3rdGenCunarder

Yes, that was the cruise. Having sailed into NYC so many times, I think no, been there, seen that, I'll just sleep. But the change in speed when we pick up the pilot will wake me. I'll lie in bed, trying to decide if I will get up. Then I see the bridge and know I've got about 10 minutes to the Lady, and I throw on my clothes (no wardrobe decisions on the last morning!) and run up on deck for the views.

This was the end of a 14-day NY-NY to Canada and New England.

That's too young. Little kids (under 5 or 6) don't thermoregulate well and can become overheated quickly. Ditto for a lot of seniors with health issues.

Taken from QM2, arrival in NY, Oct 2022

I agree with other posters. It's too risky. Two years ago, there was a huge ship with us, and our ship (Queen Elizabeth) had a luggage glitch that had us leaving the ship a bit late. By the time I was out, the taxi queue stretched forever. I stood in that queue for almost an hour. I didn't get to the airport until 11 AM. This year, I would have made an 11AM flight, just barely. BUT I had priority disembarkation (Queen Elizabeth again, this time better organized!) and there was no queue for a taxi, even with a second ship in port. AND I was traveling business class AND I have Global Entry. If any one of those four "advantages" hadn't happened, no way would I have made a flight that early. I had a 2PM flight, so I wasn't at all worried. If I'd had an 11AM flight, even with the easy exit at the port, I'd have been a nervous wreck.

I don't remember it, but I like the idea.

Is there an age below which kids are not allowed in the hot tubs?

Don't you love how airlines, theaters, cruise ships say "for your convenience," you may download and print your boarding pass/ticket? HOW is that for MY convenience?????

I understand how you feel. If you see a full room, you expect to wait. If there are lots of tables available, then it's annoying to wait. If a group has managed to get a large table reserved every night, as @kevingastreich saw, and then that chooses not to show up, that is incredibly inconsiderate! At the least, they should let the MD know so that the table can be "released" for others to use. Failing that, if they don't show up for their "regular" time, the table should be released. Or are they so important that they have been able to stake a claim to the table for the entire night????

First, let me say I am so happy that you've got your trip back, even if it is in pieces. And with luck things may open up a bit and you won't have to change for every segment. As for checking availability, we can't talk about online travel agencies, but you might poke around the internet and find one that shows availability. The other way, which I am allowed to tell you, is to do what we call dummy bookings on the Cunard site. Don't sign in for your booking, just do a search for Mediterranean cruises in September and October. You can even narrow it to Queen Victoria, Then you will see the various segments and combinations. Take a look at each one to see what cabin grades have availability. this close to sailing, you probably can't get to the "choose your cabin" step and see specific cabins. It will just offer a guarantee. (There's also a filter that lets you see which cruises are sold out. They won't come up in the original search) Meanwhile, I hope your TA will continue to check availability to see if you will clear the waitlist to move to a balcony for the last two segments. And that TA had better be VERY generous with OBC!!!!

I just looked and I think three of the four weeks have availability. I hope OP's agent can grab cabins for those weeks. It's confusing because some of the overlapping 2-week cruises show as sold out, but perhaps there's a cabin here and a different cabin there for the 1-week segments.

I don't like the early timing, but I do early fixed because I like a large table with the same companions and waitstaff. So to get that, I eat early. Late fixed is too late for me, especially when I have early tours or plans on many days. One of the good things about being a solo traveler is that there's nearly always a spot they can put me at, even if my reservation shows me waitlisted for fixed. I don't like the open dining asking for a large table. If it fills slowly, the first people could sit for a while waiting for orders to be taken. Or the courses could come in a staggered flow. And sometimes there are people who really wanted a 2-top but accepted a large table because that's what they could get. People who don't want to be there can really bring down the atmosphere at a large table.

When an agency isn't forwarding money promptly, that's a bad sign. Ten or more years ago, a very large travel agency that sold tour packages sat on customers' money for a while, trying to bolster their cash flow. Pretty soon travel insurance companies stopped covering their tours, and not long after that, the agency went out of business.

