Thetis22

15 minutes ago, Wedgie Wedgie said:

6/21 QE to Alaska from Vancouver. We have 16 cruises under our belts. First time Cunard.

Hope you have a lovely time

8 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Great itinerary [one of our fall backs!] and hopefully, you'll love the whole experience. I get the impression you might be in QG. Wonderful experience. Lucky you.

We are on QA again later and hopefully, the main glitches will have been snagged. Don't forget, if you ARE a first timer, the staff are there to answer any QG questions and the Grills Concierge, who will still be there in June is beyond marvellous.

Enjoy.

  

Thank you! And thanks also for your really helpful tips and thoughts on your trip 😀

6 hours ago, Wedgie Wedgie said:

Inside a month to go. You really do not hear much from the QG'ers. 

 

Are you so happy it's better to just keep things hush hush?

 

Give us your QG conquests!

Are you on 23 June QA to the Fjords? We are - first time going there, and I'm very excited!

3 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

I've just boarded the QM2, clanking away with 4 bottles. Now admittedly they are water, but that's not obvious unless the bag was opened, which it wasn't. I also asked the port agency and someone from QM2 security who I recognised from a previous sailing. They both said there was no change in policy, and that it's ok to bring supplies on board.

Thanks, really useful to know, as I'd be sad to have my favourites confiscated!

That is bad news. Hopefully people travelling on the next few departures will report back on whether it's being enforced 

QA: is afternoon tea for the Grills served in the Grills Lounge or the restaurants? Thanks

It depends which way the ship is facing. If the sun is behind the ship, I'd assume it would shine on the aft balconies

14 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I have ordered a Bamboo dish on QV but the last time it was catered in the Grills Kitchen and was similar but not the same.

I will be trying again on QA so will report back.

Thank you!

Does anyone know if it would it be possible to order dishes off these speciality restaurants' menus in Queens Grill?

10 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

You can try, but don’t be at all surprised if the answer is 'sorry, here’s the list' to pricey bottles.

 

Folk have often asked for similar products but pricey bottles aren’t usually accommodated.

This was the list we had last year on QV.

thanks for posting

4 hours ago, ratflinger said:

We wanted Hendricks and I tipped the butler up front, a bottle of Hendricks magically appeared and was refreshed in the middle of the journey.  As long as you are reasonable and friendly the butler will try to help.

thank you

On 3/15/2024 at 4:50 PM, worldtraveller99 said:

This will be our first Cunard cruise. It says you get "2 included bottles of wine or spirits" in your cabin minibar. Is this daily or once for the whole cruise? Because we may make a bottle of spirits last for 7 days, but not a bottle of wine. And if we do choose to make our own cocktails, are the bottles of orange juice eg replaced every day, and if not, do you request those from room service, and is there a charge for this? Thank you for your help.

 

Can anyone tell me if champagne is included if you prefer that to still wine? I'm guessing not but just wanted to check

On 2/18/2024 at 6:42 PM, bluemarble said:

 

The announcement does appear to be very close now. I'm finding the 2026 itineraries on a couple more cruise booking sites today. They confirm the QM2 world voyage itinerary I posted on the "Cunard 2026 Itineraries Preview" thread as a westbound full circumnavigation including a Panama Canal transit. I'll probably be booking either the New York to Los Angeles or the New York to San Francisco segment as soon as they go on sale.

The QM2 Panama Canal transit cruise is up on the Cunard website. It says tickets will be available 7 March. But it shows Britannia Club, Princess and Queens Grill as being completely sold out 😞

6 minutes ago, tjunmin said:

There are cabins in almost all categories available from Singapore to Southampton, therefore, logically there should be availability from Singapore to Dubai, or Dubai to Southampton. The fact that those two segments are not available seem to indicate that they've been removed by Cunard.

Good point

2 minutes ago, tjunmin said:

I believe that Hong Kong to Southampton is not available because Hong Kong to Singapore is sold out.

Can we be sure that Singapore to Dubai and Dubai to Southampton aren't also sold out?

12 hours ago, DeanUU said:

FWIW If you check the Cunard site you will note that the Dubai-Southampton specific cruise no longer appears for sale. Nor does Singapore - Dubai.

Singapore-Southampton remains available (still lists Dubai as a port stop, but that has never changed).

Not 100% conclusive but it makes sense for Cunard to remove those specific cruises if they know they won’t be sailing to Dubai and will have to process FCC’s unnecessarily. My money is on port stop at Colombo then head South West towards South Africa.

But Hong Kong to Southampton has also been taken down, so not sure Dubai is the reason

9 minutes ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I had a look at that list CruiseCritic have. They mention one brand which is synonymous with poor service and has facebook groups dedicated to how terrible they are. 

 

I've found some of the Cunard facebook groups are quite helpful in finding a decent travel agent.

9 minutes ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I had a look at that list CruiseCritic have. They mention one brand which is synonymous with poor service and has facebook groups dedicated to how terrible they are. 

 

I've found some of the Cunard facebook groups are quite helpful in finding a decent travel agent.

Thank you

43 minutes ago, Zeg said:

The problem is you don’t know how good they are until after you have ‘appointed’ them. Then it’s too late if they don’t perform. 
 

Maybe the best way is to speak to fellow cruisers over a glass of wine at the bar?

Very true

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

Unfortunately, the only way REALLY good agents can be recommended [and ours does not feature on the CC list] is through personal recommendations from folk you trust know what they're talking about.

 

If cost is the bottom line, then shopping around yourselves is a good idea,

 

If service is an issue and unusual/very personal booking requests such as mentioned by tacticalbanjo and space oddity,  and ourselves who have specific cabins in mind when there are only a couple available, then that is where an agent, a really great agent, is worth their weight in gold. There are many great agents but only experience will sort out the really great ones.

 

Good luck and if we're ever on the same itinerary, I'll give you the name of ours. 🙂

Thank you!

6 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

There are some articles on Cruise Critic which may help,  this is one -

 

Best UK Cruise Travel Agents

Thanks very much

I know CruiseCritic doesn't allow the naming of TAs, but can anyone advise how to go about finding a really good one for Cunard? I'm in the UK. 

28 minutes ago, NE John said:

And seems even less wardrobe/walk-in closet space than PG on Vistas too. In PG on QM2, we are spoiled with tons of storage room and a well sized bathroom but the living area on Vistas and QA look more defined and relaxed than the somewhat clumsy placed sofa, table, and chair in front of the bed and balcony door on QM2. 

Agree, although I like being able to see the sea from the bed in the QM2 cabin

10 hours ago, LWhit said:

The machines are not compatible with Nespresso pods,  only Illy pods that look like this.   They come in individual foil packs.

 

If you're not keen on these, you may want to take your own coffee bags as an alternative.   They do supply small sachets/sticks but they are just generic instant coffee - I think it was Nescafe on our last trip.

That's really helpful. Thank you

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

Yes, this is made clear in the brochure.

Also looks like much less wardrobe space than QM2 PG cabins 🫤

4 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

I can't tease out from the advertising I've seen, but I suspect not. Illy ("our new pods") is claiming compatibility with Nespresso machines, but that doesn't mean it works the other way around. It isn't just a question of size and shape, with Nespresso at least. My home machine "reads" the capsule to determine how much water to process.

 

I understand being hooked on your own brew, but maybe try to find Illy capsules in similar flavors?

Good idea