bluemarble

I think the survey can be completed on a desktop if you realize (as I did not) that the "Z" and "M" icons seen in my reply #27 are not meant to be active buttons on a desktop (as they are on a phone) but rather indications to type the appropriate "Z" or "M" key on the keyboard to answer the question.

See this post from @Bell Boy.

It does appear the Cunard Australia website is lacking in the amount of detail provided about the OBC amounts compared to Cunard's other sites. It's especially problematic when I check the current "Big Balcony Event" promotion. Nowhere can I find any mention of specific OBC amounts being offered, even in the Terms and Conditions for that promotion. In the US, we usually get a detailed chart in the Terms and Conditions listing the amount of OBC being offered depending on the length of the voyage and the grade of accommodation. But for the "Big Balcony Event" on the Cunard Australia site, all I can find is this blurb about OBC. "On Board Credit (‘OBC’) is per person in USD. Amount varies by stateroom type and itinerary duration as specified and is applied to the first two guests only in a room. For cruises 2-6 nights, there is no OBC applicable. On Board Credit is non-refundable, non-transferable, cannot be redeemed for cash, cannot be used in the medical centre or casino and expires at the conclusion of your cruise. OBC offer valid for new bookings only made during the Campaign Period." When I start a booking and "View fares" on the Cunard Australia site, I am able to see the amount of OBC being offered for the "Cunard Fare", but not for the "Big Balcony Event". This is for a Britannia Balcony on the 14-night New Zealand cruise (Q335). Here we can see I am being offered $230 OBC per stateroom with the Cunard Fare for double occupancy, but all it offers for the Big Balcony Event is "EXTRA money to spend on board". Not very helpful indeed.

This is another case of something that appears to be on Cunard's radar based on this question from the survey. Not necessarily being demoted a tier but the general concept of losing benefits after a period of inactivity. "It is reasonable for points to expire if I don’t cruise for 5 years [Strongly disagree] [Somewhat disagree] [Neither agree or disagree] [Somewhat agree] [Strongly agree]"

I'm cheating a bit since this photo isn't quite from July. It was taken August 4, 2016 from our sheltered balcony on deck 5. This was during the westbound portion of a roundtrip crossing on QM2 that begin in New York on July 24, 2016. It does show sea conditions that might be of some interest even if it was taken a few days past July.

QE's originally scheduled call to Livorno on 12th October 2023 has also been changed to La Spezia. So far the QE itineraries on the Cunard website are still showing Livorno for 28th September 2023.

Oh, yeah. Another "Duh!" moment for me to be sure and more evidence they intended us to use the keyboard to answer that question even though they look for all the world like buttons to be clicked. I suppose they were meant to look like the keyboard keys to be typed rather than buttons to be clicked now that I look at them again. Thanks for your insight.

Oh, Duh! It never occurred to me to try typing "Z" or "M" on my desktop PC keyboard to answer that question. I didn't notice any directions to that effect although they might have been there on the previous screen for all I know. That's the obvious solution others figured out but I didn't to get past that issue on a desktop/laptop. Thanks for your follow-up. Edit to add: Does anyone have a theory for why they chose the letters "Z" and "M" to denote what is essentially a No/Yes (Does not describe/Describes) survey response?

Thanks to @babs135 providing the schedule for the QV Christmas cruise, the Queen Victoria 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule is now complete! There is only one 2023 voyage remaining for which I do not yet have the dress code and theme schedule: Queen Elizabeth Voyage Q335 (New Zealand) December 3-17, 2023 (14 nights) If anyone is on that voyage, I would be most grateful if you could let me know the dress code and theme schedule listed in the Day Calendar section of your booking in My Cunard. A hearty thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project to get us this far. Now that we are on a new browser page, I'll copy the links to the documents forward here for easy access. QM2: QM2 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule QE: QE 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule QV: QV 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule

I agree that's standard behavior for My Cunard. My bookings show the message "Your stateroom will be allocated closer to departure" before changing to show the cabin number I have booked. That message doesn't display for 10 seconds for my bookings (more like 1 second for me), but it does display briefly on my bookings. The login process "spins" for about 10 seconds before it shows me anything about my booking. That behavior is normal as well.

Interesting discussion about whether total spend should factor into the Cunard World Club reward system. There was one question on the survey asking our opinion about that topic, so that's at least on Cunard's radar. "The more I spend/shop, the more I should be rewarded [Strongly agree] [Somewhat agree] [Neither agree or disagree] [Somewhat disagree] [Strongly disagree]"

Sounds like there might be different issues being encountered with the survey. Here is where I got stuck. I see now I was actually at 76% complete at this point. The buttons for the "Z" and "M" responses on this page were not active on my Windows desktop PC. Clicking on those buttons did nothing so I was unable to proceed to answer the question and move forward with the survey. When I switched to my phone to resume the survey there, those buttons were active so I could answer the question and move on to complete the survey.

