2015 / 2016 Cunard Voyages?

QM2 calendar is incomplete

 

May

10th – Eastbound TA 7 nights

17th – British Isles (Liverpool Salute) 10 nights

27th – Westbound TA

 

...

Yes, there are two of those this year as well - one in June and one in August.

Yes, thanks for pointing those out. I guess what got me more excited is that 2015 has a westbound journey with Halifax, which is my preferred direction because of the 25 hour days!

My email says:-

 

New maiden ports of calls include Oban in the Orkney Islands and the Côte d'Azur resort of St Raphael, Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy's La Spezia and Rapallo, the Moroccan capital of Tangiers and Croatia's beautiful Zadar.

 

This year we are bringing back ten of our favourite ports from the past. Tortola, Split, Gothenburg, Cephalonia and Sydney, Nova Scotia, to name a few

Maybe we should all club together and buy them an atlas!

:cool:

J

New maiden ports of calls include Oban in the Orkney Islands

I hope nobody books this cruise to the Orkney Islands as they'll be very disappointed.:(

It's obvious the blurb writer isn't well traveled, and doesn't have access to a map. Oban is nowhere near the Orkney Islands.:confused:

Regards, Colin.

My email says:-New maiden ports of calls include Oban in the Orkney Islands and the Côte d'Azur resort of St Raphael, Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy's La Spezia and Rapallo, the Moroccan capital of Tangiers and Croatia's beautiful Zadar.

I hope that the officer's navigation is better than shore-side geography.

(everyone knows that Oban is just to the east of Milton Keynes Harbour :rolleyes: ).

Oban in the Orkney Islands?

 

I hope that the officer's navigation is better than shore-side geography.

 

(everyone knows that Oban is just east of Milton Keynes Harbour :rolleyes: ).

Tch tch tch. Pepper, I am surprised at you. As a Navy man I thought you would know that Oban is the capital and main port of Rockall!

J

Tch tch tch. Pepper, I am surprised at you. As a Navy man I thought you would know that Oban is the capital and main port of Rockall! J

Your barracks there were, I trust, comfortable and spacious? :rolleyes:

Of course, forgive me, it has been a long time since I explored that historic harbour on Rockall as a young man. The cosy little inns and pubs, the old church, the long, long walk across to the other side of the island, the old airport built on the wide beach... such memories your words brought back... :rolleyes:.

 

Your barracks there were, I trust, comfortable and spacious? :rolleyes:

Best to shut up about Rockall because it's been leased by the CIA for the past decade as a drone base.

Not counting trans-Atlantic Crossings, the 2015 cruise calendar for QM2 includes only 3 round trip New York cruises. (One of which is the 5 night NY/Boston/Halifax/NY cruise that we formerly called the 4th of July cruise - but I guess now we'll need to call it the July 30th cruise.) I'm surprised and disappointed in the reduced number of round trip NY cruises, none of which inspire me to place a booking. -S.

Were there more in 2013 - 2014?

I guess there used to be three Atlantic Canada cruises plus the Christmas one. Any others?

But the number of back-to-back TAs out of New York is way up.

Were there more in 2013 - 2014?

 

I guess there used to be three Atlantic Canada cruises plus the Christmas one. Any others?

 

But the number of back-to-back TAs out of New York is way up.

There's been a steady reduction of round trip NY cruises (again, not counting Crossings) since I first started sailing on QM2 twelve voyages ago. In 2015, the schedule is down to three - and for those who have done those three, it's pretty much the same note on the piano.

Very disappointing.

There is nothing that inspires me.

I'm just hoping that the 2016 World has something different for the QM2.

2015 cruise brochure is here:

 

http://www.cunard.co.uk/documents/brochures/1/cruise_calendar_2015.pdf

The blurb in that brochure says:

Norway’s glassy fjords, electric blue glaciers and pounding waterfalls or clapboard buildings in Bergen and Stavanger and Norway’s Viking heritage add extra interest

and yet I can only see one cruise to the fjords for 2015 which is 23rd August on the QE. Being so late in the year the waterfalls will probably have partly dried up.

Ray, the cruise brochure on Cunard's US website shows QM2 "Grand Transatlantic Crossing and the Fjords" round trip NY, 23 days 4 Sept 2015, M519B.

Not sure how much of the Fjords will actually be seen since the itinerary is: NY->Southampton->Hamburg->Gothenburg->Oslo->Hamburg->Southampton->NY. -S.

Just Oslofjord I think and it is not a fjord in the geological sense.

Just Oslofjord I think and it is not a fjord in the geological sense.

Thanks Ray, that's what I thought...so the "Grand Transatlantic Crossing and the Fjords" as it's being marketed in the US seems like a rather grandiose title for transatlantic crossings combined with short cruises from Hamburg/Southampton, including a drive-by of a fjord that really isn't a fjord. The reviews of this ""Grand Transatlantic Crossing and the Fjords", I can only imagine.

