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MarkBearSF

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About Me

  • Location
    San Francisco, CA
  • Interests
    Broadway, Cruising
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Cunard, HAL, Princess. AMA
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    TA crossings & Europe. Also love ships departing/arriving at our hometown, SF.

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  1. We stay in Times Square primarily because we are Broadway addicts and my husband has mobility issues, so we stay at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square because it's closer to more Broadway theaters than any other. (It's within 2 blocks of half of the theaters). In other cases, we wouldn't recommend the hotel as its overpriced and a basic early 80s hotel with nothing special rooms (and the UGLIEST carpets in the hallways in the world) We DO recommend the Times Square area for first time tourists spending a day or two before a cruise simply because its midtown location is closest to many tourist sights with excellent subway connections. (And everyone should at least see Times Square)
  2. Poles apart. I've heard consistent complaints about the food on MSC (more than the usual cruise board bitching) and a very high density ship with much less room per passenger and fewer staff as well. Lots of glitz. That said, the Yacht Club experience is supposedly excellent and might be compared to the QM2. QM2 is anti-glitz. A beautiful ship with lots of room and staff per passenger and consistently good food.
  3. You'll get lots of opinions about the sheltered balconies. Personally, we don't mind them and they're our second choice for a crossing. Avoid the ones on Deck 4 above the Royal Court Theatre as there can be noise. (music, but it can be disturbing). Deck 5 is our favorite of the bunch. Our very favorite rooms are some that have not-very-obstructed views on Deck 8. There is a link on this board with pictures of the even-numbered cabins. Our first choice is near the rescue craft (8043-8050?) The deck plans are very good to check the location as well. Although a fully-obstructed cabin will have a orange lifeboat covering the view (and casting a strange orange glow) - others have a mostly clear view with lots of light. Another advantage of the ones over the small rescue craft is that you're right near the B elevators. (Exterior photos will also show the smaller rescue craft to give you a better idea)
  4. One of my rules of travel is that you will always forget to pack something. So, when I realize what I forgot, I feel relief that I've identified the thing for that trip.
  5. I've never heard that it was "mildly patronizing" so I'll try to work UK in instead. By the same token "Americans" can refer to people from two continents, and although I seldom hear Canadians or Brazilians getting worried about the term, I will usually say something like "cruisers from the US"
  6. First off, I would fault the officer's response. Unfortunately, that illustrates one of the few things that I really dislike about Cunard and seems to be part of their corporate "style." In many cases, the staff (seldom the waitstaff or stewards, but often at the Pursers) have a superior, "we're Cunard and what we do is best" attitude. As for concierge - it's different than in a hotel. On the ship, the concierge is where you can go for pretty much everything that you'd wait in line at the Purser's desk for. (except perhaps cruise cards, because they don't have the machines, I believe). In addition to the purser's services, they also have tickets to Planetarium shows and can help with booking reservations for dinner as well as shuttles & transfers. We find them extremely helpful. (The concierge lounge also has coffee, tea, light snacks and afternoon tea goodies.)
  7. Good luck getting through the marathon which is running on the Embarcadero, cutting off access to the terminal. We grabbed a cab across the street (actually our porter did) and had to cross through them. There was a phalanx of busses for excursions and transfers which were queued up and finally allowed through - but it's a mess. Hopefully by noon or so, it should start clearing up.
  8. Assorted notes - Unfortunately, I forgot to ask about the passenger count. It seems to be pretty close to full. - As others have noted, the WiFi is not good. It seems to be worse than I'd expect, given my experience on QM2. I notice a difference depending on the time of day. In the past, this was not as big a factor - I expect that the omnipresence of the Internet and the end of per hour charges means that the WiFi and intranet is facing capacity issues that were less of a factor in the past. - Connexions is no longer the Internet area - that is now on the second floor of the Library. And only one computer is connected to the printer, and I was unable to bring up a PDF on that computer. The Library staff was wonderful as always and helped as they could. - The Lido is self-service, except for beverages. We normally eat in Britannia, but this lunch we wanted a little bit of light snacks since we were planning on Afternoon Tea. I must say that I was NOT impressed with the limited offerings today at lunch. - Alternative dining in the Lido is back. - They had hot hors d'oeuvres in the Commodore Club at 5:30 or so - Cunard IT is as screwed up as ever. We had checked in and registered the credit card months ago, but got to board in Vancouver and they said we hadn't checked in yet, so they took our passports and did it. No biggie but.... This morning, we received cards inviting us to register a credit card. I went to the Purser's Desk and did so this morning. This afternoon, our cards were not accepted in the Commodore Club. I headed back down - it turned out that the card was registered, but they neglected to "open an account" for us to use it. Happily, it was ultimately cleared up, but it was NOT their finest hour. - Last night was Red & Gold gala night. There was much more emphasis on the theme than in the past. I expect this may be one of the most popular themes these days, because what woman doesn't love wearing a red dress! - Although we cleared US customs in Vancouver before boarding, today we were told that we must do it again and all passengers, including those in transit must appear to the customs officers in SF and leave the ship until it is cleared (much like Red Hook for round trip crossing passengers) In Vancouver, I asked if this takes care of customs for SF, the agent told us that we were all cleared so there would be nothing in SF.
  9. We're aboard as well. Got on in Vancouver - glad you enjoyed Alaska!
  10. We just boarded QE yesterday for a short jaunt to SF. It's SO good tone back on Cunard. We've been on other lines recently (including Princess in January) - they've been great, but they ain't Cunard. It's all the little things and moments of grace that make Cunard special. I've missed them. Looking forward to a NY- Quebec cruise on QM2 in September. One note - I was apprehensive about dining, having read the late, flexible seating on QM (and perhaps QE). Happily, they're back to traditional dining and two seatings. And our service has been wonderful!
  11. An interesting article on the Brooklyn ferries including some things to see in Red Hook. A great article on the Brooklyn ferries (including some tips on things to see in Red Hook) https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/travel/brooklyn-ferry.html
  12. Oh no! Trapped in the confusing, cheerless, hell-tangle of corridors that is Penn Station! ...I also got on an 8th Ave express train by mistake on my first visit to NY years ago (In my case, the first station after 57th was in Harlem at 125th - oops!) Have a great trip!
  13. Yesterday, on The Talk, they announced an upcoming dating reality show, "The Real Love Boat" which will take place on a Princess ship in the Mediterranean. https://deadline.com/2022/06/cbs-network-10-the-real-love-boat-dating-show-1234984386/
  14. We're in a similar situation. My husband has mobility issues, so most port days, we look for a restaurant in an interesting area and take a taxi, and visit the nearby shops. (We're fine with a block or so walk) We visited in 2019 and enjoyed lunch here. Two Doors Down. It's in an artsy area, away from the tourist stuff. There were a few restaurants.
  15. Has anyone in the US cracked the code for entering phone numbers for emergency contacts? No matter what I try, I get an error that it's the wrong format. I've tried - traditional US format (xxx) xxx-xxxx - no punctuation, numbers only - added country code with and without leading 0 (+1, +01) using both US and numbers only for remainder And I've done this both on Safari and Chrome.
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