QE's been looking good on several of the webcams on the cabovillas.com website. Here's a capture from one of their webcams.

For those who didn't receive the survey or might be interested in a recap of the Cunard World Club benefits we were asked to rate, here is a transcription from my copy of the survey. Some of these are existing benefits while others are suggestions for new benefits. Existing Benefits Priority boarding Internet credit redeemable against one of our onboard WiFi plans A complimentary meal at one of the ships alternative dining venues (those you pay for/not included in fare) Complimentary wine tasting Exclusive Cocktail Party - enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres in one of the ships elegant venues with likeminded travelers Drinks & canapes reception before dinner with senior officers 10% saving on luggage service (transports your luggage directly to/from home to ship) 20% off specialist Laundry fees e.g. dry cleaning and pressing Early bird savings on cost of future cruise e.g. 5% discount for the first 8-12 weeks of new cruises going on sale. Exclusive membership pin to show your loyalty tier Possible New Benefits Discount on stateroom (cabin) upgrades when booking Free credit (US$) to spend on board 10% discount on your onboard spend 10% discount on shore excursions Discounts on alternative dining venues/room service i.e. those you pay for/not included in the fare Discount on spa treatments/products A complimentary taster treatment in the spa e.g. hand massage, head massage, 15-20 minute facial Complimentary one day pass to Spa facilities (thermal suite, sauna, steam room) Loyalty members exclusive lounge area Priority table seating, pre booking window for open dining (choose where your table is / prime location tables) Your choice of welcome gift in your stateroom (cabin) e.g. fresh fruit, flowers, chocolate, canapes, cakes, etc. A bottle of your choice e.g. wine, champagne, soft drink, in your stateroom (cabin) on the day you embark Free branded gift, e.g. collectibles, art print, professional photo of location on cruise, branded merchandise Exclusive shore excursions bookable by loyalty members only Early access booking window for shore excursions/spa/dining etc. Food & beverage experiences e.g. tastings, classes, cocktail masterclasses, champagne, afternoon tea Exclusive dining invitations e.g. Meet the Chef, Top sailor dinner with captain or senior officers Elevated embarkation e.g. hot beverage/soft drink and snacks in terminal before you board Lounge access at airports for fly-cruise Free tickets to events between cruises e.g. Theatre, Chelsea Flower Show, MOMA, special performances, guided tours Discounts with cruise line partners e.g. hotels, theatre Retailer discounts on travel insurance / travel related products & services

My US survey stated the prize is a $500 Amazon voucher.

There was this one item which might be related within the question "Before today, which of the following rewards and benefits from the Cunard World Club loyalty program are you aware of and which have you used?" "Dedicated loyalty area online (exclusive to members)" I had to answer "Not aware of" since as far as I know, there is no such facility for guests in North America. I have to say I was puzzled by that one.

Same thing happened to me on my desktop PC. Couldn't get past that 73% mark in either Chrome or Edge from my PC. There weren't any active links on the page to answer the question and continue the survey. I decided to try it from my phone. I was able to pick up where I left off by bringing up the email and tapping the survey link from that email on my phone. I was able to complete the survey starting at that 73% mark using Chrome on my Android phone. Hope that helps others with the same (or similar) problem.

The new 2025 schedules are now back up on the resource I found. That resource only lists new 2025 itineraries for QA, QM2 and QV. Nothing there for QE yet. That's not unusual since in the past when the main announcements were made during September, QE Alaska itineraries were not included then. The new QE Alaska itineraries weren't announced until sometime later (anywhere from October to December). Last year when the main announcements for 2024 weren't made until late November 2022, the announcement for QE wasn't made until early March 2023, along with the early 2025 world/exotic schedules for the other ships.

We were on board QM2 over Halloween quite a few years ago (2015). We saw a few guests who went all out with Halloween costumes but not many. In our case, it wasn't a formal night. Most guests dressed according to what was called the informal dress code back then (jacket required, tie optional for gentlemen). In your case with it being a gala evening with the masquerade theme, some guests might add a few extra flourishes to their masquerade masks, but I wouldn't expect too many dressed in full Halloween costumes. Now of course that could have changed recently, so perhaps others can chime in with more recent experiences concerning attire they've seen or worn Halloween evening on board Cunard ships. As far as Halloween-related activities, my daily programme from 2015 indicates there was a "Halloween Party Night with Vibz" in the Queens Room that evening. There was a late evening "Halloween Quiz" in the Golden Lion and a "Halloween Raffle Draw" in the Casino. The bars were promoting Halloween-themed drinks (The Commodore's Eyeball in the Commodore Club and Bloody Marys in all the bars). That was about it. The ship should be decorated with Halloween displays. Here are a couple photos from our 2015 voyage on Queen Mary 2.

