cruiser1955

I have been looking long and hard at this tour, but been holding back to see what the ship has to offer, and at what price. My Baltic cruise is beginning of June and the ships excursions are not on offer yet on personaliser

 

Out of interest what is the optional evening programme? At what extra cost?

I did this cruise in 2012 with P&O. The two day tour was £230.

In the evening there were three options:

Folk dances £46

Ballet £66

Evening at the Hermitage £126

2014 prices with Cunard were similar but they had 3 two day excursions varying between $290 and $440

Over the years I have done all the evening tours. If you want a good tour of the Hermitage, the evening tour is very good as it was opened just for P&O when I went. About 2 hour tour in groups of 20 followed by an hour concert.

Did the Folk show with Cunard and it lasted around 90 minutes with a break half way through - chance to buy souvenirs at very good prices.

All evening excursions had Russian "champagne" included. They left the ship around 18:30 - 19:00 and returned around 22:30 - 23:00

Bav

I'm on the same cruise and plan to take one of the ships excursions. It isn't a favourite port, but as there aren't that many cruises that call there, I don't want to miss the opportunity.

The last few years I have been on cruises that have called in to Egypt and Israel. On these I have done a mixture of excursions and my own thing. While you can never guarantee safety, I've not felt threatened and in Port Said, Egypt many locals were keen to talk to me and others who had ventured away from the port area.

While you may be over-reacting, if you are going to worry when you go ashore, then stay on board and enjoy the ship. Don't let the worry spoil what should be a wonderful cruise - we've some other great ports of call.

I'm on Oceana in January and we are due to call in to Colon, Panama - I'll more than likely stay on board as that is a port I have never felt safe in unless on an excursion.

Do you mean they have ATMs in the Caribbean which dispense American dollars

They do. If you are on St Maarten make sure you use a machine that gives US$ and not Euros

Glyn

Welcome to CC. One of the things I like in departing from Southampton between November and February is that you never know what the weather is going to be like for the first few days. So, assume the worse and take some warm clothes to allow you to go on deck if they are open and the sail-away from Southampton. Then, if you have great weather from day 1 it is a bonus.

Once you approach the Azores or Madeira the weather should be good, and in my experience, the seas should be calm. I must be a glutton for these cruises as I'm on Arcadia in November and Oceana in January for trips to the Caribbean.

I agree with the English Lady's comments on the entertainment during the crossings but it seems that entertainment on several lines isn't as good as it used to be when there are many sea days.

Hope you have a great time.

If cancellation cover is important, check the small print. When I looked for cover, cancellation was limited to £1500 - this was for any trip booked within one year of being diagnosed (date of booking NOT date of travel). As time went on, amount of cancellation cover increased. I reduced the cost significantly by not having cancellation cover for my illness.

I'm about to take my first HA cruise and couldn't find out how to claim shareholder OBC apart from faxing. I contacted Karen at Carnival in Southampton and she said for me to contact HAL in Southampton.

I then received the following from HAL

I emailed a copy of my share certificate to the email address and received conformation that my OBC had been added two days later. Like you. I booked through a UK TA

Benjis

I've had D186 twice out of choice plus stern cabins on A & B deck. There are pros and cons for D deck compared to other decks. Pros are the size of the balcony and the sheltered nature if the weather is very hot or wet. They also benefit from being soot free although this is not as much of an issue on Arcadia as some other ships. Main con for me was that the cabin was darker than those on the higher decks.

A & B decks are partially sheltered so you get the best of both worlds. However, if the sun shines directly onto the balcony it can be very hot.

The stern cabins benefit from very little wind compared to those on the side of the ship. Not on Arcadia, but I had a stern cabin while in Australia and for 5 days the sun was on the rear of the ship for a week and for most of that week, the balcony was too hot and as a result, the cabin was also hot even with the air-con on max.

I've posted this on the Cunard board as I received it this morning

* Important Information - Ebola Health Screening *

Following the recent news regarding the Ebola virus, we wish to advise you that

in collaboration with international health authorities we have implemented new

screening and boarding procedures. Any passenger or crew member who has

travelled to or through Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea within 21 days of their

cruise departure date will be denied boarding.

