bluemarble

For the record, here are all the passenger and crew counts I have for Queen Anne. May 10, 2024: 2596 passengers; 1252 crew May 24, 2024: 2546 passengers; 1249 crew June 7, 2024: 2694 passengers; 1235 crew June 23, 2024: 2757 passengers; 1220 crew June 30, 2024: 2719 passengers; 1235 crew July 14, 2024: 2778 passengers; 1232 crew July 28, 2024: 2862 passengers; 1223 crew

The passenger count Queen Anne reported to Southampton VTS a short time ago is the highest I've heard so far. I didn't get the counts for the maiden voyage but I have the counts for most of her other departures from Southampton. Anyway, she's sailing today with 2,862 passengers and 1,223 crew. This is the first time I've heard a passenger count in excess of 2,800. The previous high was on her just completed voyage when she sailed from Southampton with 2,778 passengers on July 14th.

Here are two of our favorites. The first shows QE2 at Geiranger, Norway during her penultimate call there on July 28, 2008. It's my favorite photo from the one and only time we sailed on QE2. The second is our favorite memory from the 2013 Christmas cruise on QM2. So far that's been our only Christmas cruise on Cunard but hopefully not our last. This photo shows the Wind in the Willows characters around the Christmas tree in the Grand Lobby. That's become a Christmas tradition on QM2. I've learned Rebecca Graves was commissioned to create these characters in 2012. This photo was taken December 23, 2013.

I can recommend the November Caribbean cruise on QM2. We were on that sailing in 2022. One thing making that sailing a bit special is that they typically start putting up the Christmas decorations during the Caribbean portion of that cruise. It was November 27th when the Christmas decorations starting going up on QM2 in 2022.

AKA, the Hotel and Dining Service Charge. If you decide to leave that charge in place, that will be $16 per person per day in Britannia accommodations and $18 per person per day in Grill suites.

Yes, if you wait to purchase an Internet plan until you are on thr ship, that purchase will be charged to your on board account and any OBC you have may be applied toward that purchase.

I just received a much more detailed response than usual to the email I submitted to "cunardonboardservices" only a few hours ago to notify them of our allergies for our latest booking on QM2 as well as another booking we made on Queen Anne a while ago. I used to get just the one line response I posted in my previous reply on this thread. Here is that more detailed email response I received today. "Good day Thank you for submitting your dietary request. At Cunard, we prioritize the well-being and satisfaction of our guests, and your specific dietary requirements have been promptly communicated to our ship's staff, including the maître d' and head chef. Please rest assured that we take all dietary requests seriously and are committed to ensuring a safe and enjoyable dining experience for you. For guests with allergies, we implement rigorous measures to guarantee their safety and comfort. This includes assigning a dedicated waiter, preparing meals in a separate area of the kitchen under the supervision of a different chef, and utilizing a separate entrance for our wait staff. These precautions are meticulously followed to minimize any risk of cross-contamination and to provide you with peace of mind throughout your journey with us. We deeply appreciate the trust you've placed in Cunard for your voyage experience. It is our utmost pleasure to welcome you aboard our newest ship Queen Anne as well the beautiful Queen Mary II and to ensure that your dietary needs are met to the highest standard. Should you have any further inquiries or require additional assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us. We're here to make your journey with us as smooth and enjoyable as possible. Wishing You Well, (name redacted) Cunard Customer Service 24305 Town Center Dr., #130 Santa Clarita, CA 91355 CUNARDONBOARDSERVICES@CUNARD.COM"

We always call Cunard Customer Service to notify them of our dietary requirements for each of our bookings. We follow that up with an email to "cunardonboardservices" as requested by Cunard Customer Service to provide them with all the details as well. We get a response to that email stating "Your bookings have been noted for (your) allergies and a report will go to the appropriate ship staff to advise." Sadly, we've had the same experience that the on board staff doesn't seem to know about our food allergies. Not sure if they don't check their records or if they never receive the promised notifications. But it always seems to take them by surprise when we inform the staff at each different restaurant we visit (Britannia, Kings Court Alternative and Verandah) that we have food allergies. They write down our food allergies as if it were new information. Cunard could do better in that regard and we have discussed that with the on board staff.

