Joe33472

1 hour ago, wolfcathorse said:

Please post who the captain is. I want to verify my chart.

The captain said his name in an announcement, but I missed it.   Is there a way to check on the App or on the TV?

56 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

If you feel so inclined, try a Hotel Nacional in Bolaro's and see what you think. They hooked me!

Thanks for the tip!  Tomorrow night I'll definitely try one of those at Balaros!   We went to the bionic bar and then tried to walk outside, but it was too humid.   We're wiped.

Even with boarding in the mid-afternoon, and calling it an early evening, we broke even on the DBP. 

Chops was nice experience, although it was a little hot in the restaurant (physically) and the service was a little spotty.  But overall, a nice experience.   We met a very nice couple sitting next to us.     I had two lavender vodka martinis which were really tasty.  I originally wanted a glass of malbec, but the waiter said that they didn't have any (already, really?)....   Too much food, we decided to take dessert to go (apple pie and key lime pie).  

Internet is still good.... 

Off to the casino to waste a little bit on money. 

Wow!  What a great experience so far.    Check in was a breeze, we basically walked right through security with no wait and boarded the ship.   We brought our luggage right to our stateroom and unpacked.  

First impressions is that the ship is beautiful.   Very impressed with everything so far.  We went to Sorrentos and had a slice of pizza, it was okay.   We went to Cafe 270 and got iced mochas and we enjoyed the drinks very much.   I  personally think that they were as good as Starbucks.  

We're in a junior suite, so we stopped by Coastal Kitchen and made a dinner reservation for night 5 (I think).  I think I could have made other nights, but we want to try a bunch of different things, so I didn't push my luck.  May go back during the week to see if there is anymore availability.  

Although we're in port, I connected to Starlink and it works good.  Not terribly fast, but adequate.  I was able to call my Dad using Wi-Fi calling and it was crystal clear.   I have work meeting tomorrow afternoon, so I'll update how that goes. 

Sail away is 6:00 p.m. and we have dinner reservations at Chops Grille at 6:30 and we're really looking forward to dinner.  

 

I can't imagine that they turn people away who arrive outside their scheduled time, but received this text this morning.    Maybe in Bayonne they do that.  😆 

Double and triple checking to make sure I have my passport.   I've lost one in the past.

Another beautiful day in South Florida!   Safe travels to all those making their way to Port Everglades today!  Bon Voyage!

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

Odyssey is one of my favorite ships. I'm looking forward to following along.

So glad to hear that the Odyssey is one of your favorites.  We were debating between this TA and the Oasis TA going to Barcelona.   It seems like people either really like or don't like quantum class ships.  We really have no frame of reference, since we haven't been on a cruise ship in years, so we're really excited to experience one of these huge ships and to see how the cruise industry has changed (I think it's for the better).    The Odyssey looks really fun and the specialty dining selections are things that we actually eat.  Nothing against French food that some cruise lines focus on, but we're not that bougie. 

Completed the health questionnaire....  That was pretty easy!  

Just two questions, but the second one is all encompassing....  Wonder what they do if you select YES to that one....

All our bags are packed and we're ready to go..... on our first cruise in probably 30 years.    We booked this cruise over a year ago and can't believe we leave tomorrow.   We live in South Florida, so travel to the port will be easy tomorrow afternoon.  Since we plan on carrying on our luggage, I scheduled a 2:00 p.m. check-in time so we can go right to our stateroom.  I was able to convince my SO that carry on size bags would be best because we'll be spending some time in Europe after the cruise.  We originally were going to carry on a 24" luggage each, but opted for this set up.  It still looks like a lot....  

The cruise itself is 14 days with four ports of call.  We were originally going to take the Celebrity Beyond TA to Rome, but Celebrity cancelled that cruise.  We're actually pretty excited that it worked out that way, because I think that Royal Caribbean is a better fit for us.  

I'm going to review and post pictures as we go along.  

12 minutes ago, D&N said:

@Joe33472, @BellaAnna,

Note that the Main Bar Menu may be current. The Deck Bar Menu is not.

The key is in the measures. The main bar menu shows spirits in 25ml and 50ml servings, sparkling wine in 125ml, and still wine in 175ml and 250ml.

The old deck menu shows sparkling in 150ml and still in 150ml and 250ml. It doesn't show spirits but they used to come in 1oz (30ml) and 2oz (60ml).

 

You'll see in the file names that one is from May23 and the other Aug 2022.