-S.

Thanks Ray, that's what I thought...so the "Grand Transatlantic Crossing and the Fjords" as it's being marketed in the US seems like a rather grandiose title for transatlantic crossings combined with short cruises from Hamburg/Southampton, including a drive-by of a fjord that really isn't a fjord. The reviews of this ""Grand Transatlantic Crossing and the Fjords", I can only imagine.

 

-S.

Plus, one web site I found is actually advertising the 2-night segment of this voyage from Southampton to Hamburg (Sept 11-13, 2015) as the "Hamburg Party Cruise". I wonder if this segment will be similar to last year's "Stars at Sea" voyage which featured German rock star Peter Maffay.

Regards,

John.

Plus, one web site I found is actually advertising the 2-night segment of this voyage from Southampton to Hamburg (Sept 11-13, 2015) as the "Hamburg Party Cruise". I wonder if this segment will be similar to last year's "Stars at Sea" voyage which featured German rock star Peter Maffay.

 

Regards,

John.

https://www.tambiente.de/News-Hamburg-zeichnet-Peter-Maffay-auf-der-ITB-2014-in-Berlin-aus_13660.html

That certainly clarifies why NY round trip cruises have been steadily reduced: more revenue in short party cruises from other ports. Party on, Cunard! Way to build the brand! But that isn't the intent is it? Short term profits is what's important if the bottom line needs to show a profit to bidders.

2015 cruise brochure is here:

 

http://www.cunard.co.uk/documents/brochures/1/cruise_calendar_2015.pdf

The blurb in that brochure says:

 

Norway’s glassy fjords, electric blue glaciers and pounding waterfalls or clapboard buildings in Bergen and Stavanger and Norway’s Viking heritage add extra interest

 

and yet I can only see one cruise to the fjords for 2015 which is 23rd August on the QE. Being so late in the year the waterfalls will probably have partly dried up.

Hi Ray66... Thanks for posting a link to the 2015 brochure. We were hoping to see a 30-day round trip NY similar to the 2014 M414B "Grand Arctic Circle Discovery". Thought we might do our first cruise with Cunard by making our first visit to Norway. I wonder if the brochure you linked shows their complete schedule, especially considering that blurb about Norway's glassy fjords......?

Hi Ray66... Thanks for posting a link to the 2015 brochure. We were hoping to see a 30-day round trip NY similar to the 2014 M414B "Grand Arctic Circle Discovery". Thought we might do our first cruise with Cunard by making our first visit to Norway. I wonder if the brochure you linked shows their complete schedule, especially considering that blurb about Norway's glassy fjords......?

You can find the Cunard 2015 cruise calendar (US version) here: http://www.cunard.com/documents/brochures/1/2015cruisecollection_nam.pdf

If you want to make a round trip NY voyage to Norway, there is one option that has been previously mentioned.

You can find the Cunard 2015 cruise calendar (US version) here: http://www.cunard.com/documents/brochures/1/2015cruisecollection_nam.pdf

 

If you want to make a round trip NY voyage to Norway, there is one option that has been previously mentioned.

Thank you for posting that link. That brochure is so much Better than the UK one.

For Norway, I can still only see the QE cruise in August and the QM2 to Oslo in September. I think last year there was a bit of a fuss kicked up about one of the Norwegian ports?

There also appears to be a fjord in Gothenburg (September trip) called the Gullmarsfjorden which like the Oslo one is an inlet from the sea and not created by glaciers.

Plus, one web site I found is actually advertising the 2-night segment of this voyage from Southampton to Hamburg (Sept 11-13, 2015) as the "Hamburg Party Cruise". I wonder if this segment will be similar to last year's "Stars at Sea" voyage which featured German rock star Peter Maffay.

 

Regards,

John.

Thanks for the research. I was thinking of booking this NY round trip because I had enjoyed Norway last year and members here have often mentioned that QM2 sailings from Hamburg are really something special. But if there's going to be another "rocker cruise" segment I'll forgo the experience.

Thanks for the research. I was thinking of booking this NY round trip because I had enjoyed Norway last year and members here have often mentioned that QM2 sailings from Hamburg are really something special. But if there's going to be another "rocker cruise" segment I'll forgo the experience.

I may have read too much into the description "Hamburg Party Cruise". I found a press release from Cunard posted on a travel agent web site that lists all nine of the 2-night segments between Southampton and Hamburg during the current 2014 season as Hamburg Party Cruises.

The same web site where I found the Sept 11-13, 2015 segment advertised as a "Hamburg Party Cruise" also lists the June 10-12, June 28-30, and Oct 18-20, 2015 segments the same way.

Regards,

John.