3rdGenCunarder

Just to update, Cunard's shuttle ran between the port and downtown. It did not go to any other stops. I wish it had--I stood in a long queue to get the bus back to downtown from the cablecar.

Considering how the bookshop on QM2 has deteriorated, I wonder if low sales there caused Cunard to give up on the idea. Or perhaps it will be in a section of another shop?

I'm not loving the PG cabin. It doesn't look much different from Club. Same balcony and same balcony furniture. The room is a little longer, but I'd like to see what the closets are like. And the sink in the bathroom is ridiculous--I just know that's going to be splashy. Shower appears to be a nice size and I think I saw a wand as well as an overhead shower, so something positive there. What's with that wallpaper around the mirror? Looks like '60s pop art! Supposedly people disliked the wedge-shaped cabinet that divided the two parts of the PG room on the Vistas, but I did like it. Even a little separation between living area and sleeping area is nice and it broke up the visual of the very long space.

The single-seating dining room is the big difference in moving up to Club.

I tend to stop in my walking to gaze at the sea. I suppose this is better for exercise as there's hardly anywhere to stop and gaze.

Yikes, that's even more enclosed than I remember from being on K'dam.

The PGs on QM2 feel much more spacious than those on the vistas because of the shape. They also have larger balconies, which I like.

For years, we referred to QE2 as "The Queen," as she was the Cunard queen. When QM2 came along, she was "The Mary."

The low end of the range a good deal. I expected the high end to be closer to the difference, but still less than if you just paid for the upgrade. However, the math for my Alaska cruise doesn't bear out that assumption. For my Alaska cruise, the range to bid on Q3, Q4 from PG is $715 to $2285 per person, so $1430 to $4570 per stateroom. To book that cruise now in PG, Sailing Soon is $5,118 and Cunard fare is $7,998 (per stateroom) To book that cruise now in Q3, Q4 Sailing soon is $7,998 and Cunard fare is $10,878 But with the way prices change, your starting point in PG could be more or less than the fares currently available. All you can do is try some dummy bookings to see what the going rate is and decide if a bid is worth it.

The attraction for me is the aft balcony. I love those, especially for scenic cruising. Of course, I would love to get for one of the corners with the lovely wrap-around balcony.

Dollar amounts that people have bid won't tell you much, as prices vary with cruise length. I bid successfully on PG from Britannia balcony on QA and my bid was a bit more than halfway between minimum and the "noon" position on the dial. I did about the same on another cruise and the bid wasn't accepted--but that cruise was close to sold out, so I didn't expect anything to come of it.

I got the email offer for upgrades from PG to QG on an Alaska cruise. That one handicap room is keeping me from bidding (because of the bathroom). I would LOVE to have an aft Q6 or Q5, and it would be nice to have a taste of QG. Still thinking it over.

I've heard that when a car is delivered to a Boston dealership, the wires to the turn signals are cut. DH drove in Boston once and swore never again!

There was only one other ship when I disembarked at Vancouver a few years ago and I was standing in the queue for an hour. The other ship docked first and their people got out first. I think this summer I'll do a ship transfer. I don't like the transfers, but I have too much luggage to do SkyTrain.

The problem with Canada Place is once you get down into the bowels of the building to start the process, where are they going to make you wait? Or will they send early passengers back out to the street or up into the hotel? I hope they'll at least accept the luggage. When I boarded Queen Victoria in Southampton last fall, they were holding early arrivals in a queue alongside the terminal building. Priority passengers (Grills, Diamond, Platinum) got waved through, so I went right in and checked in quickly. The odd thing is that there weren't many people in the building and most of the check-in staff had nobody in front of them. It seemed like a waste of person-hours to have staff doing nothing while there were people who could be checked in. There was plenty of seating, too. But that's their rule and they stick to it.