I'm not sure of all the ramifications if I attempted to book using a UK site. It looks like the Cunard UK website will accept a US address on the guest information page. It's unlikely to accept a US Cunard World Club number though. The FAQ on the Cunard UK site indicates "if a guest lives overseas and does not have a UK address, this must be booked through the international team." If I were allowed to make a UK booking, then I would be bound to the UK booking terms and conditions which include a non-refundable deposit and the requirement to obtain medical cover of at least £2 million. I'll stick with booking under the US terms and conditions.

It's good to see those of you in the UK are getting some Cunard promotions like this. Since I'm from the US, I don't follow UK offers all that closely, but they seem to be few and far between compared to the frequent promotions we get in the US. For instance in the US we currently have "Summer Savings Event" and "Labor Day Sale" promotions going on in addition to the ubiquitous "Sailing Soon Savings" and "Grills Suite Offer" promotions. By the way, I did a spot check of one of the 2024 voyages from the "10% off 2024 voyages" promotion and the UK fares I'm seeing are considerably better than what's offered for that voyage on any of the current US promotions. And that's not even factoring in the OBC that's being offered with the "Extra spend on board" promotion which looks like it's included with the "10% off 2024 voyages" promotion. I'm a bit envious. It's often the other way around.

The cruise schedule on the website for the Port Authority of New South Wales lists Queen Mary 2 in Sydney on March 4-5, 2026. Sometimes entries that far out don't actually end up on the ship's itinerary though. I suppose those might be reservations rather than confirmed port assignments. There aren't many websites I know of that list 2026 schedules for Cunard ships. One of them is the site for Victorian Ports Melbourne. That site shows a couple entries in 2026 for Queen Elizabeth and Queen Anne, but not for Queen Mary 2. Those entries for Sydney give the impression Cunard might be considering a 2026 world cruise for Queen Mary 2. But I'd like to find other sites that list Queen Mary 2 for 2026 to be more confident about that possibility. Maybe some of our other sleuths on this forum have found other 2026 listings for Queen Mary 2.

Here's a link to a Cunard press release about Mr. Brainwash's mural unveiled yesterday on QE while in Los Angeles. It includes a small photo showing a portion of the work. Making waves in the arts: Cunard partners with pop art phenomenon Mr. Brainwash for unique Queen Elizabeth mural

Time to update these counts to add what looks like the count is going to be for 2025. I also need to amend my previous counts since Cunard has announced on their Event Voyages page that the August 23–30, 2024 eastbound crossing will be “Queen Mary 2’s 400th Transatlantic Crossing”. My previous counts are one too high. I had figured the August 16-23, 2024 westbound crossing would be QM2’s 400th crossing. My counts are correct through what Cunard promoted as the 300th crossing. That was the June 3-10, 2018 westbound crossing. Looking for a subsequent crossing which I’ve counted but Cunard is not counting, there is one prime suspect. That’s the return to Southampton after the 2021-22 Christmas Caribbean cruise was curtailed because of a Covid outbreak. Instead of returning to New York for the scheduled eastbound crossing on January 3, 2022, QM2 spent several days in Barbados before returning to Southampton from there on January 2, 2022. I’ve been counting that return from Barbados in my 2022 crossing counts, but I now suspect Cunard is excluding that unscheduled voyage from their crossing counts. In any event, to get my counts back in sync with Cunard’s counts, I’ll reduce the total number of crossings for 2022 from 26 to 25. One footnote on the count for 2025 I’m adding here. I’m assuming the roundtrip Caribbean cruise from Southampton scheduled for January 11 to February 15, 2025 is going to count as two crossings (i.e. a westbound crossing to Grenada and an eastbound crossing from Philipsburg). I figure Cunard counted a similar Caribbean cruise from Southampton in early 2022 as two crossings. QM2 Crossings Per Year 2004 = 15 2005 = 26 2006 = 20 2007 = 23 2008 = 24 2009 = 23 2010 = 21 2011 = 21 2012 = 20 2013 = 18 2014 = 18 2015 = 22 2016 = 21 2017 = 24 2018 = 24 2019 = 24 2020 = 1 2021 = 1 2022 = 25 2023 = 16 2024 = 20 2025 = 24 Total QM2 crossings through 2025 = 431.

We might consider the somewhat shorter New York round trip October 31-November 26 (26 nights). I'd say at least the eastbound crossing October 31-November 7 is going to be a done deal for us. Our very first Cunard voyage was an eastbound crossing November 1-7, 2005 (back when QM2 crossings were 6 nights). Before dinner on the final formal evening of that crossing (November 5, 2005), I proposed to the future Mrs. Bluemarble. November 5, 2025 should also be the final gala evening of that eastbound crossing exactly 20 years later. We certainly "remember, remember the 5th of November" for that memorable evening on QM2 in 2005. We managed to be on board QM2 to celebrate the fifth and tenth anniversaries of that date in 2010 and 2015. For obvious reasons we weren't able to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of that date on board QM2 in 2020.