richard_london

Yes I had family on the cruise and it was due to the weather. By all accounts it wasn't a pleasant experience and on the last day they came down with Covid.

Every cruise line is trying to increase onboard spend with extra costs options. It is easier for Cunard with a new ship under construction to add them in. But looking at the QM2 deckplans (and this is pure speculation) would they take space from the Kings Court buffet and convert that? I've seen reviews on Youtube, it was either the new Celebrity Apex or NCL Prima class ships that had smaller buffets than would be expected for a ship of that size to allow, presumably, for extra charge options. I hope this doesn't happen. The current Sir Samuels looks small, there is that room next to it (I think it is for the wine tasting) so the two spaces could be cannibalised to make a larger extra cost restaurant. But that would be a shame to loose the current Sir Samuels Clearly extra pay options will come to the current ships, I guess once the QA is in service. But I fear it would mean compromising existing venues to accommodate them.

I don't think anyone has metioned this, apologies if repeating. Seems strange to me the steakhouse on the QA will be called Sir Samuel's as Sir Samuel's exists on the QM2 but that does pastries, cakes and chocolates, but on the existing Queens the steakhouse is the Verandah. All the other restaraunts are named consistently across the fleet. I wonder if they will do some renaming on the current fleet to match the QA.

So I check I understand correctly, even if the second half of 2023 they achieved, say double what was achieved in the first half (so £2 million) the repayments for the two ships will be wiping out any profit?

I think in your earlier post you said by 2 hours. I've had cruises that have proceeded perfectly normally have that duration of delay in boarding, so 2 hours is no time to do a deep clean of the ship. My experience of norovirus on a FO cruise (also on the Balmoral) was that our cruise was curtailed a day eary to get back to Southampton so the company could do a "deep clean". I don't know if the problem originated on our cruise or continued to the next. But what I do recall is going to dinner on the second evening to find the dining room decimated with people absent, and that's when we found out there was a norovirus outbreak. So two hours is a woefully short amount of time for the crew to fix things. Clearly, given it originated on the previous cruise it wasn't stopped by whatever they did. That was my experience too. Too all intents and purposes it looked like an uncontrolled outbreak and nothing could do done to stop it. I managed to avoid it (the worst I experienced was red-raw hands from all the hand gel and handwashing we had to do), but there were people I met early on during the cruise, who came down with norovirus, recovered, and then caught it again before they disembarked! It was a pretty disasterous cruise and particularly unpleasant. I'm sorry you had a such a bad experience, anecdotally it does seem to be on FOCL ships that this seems to happen. It's always brought on board by a passenger, according to the Company. But the CDC in the US connects norovirus not to guests, but to ill workers in food production (https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/norovirus/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1S8XZVtJa7M8sFavTu68aEZaPgy7GRIK-u7ZWEHAVuF6Ds3YBY6kj-NEQ). The article says "Infected food workers cause about 70% of reported norovirus outbreaks from contaminated food". Given that crew members rely heavily on tips to supplement their wages, you can understand them not reporting ill, but if they are in food handling and preparation then that is going to have potentially serious consequences. Until crew have better working conditions and pay I don't see this particular problem going away.

In my case, the same. The single supplement applied to solo cabins really does infuriate me. The room is designated a single, it wouldn't be me occupying a double room on my own. The fact they drop the supplement on some cruises and not others shows how very unfair it is. But on a more general point, it's physically and mentally exhausting for anyone to have to track Fred.'s prices to make sure you are getting the best deal possible. Cruising is meant to be relaxing. I like to book a cruise as soon as they are announced to get the cabin I want and then not to have to worry about it (until payment day!). The whole Fred pricing strategy causes too much anxiety, stress and worry so at the moment I'm not considering their cruises right now until someone decides to do somehing about this strategy.

I'm sorry, that's so unfair on you. I can understand why you wouldn't want to travel with them again. I think this pricing strategy has created a rod for their own back for Fred. From visiting this forum its clear there is dissatisfaction with the policy and you're not the only ones adopting a wait and see policy. Until they revise this policy this will just situation will repeat and repeat with cruises being advertised and people waiting for the last minute details. It's far from ideal.

