3rdGenCunarder

I tried getting my drink before dinner on Zaandam. A few minutes to five and the guy in Mix was "setting up" and couldn't serve me (he should have been open an our before that). Ocean bar was busy and I waited 10 minutes after ordering and then just gave up. (I had HIA, so the charge didn't matter.) Bar service on Zaandam was terrible, so I never tried that again.

I look at a transatlantic as transportation with benefits. Most of our TAs were westbound after time in the UK. Once DH retired, we could fly over, spend the time in the UK, and enjoy the extra week (once upon a time it was 5 days on QE2) sailing. But I do TAs on Cunard, where there's lots to do, and "getting there is half the fun," as their old ad campaign used to say. Because Cunard does so many TAs, it's possible to do a B2B, and a lot of people do that to enjoy the sea days. Friends who are still working and have limited time off have done several crossings. Fly over one day before and then sail home. Seven relaxing days at sea. That isn't for me. For all the times I've been to the UK, I can't say been there done that and just get on a ship to go home. I need a week there, at least.

Most of the times I've been at a table with someone who had specific dietary needs, it was handled very smoothly. At the end of the meal, the waiter brought out the menus and the person made choices. Unless you've got a diva who obsesses over every detail, this shouldn't take up too much time, especially in fixed dining when it's at the end of service. Organization could be part of it, but on my recent Zaandam cruise it just seemed to be sloppiness. I've done kitchen tours and seen the pictures of how a meal should look. But three people could order the same meal and one plate had a little sauce under the meat and another had the sauce drowning the meat and the whole plate. It's like they don't care. Just throw the food on the plate and let the waiter figure it out. @cruisemom42, I don't remember all of what you describe, but I do remember the vegetable service at the table. That's one of my complaints about dinner on HAL. The tiny veg "portions" are not how i like to eat. In the past, DH and I would ask for extra veg and we would get a bowl/plate of whatever veggies were on offer that night. After 2 or 3 days, our waiter just automatically brought extra veggies. Considering how little attention was paid to special orders, I didn't try that this time.

No goofy costume on Zaandam recently, but she was at the exit of the MDR on "dressy" nights, offering little mints and I forget what else.

What a hodgepodge of an answer you got from HAL!!!

I don't know about the R HAL ships, but I've been on the deck under the promenade deck on Queen Mary 2 and never had any noise issues from joggers. MANY years ago, we were under promenade deck on Veendam and I don't recall any noise from joggers then, either.

There should be a special place in hell for the escalator blockers!!!! I don't recall seeing a "no jogging" sign on Zaadam recently. I saw plenty of people walking, but I don't recall joggers.

Nice deal! And interesting that they offered options to upgrade.

Yes, you have to be willing to take whatever they give you. That, I think I could live with. It's the tight timing that I don't like.

I'm a city girl, so I haven't encountered hiking issues. But pedestrians holding hands and walking with extra space between them drive me crazy. I get it, they're relaxed and on vacation, but some of us have somewhere to go. Don't take up more trail/sidewalk/deck space than you really need. (Is this becoming a hogging thread?) At least they aren't stopping abruptly to take selfies. Times Square in NY actually has signs telling people to keep moving. Not that anyone obeys it...

3 days notice isn't bad if you live a reasonable distance from the port. But 24 hours is too tight for most people.

As the old Amex commercial said, don't leave home without it!

I think I know who you mean when you say tiara and sparkly shoes. There was a woman who called herself the Queen of Cunard or some such thing. She liked to sing and wrote a book about her travels on QE2. She lived in a town near me. I saw her in a supermarket one time, and she was wearing the tiara! In addition to a few small movie roles and his TV work (excellent US accent in "The Good Wife"), he has done a fair amount of stage work. He was the emcee in Cabaret in the late 90s. And, appropriately enough, a production of the "Scottish Play."

At first I thought it was a bathrobe, but on closer look it appears to be a long coat. I think he enjoys a rather outré style. And plaids. He was across the aisle from me on a flight from Vancouver and he was wearing red plaid trousers (or pajama bottoms) with orange socks.

July. Cruise leaves on the 11th, but I'm flying out a few days early. I'm flying home the day we get back to Vancouver because Air Canada (codeshare with United) has a flight that leaves at 2 PM.

I just booked my flights for my Alaska cruise. Cunard's price for business class was double the price on the United website. So it pays to do your research before you call Cunard. Sometimes their price is better, but today it wasn't.

I went to the flower arranging demo on my cruise and I learned that they call those vases "bow vases" because they're shaped like the bow of a ship.

I think mine took 4 or 5 days to arrive.

I think itinerary is the most important factor. Checking how many other ships you're with is a good idea. Even if it doesn't affect the choice of cruise, it can help you to plan if you have a sense of how crowded a port will be. This is usually a reliable source of info. 2024 Schedules | Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska (claalaska.com)

I like fixed dining, too. I hate that waitstaff have to take drink orders in the MDR. The sommelier only deals with whole bottle purchases. So my waiter had to fetch my glass of wine on top of all his other fetching.

I've done a lot of Caribbean cruises, none during school holidays. I sailed on K'dam twice, and both times it felt more crowded than other ships at similar times and itineraries.

I found Koningsdam more crowded than other HAL ships I've been on, and I've sailed in all the classes. Yes, the Pinnacle ships are the largest, but HAL really packs people in.

I didn't see signs like that, but I almost never ate in the Lido because tables were occupied. I usually took my breakfast or lunch out to the pool area. I was surprised on my recent cruise to see very few card games by the pool. More often, women working on needlework projects. Even at lunch I sometimes got a table by the windows. And the row of tables between those and the loungers usually had good availability.

I remember listening for the rustle of papers slid under the door and trying to guess from the sound how many pages there were! My problem with packages that include tours is that I don't always want to do what the ship offers. On my recent Caribbean cruise, I had 9 ports. I did three independent tours, four ship tours and in two ports I walked around on my own. Two of the ship tours I did only because I had HIA credit and a lot of nonrefundable OBC. Neither was spectacular.

You sound like me. I want control and I do fly a few days early. It extends the vacation and gives me peace of mind (as does travel insurance). One of the things I like about doing my own booking is seat selection right away. IIRC, Cunard Air doesn't let you choose until final payment for the cruise. I think some airlines allow you to pay the airfare early in order to choose seats, but I don't know if they all do. I have a lot of miles stored up. When DH died, it was worth the cost to move his miles to my account. Between proximity to Newark Airport and all those miles, United is my default airline.