bluemarble

On Thursday, Viking Neptune was docked at E-Berth and there was a container ship (I think it was Maersk Euphrates) docked at F-Berth (where QM2 was docked yesterday). QM2 has since relocated to E-Berth following QV's departure. I'm not knowledgeable about all the details, but from what I've gathered from some well-informed posts elsewhere, the Viking Ocean ships tend to be less maneuverable in windy conditions during docking procedures. I can't say for certain, but QV may have been able to dock at Cape Town on Thursday if Viking Neptune had been able to vacate E-Berth or another suitable berth had been available. Now having said that, QV was late departing Cape Town, so perhaps she ran into conditions similar to what Viking Neptune experienced. And the drama continues with QM2 which hasn't departed Cape Town past 9:00pm local time.

Not sure if QM2 is going to be delayed departing Cape Town as well (she's still there after 7:00pm local time). But unlike QM2 which is scheduled to call at Walvis Bay a second time on Monday (because of being rerouted back around Africa for the return to Southampton), this was of course QV's only chance to call at Walvis Bay this year.

I'm also seeing elsewhere that QV's call to Walvis Bay has been canceled. I think that was pretty much inevitable after the 12+ hour delay departing Cape Town this morning instead of last evening. The best she could have managed would have been a late afternoon arrival at Walvis Bay tomorrow.

The sticky "What do the Obstructed views look like?" is still there at the top of the list of stickies on this forum.

Queen Victoria was scheduled to be in Cape Town both yesterday and today. QM2 is scheduled to be there today and tomorrow. Viking Neptune being unable to depart Cape Town until late last evening most definitely affected Queen Victoria's schedule. She lost a scheduled day in Cape Town yesterday and had to spend the day off shore instead until Viking Neptune departed close to midnight. Queen Victoria is able to salvage one of her two scheduled days in Cape Town today.

Viking Neptune departed her berth at Cape Town about an hour ago (approximately 11:35pm local time). QV remains just outside the port for now.

There's also the "Find a Cruise" functionality on this website which we can mention. If you select "Transatlantic" for the destination and all of 2025 for the date range, it currently lists 256 cruises on a variety of cruise lines including repositioning cruises across the Atlantic. You can further filter the results to US departure ports and UK ports of call to refine the results to just those cruises sailing from the US to the UK. Can't guarantee that will be an exhaustive list of all repositioning cruises from the US to the UK, but it's a start anyway.

Even though all it says on the Cunard US website is "(Remainder ... due on April 11)", that must mean April 11, 2026. The standard final payment date for US bookings is 120 days prior to the departure date. For the QA cruise to La Coruña departing Southampton on August 9, 2026, subtracting 120 days to calculate the final payment date yields April 11, 2026. I think you'll find if you look again tomorrow, it will still say "(Remainder ... due on April 11)".

An update about this. I learned elsewhere that yesterday, 10 April, was a gala evening on QM2. My prediction that the gala evening originally scheduled for 12 April (now a port day in Cape Town) would be moved to 14 April was incorrect. I updated the QM2 2024 Dress Code and Theme Schedule document to reflect this adjustment to the QM2 gala evening schedule.

Cunard's newest ship Queen Anne, whose maiden voyage is scheduled for May 3rd, will be offering several specialty dining venues unique to that ship. Those specialty dining venues include Tramonto (Mediterranean), Aji Wa (Japanese) and Aranya (Indian). The menus @TowandaUK has posted are for those three specialty dining venues on Queen Anne. This is the first we've seen the menus for those new venues. This thread is specifically for the Aij Wa restaurant. Two other threads started by @TowandaUK show the menus for the Tramanto and Aranya restaurants.

The stated cutoff for submitting your shareholder benefit application using old system was three weeks prior to departure date. They did muddle things though with the information provided along with the 2022 annual report when they stated the cutoff was three weeks in one place and four weeks in another place. I see the current Carnival "Shareholder Benefit" page (which discusses the new process using the Stockperks app) still contains this quote. "Applications to receive this benefit should be made at least three weeks prior to cruise departure date."

Indeed. Let's include the two canceled crossings (April 23 westbound and April 30 eastbound) because of a 'technical issue' at the end of the 2023 world voyage as issues QM2 dealt with during the past 12 months. A Coronation Celebration cruise was added once that issue was resolved. Then there was also the scheduled drydock in Rotterdam during Oct-Nov to add to an already eventful year.

Sorry, I'm not sure what policies apply to changing the date of an alternative dining reservation booked in advance. I don't book alternative dining in advance since we are diamond status with the Cunard World Club. One of the diamond perks is one free dinner in the alternative dining venue so I only reserve once on board.

Now that we've reached 5300 posts on this amazing thread and are starting a new page, it's probably a good time for me to post the updated list of the ports we've seen so far as well as the list of Cunard ports we haven't seen yet on this thread. As a reminder, we welcome photos you may have of any of the ports on the unseen ports list even if they don't show a Cunard ship or weren't taken during a Cunard voyage. We also welcome any photos you may have of ports we've already seen that might offer a different perspective on the port. And we aren't picky about your photos having to show the actual port facility itself. Photos showing just about any feature of the port city are welcome. Where in the World 2024-04-06.txt Cunard ports not seen yet 2024-04-06.txt

That's correct. QE arrived at Shimizu this morning as the last port of call on her current Japan Circumnavigation cruise. I believe this is the first time any of the current Cunard fleet have called at Shimizu. It made our unseen ports list by virtue of QE2 calling there once in back in 1990.

