steve4031

We booked the eastbound crossing departing Brooklyn on July 7. We have a balcony on the starboard side. Per suggestions on here I googled Cunard travel agents and got a great one hear in Chicago. The agency is affiliated with virtuoso. I got 300 per person onboard credit and a dinner for two in the steak house. I appreciate the support and feedback I got on here. Many suggested the WB crossing for great reasons. We both really wanted the experience of departing nyc and seeing the Statue of Liberty. I think we will be flexible enough to manage the mid day time change.

Very interesting. Though I don’t think I’ll be in the penthouse in this lifetime. It was a fair and balanced review.

I saw the first part of the menu, but not the second part which is only available in club Brittania. It was helpful though.

I've looked at the sample menus on Cunard and several other websites for the Brittannia restaurant. I really was not excited about any of the options. They seemed to be more vegetarian than meat and potatoes. I saw beef wellington some place. I was hoping they still will have that. Is there a link to the 2022 transatlantic menus?

This was helpful. Do you recall what the always available items were in the dining room?

I am providing an update. I will be booking a crossing for July or August of 2023. I appreciate everyones input here. Of course, since I had posted these questions I had forgotten about all of your excellent responses. Cruise Critic has an excellent feature that allows me to pull up my old threads so I can review everything and not ask the same questions.

Any place to get a pizza on there?

Another note on wheelchairs. There were none available at Vancouver airport at United. They tell you there is a shortage and tell you to sit and wait. A couple sitting next us had been sitting for 40 minutes and no wheel chairs. We sat for 25 minutes and saw no wheelchairs arrive. No one scanned our board passes. Imho they are just going through the motions because of staff shortages. This is really a poor show. We are lucky that we could walk but now we are physically sore and out of breath.

The Apple pancake in the Dutch cafe was my favorite. I enjthr lobster tails in Rudis. thank

Cool. Thank you for posting the daily news letters. I was too lazy to do that. If you go by club orange say hi to Erza.

As I was finishing the previous post gf stated, “That’s not my suitcase.” It wasn’t. We rushed back to the cruise terminal in an Uber. The people in the departure area helped us get to the arrival area. In the arrival area a agent used her walk-in talkie and confirmed that her suit case was there. They brought it out and collected the suitcase I picked up in error. She thanked me profusely for returning it. I was thanking her profusely for getting gf’s bag. Crisis averted.

The WI-FI was spotty and frustrating to work with and I kept having posts appear to post and then not be there later on. I had the same difficulty with texting with my iPhone. I read somewhere on cruise critic that the further away from the equator you go the poorer the Wi-Fi. So I was not surprised. I did want to keep you all up to date. Overall I like club orange. It seemed like the menu was the same two of three days in a row for dinner. It was different on the last night. The Beechers Mac and cheese kept showing up as did French onion soup and Caesar salad and the hot fudge sundae. We went to Rudis after Skagway. That was an outstanding meal. I had the lobster tail. I got around to the pizza place and the pizza crust was crispy with melted cheese. Good. The dive in burger was good too. On the last sea day I was able to use mobile ordering to order one. I ordered it as I left my cabin, 4211, dropped gf off at the grand Dutch cafe, and walked up to the lido deck to the Dive In grill. Even after a couple of wrong turns I had a ten to 15 minute wait. There were a lot of eating there. I got my food and walked down to join gf in the Dutch cafe. It was enjoyable getting the food and eating it where we wanted. Room service was excellent. Never along wait. We got all our laundry done. The room stewards were accommodating. The room stewards cheerfully tidied our room up twice a day. That Neptune Suite was great. The extra room really helped us. We both spent time on the balcony. The bathtub is small if you are overweight like I was 5’11 285. Not s complaint. Trying to provide information for others. The shower was great. Getting home gf the ship in Vancouver was a breeze. All people needing wheel chairs were directed to the pinnacle grill. We were able to get two wheel chairs and we we were off quickly. Never showed the ArriveCAN or passport. Just handed over the customs form. I am definitely a Holland America fan. The food is excellent as long as you stay out lido deck area. My girlfriend noted she felt more satisfied after eating in the orange grill compared to similar food in the lido area. I liked everything I ate. On the Juneau day we ate an express lunch in the main dining room. The fish in chips were delicious. Erza told us she was moving to the Neiuw Stantendam and would be in the Pinnacle Grill. We really liked her. She knew our names and preferences after one meal. I felt like she really liked us. It was a special treat meeting her

I did tell Erza hello. I showed her your post. I think that made her day.

The Captain just updated us. The coastguard search had been suspended. They did not find the per. This is so sad.

