The Experiment Is On!

[Jack E Dawson]

On Friday my wife and I received an e-mail from Cunard advertising a sheltered balcony on the QM2 TA departing Southampton Sept 2nd (Fashion Week) for $849/pp plus $100/pp OBC. We bit and made the booking. This will be only the second time on a cruise ever and the first was a TA on the QM2 last May. However, on that voyage we were in Balcony Club. Balcony vs Balcony Club has often been debated on this site. Based on our one experience, we thought the dining flexibility, expanded menu and other perks were worth it. Now we will have the opportunity to make a decision based on first hand experience. For $849 can we really go wrong? We will take on the experiment and see. Of course everyone is different but we will be happy to share our experience in this thread.

[Underwatr]

The worst cruise we ever had was one where I said "How bad can it be?" :)

 

But if you enjoy meeting other people and getting to know some fellow passengers over the course of a week a sheltered balcony and Britannia fixed-seating dining isn't a bad experience. And it's not as though you'll be late returning from a port visit some nights.

 

Bear in mind that with noontime clock changes, first seating for dinner comes a little sooner than you might otherwise expect.

[Host Hattie]

Have a great time. I look forward to hearing about it.

[Glenndale]

The worst cruise we ever had was one where I said "How bad can it be?" :)

 

But if you enjoy meeting other people and getting to know some fellow passengers over the course of a week a sheltered balcony and Britannia fixed-seating dining isn't a bad experience. And it's not as though you'll be late returning from a port visit some nights.

 

Bear in mind that with noontime clock changes, first seating for dinner comes a little sooner than you might otherwise expect.

From Southampton you will be gaining hours not losing ;)

I believe this is usually done overnight on the East to West sailings and not midday.

[wenlyn]

From Southampton you will be gaining hours not losing ;)

I believe this is usually done overnight on the East to West sailings and not midday.

 

You are correct Glendale Sou - NY time change is at 2am (my son stayed up most nights to watch it happen!) so dinner gets an hour later every night.

 

Our first TA was your combo Jack Dawson and it initiated several crossings and raving to our friends & family so I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

wendy

Edited July 29, 2018 by wenlyn
grammer!

[LB_NJ]

On Friday my wife and I received an e-mail from Cunard advertising a sheltered balcony on the QM2 TA departing Southampton Sept 2nd (Fashion Week) for $849/pp plus $100/pp OBC. We bit and made the booking. This will be only the second time on a cruise ever and the first was a TA on the QM2 last May. However, on that voyage we were in Balcony Club. Balcony vs Balcony Club has often been debated on this site. Based on our one experience, we thought the dining flexibility, expanded menu and other perks were worth it. Now we will have the opportunity to make a decision based on first hand experience. For $849 can we really go wrong? We will take on the experiment and see. Of course everyone is different but we will be happy to share our experience in this thread.

 

 

The price seems really good for sheltered balcony. My only experience is obstructed view balcony in July.

 

There are two top tables in Britannia (which is what we had) however if you don't book them in advance they tend to not be available if you want to switch.

[Underwatr]

From Southampton you will be gaining hours not losing ;)

I believe this is usually done overnight on the East to West sailings and not midday.

Thanks. I didn't notice the direction of the crossing until I saw which one was the fashion week cruise.

[Jack E Dawson]

Slight panic attack this morning. Woke up wondering if our Deck 4 cabin might be directly above G32 or the Queens Room and we would be hearing music till the wee hours of the morning. A quick check of the QM2 deck plans shows that we are above the Britannia MDR. Hopefully that will be a quiet location.

[wenlyn]

Slight panic attack this morning. Woke up wondering if our Deck 4 cabin might be directly above G32 or the Queens Room and we would be hearing music till the wee hours of the morning. A quick check of the QM2 deck plans shows that we are above the Britannia MDR. Hopefully that will be a quiet location.

 

We never had any problem with that general location. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip. The only problem we've ever had was when there was a connecting door. Cunard put a magnetic door cover over it after our complaint but we could still hear next door. We found stuffing socks all the way round sufficiently deadened the sound!

[Alanxx]

Slight panic attack this morning. Woke up wondering if our Deck 4 cabin might be directly above G32 or the Queens Room and we would be hearing music till the wee hours of the morning. A quick check of the QM2 deck plans shows that we are above the Britannia MDR. Hopefully that will be a quiet location.

 

We were in 4203 during the World Cruise earlier this year and could just hear some background music at night but it wasn't obtrusive and it didn't stop us falling asleep.

[Jim Avery]

Jack,

If nothing else it will be better than any airplane flying between the UK and the US😳🍸😎