I received the usual "Let your Cunard adventure begin" email from Cunard today for a booking on QM2 I made a few days ago. It has the usual content except for one new section I haven't seen before in these emails. That's an "Allergy and dietary needs" section with a link to this "More information" page on the Cunard website. https://www.cunard.com/en-us/food-allergy-and-dietary-requirements This page may have been around for a while but I haven't noticed it before. At least I haven't noticed a page about special dietary requirements with this much detail before. There are a couple items on this page which which stood out when I read them. Those are procedures we've not experienced in the past with regard to our food allergy requirements. Here are the procedures listed on that page which are new to us. 1. "Upon embarking on your ship, you’ll be contacted by the Head Waiter (they will call your stateroom or meet you in the main dining room) to welcome you on board, explain how to order your food, and ensure your allergy or dietary information was captured correctly during booking." We've never been contacted ahead of our first dinner in the Britannia Restaurant before. We always notify the Maitre 'd or Head Waiter upon entering the restaurant the first evening and he takes down all the details of our food allergies as if they were all new to him. I suppose that's what they mean by the alternative of the Head Waiter meeting you in the main dining room. Has anyone with food allergies received a call in your stateroom about that on embarkation day? If so, were you in Britannia or the Grills? 2. "Lunch and dinner for your first day on board will be pre-ordered by the chef on your behalf to ensure your dietary requirements are met. We'll let you know which restaurant to go to on the day." In the past, we've always had lunch in Kings Court on embarkation day and made sure we have something basic that we know won't be an issue or else ask the staff there if we have any questions about a specific item. Perhaps this pre-ordered lunch procedure only applies to Grills guests since the Britannia restaurant isn't open for lunch on embarkation day. For dinner, we've always ordered something off the regular dinner menu and the staff made sure what we have ordered won't be an issue. Has anyone with food allergies experienced this procedure where your meals were pre-ordered for you on embarkation day? And what's up with "We'll let you know which restaurant to go to on the day."? I don't want to give the impression I think either of these items I've mentioned here which are new to us are a big deal at all. They are not. I'm just posting this to make others with food allergies aware of this "Special dietary requirements" page if you haven't seen it yet. And I'm just curious to learn if any of you with food allergies have seen these procedures which are new to us in action for a Britannia booking. Perhaps this is one of those cases where what the website says differs from the actual procedures on board the ship.

I'm pretty sure you can wait as long as you want to purchase the Essential full voyage plan at $18 per day for the remaining days of the voyage. I can't say I've waited until the final day of the voyage, but there was one instance where I had enough remaining internet credit from previous purchases of 24-hour plans to purchase the full voyage plan on the second to last day of an 11-night voyage for $18 x 2 days = $36.

Thanks for the follow-up. Then you each have enough credit for 4.44 free days if you purchase the full voyage Essential Plan (at $18 per day). Or you each have 3.33 free days if you purchase individual 24-hour Essential Plans (at $24 per day). If you are on a 7-night voyage, one strategy you might want to consider is to have one of you buy individual 24-hour Essential Plans for the first 3 days of your voyage to use up $72 of their $80 internet credit. Then the other could purchase the full voyage Essential Plan on day 4 for the remaining four days to use up $72 of their $80 internet credit.

Yes, you may purchase and use an internet plan at the same price on any device, whether it be your own or one of the desktops in the library (or in ConneXions on QM2). You use the same login credentials on any device to access your internet plan.

Do you mean the complimentary wifi you get as an internet credit because of your Cunard World Club status? If so, you purchase an internet package the same as if you did not have that internet credit. Your on board account is charged for that purchase and it is simultaneously credited up to the amount of internet credit you have. Cunard World Club members receive a $45 internet credit at the Gold level, $80 at the Platinum level and $135 at the Diamond level. Those credits are per each individual member at those status levels. If there are two of you with Cunard World Club internet credits, those credits are only applied to internet plans each of you purchase separately. They can't be combined into one credit per cabin to be applied to a single internet plan purchase. Hope this helps. Edit to add: You don't have to use your internet credit all at once with the purchase of a single internet plan. For example, you may choose to purchase several individual 24-hours plans during your voyage and any remaining internet credit you have will be applied to each of those purchases.

Sorry, I didn't see this reply before I posted my latest reply. I'd just like to confirm the length of your voyage to see if that 5% discount you are seeing might be based on the length of your voyage rather than a standard 5% discount being applied to shorter voyages in the UK as well.

