JT1101

Actually the last couple of TA reviews on here (one is ongoing) were quite positive. 

As to cruise youTubers, Ben & David to me are bad. They're in the same place I put La Lido Loca (not worth following). The good one to me are Tips for Travelers, Emma Cruises and a newer one called Ritzy Travel Guide. TravelTouristVideos is also pretty good. 

On 6/17/2024 at 11:39 AM, *Miss G* said:

 

I did not try the instant coffee in the room.  (Except to try to liven up the room service coffee.  Which did not work, so I am guessing it the sachets are also weak.)

 

Surprisingly, I discovered that the coffee machine in the King’s Court buffet was better than expected, and certainly better than the room service coffee.

 

My favourite coffee was in Sir Samuel’s, but that is an added cost.

 

I was likewise surprised by the King's Court coffee being good when I was aboard. It was a relaxing end of day routine I had to draw a cup, find a seat in one of the side areas looking out onto the Promenade and while there catch up on telling people at home how it was going (via Text over internet). 

The ones mailed to me were long strips with lock slots and you looped them around the handle of your suitcase. I used vpacking tape because these were to me too flimsy.

Lobster is available. Alas I have to look longingly whilst others enjoy it - being shellifsh allergic has that effect (trust me, anaphylaxis is not fun). 

I don't mind printing them out as even with the old tags they mailed to you I had to use clear packing tape to "laminate" them and staples to secure them. 

This is where being a teetotaler is a disadvantage. I've gathered that Pol Acker is a sparkling white wine? 

I tried looking it up but for some reason there is nothing about the maiden voyage damage. It would not shock me however, as reinforcing the bow is not the same as being built ground up for the North Atlantic. Reinforcing the bow helps prevent ship endangering damage but the freeboard is still lower than optimum. 

And the agent got me travel insurance with higher coverages than CunardCare at the same premium. Can't complain. 

This is a good TA I found - she also has been making sure the little details are covered. She got me a good price on a Stonehenge tour that departs from Heathrow and puts me in Southampton when all is said and done. 

Chris Frame is not alone here - this is even noted on the official Wikis for the ships. I just found his page in a 5 second search. Cunard did indeed create a variant on the Vista class. It does have a strengthened bow plus other changes both to enable transatlantic should Cunard want to run one of them on the route as well as changes designed to make them somewhat more like QM2 in style. No one claimed they are the equivalent of QM2 - just modified to be more able to handle the northern TA run. 

As to QA, he accurately states that while it is most definitely a Pinnacle class ship it does vary from them in interior layouts. 

One of several sites discussing the differences between QE, QV and the Vista class. 

https://www.chriscunard.com/queenvictoria/qv-history/

Cunard made a number of alterations to Queen Victoria’s design, allowing the ship to undertake direct transatlantic crossings. Additionally, the changes were intended to ensure fleet commonality with Cunard’s flagship QM2 as well as QE2.

The changes to the Vista-Class design included reinforced hull plating on the bow to allow for direct transatlantic crossings, additional length added to the hull and superstructure to accommodate the Grills Restaurants and Queens Room, removal of glass lifts (elevators) from the exterior design of the vessel for strengthening purposes, and inclusion of a Cunard funnel design based on QE2’s, with scoop and cowling.

Queen Elizabeth likewise has reinforced construction. 

I will confess I prefer the northern route - and love to do it in December. And in fact will be doing it this December. I like the colder temperatures, the more adventurous seas, all of it. 

That is the South Atlantic crossing route which is calmer seas. 

Queen Anne will either work or it won't. The other Queens still sail and while there were some dissatisfied reviews of some of them there were also reviews that were in love with our Art Deco Queens. My main worry is the head of Cunard is now someone whose entire experience is marketing. Simon Palethorpe on the other hand while having marketing also had a background in logistics and operations too. So in essence we have an inexperienced CEO too.

I am assuming that any disruptions will shake themselves out as everyone gains experience. As I am sailing QM2 in December I will get to see first hand and will report. 

I've always had a half of Pol Acker in an ice bucket waiting for me in my stateroom. The irony of this is I am a teetotaler so I generally put in the cooler, bring it home and give to others. They really like it. 

I've not seen anything anywhere about a turbine blowing up. Also she was recently in refit and I am sure they addressed power plant work.

Also, we were both impressed by how easily the Cunard booking was executed - everything just clicked right in and by World Club number allowed my FCC from the shutdowns to be applied. My Cunard is already up and populated and so everything is in place except Travel Insurance - I will have rates and plans to select from tomorrow. 

Well I got to see a difference using an agent made today!

I was resigned to flying into Heathrow using American Airlines coach (not a pleasant experience). Well, the agent did some checking, used some of (I guess) her agency powers and parleyed my willingness (indeed preference) for flying redeye as well as my having forgotten my BA Executive Club status and instead I am flying in on British Airways Business Class (Club World). And the fare is only a couple of hundred more than American's Premium Economy. 

I like BA so this was definitely good. American is alright but United is in my NO book. 

And in 2018 when we had to make up time in the Atlantic because of storm dodging we hit 30 knots for a while. QM2 is capable of hitting the gas when needed. 

QM2 designed cruising speed is in the 24-26 knot range, at full speed she is a 29-30 knot ship. They tend to run a bit slower both for fuel economy and the length of the trip dictates speed - for example TAs now take 7 nights at sea where if she ran full out they could be 5 nights. 

I'll be on QM2 Westbound TA December 14th. Actually I'll be flying in the previous day so I can spend a day at Stonehenge and Salisbury then hang out overnight in Southampton. The big difference this time will be I got talked into allowing a Travel Agency to handle it  - I usually do it myself. Let's see what the difference is.

If you haven't done it, to me the perfect time to do a TA is December because of the ship being decked out for Christmas and I love being out on the Atlantic in winter. 

I'm sure it will be fixed once they get the parts and the ship in the same place at the same time. 

Most of the "cruise you tubers" are just obnoxious. Some are okay though. Gary on Tips for Travelers is genuinely informative, has a good lower key delivery and is careful not to be disruptive on ships when filming. Likewise Emma Cruises is lower key and concentrates on being informative. A good newcomer is Ritzy Travel Guide which is a family that pays their own way and does deep dives again with an eye to being informative. 

14 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

Pure speculation of course but this feels like something that would come out of an emergency brainstorm after Cunard was told last week it couldn’t have the royal it was expecting due to the Palace diary purge triggered by the election.

Then the ceremony should have been postponed. 

I did 4 TAs all balcony (1 obstructed, 1 sheltered, 2 full). And these DAs were in Decembers. I LOVED the balconies in December on the Atlantic. The sheltered worked very well even in stormy weather (Beaufort scale 9) as did the upper level ones and the obstructed was also good but not as good as the others. The ability to go out a door for bracing winds and air and to see the beauty of the seas (waves especially with whitecaps are majestic) was well worth it.