Giles2000

To all cruisers

It is so exciting to see all the interest in the gala nights.  I love to dress up.  It could be formal every night for me.  Even my sophisticated casual on the other nights will be fancier.    (I am a Chixx girl!)  However, on our test cruise to Alaska last spring I was so very disappointed in the lack of interest on the cruise on QE.  I only saw about maybe 3 couples, maybe 1 tux trying to mimic the gala theme for the evening.  For sure we will be wearing fancy attire beyond the basic theme.  Since we are on the QV sailing from SF to Southampton, we have 16 formal nights.  I plan to interpret the themes and un-themed gala nights (9 +7=16 nights respectively) by packing some leftover accessories from carryover gala nights sailings with Cunard. I love to sew so many of the accessories are interpreted by me.

I envy beautiful designers.  However, I stretch my attire budget by sewing, remodeling cheap Halloween costumes, visiting the internet and charity sites etc.  The SF de Young Museum exhibit in SF right now is so stunning, a decade of gala gowns over more than 100 years by the most famed designers. if you are a creative sewer do not miss this exhibit.  I am making the point on this cruise, a celebration of our 50th university to recycle, to wear once more, my collection of 1950-1970 clothes, jewelry, etc.

Vernzina

PS  IF YOU ARE A CALIFONRIA RESIDENT, A REGISTRARED VOTER, BOARDING IN SF PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU VOTE IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION BY VISITING YOUR LOCAL REGISTRAR OF VOTERS OFFICE ON OR AFTER FEBRUARY 5TH TO VOTE BEFORE DEPARTURE!  OUR VOTING LOCATION HAPPENS TO BE IN THE CITY OF MARTINEZ.   

Queen Victoria world cruise:  We just learned days before the Victoria world cruise begins there might be a change in their wine policy.  We board in SF.  We have emailed Customer Service for a definitive answer.  Apparently now, like Princess you can bring on board as much wine as you chose, notifying them if it exceeds more than one case.  If you consume it in your cabin, great, no corkage.  If you take a bottle to a dining room or bar you will pay a $35 corkage fee.  Were you aware of this possible change in Policy?  We did not inquired about other liquor or beer.

On a different topic:  We received an email indicating of this world cruise as we finish each of the numerous segments if you reach another plateau for the Captains Club you become eligible for the upgraded benefits.  That is a real benefit for us since we have engaged Luggage Forward for our return trip from Southampton to SFO which would no qualify us for a 10% discount.  That email arrived yesterday from Cunard.

Vernzina

QE observation.  We are booked from 2/7-4/28244 on the 81 day cruise from San Francisco to Southampton.

Our cruise is 11 weeks long, and we are only scheduled for 16 gala nights which equals  1.37%

All the 2 week segments are 4 days but the 3 week segments are also only booked for 4 cruises?

Hmmm>

Vernzina

We went to Alaska this spring on QE.  That was one of our themes.  I decided as I usually do to go rouge. My husband wore white linen pants with a metalic gold shirt untucked and gold beads.  I wore a long white polyester dress with metalic gold accents, metalic gold shoes and a wide brim hat I made myself with a big gold rose attached.  It was a hit.  I saw one lady with a white fascinator and nobody else in white.  At this point in time I think it is fair to say enjoy you self with anything fancy you wish to wear.  Please at least make the effort to wear something along the lines of the ice and white theme.  This formal wear as I already posted is falling apart.  If we want to find anything like this when we cruise in the future we must give it the old college try.

Vernie

Hello fellow cruisers.

We are aboard the QV from SF to Southampton with 16 nights of Galla attire starting 2/7.  I would like to support your disappointment about the Galla night themes.  After much research it appears that all cruise lines are under great pressure to do away with all formal nights.  Many of the prominent lines have already done so. What we have observed aboard numerous Princess cruises in the last year or two people are showing up for normal dinners looking like slobs, not even clad in smart casual and formal nights you are lucky to see a handful of nicely dressed couples.  On one formal night there was only one man in the entire dining room in a tux.  Worst yet the management staff lets the passengers get away with this by doing what they chose.  The standards are not being enforced at all.  If too many protest the formality there will not be anyone left to eat in the main dining room on those nights.  I think this is what they are juggling.

By the way, if you want to dress up do so.  There is nobody there that will complain about your sophisticated style.  We showed up on our last cruise in Victorian costumes, me,a Victorian long dress with a hoop skirt and my husband in a steampunk outfit one normal dinner night.  Everyone was so excited and took our pictures.

I think the problem is people are afraid to be different.  They must hide amongst the crowd.  Go for it if you have an outfit you want to wear.  Not a formal night who cares!  We intend to dress up in Mardi Gras costumes on 2/13, Fat Tuesday.