Good to know. They do offer discounts on wifi packages for voyages of 16 nights or more, but I'm not aware of any discounts for purchasing wifi ahead of time here in the US. The prices for wifi packages on a 26-night voyage we have booked represent a 5% discount off the regular prices for a voyage of less than 16 nights. But that price should be the same whether booked in advance or on board for a voyage of that length. So, just to confirm, on a voyage of less than 16 nights, are you being quoted prices of $17.10 per day (instead of $18) for the Essential Plan and $22.80 per day (instead of $24) for the Premium Plan in the UK version of My Cunard?

There is a standard 10% discount on shore excursions, drinks packages and dining reservations when booked ahead of time. There is not a standard discount on the wifi packages to purchase them ahead of time, although as mentioned, there was a Valentine's Day promotion earlier this year which did offer discounts on wifi packages. Sorry, I do not know if they offer any standard discounts for booking spa items ahead of time. The prices I'm seeing in My Cunard for spa services don't look like they are discounted, but I can't say for sure. You may want to try to balance the discounts for booking some items prior to your voyage versus waiting to purchase those items on board so you can use your on board spending money.

You may use on board spending money for most purchases made on board. Here is the list of areas were you cannot use on board spending money as listed in the Money Matters section of My Cunard. > Medical charges (including services, prescriptions and supplies) > Cash back > Purchase of foreign currency > International visas > Charity donations > On board gaming (including the Casino) > As full or part payment against a future voyage.

Here's the schedule of Royal Shakespeare Company events for the last crossing we were on which featured the Royal Shakespeare Company (and wasn't also another themed crossing in its own right such as the National Symphony Orchestra and the Festival of Food and Wine). That was the 8-night crossing May 18-26, 2023 which included a port day in Le Havre. May 18 (Embarkation day in Southampton) No events May 19 (Le Havre) 5:00pm - Shakespeare Tales: Sonnets, Illuminations May 20 (At Sea) 5:30pm - Shakespeare Tales: Time, Illuminations May 21 (At Sea) 11:15am - Shakespeare Unwrapped - Macbeth, Queens Room 1:45pm - Workshop: Playing a Scene - Macbeth & Lady Macbeth, Queens Room May 22 (At Sea) 3:00pm - Shakespeare Unwrapped - Benedict & Beatrice, Royal Court Theatre May 23 (At Sea) 2:00pm - Miss Littlewood, Royal Court Theatre May 24 (At Sea) 9:00pm - Royal Shakespeare Company Q&A, Carinthia Lounge May 25 (At Sea) 1:45 - Workshop: Beginners Guide to Playwriting, Queens Room

I'm not convinced I've figured this one out. The photo evidence I've found is less than compelling. There's one image in a photo archive showing a pretty good match to the profile of that hill just to the left of center, but the rest of the hills in the background aren't quite right. Oh well, what the heck, I'll give this a try anyway. There's a cruise-by location on our unseen ports list which is a future maiden call for QM2 during 2025. So that fits in with the provided clue. Is this Hardangerfjord, Norway?

Certainly. It's fair game for anyone to identify.

Perhaps @D&N can identify this one for us now since it's gone unidentified for a couple days. I think it's in his part of the world.

Very good. And I dare say this was taken from QV.

Don't worry about contributing a photo of a port which has already been posted. We have had many repeats. Part of the fun is to see contributions of ports from different perspectives. If you think you have an unusual view of a Cunard port, go ahead and post it for us to try to identify. We'll be happy to see it even if it's a repeat. It's been a while since I've posted the lists of Cunard ports we have seen and have not seen yet on this thread. Here are those lists. Where in the World 2024-06-27.txt Cunard ports not seen yet 2024-06-27.txt

I have been remiss in welcoming two new members to our game. @Clewgarnet first posted while I was sailing on QM2 last month. @*Miss G* just joined us with a post earlier today. Welcome aboard! It's always great to see new members contributing to this long-standing thread which still has some life as it approaches four years old next month.

We have seen Sunnylvsfjorden before but yours is the first personal photo so that's a welcome addition. My contributions back in post #3868 were a couple historic images from the 1930s taken from the archives of the Nasjonalbiblioteket (the National Library of Norway) since I didn't have any of my own photos showing Sunnylvsfjorden during my visit to Geiranger. It's always good to have an additional contribution showing a member's own photo of one of our Cunard locations.