Water Log

As one who has multiple food allergies: beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey,duck, dairy and yes that does mean ice cream, milk and buter and wine and the most irritating canola oil; I have always enjoyed my meals in the MDR. After almost 200 days at sea on 8 different lines, I believe it is my job to make intelligent food decisions, not the cruise lines job to cater to me. I always found something to eat on the menu

Yes! We have taken foster children to Canada and have taken them on a cruise. This was some years ago, and we worked with the Case Managers who got permission from the guardian ad lidem. The kids did get passports. We live in Illinois and it really was not that difficult to do.

Nclbella. Lest I be beaten, I happen to agree with you. Frankly I was underwhelmed on the QM2. The cabin was well designed and clean, the MDR was fine ( we had a two top, late dining).My husband enjoyed his meals there very much. He just let the waiter make the decisions! the Kings Court was no better than a canteen. Most of the chairs in public areas look good but feel uncomfortable. The wicker in the winter garden is ready for a garage sale. And what really got to me was paying $4.11 for a diet coke and two weeks before paying $2.15 for the same drink on the Emerald Princess. I will use Cunard again, but I need to think of it as TA transportation only and more pleasant than a flight.

I purchased a spa pass for a week and only used it once. I normally spent vast amounts of time in cruise spas but not on the QM2. The women's locker room had many broken lockers and I had to hunt to find a robe. The hydro therapy pool was not up to part. Most hydro pools have built in steps so you gradually enter- not this one. It was five feet deep everywhere and constructed like a small swimming pool with entrance via a steep ladder. since I am short; and neglected to read the dignity displaying the depth, it was quite a surprise to have to swim in a hydro pool to use the center jets. I looked around for heated stone loungers but there were none.

The quiet,relaxing room was very pleasant but the rest was not.

I haven't encountered any snobbery or racism on Cunard.

 

How can I say this next part without coming across as snooty? I think there's a bit of self-selection among Cunard passengers - they're not after the cheapest cruise experience and so Cunard passengers tend to be the ones with the inclination and means to pay more for a more elegant experience. As a result the passenger mix tends to be people who have had varied and enriching lives and generally make for good tablemates for a meal or a week of meals regardless of their ethnic heritage or where they grew up.

I am very sorry to report for the first time in my life I encountered racist behavior on the May 9th QM2 crossing. One woman complained to me that "the colored help was not as good as it used to be". I was shocked. On the same crossing I overheard an elderly couple using the "n" word to describe New York City cab drivers and the person they were talking to replying that the word was fine because it was part of a nursery rhyme!

Love Princess, but reading is not one of the lines chosen values. The library is much much smaller than Cunard or HAL but larger than RCI. Fill up your nook,kindle or IPad before you cruise.

1968 New York to Southhampton on the S.S. France - I was travelling to spend a year abroad at Oxford University. I flew from LA to Chicago to visit some friends ( just happened to be in the middle of the Democratic convention fiasco in Chicago ) and then on to New York.

I remember the France having a very small indoor pool and lots of bars and a cinema. There really wasn't much to do besides eat and sleep. And I do remember on the return crossing in 1969 watching the movie "If this is Belgium, it Must be Tuesday" over and over.

Forty years later I still have the trucks plastered with SS France decals. In years since I have cruised all over the world, taken ferries up to Newfoundland, river cruises down Danube, Carribean, Panama and South American cruises,but I have never forgotten the S.S. France

1968 New York to Southhampton on the S.S. France - I was travelling to spend a year abroad at Oxford University. I flew from LA to Chicago to visit some friends ( just happened to be in the middle of the Democratic convention fiasco in Chicago ) and then on to New York.

I remember the France having a very small indoor pool and lots of bars and a cinema. There really wasn't much to do besides eat and sleep. And I do remember on the return crossing in 1969 watching the movie "If this is Belgium, it Must be Tuesday" over and over.

Forty years later I still have the trucks plastered with SS France decals. In years since I have cruised all over the world, taken ferries up to Newfoundland, river cruises down Danube, Carribean, Panama and South American cruises,but I have never forgotten the S.S. France