3rdGenCunarder

I have used Travel Guard for years. The one time we had to make a claim (not Covid), I dealt with them directly. Didn't occur to me to use my TA. Travel Guard was great about paying hospital bills (we were out of the country), cancelled travel, and getting us home. The problem with covid coverage is that it's now considered a foreseeable event (or some wording like that), and insurance varies as to what they cover, especially the hotel bills for a quarantine period. So check the "fine print" before you buy a policy. @FOPMan is right. Save all receipts and paperwork to back up your claim.

A number of posters have reported being told onboard that there would be classical music returning in some way. And yet, it's been months and we're not seeing a lot of reports that it HAS returned. I'm beginning to doubt it will return on any but the longest cruises.

Canada Place seems to have a lot of space in the terminal, but the system you describe doesn't use it well. I feel like I'm walking through a lot of empty space that could be put to use. They need more x-ray lines. IME, that's the worst backup. I found the immigration kiosks easy to use. And then disembarking is another backup if you want a taxi. Last June, I waited in the taxi queue for an hour because some mega ship got their people off earlier and people from my ship ended up at the back of the queue. They do a good job of moving taxis in and out, but the space limits how fast things go. Fort Lauderdale is always easy compared to other ports. But look at the footprint--each ship has its own building with its own luggage handling and x-rays and check-in desks. Few cities have the luxury of spreading out the ships that way.

Don't blame Cunard for Brooklyn embarkations. The staff there can be very unpleasant (especially the ones who guard the door to the priority lounge), but they are port employees and not Cunard employees. Adding the covid checks resulted in a complicated process and more steps in the process, resulting in an odd pathway through the terminal. I boarded in Brooklyn last fall for a Canada cruise, and it only took a few people who hadn't done or couldn't find all their covid docs to gum up the works.

I think sending all passengers through the single security point is part of the problem. The other part is the passengers themselves--there are too many! Canada Place opened in 1986. What was the largest ship back then? Possibly QE2 and Norway? Each carried around 2000 passengers IIRC. The first "large" ship I remember was Exploiter of the Seas at a little over 3000 passengers, and that didn't come along for another 15 years or so.

Motion sickness depends on the nature of the motion. I love the long up and down cycle of pitching, but I dislike the shorter cycle of rolling. DH was just the opposite. Rolling didn't bother him but pitching sent him to bed to sleep through it. The worst is corckscrewing, where the ship rolls and pitches at the same time. I'm more likely to be queasy on a small excursion boat than on a ship. I think it's the random bouncing rather than steady movement.

QE's library is lovely, especially that staircase--and I haven't taken any good shots of the library, either. I do travel with my laptop, so I haven't used a ship's computer in a long time. I've seen the computers in the library, but where is QM2's computer room? I cannot picture it at all. Oddly, I can still remember the computer room on QE2, but not on QM2.

Welcome to cruising and to Cunard! A TA on QM2 is a wonderful experience (and purists here will tell you it's a "crossing," not a cruise). There will be plenty to do, both during the day and in the evening. Cunard attracts many solos, so you won't feel like you're the only one traveling alone. Large tables are usually 6 or 8. I think 10 is too large, and conversations get fragmented. My travel agent usually requests 6, but I've been put at an 8 anyway, so ask for either 6 or 8 and Cunard will take it as an indication that you want to sit with others. On two of my last four voyages on Cunard, I've been at tables where we were all single and probably within a 10-year age range. On the other two, the table was a mix of couples and solos. It's true that late seating allows you to eat more at tea, but I prefer early. I don't sleep well if I eat late, so that's best for me. And despite having early dining, I can still do justice to a cucumber sandwich and a scone.

As a solo, I always do fixed dining and ask for a large table. I don't mind breakfast or lunch alone, but I don't like having dinner on my own.

It has to be really bad before mal de mer gets to me, but out of an abundance of caution, I always blook low and midships for a TA--I like QM2's sheltered balconies. My first TA was on QE2 many years ago. We went last-minute standby fare guarantee cabin. We got a low and very far forward tiny inside cabin. We sailed through the worst weather I have encountered at sea and it's the only time I have been seasick. So I have sworn off forward cabins ever since. I think more than the location, a lot of it was being inside with no view of the horizon--and making the mistake of watching the bridge cam and seeing the horizon go up and down. My prescription (and I am not a clinician) for rough weather is stay out of small enclosed spaces, get fresh air unless it's too rough and they close the decks (or your balcony is too windy). Look out at the horizon (off to the side, not the front!) and just breathe steadily. I also swear by ginger, but in the form of ginger ale taken with crackers or toast. And if it's forecast to be really bad, I take meclizine. I have not been in rough weather on a Cunard Vista, but I have on a HAL Vista and it rode well. I had an aft cabin on HAL's Koningsdam (basic plan used for QA) and did not like the ride at the back in what I would describe as moderate sea conditions. Too much up and down and slamming down on the waves. People who were midships on the same cruise barely felt the motion.

