. They notified in real time when Cunard updated the authorisation amount. We ran down the balance on the Wise card in a subsequent visit to New York, paying the last few bills on the Nationwide card. In New York, the hotel put a large authorisation on the Wise card. The main bill had already been paid and this was in case we had any extra stuff. That meant there was a load of cash on the card we couldn't spend. Switched the authorisation to the Nationwide card and problem solved. We were then able to spend it all on meals etc. Our room in the Sofitel on W 44th was large and very comfortable but we had no intention of using it for anything other than sleeping and showering etc, nor using any of the hotel's other facilities. I guess that last bit reinforces one of the benefits of credit over debit.

We acquired a variety of masks before our trip in 2022, and then they replaced Masquerade with Roaring Twenties, which meant we had two Roaring Twenties galas. On the original Masquerade night we dressed as planned and donned our masks for a few photos. We'll probably wear the same outfits next time although my wife's dress has since been modified to fit properly and be short enough to dance in safely without clothes pegs to hold it up. Having bought some quite intricate masks at extortionate prices such as £15 😀, we eventually went for these, which cost €2 for both as part of a larger order: https://fr.shein.com/2pack-Plain-Costume-Eye-Shield-p-9710597-cat-3082.html As others have said, most people don't follow these themes and simply dress for a gala evening. I believe Black & White (possibly Ice White in Alaska) followed by Red & Gold are probably the most observed, but not strictly.

Bit of a local ramble today to a spot we've never been before. Had to give up first attempt to get onto hillside paths as a big travel tech company has the whole area fenced off. Had to do a few more kms than we'd aimed for. The tree behind us is the one seen on the platform of the other photo. Was a bit hairy getting there, and even more so on way back down! Pre breakfast we did a 10km coastal run. Nora usually does 8km/5miles. I've been pacing her for 10km on recent Sunday mornings. She sets new personal bests each time. Today she had PBs at 5km , 8km & 10km. All under 5:30/km. Note the collared shirt for rambling, giving upper arm sun protection and a breast pocket for placing phone or sun specs. 😀

Both get same rating of 3.3 on Vivino. Grand Imperial on 494 comments and Pol Acker 310. Grand Imperial descriptions predominately Citrus, Fruit Tea and Ageing. Pol Acker gets Fruit Tree, Citrus and Vegetal. Seems like there's not much between them. Interestingly a positive comment for PA comes from someone introduced to it on QV.

My wife was happy with the Forte English Breakfast, however she didn't find it any better than the Twinings. As with various other things, it was sometimes difficult to find stock of it last June. At home she drinks PG Tips, but Typhoo works fairly well with hard water and suspect Yorkshire might be ok as well. Those blended for use with soft Scottish water don't always taste as good here. When drinking Traditional British Tea she is looking for a relatively high caffeine content and no fancy added fragrances, late at night she might consider drinking camomile tea although a Grand Marnier would invariably trump that!

Carmel was back for 2nd recall with her dental consultant on Tuesday afternoon. He was very pleased with her. The gums have healed well after the extractions and there is hardly any inflammation remaining. I don't think I noted that a small mass had been removed with the teeth but it was found to simply be inflamed tissue. She doesn't need to go back. The photos were taken about a week ago. Not sure why she was lying between her covered bed and her cushion, it's only time we've seen her do that. And the following morning there were two of her in a sun spot.

Perhaps everyone could chip in to send Mercruiser on QV and QE to survey all the APs. 😀 Suppose it would be a Go Fund Me page these days.