Vernie

PS  I think mostly this is being driven by the men.  I won't let my husband get away with a sloppy appearance at any time if he is with me or he is toast!  I guess I have been successful.  We celebrated our 53 wedding anneversay on 12/26/23.

Just now, Giles2000 said:

On 12/3/2023 at 11:37 PM, Victoria2 said:

Zoot suit? Steamerpunk?

 

You've lost me I'm afraid. We will stick to our usual conservative attire.

If you were the only ones in fancy dress, doesn't that indicate fancy dress isn't what Gala nights are about?

 

Your Zoots and Steamerpunk are both unknown to me but enjoy wearing them.

 

ps, I still don't thin k there will be a Victorian Gala evening.

I keep saying to each his own.  I really mean that.  Wear what attire meets the dress code of the evening.  You also have the option of expanding the theme.  A gala night is about an evening of great food, dance and merriment mostly in the ball room.  Nobody will care.  Tonight's posting gives further insight to why we dress up. English/Scottish is our heredity.  I will find any time to express through dress the feelings of my experience and heredity.  These terms you do not recognize are a part of the English history.  Please take the time to google them, to look at the fun pictures they embody of the times.  We will wear on one of the black and white gala nights our Victoria attire in honor of Queen Victoria's time, to honor the Cunard Ship that bears her name.

Hello to Archipelago:

I am compelled to respond with a history lesson.  My husband is of Scottish Descent with a family tree traced back to the 1,300's.  My family is Cornish were miners from Redruth and Uni Lelant.  We were born in 1944 and raised in the Anglo tradition.  My husband was born in San Francisco, and I was born in Oakland, across the bay.  In the 50's to go to SF our mother's dressed up in a tailored dress, gloves and especially a hat,, maybe in a mink stole.  Just like the royalty of Great Britain today.  My husband as an early teen had to put on his best suite, tie, etc. to go to San Francisco to see monthly his orthodontist to adjust his braces.  That is how serious the traditions were upheld in the 50"s. 

Cunard, an authentic English cruise line, is struggling to maintain this tradition maintained over the centuries. I would encourage them to stay with our background, with their tradition or encourage others to find a more informal line to cruise with. This is why we continue to cruise with Cunard.

Tux or Suit?  I pack for my husband typically a sincere black suite, a gray suite, if applicable a zoot suit for themed nights and for sure his black tux. I also sew matching vests to go with certain outfits.   As dress becomes more informal on the ship you will see fewer and fewer tuxes.  Depending on my attire, how dressy it is, I insist that my husband be a dressed to coordinate with me.  

It is totally up to your preference.  

I totally get into dressing to the hilt.  I also make costumes to wear even on non-masquerade nights.  For the first red and gold gala night, my husband and I will be themed out in Anthony and Cleopatra head dresses with his black tux and my red formal.

This is my way of getting into the spirit of the cruise leading up to departure.  I also decorate our stateroom door with fun items for the upcoming holiday complete with poems that express our feelings to share with you about the holiday.

See you soon!

Vernie & Al

Hi Al

Just did a search on Amazon......Found a Steampunk 2 piece outfit, the shirt and long tailed coat with built in vest on sale for $11.39 US.  If you shop for bargains,you can find them.  He had regular black slacks on in the picture and the same buckles attached by elastic on his loafers.

Vernie

To rtdiva

You guessed correctly......We are in SS!!! on Valmore.  Call us.

Vernie

5 hours ago, jaypo63 said:

😂🤣

Surely not us.  My husband is leaving home is authentic zoot suit to which he usually carries candy cigarettes.

Vernie

6 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Giles2000, I will be the first to own I can't be bothered with gala 'themes', especially those where folk think fancy dress is in order, other than a token nod to red and gold and the black and white evening, both of which take no additional packing for me at all but, I have yet to see a Victorian or a Venetian evening, unless Venetian refers to the Masquerade night.

I can't speak for this cruise but I can speak to the fact that I purchased really cheap Halloween costumes to be worn twice fir Victorian and Venetian.  My husband will be in a steamerpunk outfit.  My dress is long with a wide hoop skirt.  I Uses elastic, I put buckles on his black loafers to look like the old-time shoes.  For Victorian we wear hats and for Venetian we wear black and silver masks we purchased year ago for the first Cunard cruise.

On our Alaska cruise in June we were the only ones on the entire ship in costume.  They were a big hit.

