mcloaked

It may - but at the moment that is not the reason they are absent.

I am not sure if the original question related to the dance professional, who was indeed Sergey on the QE Northern Lights cruise, or was referring to 'dance hosts' who are men or ladies who come to the evening dancing in the Queen's Room, and also the ballroom lessons in the same room, and who will partner any solo dancer during the lessons or evening social dancing if someone needs a partner for those activities.  If so then there were no dance hosts on that cruise.

The role of the dance professional, and usually they are a dance couple rather than just a man or lady, is to run the ballroom and Latin lessons late morning on sea days, as well as do the 15 minute show dances on Gala nights mid-evening in the Queen's Room. The dance professionals will also do private ballroom and Latin 45 minute lessons by arrangement, and will also dance as a practice partner in the evenings in the Queen's Room. The private lessons and the practice partner sessions are paid for per 45 minute session.

Sergey's partner had left the ship before the Norway cruise, as she needed to go back home, and Sergey was waiting for a replacement partner, though I don't know whether a new lady partner has yet joined him, and perhaps someone currently on the ship might confirm?

I was told that there were no plans to bring back dance hosts at the present time, as Cunard were waiting to see how the Covid protocols would need to change to no mask requirements first. Usually in the past there have been six dance hosts, whose main role is to act as dance partners for the ballroom and Latin social dancing, though they sometimes also act as 'reps' looking after groups on a coach for official excursions. So ladies or gents who do not have a regular dance partner would need to hope that a solo partner among the passengers would be available to dance with in the absence of the Cunard dance hosts. I hope this helps.

There is a survey sent not long after making a booking, and a different survey sent very soon after completion of a voyage. It is worth doing both.

Or if QM2 is destined to do other routes I would be perfectly happy to do Southampton-Azores-Caribbean-Southampton on QE or QV instead, with a few nice ports along the way.

15 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

But that is not the traditional QM2 though it is? And it is the only true ocean liner. The whole point of the ship is the TA crossings from Soton-NYC. And no one has ever tried to take that them on the route out of respect I think.

I have been on Soton-NYC both ways in the winter on QM2 - and having 3 days of force 11 gales both ways was certainly an experience - but given the choice the route via the Azores to the Caribbean I would enjoy a great deal more.  I would not choose a TA in wild weather if there was a better weather route to have a more pleasant ride on a voyage! Maybe others prefer to take the challenge of rough seas for whatever reason they like.

5 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Norway, Mediterranean, Canaries, Round Britain all places I've been to on QM2 and would happily sail again, or the Caribbean direct from Southampton.

The Caribbean from Southampton back to Southampton, via the Azores and possibly Madeira or Spain/Portugal as ports of call is very appealing - especially out of hurricane season when we would all like some warm weather - most of that itinerary would be in nice weather in the UK winter.

34 minutes ago, moses0 said:

Obviously didn't help much as Covid was rampant on our cruise.

Though quite likely it would have been even worse if there was no mask mandate at all!

Yes every single time we have come back from a Cunard cruise.  Whether or not you get those depends on your settings for what you allow Cunard to send you. Also sometimes they are sent but end up in the spam folder in your email, so if that happens you need to make sure that those are 'unspammed' so that you will get them in the future.

If boarding a Cunard cruise at Southampton you will be asked to show your proof of insurance, as specific in the clear email that Cunard sends out several weeks ahead of departure. I don't know if that is also the case when departing from US ports.

If you want to see the CDC status page and which ships have which status it is at https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html#status-dashboard

6 hours ago, Lakesregion said:

Here is my take on this issue at this point. Pick any ten contagious diseases and test for them every day in mass quantities and then look at the results. You will never leave your home again. The world is a walking disease and one must factor in the risk Vs. rewards to life. Many will never be comfortable living any more after this flare up. Others will . The US has lifted its mask mandate and there are no places where testing is required, so yes we have placed this virus in the closet along with the flu, Herpes, jaundice, aides, and hundreds of other diseases that are contagious.

It may well be that the CDC is setting up protocols that are relevant to the situation in the US where rather lower proportion of the population is fully vaccinated compared to most European countries and this means that the risks are higher for the US population compared to countries where vaccination rates are significantly higher.   Throwing away mask mandates does not put the virus in the closet but does the opposite, whereas a population that has almost everyone accepting full vaccine courses including a booster, is far more likely to not have to worry about being infected with Covid. The protocols in each country will be likely brought in dependent on the fraction of adult population protected by up to date vaccination, as well as the current prevalence, and that will govern whether a mask mandate will be needed to protect both vulnerable people, as well as Covid percentages of beds in the hospitals.  So I would certainly expect protocols on cruises to vary as itineraries change to different countries to give the least risk to those on board at any one time.