I saw that one of the menus was dated 2022, so I asked the Cunard representative if the menus were current, her response was to provide a link that didn't work.  Here is the correct link that would bring to you the menu dated 2022. 

https://www.cunard.com/en-us/activity-types/bars-and-lounges/terrace-bar

The other links on Cunard's website also brings up these menus dated 2022. 

qv_chart_room_menu_aug_2022a-1.pdf qm_carinthia_lounge_menu_02a.pdf

5 minutes ago, NE John said:

Is this your first Cunard voyage? If I remember, you’re doing a TA in late June. 
Maybe Cunard gave extra OBC to World Club US Grills members? Who knows…

To add: Cunard has fantastic cocktails and an incredible choice of wines and whiskies.  
 

 

Yes, our first Cunard voyage and we’re so excited.   Maybe because it’s our first time that they didn’t offer anything.  We also received some OBC as part of a promotion and also because they changed the length of our crossing.   So, maybe they figured we have enough 😂

We’re leaving on Sunday for a TA to Rome on Royal Caribbean (was supposed to be Celebrity) and we’re excited for that too.    The two cruises will definitely be different experiences.   Royal has one drink plan and you only pay the difference plus gratuity if the drinks are more than $14 or something, which makes much more sense to me.   Our QM2 crossing isn’t until the end of June.  

Just now, BellaAnna said:

Anyway you might be able to share the menus here?

These are the two that the Cunard rep sent to me.  I even asked her if these were current and she assured me that these were right from the website and provided a link..... The link didn't bring me to these menus. 

qm_deck_bar_menu_aug_2022a.pdf Main-Bar-Menu-QM2-May23.pdf

7 minutes ago, NE John said:

Wow, even the variation on Cunard’s response to each passenger is all over all over the place. Bummer. 
My beef is the lack of uniform policy and responses. There are still quite a few cocktails below $12, just hit the sexy ones. 

Honestly, I’m glad she sent the menus, because I took a look and there is a lot of drink for $12 and under.  I think we’ll be okay, since we don’t drink a lot and are not too fussy.   

I received my response today saying that it's two separate plans and pricing.... No offer for an OBC, just copies of bar menus to let me know what wasn't covered on the promo 😆

1 hour ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

generalinquiries@cunard.com 

Sent an email.   I'll post here if I receive a response. 

4 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

from a message from Cunard customer service 19 March:

 

Our management team will be looking at possible changes in the future for this matter. Thank you for contacting Cunard and have a good day.

 

Oh, they threw in a $50 obc as "an expression of good will." so there's that.

 

We sail in QUEEN VICTORIA from Southampton... why 20 days from today... so who knows how Cunard defines "in the future"... 19 days or three years or... never. And we hope we have one of our team of very creative wine and bar stewards we been favoured with in the past. 

 

I would suggest any Grill passengers e-mail them in any event about this.  The more the merrier as they say.

Thanks for the update!    What email address should I send my inquiry?   I'm happy to write to them.  

Just wondering if anyone's heard any update on the grills drink promo.  I just checked the website and it stills says drinks up to $12 are covered.

1 hour ago, esrs said:

Luggage forward provides updates as towhere your bag is located, you just have to log in and view your order.  I'd just have them send it to the ship, you don't need the hassle of transporting it from London.  I'd be far more worried about the bag sitting for days at a London hotel.

32 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

As @esrs says, Luggage Forward has easy-to-use luggage tracking. However, putting an air tag in a shipped bag (which we've done a couple times) is no different from putting one in a checked bag at the airport - which is what they're for, after all.

 

 

Thank you both!  I'm just going ship the bag to the ship rather than the hotel.  Not sure what to do about the tracking.  I'll probably just rely on Luggage Forward's own tracking rather than push my luck with the AirTag.  Thanks again!   

It's so reassuring to hear these reviews about Luggage Forward.   We're going to be shipping our luggage with them for a westbound TA in late June.  We're leaving from Florida in about a month, so we're going deposit our bag with a family member for pickup in early June, I would imagine.

Has anyone put an Air Tag in their luggage when using Luggage Forward?   I think I read some threads were lithium batteries are a no-no.   But it would be reassuring to me if I could track our bag.   If not, that's okay too.  

