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3rdGenCunarder

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Everything posted by 3rdGenCunarder

  1. Just a little more data. I priced airfare from US to London through Cunard and direct with United (same flights), and Cunard was more. Today I booked directly with United for $700 less (first class) than the price Cunard quoted. That will pay for my spa pass and quite a few drinks on board. Interestingly, when I priced out two one-way flights instead of round-trip (with United), the flight to London was something like $2500 in first. But the return from London was over $9000!!!! I didn't think airlines still gouged on one-way flights.
  2. Hey! I think the Hudson Valley is very pretty. The land-based tour you saw would be an unfortunate surprise. We can check to see what other ships may be in port, but I don't know how to find out if there's a large land tour at the same time.
  3. I haven't taken a 7-day winter cruise for a long time. Partly because I like a longer cruise, and partly because of the stories from people who had to change plans when their cruise was chartered out from under them. I avoid the 14-day B2B for the same reason. But this is yet another reason to avoid 7-day cruises. I like to have a winter cruise to get away from the cold, and I've sailed with HAL for a lot of those cruises. But between the same old same old itineraries and the kids sail free and the possibility that the cabin I chose may be given to someone else and the disappointing entertainment, I'm questioning whether I'll keep sailing with HAL.
  4. I have a fridge magnet that says "Life is short, eat dessert first."
  5. Well, there are either a lot of train nuts (I'm one) or a lot of suckers because it's very popular. So you've done this trip, then? And if so, did you take the time to go to the museum about the construction of the railway? That adds to the appreciation of this trip on one of the world's steepest railways to run on regular (not cog) rails.
  6. Following seas, but also following weather systems. I've done EB TAs and had rainy weather travel with us most of the way.
  7. I've seen the "no upgrades" sign on nearly every cruise I've taken. I sometimes wondered if they put that out to stop people asking. I never would have thought to go to voyage sales and ask them. I wonder if upgrade availability will be reduced by the "bid up" option.
  8. It's actually 5 hours, and no, they don't discount the price. In fact, one of her captains joked in his remarks at a cocktail party, that westbound is a bargain because you get 5 extra hours for free.
  9. Having seen the original Top Hat (and all the Fred & Gingers) MANY times, I have to say the trimming was well done. I did notice that they added songs from other movies, including one from a Judy Garland musical. So if they played fast and loose with Irving Berlin, I wonder what they will do with Jane Austen???
  10. I agree. I've brought a bottle or two of wine if we visited a winery or a few bottles of a local beer. Maybe a bottle of fizz for a balcony sailaway. But I found it odd that there was no ginger ale. They used to have the Fever Tree, which was excellent.
  11. I rarely take wine onboard, and I don't bother with water or soft drinks. But last fall on QV, there was no ginger ale, and that's my go-to remedy if things get a bit bouncy. Am I allowed to bring on soft drinks?
  12. Well, considering my favorite version runs 6 hours, it would definitely need multiple nights!
  13. I have to say, Cunard is kinder to solos than other lines. Until you get up to the Grills cabins, a solo pays 175% of double occupancy. And they've had single cabins, going back to the days of QE2. They were small, but fine for one. I don' t know how many people who booked them realized that they did cost more than half of a comparable double. But they still were less than being a solo paying 175% or 200% in a double cabin.
  14. Interesting math. (I hate algebra so I didn't go through all of it, but I think you only looked at revenue and forgot to "credit" singles their $14 per day cost for food) But it doesn't support the two examples above of cruise lines gouging singles by hiking their price 3 or even 5 times the per person double occupancy price.
  15. I use "whats in port," too. If it links to a city's own website you might see the actual arrival and departure times instead of Cunard's vague "morning" and "afternoon." I also look at googlemaps to get a sense of where the dock is in relation to the port city or nearby major city. Tripadvisor now has a category of "shore excursions," which can give you an idea of what your ship is likely to offer. I hate that there's no way to see the actual list before you book.
  16. If crew numbers are lower than "full," then passengers shouldn't be so much higher than "full."
  17. Maybe HAL needs to look at the true max passenger count and allow their system to book some triples for one or two passengers. Somewhere in the previous pages, there was a question about signature suites. What if every SS is a triple or quad? So that means no couple or single can book it, even if it's unlikely (or over the max count) to have every one of them occupied by four people? We have cruised with family and never thought of sharing a cabin. When good friends wanted to go on their first cruise, they asked us to come along and "teach us how to cruise." We must have done a good job because they were our cruising buddies for many years. For their first cruise, they debated between a large cabin for them and 2 teen daughters, or two smaller cabins. I said "One cabin, one bathroom. Two cabins, two bathrooms." So we booked three OV cabins in a row and put the girls in the middle cabin. I've looked at some of the pics on halfacts and with that sofa bed opened there is very little space. A lot of hotel rooms have a king bed and a sofa bed with room to spare. I wonder how many people have booked a triple or quad thinking it would be like that, not the condensed version that a ship offers.
  18. That's outrageous!!! I understand the argument for the supplement--I don't like paying it, but I understand. They could have two people in a cabin, and they don't expect a solo to buy as many drinks or excursions as a couple would. But we also use less water, fewer towels, fewer dishes. We eat less and we take up less waitstaff time. What happens when a solo wants a cabin on a two-for-one offer?
  19. Maybe not deeper pockets, if there's a kids or 3rd/4th sail free promo.
  20. Best ship tote bag EVER! Mini sea bag from the 1990s on QE2. This one is well traveled.
  21. That sounds like a good reason to pamper yourself. Enjoy it, and good luck with the transplant!
  22. I doubt it would. Booked cabins are taken out of inventory. I think the bumping is more likely to happen if someone--passenger or TA--calls HAL and asks for a triple or quad when they can't see what they want online.
  23. I would hope that, if you're bumped, you would get a call and could make a new choice with a live person, and not get the computer's "best guess." A good TA or PCC might be able to get you a decent upgrade, or you could just be talking to someone at a call center. Until we hear from people who have been bumped, we won't know.
  24. I suspect the hahas were directed at your comment about HAL's system being sophisticated enough to find a reasonable new location. I must admit, I didn't know if you were being sarcastic with that remark and almost added my haha, too.
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