ExArkie

Or incorrect charging…last time, we were charged for the drinks at an adjacent table more than once. Tracking charges was the only actually useful thing about the app.

Definitely being on the ocean. My wife and I prefer ocean crossings to the itineraries that have mostly port days…although some of the latter are desirable in order to access certain places (e.g., Alaska particularly Glacier Bay, Norwegian fjords, Panama Canal). For visiting ports/cities/countries, we prefer to go spend at least a few days in a single location, but it is the vast expanse of open water that cannot be replicated from a land-based location.

We were on a December 2022 TA on QM2. There was no “behind the scenes” tour offered, which was a shame because we ended up with US$1,200 in OBC that we could have used. On our pre-pandemic TAs, there was a free galley tour offered one morning that drew vast hordes of people. I saw nothing that indicated one was being offered last December.

There is, or at least there was pre-pandemic, a ferry from Trieste to a dock just below the castle. I think it made one other stop along the way and took about 45 minutes. Approaching from the water gave great views of the castle.

According to my wife, the main benefit in having me accompany her is because I have pockets to carry both cards.

Definitely for the Panama Canal. We were able to watch the system operation, both our lock and in the adjacent one, and see pretty much everything in great detail. We did, however, appear to be near a vent exhaust from one of the kitchens (this was not a HAL ship, by the way). The smell of baking cinnamon rolls first thing in the morning…before breakfast…was a bit disconcerting.

Actually, the Friday after US Thanksgiving is a pretty decent time to fly. Most people take the whole weekend, so the busiest flyings days post-holiday are Sunday and Monday. I’ve always found Friday easier for travel. Usually, the Saturday after isn’t too bad, but that is inconsistent.

Question on this - I was checking today to make sure nothing has been altered on our September 24 Jade sailing. The dining reservations were shown as "too early," which is to be expected. Their note said to come back on May 27 (120 days prior to embarkation) to book. We are in an aft suite, which should be able to book at 130 days prior (May 17). Is this just a Web site issue, i.e., everyone is shown the same date for reservations regardless of category, or is something amiss here? I am assuming the former, but don't know.

From memory, at the risk of being completely wrong, I read once upon a time that “sus” or “suss” dates from the early 19th century as a shortened version of “suspect” or “suspicion.” The word in the sense of “figure out,” which is now the more common usage, appeared in the mid-1960s, primarily as British (maybe just English?) expression.

I think I found an applicable Web cam site - the viewing angle pretty closely matches what @sfredposted. I'd guess this port as being Kagoshima, Japan, with the volcano being Sakurajima. Didn't have a chance to look for the Web cam site that matches @bluemarble's photo...probably shouldn't be that hard if my geographic region is correct.

This is also what we have seen. We have done the mid-December (December 15 or so) westbound crossing a few times and found it generally to be the lowest priced one offered in almost all years.

The HAL web site FAQs do not indicate that formal attire is expected. Q: Why the change from “Gala Attire” To “Dressy”? A: To many, the term Gala was either confusing or misleading, implying a specific type of dress (black tie or tuxedo) which has never been a requirement. We felt the term Dressy was a bit less stuffy and a bit more festive, which is what a dressy evening should be: a chance to get dressed up and enjoy the evening while still being comfortable. Q: What about ladies’ dressy attire? A: Dressy attire is appropriate. Dresses, skirts, and slacks are all acceptable. Q: Are a jacket and tie required for men? A: A jacket and tie is the preferred attire in all fine dining restaurants on Dressy nights, though this is not required. Guests without a jacket and tie have always been allowed in fine dining restaurants, so this is not a policy change. Q: Are jeans allowed? A: Jeans without holes, tears or embroidery are welcome on most evenings in all restaurants, but on Dressy nights jeans are only allowed in casual dining restaurants.

Is it typically a problem getting reservations for Pinnacle Grill once on board? We have a 15 night transpacific trip booked for 2025 (great deal on the early booking), so there would be a great deal of flexibility as to which night we choose for our included specialty dining.

