maggiemou

We are arriving via Doha so we will buy 2 bottles there.The problem is we want 4 bottles and Singapore only allows 2 to be brought in.Sounds greedy maybe,but we have a 19 day cruise plus an Africa landtour so 4 bottles to drink in the room is not that excessive.We found a store online just off of Orchard rd thats a lot cheaper than Cunard,cheers,Brian.

I could never, ever go to such lengths to save a few dollars / pounds. We book our cruise and sometimes you have to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Just go and enjoy the cruise there are lots of bars onboard where you will have a great time. Enjoy Cunard.

Although I've never cruised with Thomson, I wouldn't have thought of putting the line in the same bracket as Cunard. Ever.

How would you say the on-board experiences compare at the moment, pre any upgrading of the Thomson brand? Do you think the brand really will be able to compete with Cunard for their passengers? I don't.

No neither would I.

I’ve got my eye on the 21-day transatlantic round-trip that others have mentioned (M921A), but it’s a bit too early for me to make a decision and book. I’d love to do that trip though. It’s on my bucket list to sail into Liverpool (my home town) on Queen Mary, and to do a translatantic round-trip - this particular itinerary really appeals [emoji851]

 

 

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We booked this cruise as we have sailed the world but never sailed into Liverpool. It will be a great cruise I am sure. Hope you book this AllieBallie.

When I told people I was leaving from Southampton, many had no idea where that was or even what country it was in. Perhaps that is why they are putting "London" because most Americans at least have a clue where that is. Of course, anyone who books a cruise to London will be extremely surprised when they are deposited in Southampton.:eek:

Hello Scrapnana, how right you are.

I do not see the wording as a dumbing down at all.

Just making sure our friends across the pond know which country they are sailing too. :D Sending you best wishes and hope to see you on Cunard soon. Xx

On two of our three Cunard voyages, tap dance classes were held. They were well attended, and many of the passengers wore their tap shoes. (I never thought to pack mine!)

Is this usual? What about on world voyages?

I have only ever seen tap dancing on QE once on a world cruise

segment. It was run by a passenger, not cruise staff. This was in January.

2011.

However, be warned. Tap dancing is not the best thing to partake in on board a ship. I attended tap classes on another cruise line run by the cruise director, we had to wear tap shoes. The seas were not calm. I fell and had an awful accident. I was medi- vacced off the ship. It cost me £30.000 in bills and I lost a years income and a year out of my life.

I am truly saddened and shocked to read of the passing of Salacia.

May I offer my sincere condolences to her family.

R.I.P

Salacia and thanks for all you contributed to this forum.

We have given in to temptation and booked for the QM2 Iceland, Canada and NY round trip. Mum got her single cabin.

Hi Lanky lad . We have also booked this cruise. 21 days. Liked the ports if call and love been on QM2.

Hi Glojo,

This is exciting for you.well done

Did we not meet on the 2014 world cruise? ;)

We have booked for QM2.

21 days 14 th July.

Going to Liverpool Iceland, Canada.

Some new ports there for us . Sorry we will miss you this. Time. Regards to you and G. X

BTW we are nearer to you now. Moved to IOW.

Just booked the full 2019 World Cruise on the Queen Victoria.

 

I am trying to read about the recent upgrades during her short refit. Inter-active televisions?? Tea and coffee in the cabins :)

Hi Glojo,

This is exciting for you. Did we not meet on the 2014 world cruise? Hope you are well.

Oh! for the days when cruises left Southampton and sailed around the Med. I loved those cruises so much so I ended up living in the Eastern Med for 30 years. Now, most ships never even reach the Eastern Mediterranean without a flight first to Venice etc. Now the sail at a slower pace I guess.

Even the Northern lights cruise as mentioned above does not go as far North as QE2 did which she did right up to her last cruise there in Norway in June 2008 which we were on.

She would go all the way up to Spitzbergen and Bear island and the Lofoten Islands. Now, this new cruise to Northern lights only goes as far as Tromso.

Nice as Tromso is with her lovely Arctic Cathedral, I would like to have seen the cruises go further North. Not that there is much there but the scenery, and fantastic midnight sun sets. Stunning!

I now need a new globe to find my cruise with a difference. ;)

Maggie, am I understanding that you were able to contact American Express and ask for an increase in coverage?

We have American Express Platinum. (The expensive one) They cover us to a max of 10K USD. Should we consider calling them and asking them to increase that limit, for a fee? They cover the basics anyway like your luggage and delay in transit etc. so those things are not of concern to me.

We have top of the line health insurance and we have MedJet Assist so the health part is not as important to us as insuring the amount that might be lost in the event that we should have to cancel before the cruise.

