TheOldBear

No Amp, no sound box, that would be real quiet. I think there are some practice amps that just drive headphones.

I rarely get any Cunard emails, and the occasional snail mail piece is usually addressed to Mrs Bear. Last year's exception was some post cruise survey emails - for a total of 4 surveys in December.

We have sailed on a number of multi segment cruises [e.g. transatlantic round trips with a European additional segment or two]. A am unaware of Cunard offering any 'back to back' perks other than possible advancement in 'world club' levels if the segments are booked as separate cruises.

Cunard in the Queen's Grill [and the Princess Grill too?] Back in 2019 Mrs Bear had a sinus infection and our Britannia dining room servers served her dinner in our room, but that was not a 'room service' order.

And for cold weather excursions - Cunard had hot chocolate waiting after evening excursions in Tromso Norway this past November.

There are three cruise terminal areas for New York - Carnival usually uses the Manhattan piers, Cunard, Princess and now MSC use the Brooklyn terminal and RCI brands dock across the river in New Jersey. The Manhattan and Brooklyn terminals are operated by NYCruise - including a schedule of planned terminal assignments. As far as hotels go - I have no direct experience, as we are local to the Brooklyn terminal and have not needed to stay before or after sailing. There should be many discussion threads - and someone knowledgeable will provide input. If you are planning on an evening activity (theatre, concert, opera) for the fly in day, you will want to look at Manhattan hotels [$$$]. If you are planning on arriving, dinner than sleep - an airport hotel might be a better fit. [possibly the 'TWA Hotel' at JFK]

If you are dining in Britannia , 'open' dining was introduced for the late seating upper level [and likely there will be other changes in that area] The Wifi and 'my voyage' stuff will likely be no better than what you had on our 'In Search of the Northern Lights' sailing. There is a dry dock 'availability' period scheduled for this fall - there were a few threads speculating about possible changes/upgrades. For example the spa 'thermal suite' was originally due for reworking in 2021.

I don't think there is any distinction based on 'in transit' status - just what pier is available that can accommodate the ship. QM2 will occasionally use the west side piers if there is a scheduling conflict - Princess Cruises 'Caribbean Princess' also used the Brooklyn terminal, and now MSC will be there as well [there were also non cruise conflicts, such as setting up a 'formula E' race track].

I don't have experience with inside rooms, and the port vs starboard transatlantic question is moot. Both rooms are midships, between the 'B' and 'C' staircases, so should have minimal perceived motion. Mrs Bear and I tend to book 'sheltered balcony' rooms, midships where possible - quite near these inside rooms..

So far as I know, it's still $11.50 /per passenger per day. I booked my upcoming 2024 sailing under a special promotion where it was pre paid, but the paperwork shows the $11.50 rate

We do round trip TAs - so it mostly evens out 😉

I've used both the white 'radio' taxi and Uber this past November in Southampton. Credit cards were accepted on both for the fare.

On our westbound crossing [M236] I was surprised to see that the machines in the deck 5 launderette had all been replaced.

I think the Customs checks are when you disembark with your luggage (including any new purchases) and may be distinct from Immigration (or credential) checks. For example on an eastbound QM2 crossing, the UK Border folks see all passengers and their passports before the ship arrives in Southampton - so the ship arrives with everyone cleared. Passports no longer receive a stamp, it's just an electronic check. Passengers disembarking in Southampton need to go through Customs with their luggage. As an 'in transit' passenger I simply show my ship's card and walk right past the Customs area. Westbound, US Homeland Security combines the Customs and Immigration functions - and everyone needs to wait on a line, even the in transit passengers.

We have the QE to Alaska as a future possibility [not many glaciers in Dubai, so the QE2 is not in consideration] but despise flying so that pushes Alaska out of immediate consideration. We find a transatlantic round trip with a side trip much more appealing. We did the QM2 Northern Lights version of the Norway sailing - and in November any fjords were by moonlight at best. Both QM2 and QV have Norway sailings each season - but despite this being the Cunard forum, you may want to consider some of the smaller ship options [Viking and Hurtigruten spring to mind] Checked Hurigruten's 'expedition' web site [us version] and they are showing an 11 day Dover round trip "Spring Expedition Cruise"; fares from $3570, some sailings without a single supplement. You may want to visit their cruise critic forum and ask some questions over there as well.