4 hours ago, Sweetpea711423 said:

Hi.  Years ago I booked another Cunard crossing while onboard one, and had a reduced deposit of I think about $200.  I will be onboard QM2 for a crossing starting April 24.  Does anyone know whether there is still a reduced deposit for booking onboard, and if so, how much?

Many thanks for your help.

I seem to remember it is about $175 per person.

Indeed all true pieces of information. Also the OBC when  booking on board varies depending on the grade of stateroom, length of voyage. as well as some voyages having particularly high OBC offers.  So yes in the past we have had just $100 sometimes, whereas for other voyages we have had $600 or more per person.  So you have to see what it available at the time of booking - and yes of course there is the perpetual decision agony of booking early to capture your room of choice, or wait and accept the possibility of having less choice of room, as well as the price changing (in either direction).

On QE in March the Yacht Club was open - it is not our normal regular go to venue on the ship, but occasionally we would drop in there around 11pm after ballroom dancing in the Queen's Room much of the evening.  The Yacht Club was not the heaving mass of people that we used to see before the pandemic, but the times we were there people were dotted around the room, perhaps up to 20 or so, and the bar was open.  Some were dancing, others just watching, having a drink and listening to the music.  On one occasion the music being played was quite nice and we did a bit of bopping and a few jives, but on a different evening there was a DJ who played more of the thump thump, boring, music that all you can do to is shift from foot to foot in time to the monotonous thumping with meaningless no doubt deeply meaningful lyrics going along with it - we stayed not long before heading to the Commodore Club for a drink and to listen to the pianist playing and singing. But yes it is open, and the bar is only too happy to serve whatever drink you want, and people dance with no masks needed. As for whether or not that is fun, or more or less than two years ago, is a personal choice.

Although I have not booked for this December, we have done a number of cruises with Cunard to the Canaries in past years in December, and generally once you are heading south and passing Spain the weather is warm and pleasant, and often in the low 20s C.  So we have certainly found being on deck in December towards the Canaries is enjoyable.  Also walking around the promenade deck after breakfast is nice too, and you may need a sweatshirt if very early but certainly not the full winter gear that we saw people gritting their teeth and persevering with their daily morning constitutional walk on the wintery Norway cruise in March!

Yes, generally you would be offered $200 per person OBC on a two week cruise if booked onboard. It is less for cruises shorter than two weeks. That was the case for the Norway Northern Lights cruise in March. In addition on that cruise they were also offering unique real discounts for particular cruises  booked on board only, for QM2 as well as the other Cunard ships for specific voyages this spring and summer, and those discounts were only available on that cruise on QE, and not available if booked online or through a travel agent or phone line to Cunard. Whether that was an experiment on that cruise only, or whether discounts are also being offered when visiting the Future Cruises office on current cruises I don't know, and perhaps others who have just come back from QE or currently on board might be able to say whether this is also the case now.

Yes it true that protection from infection is largely possible if using a full N95 (or in the UK the equivalent FFP3) mask with surgical PPE - but for most people a loose fitting poor quality mask.or one worn inappropriately, that we see typically every day, does not offer that level of protection at all.   It is also the case, that if you are one of the growing band of people who have had Covid, and recovered, then the level of worrying about getting it again is significantly down, if you were unlucky (or possibly lucky!) enough to get it again many months later, it is likely to be less problematic in terms of symptoms.  As time passes more and more people will be post-Covid in the sense of having had the virus. Of course new variants will come along but we are largely going to be living with the virus among us, and not worrying about it on a day-to-day basis - just like we live with annual flu even though thousands die from flu every year.

Also by being regularly exposed to some level of the virus after having been fully vaccinated, as well as having had the virus and recovered, means that your immune system is being challenged on a regular basis - and the body then has time to build its new defences against the virus in terms of adapting the existing B--cells and T-cells that develop in the body after exposure to the vaccines and the virus initially. As time passes more and more people will have had Covid and after all in the UK at the moment around 1 in 13 of us are infected at any one time so over a period of months very few will be in the position that they haven't had Covid but at least being maximally vaccinated it is less serious when you do get it compared to if you are not vaccinated. So in the coming months those of us onboard a cruise will likely be less and less in need of worrying about being infected during the voyage.  Of course some people will be unlucky and be especially vulnerable due to pre-existing medical conditions - and they will be vulnerable on land or on a cruise. However hopefully the protocols needed for travel, and cruises in particular, will no doubt continue to evolve over the coming year.

