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david,Mississauga

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Everything posted by david,Mississauga

  1. Because our bookings are handled by the U.S. office, Canadians get the same benefit as Americans. I remember when Cunard used to advertise the availability of FCDs in the daily programme. Now, you have to know they are available. So lately, as Underwatr said, they are a well-kept secret.
  2. I hope the QE will remain on the Alaska route. With the itineraries being set for the other three ships, if it isn't the QE then there won't be an Alaska season for Cunard. The QE is not far from Vancouver on the furthest published cruises for 2025.
  3. That looks like the RMS St. Helena beside the QE2. I regret not taking a line voyage on that ship when it was possible to do Southampton - Cape Town or vv.
  4. I would like to have seen more Atlantic crossings on the QM2. It is difficult getting a suitable round trip from NY, and I don't mean returning the same day or a month later. If Cunard won't increase the crossings I wish they would re-instate the occasional calls at Halifax. We managed to do that only once and disembarking in Halifax was the easiest arrival we have ever had on a crossing. There was no queue for immigration (actually we didn't even speak with an officer, the purser's staff did that) and the railway station and former railway hotel are just across from the pier. There was no need to fly anywhere. One thing I like is the QE will remain on the Alaska cruises - not the Queen Anne as Cunard had said would be taking over those. We have taken the Alaska cruise on each of the three years since the QE has been doing those. We will skip next year but will probably do it in 2025. I know the itineraries have not been announced yet (they are always later for Alaska) but it is obvious the QE will be doing them.
  5. I hope this means that Cunard has re-introduced this convenient transfer of the wardrobe contents. As I mentioned earlier, a few years ago our steward told us they no longer do that. He even asked the head housekeeper but the rules could not be bent.
  6. When we had to change cabins in New York a few years ago we were disappointed to find that the clothes on hangers were no longer transferred and we had to pack everything. The crew handled the change including our flowers and even a partial bottle of water. We remembered to empty the safe and take the contents off with us for the New York business. We have this pleasure again in a year. We had no choice but to book the Southampton-NY-Québec voyage as two trips. Our cabins are just four doors apart. We are hoping that the cabin we are going to for the second segment will be vacated before we have to get off so we might be able to carry our clothes that short distance down the corridor. Being aft on Deck 13 it is likely we will have the same steward so that might make the transfer easier.
  7. It could be, of course, but on the three cruises of 10 days each we had only one day when it was a little bumpy. That was going north on the stretch of open sea from the north end of Vancouver Island until protected by the Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands). We were in Britannia on the first of those cruises, so with the restaurant being right at the stern there was noticeable motion during our meals that day. Very few passengers were sea-sick, though, judging by what few empty seats there were at tables. On the three cruises when we came south on the outside of Vancouver Island it was calm. Each time it was in the month of June. I hope you enjoy it. We have a seasick remedy with us just in case.
  8. I have taken three of the QE cruises to Alaska. The maps are often incorrect. Leaving Vancouver the ship travels between Vancouver Island and the mainland. That should show properly for some cruises. The cruise after your shows the actual route. https://www.cunard.com/en-us/find-a-cruise/Q424/Q424 The QE will, however, return on the outside of Vancouver Island as there is a call at Victoria.
  9. What excuse did they give you? It seems strange that any fare could be discounted to such a degree 13 months in advance that it would not qualify for the OBC.
  10. On our June cruise to Alaska first sitting was 5:30 with last orders at 6:00. The second sitting was 7:45, last orders at 8:15. From recollection it was the same on our first QE cruise to Alaska in 2019.
  11. If you use a travel agent, the on-board booking will be transferred to that person if you wish. I made a booking on board the QE a couple of months ago. When the transaction was completed the rep. said she already transferred it to my agent. Usually I am asked, but it might have been apparent that I have been using the same person for a long time.
  12. Indeed, a reasonable inference from the wording is that only reduced fares offered after final payment will not qualify. I have used FCDs many times and never been refused even when fares are reduced from the original so-called brochure fares. I suppose I have never booked at what is considered a deep discounted fare. Although it will be a year before I will be able to buy future deposits on board I will do so with the hope it will be beneficial. On each of two QE Alaska cruises we got $800 OBC from the deposits - plus other credit for booking early - which were the best we have had. I'm not normally a suspicious person, but I wonder if Cunard is trying to get people fed up with the FCDs so they can be discontinued (as they have in other countries other than the US and Canada) with minimal complaints.