Yes, Cunard Fare includes choice of cabin. Our Lowest Fare (or something like that) is a guarantee. "Sailing Soon" is usually a guarantee. And sometimes there are promo fares as well.

WAY back, before internet or cell phones, I would call (early AM my time for lower rates) to make bookings for hotels and theater tickets. ONE time, I thought, oh let the TA book our first night in a hotel. She had booked the WB TA and our air, so I wanted the first night settled. Back then, we would just show up at the "i" and make a B&B booking that way. Well, the TA forgot that our flight was overnight. She booked the hotel for our day of departure, not the day of arrival. DH got us to Portsmouth and managed to park the car in the postage-stamp lot behind the inn. "Oh!" they said, "You were a no-show last night." Unfortunately, they were full, but they very kindly found us somewhere else (Holiday Inn, not as charming, but it was somewhere to stay). And I've booked my own hotel stays ever since.

It isn't Cunard's responsibility to fix this, although I hope they do try to help the TA make things right. The only way that moving an existing booking to a different cabin would be justifiable would be if it that booking was only one segment (and a comparable/better cabin was available), and it would give OP the whole cruise in the same cabin. But even that is unlikely to happen. People can shift cabins between segments and from what I've read here, it works smoothly. Right now, about all Cunard can do is hold cabins for the segments that are not sold out and put OP at the top of whatever waitlist there is for the remaining segments.

OP has six weeks planned, and the cruise is only four 4 weeks. There's a limit to how much Cunard or a TA will book for you. I doubt they'll do rental cars or Air B&B. I always make up my own package, which is why I always insure independently, not through the cruise line.

Right then, I'd be asking to speak to a supervisor. No, knowing me, in that situation I would have been demanding, not asking. If your agent wasn't available when you called, then there should have been someone you could have spoken to. You had a serious concern and should not have had to wait more than 5 hours to speak to someone about it. Keep calling them to ask for updates. And if they continue to blame the software glitch point out that THEIR software should not be YOUR problem. I wish I could give you a contact at Cunard, but I don't know any. I know it's frustrating, but probably not much will happen over the weekend. I would try calling Cunard anyway. Ask to speak to a supervisor because a regular agent will just say they can't talk to you since you have a TA. But a good supervisor might be able to tell you what kind of options there are in a situation like yours.

This also contributes to crowding in the priority waiting area because that's where they seat the in-transit passengers.

You said it's a large agency. So have you spoken to anyone other than the original agent? A supervisor? Customer service? Ask what, specifically, they're doing. Don't accept "we're working on it." Ask "HOW?" Are they holding cabins on the available segments to at least get a start on solving this? What conversations have they had with Cunard?

One good thing as a solo, the standby price to go as a solo is for one person. That's what the FAQ says and the woman who knew how to look up a cruise quoted me $693 for 7 days.

I got someone else this time. She could find the cruise I was looking for without doing the long search. Unfortunately, both Canada cruises that I was considering had standby only for inside cabins. It's a great price, but I don't want an inside. I really need daylight. But it was worth exploring.

Ay YI YI!!!!!!! I just hung up on the stupidest HAL employee I have EVER spoken to. I want to sign up for a waitlist for a specific cruise. I know the date, the ship, the port of embarkation. And she's asking me if I want early season or mid season or late season. I said October 5. Then I wait and she asks if I want 6-8 or 14-16. 6 to 8 WHAT???? Days, do I want a crise in the 6-8 day range or 14 or longer. I said can't you just look up the specific cruise I want? No, that isn't how our system works. What the WHAT?????? I can find a cruise faster than that. I'll try later. An offshore call center could make more sense than this woman.

I just read the FAQ. If I'm understanding this correctly, at two days before sailing, IF you have not been confirmed, you may opt out (and get your money back) OR stay in (with notification as late as 90 minutes!) Is that how it's always been? I can get to Boston in 2 days, but not 90 minutes, so I'm tempted to waitlist myself for a fall cruise.

Mine, too! This is Eurodam, the other Signature class ship. NA should be the same.