Vernie

7 hours ago, jaypo63 said:

I just love seeing everyone dressed up too,this is why we stick to Cunard,the majority do make the effort,the red and gold is on the Christmas & New Year cruise,doesn't seem to change much e.g The roaring 20s etc although I can't justify paying a fortune for a dress just for one night but it's lovely to see those who DO, happy cruising everyone x

Just a hint about expensive gowns......For something like this I go to the internet.  Lots of the long formal dresses only cost about $35 advertising as prom dresses.  I purchase basic dresses and colors so that I can change them up time and time again.  Black is the perfect example.  I just purchase a couple of Ruanas and scarves in different colors, so it is a different outfit each time.  Travelers from Chico......Over the years I now have about 5 sets of different colors.  You wear them, wash them out in the bathroom sink with Cunard soap and can wear them the next night without pressing them.  You roll them up in an untidy ball to put them in your luggage.

Good luck, see you on the ship.

Vernie

Hello

I agree jeans is not smart casual.  I took a course at SF State says you communicate by dress.  As a retired professional you will never see me dressed in jeans under any circumstances.  We belong to a yacht club in the SF bay.  If you check out the ladies attending the club casually, they will have on $1K designer jeans and correctly dressed with appropriate costly accessories.  Who needs to be kicked for their lazy behavior to be correctly attired for an event? Cunard has a dress code.  We book with Cunard specifically to make sure the cruisers stick to the formal dress code.  Book a cruise with them follow  the dress code to a T or seak out a more affordable casual dress code lines. 

V.

Hello!

Thank you for this posting.  I have been calling everywhere to get the schedule.  I find at this late date it is now posted on the calendar when you log onto your calendar on Cunard.  As I explained to them many times it is too late for their website postings for ladies to design, create, purchase, etc. their attire for such a galla evening.

We cruised late spring to get an idea what gala nights might be in 2024.  I was very disappointed.  Dress codes are not enforced or widely complied with.  I love clothes, I love the themes, I will be dressed to the nines for these evenings.  I am wearing my collection of jewelry dating back to the 1950's to current times I inherited from my mother and I collected.  woops, including her furs.

I posted before.....I was taught with a college coarse at SF state.....it is communication through dress.  Your first impression is most important.  As a retired professional working in SF for 40 years I dressed  everyday before retirement to communicate my professionalism.

I am pulling out of the closet former outfits for Cunard cruise themes, Red and gold,  including our Anthony and Cleopatra head dresses from our Dubai Cruise. We have put together a Victorian/Venice ball outfit for next to nothing to celebrate, promote the theme of the evening as an example.

Yes, I realize to each his own.  My husband and I are enjoying the formal attire encouraged for years by Cunard including day wear and evening wear.  Ladies, put your make-up on, stand up straight and enjoy the years we have yet to celebrate.

Vernie & Al 

Galla Night dress attire and meal planning:  Queen Victoria

We booked the world cruise SF to Southampton commencing 2/7/24, the Covid outbreak delayed our booking for our 50th anniversary, 12/26/2000. We just returned from a 10 day cruise on Elizabeth to test out the sister ship and its features as a comparison before we make our final payment for the world cruise.  We found plusses and minuses.

Dinner Menu:  It changed less frequently than on Princess however they did not offer the set menu like salmon so if you didn't like the worldwide varied menu you were forced to  gravitate to Lido.  Much too often!  I kept pushing the envelope to create my own dinner like a plain green salad with no dressing instead of the offerings. The worse thing was that dinner menus were not posted until after 3 PM daily so if you made your anytime reservation in the dining room in the AM to coordinate with your day's activity you just didn't show up for your dinner reservation and went to Lindo after you got all fancied up for dinner in the main room.  What a waste on meal preparation plans for the Galley.

Galla nights.  People were dressed quite nicely.  Not though the formal attire suggested.  Galla room filled up before early dining was able to get to the room.  Watching the amazing practiced dancers the entire night was mesmerizing.  Dancing lessons for us to begin for the world cruise.  I must say the neatness of the guests far outdid our latest Princess cruise. Everyone looked a mess all day on Princess.  On one formal nite in the formal diningroom only one elder gentleman wore a tux.  People need to improve their approach to their appearance.  A college class I took taught us how you are judged in both your private and public life for success by a proper appearance. My husband and I dressed like Dickens Corallers on the Masquerade night.  Everyone stopped us to be pictured with us.  That made our night and theirs rememberable.  The outfits were cheap Halloween costumes online.  Our experience that night will be remembered for years.

Light up your life with new adventures!  It is later than you think to explore these wonderful experiences!

Vernie & Al 

Hello Passengers

Did any of you get the email from Princess announcing the sale of gift certificates?  Purchase a $500 gift certificate, receive a free second gift certificate for $50.

We did!  I immediately got online purchased enough $500 gift certificates to pay for our entire cruise, tips, tours and booze.  What a deal.  Our Costco citi card will not recognize their 3rd party vendor so we only get 1% rebate not 3% for travel and entertainment.  So what!  1% plus %10 percent, or 11% total is far better than the 3% credit card charge resulting in a net 8% discount on our cruise.  This sale only lasts while supplies last.  Hopefully I am not too late with this great deal.

