alc13

1 hour ago, alc13 said:

I didn't mean to make light of a nightmarish situation.  It is a good TV show, but the story itself is horrifying.  I'm disappointed to hear that the wrongdoers haven't been held accountable yet.  

We assumed that Mr Bates et al would prevail in the end, too.  Nothing fun in knowing now that the wronged postmasters haven't received full justice.

2 hours ago, Pear Carr said:

Not sure about ‘the fun show’ - it is a political drama which has significantly raised the profile of the hundreds of postmasters wrongly accused of ‘faulty accounting’ which people still need to be held accountable for.

 

I didn't mean to make light of a nightmarish situation.  It is a good TV show, but the story itself is horrifying.  I'm disappointed to hear that the wrongdoers haven't been held accountable yet.  

We just found "Mr Bates vs. the Post Office" last night.  Gorgeous scenery somewhere in Wales.  Fun show, too.

6 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

You’re right. My bad. They do now stop at T4, which makes National Express a no-brainer.

 

For an extra £5 you can upgrade at the time of booking to Change & Go which allows you to move to any coach up to 12 hours either side of the one you booked. You can call up to rebook as soon as you miss your booked coach, if necessary.

 

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/change-go

No brainer is right!  As fast as a private car and a fraction of the cost.  And thanks for the info about rebooking, too.

On 4/19/2024 at 7:33 AM, gumshoe958 said:

Be aware that National Express coaches from Southampton do not stop at T4, which is some distance from the other terminals on the other side of the airport.

 

If you choose to go by National Express, get off at Heathrow Central then catch the free Elizabeth line train one stop to T4.

Is that correct?  I've been on the National Express website and they do show a T4 stop.  Both going to and returning from Southampton.

I have a related question.  If we book a changeable fare in advance and then miss the bus because of a holdup in immigration (this is for LHR to SOU), can we rebook right away to the next available bus?

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.

17 hours ago, rakkor said:

 

 

Yes, that's the one we're on in Nov

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.

21 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Here's QA's track from earlier today. Some low speed maneuvers at that time.

 

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.

2 hours ago, tacticalbanjo said:

We’ve already emailed the exec correspondence address as well as the normal email address (not that we’ve had a confirmation of receipt for either) but will try the presidents too for good measure. And maybe messages on LinkedIn plus ringing the call centre every day just in case someone can help us. 

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.

4 minutes ago, tjunmin said:

Actually, picture people in suits - in their posh offices - looking at applications on their computer screens - or tablets - like the one below, to have a better understanding of what consumers are doing and make business decisions. The image has been heavily readacted, but it gives you an idea of what is out there. This system is a few years old, so what is currently out there can be even more sophisticated. It tracked data for a small portion of the business and is not related to cruising or travel. The system was fed by massive amounts of data that were poured into it on a daily basis, and were processed by multiple servers nightly, before it was presented in a neat graphical way, easy to be visualized and consumed by business decision makers. All the visual data can be filtered by different categories, and clicking on any of the data on the screen will drill further down into the data, at a more granular level.

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

17 hours ago, tjunmin said:

I find interesting observing people's priorities.

 

My main concern regarding wearing a tracking device - which the Princess medallion absolutely is - is the loss of personal privacy in regards to my physical location. The matter is not "I'm not doing anything wrong and therefore I have nothing to hide". What truly matters is that your movements are being tracked 24/7 on board, and you have no idea who is looking at that data, how it is being used, or how it will be used in the future. And marketing departments smartly package a tracking device as a convenience tool.

 

Hope no one takes this as a personal offense; it is intended as raising awareness of privacy concerns.

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

On 1/14/2024 at 5:17 PM, DCThunder said:

I am considering booking a Cunard sailing in Alaska in June 2024.  I've sailed a lot on Princess and Holland America and would like to experience Cunard.  I've been reading some of the threads here on Cruise Critic and have watched a video or two on Cunard sailings, but am interested in what advice or tips you Cunard veterans might be willing to pass along.

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. 

36 minutes ago, MylesS said:

I'm not sure if this breaks any Cunard tradition, but surely it would make the most sense for Princess Anne to name the ship, and I would assume then become Godmother?

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

40 minutes ago, NE John said:

I heard that all soups are prepared in Kings Court, even for Grills. Nothing to back that up though. 

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.

19 hours ago, Zeg said:

Some interesting and informative replies. Thank you. 
 

Still curious to learn what a ‘TA’ s good relationship’ with a cruise line actually means in practice. Are we talking about a preferred service? If so isn’t that discriminatory?  Or maybe some backscratching? Complimentary jollies, freebies? 

 

Perhaps cruise lines answer the phone or respond to emails quicker with TA’s?  Maybe you get a better cabin? I don’t know. 

 

What I do know is (in the U.K.) at least, many TA’s require larger deposits and earlier balance payments than booking direct. And cancellation T&C’s require careful scrutiny too because the booking contract is with the TA, not the cruise line. 

 

Doesn’t the ‘service’, we all receive (or otherwise) come from the cruise line itself? Surely the Agent is merely acting as a go between and in doing so taking a cut, which incidentally is fair enough. 

 

I’d be surprised if any cruise line would jeopardise its reputation by providing a two tier service, but I’ve been surprised before. 
 

I’ve an open mind, just curious. I’d book with a TA every time if I could uncover some real and personal tangible benefits. 

 

 

 

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.