TheOldBear

Recently [December?] Cunard added a section to their 'voyage personalizer' where you indicated if mobility aids were needed. They wanted to know if you can climb stairs unassisted, or needed help. Mrs Bear brings a 'rollator' to help deal with long lines & wait times embarking & disembarking - plus a collapsable cane.

The 'roll call' threads for crossings seem to usually be quiet - see https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2960181-july-21-2024-transatlantic-westbound-m422 for your sailing's roll call if you have not already joined it.

Sanity seems to have returned 🙂

Barring another 'Carrington Event' there is zero chance of seeing aurora when the sun is in the sky. Late September into April or so are better times for aurora - and even then a full moon will wipe out your dark adaptation [camera can see them, but your eyes will have, at best, difficulty picking them out from clouds] Have you joined the 'roll call' thread for your sailing?

Voting on posts reorders the thread? That says 'total failure' - reordering the thread will loose any content for the posting in the conversation.

Its seems clear that the 'New Format Test' resulted in a failure.

I didn't do a head count - but there was a full orchestra with players in Strings, Woodwinds, Brass & Percussion sections. The Matinee concert is filled out by adding Cunard musicians from the Royal Court and Queen's room. Things were a little tight on stage for 'the Last Night of the Proms' when the passenger chorus was added - I'm in the Bass section all the way to the back, stage right.

Cunard offers a 'premium soft drinks' package

Looks like the two sub forums to explore are the Cunard https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/32-cunard-line/ and Cruise Air https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/77-cruise-air/. And if no one has said 'welcome aboard', I would like to extend a welcome 🙂 I cannot help you with air questions - I'm fairly local to the port so we have been able to avoid flying in favor of QM2 round trips.

You may want to look into third party insurance - not through the cruise line as it often is a better value. The broker 'InsureMyTrip' has a current Q&A subforum, and the broker 'Trip Insurance Store' is a frequent contributor on this forum. You will want to visit their web sites for information - then call them and speak with someone at the brokerage to see what is your best fit on insurance.

Your port side cabin will generally face southward, toward the sunnier side of the ship. A sea breeze can be assumed - but direct sun on the balcony depends on multiple factors.

We had 8003 back in 2010 [pre 'remastering'] only two doors from the Library [not obstructed]. This was a day of sailing gift from the upgrade fairy, and it took some time for our luggage to arrive [was waiting in a crew area near our assigned BZ category room on deck 4]. The stateroom interior was identical to other Britannia balconies. Outside the door, the glass fronted balcony was a smidgen shallower than out typical sheltered balcony room.

No - the internet package is only for accessing stuff off the ship. The 'My Voyage' page is local to the ship [the old buzzword was intranet ]. There are also a few 'cunard.com' and other pages accessible without the internet package.

Back in 2019 we had no inked stamps added to our passports - UK Border folks updated their files electronically on the eastbound crossing, passports were listed as 'not required' for Hamburg, and for LeHavre passports were required, but not presented in the terminal - not even an electronic stamp. Likely things would be different when disembarking instead of shore excursion day trips.

For some folks, the phosphoric acid found in Coke products [not found in Pepsi] helps with nausea. As you can see, lots of suggestions but no universal answer.

Some independent northern lights 'chase' tours will have tripods available by request - this was not the case with Cunard's bus based shore excursions

I think that is exactly backward [Port Out, Starboard Home]- sailing west, in the northern hemisphere, the port side will generally face south (toward the equator ). We book round trip crossings so it evens out (and we get our eastbound five hours back on the westbound crossing..

I think you will need to check the policy details and definitions to see if coverage ends when you arrive in port, or when you arrive at your domicile.

What dates did you specify when you purchased the policy?

Our westbound crossing starts in LeHavre on 18 October 2024 [following Newport, Boston, eastbound crossing, Hamburg round trip]

I noticed today that on the USA Cunard website the "My Account" login was back - and it allowed login with a password saved from the last time the login was available. There are 'My Details' and 'My Preferences' options available after login. My Details has current contact information, the World Club number and an option to updated email & change password [no voyage history or WC status] My Preferences has three checkboxes for marketing contact preferences [ok to email, ok to snail mail, ok to call] and a question if you routinely use an agent to book

If you want sun, the starboard side of the ship will generally face south [toward the sun] on an eastbound sailing.

We tend to book category 'BU' staterooms [mid ships, between the 'B' and 'C' staircases] on decks 4 or 5.

We have done three transatlantic round trips so far, with a fourth booked for next October. Cunard offers a variety of scheduled round trip crossings on the Queen Mary 2, with different length 'side trip' cruises scheduled after the initial Southampton arrival. The basic round trip crossing includes a one day visit to Southampton, with the return crossing starting the same day last the eastbound crossing ends. There are also options with cruises to Norway, Hamburg, or even Mediterranean ports between the crossings. Last year we had one of the longer options - 26 nights including a 12 night Norway sailing between the two crossings. Other options that are sometimes discussed on this forum are some combination of a repositioning cruise, a land tour and perhaps a QM2 crossing - but we prefer the option of unpacking *once* for our entire vacation.

One source is the Port of Tromso web site https://tromso.havn.no/en/traffic/cruise-calls/ I believe that "Kai 8" is the pier for smaller ships [e.g. MS Maud] downtown, while "Kai 21" is the one north of town [the "Breivika Cruise Havneterminal" ]