Just now, Giles2000 said:

On second thought I would like to add to my post.  Going back to read the last few posts vaccinated or not vaccinated will not be considered in my mind by the  cruise lines. It is about their  bottom line to keep the company from going under.  They for sure will never respond to any of your suggestions.   No where in the US are we assurred in any store we visit, a sports event, you name it that the non-vaccinated liars will claim vaccination and will go without a face mask and not social distance.  Get use to the lies and decide how you want to go forward to protect yourself as long as the covid D virus is accelerating the infection rate yet again.  Don't gripe, wear your mask or cancel your cruise.  Don't fret over it for months to increase the stress your are already experiencing.   if you have any hesitancy about your safety now months from now will not change the facts. Cancel the cruise now.  For one we think if we isolate ourselves, wear masks outside our room which we are comfortable doing, distance ourselves by 6 feet and spend as much tune as possible of our time outside our risk will be no greater than going to the local grocery store between now and the departure of this cruise. 

this cruise has no threads anywhere that I can locate. How do you start one? Or can someone find it for me. there is a large sale to reduce costs guest should know about.

Vernie

We were on CB in June. Sleep sofa was not a queen, it was more like a double. It was two cushion section (out of a three cushion couch). Does that make sense? Anyway 15 year old GS did one night on sleep sofa and the moved to upper bunk. It ha a better matteress and was more comfortable.

I stand corrected but then at 70 I am not going to climb into an upper bunk nor allow someone to drop down onto my floor level bed in the middle of the night first on their way to the head. (ships name for bathroom)

On one of our first cruises we went cheap and did an inside cabin with those tilt up bunks above the two of our twin beds. They didn't latch correctly and we were afraid they would come undone and drop onto our heads if we happen to be sitting on our own bed which we did frequently getting clothes from our luggage sitting on the bed. They are great staterooms to stick the kids in when the entire family is traveling.

It is all about what is more important to you. We have cycled through an inside cabin, an obstructed view cabin, a cabin with a deck and now we only do a mini-suite. At this age they are so worth the comfort and convenience.

Vernie

Those of you that are currently on the Regal, is Princess showing any football games, college or NFL? I'll be on the entire month of Oct and am hoping there will be at least some Monday night games and maybe some tape-delayed games showing in our cabins. Please tell me that I won't be going through football withdrawals!

Plan on football withdrawal. They pick one game to put on the big screen outside. If you live on the west coarst, you will never see your teams.

Vernie

My DH and I are sailing on the CB in B752....watching the prices plummet on our W Carib. cruise. I can't take a advantage of price drops anymore, because the category is sold out. Would any of you give up that cabin for another balcony elsewhere if you could get that great pricing and more obc? Yes I know it's a personal decision, but everyone's opinion is welcome! Thanks!

We did an aft facing mini suite for the Panama canalat the same time and we were right next to an exterior door to get even better views. HOWEVER the aft balcony is smaller equal to the rounded corner which was annoying sometimes. Also that stateroom deck has absolutely no protection from the sun morning, noon and evening. And, the ocean view is the same no matter where your cabin is on the ship. Another consideration, which direction will the sun be the majority of the trip. You might want port vs starboaard to get either longer time with sun or without sun.

Vernie

Has anyone sailed on the CB (or any Princess ship for that matter) using a mini-suite set up for 4? The description indicates that the 2 extra people sleep on the pull out sofa (from the mini-suite loveseat, I assume) and an upper berth. We're considering a New Year's 4 day on the CB with our 24 and 22 yr-old kids. I have a hold on the last mini-suite on the CB with this setup and need some advice on whether this would be too cramped. Thanks in advance for any insight.

We always get a mini suite. Check the room layout online. The couch in the mini suite is a queen size bed. That area should have more room for movement than the bed area. I have never used the couch but I would suspect your room steward would set up that bed for you so when you return to your room in the evening it is ready for sleeping.

The pull down bunks are normally found in interior rooms.

Enjoy your trip.

Vernie

Will I be able to use US Dollars in Bermuda at Par? Or do I have to get Bermuda Dollars. Only purchase I expect to is Lunch and Beverages. Possibly tip for the tour guide. Thanks

get a card where you never pay a service card for foreign exchange and never agree to have the restaurant, etc. convert the dollars. Let them float through to your card as is. Besides you might even earn miles for future travel with the correct card. Princess has a card that earns you on board credits and if you one 100 shares of Carnival stock you also get an on board credit. If you travel a lot, you can't beat the ROI.

Vernie