bluemarble

That's correct. The current internet credits based on Cunard World Club status are as follows: • Gold members receive $45 per person. • Platinum members receive $80 per person. • Diamond members receive $135 per person. One additional detail about these internet credits. They are similar to OBC in that they can only be used for internet plans purchased once on board. In fact, they prevent you from pre-purchasing internet plans in My Cunard if you qualify for an internet credit. Instead of a button to purchase an internet plan, it says "Use your credits to purchase internet on board."

Our experience has been that the Full Voyage Plan actually means for all the remaining days of the voyage at the time of purchase. Each day we have postponed purchasing the Essential Full Voyage Plan has reduced the total cost by $18. My wife and I are both Diamond members so we each receive $135 internet credit. That $135 gets us 5 individual days at the Essential 24-Hour Plan rate of $24/24 hours or 7 days of the Essential Full Voyage Plan at the rate of $18/day. Let's say for example we are on a 12-night voyage. To maximize our internet credits, one of us would purchase individual Essential 24-Hour Plans (at $24 each) for the first 5 days. Then the other would purchase the Essential Full Voyage Plan for the final 7 days of the voyage (at $18/day x 7 days = $126). That's how it has worked for us on QM2 in the past although we have not been on board since the Starlink rollout so it's possible I don't have all the latest information about the onboard package prices.

Very interesting. What is Ocean Liner?

There was a Valentine's Day sale earlier this year when they dropped the price on Internet plans by 28%. So far that's the one and only time I've seen a sale on Internet plans although that might be the start of something new. Hard to tell. There is no benefit to buying the plan before sailing unless they offer another similar limited-time sale. Once on board you can buy a plan for the same non-discounted price which allows you to use some of your OBC. One other benefit of waiting until you are on board is that you may find your existing cellular connection will handle your connectivity needs on embarkation day while you are still in port. If you find you can wait to purchase a full voyage plan until the second day of your voyage you can save the $18 you would have paid for the first day when buying the plan ahead of time.

Yes, you can transfer a booking you've made directly with Cunard to a travel agent under the following conditions. "Bookings may only be transferred within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside the Final Payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full." One caveat. This is the policy for US bookings I've used in the past. I can't say for sure if these same conditions apply to UK bookings.

Do both. Book on board for the benefits that provides. If you have used a travel agent on your previous bookings, they should ask if you want them to transfer this new booking to that agent. Then your travel agent should be able to discount the booking as they have done for you in the past. That's what happens for my bookings in the US when I book on board and receive the OBC for shorter bookings. Never booked a cruise on board that's long enough to receive the 3% discount rather than the OBC though.

QV has arrived at the Walvis Bay Anchorage. It's approaching 7:00pm local time. Don't know any further details. Perhaps @roscoe39 can provide an update.

I see QM2 got underway about 15 minutes ago (approximately 2:20am local time). She's still reporting Walvis Bay as her destinations via AIS, so hopefully the call to Walvis Bay is still in the cards.

I shouldn't have been quite so glib in my earlier comment mentioning QM2 had already been to Walvis Bay during the current world cruise. Of course there are many/most guests doing segments of the world cruise who were not there the first time around. I do hope you are able to depart soon and make it to Walvis Bay.

On Thursday, Viking Neptune was docked at E-Berth and there was a container ship (I think it was Maersk Euphrates) docked at F-Berth (where QM2 was docked yesterday). QM2 has since relocated to E-Berth following QV's departure. I'm not knowledgeable about all the details, but from what I've gathered from some well-informed posts elsewhere, the Viking Ocean ships tend to be less maneuverable in windy conditions during docking procedures. I can't say for certain, but QV may have been able to dock at Cape Town on Thursday if Viking Neptune had been able to vacate E-Berth or another suitable berth had been available. Now having said that, QV was late departing Cape Town, so perhaps she ran into conditions similar to what Viking Neptune experienced. And the drama continues with QM2 which hasn't departed Cape Town past 9:00pm local time.

Not sure if QM2 is going to be delayed departing Cape Town as well (she's still there after 7:00pm local time). But unlike QM2 which is scheduled to call at Walvis Bay a second time on Monday (because of being rerouted back around Africa for the return to Southampton), this was of course QV's only chance to call at Walvis Bay this year.

I'm also seeing elsewhere that QV's call to Walvis Bay has been canceled. I think that was pretty much inevitable after the 12+ hour delay departing Cape Town this morning instead of last evening. The best she could have managed would have been a late afternoon arrival at Walvis Bay tomorrow.

The sticky "What do the Obstructed views look like?" is still there at the top of the list of stickies on this forum.

Queen Victoria was scheduled to be in Cape Town both yesterday and today. QM2 is scheduled to be there today and tomorrow. Viking Neptune being unable to depart Cape Town until late last evening most definitely affected Queen Victoria's schedule. She lost a scheduled day in Cape Town yesterday and had to spend the day off shore instead until Viking Neptune departed close to midnight. Queen Victoria is able to salvage one of her two scheduled days in Cape Town today.

Viking Neptune departed her berth at Cape Town about an hour ago (approximately 11:35pm local time). QV remains just outside the port for now.