If you are taking these on flight(s) as carry on there shouldn't be a problem going through the carry on scanners at Southampton. We have very light weight backpacks that can go to max size for traditional airline carry on: 56x45x25cm, which I calculate to be 22.05x17.72x9.84 inches. Some budget airlines have introduced smaller sizes in recent years. We pack them with enough to last us the first week including some formal wear, just in case our checked bags go missing on the flight to London. It guarantees we can dress as we please on first night too. I don't know what happens if you have an item that is too big for the scanner. If you think yours might be too big to go through a scanner and you want to carry them aboard, you could pack an empty plastic bin bag in each and decant some of the luggage to fit the scanner. However I imagine those behind you might not be impressed. 😀

We had forgotten that it was a listed perk. But part way down a huge single queue it split and we noted that to the left was listed Britannia Club and several much higher levels. So we promptly went left rather than join the long snaking queue to the right! 🤣

No we've not been on a Cunard Excursion. It's quite a few years since we've been to St Tropez. It's a bit out the way for us and since it's not on the rail line we need to get the train to St Raphael and catch a ferry across the gulf. However I would suggest lunching on the north of the peninsula overlooking the Golfe de Saint Tropez and on a clear day having views of Port Grimaud, activities in the gulf, and towards St Raphael, The Esterel and the Lerins. You probably want to be on Bouillabaisse beach. Of the restaurants there, two seem to be higher rated than others; The Golfe Azur and The Pearl Beach. The former's wine list looks reasonably priced, I can't see a drinks list for Pearl. Best to research them, and others on Trip Advisor. By October you should be able to sit outside without getting too burnt, but make sure you choose a restaurant with cover in case it rains.

As others have, and probably everyone else will tell you, of course it will. Most people don't bother with the themes. The vast majority, easily 95%, do dress up for gala nights. We dress up and try to follow the themes since we like dressing up, and travelling on Cunard is a good excuse to do so! We've only done one B2B crossing in 2022 but will do another in 2025 and probably make it an annual event. We're not typical cruisers. We simply want to sail for a couple of weeks on an ocean liner and have no interest in using the ship to visit places. Last time for red and gold my wife wore a calf length red dress with various gold accessories; on the left of this photo. The black hosiery didn't work and the plan had been light but she forgot when dressing! Next time, being perfectionists 🤣, we'll use the gown on right. It's just short enough to dance safely in and we think it's a shade or two closer to Cunard Red! I think I've found a more suitable replacement for my teddy bear tie as well. But we've been thinking of gold with red accessories and considering dresses like those below. They are of a length that could be worn regularly going out for dinner but we're not sure if we should keep looking for a gown. But then it would only be usable for formal occasions. I see you have Roaring Twenties on your cruise as well. My wife had bought a near full price dress from "Chesca" in London but we got her another in their online sale. It fitted well when she was 2½ dress sizes bigger than in the photo and still looks good without adjustment. Teamed with headband from a craft supplier. Next time she'll go with something more flapper like and a much cheaper headband with a nicer broch replacing the cheap pearls on it. I'll repeat, there is no need to do anything other than dress formally on gala nights. And even if you did stick with "smart attire" there would be something to do/watch in several eating and entertainment venues.

Did you find this one as well: https://www.brixhamsteampacket.co.uk/product/cunard-3/ It looks a bit shorter than the current ones, allegedly came from QE2 before retiral. I'd be inclined to phone that company just in case they have what you want, but don't have it listed. I read through their "About Us" section, and the owner claims to have worked on QE2. The operation looks genuine, you can get a glimpse of their shop frontage in Google street view.

Wouldn't having something like this in the kitchen solve that problem? We have one on hand all the time. They don't have cakes on them though.

Not sure how authentic this set is: https://www.brixhamsteampacket.co.uk/product/beautiful-cunard-wedgwood-cavendish-tea-service/ And I haven't checked their delivery policies, but there are forwarding services that can arrange to send stuff almost anywhere. Or is the straight sided ones that would be preferred?

@MylesS Something that might work, but would add other complications, would be to disembark at Victoria the previous day and fly to London from there. It would need a connecting flight but would get you there a day earlier. You might need permission from Canadian Immigration to do so and probably self disembark. I think B.C. had problems with wild fires last year. I don't know if that disrupted air traffic, but there are so many risks to flying in on departure day I wouldn't go for it.

I should have said that it is nearly 25 years since we flew that route. It put me off long haul flights for life. It was part of an Anchorage-Seattle-Heathrow-Glasgow trip, which took about 24 hours. I optimistically (stupidly) thought we might make an earlier connection at Heathrow and only checked the luggage to there. In reality we had no chance. Heathrow is a bit better these days with T5 but it's still much too risky.