BobBranst

3 hours ago, Underwatr said:

 

Note that socks and underwear are IMO very pricey. I'd just use the sink and roll up in a clean towel before hanging to dry.

We've been doing the same for years.   In addition to the shower clothes line provided, we aways bring along an extra line with suction cups that stick to the inside wall of the shower.   Most synthetic underwear and socks will dry over night.   BTW - if you send cotton T-shirts to the laundry, they come back ironed and hung on a wire hanger.    

We attended the evening Diamond & Platinum party shortly after we became Platinum and we have not  attending another.   There are now so many people in this group that it is not all that special.   Unless you happen to be one of the early people in line, the tables are all full and it becomes a room full of wall to wall people standing, holding a drink (assuming you can find a waiter).   Having to stand for a couple of hours is not my idea of fun.

Having a late morning party with fewer people should make the party more enjoyable for those attending.

Perhaps it might be better if they were to split the group into separate Diamond and Platinum parties. 

15 hours ago, Underwatr said:

Very unusual at dinner. Perhaps more common in the Queen's Room.

Absolutely.

 
Removing your jacket in the Queen's Room is sometimes necessary because you are moving and generating body heat.   Removing your coat in the dining room is quite another thing and not a good one.

5 minutes ago, Tonopah said:

We dance. It's way too warm to dance with a jacket on. Mister hangs his on the chair as you described.

We dance too, but I wear vests with my tuxedo rather than a cummerbund on formal nights.   Cummerbunds always seem to move out of place on my body whlle dancing and can look rather sloppy with the jocket off.   

56 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I'm not thinking so much about temperature safety--QM2's buffet puts anything that has to be kept cold on chilled surfaces (until you learn where those are, it can be a challenge to find butter!). I'm thinking about issues of people touching foods that are open. I'm having horrible images of someone "tasting" the jam or swiping a finger into the crock of butter. 😱

Unfortunately, while it doesn't happen often, things like this do happen.   I have observed individuals on the QM2 picking up food with their fingers and then place it back after "examining" it.   Fortunately, the Kings Court buffet crew does seem to be watching for this and I've seen them remove food items that have been touched (if they happen to see it happening).   Some people ...

Thanks for the correction.  the HafenCity facility was far from excellent even though it was relatively close to the city center.    Do you happen to know if there is a subway station near Steinweder like there is/was at HafenCity?  

It may depend on which of the Hamburg cruise centers the ship uses.   There are three.  

When we boarded the QM2 in Hamburg, we arrived at the HafenCity Cruise Center a little before noon and there was already a passenger line stretching well outside the building.  We were in our cabin about 90 minutes later.   If I were doing it again, I would consider waiting until closer to the suggested time before arriving at the port.  

Some have said that boarding at the newer Altona and Steinwerder Cruise Centers are better organized, but I have no personal experiece with them.   

2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Firstly,  the English language is the English  language, intention cannot change the meaning of the words invite or ask or request, all of these mean that something is voluntary. Cunard choose these words and must either change them or live with the official meaning, see any dictionary

 

Not exactly true.  There are actually several versions of the English language.   Words do often have different meanings, depending on where it is spoken and written.   In an earlier post, Windsurfboy referred to an item of clothing as a  "jumper", whereas that very same item of clothing is referred to as a "sweater" in the US.   I have no idea what it would be called in Australia or New Zealand.😉   

If one insists on being a stickler for language accuracy, consider the fact that Cunard is a wholly owned subsidiary of the an American corporation (Carnival).   Therefor, any words used in the Cunard documents (even those for the UK market) could conceivably have been written by an American and that the American Version  English Language could conceivably have slightly different meanings than that used by those in the UK.

It's All a matter of Semantics.

I suppose the next step in this ridiculousness would be to insist on having the average Cunard passenger's weight, waistline, chest size, bustline, shoe size, amount of hair, color of hair,  and have the average of attractiveness (can't be too pretty or too handsome).   

In the US, there is one (and probably more) search engine on the internet that allow you to compare the many different  travel insurance polices available from over 20 companies.   Search for "Travel Insurance Comparison".

Our experiece has been that the cost for good comprehensive travel coverage amounts to about 10% of the total cost of our trips.   It can be more or it can be less depending on the amount of risk you are willing to assume.  

