Transatlantic first timer questions

[PORT ROYAL]

19 minutes ago, steve4031 said:

The pictures of the balconies are helpful.  Thank you.  The sheltered Balcony reminds me of the Cove balcony I had on the Carnival Dream.  Based on the probability of experiencing rough seas at some point during the crossing a lower cabin would be more stable IMHO.  I suspect in extreme conditions the crew takes steps to prevent access to the balcony like Carnival does.  

 

Please forgive me for the Carnival references.  I know the service and product are way different than Cunard. My experiences with cabin location on the Dream could help me understand the location of these cabins on the QM2.  

For mentioning the “C” word multiple times in a Cunard site, a penance is now required .  

Suggest you should seek forgiveness  by taking regular evening cocktails, with the obligatory venue rotations, whilst on the noblest Queen.  The Queen, being generous, will no doubt grant an absolution on the completion of your penance.

 

As an aside.  Do not forget to purchase a tranche of FCDs whilst aboard.

 

 

[steve4031]

I can do a bit of that.  What is a  "tranche of FCDs"?

[navybankerteacher]

On 1/17/2021 at 5:20 PM, IB2 said:

Jet lag is invariably worse flying eastbound 

After flying both ways JFK-LHR many times, I have figured flexible unwinding.  Eastbound (overnight) I scheduled a four hour nap as soon after landing as possible - reduced by half the number of hours I managed to sleep while on the plane. 

 

Westbound, I force myself to stay up until one hour after my usual US bedtime - then when I wake the next morning I am on schedule.

[PORT ROYAL]

4 minutes ago, steve4031 said:

I can do a bit of that.  What is a  "tranche of FCDs"?

A bit?  The whole penance must be completed for the noble Queen to grant you an absolution.

A bundle of Future Cruise Deposits - Giving freedom to book at a later date, at your option, with the full benefits of booking whilst aboard.  A no brainer.

Edited January 22, 2021 by PORT ROYAL
Typo

[TheOldBear]

51 minutes ago, steve4031 said:

The pictures of the balconies are helpful.  Thank you.  The sheltered Balcony reminds me of the Cove balcony I had on the Carnival Dream.  Based on the probability of experiencing rough seas at some point during the crossing a lower cabin would be more stable IMHO.  I suspect in extreme conditions the crew takes steps to prevent access to the balcony like Carnival does.  

 

Please forgive me for the Carnival references.  I know the service and product are way different than Cunard. My experiences with cabin location on the Dream could help me understand the location of these cabins on the QM2.  

The only measures I have see have involved restricting access to selected exterior doors - from Deck 7 to the Promenade [still accessible via the terrace doors to deck 8], and to the Lookout [above the bridge] and Observation Deck [below the bridge].

There is encouragement to not prop bacon doors open, and not have stateroom and balcony doors open at the same time - but I do not recall having the crew secure balcony doors.

[steve4031]

12 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

A bit?  The whole penance must be completed for the noble Queen to grant you an absolution.

A bundle of Future Cruise Deposits - Giving freedom to book at a later date, at your option, with the full benefits of booking whilst aboard.  A no brainer.

Between the drinking and the motion of the ocean this will create a mess for the Cunard staff to clean out.  

 

[PORT ROYAL]

6 hours ago, steve4031 said:

Between the drinking and the motion of the ocean this will create a mess for the Cunard staff to clean out.  

 

The noble Queen and her loyal attendants take everything in their stride.  
 

[Smokeyham]

On 1/22/2021 at 7:13 AM, navybankerteacher said:

After flying both ways JFK-LHR many times, I have figured flexible unwinding.  Eastbound (overnight) I scheduled a four hour nap as soon after landing as possible - reduced by half the number of hours I managed to sleep while on the plane. 

 

Westbound, I force myself to stay up until one hour after my usual US bedtime - then when I wake the next morning I am on schedule.

That is an interesting approach.   Flying east I try to stay up until my regular bed time, but that is always a battle.  Thanks for the suggestion.

[navybankerteacher]

7 hours ago, Smokeyham said:

That is an interesting approach.   Flying east I try to stay up until my regular bed time, but that is always a battle.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Of course, if you are going from California to London you have 8 rather than my 5 hours to adjust for.

