sfred

Weather has turned a little wet. But it's always sunny on embarkation day.

QE is back in Sydney this morning, Tuesday 20 February. And so will Mrs sfred and me, boarding later on today. It will be so nice to be back on QE again. Looking forward to a beer outside on deck 9 this afternoon. Screenshot is from https://webcamsydney.com/ @Wonky, hope you had a nice voyage.

All of the QE itineraries to New Zealand are gone in the Australia EN-AU Cunard website. Even after applying the sold out filter. There's no announcement (yet) in the banner or in the media section.

It looks like a stunning day in Sydney for QE's day in port. What a perfect blue sky! Best wishes for a great voyage.

I noticed yesterday on marinetraffic.com that QE was doing a cruise-by of Doubtful Sound, NZ after departing Milford Sound. I found a webcam but it did not have a rewind capability and so could not find QE. Well done to find a passenger photographer, @bluemarble, and thanks to Kate Smith! Your hint that the two photos were taken within an hour of the second implies that QE's course track to or from Doubtful Sound passed through one of the other nearby sounds. I tried to bring up the past course track on marinetraffic, but there were no available ground AIS stations in the area to track QE's progress. So I'll make a guess and say the first photo is Thompson Sound? That's one possible way to access Doubtful.

FYI for those in Australia, Cunard has added a final balance online payment functionality to the EN-AU website. I first noticed it a month or so ago, and had the opportunity to try it for the first time this morning. The "Pay my balance" link from the "Account" tab on the main menu is shown below: After entering name, dob, booking reference, and card details, it worked fine, and happily accepted my Australia visa debit card. It correctly did not add the Australia visa credit card surcharge of 1.1%. The updated booking confirmation email arrived within a minute or two of processing the payment. We complain so often, with justification, about Cunard IT. Nice to see they get things right now and again. Of course, it isn't rocket science to have a payment mechanism on a website, but still, thanks Cunard. Not sure if this also now works for our New Zealand mates across the Tasman?

@bluemarble and I seem to have pressed "submit" nearly at the same time. As he indicated, OBC and pricing is not listed in the "My Cunard" online voyage management tool where you book onboard and shore experiences, and checkin to receive your boarding pass and luggage tags for your voyage.

Apologies, I was referring to the email booking confirmation you receive from Cunard if you book directly with them, either online or through the call centre. The email looks like this and then goes on to list your voyage's itinerary If you've booked with a travel agent third party, you might not receive this email from Cunard, and you'll need to contact your TA to see your OBC.

I can't answer your first question, but in reply to the second.. All onboard credit, including the shareholder credit, is aggregated together to a single line item in your Cunard booking confirmation. It is in the "Pricing Details" section, as indicated below: You'll need to remember how much onboard credit, if any, you had before applying for the shareholder credit, and then check if the amount increased by the correct number when the shareholder credit has been processed.

Fort San Diego has a rich history. Built in 1617 to guard the then-Spanish trading port from pirates, it now serves as a museum (and deterrent to UFOs 🙂 👽 ).

Is that Fort San Diego in Acapulco, Mexico?

Thanks @LincolnLegend! Very nice photos. I hope QE's passengers had a nice port day.

If you do decide to go, best wishes for a great voyage. We loved our November 2022 trip on QM2. Wintertime Norway is so different from Brisbane. We had a nice view of the northern lights, visited several ports we had never been to before, and listened to Captain Hall's noon position reports with the sun just barely peeking up over the southern horizon.

As regards bringing beverage items onboard, the legal folks at Cunard have managed to create conflicting paragraphs in the latest Australia T&Cs, dated 9 November 2023, :: Paragraph 25c states: And then a few paragraphs later, paragraph 30b states: As we know, in addition to being inconsistent with each other, both paragraphs are inconsistent with normal practice, where passengers may bring any amounts of any type of beverage onboard.

FYI also, the exact types of wine available in the collections often varies from the PDF on the website that @TowandaUK posted. These were the wines available on QE in August 2023. Apologies for the wrinkles in the photographed paper.

On QE in August 2023, the US$ prices were Captain 6 bottles $310 Captain 12 bottles $550 Commodore 6 bottles $445 Commodore 12 bottles $750

Sorry @Host Hattie I think we both clicked on submit at the same time.

Open 7.30a - 9.00p

Excellent, thanks @bluemarble for sourcing a photo of QE in Port Lincoln today. This makes port number 642 in total, and 30 in Australia.

Hi @alibabacruisers. In Cunard's Australia T&Cs, paragraph 18.b details the refund schedules which vary based on the fare category you purchased: You indicate that the time has passed for losing the deposit, so if Cunard stays strict to the T&Cs you are probably out of luck. That said, I understand that sometimes they are flexible on transferring the deposit if you rebook at the time of cancellation to a new cruise at a higher fare. My only personal rebooking experience is on the same cruise at a lower fare. In these instances, I lost the original deposit but my new rebooked fare was lower still, so I was money ahead. Good luck - please let us know how you go.

QE is in Port Lincoln, South Australia today. A maiden call, it is part of a rescheduled southern itinerary to avoid Typhoon Kirrily in northern Queensland. @bluemarble reported on the change in this other CC thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2986639-qe-itinerary-change/?do=getNewComment Unfortunately I can't find a webcam showing QE in port. Is anyone onboard at the moment who can contribute a photo to our "Where in the World" game? Port Lincoln is an unseen port in the game. I did find a Port Lincoln webcam that broadcasts live views of an osprey nest. 
on a barge at the entrance to the Lincoln Cover Marina in Porter Bay. But while the camera does show an endangered osprey bird, it does not show QE.

Cyclone Kirrily will make landfall at Townsville this evening. Back up to category 3.

FYI, current QLD storm track forecast as of 10a local time on Wednesday 24 January. Cunard was probably wise to reroute QE. The earlier forecast of category 3 (wind speeds of 118–159 km/h) has been downgraded to category 2 (89–117 km/h), but still probably not something that QE would want to be sailing towards.

Rats - I was going over to the Brisbane terminal on Wednesday to have a look and get some photos. Sympathies to all QE passengers and crew for missing out on the Queensland barrier reef trip they were expecting. The current track of the storm is shown in the below screen shot from ventusky.com. Current wave heights are shown in meters, and winds are 40-60km/hr, not too bad at the moment. Landfall is expected between Mackay and Townsville later this week. The only forecast impact on Brisbane is some rain expected on Friday and Saturday. Townsville is approximately 1,300 kilometers north from Brisbane.

We've been in 5.001 and for us it was excellent. We'd happily do it again anytime. Pros Cabin size and layout. Feels more spacious than regular PG cabins. Forward looking window over the bow. You can also peer around the balcony divider to see forward from the balcony. End of hallway location is quiet (except for occasional crew using the deck 5 forward outdoor area during daytime). Good wifi connectivity. Access point is nearby in hallway. Cons Mechanical noise from line equipment when docking. You will definitely know when you have arrived in port in the morning. We're early risers so are always up anyway. Hull banging noises from the bow plates in moderate to heavier seas. Can be disturbing at night. Not a problem when seas are calm to moderate. A lively ride in heavier seas, especially in the pitch axis. Not a problem for me - I like being at sea - but I can understand how it might be an issue if susceptible to sickness. Curtains must be closed at night, and no lights outside on the balcony. The cabin is forward of the bridge and you have to keep a darkened ship for bridge visibility. Let me know any questions.