TheOldBear

For my most recent check in and boarding experience [25 October, Brooklyn NY] - the most significant item of information I walked in with was the bar code on the boarding pass. No one was interested in proof of vaccination or Cunard's health declaration forms. This could have been presented and scanned from a phone screen - except the paper boarding pass acquired stamps and stickers that were needed for in terminal processing. Stickers after security, stickers assigning priority boarding, stamps indicating check in with agent completed [agent verified passport]. I did not see any facilities to add them to electronic passes.

I have not noticed them on the Kings Court buffet, room service breakfast or Britannia breakfast offerings. At home [New York and New England] these are called 'Portuguese rolls' after the families owning bakeries in Fall River Massachusetts.

No chart auctions on our recent sailing [M234A round trip] - I do recall the auctions from 2017 & 2019 [I did not place a winning bid on either]. The auctions were introduced as part of a World Club party - often with both the Captain's and a featured speaker [Steve Payne, Anthony Inglis] signature.

If you are in Grills (Princess or Queens) or Britannia Club, your table is waiting for you at all meal times (breakfast, lunch & dinner) If you are in Britannia, you have a choice of a reserved dinner table at either the early or late seating or finding that night's table in open seating. Details vary with the ship and date [e.g. reserved tables returned for QM2 late seating on 1 November. Britannia breakfast and lunch are both open seatings - and you can request a shared table seat or a private table. The Veranda [QM2] currently has a $50 cover charge for dinner, and $25 for lunch [have not tried this] The alternative Kings Court 'pop up' has a $25 cover charge for dinner. There is also the 'Chef's Gallery' section of Kings Court that has Pizza and Pasta in the evenings, with table service - no cover charge. The Kings Court Buffet, and Golden Lion pub lunch are included in the basic fare. We tend to split breakfasts between room service and Kings Court, and split lunches between Britannia and Kings Court. On our last sailing the Golden Lion pub lunch was popular enough that I was not able to find a seat before 1300. If you have the drinks package, you should be able to have anything under the per drink price limit with any meal - Mimosas at breakfast? Folks booked in the Grills can dine in Britannia - a couple we met in 2017 did that, after the 'upgrade fairy' gave them a Q5 in place of their usual inside cabin.

On our last sailing, our printed 'boarding pass' acquired several stickers and stamps between arrival at security and scanning the bar code entering the ship. That would be much more awkward on a phone or tablet - likely a delay while a paper boarding pass was printed.

Mrs Bear and I look for 'no fly' sailings from / to New York - and that reduces our search scope to mostly transatlantic round trips - hardly a hardship. For 2024 we will see what sailing will include Anthony Inglis / National Symphony again. Like that information will be available on his web site before the Cunard 'themes' page is updated.

And I didn't notice that autocorrupt changed 'rotating' to roaring The view should not be restricted - just a bit of SOLAS orange to the right of the balcony.

I don't think the 2024 sailings have been officially released in North America - we will not be booking until then [favoring a sailing that includes the National Symphony Orchestra]

QM2 'sheltered' balcony rooms are on decks 4, 5 & 6 Balconies on 8 and higher are glass fronted, not sheltered. Below your room is Kings Court - the section that is turned into the roaring menu alternative dining venue.

Just off the QM2 Northern Lights sailing. The ship was docked in Tromso for two evenings - about 40 hours. Northern lights excursions were offered both nights, on a bus with a local guide. The Monday [7 November] night excursion had four buses, but our bus went a bit further than the others to our first stop - could see the lights through the bus windows - stayed there for almost an hour until clouds rolled back in. We went to were the other three busses had stopped, for another hour of more intermittent viewing. [and some hot chocolate and cookies] Back on the ship, the Kings Court buffet had more than the usual late night setup to accommodate returning tours (also on Sunday night after the Arctic Cathedral concert) One problem was the timing of the cruise/tours - there was an almost full moon, so you never really got dark adapted [and the lights on the buses did not help. Apparently there were some decent sightings from the ship that evening as well. You might look at an independent 'northern lights chase' that goes further afield in search of better weather conditions - but the ship will not wait for you. There were several daytime tour options in Tromso - I did the 'Polaria and Huskies' that visited the aquarium and then to the 'Wilderness Center' to meet puppies [muddy paws and all] and some mature dogs (including a 30 dog husky chorus).