9 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

Is that true?

 

I've heard variously that helicopter evacuation is frightfully expensive, or not charged to the evacuee since it is in all likelihood performed by the local Coast Guard.

 

$50,000 in evacuation coverage (the Cunard Care level of coverage) may not go far if the helicopter is charged against it. An airlift medevac from an auto accident can easily run to the high $20k's.

 

On one of our East bound crossings, the QM2 was sped up during the night using the gas turbines so that it could get within the helicopter's range of around 300 miles ASAP for an emergency medical evacuation.   The patient's cost for the helicopter was reported to have been $150,000.    I don't recall if the cost for medical care aboard the ship was mentioned.  This was reported in an old CC posting a couple of years ago.

9 minutes ago, Ynox said:

On my phone I was able to run a speed test whilst sat in the Golden Lion - 12.8Mbit down, 2.87Mbit up. 696ms ping latency. For satellite at sea I think this is pretty satisfactory really. I was able to use WhatsApp / Facetime for voice calls with no problems.

 

 

I just ran a speed test on my home ATT U-Verse internet and the download speed at lunch time was only 3 or 4 Mbit faster than Ynox reported for the QM2.   That's quite an improvement over the past.   Not super fast, but should be more than adequate for most on a QM2 crossing. 

49 minutes ago, yhz123 said:

I just came off a Celebrity cruise, and while I wouldn't call the internet connection "blazing fast", it was far superior than Cunard.

It was consider a "perk" when we booked, so I'm not sure of it's monetary value, but it was unlimited for the duration of the cruise. When we are in cruise booking mode, unlimited high speed internet can influence us to pick one cruise line over another. That being said though, so do other things...for instance we were disappointed by Celebrity's lack of self service laundry facilities.

If you are willing to trade having self-service laundry(s) for high speed internet, Cunard is for you.  If not, I believe another line would be a better fit for you at least in the near future.

16 minutes ago, Wiltonian said:

 

I also wonder how representative NYC is of the rest of the USA. London isn't representative of the UK,

I don't think NYC is very representative of the rest of the USA either.   Like the old saying: "It's is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there."      

2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Expanding the picture it looks more like a T shirt than a dress shirt under the sweater/jumper. It was CUNARD not being able to read their own rules I was pointing out.

To carry this into even more absurdity,  one might suggest that since Cunard did not specify a "collored dress shirt",  an outerwear "T-Shirt" (which meets the definition of a "shirt") should be perfectly acceptable under a sweater/jumper.  

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

They are both shown in the photographs Roy took during his recent trip, also linked in the sticky.

 

Menus

Thank you. 

I notice the the Britannia Dining Room Breakfast Menu shown in the stickies no longer shows Waffles or French Toast as being available in Britannia, but both are shown on the Britannia Club Breakfast menu.   Has anyone been able to order these items recently in QM2 Britannia?   Off menu?

While having been on several transatlantic crossings on the QM2, we have needed to use the medical facilites on the ship and have witnessed several helicopter medical evacuations while at sea.    The medical facilites on board are quite expensive, but practically nothing compared to the cost of a helicopter medical evacuation at sea.   It is false economy, and very risky to take a transatlantic voyage without travel insurance that covers you both on the ship and in any other country you happen to visit.

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

CUNARD CONFUSION. When is a shirt a jumper?

 

Just read book for my forthcoming cruise. 

 

Evening smart attire is described as a jacket and SHIRT , as I always thought it was. 

 

Yet Cunard on their website under "what to pack" , for evening smart attire have a picture of a man in a jacket and a collarless round neck jumper with NO SHIRT. No wonder people can sometimes be confused 

(It took me a minute or so to figure out that what the English call a jumper is called a sweater by Americans.)   As I look at the photo there is what appears to be a white colored shirt under the sweater which shows at the neckline.   I agree that it could be confusing if that is all that you look at. 

  
However,  the "What to Wear" section of the Voyage Personalizer for our next crossing there are no photos and it says:

"Smart Attire: Gentlemen, every night we request you wear smart trousers with a shirt and jacket; tie is optional. Ladies, blouses and skirts or stylish trousers and dresses are welcome."  

That's what I go by.   

