ROLL CALL FOR ''QUEEN MARY 2'' 10th MAY 2005

[SHIPMATES]

Hello all,

We are sailing on QM2 from Southampton to the Med,who is going to join us for this trip let us know,any information on this ship would be welcome, its our first time on Cunard we have sailed Princess And P&O over the last 14 years,this will be our 25th cruise.

[seatrial]

I hope to join you. I have finally found a reasonable cruise rate. Several of my coworkers will be joining me. We live near Atlanta Georgia. We are all excited. I have never been to London or the Med; though I have cruised several times. How early do you think we could fly out of Heathrow or Gatwick on the day the cruise ends?

 

Thanks

[SHIPMATES]

Hi seatrial,

Thanks for joining this thread and the Med cruise on QM2, I would think you would be at Heathrow airport by Noon and depending on your airline will depart between 3.00 to 5.00 pm.

[seatrial]

SHIPMATES,

 

I'm wondering if you might be able to help me with two questions since you live in England and might be familiar with London. First, do you have a recommendation for getting from London to Southampton? At this point I am planning to hire a private car which is very expensive. Second, I am planning to stay at the Rubens hotel near Victoria Station. I would like to stay near Victoria Station so that I can take the Gatwick Express train from the airport to Victoria Station and walk to the hotel. Are you familiar with this hotel or area? Will this be an acceptable area in which to stay for a couple of days prior to the cruise?

 

Thanks for any help and thanks for the answer to the airport question. Unfortunately all of the nonstop flights to Atlanta leave by 1:30pm. It seems that this will be too early so I will need to take a flight back to some other city and then fly to Atlanta. I have to get home the day the cruise ends.

 

Thanks again,

 

Seatrial

[SHIPMATES]

seatrial

We live about 250 miles from London so do not have details of transport from London to Southampton,the area you have chosen to stay should be fine and give easy access to the sights of London.

 

Please try and e mail Cunard at Southampton and ask for information on transport from London to Join QM2, just check out the web site at

 

http://www.cunard.co.uk

 

 

good luck

 

Shipmates

[Jane Pond]

I have stayed at the Reubens a few times and the hotel and the location are very convenient. You are so close to the Palace and the Mews and Queen's Gallery are wonderful. It's an easy walk back to Victoria Station to pick up the tour buses that go round the city, when one can jump off and on. (Well, not jump per se <g>). Its a safe neighborhood and across the street there is a pub which is frequented by some of the 'Buck House' staff in the evenings, but I never heard gossip.

 

The hotel has a good tea which can do for dinner if you plan right. Usually, I have the tea and have to cancel the restaurant reservation and have a nap!

 

London is my favorite city, so I know you will enjoy it; if not the current exchange rate.

 

Jane in PHL (QM2 Carribean cruise 2/26)

[SHIPMATES]

Who Is Going

[kennethwthomas17]

Hello Shipmates,

 

We are also booked for 5/10/05 sailing. We also sailed in 11/04 and found the QM2 to be incredible! We are in New Jersey, USA and Cunard is transporting us from the airport to Southhampton. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

Best regards,

 

Ken Thomas

[SHIPMATES]

Boot Up ..... Lets Find All You Cunard Cruisers

[SHIPMATES]

Boot Again

[Kitycaty]

Hi - we're going to give it another shot, (had to abort our October 04 round Trip Med cruise due to illness), so thought we'd give it another try on this cruise.

 

We're traveling round trip transatlantic with the Med Cruise in the middle, (Queen's Grill), and are wondering if there is anyone going on the Mediterranean part of this cruise who would like to share the cost of a Cunard chaffaured car to see some of the various ports on this itinerary, rather than taking the Cunard excursions? I understand Cunard guarantees that the ship will wait for chaffaured cars on return, the same as they will wait for Cunard sponsored excursions should they be late returning to the ship. Cunard also sponsors a chauffered trip to Stonehenge from Southampton which we would love to take! My husband and I are waiting for information from our travel agent detailing these chauffered car offerings by Cunard.

 

If anyone is interested, please give me a shout!

[Kitycaty]

Hi Jane!

Are you going with us on the 5-4th to 5-28th QM2 Cruise. We're both from Philly!

B.J. :)

[Kitycaty]

Is nobody interested? Anyone out there?! :confused:

[kennethwthomas17]

We have been waiting to see what shore excursions are offered by Cunard. Did you have any specific itineraries in mind? Also do you have an idea of what the cost would be?