No, not required. There is no place in the personalizer [my voyage ] to provide any insurance information. On the other hand, I think having insurance coverage is a vital checklist item. (and there is a forum dedicated to discussing that)

Cover charges are $25 for lunch and $50 for dinner

Britannia first seating is at 6PM, and I believe this was for reserved/assigned tables on both levels. The later seating is at 8:30 on the lower level with assigned/reserved tables. Open seating (different table every night) starts at 8 on the upper level. Show times got pushed back to 10:15 starts as most late seating tables were finishing about 10

On QM2 late seating reserved tables were re-introduced on 1 November, on the Britannia lower level. We were able to secure a late seating reserved table for the preceding eastbound crossing as the couple we were sharing the table [linked booking] had special dietary needs. It is much easier to deal with special needs with the same table/waiter each night. 'Open' dining was only on the upper level for the late seating - starting at about 8PM, a touch earlier than the reserved tables on the lower level. I believe that the early seating was all reserved tables (upper and lower levels) for our entire time onboard.

I received a post cruise survey email - time stamped about the same time I disembarked this Sunday.

Rack of lamb was not [as far as I recall] on Britannia menus for our recent 26 night sailing - but I do recall seeing it being served on the Kings Court buffet one evening - [I think I had venison that night]

The puppy was adopted from the Tromso Wilderness Center's gift shop. I did the ship's "Polaria and Huskies" excursion - at the Wilderness center there was a film of two center related teams in a multi day race [one team needed to quit due to fatigue / injury]. We then went outside to where five three month old puppies were being socialized and got to meet them [no one else to the opportunity for lots of muddy puppy prints]. Around that area were the adults - with their dog houses. [2 dogs to a platform with a straw insulated dog house]. I have a video clip of a husky chorus - about 30 voices - I will need to post a link to a hosting site once I upload it. The dogs are smaller than I expected [perhaps 70 pounds] and as part of their training are socialized with other dogs and people. When the dogs age out of sledding, there is a waiting list of people [many from the local university] looking to adopt a retired sled dog.

The last formal night [Friday] was Masquerade theme - Mrs Bear and I just did standard formal attire. Captain Arthur Bear had other ideas

We had a nice time - Mrs Bear thinks 26 days may have been a bit too long. We just made it home - and now back to the novelty of doing our own cooking and cleaning 🙂

Mrs Bear only needed to avail herself of the 'always available' entree once for our 26 night sailing. Most of the time there was at least one suitable choice for omnivores. Ou vegetarian table mate's choices were much more restricted. Overall there seemed to be one less choice at dinner time in the published menus. There was an oddity with something called 'lobster bisque' - a bowl of hot liquid placed on the table that was almost entirely unlike anything resembling lobster bisque. The one experimental spoonful tasted of mixed fish & beef stock - there _may_ have been some taste of shellfish, but it was not worth exploring further. We often ordered the 'always available' tomato soup choice.

Waiting for our scheduled 9:40 departure time - apparently there are some in terminal delays, so we may be off later than that. Apparently the current WC internet benefit is much less generous than the previous system. We had a single $45 gold tier credit for the entire voyage [three segments] - previously the minute allocation was per passenger, and refreshed each segment. Overall a much better value.

Rainbow looking aft from deck 5 balcony

Mrs Bear and I used one of our remaining spa days today, and the surf was up in the spa pool. The adjacent hot tub repeatedly sloshed into the main pool - and was quite cool, probably due to cold make up water after each slosh. We have three days left on the spa pass - likely should have used one between Trondheim and Zeebrugge. All the other pools [Terrace, Spash, Pavilion] are netted closed, and the deck 12 Pavilion pool is drained. A few minutes ago, the view aft had a nice double rainbow - will see how the photos turn out.

For the current 'Greatest Generation' theme crossing, yesterday's main feature was on D-Day, today's was the 'Battle of the Bulge' and tomorrow will be on 'Rosie the Riveter ' The rough seas resulted in suspending the planetarium shows, and substituting a comedian for a production show. Today, I noticed that the Pavilion pool [deck 12] was netted, but the hot tubs were open. We will be checking he spa pool. And for 'something completely different' the deck 5 launderette now has all new washers and dryers - apparently installed yesterday.

There also was a regional Norway theme 'Nordisk' for a few nights for the M235 Norway ^H^H^H Belgium portion of the sailing