Victoria2

OOPS, disembarkation.

I remember with alarming clarity, the incident when it occured. It was so sad and doubly so for you.

There's no 'ass' at all about QG. None whatsoever. It's a wonderful way to travel and we feel very, very privileged to be able to do so. Go to the Concierge and request a later embarkation. Simples.

We booked on board through the Grills' concierge as it wasn't possible to do so online when we wanted to before but interestingly, the excursion offerings have changed and I notice you now can book a private excursion online but as you say, pretty useless as far as extra info for the disabled traveller is concerned.

I can't help there as we booked our own private transport if we didn't take a Cunard excursion or stay on the ship but if taxis are available and it works for you, great but a few words of caution, and this is possibly a silly thing to say, as I have no idea of your itinerary, do make sure it's safe to do so. 🙂

If going on a Cunard tour, I would ask to go a little earlier so you can get a seat near the front to save any shuffling to sit. It's quite amazing how some of those who are disabled and use sticks/zimmers etc can almost sprint to the coach to bag the front seats or their partner do the sprint for them. I remember a really disgusting occasion when this happened and a chap who carried his wife up the coach steps was almost last onto the coach and NO ONE at or even near the front would yield a seat. 'My wife/husband /partner is disabled [yeah, right but they manage the disabled sprint] and I am going to sit next to her/him/them!!!' scenario. We were quite a few rows back but I got up and she sat next to my husband and he and I went to the back. The member of the Ents staff who was the Cunard rep on the tour said he would make sure their cabin number was on the front seat if they went on any other tours.

All Cunard tours are graded by activity levels, and as long as passengers can somehow get on a coach, either being carried on by their partner or carefully climbing up the steps, then the low activity tours won't be a problem. Our wheelchair folded up and went in the luggage compartment of the coach. These are usually sightseeing 'panoramic' tours by coach with, photo stops and usually a drink at an appropriate stop. No need to get off the coach at all although the refreshment stop can be as much as an hour. We started booking our own tours through the tour office and that involved a half or full day, car, driver and guide. The wheelchair packed up into the boot and we had excursions tailored to our own requirements.

Main tip is the one ace2542 has given. You'll get assistance to board and will get taken to your cabin and assistance at ports and eventual disembarkation. You used to get priority embarkation at the start of the cruise but I have a feeling that might have gone and embarkation now is through cabins and/or loyalty levels. If there are any tenders on your cruise, 'you' will have been invited to a 'step over the yellow lines' meeting. If a passenger can't complete the step test, then no tendering as crew are not there to carry passengers on/off the tender. They will assist but only in a general way. They will however assist a passenger in their wheelchair down the gangways. Can be a bit hairy but I don't think they've lost a wheelchair passenger yet down/up those ramps! 🙂 QM2 has annoying [for wheelchair users] half decks which means using the wheelchair lifts at those points. There are also designated spots in the theatre for wheelchair users and companions so get to know those but apart from avoiding other passengers toes when entering/exiting the lifts, as long as the wheelchair user has an able companion, not much else to write about. We have embarked at Singapore a few times and all I will say is, ENJOY. It's a wonderful way of seeing the world.

If folk want to search for ducks, go ahead but not having looked, I wouldn't have a clue if there are any ducks onboard. Personally, I like mine served crispy, with pancakes. plum sauce, cucumber sticks and shredded spring onion. 🙂

Jolly good and thank you for generating a healthy debate. I know it's a way off, but have a wonderful holiday in a magical part of the world. We have a couple of cruises to our name in Alaska and each one, was fabulous. Enjoy. 👍

I'm no connoisseur so wouldn't know a great caviar from a so so but I always order it for the first dinner onboard and as far as I know, White Sturgeon rings a bell.

Penthouses on deck seven are all Q4s and as far as I know, are all the same size but what that area is, I don't know. We cruised '22 and '23 on QV and whilst I'd say the initial cruise in '22 had one or two very minor issues but nothing which in any way spoilt our holiday, the rest of our cruises have been the usual top notch experiences.

