Jim_P

I take my own coffee on board for my cabin. I dont like the stuff they have in the sachets. The room service coffee isnt great either (but the hot chocolate is amazing!). To get a good coffee you need to go to Sir Samuels or the Corinthia lounge. They do takeaway cups too. You can ask for caramel, vanilla, almond and gingerbread flavor to be added to your coffee in the lounges. I dont know about coconut. Its not on the menu, but that doesnt mean they dont have it if you ask.

I remember the first time I was on the QM2. I noticed all the staff keeping to the right so I thought that's how it must be so I was doing that. I was walking to my cabin and an older British woman was coming the other way. She rolled her eyes at me and says "you must be American". So I've been confused ever since 😄

I dont mean to hijack the OP's thread, but I have a small query about Cunard etiquette that after four cruises on Cunard I'm still not completely sure of - when walking in passageways, what is the correct side to pass someone? Im Australian and its never been a question I've had on Australian based ships, everyone just keeps to the left, the way you would when driving. I assumed it would be the same on an English line, however there always seems to be a bit of confusion there. I have noticed that the staff always keep to the right, while most (but not all) of the passengers tend to keep to the left, which often leads to a lot of dodging and weaving in busy areas like the buffet when there's staff walking around with trays. I also did the behind the scenes tour and we were told to strictly keep to the right like the crew when walking through the working areas of the ship.

Ive also heard that its actually a requirement by New Caledonia that ships going to the other islands have to stop at Noumea.

Seems standard here in Australia anyway as far as im aware. The TA collects your money (and often have payment plans or payment methods that the cruiselines don't have). Always how it's been done as far as I'm aware.

Yes, Cunard has this reputation of being classist and having areas where locked away from those in cheaper cabins when they're actually the least classist ship I've ever been on, none of that "ship within a ship" nonsense other cruise lines are embracing. Grills passengers have a few small private areas, which is fair enough for what Grills cabins cost, but most areas of the ships are open to all.

I fully sympathize with your social anxiety - I suffer it pretty badly too. But the QM2 had been something I'd wanted to do since I was a teenager. In 2023 I finally decided to do it and did it on my own, and I loved every minute of it. Since then I have been on again and have two more trips booked for the future. Thats the great thing about cruises - you can be as social as you want. If you want to simply do your own thing and keep to yourself its easy. Its particularly easy on ships like Cunard which arent party boats (other cruise lines have much more focus on group activities). Its easy on a ship like QM2 to just find your own space, or attend activities like talks that dont require social interaction. I'd also recommend the Queen Mary 2 over the other ships in the line as it is a much bigger ship and a lot easier to find your own space. I too am not big on dressing up, but its very easy to stick to Cunard's dress code. People thnk its a lot more than it actually is. While some people love the opportunity to fully go to town, a lot of others just keep it simple. For men, a simple suit jacket, collared shirt and nice pants and dress shoes will get you through the evenings no problem. For women pretty much any nice dress or pant suit or blouse will be fine. So long as you are not wearing jeans, sneakers and a T shirt you'll basically be fine (though they are of course fine during the day). And there's still venues of the ship at night where you can go casual if you want, like the buffet and pub. The Britannia Restaurant is the main dining room on Cunard - and its a stunning venue with great food and service. You absolutely do not need to be in a Grills suite. Also getting back to your social anxiety - the larger Britannia restaurant would be far better than in a smaller, more intimate Grills restaurant with Grills passengers, some of whom can be a little on the snobbish and judgmental side. Grills passengers have a few small areas exclusive to them, but you really wont notice them, 95% of the ship is open to everyone. All the bars, coffee shops, venues etc are open to all.

Noumea is certainly no loss imo, I had been planning on just staying onboard and enjoying a less crowded ship. I just hope they don't change the itinerary to QLD or Tasmania.

Im off to Noumea on the 11th of next month, so the same week as the election. Should be interesting..

Every TA I've used has charged me themselves, not the cruise line. Its only when I've booked directly with Cunard that "carnival corp" shows on my card.

Very strict bio-security laws that have seen a lot of ships not turned away (including Princess and Cunard) for not passing the hull inspection on entry. Ships need to have their hulls cleaned before entering NZ and there's just not the infrastructure there to make that viable. They've tried using diving teams in the open ocean before entering NZ, but thats dependent on ocean conditions and availability.