Here's a webcam image showing a Cunard ship arriving at a port we haven't seen yet. It's unfortunate the image is so small, but you might just be able to make out the peak of a famous mountain in the background to help with the identification of this port.

Michel Roux was on the Festival of Food and Wine crossing we were on last September. I suppose the "La Gavroche at the Verandah" dinners on that voyage may have counted as a prelude to the series of La Gavroche residencies planned for 2024. We did not take part however so unfortunately I can't offer any feedback about that. Perhaps someone who was on that crossing and did participate in those dinners may be able to provide their impressions. As I understand it from the Cunard website, there are four La Gavroche at Sea residencies with Michel Roux planned for 2024. Queen Mary 2: Jun 2-9, 2024 Norwegian Fjords cruise from Southampton Queen Mary 2: Aug 6-14, 2024 Norwegian Fjords cruise from Hamburg Queen Anne: Aug 11-18, 2024 Norwegian Fjords cruise from Southampton Queen Anne: Sept 1-8, 2024 Norwegian Fjords cruise from Southampton Now this does beg the obvious question how Michel Roux could be on the QM2 fjords cruise, Aug 6-14, as well as the QA fjords cruise, Aug 11-18. Consider me a bit confused about that detail. 🤔 Edit to add: Maybe Michel Roux is planning to disembark QM2 at Bergen on Aug 12 and join QA at Stavanger on Aug 13? At least that's one possible explanation for how he could participate on each of those two overlapping August voyages.

It might be helpful to post versions of the renderings found on the Cunard website (which @3rdGenCunarder alluded to in the original post). The images found there for the Carinthia Lounge and the Artisans' Foodhall provide a wider perspective compared to what was included in yesterday's email or posted on facebook. The rendering of the Chart Room from the email provides a slightly wider perspective to what's found on facebook or the website so I'll include that here for those who may not have seen it yet. Queen Anne Carinthia Lounge Queen Anne Artisans' Foodhall Queen Anne Chart Room

I hadn't noticed the part about "London" until you quoted it. I suppose they will be welcoming some guests in London on the morning of May 3rd to transfer them to Southampton. But I also suppose it's more of Cunard's marketing for North America we've discussed before that would have us believe they sail to/from London.

Here's the Carinthia Lounge image found on Cunard's facebook page. This somewhat larger image may help with the seating arrangements. I don't think any of the seating is going to be outside. I think it's an illusion with how the lighting and window reflections are rendered that gives the impression some of the seating is outside on the promenade.

No, the only drinks package where the price varies by the length of the voyage is the Beers, Wines & Spirits option.

To be consistent, I imagine they will also be applying the existing pricing structure where the price of the Beers, Wines & Spirits option varies by the length of the voyage. Less than 5 nights: $82.50 in advance, $95 on board 5 - 14 nights: $72 in advance, $80 on board 15 - 84 nights: $67.50 in advance, $75 on board 85 nights or more: $49.50 in advance, $55 on board Edit to add: Yes, the price of the Beers, Wines and Spirits option is $67.50 in advance as listed on our 17-night Queen Anne voyage.

For the cruise you're looking at, you'll benefit from Cunard's standard US refundable deposit being lowered to 20% on voyages of 31 nights or more, rather than a 25% US deposit Cunard requests on voyages of 30 nights or less. You're just getting in under the wire for that policy with a 31-night cruise. Hopefully your travel agent will be able to reduce that deposit for you. Mine is quoting a 10% deposit for the "Upgrades on Us" promotion on that 31-night cruise on their website.

That's very interesting. Yeah, it definitely depends where you look. I'm not seeing a reduced deposit mentioned in the terms and conditions of the current "Upgrades on Us" promotion. When I price voyages using that promotion on the Cunard US website, I am seeing the standard 25% deposit being requested. Here's an example. Cunard US Website Westbound Transatlantic Crossing (M425B) Category: Sheltered Balcony BV Promotion: Upgrades on Us Base Fare: $2,169 per person (double occupancy) Total Base Fare: $4,338 for two (before TFPE) Deposit: $1,085 = 25% of $4,338 However, when I price that same voyage on the website for one of the travel agents I routinely check, here is what I am seeing. US Travel Agent Website Westbound Transatlantic Crossing (M425B) Category: Sheltered Balcony BV Promotion: Upgrades on Us Base Fare: $2,169 per person (double occupancy) Total Base Fare: $4,338 for two (before TFPE) Deposit: $542 = 12.5% of $4,338 I suppose this is another good reason to be looking into using a travel agent in the US. And that's not factoring in the discount off the base fare when I book through this agent. Thanks for encouraging me to look further into this @MCC retired.

For US bookings, Cunard used to offer reduced deposits on most of their short-term promotions (Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, etc.). I haven't seen as many of those short-term promotions lately though and I haven't happened to notice reduced deposits on those they have run lately. All I can suggest is to keep an eye out for future promotions that may offer reduced deposits. Sorry I can't offer more help than that unfortunately. Cunard does offer what they call "Our Lowest Fare" in the US for Britannia category cabins on their 2024/2025 cruises. That fare offers a 50% reduced deposit (12.5% instead of the usual 25% in the US). The catch though is that deposit is non-refundable (and it's a guarantee-only booking).