ExArkie

Update on Southampton boarding process December 10: We had a 1:00 arrival time noted on our boarding passes, with everything submitted (photos, credit card, etc.) during on-line check-in. We checked out of our hotel at about noon, took a taxi to the Mayflower Terminal, arriving around 12:20 (didn’t note exactly). They looked at our boarding pass, directed us to the priority line (PG), and we waited a total of about 15 seconds before being called up to the desk to verify passports. There was a printed page taped to the desk that said if we had appropriate symptoms and/or personal contacts, please notify someone (with more details than that, of course)The lady asked that we read it and respond. We then went to sit and wait for boarding, which they had said was expected to start at 1:00. At about 12:45 or so, they announced boarding was commencing and called the QG passengers to the security line. Shortly thereafter, PG was called, when we went to get in line. Security took only a couple of minutes, possibly shorter if one does not carry a laptop (necessary for my business). We were in our cabin by 1:00 or very shortly thereafter. Efficient and smooth process, probably the least amount of trouble I have ever encountered boarding.

If I have no clue, yes. Rarely does anything match close enough to say definitely where a photo was taken, although I have been surprised a couple of times where an almost identical photo showed up on image search - I noted that somewhere up thread. It is usually only good to give a clue where one might be. Lately, I have not had much research time, so if I don’t identify a location from my own experience, I usually don’t get back to it before someone else identifies it.

I got a similar one, but with stops only in Canada. Seemed focused on making the baseline an eastbound crossing.

In the Grills, we have changed tables twice. On the first (PG), we were too near the kitchen exit and the traffic patterns were disruptive. We asked the maitre d’ about getting a different table and he relocated us immediately. Just asked, no money changed hands. On the second time (QG) for the first night, we had been assigned to a table at the interior wall, which required navigating through the tight spaces between tables. The next night, the maitre d’ escorted us to a table in a much better location, which was ours for the rest of the trip. We didn’t even have to ask that time. If a “tip” is necessary to receive decent treatment, I’m pretty sure I would not be a patron of that establishment.

Mostly, but not exclusively. There is a screen shot of the questionnaire in post #19 of this thread: Our email for December 10 departure also omitted any mention of the questionnaire, but that failed to register with me at the time.

A part of the market research, but only a part. Surveys may be, and are often enough, ignored if they contradict other findings.

I also received and completed the survey, emphasizing formality and defined dining times - about 50/50 on all inclusive because of the question wording. However, I have no expectations as to Cunard doing what I want, regardless of survey results, if their market research says they can sell more cabins without those things I prefer.

Yes. On our last crossing pre-COVID, we booked PG because it was actually LESS than BC at the time we looked.

I have used a few different TAs over the last decade or so. None have ever been willing to send me the Cunard confirmation, just their own version of it. Never had an issue without the Cunard document.

The original Queen Mary had an a la carte first class restaurant aft called the Verandah Grill. I believe it was the officers’ mess during WW2, when she was drafted into the military. Not sure why the original one had that name.

We have a 1:00 arrival time on the 10th - as platinum in PG (when we booked, a P2 was only a slight increase over BC, which is where we originally intended to be). Perhaps being in Grills bumps up the time more than CWC status…or are you also in Grills?

Just to note the names: the lounge on QM2 deck 7 just outside the Queens Grill restaurant is the “Grills Lounge,” which is (essentially) a bar for PG and QG passengers. The Concierge Lounge on deck 9 is primarily a place to interact with the Grills concierge, and has soft drinks, tea, coffee, various snacks, food as noted above, reading materials, etc. On QV and QE, the concierge is actually located within the Grills Lounge, so there is no separate concierge lounge.

Same date, same cabin grade, but not our first Cunard crossing (platinum CWC members), and ours says 12:15. Go figure… Pretty much irrelevant, though, since we will already be on board from the Christmas Market voyage and don’t intend to get off the ship (we have a couple of days in Southampton to see things before the first embarkation.) Maybe that factored into the arrival time.

Hmm, maybe “Cruise Critters?”

“Wheelchairing” is definitely my favorite new word this week.

I believe that "embarkation" refers to getting passengers on board and in their cabins. "Departure time" would be the ship leaving the dock.

I had narrowed this down to Scotland and was making an Internet tour of lighthouses. I had just about decided that this was the Alisa Craig Lighthouse when you posted. So, I agree with you. One new thing I learned in the process was that there was a prominent Scots civil engineer in the 19th century who, along with his brother, was instrumental in building several lighthouses. His name was Thomas Stevenson, who had a rather well-known son by the name of Robert Louis Stevenson. Sort of lends a different perspective to Treasure Island.

Agreed. The Transamerica Tower and Coit Tower sort of give that away.

Correct, but must arrive before one embarks.

Just as an additional point of reference - we just checked in for the December 10 Christmas Markets (round trip from Southampton) and were given a boarding time of 1:00 PM for PG. Boarding pass and My Cunard online agree on the time. Of course, since our hotel (Holiday Inn) check-out time is noon, we may be a bit early arriving at the terminal.

Just got an email from Cunard that says testing is no longer mandatory for Voyage M240, the December 15 TA. I verified on the Cunard Web site that M240, and the continuations M240A and M240B are now under the “standard requirements” category. They do still recommend testing and state that passengers will be asked at the terminal as to whether they have had a negative test. Edited to add: Cunard’s Web site says that there are no 2022 voyages with additional testing requirements.

You can also pick up tickets to planetarium shows in the Concierge Lounge. As I recall, a limited number of them stacked on the concierge desk at the same time they are made available downstairs.

I know there is a fairly impressive set of dumbbells in the free weight area, but do not believe there is much for a barbell set-up (been a few years since I was on board…I can let you know for certain in about a month). A search of my photo files and the Internet for photos of the gym was not particularly illuminating. Best picture of the free weight area seems to be on this person’s posted diary (text is in German, but pictures are pictures). https://www.cruisediary.de/queen-mary-2-schiff-teil-2-ab-deck-7/

In 2017, we were upgraded from PG to QG. The e-ticket I saved on my hard drive gives our QG boarding time as 12:30. However, the PG boarding time for 2018 (we used QM2 as our return trip from teaching assignments in the UK and Ireland for a few years in a row) was also 12:30, so the previous one may have been based on our original PG booking such that QG would have been earlier.

I have noticed that everyone (even "your regular people") has something of interest to share - a story of life in an area different from where I have been, different cultural experiences in childhood or adolescence, historical perspective on what they have been through, how they developed their own hobbies/interests, and so on. It is sometimes difficult to get the stories out of the more reticent - and sometimes difficult to stop them from the more garrulous - but it usually interesting when one does so.