3rdGenCunarder

I would be peeved, too. It does seem that the two cruises before the naming cruise are warm-ups when you'd expect them to be a big deal. I understand (and agree with) the choice of Liverpool, given its significance to Cunard, so why isn't the Around Britain cruise the maiden? Were they hedging their bets, scheduling cruises before this just in case things ran late and they had to cancel something?

First post copied oddly. Trying again.

This arrived via email this morning. Still no word on who will actually do the naming.

It seems very different from Koningsdam. Here's a picture from 2019. All the lights hide the ceiling height, but I don't remember it it being so low. K'dam is sort of theater in the round, whereas QA is a traditional layout. K'dam seating looks more steeply raked, but that could be the difference in camera angles.

And it looks narrow and deep. I like to sit near the back in case I don't like the show and want to leave quietly. But that seems awfully far from the stage. I wonder whatever happened to my opera glasses? I may have to pack them.

Yes, usually the first accommodation to sell out for a TA.

I have clicked the thank you icon on several of your posts, but I want to comment to thank you for this this. The bold I added sums up the situation. it sounds like the same thing to ask "what is the dog trained to do" and "what is your medical need for the dog" but they are not the same according to the law. Medical privacy is a big deal and the "service dog" cheats know this. The annoying part is anyone with a clue about animals (or pet owners) can tell a fake from the real deal. I've seen real service dogs on cruises, and they're calm. They don't jump up to greet people. They don't try to sit on the furniture. They don't expect handouts from the dinner table. And if you go to pet them, their owners say "I'm sorry, but my dog is working" or something like that, not "He's friendly, go ahead. Isn't he adorable?" In one of the pictures a page or two ago, a dog in a stroller is being petted by other passengers. Unless the dog was "off duty," that's a no-no. If you see what you think is a fake service dog, report it. But don't expect any explanation or answer from the ship.

I haven't received an email from stockperks confirming that Cunard has accepted my request yet. But I got a new confirmation because of my upgrade, and I can see the obc listed on the confirmation. I think they must have worked on the app, because initial reports were not favorable, but like @Victoria2, once I saw how the app works, it was easy. What I liked most about it was that the app would take the picture of my brokerage statement. Faster than taking a picture and uploading it to an email in the old system.

Interesting about the invitations. For QA in May, I did receive an invitation and also saw the notice on "my Cunard." I bid to move from Britannia balcony to PG. I had four options--Club, PG, QG and QG penthouse (don't remember the specific categories of QG listed). I bid on PG. QG was more than I wanted to spend, and I chose not to bid on Club because the only upgrade I wanted was PG. I don't think Club's improvements over Britannia are worth the price differential, although many people do. And I thought, what if they liked both bids and decided to give me Club when I could have had PG??? Of course, I'd never know. Just as when i didn't have my bid accepted on QV, I would never know how much more I might have bid to be successful. That's what makes it so intriguing. Cut to the chase--my bid was accepted! This is about 6 weeks out, for the May 24. I bid about 40% of the range of prices. Not surprisingly, the cabin is starboard side. There was much more availability on starboard, probably because people are hoping for nice scenery from portside as we sail anticlockwise around Scotland. But given that we'll likely be in shipping lanes, I'm not bothered. Because I got a PRINCESS GRILL cabin!!! (oops, do I say "suite" now?)

I like Boston and it's a walkable city to explore. The aquarium is excellent. But I can't agree with the freedom trail suggestion. There are too many "points of interest" that are just plaques on a modern building. "On this site, the Boston Massacre took place in [year]" and I'm looking at a 20th century high-rise. Yes, look for some historic places, but don't make the map a pilgrimage to every "site."

What's a good place downtown to get a taxi back to the ship?

Has anyone added the Discovery Tour to a visit to the museum? My ship (Cunard) offers a tour called the Titanic Trail, which is 3 hours, as opposed to the 1-hour museum tour. Has anyone done a ship's tour like that? And how much can I wander around on my own in that area?

