ItalLine2Cunard

Well, that takes care of that. I checked this morning and, on Celebrity for eastbound repositioning next year, all that's available is late seating. The wait list for open seating is closed, and has been for a while, and there is a short wait list for early seating. On the three Cunard sailings I've been on, I preferred the late seating over the early one. The big difference is that they had 10 p.m. shows, allowing for 1:30 minutes to eat dinner. It did put dinner and late night snacks closer together, though, but allowed for a more spread out day prior to dinner. The takeaway is that open seating goes away too fast and that people seem to prefer early seating over later seating. I found the early seating on QM2 too early for how I'm wired.

I search the itineraries and have booked directly with Cunard for my 3 recent past trips on QM2. My "status" has gone up a little! I consider myself fairly new to this. I felt that things would be easier to resolve if booking direct. I'm not sure if treatment would vary before sailing and during the sailing between a direct or a travel agent booking. I'm seeing that airline partner links and wholesale clubs websites have prices that are not all that different. Is there much wiggle room if going through the cruise line? Do certain other vendors (wholesalers, etc.) have access to better deals with certain cruise lines and how would a person find those vendors?

It's worth a chuckle. I wouldn't do it ... except for maybe a birthday or other personal celebration for a group that is traveling together.

Thanks, all! How common is it for small groups of people who meet early on in the cruise to go for a table together at open seating? Or do most folks just go in random? I suppose you can switch while into the voyage. Is it preferable/more common to go from assigned to open or vice-versa?

I have traveled on QM2 three times and was automatically assigned the late seating (8:30 pm) twice and, this last time, I was assigned the early seating (6:00 pm). I thought the early seating would be better, but it wasn't, at least for me. The fitness center and library closed at 8:00 pm. I found you could dine at the late seating and then make the 10 p.m. shows if you wanted to do that. Also, the late seating was better because it puts more time between it and QM2's fancy afternoon tea that they put on. At any rate, I knew of the open seating option. I also came to find out that fixed seating folks sat on the main level of the Britannia Restaurant and open dining folks were using the mezzanine deck of the restaurant one level up! Same question for a Celebrity repositioning. This would be for crossing solo. The biggest pro seems to be flexibility and meeting new people. The biggest con might be that you wouldn't have the same folks at the table if you've formed somewhat of a bond. The tables were for 8 people. On 2 crossings, the bonds were very strong and, on 1 crossing, the bond was fairly strong. How do you view the open seating option and could it be a little stressful or uncomfortable? Any suggestions on how to navigate this option?

I think it's almost impossible to visit Palermo. I have driven that route (2.5 hours each way) and taken the train (3 hours each way). You would have no time left for the key sights in Palermo and there are many: at the very least the Norman Palace, Teatro Massimo, Palermo Cathedral, and even Monreale up on the hill above the city. Some of these even have tours. You'd miss the ship's departure. Don't do it. I'm almost sure a Messina port of call would have Taormina (an hour south) as its focal point for excursions. It is compact, easy to manage, and the views are probably the best you'll have in Sicily.

I inquired about the weather. The temp. and sky color can be mitigated by going indoors. What I was hoping to get was some comments on how rough the Atlantic is during October-November and March-April if crossing from Bermuda to Madeira to the Med and vice-versa. Heavy swell? Do S and M class ships remain "composed?"

The weather as far as the color of the skies or the temperature would be a gamble. I was concerned about how rough the ocean might me if headed from the southern U.S. into the Strait of Gibraltar during the season in which they do repositing TAs. I'm guessing that Celebrity ships should be able to remain composed. I can always go to a covered pool if the sky is ugly or the temperature leans cold. More likely Lauderdale into the Med, crossing somewhere through the Azores or Madeira. I'm wondering if the difference would be very noticeable compared to the classic Cunard route from New York and nearing Nova Scotia and Newfoundland during a crossing to the UK.

That makes sense since these trips take around 2 weeks. I definitely don't want the atmosphere of Miami to Bahamas or L.A. to Mexico aboard one of the much .lower priced voyages for a younger demographic where drinking seems like the main reason to the be there. I bought drinks sporadically and especially if meeting up with people after a show or right before dinner, so it's not something that is overly interesting to me. I don't run up the onboard spending other passengers might. The demographic sound fine, then. My interests sound like a mix of what you and your husband partake in, along with unfocused relaxation and some recreation. I tend to look back at the end of a sea day and think that there wasn't enough time.

Thank you for the thoughtful answer. It covers most of the things I was inquiring about. First, I got to take a look at S class ships (Solstice, and "Solstice" was the first, so that's how they kick off a new genre within their fleet) and do see that they positioned quite a bit of glass up above, and above the bridge in general. That means more great views. S ships come in at about 122,000 tons and M ships come in at around 90,000 tons. It's great to know about the dining situation and the dress code. For Cunard, I only brought one suit with several shirts and ties. There are minimum of 2 gala nights on a TA crossing, and a dark suit and tie is the basic admission fee, so to speak. I also brought along several slacks and collared buttoned shirts. This sounds even better for me, though I will probably still bring one suit. You mentioned the things I like - presentations, shows, games, quizzes, but I'm guessing no movies. I also like a fitness center, which they all have, and just sitting by the pool or in the hot tub. And just relaxing watching the sea go by. I would agree that Cunard is now as North American as it is British. That holds for QM2, which, on some days, felt like an extension of NYC at sea! From the one experience on QE2, I'd say that felt more British, but that was a few decades before sailing on QM2. I'm wondering if the more southerly route across the North Atlantic during a TA offers benefits like a smoother ride.

Hi folks. I'm new to this forum. I'm looking at some transatlantic repositioning options for next year. There are several lines doing this. Celebrity Cruises seems to have some interesting itineraries. I've traveled transatlantic on Cunard as an adult and on Italian Line, which no longer exists, as a youngster with my parents. There were 4 crossings on Italian Line and, so far, 3 on Cunard's QM2 (2 transatlantic and 1 New York-New England-Quebec cruise) plus 1 on Cunard's QE2 a few decades ago. So, with some interesting itineraries on Celebrity, I'm wondering what to expect. Where is it relative to Cunard for the overall vibe, how casual or formal is it, and what is the demographic profile? Is the crowd much different on repositioning transoceanic voyages than on ones to other destinations? I looked through the deck plans. I know there are newer additions to the Celebrity fleet as well as its older Millennium class ships. Ships tend to be more squarish these days. With that, it seems that all the pools are on 1 or 2 decks toward the very top and arranged almost as if in a line. On the ships I've been on, the pools are placed on different decks and in different parts of the ship so the poolside areas seem to be more defined ... and maybe a little cozier as a result. At this point in my site surfing, some member insight on this "fork in the road" might be helpful. I think I'd like most cruise lines with the exception of the very expensive and very inexpensive ones, and I wouldn't like Disney and the short "booze cruises," if I may say that. I'd appreciate your input. Thanks.