BobBranst

This subject has come up numerous times on Cruise Critic during the years we have been dancing on Cunard ships (usually QM2).  

We usualy avoid going to the Queens Room early in the evening on "Ball" nights since the dance floor is usually very crowded and occasionally with some  who do not know about ballroom Dance Floor Etiquette (the same for both International and American Smooth Style ballroom dance).  

We generally haven't observed any unusual dance floor problems if we wait until after 11pm on "Ball" nights or go on the regular band starting time on non-"Ball'  nights.   

If everyone were to take 5 minutes to look up  "Ballroom Dance Floor Etiquette" before getting on the dance floor...

We have booked SF to Sydney on QV in Feb 2022 and Sydney to Perth on QM2 in March 2022.   The OBC included is less than on previous bookings,  Fortunately, the OBC for stockholder and military remains the same.

36 minutes ago, Lanky Lad said:

The formal part of Cunard is part of the fun for me.  But a dark suit will be sufficient.

We feel the same way.   However,  I'm not sure my tux willl fit me by the time we can take our next cruise.   

We had hoped that there would be an Australia circumnavigation on the 2022 Cunard schedule.  However, no such luck.  As an alternative, we are considering taking the QV V206 cruise from San Francisco to Sydney (22 days),  and then 5 days later, take the QM2 M207N from Sydney to Perth (8 days).  
 

If practical, we would like to take a train, plane or bus to Brisbane and the Gold Coast during the 5 days between cruises.   This will be our 2nd trip to Australia and can't wait to get back.   Hopefully, there will be a effective coronavirus vaccine long before this cruise. 💉

It is well worth watching.   I look forward to watching the next installment.   

8 hours ago, rolfecms said:

Does anyone know how those living across the pond can view this program?

Subscribe to a VPN service that has servers in the UK.

It has been our experence that QM2 Transatlantic crossings are generally more "formal" than cruises that have multiple ports (and excursions) including World Cruise segments.  A great majority of the men on crossings will be wearing tuxedos and ladies will be wearing gowns or cocktail dresses.   However, a dark suit with tie is perfectly acceptable for men on "Gala" evenings.  Tie is optional on other evenings. but many men will wear a tie.   

If you are ballroom dancers, Cunard is the line for you.   All Cunard ships have large ballrooms with a 7 piece dance band and vocalist playing most evenings.   If you aren't ballroom dancers, the ships also have nightclubs with dancing.   

Anyone have a photo of the QM2 8058 view?   

We always book obstructed view cabins for TransAtlantic crossings.   Realistically, there is usually nothing but ocean to see after you leave NY or Southampton until you reach the turnaround port.   A plus is that obstructed cabins are all located near the center of the ship on deck 8, which can save some walking to the dining room or theaters.   

7 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

There is also self-help disembarkation available for those who wish to take all their luggage off the ship themselves. Self-help disembarkation usually commences between 7:00am and 7:30am for a QM2 arrival that's scheduled at 6:30am.

A slightly unrelated question.

Do you know if in-transit guests (without luggage), who will be returning to the ship later in the day for embarkation, are permitted to leave the ship with the early self-help disembarking guests in Southampton?    We are planning a DIY tour via RR from Southampton Central and it would be nice to get a little jump getting to the station in the morning.

5 hours ago, delgirl said:

thank you everyone for your help have booked an oceanview on deck 1, hopefully we will see some whales through the window. Checked what time it gets dark in iceland, when we go it will be dark from about 11pm to 4.30pm so not so bad.

 

Just to clarify a probable typo, the darkness will be from about 11 pm until 4:30 AM.   We will be on the east bound Iceland crossing in August and should be in the middle of a South Coast tour at 4:30 pm 

We are considering the possibility of taking world cruise segments from USA to Australia in 2021.   Can anyone give us an idea of when information and prices of the segments are posted once a world cruise has been announced?

On 11/3/2019 at 3:55 AM, Dancer Bob said:

QR music tends to be dull and dreary, sometimes good tempos, sometimes not. A huge number of Quicksteps, do not expect the quality and variety you find around here. Bob Brandst I believe is an American style dancer, I defer to him regarding those figures. G32 tends to be 30-minute Caribbean mish-mash, although the bands often can do decent latin/rhythm. Sometimes the sound technicians put on good dance music during the breaks, introduce yourselves to the Social Hostess, she might be able to help. TA's tend to attract more gays than dancers, that may work in your favour.

The Cunard experience varies wildly. My last trip on QE, the musicians were playing to a half-dozen passengers, all night, every night, but a few months later, someone reported the exact opposite.

Unlike Dance Bob,  we prefer to dance to a live band rather than dancing to recordings made by musicians playing with a metronome "click track".   The Queens Room dance orchestra plays a good variety of dance songs and tempos.   While the tempos may not be absolutely metronome perfect, we have never found their tempos to be a problem.  However, there is recorded dance music before the band plays and on the band breaks for those who desire dancing to "strict tempo" music. 