A friend gave me this tote bag, which she bought at an estate sale. It's new, still in its plastic bag when she bought it. Considering how many cruise totes I already have (plus the ones inherited from my mother), it's sort of a coals to Newcastle thing, but I didn't tell her that. It's larger than the ones they give out now, and the canvas is heavier. It has the previous logo, which says 10 (?) years ago. What I can't remember is which design is older, this one or the similar one that lists all the ships instead of repeating Holland America all over the bag.

It's progress for Cunard because they don't have to validate the ownership. For passengers...?

Always best to give the system more time than less. In the old system of email or fax, confirmation was fast, sometimes within an hour. Now it's 3-5 days from initial submission to validation plus as much as 5 days for Cunard to accept it.

Surprise! A few hours after my last post, I received an email saying my stock ownership was verified. next step was to go to the app again, enter the booking number, etc and claim my perk. After that I received another email saying the request had been submitted to Cunard and I would be contacted in 5 days to see if they accept it. Not terribly fast, but easy. Also good for people who run late. You can't submit less than 14 days before the cruise. So I take that to mean you can submit 15 or more days out. Didn't they used to say something like 6 weeks out?

No, thank goodness!!!

That is a great resource for checking all ports on an Alaska cruise. They really have their info organized well. I'm on QE out of Vancouver this summer and somehow, the cruise gods have smiled on me and she's the only one in port that day! Two years ago, coming out of Covid, check-in at Vancouver was a nightmare. Probably 90% of passengers didn't know they had to do ArriveCAN to prepare for our arrival at Victoria near the end of the cruise. They thought, I'm in Canda, I've arrived, so I don't need to do the app. They got to the head of the queue unprepared and held up the process. The people working at the convention center made everyone stay in the ArriveCAN queue, even if some of us (including me) HAD done it properly and could have been sent to a separate desk. On top of that, they weren't reading the QR codes. Instead, they were checking people off lists. And then there was show the Covid test results, passport (twice), boarding pass, all at separate stations along the route. Not to tempt the cruise gods, but I figure if I survived that $*** show, I can get through a regular check-in at Vancouver.

I loved the Caronia restaurant. Nice size, good service, one seating. And not a big price jump over the main dining 2-seating restaurant. Club is supposed to be that level, but I find the price increase too much for what you get compared to the difference on QE2. I sailed on QE2 once during the brief time when they switched the Caronia restaurant with the Mauretania (2-sitting main dining room). That Caronia dining room was beautiful, with a spectacular bar outside. But the smaller space didn't work for two sittings, and they swapped them back. So the Mauretania restaurant had the Caronia bar at its entrance (although they may have changed the name). And the Caronia restaurant still had the large model of Mauretania in a glass case across from its entrance. (I know, it sounds like those old "the new Coke is the old Coke" commercials!) Some of the Caronia cabins moved back and forth between Britannia class and Caronia class as Cunard juggled passenger loads, trying to find the optimum distribution. There wasn't much difference between M1 and C3 (? whatever the lowest C was) cabins.

I applied for mine last week. The list of Carnival companies was long and I could select Cunard, which took me to a screen asking for my info, booking number, etc. I use a brokerage statement to prove my ownership. I print out the page and black out everything else. I thought I would have to take a picture and upload it, but the app will take the photo, much like depositing a check on a bank's app. I received email confirmation that they received it quickly. That was Tuesday. Still waiting for the next step, which I hope will be Monday.

I don't think Ocean Books is still their supplier. If they were, the bookshop selection of maritime books would be much better, and there still would be those beautiful journals ("Cunard Log Book") with photos of Cunard ships. The library selection is quite varied and I always find something that catches my interest.

Wow! That's a hell of an upgrade! Congratulations!

They may not have been ripped out that soon, but they were not well received by many of Cunard's long-time passengers who disliked the change in decor from the original queens. All that plastic and chrome!!!! Shocking!!