[buchanan101]

On 1/18/2021 at 3:30 AM, Fairgarth said:

 

Interesting.  I'm the opposite.  Flying eastbound, I go to bed for a couple of hours after lunch, get up late afternoon and from that point on I'm on local time, no problem.  Westbound, when I get home I'm wide awake at 3 or 4 in the morning and that goes on for at least a week until I finally adjust to local time. 

I've found westbound much easier than east. Eastbound the flights are too quick (even more out of Boston)... not much time for a decent sleep. Westbound, it's just a long day...

[IB2]

It is an established fact that jet lag is generally worse flying east.  Google it for yourself.

[Smitheroo]

On 1/14/2021 at 12:40 PM, Victoria2 said:

The main advantage of an eastbound crossing can be summed up in four words.

 

Lack of jet lag!

Do people suffer from "jet" lag on a TA?  When I fly from California to the East Coast I have terrible jet lag when I get home. It takes me at least a week to recover. This doesnt happen going West.  On my last TA I met a man on the bus from the docks to London. He said that he travels on the QM to London periodically because he cant take the jet lag from flying.  So apparently he has no problem going East on the QM?

[TheOldBear]

2 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

Do people suffer from "jet" lag on a TA?  When I fly from California to the East Coast I have terrible jet lag when I get home. It takes me at least a week to recover. This doesnt happen going West.  On my last TA I met a man on the bus from the docks to London. He said that he travels on the QM to London periodically because he cant take the jet lag from flying.  So apparently he has no problem going East on the QM?

What you experience is five short afternoons - on our last two eastbound crossings, clocks were advanced at noon to 1PM, but that still left time for the speakers were were interested in, and afternoon tea. Perhaps it helped that we prefer the late seating for dinner.

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

Do people suffer from "jet" lag on a TA?  When I fly from California to the East Coast I have terrible jet lag when I get home. It takes me at least a week to recover. This doesnt happen going West.  On my last TA I met a man on the bus from the docks to London. He said that he travels on the QM to London periodically because he cant take the jet lag from flying.  So apparently he has no problem going East on the QM?

No - if you fly NY to London your internal clock needs a bit of time to adjust for the five hours you have “lost” — but it would hardly take a week.

 

On eastbound QM2 crossings that week is built in .

[frankp01]

On 1/14/2021 at 11:47 AM, david,Mississauga said:

As a rail travel enthusiast it pains me to have to suggest not taking the train from Southampton to London unless you are travelling with a very small amount of luggage. Sadly, the convenient boat trains are long gone. The railway station is a short distance from the Ocean Terminal, which is used for most of the Queen Mary 2 crossings. Taxis have always been readily available and it costs about £5, although it may be more since our last trip. The trains serving Southampton are configured for people who travel with nothing more than an umbrella and a briefcase. The last train we took had only one small luggage rack and that was in just one of the three coaches.

 

My preference is rail travel, in general. I take 8-10 long distance trips a year, and maybe only one flight.  I've taken the train from London to Southampton twice. Granted, there was not a lot of luggage storage, but we managed, even with a *big* case each. On one trip, London and the southeast had suffered tremendous rain and flooding the days before. Trains were badly delayed.  The train we were on ended up getting so late it was annulled, so we had to detrain and wait for the next one. The same happened with that one, due to a landslip. By the third train, there was not a spare inch anywhere: on the seats, on the racks, in the aisles, because it had three trains-worth of passengers, and everyone on board was clearly heading to the QM2 with their bulky luggage. But we managed.  I'm not raising the issue of the trains being annulled as reason *not* to take them. Rather, it's to point out that *lots* of QM2 folks do use the train to get to Southampton. And it's only a quick taxi ride from the station. For that matter, depending upon which terminal you're boarding the QM2 from and how independent you like to be, it's only a 25-30 minute walk.

Edited March 13, 2021 by frankp01

[Thaxted]

5 hours ago, frankp01 said:

 

My preference is rail travel, in general. I take 8-10 long distance trips a year, and maybe only one flight.  I've taken the train from London to Southampton twice. Granted, there was not a lot of luggage storage, but we managed, even with a *big* case each. On one trip, London and the southeast had suffered tremendous rain and flooding the days before. Trains were badly delayed.  The train we were on ended up getting so late it was annulled, so we had to detrain and wait for the next one. The same happened with that one, due to a landslip. By the third train, there was not a spare inch anywhere: on the seats, on the racks, in the aisles, because it had three trains-worth of passengers, and everyone on board was clearly heading to the QM2 with their bulky luggage. But we managed.  I'm not raising the issue of the trains being annulled as reason *not* to take them. Rather, it's to point out that *lots* of QM2 folks do use the train to get to Southampton. And it's only a quick taxi ride from the station. For that matter, depending upon which terminal you're boarding the QM2 from and how independent you like to be, it's only a 25-30 minute walk.