The session times vanished during the M235 Norway leg of our last sailing. It seemed to be a strange decision to implement the session restrictions, as I have never noticed the spa area operating even close to their claimed capacity. They were also back to allowing multiple uses of the days's credit on the same day [could visit early in the day, and again while the 'first seating' folks were having dinner]

Its a sliding charge with some oddities - the price for 3 days is often less than 2 times the daily price. I think the single day rate was $35 or 40, and it was under 150 for 7 days. For a crossing, 3 or 4 days would be about right.

I have seen folks using the deck 6 pool on a November crossing (and the deck 8 hot tubs). I used the deck 12 and spa pools. I would need to check my receipts, but I think we bought a 7 day spa pass each, and used that (a day here and there) over the course of a 26 day sailing.

There are outdoor pools on deck 6 ['splash pool'] and deck 8 ['terrace pool'] The deck 12 "Pavilion pool" has a retractable roof - likely only open on warm and calm conditions [I wonder if it was open for the Suez canal transit?] The 'thermal suite' pool on deck 7 is available as part of a spa service package [like a massage] or by purchasing a day pass. The daily price for the spa pass decreases with the number of days purchased - and the dans need no be used consecutively. The suite also includes steam rooms and sauna, and a relaxation lounge area. The spa pool is heated quite warm (back in November warmer than the spa's hot tub) with strong currents and bubbles. One end has loungers, the other end had two of three fountains functional. There is a round railing defining a 'hot tub' area inside the pool. Both the spa pool and the deck 12 pool are equipped with assistance lifts.

What I saw this past fall [26 night Norway and Northern Lights] was there was only one world club credit, not segment by segment as in the past.

Also, under the old system you would get a fresh allocation for each segment of a voyage that was also sold as an individual sailing - fresh wifi credit for eastbound TA, Southampton to Hamburg, Hamburg to Southampton and the westbound crossing [and the credits carried over until disembarkation in Brooklyn]

The current Starlink service requires the satellite to be visible to both the ground terminal (e.g. the ship) and a fixed service point. This would not be true mid ocean [e.g. a QM2 crossing]. A later generation satellite is planned, with orbit to orbit links. Until that is deployed, the geosynchronous satellite links are the only viable mid ocean option.

We made the mistake of buying the 'full voyage' internet package this past fall. Amongst other failings, only one passenger's World Club credit is applied to the 'full voyage' price. The other passenger's credit is unused. Pricing is likely to change a few times before our next planned [October 2024] sailing, but as it stands now, we would buy a few non consecutive days, keeping an eye on the WC wifi balance.

Apparently Bergen is known for rain - and it certainly was rainy for our port visit this past November. The cloud base was low, and the top of the hill was inside the cloud, so I elected not to attempt the funicular. We did spend the morning on a ship's tour to Edvard Grieg's house for a concert, and that was quite nice despite the rain.

This past November, the QM2 diverted from the last few Norway ports to Zeebruge - and apparently Cunard needed to scramble to put shore excursions together. There was a shuttle service from the pier to a nearby town of Blankenberge, with a drop off near shopping and train station. I picked us some wine and over the counter medicine, then returned to the port in time for lunch - with an after lunch excursion booked. There were light rail tracks visible during the bus ride, but I did not see any trains or trams in either direction. (did not bother to check public transit arrangements) The ship offered a "Bruges on your own" bus ride - if available, that may be a better option than exploring tram, train and bus connections. This was popular, and sold out quickly. The tour we were able to book included a visit to a canal side village of 'Damme' [scenic venue for photos, good beer], a trip into a the outskirts of Bruges for a chocolate stop [Mrs Bear and I each bought a kilo or so] and then a stop at a great house the "Kasteel van Loppem"