TheOldBear

You will find lots of discussion threads concerning Paris from LeHavre over in the https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/462-france-ports/ forum. The general recommendation is that it is not worth the travel time to just see the outside of some attractions. What Normandy excursions does your ship offer? Have you checked on the 'roll call' for your sailing if anyone is trying to organize an independent tour?

The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal schedule https://nycruise.com/brooklyn-terminal/schedule-bct/ shows two Princess departures in August There seems to be [looking at google maps] a couple of connivence stores not too far from the pedestrian gate - toward Van Brunt street. We have found that bag drop off for embarkation is quite quick with little opportunity for tipping. We do [generously] tip the porter that assists with our luggage during disembarkation. Having a porter speeds you through the customs/immigration paperwork when you return to Brooklyn. Once you have checked your luggage, you should be able to go foraging - or get some lunch outside the terminal fence. Looking at the 'street view' photos, I do not see the same back entrance I recall from past years - it may only be open on embarkation days. That leaves a slightly longer walk past the ferry terminal & the industrial area toward the neighborhood shops.

I would make the assumption that a physical passport examination and an electronic record needs to be made for disembarkation. For port visits, I noticed in 2017 there was a long wait for the single agent to examine and stamp all shore excursion passports - both arriving at the terminal & returning from the tour. In 2019 no one in Hamburg or LeHavre wanted to see a passport - I assumed that all formalities were handled by the ship and the passenger manifest.

They have eye level viewfinders - but they are electronic, not optical like on a SLR. What you are looking for is a 'OLED' viewfinder - I think the Sony and all the current FZ's have that. I have a LCD viewfinder in my Olympus EM1.2 - its large and bright but unusable in some orientations with polarized glasses.

Mrs Bear and I have done three transatlantic round trips, with a fourth booked. You can surmise that we have picked the ship [QM2] and sea days as our preferred vacation. QM2 does not provide an amusement park, but it does provide the more traditional 'nothing to do; not enough time in the day to do it' experience, where you can do as much or as little as you choose to do [and only unpack once]

I think that I would choose the FZ300 for a few features [constant f/2.8 lens, weather sealing, 5 axis stabilization] that the FZ80 does not have. I think they are more useful than the longer zoom range and notional higher pixel count. This answer is from the perspective of a FZ-50 user, who occasionally wishes that Panasonic made a true successor to that camera.

We overpack - but have no problem with this. We are local to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, and mostly book QM2 transatlantic round trip sailings. It is still unpack _once_ for the entire vacation. Back in 2017 our tablemates had their airline loose checked luggage, so we were able to contribute a few things to keep them presentable for formal nights until we reached Southampton. If we were planning on a 'non local' sailing [e.g. Amtrak to West Coast; Sailing with Panama Canal full passage; some short of long trip home from west coast disembarkation port] we would bring much less stuff.

Unless the camera charges the batteries in the camera, bring the charger.

The shows [and Queen's room events] should be timed to accommodate both early and late Britannia seatings. [Club and Grills are anytime dining with an assigned table so they can choose either showtime] The traditional dining is assigned seating - you always have the same assigned table, and for Britannia either the early [6 ish] or late [8 ish] seating time. We have always preferred the late seating so there was time between afternoon tea and dinner. What I observed on QM2 back in October to November [and was reported for the 'Coronation Cruise'] was that the 'open dining' option meant that you needed to discover your table each night, after waiting on a long line - with delays in service after being shown to that's nights table.

We've done three transatlantic round trips, with a fourth booked. I would say we prefer sea days 😉

I noticed in the video a bottle of bubbly being smashed against the hull. Was it Pol Acker?

You may want to do some research here on the 'British Isles / Western Europe section (Amsterdam, Bruges); Mediterranean (Paris) & Northern Europe (Hamburg) 'Ports of Call' section. Note that the ship often does not dock in or near the named city For Hamburg, the terminal is in an industrial port area - your cruise line _may_ have a shuttle service to downtown [Cunard's shuttle was to a square near city hall]. This makes for a good DIY option Bruges is served by Zeebruge - Again, the cruise line _may_ provide a shuttle [Cunard's shuttle went to nearby Blankenburg] or you may need to get the port's shuttle to the terminal, and then make other arrangements. Public transportation should be available - check on the forums for tips. I have not visited Amsterdam, but I believe that Rotterdam is the actual port stop. Check guides for both places. Paris is served by the port at LeHavre. This is a good ways away [hours, by road or rail, from Paris]. I would favor visiting Normandy locations over Paris - unless this is a once in a lifetime visit. Again see discussions on Paris and LeHavre in the 'France Ports' section of the Mediterranean forum.

