TheOldBear

On QM2 balcony rooms on decks 4, 5 & 6 are in the main hull, not in the superstructure above the promenade deck. Instead of a glass front, there is a large aperture cut into the hull just above handrail height. They are sheltered in that they remain usable even in extreme conditions - an oasis of calm when the weather decks are closed due to hurricane force winds. We tend to book midships, category BU or BV rooms. It is offered - but it may not be the best value for you. For us it is a moot point, as CunardCare is not available to New York residents. You may want to head down the page to the travel insurance forum or check with a specialty broker [the trip insurance store] Final fare payment is typically due about 120 days before sailing. For some insurance carriers and coverage [pre existing conditions] the policy must be purchased within a time window after making the initial deposit. I believe that Cunard can arrange both hotels and flights - we are fairly local so have not considered either. [Our dinner table mates for both our 2017 & 2019 sailings flew in the day of the cruise, and had misplaced luggage each time] They do seem to be well hidden before booking Internet plans at https://www.cunard.com/en-us/the-cunard-experience/staying-connected Drinks at https://www.cunard.com/en-us/activity-types/bars-and-lounges/a-world-of-drinks We use 'world club' credit to offset the internet prices - and do not feel that any of the drinks packages represent a good value for us.

We explicitly book round trips - single cruise card for the Brooklyn to Brooklyn sailing. If it's booked as two separate 'voyages' - you will have two different six character 'booking reference' strings that you use to login to the 'voyage personalizer' [ my.cunard.com ]. If you have only been provided with a single 'booking reference' try logging in to my.cunard.com and see what it shows in the booking summary - if the booking is for the complete round trip, that should show in the summary page. [you will need to login anyway to complete cruise paperwork] If it only shows part of your vacation [like just the eastbound crossing], and you only have a single booking reference, get in touch with the travel agent - they should have received a confirmation for each booking.

The typical cheapie surge protector has an internal part [a metal oxide varisistor] that shunts the live leg of the circuit to ground if about 130 volts are exceeded. This is typically a one time event for the life of the suppressor [MOV is fried, even if the power strip's circuit breaker or fuse trips] - and the reason why these devices are dangerous anywhere except north american domestic power outlets.

If you have booked this as a single 'voyage' for the eastbound crossing, cruise and westbound crossing - you only need to unpack once, and you will be issued a cruise card [red on top as it's your first time] valid for the entire sailing. There will be an immigration check with an officer of the UK Border Force - these days it's an electronic passport stamp - so when the ship arrives in Southampton you can just walk off. [And when you want to get back on, your card identifies you as 'in transit' so you can walk past the folks waiting to embark] Cunard provides a shuttle bus to near the 'West Quay' shopping center, or you can take a taxi or Uber. [I plan on visiting the Solent Sky museum this October]. If rain is in the forecast, there are usually umbrellas available to borrow at the gangway. There _may_ be shore excursions for your visit [check on my.cunard.com] , there are none posted for our sailing. We have met with some of Mrs Bear's facebook friends for lunches at the Dancing Man or Duke of Wellington pubs for a pleasant afternoon. There are posts on this forum and the British Isles / Western Europe forum about some do it yourself tours - e.g. a rail excursion to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Look for postings by "John Bull" for local knowledge. That is also the forum for Bruge [and its port city Zeebruge] for your visit to Belgium. Norway is covered by the Northern Europe forum - and Iceland has been moved to a new forum.

The word is 'layers' - including a lightweight, windproof, outer 'shell' layer [jacket]. Your cruise will likely not be taking the northern 'great circle' route of a crossing, so the weather trend will be warm - but as always there are exceptions that cannot be forecast.

You [and your passport] are assigned a time to meet with a UK 'Border Force' officer, typically in the upper level of the Britannia restaurant. On of direct crossing in 2017 our passports acquired their first stamps - for later crossings its all electronic, no stamps. Apparently back in the steamship days, there was a similar arrangement with US officials on the westbound crossings - that arrangement likely ended about the same time the Queen Mary was retired to Long Beach.

The shuttle drop off is near Bargate and the West Quay Mall. The Tudor House is about a quarter mile back toward the harbor. It’s on St Michael’s square opposite tSt Michael’s church (with the very tall steeple.) Our last Southampton visit was on a Sunday, and we had the ‘Sunday Roast’ at the Duke of Wellington before getting an Uber back to the ship.

There is a baggage drop for checked luggage outside of the terminal. The drop area has many badged porters with carts. We are fairly local so have never used a bus transfer - likely all checked & tagged baggage is taken from the bus and into the terminal while you deal with stroller and carry on luggage. The terminal operator's site for the Brooklyn Cruise terminal is https://cruise.nyc/brooklyn-terminal Once the terminal doors are opened, there are waiting areas both before and after security screening. In 2022 the paperwork check was right after security screening, and as Mrs Bear had mobility issues we were directed to a priority line. It's likely that the toddler+stroller will also result in priority. There will be a final paperwork check [and perhaps a fresh picture for photo id], and then boarding by groups will start. Not that many facilities in the terminal while waiting. Pre-lockdown there were a few vending machines - I don't know if they have been restored. I believe the restrooms have baby changing tables. Most folks will be directed to escalators - but there are also elevators to the boarding 'airbridge' to the ship.

On QM2 - the Golden Lion apparently has extended lunch hours, but we normally will use King's Court as we need to make an appearance for muster station check in anyway.

One resource as you are 'here' is searching this forum for each port name for the Norway ports [the Scotland ports would be in the UK/Western Europe forum] In addition, each Norway port's visitor bureau has a tourist information web page [for example visittromso.no ] with info on history, climate, maps, public transit, sightseeing - and links to local tour operators.

In addition to the usual suspects (taxi, ride share) the 'Silver Line' hybrid bus/train SL2 line stops near the 'Black Falcon' cruise terminal - there are 4 indicated stations where you can change to the Silver Line SL1 to Logan Airport terminals. see https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/media/route_pdfs/batch_6954/741-742-743-746-S2-P3.pdf I think with any quality of luggage, I would elect for taxi or ride share.

Back in 2017 our table mates in Britannia for the round trip crossing were a couple who received an upgrade fairy blessing of a promotion to Queen's Grill [It was also the trip they reached diamond status on World Club - that _may_ have provided the upgrade fairy a hint].

You would need to be able to pay the 'out of network' costs [e.g. US hospitals and doctors are not part of UK National Health] and transportation expenses. Since available policies and coverage options vary by residence / citizenship you would need someone with proper local knowledge [just as for US folks, we recommend the 'trip insurance store'].

The starboard side 'relaxation lounge' is past the locker room entrances. The Thermal Suite is in the middle with lots of surrounding rooms - no place for windows.

The Manhattan schedule https://cruise.nyc/MCT-schedule does have a few Princess sailings, but the Manhattan October 19 sailing is a Viking ship. Note that the cruise.nyc schedules are the official schedules as posted by the cruise terminal operator [always subject to update - but they are the current schedules]. Some terminal operators [e.g ABP in Southampton UK] have schedules including arrival and departure times, but cruise.nyc only lists the scheduled day.