Thank you so much for your input.

Evana

Hello Evana,

The policy you buy has to be over written to make it up to the cover you need. I am no expert on this matter but I think they use a different company.

We do not live in the

UK but I found Stay Sure in the UK very good and they knew what to do. They done. Pat insurance as well. Just tell the company you are thinking of using that you want covering for xxx amount for cancellation. We never had a problem getting it . You pay extra of course but worth it to get covered otherwise If you cancel you will have a shortfall .

It is something of uncommon so it is posssible to do it. IF I remember correct our policy with Stay Sure was overwritten with a company in Ireleand . MAPFRE.

Good luck and have a fab cruise. You will love it and will want to go again. I wrote a book after my travels I saw so much and had such fun

Having done four world cruises in recent years, I can tell you what we did to get insurance. We used Stay Sure in the Uk. They will cover you up to a certain amount but then you need to pay for the policy to be overwritten to cover the cost of the cruise if you neeed to cancel.

This is very important that you get cancellation for the full amount of the cost of the full cruise.

One year we used American Express as they had cancellation up to £ 12-500 at the time and again we had it overwritten to increase this to cover full cost of the cruise.

You must tell the insurers every port of call you are making. You must tell them of any illness etc.

As we were, and still are, a very fit healthy couple our world cruise insurance was around £ 1000 . This was with Stay Sure and in 2013, I had reason to have to claim after a fall on the ship and I was medi vacced off. They paid out no problem. One other thing you must do is make sure you have a credit card with a large amount of credit available.

I ended up in a hospital in Chile where they would not operate on me until I paid upfront. Cost was £ 10-000. All paid for on my credit card. The insurers took a week to pay me back as it takes time to process things when one is half a world away.

So please get fully insured and get a good credit card in case of emergency.

Enjoy your world cruise, you are in for an amazing time. I I have done world cruises on QE and QM2. Amazing experience.

We always have to fly to join any cruise as we live on an island . We just pay the extra luggage allowance and look up on it as part of the cost of the cruise. We usually buy an extra case and that gives you an extra 23 kilos or whatever the airline allow.

On a recent flight on BA we paid online in advance and it cost us £60 . Small price to pay compared to the cost of the 30 night cruise, and we had all our clothes we love to wear, and we had a great trip. Never skimp on luggage I say. My cruise would not be as good if I could not have my shoes and dresses and the rest with me.. Same applies to my husband as well. He love dressing for dinner.

Don't let the thought of spending a few extra dollars spoil your chance of a lovely cruise.

Big Mike gave you some good advice. We did exactly as you are planning last December, traveling from an apartment in Fulham (about 10 or 15 minutes west of Marleybone) with an excessive amount of luggage. Because of the luggage, we did not even consider public transit or a bus shuttle. Instead we arranged for a car from Smiths for Airports (recommended by many on this forum) that picked us up at the apartment at Noon and deposited us at the docks in front of the QM2 at 2:00 PM. I remember the cost as somewhere between $100 and $125. We've used Smiths several other times as well, traveling to Heathrow and Windsor. You can arrange Smiths on-line and arrange it a week before you need the car. Final note, I don't recommend that you arrive early, as you may have to wait a long time to board.

We always fly into London Gatwick Airport and have lots of luggage usually. Three large cases and two cabin cases. Two adults . We use Smiths Cars every time.

Cost for a large car /van with very smartly dressed driver is around £ 90. This is in to Southampton to our hotel.They will pick up in London.

http://www.smithsforairports.com/index.html

I have done full world cruises on Cunard and never known of anyone receiving an upgrade. I doubt they ever upgrade full world cruisers as they book so far ahead and the cabins are allocated.

What she said.

 

I started reading this thread to get an idea of what it's like on the Rotterdam, as we're sailing on her in two weeks (Norwegian Fjords). I stayed to the end, blown away by the photos and very appreciative of the menus and the dailies. The photos were so impressive and evocative that I'm considering for the first time visiting southern Europe, an area I'd never considered.

 

You invited questions about the ship; I have two.

 

1. You said you heard good things about the Lido Market buffet. Did you eat there yourself at all?

 

2. DW and I both dislike garlic, and I see it mentioned in an awful lot of MDR and PG dish descriptions. Did you happen to notice whether dishes on average were quite garlicky or only a little? I ask with some trepidation because some people love it so much and eat it so often that they honestly don't notice.

 

Thanks again for all your work.

In reply to your last paragraph,

I may be able to help you.

I do not eat garlic or onions or very spicy food. I found a lot of the dishes were spiced up so I ate from the same menu, but my food was cooked without the added spices or garlic.