I'm also wondering if rather than ship directly to Southampton, if there is any benefit (besides piece of mind) of sending the luggage to our hotel in London.  We're going to be in London for about a week before the TA and it just seems like another piece of luggage to carry to Southampton.  The only other benefit I could see is if the bag doesn't show up in London, we could do some shopping there.  I booked a car service from the hotel to Southampton, so another bag isn't the end of the world.   But if it could be delivered to our stateroom, why not?

1 hour ago, norm@nh said:

We've carried on our bags many times and never had a problem with the size of the scanners. We were stopped once when embarking in Barcelona, and were told outside that we had to leave our large bags with the porters. I think they would have fit OK, but the policy there was to stop anything above airline sized carry-ons.

 

Our largest bag is considered a medium-sized checked back, that's 27x19x10. There are large checked bags that I agree would not fit through the scanners.

Thank you for this information.   I thought I read somewhere that medium sized bags usually are not an issue with the size of the x-ray machine, so it's great to hear that you haven't had a problem (except for Barcelona).   Our bags are about the size as your largest, maybe a little smaller, but not too much smaller.  Thanks again!

8 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

If you plan carry on only, then you should be OK.  But keep in mind that port security is similar to airport security and the bag sizes that can go through the screeners can't exceed carry on size.  So if anything you have is larger they will not get through security and you will have to check them at the pier.

 

Also the app check in isn't like trying to check in with Southwest Airlines - you don't need to jump to click on the boarding times at midnight. There are plenty of time slots that accept hundreds of passengers each to accommodate all of the passengers.  You will be able to get your preferred, or certainly a desirable, timeslot without rushing. 

 

Lastly in terms of arrival time, I would not press it too late as you must be on board 90 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.  So plan your late arrival time accordingly.

Thanks for the reply.  Yes, we would definitely arrive on the early end of the last time slot, not wishing to push our luck.  You never know what could happen on I-95....  Good to know too that I don't have to get up at midnight just to check in.  

As far as the bags, we were planning on medium sized luggage that you'd normally have to check for an airline, but not a monster sized bag.    I think the bags are 24" bags, just slightly larger than a check on.  I thought I read online that at Port Everglades that a slightly larger than 22" bag wouldn't be a problem.   Do you think that this sized bag will be an issue?

I've searched the forum and there are a lot of threads about checking in early and how early passengers can arrive at the port and/or embark on their cruise.  For our upcoming cruise (TA) we're really in no rush.   We live about 45 minutes from the port and due to the number of sea days, we really don't see the need to rush and it would be great to just check-in and make our way to our stateroom with our bags (we plan to carry on). 

Since we're not looking to get on board early, do I still need to get up at midnight on check-in day to secure the last arrival window.  Or is the check-in "rush" just for those folks wanting to board early?  And, am I okay thinking that if we do arrive at the port between 2 and 2:30 p.m. that we'll be able to go directly to our stateroom?  

1 minute ago, NE John said:

Most of the time you still sign with a US Grills Drinks package. Yes. 

Good to know!  Thank you!

2 hours ago, NE John said:

Tipping is in US $ but I had some leftover UK pounds we have to the cabin steward and that wasn’t a problem.  Crew can convert currency for themselves. Also, if you wish, just add an extra tip on the slip when asked to sign, on top of the 15% Service Charge. 

Thanks!  I kind of figured that "cash" is "cash" and that the crew won't mind receiving tips euros, pounds, etc.  

If you have the grills drink package will they still have you sign a slip?  

2 hours ago, Poole Boy said:

Front desk will change large USD notes for singles or what ever you need

 

Thank you!  This is great to know and will save me from bringing extra small bills.  

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

You are not in the US. You don’t need to tip for drinks. You are paying service charge any way.

I will try my best not to tip, but I can't make any guarantees.   🤣

I've been reading through posts and just wanted to verify that the USD is still the official currency on Cunard, and if so, will guest services make change in USD for tips.  So, let's say I have a $100 bill will they cash that for 100 $1 bills?   Or will they want to give me $20s and then maybe $20 in ones.    I'm not opposed to tipping in Euros, but the lowest paper bill in Euros is €5, I think that that is a bit much for making a drink.  The lowest bill in Pounds is 5, I think.   I'd prefer not to carry around a bunch of Euro coins either.     We're going to be in Europe for a little bit before our TA and really don't want to carry around a couple stacks of $1 bills.  I read on another board that the casino will often make change, but that they are thinking you'll spend that in the casino.    Will guest services bat an eye if I walk up with a $100 bill and ask for 100 $1 bills?  Or is that no big deal.