One of our most favourite routes, is Colombo to Cape Town. Lazing onboard with the beautiful Indian Ocean gently aiding our way, is heaven on sea! We've 'done' it a few times with QV and have yet to experience anything other than pure, relaxing, wonderful bliss.

I don 't know, but it's 'off menu' and as I was informed, comes from the Grill's kitchen and not the pop up one. I have had one version which was definitely not the same as Bamboo, but still very tasty, so I specify 'as Bamboo'.

Why look for flies in the ointment. The flights we have booked and put through our Cunard booking aren't reduced/special/agent prices or anything other than normal flight bookings. Any issues and Cunard or the airline through our agent will sort it. It's their problem, not ours. Even after making sure all our ducks are in a row, there are occasions when 'things' are out of our control and we leave it to the experts. I do hope if any re-scheduling is apparent in the coming months, those who have made independent travel arrangements will be able to re-route and not in any way be out of pocket if having to do so.

Too late to edit, in that scenario the airline should sort that out without without the need for input.

As do we. However much we know Cunard 'will sort things', going a few days earlier adds to the holiday/lessens potential stress situations. Enjoy Alaska, it's the most wonderful experience. We added a few days at Knight Inlet Lodge, bear watching the last time we were out there. Oh and welcome to CC Cunard too. 🙂

I can't get my head around much of what Pushpit says but what I DO know is if any part of our Cunard booking [and ours consists of cruise/flights and also hotel which we ditch] goes whatsit's up, then it's down to Cunard, through our agent, to get things sorted, be that a reroute, a delayed boarding and/or a refund. The extra loop, as has been mentioned is a bonus for us say because, say, stuck in some far flung port ready to board and the ship goes technical or has been rerouted, or stuck in the same port and the flight home goes technical, we would leave all the sorting out for our agent to deal with. There again, as has been mentioned many, many times, there are agents, and then there are wonderful agents. Ours is one of the latter variety. 🙂 As for BA, they would not be the first airline we'd choose to fly with but that's a totally different issue.

We only cruise with Cunard and also like to be in complete control of cruise bookings and flights which for us, were always long distance. To that end, we always book specific cabins and also flights, choosing the airline and scheduling, the day, the time and most important, our seats. All this is done through our wonderful agent who bundles it up under one Cunard booking eg, once decided on the flights, they are booked through Cunard. This might/might not be more expensive than trawling around to find cheaper flights but the protection one booking gives, far outweighs the cost differential. At the moment, passengers due to join QM2 in a month or two and have made their own travel arrangements to join the ship, must be wondering if they'll lose their money if their flights become useless whereas if they had booked through Cunard, it;s Cunard's issue to sort out. Same problem arose when QM2s TA was cancelled after her Worldie. Some very unhappy bunnies who hadn't made Cunard travel arrangements there. OK, might be anomalies but anomalies happen and we like to make sure any anomalies don't cost us financially. Others will disagree with me but I think LadyL1 is on the same page as us. Your decision to make. 🙂

and do Carnival Corps. use Marsh as their insurers SaltyCroc because although they might be a big noise in the insurance world, I don't thin k they are part of the International P&I Clubs. However, I am sure any company involved in insuring marine traffic due to be in the area of any conflict, will be in touch with the companies involved 'to have a discussion'.

A Q4 also has the dressing table/extra desk unit by the bathroom door and the knee hole makes a great place to store the extra bags which won't fit under the bed [I know, bed storage has been discounted]. We've never had to have bags stored for us, but then three big cases, some [airline] cabin bags and other hand luggage is the max we've taken, even on a seven weeker!

No, I don't remember and Princess isn't a brand I would choose as an alternative to Cunard so I'll never see the any memorabilia onboard. I'd like to see her as a Cunard Godmother too but the Princess Royal or The Queen or, as has been mentioned, The Duchess of Edinburgh 'would do'!"

Catherine, Princess of Wales would also be a great pick. Wife of the Crown Prince, modern and most pertinently, with her husband, the future of the Monarchy. [ I like The Princess Royal and The Queen too].

Well that fell flat 😕 A valet, a gentleman's gentleman. Think Mr Bates of Downton.

Our US friends might think the Brits have gone for a Valet of renown status!