Tonopah

Thank you all for your kind thoughts. I so appreciate it.

Three days ago we were on top of the world on our lovely Queen. After arriving home my husband came down with a bad cold (not Covid - we checked). He’s been in bed for two days. Our cooker broke - yes, three days before the biggest cooking holiday of the year. Then, yesterday I got a call. My brother passed away unexpectedly. Feel like I’m in free fall.

Back home. Our trip was marred only by the awful airport transfer problems. We got off the ship with an early 8:05 call. Freezing and windy but we only had to walk to our transfer coach. And then we sat…and sat…and sat…and sat. Our flight wasn’t until the afternoon as our (Cunard) TA had assured us there was plenty of time. And we sat…and sat…. They were still waiting for 12 passengers when we gave up, left the coach, and hired a taxi. They might still be sitting there. Learned our lesson. Airport transfers are not Cunard’s strong suit. No one picked us up at LHR, Coach is not reliable in New York. But otherwise we had a fabulous time, even with missed ports and rough seas. Once I readjust to real life I’ll write a review. Thanks to all for their help with our voyage.

I have two copies of the Remembrance Day order of service if anyone would like them.

Remembrance Day Service this morning. As I attempted to photograph the bleak, grey morning the sun broke through.

We asked about arranging COVID tests prior to the TA. Purser’s desk told the us neither health forms nor a COVID test were required as we are already on board. YAY!

On now and it is unique dining. Tonight is Nordic food but I don’t remember the name.

Sunset this evening 4 November 2022, sailing from Bergen, Norway.

Bergen this morning.

12:30 AM and we are moving. Happy to be on board and heading out.

Lady at check-in told me they are anticipating some late check-ins due to the weather.

Pouring rain, high winds, and very dark on the way to the port. We don’t mind. It’s a lovely day.

We ended up going to the Faraday Museum at The Royal Institute. Fascinating if you like science-y things. Mister took a picture of me waiting for a (nonexistent) lecture in a modern hall. 24 hours to boarding.

London is beautiful this morning. Sunny with blue skies. Our prearranged COVID tests were negative. PHEW. Cunard changed the requirements after we scheduled the tests but we decided to go ahead to be on the safe side. Now we have the whole day to wander and play.

Today we skipped our prearranged (and paid for) Harry Potter Studios tour. We just couldn’t wake up and decided it was best to just have a lie in. We went to the Imperial War Museum. We’ve been once before but only looked at the WWI exhibit, so we wandered through everything today. Very interesting War Games (video games depicting war) exhibit, and a moving and tragic Holocaust exhibit. The Central Line was shut down so we had to walk about 1/2 hour back to our hotel. It was lovely, overcast and cool. Tomorrow we get our (negative!) tests administered early and the have the rest of the day free.

We had a lovely dinner in a pub down a side street behind Marble Arch tube station. Excellent drinks and food. Not an American accent (except ours) to be heard. Not inexpensive, but real food, and it is London after all. Immigration at LHR was a breeze. We didn’t even see a human. Just presented our passports to a fancy machine. It opened the magic gate and voíla. Honestly, except for the transfer glitch the travel was excellent. The transfer glitch was more annoying than anything. We know our way around London and can get ourselves from here to there, but we paid for a service, expected a service, etc. Now we are ensconced in our lovely hotel room full of good food and alcohol, and trying to stay awake until an appropriate bedtime. Thanks for thinking of me.

Cunard UK says there is nothing they can do for us about the airport transfer. We have to contact Cunard US. Not the way we wanted to spend our first day in London. OK, hosthattie There’s no reason to keep this thread alive so please lock it. Thanks We did get a letter delivered to the hotel while we were on hold with Cunard saying we would be picked up on Tuesday. We shall see Thanks for everyone’s help.

Our TA is in California. Called, texted, emailed. She is a Cunard Rep.

Please does someone have a good number for Cunard Uk? They told us the concierge would have our Southampton info but he does not. The phone number we are calling does not answer. This has been a nightmare. We are seasoned travelers but this is a nightmare. ETA: someone finally answered the phone. Hope we get some answers. So frustrated.

Also no one is answering our calls. We will pursue it when we are in our hotel. Sadly we are now concerned about all of our arrangements including our transfer to Southampton.

That is exactly what we are doing. Thank you.

It is a hotel transfer. We verified with Cunard the day before we left. They would meet us at International Arrivals.

So we verified our Cunard Xfer the day before yesterday. We’re here now. No Cunard. No signs for us. The phone #s aren’t working. Not sure why. Any suggestions? Phone#s? Anything? Hubby is LIVID and I’m not doing well with the drama

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MisterTonopah plays the guitar. He plays jazz. He also plays trumpet. Maybe he could start passenger jam sessions!