I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing. I've been on cruises before that have had ports of call curtailed at the last minute (a couple of times and if I recall correctly down to industrial action by dockers), but to have a port of call cancelled this way would be very frustrating. I know delays can happen, but there should be enough flexibility in the originally advertised schedule to visit all of the planned ports of call. If things are going to be subject to change at the last minute it does make a mockery of the hand crafted concept Fred like to project, as that suggests a human touch. Perhaps now it is all done by AI. Well, Fred have form in the past for "mysteriously" not sending the Feefo survey emails out on cruises that don't go well. Can't remember the year it was but I was on a Balmoral cruise with a big outbreak of norovirus and for some strange reason no one got the email asking to review the cruise. Funny that! Also, you never know from the reviews what price the person paid versus the lowest price that Fred ultimately sold that cabin grade at. Because as we all know there can be a big difference between the two. If you get a cheap last minute deal then you would be more forgiving and also more likely to give a good review.

Yes, in the junior suite there seemed lots of storage but the power points seemed to be on the dressing table/desk, so I wonder where in other cabins. If you look in Go With Jo's video also of a Junior Suite you can see her room is set up with twin beds and not double like the in the other video. There are no power points visible by the beds on this set up either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R20Vl_2To5I

I watched their videos with interest as I was due to sail with CMV twice during the pandemic but both were cancelled and then the company collapsed. They would have been my first cruises with the company, so with Ambassador emerging with so many former CMV people involved I have been following, and was interested to see the Amibition. I watched the cabin tour video and I was pleasantly surprised with the overall standard of the cabin and it looked light and fresh, but two things bothered me. At the very start of the video when outside the cabin you can see one large dent and lots of smaller indentations all over the door and then when inside the cabin, there is the cupboard door that is a bit broken/hanging off. I would have thought these things would have been fixed since she's been under refit. Disappointing they haven't been, so will wait until the first full reviews come in.

Not sure about that... one of FOCLs closest rivals will reimburse customers if their cruise is later sold for less than they bought it for originally. Fred do like to portray themselves as a family company, and used to leverage Fred Jr's involvement an awful lot in brochures and publicity. Curating their image will have convinced many passengers and loyal guests that they had their best interests at heart and I'm sure ARDXXX felt that too when they were assured by Fred about the upgrade. Unfortunately, from my own experiences on Fred ships and from reading this forum I've realised that Fred's customer service can drops any pretence of being a family company and act like so many other companies and sticks rigidly to their T&Cs. Whilst they are perfectly entitled to do so, and they aren't a charity, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect some goodwill from a company to which they and others have shown such loyalty over the years. As twotravellersLondon points out, Fred's ships are sailing well below full capacity, so what harm in giving an upgrade to a loyal customer? If loyal Fred cruisers are being disenfranchised (if that is the right word) with the Fred experience, and with the cruise market saturated with so many different companies that we can easily book as alternatives to Fred, Fred are doing themselves a disservice by alientating their already dwindling number of repeat guests. I've learnt that many cruisers are incredidbly loyal to their preferred cruise lines and it's sad when promises get broken, and I can completely understand their reluctance to every cruise with that company again.

Yes, that was my thought too. According to https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/portugal/lisbon?month=5&year=2024 we get an extra three hours of daylight in the evening before dusk at 8.30pm and about 1 1/2 hours in the morning, so that would be much better. It's a shame we don't get to overnight in Lisbon but the extra port of call is appreciated. In the float out videos I could see where my cabin is for two cruises I have booked on board the Queen Anne so I allowed myself to feel a bit more excited about the prospect.

I always take one of these type of block adaptors that work fine on Cunard ships. Found this listing on Amazon which is quite similar (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-TESSAN-Worldwide-International-Countries/dp/B0BNB7F2FJ/) The one I have connects fine to the US outlets on Cunard ships and mine has four USB connections on the top. I charge my phone and multiple cameras at the same time (overnight) and have not run into any problems.

I would agree and emphasize this point - if you have large suitcases I would caution against using the train, especially if you get there with all the other disembarking passengers. If there are other ships disembarking on the same day then the station platform and trains will be very full. Check the Southampton VTS website to see what other ships are in dock when you are due to arrive (https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/) I live in London and it means the default option is to use the train but I curse it every time. Last summer coming back from a QV voyage was a nightmare because of cancelled trains, so two train lots of passengers on one train. It was horrendous. I try to travel light and use the overhead luggage racks but these will only take the aeroplane carry-on size, nothing larger. If you are after peace of mind, I would go with what options you can organise for Cunard. At least on the coach you are guaranteed a seat and there will be space for your luggage, whereas on the train neither is certain.