This policy also applies to anyone who has had contact with or helped care for,

a person suspected of having Ebola within 21 days of their cruise departure

date. We are also screening our bookings for any passengers coming from these

countries. We continue to monitor the situation closely, along with our

colleagues in the rest of the travel industry. If you require further

information on Ebola, you can visit the World Health Organization's website at

http://www.who.int or the NHS website at http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ebola-virus.

Should you have any questions or concerns about these travel requirements,

please contact us on 0843 374 0000."

Received this from Cunard:

* Important Information - Ebola Health Screening *

Following the recent news regarding the Ebola virus, we wish to advise you that

in collaboration with international health authorities we have implemented new

screening and boarding procedures. Any passenger or crew member who has

travelled to or through Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea within 21 days of their

cruise departure date will be denied boarding.

This policy also applies to anyone who has had contact with or helped care for,

a person suspected of having Ebola within 21 days of their cruise departure

date. We are also screening our bookings for any passengers coming from these

countries. We continue to monitor the situation closely, along with our

colleagues in the rest of the travel industry. If you require further

information on Ebola, you can visit the World Health Organization's website at

http://www.who.int or the NHS website at http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ebola-virus.

Should you have any questions or concerns about these travel requirements,

please contact us on 0843 374 0000."

Based on my experience, it seems to depend on the type of fare that has been purchased. The full Cunard fare saw my cabin allocated about 3 months before departure - tied in with final payment, I'm doing an early saver on QV in 3 weeks and that was allocated 6 weeks before departure. The Saver fare I booked in the summer was allocated less than 2 weeks before departure.

From talking to others on board, inside or outside cabins tended to be allocated nearer to departure than balconies.

Being serious, can the rest of you not see the little beastie next to the picture of pugwash?

 

It seems to be on all cappugwash's posts or on anyone that quotes cappugwash?

Yes we can.

Sorry to spoil the fun a few have had, but it is an image that forms part of the Capn's signature. Nothing to worry about.

........

We are sailing from Southampton. On previous lines we have been given a time to arrive at the terminal but after reading info on CC we normally ignore that and turn up about 12 and are eating lunch 20 minutes later. Do we have to stick to our correct time with QV or can we turn up earlier?

20 minutes may be pushing it a bit but it can be done if you have priority boarding. You will be familiar with the possible delays at security once checked in at Southampton. Bonus with Cunard is that cabins are available as soon as you board unlike having to wait with P&O so you can drop off your hand luggage before going to lunch.

A word of warning. The sea air seems to shrink clothes more on Cunard than P&O - think it may be due to afternoon tea in the Queens Room :)

Agree with kir. I had 4003 and didn't notice any more noise there apart from some ports where the anchor was dropped and from the bow thrusters. Friends were in 4002 and the balcony there isn't as big as the bow starts to curve but it is still a good size - same with 4001.

Hi Sarah

On board prices can be higher if the tours are popular - typically 10% on come of the Cunard trips I've been on. Some do have a limited capacity especially if it is a less visited port.

We are on the same cruise, and I would suggest that if there is a Corsica excursion you want to do, definitely book that in advance. I've booked the trips I want to do in 3 ports and found there to be no capacity issues at the moment.

Only things to add to Ray's reply:

If you have bought a future cruise deposit, you can use it with the Cunard and Early Saver fare but not with the Saver fare.

Solo travellers pay a 75% supplement on Cunard and Early fares but 100% on the Saver fare.

To give an example of how the lowest balcony (CA) fares compare:

V420 Western Med dep 23 Nov 14 nights

All fares rounded and include all taxes and show how the fares have varied over time.

Sorry you missed the fjords. I was lucky in that the weather was perfect, but it is always hit and miss for that area of the world. I've attached a photo of the Oosterdam in Doubtful Sound so that you can see what you missed.

I did go on to do the circumnavigation of Australia and didn't find the overall number of sea days to be a problem. Of the 35 days from Auckland to Sydney just under half were sea days. The part from Adelaide to Bali was very hot, so not the best time for me to be at sea as there was very little shade - that was also the part of the cruise with the most sea days. I had a sunset balcony and that was in full sun during that part of the cruise.