I think the New Zealand situation has really screwed us in Australia. I know thats the reason Cunard pulled out of the region completely (I was told that by the Captain of the Queen Elizabeth). Its no surprise to me to see other Carnival owned lines also reducing their presence here. Theres also been issues with some of the pacific islands closing themselves to cruise ships. I doubt its anything to do with demand, the Australian cruise industry is one of the fastest growing in the world and all the ships are sailing at capacity. I think its more to do with the lack of cruise itineraries in this part of the world.

I can't help you with the hours, but you are close to the fitness center, not under it. You are kind of under where near the entrance to it would be and the relaxation lounge area of the spa.

It was never full when I was on the QE. From what I saw it was mostly being used as a meeting point for people before going into the buffet. People hardly ever seemed to be using the bar. It's completely devoid of atmosphere. Meanwhile the Corinthia Cafe is always full.

They should ditch the Winter Garden on the QE and QV too. Pointless areas. Turn it into a Corinthia Lounge and turn the existing Corinthia Cafe into a Sir Samuels.

I think they may have found that people spend less money when its so easy to track their spending.. When you have to go into the app to check its more of an "out of sight out of mind" thing. At least it is for me

The temperature in the hydrotherapy pool was 32 degrees (a staff member measured the temperature while I was in it and told me thats what it was and that it was "perfect".).

The recent "summer sale" promo on the Australian website that ended yesterday had 5% deposits.

I agree that the Verandah isn't the most exciting restaurant but I personally like the low key quality of it. Its nice to go to when you want a nice quiet meal away from the hustle and bustle of the MDR and the food is excellent. And I like they they dont go over the top trying to make it feel "special" to justify the charge. I think some of the specialty restaurants on cruise ships try a little too hard..

I just find it odd that much cheaper lines (including the other Carnival lines) have much better movies. You would think that older, but good, movies surely couldn't be too expensive.

I got back from another brilliant cruise on the QM2 last month. But I found myself amused and a bit bewildered at the movies being shown in the theatre, they seemed like such a random and head scratching selection. One night had a 2012 Halle Berry shark movie called Dark Tide - which has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and I've never heard of it. Another night was the 1960s Ned Kelly movie with Mick Jagger. Given it was the Australian leg of the world voyage perhaps it was chosen for that reason, but of all the Australian movies they could have gone with (including the far better Heath Ledger Ned Kelly movie) they went with a movie mostly only remembered today for what a disaster it was and that it had a seriously miscast Jagger. Another night was an Elvis movie (I cant remember which, only that it was not one of the better ones). I cant remember the rest but they were an equally odd bunch of misfit older (but not classic!) movies. I was also recently on the Elizabeth which had a similar selection of movies. Not a complaint, Im not on the QM2 to watch movies, but I just found it amusing and was curious about how on earth they selected these movies. I would have thought Cunard would have had access to the same kind of movie catalogue that the rest of the Carnival lines have. They dont need to play new release movies like Carnival, but if they're showing older movies it would be nice to watch classic movies instead of a C grade thriller from 2012.

No, it just seems random and it's by email. You don't need to do anything. It's a third party agency that handles it for Cunard, not them directly. As far as I know there's nothing you can do other than just wait and see if you get the email. Probably depends on how fast a cruise is being filled.

I've bid on an upgrade on Cunard three different times. Each time bidding the minimum (plus a token $5 to outbid any other minimum bidders). Two times it was successful and was approved within a week of making the bid. The time it was unsuccessful I wasnt notified until just before the cruise. So going my experiences, if you dont hear back within a week, its probably been unsuccessful and they are waiting until right before the cruise and if theres any unsold rooms you'll get a second chance to be bumped up.

I did it from a Samsung tablet, but you should be able to do it using airplay from an ipad (if not, Im pretty sure there is an Ipad app specifically for mirroring with samsung TVs). You just press the "source" button on the TV remote, and then select "screen mirroring". Then the TV will wait for you to connect a device. On my samsung tablet it was the "smart view" app, on an Apple it would be airplay or a screen mirroring app. Then once they're connected if you start a video on your device it will play through the TV instead.

It was only announced two weeks ago. You must be thinking of the Queen Anne next year.