Solent Richard

This one...

Christmas is always a great time to be on Queen Mary 2... ******* *****

Hi there. I live pretty close to Southampton and we use the same private chauffeur company for all our transfers airports and cruise terminals. The last airport run was in September this year and I paid £85.00 for the single journey. These guys are very professional and I can strongly recommend them. Here is their website address... https://www.lee-2000.co.uk

Five Days? I don't see a problem. We once endured 56 days Queens Grill, Southampton to Sydney. Those were the days when the Grills had the added benefit of 'special' events ashore: which inevitably meant food included.... I must confess though that on two formal evenings we 'transferred' to the Britannia Restaurant in an effort to meet and dine with different passengers.

Covered them all in that season a number of times and never experienced any weather problems. To whet your appetite you may wish to peruse the reviews I wrote for the major ports of call... Capetown... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2019/09/07/one-way-to-do-cape-town/ Fremantle.. https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2016/02/16/one-way-to-do-fremantle/ Sunset Sailaway... Perth... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2016/02/12/one-way-to-do-perth/

😂 I've always thought that was either a part of cruising or at least a spin-off. You and I are definitely on the same wavelength.

Oh, I just put it down to experience across these boards and a multitude of Cunard Facebook groups. I've rarely been proved wrong.😉😉

You may find this helpful... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2019/05/06/queen-victoria-singapore-to-cape-town/

Yep, we are on the same wavelength. 😂

Double chuckle. 😂😉

Either or. Take your pick, you obviously got the Geest (Gist 😉 )

As one whose majority of cruising has been with Cunard and P&O (Cunard commenced 1990 and P&O 1998) I'd say I'm somewhat qualified to assess both the merits and differences of each line over the years - particularly in dress codes. Both my wife and I have enjoyed the formality of both and while we recognise both have adapted to new descriptions of the 'traditional' formal nights of yesteryear, in reality little has changed. Indeed, when sailing on Iona, last year - not exactly a ship one would claim as traditional P&O - we were delighted to note the high numbers of those making the effort - no matter what the evening 'dress code' was promulgated as. Remember, its not the cruise lines that flaunt the recommended dress code, it's their passengers

Fully agree. In fact I'm a trifle suspicious about this whole thread: particularly when My wife and I have cruised almost as many times with P&O as we have with Cunard.

Well done Sir. On my last Queen Victoria Cruise there was no Tea Dance in the Queens Room - or at least it was never promulgated in the programme. But there, I guess we were sailing in the tropics. 😂😉

Hey, no flack from me, I've witnessed the decline you have alluded to and that's across the board including the Grills. Of course, Cunard is still in my DNA but until there are improvements and, more importantly for us, new itineraries, then they're not out first choice go to line.

OMG, definitely evidence of cutbacks over 3 years.... 😉😉

Correct me if I'm wrong but, recently off Silhouette, doesn't Luminae share the same galley as the Grand Cuvee?

Agree. We sail from Southampton to Sydney onboard Queen Mary 2 and swopped over 800 Brits for Aussies at Los Angeles before crossing the Pacific. As a bit of a fanatic on 'dress codes' I had nothing to complain about following the changeover. Indeed, if anything the daytime standards were appeared to be raised.

Oh I don't know, my wife and I found both the music and style ... ....certainly equal to Cunard when onboard Saga's Spirit of Discovery. As for dance floor space, there was certainly more than enough for us... ***** ***** ...aided of course by the fact many of the passengers sadly are no longer as agile as they once were.

Now we are talking.... ...and where better than a Buenos Aires street.

I can only concur with what you have said. My wife and I found ample space onboard Oceania with good live music to indulge ourselves both with Ballroom and Latin dance: often with more than enough space to step out with full routines...

Hi @sfred . Out of interest I wrote a review of our visit to Ghent from Zeebrugge... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2015/06/15/zeebrugge-for-dummies/ ...and the Ghent Review.... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2013/05/21/one-way-to-do-zeebrugge-ghent-edition/ Hopefully the weather will be kinder to you though we thoroughly enjoyed our visit from Queen Victoria... That's Ghent's 3 Towers in line by the way.

Nice photographs @sfred , its always good to see contributors on here adding their photographs. Your position brought back a good memory from 2003 when we did the 'Northern Lights' cruise on Oriana... Not too many changes.

Yes, as I said in my comment above (#14) , there is a 'silver lining'. Like you, it was booked as the ship being the destination though of course the overnight in Lisbon would have been attractive.

Actually the only minor disappointment for us is missing the Lisbon overnight. We would have loved to take in another Fado Dinner ashore .... Now we get a second go at climbing the Torre de Hércules 😂...