Like you we prefer to travel by train, and somehow or other we've always managed to fit ourselves and our luggage on trains between Southampton and London or UK destinations. But as we get older and our luggage gets heavier, or at least seems to, there have been times when boarding the train has been a challenge. Getting an advance fare first-class ticket can be a help, but I must confess that on our two last trips we hired a car to take us to London. It was neither cheap nor romantic, but it was comfortable.

 

The story of your train misadventure brought to mind a trip to Canterbury when we had to disembark our train because an earlier train had hit a herd of cows. We were shepherded to a bus which soon thereafter smashed into a tree limb. We had tp wait for about an hour before another bus came to our rescue. In the meantime one of our fellow passenger had reassembled the bicycle he was carrying and pedaled off to Canterbury on his own.

[breakiron]

One thing not mentioned is if you fly into Heathrow you can catch a bus from Terminal 3 or Terminal 5 to go to Southampton.  The company is National Express coach and you can purchase tickets online before you go.  It takes you to the coach station in Southampton and you can take a short cab ride to your hotel.  As well as being convenient it is also inexpensive.  If you're adventurous and going from Heathrow to London you can now take the subway or the British say the "tube".  If this is your first time to London I would recommend you take a shared shuttle service into London.

 

[BigMac1953]

2 hours ago, breakiron said:

 If you're adventurous and going from Heathrow to London you can now take the subway or the British say the "tube". 

 

 

Not quite true. In Glasgow, the subway is called..."the subway".

[TouchstoneFeste]

13 hours ago, BigMac1953 said:

Not quite true. In Glasgow, the subway is called..."the subway".

Well, of course you call a Subway "a Subway". The question is what do you call a Royale with Cheese?

[Essiesmom]

I prefer the tuna melt...EM

[IB2]

On 3/13/2021 at 2:36 AM, TheOldBear said:

What you experience is five short afternoons - on our last two eastbound crossings, clocks were advanced at noon to 1PM, but that still left time for the speakers were were interested in, and afternoon tea. Perhaps it helped that we prefer the late seating for dinner.

For an eastbound, the late sitting is preferable.  Dinner gets an hour earlier (‘body time’) each day, and with the amount you tend to eat on a cruise, having a gap before the evening meal becomes more welcome with each change of the clock.

 

Similarly, on a westbound there’s an argument for choosing the early sitting.

[steve4031]

I am providing an update.  I will be booking a crossing for July or August of 2023.  I appreciate everyones input here. Of course, since I had posted these questions I had forgotten about all of your excellent responses.  Cruise Critic has an excellent feature that allows me to pull up my old threads so I can review everything and not ask the same questions.  

 

 

[buchanan101]

7 weeks today I will on my first crossing.... 😁

[buchanan101]

6 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

7 weeks today I will on my first crossing.... 😁

Needs to go well to convince the OH... she's not quite as excited as I am...

 

..but she likes the idea of RSC and the gospel choir being on board (more so than I do!).  I think she's a little worried about the feeling of being trapped on board a ship for 7 days. 

 

Hoping the added luxury of Queens Grill will help, though that's setting an expensive precedent for future cruises if she's keen (fancy Norway, or Scandinavia)

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

Needs to go well to convince the OH... she's not quite as excited as I am...

 

..but she likes the idea of RSC and the gospel choir being on board (more so than I do!).  I think she's a little worried about the feeling of being trapped on board a ship for 7 days. 

 

Hoping the added luxury of Queens Grill will help, though that's setting an expensive precedent for future cruises if she's keen (fancy Norway, or Scandinavia)

QM2 is so large and spacious, I think it is difficult to feel trapped, or even crowded. On the other hand, at quiet times, in those great, high, wide corridors, when nobody happens to be about, you could feel a bit agoraphobic.😀