In the Lido at lunch time I had to chose very carefully. We could not dine in the main dining room as it was too early as it closed at 1-0pm.

So lunch we took later and I ended up having sushi most days or a hand made sandwich which I liked even though I never eat bread at home. One day I had haddock but could not eat it as it had garlic topping, so yes, I found the food too much garlic for me but overall the food was good.

If you have food intororances of any kind they can cater for you.

I was told by my waiter my food was cooked separately and they have one chef who just cooks meals for individuals who have food issues.

Sometimes I came off really well. When it was Dover Sole, mine came cooked different to the rest and I got a real large piece of Sole rather than a set sized piece.

I also had green steamed vegetables every night.

Hi Kazu,

This is now my third attempt to write as my previous messages went into Cyberspace.

I would like to thank you for your great reviews and time and patience with the Internet onboard.

We are now back home on the Island of Cyprus after our fabulous time on the Rotterdam.

I have to say our experience onboard was the same as yours apart from the fact we were not in the Neptune suits. We dined in the same area of the dining room where we were, but more aft and had a window view of the beautiful sunsets. Our waiters were first class and the food outstanding. Although I am afraid I had to pass on a lot of it as I have food intolerance issues so ate from a special diet that was given to me the previous night. I can not eat onions garlic and spicy food so I was pretty bland but I got served some wonderful plain cooked fish dishes and lots of lovely vegetable cooked to perfection. Nothing was too much trouble for the chef and the wait staff.

We saw most of the sights you did although much of the time we did our own thing. The tours we took with Cruise Critic members were fabulous and we had great organized trips thanks to Rick and Joyce. thank you both.x

Our favourite yum yum boy who's name I can not spell. Surotino? was a delight and like you we ended up with a real animal farm of origami animals. He was so cute and clever.

The ship is lovely, a bit dark to the eye at first but I got used to the quirky decor. The gym is very good with excellent machines. Not old or worn out. Good fitness instructor.

I loved Stryker and we became drinking buddies in port a time or two. He was just an amazing guy and entertainer who I was shocked to see he smoked so much and had an amazing voice. He is very talented.

I found friendly people on the ship especially the first section when we had such a wide range of Nationalities onboard. Americans Canadians and the Aussie are always such fun people.

The ship has a real comfy feel about it and we did enjoy it.

I was worried it may be a bit too casual in the dress stakes as we tend to dress up for dinner. I need not have worried.

Gala night I wore my long dresses or beaded cocktail dresses. I was not alone nor was my husband in his tuxedo. We dined second sitting fixed dining and I found the guests in fixed dinner dressed up more. We chose a table for two for the first time ever. I liked this as when we were dressed up I never felt we were " overdone" as there was no one next to us were in more casual dress.

Our neighbours on nearby tables were a mix of dress codes but that was Ok by us as we did our own thing and it worked well as I did not mind who wore what once we had dined.

I did miss the buzz of pre dinner drinks in the bars on Gala nights, that were not well attended and on our usual cruise line, Cunard, people dress very formal and the pre dinner drinks time is always very atmospheric. However , that is a minor detail.

The cruise was very port intensive. We called at 18 different ports and it was quite hectic at times.

So much so with time changes etc many guest got tired and my favourite night spot BB Kings became less busy. I just adored BB Kings the singer was fantastic and my type of music. I went most night even had to dance on my own as my husband was not there but who cares, they were great and often the staff were there to dance with.

Salsa and Latin American some nights in Ocean bar. Plus we had a live show of flamenco dancers who came onboard when we were in Lisbon overnight and did a show that was standing room only in the Show Room at Sea.

I did not partake in cooking classes as I never cook won't cook and do not want to cook😄

I leave that to my other half. I did shop a lot in Spain as I have decided after many visits to Spain it has some fabulous clothes and shoes and accessories to buy.

After leaving the ship with more baggage than we arrived with, we boarded another ship, the SS Rotterdam V. She is the predecessor to the MS Rotterdam. She is now a museum and floating hotel in the harbour of her home port. It was an emotional visit for me as I started my cruise life working on this magnificent liner over 35 years ago.

We were checked in and were on deck to watch MS Rotterdam sail away from Rotterdam on her next voyage. The two ships sounded their whistles numerous times as the sail by took place.

We spent two day on my old ship and I did the tour and had a great guide who took me see places others never got too as I told him I had worked there. I could not remember where our beauty salon I had worked in had been. It turned out it is now a store room next to the main check in and our four cases were stored there all day before our check in. I felt very strange about this, and later discovered our room / cabin we had booked was a short walk from my old cabin. Weird feeling again.

SS Rotterdam is in really good shape and some rooms are immaculate and so beautiful after 58 years.