I went back and looked at all the quarterly reports to see what statements FOCL were making, and I have copied out the positive spin they have been putting into their reports. What strikes me is how repetitive they are, with the same text recurring in consecutive quarterly reports. But despite all these positive reports occupany as you point out is 66%. And I see they now have up to £500pp off on 58 cruises as part of the "Cruise Summer Sale" and then on some you can get an extra £150 off with their Coronation offer. I can't square the demand highlighted in the quarterly reports with the need to discount fares so much. I suspect many have cottoned on to Fred's pricing strategy and are just not booking and looking for last minue deals which are more realistic in terms of their pricing. Q2 2021: .....a substantial increase in demand for cruises. Q3 2021: From Spring/Summer 2022, and going forward, FOCL is experiencing substantial demand at normal prices for it’s [sic] cruises. Q4 2021: FOCL is experiencing good demand for cruises in 2022 and 2023. Q1 2022: FOCL is experiencing good demand for cruises in 2022 and 2023. Q2 2022: FOCL is experiencing good demand for cruises for the summers of 2022 and also for 2023 Q3 2022: No "positive" statements. Q4 2022: FOCL has seen improved booking numbers in recent weeks, with January 2023 being the best booking month ever. Q1 2023: FOCL has seen improved booking numbers in recent weeks, with January 2023 being the best booking month ever.

I wasn't sure if our question is about boarding, I looked back at records from my 2019 cruise and this is what I found. For Passengers of MS Queen Elizabeth • Complimentary Shuttle Service to Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal • Meeting Point：1F Lobby at Yokohama Information Cultural Center Access information: • From JR: Kannai Station south gate ‐ 10 min on foot • From Subway: Kannai Station No.1 gate ‐ 10 min on foot • From Minatomirai Line Nihon‐Odori Station No.3 gate ‐ 0 min (direct access) • Shuttle service starts from 11:15 am. Please avoid arriving too early. This was text copied from a Japanese PDF I found at the time, but I don't have the original. It is for 2019, so might not be accurate for 2023, but this was where they boarded us all on the coaches with our luggage. If it for going ashore during the cruise, while I was trying to find that PDF online when I did some Google searches Icame across this file. It is dated for 2023 so is current: https://www.cunard.jp/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/横浜港大黒ふ頭シャトルバスとドライブ＆クルーズについて.pdf If you save it as an image and run through Google Translate you get a reasonably good translation, which says the shuttle runs to and from Yamashita Park. I have attached the output that Google produces. Hope this is of help. Have a great cruise!

I chose one on my last QM2 specifically because of the bulkhead for the same reasons. I have in the past in the standard cabins had noise, but I am a light sleeper. I would choose one again. The only thing I would say is that with a metal fronted balcony and one slightly deeper, it can make the cabin a bit dark when it isn't a bright day, but that isn't an issue for me.

You have to set your permissions in your Cunard account to receive the survey invites. Other family members who cruise with Cunard who have opted out don't. If you are logged in click on where it says Hello and your name and then click My Prefences. Then I imagine under the one that says the following, you would need to tick the box: Cunard would also like your permission to contact you from time to time with communications that we feel will be of interest to you, such as our Cunarder magazine and information about our services, news, updates and promotions. Our communications may also include offerings of exclusive benefits, privileges and personalised offers including those within search engines, third-party sites with adverts, and on social media.

I had a survey invite at the start of March. I thought, "here we go", the usual survey questions (like about dress code and dining choices) but this was one i've not done before. It was about cruise affordability and whether I was going to spend more or less on cruises in the coming years. I persisted with it, but this wasn't the typical questions. The previous surveys seem to be trying to see if there is justification for diluting the dress code and adding extra costs for speciality dining, this one seemed to be checking that if prices went up would I still cruise with Cunard (probably not is the answer, they have gone up enough already). Did anyone else get this one?