 

 

Best regards,

 

Ken

[Kitycaty]

Thanx for your response, Ken. Yes, we are particularly interested in seeing Rome, Gibraltor, if the ship will indeed stop there - alot of controversy about this port, as it's always advertised, but the ship rarely stops there, (see my previous posts re 10-11-04 QM2 cruise), Cannes and Barcelona. From what I've heard, these cars are expensive, ($500. a day), but don't quote me yet, as I'm still awaiting our travel agent's response for exact prices from Cunard. However, they're covered by the same "return guarantee" as Cunard's excursions, i.e., the ship will await your return if you're held up. A half-day tour would be less expensive if it's offered! We've been told to expect our Cunard excursion brochure any day now...

B.J. ;)

[iceman666]

KityCaty,

 

I see you are interested to visit Stonehenge. I live about 10 miles from the Stones. I will give you a little advice if you don't mind.

 

They are worth a visit on a dry day but can be very miserable if it is raining as there is little to do inside. May I suggest that if it is wet when you visit, you get your chauffeur to drive slowly past the stones so that you can see them and photograph them. Then ask him to take you into Salisbury (on the way back to Southampton) and to go to the Cathedral. You can visit the Cathedral, have a guided tour of it and even go up the spire. It is a magnificant building and, you may know, was painted by Constable.

 

If you want to know a bit about Gibraltar, please ask as I lived there for 5 years quite recently.

 

Andrew

[Kitycaty]

Thank you so much for your response, Andrew! Yes, we're very interested in seeing Gibraltor, but, for the last few Med trips, we understand the QM2 has advertised this port, but never stopped there! They always have some excuse, i.e., the weather, the harbor's not dredged deep enough for the ship, politics, etc., but they continue to advertise it, and not go there, which I find very irksome. But, DO tell all, we're fascinated by it. I'm praying that they haven't lied again, and we'll actually get to see it, as advertised in their brochure for 2005 (and 2004 too, incidentally)!

 

We also appreciate the info you gave regarding Stonehenge, and it has been duly noted!

 

Many thanx again, :)

B.J.

[iceman666]

Hi B.J.

 

Gibraltar is a lovely spot even for a short cruise call. I am surprised about QM2 not stopping there. QE2 used to dock and other huge cruise liners also tied up. There are a number of places to go alongside and, if not possible because of ship's draft then can anchor in harbour. American Aircarft Carriers used to visit !! It might be because of the political sensitivities over Gibraltar with Spain.

 

Gib is 3 miles long by 1 mile wide. The north side has the airport adjacent to the Spanish border. The east side is barren; it has one small bay and two hotels. The southern tip has a lighthouse and a mosque. The west side has all housing, docks and the town.

 

Shopping. Don't bother going into Spain. Main Street Gibraltar is excellent shopping. Everybody speaks English, the currency is the UK Pound. It is Duty Free. Alcohol, cigarettes, cigars, perfumes, jewellery are all very good value. Most of the shops are jewish owned. They are very happy to haggle over jewellery prices in particular.

 

Refreshments. Lots of bars, cafes, restaurants. Good value. Food is mix of mediterranean and English. Beers are mostly English.

 

Sightseeing. It is well worth grabbing a taxi driver who will do you a Rock Tour. He will drive you round the rock then onto the upper rock to see the apes, St Michaels Cave, the Galleries and other sights. The view from the top is spectacular looking down the Strait of Gibraltar to North Africa. There is a cable car to the top. Taxi drivers speak good English, will not rip you off and are usually very knowledgable about the history of Gib. If you can get a tour inside the Rock to view the Second World War tunnels then you should go. There are more roads under the rock than on the surface and some are open to visitors.

 

If you have any specific questions about Gibraltar I will try to answer them.

 

Andrew

[Kitycaty]

What a great description of Gibraltor, Andrew! I will print this out and show it to my husband.

 

I've heard from my travel agent, and she tells me that although Cunard does run Chauffered cars (hireable from the QM2), they are NOT covered by the guarantee of the ship's "wait" if you are late returning, and the cost for hiring car and driver for the day is $500. per day, half that for a half day, plus tip. I'm not certain that my husband will want to take a chance of missing the ship, so we've pretty much discounted this, unless it would just be a "city" tour of the port (where you couldn't be late returning). :(

[SHIPMATES]

4 Weeks To Go For The Qm2 ,who Else Is Going ??

[pkmiller]

This is our first trip to the Mediterranean. We are considering taking the bus to Florence and exploring on our own. In addition to the sights, would like to tour the Academia and the Uffizi museums. Would appreciate any suggestions. We are arriving in London on May 8th and staying at tne Crowne Plaza, St. James. We sailed on QM2 to the Carribean in June of 04 and had a great time.

[kennethwthomas17]

If you check the above website, you can purchase tickets in advance and not stand on the long lines to get in to the museums. Unfortunately, both museums you mention are closed on Mondays.

[pkmiller]

Ken, thanks for the reaponse. It was a nice thought. Would have thought Cunard would have realized that the museums are closed and not scheduled the stop on that day. Anyway, thanks again for the information.