The QM2 Queens Room band does frequently  start the dance sets with a Quickstep.  (Prior to our first TA crossing, we knew nothing about this dance.   However, when we saw how much the dancers enjoyed doing it, we brought a Quickstep instructional DVD course and taught ourselves enough to get around the floor without  embarrassing ourselves on our next crossing.)  I don't ever remember the band playing more than one Quickstep per dance set.   The band plays all the usual ballroom dances including Foxtrot, Waltz, Rumba, Cha Cha, Tango, Viennese Waltz, etc.  and they will take requests.   There have been both male and female dance hosts for those who do not have a dance partner on our last few crossings.  

On the QM2 dance floor is usually totally packed on "Ball" nights and many dancers choose to come in late because the floor is frequently very crowded earlier in the evening.        

In short, our experience on the QM2 Queens Room dance floor during  7 TA crossings has been quite different than what Dancer Bob says he experienced on the QE.   

1 hour ago, TheOldBear said:

 

In 2017 it was force 11 winds - but the ship did not rock, and there was little pitching [quite a smooth ride]. We danced a bit in the Queens room with no issues.

We were on board the QM2 in December 2017 (Westbound) with force 10-11 winds and high seas and there was some side to side rolling that was noticeable on the Queens Room dance floor.   Many of the more experienced dancers were able to continue dancing, but for less experienced dancers it proved difficult.  At one point, the entertainment director joked "you don't need to know how to dance on the QM2 .  Just get out on the floor and the ship will do all the work for you".   However, that only occurred one night during our 14 day back to back crossings.   The other nights were dancing as usual.

The QM2 has one of the largest ballroom dance floors at sea.  There is a 7 piece danceband (and vocalist) that plays most nights and occasionally there is a big band night that features the combined members of the theater show band with the members of the ballroom dance band.   In addition, there is usually recorded strict tempo music for dancing earlier in the evenings.  There is also an afternoon tea dance in the ballroom once every crossing.   In short - the QM2 has excellent ballroom dancing!  

Although I don't believe that Anchorage has a dedicated cruise ship terminal, cruise ships from Holland America and others have docked at the city's industrial port and shuttled passengers into the city proper.

This July 9, 2020 cruise does look interesting since it also has a stop in Kodiak, which is not a typical Alaskan cruise ship port of call.   

We love dancing in the beautiful Queens Room Ballroom with it's 7 piece band and vocalist playing for ballroom dancing nearly every night.   There is a Big band night on most crossings.   Even if you aren't a ballroom style dancer, it is a great place for people watching.   

There are self service laundries on decks 4,5,6,8,10 & 11.

Hattie

Like several other posters, we will be in Reykjavik next August on the QM2.  Thank you for all of the information and photos you have posted during your voyage.  

Did Cunard offer any shore excursions for your second day in Reykjavik?  

On 6/10/2018 at 10:01 AM, cruiserking said:

The 4-hour free internet by virtue of being a Platinum member of the World Club is usually enough for my wife and I.

 

Jonathan

If you wife is also a Platinum member,  you and you wife actually have a total of 8 hours of free internet.   That's much more than we have ever needed on a TA crossing.

Enjoyed all of your excellent photos of the ship.   Is there going to be a Part 4 with some photos of the Queens Room Ballroom and the G32 nightclub? 

4 hours ago, medmonkey said:

I appreciate all the thoughts posted here thus far. We will be on the TA departing New York Sept 2020, and my husband and I were planning on flying to Newark the day before, and staying closer to the Brooklyn terminal that night. Are there any hotel recommendations close to the terminal for this plan, or should we be trying to stay at an airport hotel as others seem to be doing? 

 

 

Our decisions to stay at EWR & use the Cunard shuttle has been based solely on cost.   When we have added the total cost of (all) transportation with the cost for the hotel, EWR has always been our cheapest option.  YMMV.

We have flown into EWR on many occasions the day before embarkation and used the Cunard Airport shuttle.  Tell Cunard or have your TA tell Cunard that you are arriving on some airline flight that arrives on embarkation morning.  The hotels near the Newark airport have free shuttles to and from the airport, so we stay over night in one of these hotels and take the hotel shuttle back to the airport in the morning and look for the people wearing Cunard badges in the area near the baggage carousels or where ever they tell you to meet in the arrival area of the phony airline flight.   We've never had problem doing it this way.

My wish would be to have great internet connection in the cabins and in ConneXions, but to totally block reception in all the public areas, especially in the Kings Court theater and Illuminations theater during shows.

42 minutes ago, Camgirl said:

I absolutely agree. I never understand why people think Cunard needs to attract a younger demographic. It just needs to continue attracting the demographic it does currently. I wouldn't have considered a Cunard cruise when I was in my 20's or even 30's. However, in my 40's I tried it and loved it. I'm in my 50's now and find many people of around my age on all cruises. 

I always have to laugh when people talk about how Cunard has to attract a younger demographic to survive.  They don't seem to realize that todays younger people are going to be tomorrow's older people.