napria

Thank you all. This is very helpful. I should have thought about wanting (needing) to disembark after 7 days at sea. Our travel agent booked both trips. First the Southampton to NY, then when I realized that flying and all associated costs (booking a hotel for the pre pre-cruise day, meals, transatlantic airfare vs.airfare to NY) would be slightly under the cost of booking the same class/stateroom over… well we didn’t think too hard about it. Should we do something to “link” two trips together? I’ve read conflicting things. Some have advised that we turn in our room keys at Southampton and get new before disembarking for sightseeing, some have said that our room keys will remain the same for the entire voyage as long as it’s booked as one trip. 🤔

We’ve booked an Eastbound TA on Queen Mary 2, New York to Southampton (sorry if the origination/destination are obvious), and then a “cruise” from Southampton to Belgium, Norway, Iceland and back to NY. This is our first time on Cunard and first back to back cruise. Would it be better to stay on the ship in Southampton? Is it difficult to get back on if we decide to get off and explore? We’re in a sheltered balcony (Britannia class), as I thought low and central would be best for me. I’ve been seasick on my last two cruises, which were small, Silversea ships. But better safe than sorry. I appreciate your kind thoughts, advice and patience with this question from a newbie.

The butler service on Silversea was underwhelming. I’m sure others appreciate it, but as nice as it was we didn’t feel we’d miss not having one. The cabins are all lovely, and although PG would be comparable, we decided to play it safe a book a sheltered balcony on deck 5. I have been seasick on both of my previous voyages and I’m hoping with the lower cabin and the larger Ocean Liner (as opposed to a cruise ship) I’ll be ok. On that note, I’m hoping the spa on board the QM2 has acupuncture. It was the only thing that cured my seasickness on our cruise to Bermuda.

Tentative cruiser here. My husband and I started to sail on Silversea just before everything came to a halt in 2020. We did 2 cruises and had a third booked on Regent’s new ship Grandeur for this past February but cancelled because I retired and we moved to another state. As a wise friend once said, you need to let the money tree grow back after pruning it too much. Well we decided it’s time. The 14 day Queen Mary 2 TA with a stop in Iceland seems very interesting, and Iceland has been a bucket list destination for me. We booked it. Now we’re thinking about going over from New York on the QM2 instead of flying. Our travel agent has a hold on the same cabin. Is it worth it? Is the Queen Mary 2 exciting enough to stay onboard (except for shore excursions) for 3 weeks?