PATRLR

Did Cunard do something to you? Did one of their ships run over your dog or something? To be honest, I was a bit surprised by your first response, but, laughed it off. The subsequent responses, I'm not sure what to make of them. Look, no one is forcing you onto the QM2, so, no need to worry about how you or anyone else is dressed on the QM2. I'm considering the QM2 and if I decide to go it will be with eyes wide open knowing I need to bring my jacket and tie if I want to partake in the formal festivities, or, I know that we will be hanging with steerage in the pub those nights. It's really not a big deal.

Way, way, way TMI.

That could be a show stopper, if "formal" means I need to jacket and ties every night.

Calling on folks who've been on Cunard and NCL recently... We have been on mostly NCL ships for the past few years. We do enjoy them, especially the Away/Away+ class ships. That being said, things like go-carts, laser tag, ropes, etc aren't interesting to us. Entertainment, food, drinks are important to us. That being said, we're looking at a QM2 itinerary for July 2024 that goes to Norway (Sea/Kristiansand/Olde/Alesund/Stavanger/Sea). The price for a "sheltered balcony" (BY) is very competitive to other similar itineraries from other lines that we're looking at (RCCL, Princess). So the question I have is, what do I need to know about Cunard/QM2? I assume I'll have extra costs for service charges, drinks, dining if I want specialty dining and excursions. How is the entertainment? What else should I have my eyes wide open about as I dig deeper over there? Any "add-ons" that might be worth looking into? Any "special" areas or access that I might want to investigate? By the way, I expect Cunard to be an older crowd, and I'm OK with that. So long as they don't close the ship down at ridiculously early - do they? Appreciate your input here.

@hallasm - First I want to thank you for all your feedback in this thread. I've read it a few times now as I work my way through planning a Norway focused cruise. The deep fjords are a priority for us. We too started looking at that QM2 cruise. If I understand what you are saying, when Cunard writes "cruise by", they are just putting words around the trip they need to make to get into and out of Olden and later in the week Stavanger. So that QM2 itinerary is really Sea/Kristiansand/Olden/Alesund/Stavanger/Sea. 1 deep fjord, 1 good coastal city (Alesund), 1 OK coastal city (Stavanger) and Kristiansand which you don't speak highly of (and frankly I haven't found anything to contradict that sentiment). It's not a bad itinerary, but, probably not as good as some others.

Wow. So you are telling me these two statements say the same thing: PR: "has teamed up with Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and TimePlay Inc. to bring “Wheel of Fortune Interactive” aboard 16 of its vessels by Spring 2024." @debenson0723: "won't be available until Spring 2024" I'm sorry to have to be the one to inform you, but those two statements do NOT say the same thing. The former says all ships will have it by Spring 2024 (which means possibly all have them before spring 2024) and the latter (your statement) says they won't have them until spring 2024 (so they won't be available in, for example Winter 2024).

So what is your point? Did you actually understand the specific context in which my statement was made? What exactly did you infer from what I wrote that would lead to make such a correlation?

You may want to re-read that press release. It doesn't say that at all, in fact it says the opposite in that it will be rolled out by spring 2024: bring “Wheel of Fortune Interactive” aboard 16 of its vessels by Spring 2024.

My guess is that the impact from a small amount of people removing the DSC, in response to Guest Services telling them to do so, is is extremely low to the point of possibly being immeasurable in the staff's pay.

Ummm... I had it happen to me. I reported it right here in this thread in post 50 and 54, included here for your convenience: Regarding this: I assure you it is not a rumor and it is not made up. I am of the camp that pays the DSC all the time without thought to doing otherwise and I tip extra for extra service. I am critical of the DSC, as far as I am concerned it's just another revenue stream, I don't like this model, and I have been vocal about it here on CC. I have also been very vocal offering my opinion that the DSC IS the weekly gratuities that we used to pay via the old "envelope" system. But none of that puts me in the camp to remove the DSC. They have told this passenger to reduce it.

It the Bird. Doors aren't a hinderance, Bird can just fly over the walls into the Haven area. No need for key cards and such.

It's a different game show on Prima.

Deck of Cards? That was many years ago, right? Only prizes I've seen lately are pens.

Reports from those who have played it on Escape is that audience participation is NOT free. You have to pay to play, like Bingo or Deal or No-Deal.

Oh, wow, I wasn't aware of that. That is encouraging news, let's hope this new one on the other ships is similar.

Yes, they could. But I consider that wishful thinking.

Looks like it's on all ships but Viva and Prima. I wonder why?

Of course the audience participation will be at a cost, similar to Deal or No Deal, I assume. Nice move NCL, replace a free broadway show with a revenue generating game show. True to form, it's all about increasing that onboard spend (aka nickle and diming).

They've already closed a number of shows and this is going into the theatres where the shows used to be. I'm not sure how this is not a replacement for the shows.

I actually had it happen twice - the other time was when NCL didn't credit me with the pre-paid DSC despite my clear documentation that it was included. In that case, it kind of made sense to remove the DSC, but if one really believes what they tell you about DSC (I don't), then removing DSC was not the proper solution. The other point I will make is that treating the DSC the way they do just reinforces the idea that the DSC is nothing more than another revenue stream.

As I recall, my issue was with an excursion - significant chunks of the excursion simply didn't happen. The excursion staff agreed but said there was nothing they could do and told us to go over to see Guest Services who told us to take it out of the DSC. Just as VAT has nothing to do with DSC, neither does an excursion. But there it was. I have no doubt that Guest Services uses it to fix a lot of problems.

I have had customer service ask me to request removal of DSC (or part thereof) as a way to rectify a situation. I have no doubt that they do it regularly.

I agree with this. So long as they really stuck to it and stopped the nickle and diming. But I don't see that happening.

@PollyMurg Can you help to understand something. You say you have the Free At Sea which implies you got a drink package with the Free At Seas which then implies you should not have to pay for your drinks. you shouldn't even get a recept, they scan your card, mix your drink hand it over and you go on your way. So why do you have pictures of receipts showing that you are being charged for your drinks?

It sounds like that's what happens. I'm not sure what I would do if they asked me to sign such a slip. No way I'd sign it the way it is, at the very least I'd note on it that I shouldn't be charged for the drinks. The whole thing stinks of Amateur Hour. Almost like it was a last-minute suggestion by the bean counters as another way to bump up that onboard spend and IT hasn't had a chance to update the systems. SMH.