Last year I did the 91 night round-trip to New Zealand on Queen Elizabeth and that had just 29 port days. Fortunately, although less than 200 did the whole trip we did have a very good core group of passengers which did help on the extended sea day parts. Had the group not been good, that would have been too many sea days.

I visited all these ports in the last two years with Cunard and Celebrity. so based on that experience:

You are in for a great cruise.

Looks like this is a "Carnival virus":) as it has spread to the Cunard and P&O (UK) sites as well in the last few weeks. I think some of the features started out on Princess at the start of the year. Not the best design for me. Haven't worked out yet how to find airfares - maybe I need to go further along the booking procedure to get that.

Egypt

No problem using US$ or Euros. I would suggest taking $1 and $5 bills for small purchases. No need for Egyptian pounds anywhere. Cafes will convert to either and prices are so low (coffee and cakes for 3 came in at $6). Taxis took $ in Port Said with no problem. Even "shacks" on the beach would take $ for a coffee or tea - they were so grateful for the trade.

Israel

Many places took Euros but some Israeli currency is good for small purchases as some hotels/cafes wouldn't accept $ or Euros for drinks

A few years since I've been to the Bulgarian and Romanian areas (Danube cruise) but again Euros were widely accepted. I did change to local and found I didn't need it.

Seen in your cruise list that you were on the Oosterdam in February. I was on Celebrity Solstice and passed the Ooseterdam in Doubtful Sound in February

Can you please explain how that balcony is twice the size of others? I have 5084 on a future cruise and, looking at the deck plan, it looks the same as 5180 and its not obvious to me how those balconies are any bigger than others. Am I missing something? Is it any different than a higher deck Britannia balcony on QM2?

You will find that the mid-ship balconies on deck 5 are quite a bit smaller than those on other decks. They also have some shade from the overlap on deck 6. This is due to the lifeboats and affects even the unobscured cabins. I had 5112 - an obscured cabin - but could see that the unobscured cabins were the same depth.

Here is a link to the UK online brochure. It has full prices and runs to around 150 pages

https://cunard.inbro.net/seeinsidebrochure/Cunard_World-Voyages-2016/doublepage

It isn't hosted on the Cunard website so may be available to those of you across the pond. UK prices include all taxes

Thanks for posting that. It has great detail. Do you have anything with the segment stops indicated? I'm especially interested in QM2.

Drop me an email (see signature) and I'll send you some info. Far too much to extract and post here

Full itineraries for all ships in the attached Excel file

Go on sale 9th Sept in the UK

Balcony prices from(GBP): QE 17,999 QV 17399 and QM2 16,699 per person

There look to be lost of segments available going on sale at the same time according to the site I've seen

cunard2016.xls

We are at Lahaina on I believe the 12th February :( So it looks like I will have to try my whale mating call in the hope of attracting these beautiful creatures.

 

I have a 500mm lens plus if needs be a couple of converters but what will be, will be. I am hoping to see these whales from the ship, the better half is on an excursion to see them so hopefully we have our bases covered.

 

My main challenge was\is to snap an albatross or two as I never, ever thought about these humpbacks being within range :)

Hope that you will be in luck. 500mm should be fine, especially with a converter. I got some reasonable shots with a bridge camera set around 500-600mm but not as crisp as with a DSLR.

I'm hoping to get more shots of whales when I'm on the Solstice as we go down New Zealand. I have a stern facing cabin so with luck should get a few as we sail down the south island. I may invest in a converter - longer lens probably not an option due to weight as I'm flying out this time.

The single supplement is tough ...........

Being able to have the stateroom to myself is also nice. After living alone for many years it would be tough to have a roommate for four months (especially in a small stateroom). I can go to bed and get up when I want and not bother anyone else and the closets are all mine!

There were quite a few singles on board QE this year. Couldn't agree more with your comment and it is also nice to be able to have somewhere to go to get away from it all.

I've met several singles on various cruises and we have often discussed sharing, but in the end, we have always ended up paying the SS and enjoying our own space.

It all adds to the cost, but a balcony is IMO well worth the extra. Not that there was ever a problem getting a lounger on QE but sometimes the ship did seem to get a bit stuffy, so being able to refresh the cabin air was nice.