  13. Looking at the confirmation I received for the FCD we purchased on the QE in June, the exclusions at the bottom of the page say: "The Future Cruise Deposit is not combinable with Last Minute Deals, Sailing Soon Savings and other fares offered inside final payment." It seems a bit cheeky of Cunard to deny the use of the FCD so far in advance. As I said earlier I have used this FCD for a voyage in Sept. 2024. It was a discounted fare under the current Summer Savings Event. Perhaps that is not considered a "deeply discounted fare" as mentioned in the posting by Queenvee.
  14. If you are willing to wait a while before booking, precise berth information is available from this site: https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250 We have had three Cunard cruises to Alaska and found this site to be helpful and accurate. Two cruises ago we had to tender into Juneau. The Railroad Dock in Skagway is currently offering different procedures than usual due to the risk of further rockslides. Passengers from ships at the aft end of the pier are required to board shuttle buses to get to the town end of the pier. Those from ships at the forward end are shuttled into town by tenders. This is not meant to be a permanent arrangement. We have noticed in Juneau and Ketchikan that one or more berths are a fair distance from the heart of the city. As Coates55 said there is a (complimentary) shuttle service on double-deck buses in Victoria. It is a long walk to the centre of Victoria. It took me 30 minutes and I walk fairly fast.
  15. I booked a crossing under the "Summer Savings Event" promotion. It is a Britannia Club cabin. We have been given $200 credit for the promotion and $300 for using the future cruise deposit.
  16. Thank you, bluemarble, for the screen shot. Perhaps it is just as well I didn't receive the survey. There is no reason for it to be so complicated. I recently completed a lengthy survey for VIA Rail Canada (train travel being my other travel passion) and it was so easy. It appears to me there are far too many IT people who think: "We are smart and you are not" so they make things far more complicated than they need be just to prove it.
  17. Thank you for this information. If I should receive the survey I will fill it out.
  18. With one exception we have always had the same waiters in all four restaurant categories, including the dinner sittings in Britannia. Last October we were in Britannia Club on the QM2, the starboard side restaurant. We were served at various times by what seemed every waiter in the restaurant. We couldn't figure out who the "main waiter" was. The service was excellent from all. From the comments above this must have been an anomaly.
  19. Our travel agent and I have received this several times. Three of those were for Alaska cruises from Vancouver which of course return to Vancouver. The first time we got the notice was for an Atlantic crossing. Our TA contacted Cunard and they had no idea what it was about. So we now ignore it.
  20. Well said. Yes, it's not just Cunard. VIA Rail Canada is promising (threatening?) to make major changes to their loyalty programme. This will offer a few minor improvements and some major downgrades. I have not received the survey from Cunard, which is just as well considering the problems many people have had completing it. I do not have a phone - well, not the type of phone necessary to complete the survey. Although I have a desktop, a laptop and a tablet that may not be good enough.
  21. Unless there has been a very recent change, the Coast Guard does not charge for emergency evacuations at sea. Our "free" hospitalisation is available only for Canadians, so purchasing travel insurance is prudent.
  22. I think the table was shared with HAL and Disney. A few years before that experience we did board a HAL ship in Vancouver. It was so different than boarding Cunard. The man at the desk looked carefully at each of the two permitted bottles of bubbly, checked that the corks were intact, made notes in a ledger, had us fill out and sign a form. Thankfully Cunard is still civilised.
  23. We had an unfortunate gap in our Cunard voyages from 1989 to 2008. Because our earlier voyages - starting in 1973 - were in the pre-Carnival era there was no record of these. Our tickets and information for the 2008 QE2 crossing showed us as first-timers. I contacted the club by e-mail and they said they would credit us for all the previous crossings if we could prove them. A variety of ways was suggested, but I had kept all our tickets so that was the easiest. When the club received the scanned tickets they gave us Gold status. We were close to Platinum at that point. On boarding the QE2 in Manhattan we were still showing as first-timers. On board, the lovely Yo-yo sorted things out quickly and restored our status.
  24. If anyone thinks requesting a wheelchair will guarantee an early disembarkation they should think again. Last year we disembarked from the QM2 in Red Hook. I was not expecting everything to work well in New York, it never does. There is always at least one issue. Those who had requested assistance were told to report to the Golden Lion at a certain time. There were not enough wheelchairs and/or enough shore staff to push them. Fair enough, not everyone is going to be able to leave at the same time. It took over an hour before it was my wife's turn to get assistance. By the time we got to the bus loading area we found out there were not enough transfer buses for La Guardia. So it was another hour before a bus bound for Manhattan had enough space for 15 more passengers and it was redirected to the airport.
  25. On our recent Alaska cruise on the QE most passengers disembarked from their cabins. Those of us who had booked transfers or tours with Cunard were told to meet in the Queens Room. There were quite a few people there. We were escorted to the gangway in groups, starting with the direct airport transfer. I don't know if this was unique for Vancouver.
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