Dynamic pricing and the whims of the 'upgrade fairy' do their best to fill the ship to capacity - see also the 'sailing soon' prices for bookings within the final payment window. Not so much a season as matching special events [when the events are announced sufficiently in advance] There are special crossings for fashion week, a 'festival of food and wine', literary stuff & a crossing with the English National Symphony. We did not know in advance, but lucked into crossings with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts [2019] and the Royal Shakespeare Company [2022]. The December crossings feature the ship decorated for Christmas. We looked at doing a conventional fly then sail back trip back in 2017. Airfare, plus hotel stay, ground transportation and other expenses seemed to put a round trip sailing into the same ballpark. So, we decided to book a round trip. We's done two more round trips [2019 & 2022] with a fourth booked for 2024. Westbound crossings feature 25 hour days as you cross 5 time zones. Flying east you would loose all five hours at between wheels up and wheels down.

Like a shorter list would be of lines without a Norway itinerary 😉 . I addition to the usual suspects (Cunard, Princess, Viking....) there are also local operations like Hurtigruten that offer a small ship 'coastal express' and 'expedition' sailings.

Are you booked for just the eastbound crossing, or doing the round trip? I've noted that this is the 2023 crossing with Anthony Inglis and the English National Symphony - that means two special concert nights [featuring American and English composers] plus an afternoon concert where the orchestra is joined by Cunard musicians. Do you sing? There is a passenger chorus for the English night [theme "The last Night of the Proms"] with several daytime rehearsals. That is one reason we will select the NSO crossing [hoping we have picked the right sailing for 2024] If you have questions about 'life on board', what to pack [and what not to pack] and anything else about the cruise - please visit the Cunard forum.

The US Passage contract contains [second paragraph of section 8] [quote] In the case of mechanical failures that cause the scheduled Voyage to be cancelled, You are entitled to a full refund of the Cruse Fare and the Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses; or for mechanical failures that cause a cruise to be terminated early, a partial refund of the Cruise Fare and any unused Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses, travel expense to transport You to the scheduled port of disembarkation or Your home city at Carrier's discretion, and overnight lodging if an unscheduled stopover is required. [/quote] It looks to me that the contract assigns responsibility to the carrier [Carnival/Cunard] to get you home or to the scheduled end of the trip - that would only apply if you have started the trip by at least checking in.

I think the information for the passenger manifest needs to match what is on the permit [government issued id]. I've only traveled with a passport - but it is possible that there may be a need for the 'bridging' documentation between the birth certificate name and the government ID name. [any paperwork needed or received for a legal name change] The same documentation would likely be needed later [once the BC is updated] to obtain a passport with the proper information. Is the driving permit marked as a 'real id' document? If so, it is possible no one will bother looking at the BC

I don't recall the last time we received a printed magazine - I think it was before our 2019 sailing, or possibly earlier.

You may want to visit the Cunard forum https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/32-cunard-line/ for discussion and answers. One important thing is the QM2 usually sails from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal - Cape Liberty is primarily for Royal Caribbean & Celebrity sailings. There are infrequent occasions where QM2 will use the Manhattan piers - Brooklyn is also used by MSC,Carnival & Princess, and cannot be 'double booked' as there is only one berth. Forgot to mention - Welcome to the Cruise Critic Forums 🙂

No direct experience - Cunard Care is not available to New York [or Quebec] residents. You may want to do some research down the page a bit at the https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/ forum. There probably are some wrinkles in coverage details for Canadian residents. You may want to see if a broker like the https://tripinsurancestore.com can sell to Canadian residents - or at least look at their FAQ section - you may find that some common sense terms do not mean what you think it should mean.

Back in October/November we were right by the 'D' lifts [room 5194] and the only time I recall seeing a lift tagged as 'out of service' with a red light was on turn around days in Southampton and Brooklyn - that likely was the elevator rigged for luggage instead of passengers.

On deck 2 - it was closed on our October/November sailing, and it looked then like the coffee machine was cannibalized for parts to fix one of the Kings Court machines. The COVID restrictions were just easing, so I assume it was closed before our sailing as part of mitigation attempts. Perhaps it was back online for the world cruise, or they can take advantage of a couple of weeks of downtime to fix things.

I think the specialty restaurant was serving for all 26 nights of the Norway and Northern Lights sailing. We had evening shore excursions for both nights in Tromso, and elected to eat in the Chef's Gallery [made to order pizza] before the Northern Lights shore excursion. And yes, the forward end of the Chef's Gallery is at the 'C' lobby area. The 'passageway' aft of the pink arrow only goes into the galley area serving the Chef's Gallery & the 'pop up' part of Kings Court. During an emergency situation it _could_ provide an alternate route [hopping over the Grills Lounge bar?] if the port side was blocked, but I think passengers are discouraged from entering galley areas unless on a 'behind the scenes' tour. We were in 5194 - right by the 'D' staircase - and it was occasionally irksome to need to detour around the pop up KC section.

I don't remember any passgeway on the starboard side - the Chef's Gallery galley backs onto the Grills Lounge on the starboard side from the 'C' to 'D' lobby areas. On the port side, the 'pop up' occupies the 'C' to 'D' space. I would not like thru traffic during diner / extra cost table service. Back in November on the westbound crossing there mostly was no promenade deck access from either the 'C' or 'D' lobby areas due to high winds.

Looks like one neat feature is the card controlled access from the 'scenic lifts'