TheOldBear

You may want to try looking in the Solo Cruiser section of the forums https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/279-solo-cruisers/ Cunard added solo cabins to QM2 during its last major refit - they book up quickly.

I also preferred the older minute by minute plans - there has been some discussion on how to make the WC credit last as long as possible. I think buying a day at a time, and only every other day makes sense [first with my WC credit, then with Mrs Bear's credit] and only after all WC credit is exhausted buying more time. One thing to consider is each chargeable day is 24 hours - check email the afternoon of day 1, and the morning of day 2 - and that is only one usage day. That is why I would only sign in every other day.

Last fall we had a 26 night round trip with three independently bookable segments [eastbound TA, Norway, westbound TA]. I made the mistake of applying my WC internet credit against a whole voyage package. Mrs Bear's internet credit was never applied. There was only on WC internet credit applied - and it was for the entire booking [not like pre covid when there was fresh credit on each segment] If this is still the way things work in 2024, we will for for day be day internet until the WC credit is exhausted.

The ways of the Upgrade Faerie are mysterious - I would expect that any upgrade would be to some flavor or Britannia Balcony, but likely an 'obstructed' one on deck 8. For the World Club number - usually I supply the number during the booking process with $UNNAMED_TRAVEL_AGENT - I would expect the same when booking directly with Cunard. There should be an opportunity to amend a booking to ensure the number is on it.

Also note that Cruise Critic geography places France ports over here https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/462-france-ports/ I think it makes more sense to have the Channel ports in this forum, but that's not the way things are.

Some likely are - but others seem to be priced fairly. For example in Normandy comparing Cunard's D-Day beach tour with Overlord's 'bus' tour. Both tours have similar duration, visit the same sights and memorials - Cunard's tour was $30 more, but included a lunch stop [multiple courses, with paired wine for each course].

We had 3 formal nights scheduled for the 12 night Norway round trip last November

One of these years I would like to do a full transit sailing - likely by starting the trip via Amtrak to the west coast port [no flying 😉 ]

Cunard's QM2 may visit either LeHavre or Cherbourg. (as do many other cruise lines) We've visited LeHavre in 2017 & 2019 and decided to takes the Ship's tour to the D-Day museums, beaches and memorials - including the American Cemetery near Utah Beach. This is an all day excursion, with Cunard's version including a lunch stop [check what other cruise lines offer for their equivalent] Ships will also have tours to other Normandy sites [Rouen, Bayeux, Honfluer]; or featuring the region's wine, cider or cheese. You will want to check on this forum about the suitability of tours to Paris - My judgment is too much travel time relative the scant time available in the city. On this forum you will find recommendations for third party tour companies [e.g. Overlord] and do it yourself tour suggestions.

The canal water drains downhill from the lakes to fill the locks - not seawater pumped uphill to fill the locks.

Sometimes there are snags - we left our room at the designated time, but waited at the end of a line that reached from the lobby, down the center corridor, then back into the Golden Lion. Mrs Bear and I waited in the GL until the end of the line went toward the lobby. Our luggage was waiting for us when we reached the terminal.

Ship's tour or independent? If it's a ship's tour via bus - the bus will have a restroom. If the tour goes to a remote site, check the tour description for the site facilities - or ask the operator directly before booking. [assumed independent tour] If the tour is a 'northern lights chase' [a small group van excursion] the destination would not be known until the night's weather forecast [and actual weather] is known. For the tours themselves - most ports will have a tourist information website, e.g. visittromso.no with links to local tour operators allowing for direct contact with local tour providers. This past November I did the ship's tour - Cunard had four busloads. The nearly full moon ruined night vision, so the aurora was much more visible to cameras than eyes.