So my cruise down memory lane came to an end and we are now home with fond memories. Till the next time.

We're still tossing our decisions around: I know I'll be in little black cocktail dress with bling or a long dress with same bling (these dresses don't take up much room) for our four Gala nights. Certainly not taking a suit for him, but last time we rented a tux/shoes and he really enjoyed the goofiness of the whole experience. Still thinking about which option he'll be taking. But if we were to be the dressiest folks in the MDR, who cares?

We have just returned from the Rotterdam cruise of 30 nights. We like to dress for dinner and as we regularly cruise on Cunard we like formal dress. I toyed with the idea of what to wear pre cruise, and decided dressing up is what we do best.so husband took his tuxedo and three jackets. He wore his tux on Gala nights. A jacket every other night with a nice tie and occasionally with no tie but a nice shirt, I wore a long dress on Gala nights and also I had calf length beaded cocktail dresses for Gala nights and I wore them on other nights as well. Evening pants and tops. Nothing too casual. We were pleased to find we were not alone. Many tuxedos and DJ's on Gala night. Many ladies in long dresses including staff.

We decided to dine at a table for two fixed dining in the restaurant. I found people on fixed dining dressed up more. Going for a table for two,was a good idea as we were not seated next to someone in casual attire and we did not mind if they were so long as they were not sat next to us as we felt we were doing our thing.

I decided after this trip dining for two makes it less noticeable if you are dressed up and others are not.

I was pleased we took our regular dressy clothes and never felt overdressed or offended by others dress style. I got many compliments on my dresses for other guests. So go for it and enjoy your cruise.

We used RIL Tours recently. Our guide Claudio was excellent. An amazing tour and would recommend this Company.

Thank you so much tv24 :o , very pleased you enjoyed them :) . Happy sailings and best wishes,

Wonderful pepperrn, thank you so much for sharing. Very nice indeed.

I wish you well and many more cruises.

Thanks fantasy ! Now I understand...."help queen Victoria has been hijacked by dress code deniers and I am being held prisoner in my cabin and am only permitted one breakfast per day agent dead cat has gone over to the dark side and I have no backup." I miss Cruachan (Jimmy 3 breakfasts) & the Dead Cat & Mary - great sense of humour each of them has :D

Oh, sorry I just posted above and had not read your reply, but It is about the same. I can read mumbo jumbo being dyslexic.

I remember well the fashion police and had the pleasure of sailing on QE with Whitemarsh and his friend another fashion police member, Louise.

It was a fun thread and meeting Whitemarsh, I was surprised how different he is in real life.

Nice fun people.

I always enjoy your reports Salacia thank you for sharing. Happy cruising.

Thank you so much, Bluemarble. After googling 'cryptographers' so many times, I'm not sure how I came to write it as 'cartographers'. (embarrassed grin)

 

With your help, I have once again decrypted Cruachan's message.

helpq ueenv ictor iahas beenh ijack edbyd ressc odede niers andia mbein gheld priso nerin mycab inand amonl yperm itted onebr eakfa stper dayag entde adcat hasgo neove rtoth edark sidea ndiha venob ackup

I can read this without any help.😄 I am dyslexic. So it is clear to me . It reads.

"Help Queen Victoria has been hijacked by dress code deniers and I am been held prisoner in my cabin and am only permitted one breakfast per day agent adcat has gone over the dark side and I have no backup"

You go down to the Restaurant just before serving, there is always someone from your station setting up the table. Or you may be lucky and see a table mate in one of the lounges. You can also pick up the telephone and speak to the maitre d and ask to get the message to your table.

To be courteous and well mannered sometimes one has to put up with a little inconvenience.

I agree, and this is what we always do if for any reason we are not going to be at dinner that evening. It is the polite thing to do.

Titan is a cheap budget no frills airline like many that fly to the Mediterranean these days, as many of these tourist countries do not have a National Carrier airline or schedule flights.

The flight is short around four hours so you really do not need a meal.

If you do you can buy your own take on meal. Many people take their own snacks with them. Pop into WH Smiths in the airport terminal or Boots, and buy a meal deal. This is what most people do.

I live in the Eastern Mediterranean so always have to fly to join a cruise and always have to use no frill airlines. Even BA do not provide a meal on flights from where we live and our flight time is approx 5 hours. We never need to eat on the flight but may buy a cup of coffee or tea.

I am sure you will have a pleasant flight and you can make up for the shortage of food when you join your ship.😄Safe journey.

Hi Roscoe, loving your reports. I have fond memories of Valparaiso after waiting to return to my world cruise after I was medi vacced from a ship in Punta Areanas.

I loved Valparasio and the surrounding countryside.

Looking forward to your next report. Enjoy.