No, I don’t. I was paraphrasing what was in the announcement. The Captain, I’m sure was very careful in how he worded his statement. During the morning hours before we left the ship they had several safety drills for the crew.

Yes, Cathy is in the Neptune lounge. She did her best to sort out the canceled railroad trip. We are docked in an area that looks like it is used for cargo ships. I’ve read about the rock slides. So this is not a surprise.

Hell yeah! The cinnamon French toast is fantastic. Those apple pancakes in the Dutch cafe are addicting.

These are my top photos from the Whale tour.

In Juneau we went in the 20 person whale tour provided by HAL. It was excellent. We saw several whales and learned how they are identified. We ate dinner in Club Orange. I wasn’t too excited about the Beechers Macaroni and cheese. I think the quality was good. I just did d not like the taste. They noticed immediately and asked if I wanted something else. I wasn’t too hungry. I enjoyed the Hot Fudge Sundae. Day 4. Morning. We were eating breakfast in club orange and there was an announcement from the captain that A crew member was lost overboard in Juneau. The announcement stated this had been viewed on cctv camera. He advised that the crew members were being offered counseling and if passengers needed counseling they could go to guest services and request assistance.

Thank you. Mask are suggested. Not everyone is wearing one.

Correct. It did take 20 minutes for the hot dog on embarkation day. I haven’t been back to try another so I don’t know if this was typical. The part of the app that allows ordering ahead has been off for the entire time we’ve been onboard. There are 2200 passengers onboard. Day 3 I used the Neptune lounge last night. The concierge was helpful. They had rescheduled the railroad departure to 1pm which conflicts with our other excursion which left at 11. I had selected the 4 pm which was canceled. We received written notification on day 2. Though she was unable to resolve the conflict she tried. She also served me a coke while I waited. The app worked well for booking the misty fjords cruise for Ketchikan. Unlimited laundry is not unlimited if they don’t replace the bag you send. I called the Neptune lounge to have an empty one sent. I understand that the laundry I sent yesterday will not be back until 6 pm today. I think once we get mine back gf will get her laundry needs met the next two trips. Then I will send in an order after that. One think that I had not noticed in other trip reports is on the second night the clocks go back one hour for Alaska time. I should have known this. But I did enjoy the extra hour of rest. We ordered a smoothie and a bagel and lox to eat an early breakfast snack. Then went to club Orange for a full breakfast. The Texas French Toast is delicious.

We ate dinner in club orange. The pasta was perfect. The salmon was perfect. The portions are not to big. Erza, who greets passengers already knows sour names. Before the cards are swiped. I’ve put in two or 3 cruise compliments. She will be next.

Cruise Day 2. We woke up early. It was foggy and 55. We went to the lido deck for breakfast because gf was hungry. I found the layout confusing. The cereal was in one place, the milk another, and oatmeal another place. There was no one to serve the oatmeal the oatmeal. I decided to wait for club orange. Club orange is more my style. You sit down and they bring the food to you. I had a lox and bagel and eggs Benedict. Delicious. The coffee is be too. The part of the app that allows you to request food delivery and room tidying is turned off. The Wi-Fi service is spotty. I can send text messages and then I can’t. Not a complaint. None are essential. I have been unable to post updates to CruiseCritic. At 9:20 am I saw I had 4 bars of cell service in the middle of the Queen Charlotte sound. I called my father and we had a nice chat. We went to the ETC talk about Pacific Giants. That was interesting. They use technology and videos to enhance the program. We went to the Grand Dutch Cafe for lunch. I had the Apple pancake with bacon. THAT was DELICIOUS. While having lunch gf participated in a zoom meeting via the WI-FI. She had video and was she to participate.

Thank you for the advice. This is surreal. We are sitting in the cabin playing Beethoven on the Bluetooth speaker looking at the scenery. I played the Temptations as we left Vancouver. I hope I didn’t come of as complaining before. I have not taken the best care of my health so some of that is my own fault. I’m working on improving because I want to do more cruises. I want to be as factual as possible to help those after me. The dinner in the Pinnacle grill was perfect. Service very accommodating. The lady from the Neptune lounge called to explain the suite perks. That was cool. The room stewards have been attentive and helpful.

The lido area has a very upscale feel to it. It was easy to find a table for 2 by the window. Perhaps the delay in boarding eased crowding. The rigatoni pasta and nachos with cheese were bland. But took the edge of hunger. I went back and got a dive in dog. The process is deceptive. There was no line. So I ordered and then was given a pager and asked to wait 20 minutes. I was ok with this. They don’t like for people to stand there and wait. I was encouraged to go sit someplace. I did. The hot dog is good and they followed my directions for what I wanted. The fried onions are good too.