On an eastbound crossing, the starboard side [odd room numbers] faces generally south. We prefer the sheltered balcony rooms on decks 4, 5 & 6 over the glass fronted balconies on higher decks. Note that many deck 8 balconies are 'obstructed' with lifeboats and tenders [see the thread 'What do Obstructed views look like' toward the top of this forum]

QM2's computer rooms are in the Library [deck 8] and the 'Connections' classrooms [port side deck 2, between the Royal Court and Illuminations

No tickets for any onboard performance [the Royal Court may be standing room only - don't know if the early seating show is more or less popular than the late seating show] Tickets [free] are needed for planetarium shows in the small 'Illuminations' theatre

In between pairs of transatlantic crossings - often the QM2 does a more local round trip cruise [to Hamburg, Norway, western Med ...]. Passengers could disembark in Southampton, and have a return trip scheduled to board there or another embarkation port. In 2019 a 'road scholar' group disembarked after an eastbound crossing in Southampton and five days later embarked in LeHavre for the return transatlantic. I between, they had their own land tour.

There should be lots of tips on this board - I'll add a few more. There is a walking tour [with audio guide] available to acquaint you with some of the art installations. I think the morning of the first sea day there may be a guided group tour [with the Newport and Boston stops added this may be changed] Check your daily program for details. A 'behind the scenes' tour is sometimes offered - not advertised and it sells out quickly. The Golden Lion pub lunch may get to the stage of 'no one goes there anymore, it's too crowded' - sometimes it is difficult to get a seat for lunch. Spa prices are on a sliding scale per day - e.g. a 3 day pass will cost less than two one day passes. The days need no be consecutive [we will by a 6 day pass and use it a day at a time]. Spa upsells can be fairly aggressive - but so far we have ignored them. My carry on is typically full of wine bottles padded with socks. We will bring a bottle or two for dining room consumption [$25 corkage - even for a magnum bottle], but most are for in cabin.

There are usually two evening performances - an American night [featuring composers like Gershwin] and the 'Last Night of the Proms' [featuring composers like Elgar]. The Captain may be invited to the podium to conduct a well known tune 😉 The Passenger chorus has an audition and several rehearsals - and is on stage for the 'Last Night of the Proms'. [I sing Bass - so I am usually in the back row on the right hand side] There is usually one afternoon performance, where the NSO is joined by the Royal Court & Queen's Room performers. You may also see NSO members sitting in with the ship's musicians in the lobby or on the lounges. Anthony Inglis also has an 'insights' lecture spot one afternoon - typically in the Royal Court, and very well attended.

Assuming your crossing departs Brooklyn on 4 October [and heads to Newport RI & Boston before Southampton] there is a roll call thread at I've noticed that Cunard's page for the crossing has been updated to indicate it is the English National Symphony Orchestra crossing

For this sort of schedule, at least one of the crossings will likely be on Cunard's Queen Mary 2. This might be paired with another QM2 crossing or another line's repositioning cruise. These days the basic QM2 crossing is seven days - plus there is often a 'side trip' scheduled at either the New York or Southampton ends [for example we had a 12 night Norway and Northern Lights side trip last November]

We discussed this during the cruise on the occasion of a chance encounter with a Cunard 'Developmental Executive Chef'. He stated that the brown stuff we were served the previous week did not match his approved recipe. His recipe included cream, sherry and lobster meat and stock - and should have yielded something similar to the pinkish cream bisque common in New England seafood places [e.g. the Lobster Pot in Provincetown MA]

The Lobster Bisque was offered twice last fall on our 26 night sailing - as presented it was entirely unlike the style common in New England. I would not recommend ordering it.

Well, it is the middle of hurricane season 🙂 On QM2 the 'Terrace' [deck 8] and 'Splash' [deck 6] pools are somewhat sheltered if the captain puts the relative wind over the bow. I have seen folks using the hot tubs and pools even in fairly boisterous windy conditions - but there was no lounging before getting in or after coming out [and more than one towel was lost overboard]. We tend to use the spa pool - weather is not a problem there, and Mrs Bear likes lounging there or up by the deck 12 'Pavilion' pool .

A useful first approximation when comparing ships is seeing how much space is allocated per passenger. A ship's interior space is rated by volume units called 'gross registered tons' For examples Cunard's QM2 149215 GRT, 2695 passengers - 55 tons/passenger RCI Oasis Class 265282 GRT, 6780 passengers - 37 tons/passenger Apparently some people _like_ crowds while on vacation - I am not one of them.

I just take medication relative to my start of day - no exact timings, but I do have at wakeup, breakfast time, dinner time & at bedtime meds. There are 5 23 hour days on the eastbound crossing - but for me that is not significant.