You are quite right there, that is how it feels sometimes. WIth the "new" ships it does feel like they are saying it more, since we know (and they must know) that they aren't small ships (because they can't replicate the itineraries of the Black Watch and Boudicca). After reading your post I came to a realisation about FOCL. I know things change, and the pandemic has caused many changes in the cruise industry, but of all the cruise lines that have survived, I think FOCL is the one most changed in terms of its hard product. I know Carnvial Corp and RCCL shed ships from various brands, and we lost CMV etc but Fred dropped half its fleet and now we know the Braemar will never return to service, just the Balmoral remains from before Covid. That is quite a revolution in terms of the product, but I'm not sure the HAL ships are are better than the vessels they replaced. They are bigger, but therein lie the problem. They aren't Fred's ships as they don't fit the ethos of small cruising. They are HAL ships that have had a change of soft furnishings basically. They don't look like part of the family. Balmoral and Braemar were both cut in two and extended and extensively refitted when they entered service with Fred and the two older ships have been refitted many times. There was a familiarity and family feel across them, and now that has gone. Gone too are the itineraries the smaller ships could do, so the pre-Covid product from Fred is not the product we have now. The Kiel Canal transits that could be done have vanished from the schedules, there are a few for the Balmoral, but I guess the war in Ukraine accounts for the small number of Baltic itineraries, French river cruising seems now to be done only with the Balmoral now that the Braemar has gone. Braemar did her Corinth Canal transits and cruises around Greece and the Adriatic; those are all gone from the schedules. Not that I could have afforded it, but the Braemar based out of Havana has been dropped. All of these were great small ship itineraries that were distinctive and what made Fred stand out at their price point. If I wanted to do these cruises now it would be with cruise companies I can't afford (even Fred's increased prices were already a stretch). It is impossible for the Balmoral to do the work of her and the Braemar, and with the new ships limited by their size I feel the choice of cruises on offer is worse. Also, four ships down to three also means less choice. So worse choice and less choice, is not an attractive offering. Most other lines have reverted to what they were doing before the pandemic, Fred can't do what they did before the pandemic. The fleet is incompatible with the idea of small ship cruising, so they Olsen Way is a meaningless slogan because the product has changed so fundamentally and I don't recognise it. Why is it that change always seems to make things worse? From my own experiences with other cruise lines and from hearing other people's experiences (friends and on this forum) since Covid there has been a drip-drip-drip dilution of the cruise experience in a negative way, that makes it seem worse than before, Unforunately for Fred it has been more a deluge than a drip and the product is not what it was, which is a terrible shame.

Thanks for your helpful assessment of the latest report as always. Looking at occupany over the year, Q1 was 47 per cent with Bolette and Borealis only, Q2 was 73 per cent with Balmoral back then Q3 and Q4 were 73 per cent and 64 per cent. Not encouraging unfortunately. I was suprised to read in the report it said "Borealis was 16 days in dry-dock, Bolette 56 days in lay-up and Braemar was 92 days in lay-up". We know Braemar wasn't used at all so 16 and 56 is 72 days, so not far off equating to one ship out of service for the quarter. I didn't find the outlook positive. After all, previous reports have trumpeted "great" sales figures yet the occupancy rates tell a different story. So given what you said about vessels out of use not figuring in the occupancy figures the figures are 64 per cent of two ships, not three? That's not many passengers sadly. Still think dropping the Braemar is a big mistake. The Corinth Canal transits were a differentiator for the brand, now the itineraries are nothing exceptional, especially with the current pricing model.

From looking at the 2024 itineraries it seems that Cunard is just using the Queen Anne for visiting Flaam (your cruise) and Geirangerfjord (e.g. H419). With the Victoria in the med, the QM2 is visiting Norway but just keeping to the bigger coastal ports rather than heading into the fjords. The last cruise I was on the QM2 in the summer, she was emitting black smoke on start up and that is one of the things that is being targeted in the fjords (see https://dieselnet.com/standards/no/marine.php). So I would definitely expect the Queen Anne to be a cleaner ship emissions-wise compared to the QM2, otherwise Cunard would not be scheduling her to visit the fjords.

I guess it is the same as the did for the Borealis back in November https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/11/fred-olsens-borealis-undergoing-drydock-in-england/ According to the article, it is work on the hull, props and shafts. When the ships were up in Rosyth I'm not sure they were drydocked so she must be overdue some work.

The larger balcony does mean the cabin can be a little darker inside than those with the shorter standard sized balconies.

Ambassador have delayed the entry of Ambition (AIDAmira) into service to house temporaririly house refugees. But yesterday one of the UK's Government ministers said they hadn't ruled out using more cruise ships to house refugees, so there is a very small chance these ships might end up used for that. If that were the case I imagine the Government would wait for a company to buy them first and then hire out the ship rather than buy the directly.