alc13

The prices seem high to me, although my sense of cost is still stuck somewhere in the 20th century. Other lines don't charge for specialty dining. But Cunard is far from an all-inclusive line. We'll probably try the Indian restaurant when we're on board in October.

We drove a few hours north to be near the center of the path of totality, where the total eclipse had a duration of about 3 minutes. Historically that part of Maine at this time of year is usually cloudy, but we were lucky and the skies were clear. The event itself was beautiful and mysterious and awe-inspiring. A thrilling experience.

Just after ours (H426), and we also have an abundance of OBC. We will try to leave some premium wines behind for the rest of you.

Oh, they definitely forgot the coffee...

Is it possible you bought it twice? If so, you could cancel both and then rebook the excursion. Based on my recent experiences, I don't think any major company still has a functional customer service department.

That's a shame, Bigmike911. I remember when you lost citrus trees a few years ago. Your new Satsumas sound promising, hope they live up to their name.

I’ve read that Facebook and Twitter can help. I would try customer service again, too. At least they should be able to escalate your request. Good luck - dealing with large companies can be difficult.

I have no doubt that is the reality. The geek in my loves the data crunching aspect, and those are some pretty graphics. But companies routinely monetize our behavior nowadays (eg, all social media platforms), and the underlying technology has gotten increasingly nosy. But that

Like white mice in a maze. Somewhere I picture lab coats and clipboards monitoring our tracking data.

Don't miss the live music that is scattered throughout the ship.

Tangential but related, I think - sites like Expedia or Google don't list all the available flights for a given itinerary. Which complicates the comparison between Cunard Air and DIY, because better alternatives can pop up on individual airline sites. A thorough search for preferred prices and flight times can take a while.

Oh, I hope so. She is my favorite member of the family.

Interesting. The soups are usually delicious.

Are meals prepared in the same kitchen for all 3 restaurants (4, if you could BC)?

We had our first real snowfall yesterday here in Maine. This morning I saw 3 mourning doves warming themselves on the heated birdbath. Smart birds!

H426, Northern Lights, Oct 15-27, 2024 10/16 Black and White 10/21 Masquerade 10/24 Roaring Twenties

In our (recent) experience, OBC only showed up once we were onboard.

Happy New Year to you, to, @Lanky Lad! And to all the group here on the Cunard Board.

Love it, actually. Reconciling comfort, convenience, and price - very fun for me. It might be a kind of armchair travel activity, now that I think about it.

I've puzzled over this, too. I enjoy making travel arrangements and will probably always rather book flights and hotels myself. As for cruises, I used to think TAs could offer better OBC, but I don't know if that's true. Our most recent Cunard booking has a healthy amount of OBC and we booked direct. On the other hand, we just came off a Seabourn cruise, and there I used a TA because the OBC offering was (or seemed to be) better. We haven't encountered a problem yet that would benefit from having a TA to sort it out, but being impatient by nature I expect I might prefer tackling it myself. All that said, I liked our recent TA experience and will probably call her again the next time we book a cruise.

Good point.

I wouldn't rule out a turtleneck. It can look smashing.

This year I finally got around to making @Colin_Cameron's fruitcake recipe again. Another success! Considering the amount of fruit in it I think it qualifies as health food. Happy Christmas, everyone.

Couple of other responses. Starlink is amazing. You wouldn't have any trouble reading emails with the included wifi package. Food is such a complicated topic. For us, the meals we ate in the Restaurant (main dining room) were not very good overall. Also, since you are considering a lengthy cruise, I will mention that the breakfast offerings in the buffet were the same every day.

We were on the Ovation last week so I can speak to the wines. If you are a wine lover, you may be disappointed by the included wines, which averaged under $15/bottle retail. The list is not readily available so you must simply keep tasting the offered wines until you find one you like. The premium wine list offers alternatives, but at a cost; I saw a few at $70/bottle and the rest were higher to much higher (the prices were about twice retail, I think). There are a few wines by the glass available on the TK Grill bar menu but they cost ~$30/glass, as I recall. So not much available in the $20-40/bottle range.