I always thought it was Balboa, but I looked it up and it was Magellan. I suppose he can be forgiven for a not always accurate name considering he had just made it around South America, which can be a rough passage. Balboa saw it a few years earlier but didn't name it. I think he should get a lot of credit for getting across the Isthmus of Panama without a canal.

The boarding groups and times are HAL's attempt to spread out passenger arrival. But HAL doesn't run the terminals, so experiences vary from place to place. From what I've read on CC, San Diego is not very responsive to priority. From my own experience in FLL, both in a Neptune Suite and as a nonsuite 4-star, nobody bothers about group letter or the time on the boarding pass. You go through security, then check in at a priority station. After that, if they haven't started boarding, you get a number and sit to wait until your number is called. Priority passengers get low number boarding cards, and in all the FLL terminals I've been in, are sent upstairs to wait to board in the first groups after passengers needing assistance.

If I'm unsure if I will like the show, I take a seat toward the back so that I can slip out quietly. As for land-based shows, behavior has declined to the point where Playbills for Broadway shows include a letter from the CEO of Playbill reminding people of theater etiquette. No cell phones, no pictures we hear all the time. But the list includes other items that should be obvious like no loud comments during the play, and for musicals please don't sing along with the performers.

What do you mean by "bid competitively?" How far on the bar did you push the slider or on the little dial push the needle?

And the offer period can extend until before departure. I suppose if they don't get a lot of good bids at the start of the offer period, they wait and hope for better later on. My TA says that Cunard isn't handling this in house. It's done by an outside company. Amtrak has a similar bid for upgrade, but I've never tried it.

My cruise departs last week of October and I got the offer this morning. So after final payment, but about 10 weeks before the cruise.

It takes a day or two for waitstaff to get to know you and for people who are new to QG to ask all the inevitable questions and learn things like the time frame for ordering special items. Then you're just settling in and it's over.

Even in QG, those short cruises aren't fair samples of Cunard.

Thanks for your thoughts on embarkation. Gong show? I had a different name for it a year ago when, on top of the other stages, we had ArriveCAN and proof of covid test to show! Even without those extras, I always feel like a rat in a maze embarking in Vancouver. But once you're on the ship, QE is worth it! She is elegant, although I wish Cunard would get over the feather arrangements.

That is definitely clearer than what it says in the confirmation email. That sounded to me like you had time to think it over. I thought the before/after July 13 had to do with time until sailing, but it's actually changes in T&C. What happens if I'm successful? If your offer is successful, you will receive an email to inform you as well as a new booking confirmation to reflect the upgrade. If applicable, the total amount charged will include any additional CunardCare travel protection fees based on your adjusted cruise fare. If your offer was made prior to 13th July you will have 72hrs to make your payment to secure your upgrade. If you offer was made on or after 13th July the payment will be automatically processed using the card you had provided during the offer submission. What happens if I'm not upgraded? You'll keep your existing stateroom.

Because it's so close to sailing, if my bid is accepted, payment is immediate. No time to think it over. For cruises farther out from sailing date, it appears you have 72 hours to decide if you will upgrade or stay in your current room. BUT if you miss the 72-hour window for accepting the upgrade, there's this warning: Please note, while you can make offers for multiple stateroom grades, each offer will be considered independently and only one of your offers will be accepted. If your payment is not successful within 72 hours, you will no longer be eligible for the upgrade offered, and it may not be possible to reassign you your original stateroom. So if someone else has accepted the upgrade to your original stateroom, where do they put you????

That's understandable. I sometimes wonder what Magellan was thinking when he called that ocean Pacific.

There are some QG suites available. I guess it's like musical chairs. Who knows where I'll end up? Likely in my original balcony cabin, which is fine. I never book less than I will accept in hopes of an upgrade. The Upgrade Fairy hasn't visited me in a very long time.

And Seaborne was a Cunard company for a while, too.

It's 12 nights. The per person minimum bid is $460 for club and $970 for PG. I don't know if the minimum depends on the booked category. My Britannia is a BB, so I'm close to the top of the balcony price range. Iwonder if the minimum bid is more for someone in a BE or an inside?