stan01

Laundry, pressing, and "dry" cleaning is easy to offer.  Discounts on fares eventually equalize out.  Priority tendering and dining reservations get harder; if everyone is a VIP then no one is a VIP and paying customers who don't have "status" start to have a diminished experience.

Just saw another press release, has anyone experienced these zero alcohol drinks yet or are they still rolling out?

1 hour ago, Bell Boy said:

Osman, and he took care of me very very well - Table side Flambé every evening  👍

Great, do you know how long he is on QM2?  Hoping through the Fourth of July cruise.

Closer to the bow will have anchor noise if arriving at a tender port.  You could try to book a suite further away from the bow.  There is plenty of open space on the ship.  We have had ocian view rooms on other luxury lines and have enjoyed the cruise just fine.

3 hours ago, CAL7 said:

Just looking for some guidelines for the cash gratuities I'm doing in lieu of the standard ship-managed tips.

You can leave the Hotel and Dining Charge on, and give US dollar cash bills to any people you feel go above and beyond if you want.  The crew members work hard and you will never meet many of them.

I think it is reasonable to send it to all customers.  First, some customers could be planning a family reunion or event.  Second, it does serve as a reminder to everyone else that groups and charters do happen on every cruise line.  Better to know that it could happen than to be completely surprised if it does happen.

We'll see what happens, it's a new promotion but they've done charters and groups for a long time.  They are in tough competition with Atlas, Scenic, RC, Four Seasons, Silversea, Seadream, etc. for these types of events.  But I do agree a group of 50 or 100 sales people on an incentive cruise changes the dynamic.  All the more reason to stay away from 7 day cruises, those folks need to get back to work after a week.

We have flights booked on American through FlightEase coming up in November.  In late April we got an email from Seabourn stating we should get the flights ticketed by 1 May if we wanted frequent flier mileage.  So I'd expect FlightEase reservations will not qualify for frequent flier mileage on AA going forward unless something changes.

3 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Curious is the norm for Conard to quote the price Per Person PER DAY on their upgrade program?    All other cruise ships it is just a per person upgrade bid.    I'm still 5 months before my first Cunard cruise.

It is quoted for the cruise.  I did the math myself to help me figure out whether it was worth it.

Thanks, the current minimum offer price for the upgrade is $275/person per day so I think we'll pass and stay with the Q5.  Also it looks like the aft QM2 Q4s have partially blocked views to the back since the Q1s bump out (so you get closer to a 90 degree forward field of view not 180 degrees).

Do QM2 Q4 suites come with any additional services other than the larger suite, when compared to a Q5/Q6?  We are considering an upgrade bid.  We know the room is larger and has a defined separate sleeping area as well as the separate shower.  Are there other Q4 benefits such as different service from the butler or different service or preferred seating in the Queens Grill?

The newish TWA Hotel at JFK might be a reasonable choice.  They also have day rooms if you need one post-cruise.  Easy to get a ride share or taxi from there since it is at the airport.  Or, if you are slightly adventurous, stay at any hotel on Wall Street and just take the ferry over to Red Hook the day of disembarkation.  

RC and Explora both encourage children but they don't have adult only pool areas.  Shorter 7 day cruises attract families, groups, and partial charters plus back to backs are a little disruptive for people staying on board.  It's not a problem until it is a problem.  We'll try to stick with 14 day minimum cruises for these reasons, fine with the "retired" demographic that comes with it at least for Americans.

I realize it is more expensive, but maybe consider a private guide who can customize a trip to the places your friend can easily go and visit sites at her pace?  No bus, no steps, no cobblestones etc.

Any children on board?  The shorter duration cruises R-C offers will tend to attract more families although yours was longer than a week.  If one family is using the pool area and staff as their day care provider everyone else gets disrupted.

5 hours ago, arcadia78 said:

It’s pretty glitchy, but I’m able to see some menus now. I have been able to download the Dining at a Glance overview for May 11th 😊. 

Yes, if I power off my iPhone and then power back on it works for a bit then stops working again.  Hopefully people onboard aren't experiencing these issue.

Names maybe even photos (not sure) are on the tablets used by the Restaurant and Solis staff, they link your suite number to the table so they have the data on allergies and other preferences.

I suspect if they had used the tenders not the zodiacs there would be other people complaining that the zodiacs sat unused on an expedition cruise.  Seabourn seems to be pretty coy about where the zodiacs and submarine can be used; they know upfront where they are not legally allowed or the conditions generally are not conducive.  I'm not surprised to hear the submarines were not used on a repositioning cruise where they might be less familiar with the water conditions in each location.

The airlines publish their schedule in the booking platforms about 330 days prior to departure, so if you are doing a round trip you should see something in Flight Ease about 330 days before your return flight.  However, airlines can and do change their schedules.  If you make a reservation 330 days out there's a decent chance the airline will change something before your departure date.  However, since you don't have to pay for the airfare until final deposit you can cancel what you book 330 days out and rebook if you need to.

Cunard really can't extend the time on the ship.  They have to clear the ship of all passengers for US customs (which likely was not delayed) and they have to get the ship ready for the next passengers whose embarkation they would try to keep on schedule.  You might want to write your Congressional delegation about your experience if you are a US citizen.  I think they would agree a 3 hour wait is too long.

Great review, thank you.  We are on the Ovation from Barcelona to Barbados in 2024 and Barcelona to San Juan in 2025.  I'll always go with the 25 hour days over the 23 hour days with (hopefully) the extra hour used to burn off the calories consumed.

Let's say the worst happens, and luggage containing formal wear does not arrive for a transatlantic cruise despite all efforts by the passenger to be proactive such as travelling at least one day early.  Airlines can and do lose bags.  What is the reasonable expectation for a passenger who faces this?  Should one be expected to only eat in their room or casual dining even if they are in a QG or PG suite?  Putting formal wear into carry ons isn't achievable.  I certainly hope losing bags doesn't happen, but at the same time it would seriously detract from one's enjoyment of an expensive vacation.

It was a nice feature to build anticipation for one's next cruise.  I hope they re-enable it.  

Likewise I can no longer view the current daily menus in the Source app for Ovation.  Our cruise is later in 2024 and we are US based.  I think Seabourn may have disabled viewing of the menus unless you are on the ship's wi-fi.  If anyone can still view menus from their home for a future cruise booking please identify the ship you are sailing on.  I have tried deleting the app and loading it again, did not bring back the menus.

One of the things we like about Seabourn is no constant signing for drinks or extras, and everyone on the ship is in same situation so all can enjoy the moment and there are no service delays caused by payments.  I could see that some passengers who do not drink alcohol might want a "no alcohol" option though.  Don't mind paying for laundry or premium internet although laundry right now is a perk for club members.  We would not want included excursions, and with onboard credits one can get then at no cost if desired.  I don't expect things to be free.  I would not mind a reasonable premium for Solis if it was necessary to keep the quality of ingredients high.  I've read that Solis portions are large so I'd rather they go to a reasonable sized portion before they add a surcharge.

There were no questions about inclusive air such as Silversea's door to door service (at least in the version of the survey we took).