49 minutes ago, Tonopah said:

Amen to all of this. We knew we wanted to dance on the Queen Mary 2. Neither of us had ever danced before. We took three months’ worth of lessons and felt comfortable enough to get on the floor every night. We continued with our lessons and will be much more proficient when we return (appropriately dressed!) to the Queen Mary 2 dance floor in 2020. But we will still probably look very serious most of the time, but we’re smiling on the inside! 

Your experiecre sounds exactly like our first crossing and learning to dance.   Like you, we are still taking dance lessons and still have a lot to learn.   We are currently working on Quickstep.   It's one of those dances we seldom get to do here and always love doing it on the QM2 (although the good British dancers really make us look bad .)   

17 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Sadly, you will see some "dance snobs" on the floor glaring at people who are not the dance equivalent of a black belt. Some dancers look so serious about it that I wonder if they're even enjoying themselves! (I've seen this on other lines, too, so it isn't a "Cunard thing.") So if you're not an expert, just stay out of the way of the uber-serious and enjoy yourself. 

 

You shouldn't judge a dancers enjoyment based on whether they are smiling or not.   Like any skilled endevor, Ballroom dancing has skill levels and good (non-completive) "social" dancers can spend hundreds of hours learning and practicing as they advance upward from Bronze, to Silver and finally to Gold level.  

It's a fact of life that there will almost always be some better dancers than yourself on the dance floor.  However, skill level really  makes no difference as long as everyone keeps their eyes open and does their best to avoid running into or blocking other dancing couples enjoying themselves (smiling or otherwise).  This is true regardless if it is on a Cunard Queens Room ballroom floor or at your local hometown ballroom.  

41 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

The dress code as written by Cunard is simple and very clear , all one needs  is access to the website and an understanding of the English language. There is only ONE meaning to the dress code take it as it is written, it needs no explanation or elaboration. 

While you are looking that up on the internet, you might also find interesting to read a little about the history behind the original Black and White Ball which took place in the 1960's.   It is not something that Cunard invented.  Here is a link to one article about it on Wikipedia.

14 minutes ago, 2Oldpeopleinlove said:

Your own words:

”With regard to the ballroom dance floor, there are lots of things that the Cunard website fails to mention and/or give specific rules.   It says nothing about knowing basic ballroom dance floor etiquette, but without it, the floor would become mass chaos.   If everyone were to "do their own thing" on the floor, dancers would be crashing and falling into one another and that definately would fall in the disrespectful category even though the Cunard website might not have mention it.“

We have purchased dance lessons, but your assertions say that, whatever we do, we won't be good enough for some people.

If you do an internet search for "ballroom ediquette" and you will find that it is really nothing more than common sense.   It says things like dancers doing "spot" dances (where you basically dance in place) should move to the center of the dance floor so that they don't interfere with those doing moving "line of dance" dances.   That way, you are not a road block for other dancers.   Ask your dance teacher(s).   You are probably being taught things like that already.

For those who are disturbed by this discussion, please keep in mind that the Black & White Ball is just one small 3-4 hour time period that limited to the Queens Room Ballroom.   That's it.   These heated discussions between traditionalists and non-traditionalists have been repeated over and over for years and will no doubt come up again in the future.   There are no secret rules that need concern you.   Crossings on the QM2 are an experience unlike any you will find on any other line.   Try it once and odds are you will be back for a second and more.

1 hour ago, Se1lad said:

My question still stands though - where does it say anywhere on the Cunard site (Or elsewhere else apart from this forum) that its disrespectful to wear anything but black and white on the dance floor during the Black & White ball?

 

apologies if I wasn’t specific enough before 

With regard to the ballroom dance floor, there are lots of things that the Cunard website fails to mention and/or give specific rules.   It says nothing about knowing basic ballroom dance floor etiquettet, but without it, the floor would become mass chaos.   If everyone were to "do their own thing" on the floor, dancers would be crashing and falling into one another and that definately would fall in the disrespectful category even though the Cunard website might not have mention it.

You can say that this isn't the same thing, but in the end, it's all about respecting your fellow dancers who made the effort to actually make it a "Black and White Ball' rather than a Black & White & Red & Green & Purple & Brown & Gray & Yellow & Blue & Gold & etc ball.