Agreed. We had a great stay there (land based trip, not a cruise). They upgraded our reserved room to one with a balcony on the top floor overlooking the water.

Agreed. We now generally do only transoceanic cruises and were hoping to rebook the pandemic-cancelled transpacific from Yokohama to Vancouver. We had booked a suite on Celebrity for the one that was cancelled, but when cruising started back up, the same voyage was priced at about twice what we paid for it. Now, of course, Celebrity isn’t even showing that they will ever sail from Japan to North America. We ended up booking the replacement transpacific on HAL (Noordam, Signature Suite). The suite is nicely sized - somewhat more time in the cabin on a fifteen day crossing - but there are essentially no other perks that come with it, particularly as compared to Celebrity’s introductory level Sky Suites. However, since the price for two of us is not much more than the last per-person price I saw on Celebrity, I can definitely live with that.

Two separate questions have been answered in this discussion: (1) Does what I wish to wear conform to the Cunard dress code? (2) Does what I wish to wear conform to the socially accepted standards for evening formal wear? The former is a valid question for discussion and needs to be answered by each person on the trip. The latter cannot really be answered well unless one presumes there is an agreed-upon culture and society whose rules of etiquette are to be followed. Since a Cunard trip always involves multiple nationalities and many may have conflicting societal standards of comportment, why should one abandon a different set of standards because there are participants who may not acknowledge possible differences? For me, if it complies with the dress code, it is allowed. If I choose to wear a polka dot shirt with my white dinner jacket and the dress code allows it, why should I not? “It simply isn’t done” seems a bit arbitrary.

You could not in December when we were on board. At least not on the first night we tried…after that, we just went upstairs to go forward and never checked again.

Not necessarily by the same amount, though. If the ship’s center of mass (i.e., the fulcrum for your oscillating rod) is directly at the midpoint, then the bow and stern go up and down the same distance. However, due to the usual mass distribution, placement of engines toward the stern of the ship appears to be a primary factor, it is likely that the up-down motion is greater at the bow than the stern. Definitely possible to have a number of variations - same displacement, bow displaces more, or stern displaces more - based on ship design.

I have also wondered this over the years. At one time, a decade or so ago, I found one diagram of their floor plan, but failed to note where I found it. Most likely, it was posted on Cruise Critic by someone with access to better documentation than I had. For what it’s worth, this is the old drawing

I also found the total blockage of deck 7 forward of the Grills restaurants somewhat annoying. However, our choice was to go up one floor to deck 8, walk forward as necessary, the return to the lower deck(s). Had a few nights of weather too nasty for open deck walking.

It is not prohibited in the Cunard dress code description.

The program description and terms can be found by searching on “American Express Cruise Privileges Program.” Basically, if one pays the entire amount using an AmEx Platinum card, the travel agent can add a code to the booking that gives you some OBC and certain extras that vary by cruise line. NCL gives a dinner for two in Le Bistro, others have different things. On Oceania last year, we were treated to a wine tasting and allowed to take a full bottle of wine of our choosing that was included in the tasting. The cruise has to be five nights or longer to qualify. I also believe that it is provided through travel agents exclusively, such that booking direct through the cruise line would not qualify, even if you did pay using the Platinum AmEx card. Not sure that all TAs have access to this benefit - the terms state that it is available “through American Express Travel,” but others have been able to provide it as well.

A search failed to bring up the answer to my specific question. The information from HAL says that plastic water bottles are not allowed. On trips of any kind, I always carry a refillable plastic water bottle, which I believe is polypropylene (have to find the original document to confirm). Am I correct in assuming their ban is for the PET disposable bottles and not those designed as refillable? Knowing that there are some fairly expensive refillable bottles made of various plastics, it seemed likely that their ban extended to them, but I learned a while back that some companies have policies that are most assuredly stupid…okay, call them “misguided.”

This happened to us last year on Cunard. The OBC actually showed up in what they call a smartphone app the first day, along with a note indicating why it was there.

That happens to me at home sometimes...