7 hours ago, acc1956 said:

I have to say that we had a horrendous time on the Queen.  We, as many other people, I hope, self isolated a week before the cruise, taking a flo test the day before travel which, as the embarkment pcr test was negative. We are of those passengers that wore masks at all times in all common areas and sanitised our hands at all times. We had a flo test ( just for our own satisfaction ) two days into the cruise which were negative.  My wife became unwell the evening we left Tenerife and was tested the following day and was found to be Covid positive... I was negative.   We were taken from our cabin, within an hour of the test results, separated, and my wife re-accommodated at the front of the ship, and I at the back.....we were held in these cabins for the the remainder of the cruise, with no human interaction at all, out meals left outside the room on the passage-way floor following a knock on the door....  We were disembarked sometime after all other guests, and I am sorry to say left us feeling like Lepas with all members of the crew keeping a good 6.0m away from us and sanitizing everywhere we had been.  We could only have contracted the virus on the ship........this has been a truly memorable cruise, which was supposed to be a once in a lifetime only trip for our 45th wedding anniversary. !!!!!!!!!

 

I am sorry to hear that your wife had Covid on the day you were in Tenerife. Unfortunately it is entirely within the known timescale that if you, and your wife, were near someone on the day of embarkation in the crowded terminal, or elsewhere that day, you may have been infected at that time, and continue to then incubate the virus and only then become symptomatic and test positive 5 days later.   It is also possible your wife may have been near someone in the first few days of the cruise and then become symptomatic a few days later. Wearing a mask, as has oft been said, does not offer good protection against being infected, but primarily protects others if the mask wearer has Covid.  So if you are wearing a mask but someone near you is infectious but not wearing one, or perhaps just covering the mouth with the nose exposed, then all it takes is a cough to transmit virus laden droplets to you and inhale them through the sides or even the material of the mask.  It is also within the know transmission data that a partner of someone who has the virus may or may not themselves become infected.  Either way, at least being on board would have been a better option than being disembarked to a hotel for quarantine, and then have to arrange to get home independently of the ship. It is also understandable that crew members would have taken sufficient precautions to try to avoid being infected by being close to someone who is known to have the virus.  I have every sympathy with your 45th anniversary being a lot less celebration than you had planned, but perhaps the FCC will allow a delayed alternative celebration cruise that you will be able to enjoy to the full.

23 minutes ago, 2BACRUISER said:

I'm supposing as the test required is now unobserved for cruises out of S'ham a fit to fly test provided by companies like Chronomics (we used them to go away with TUI) will suffice? We had to do them at 9pm the night before flying the next day. 

 

Just checked Randox too they do one with their app £13.50 per person so provided you have wifi you could do your tests in transit from home to s'ham.

A mobile phone connection with 4G ( or 3G) would be just as good as wifi.....

The Southampton option won't work for anyone getting the coach on the day from other parts of the UK - so for those of us who do a 7 hour or more coach trip on the day of departure, we have to be able to do a private test near home the day before departure - and presumably any local provider that will do an antigen test and email the result would satisfy the new requirements, but as you say the government UK list is long and not obvious which of the many options is both locally convenient as well as acceptable to Cunard.

Does anyone have a list of accepted private Covid test providers that Cunard will accept for the antigen test?   For example are the Boots or LloydsPharmacy tests that they do with a booked appointment acceptable? 

For the cruise lines it makes a great deal of sense to have passengers and crew fully vaccinated, including boosters - so it would be really surprising if Cunard did not extend the vaccine requirements through this summer. 

We have 6 friends on that cruise and they are simply having a whale of a time...  they do send occasional messages but they are on their phones a lot less than when not on a cruise! Though with several sea days between the Canaries and Southampton apart from a day in Lisbon, perhaps they will have a little more time to get on WhatsApp before they get home!

There is an additional consideration about the situation where a passenger cannot have the full vaccination doses required by the cruise line, and that concerns travel insurance with medical cover for Covid.  If the insured names on a policy do not fully declare their vaccine status, then the insurer will often void the policy, since most insurers require policyholders to declare all medical facts that are pertinent to the policy  At the point where the insured contacts the insurer to declare that they cannot have the full up to date doses of the Covid vaccine then the insurer may either say that they are prepared to continue to offer cover for the travel policy either at the original premium, or require an additional premium to be paid, or they may say that they will cover the other risks on the travel policy but exclude consequences of Covid since the policyholder is not vaccinated.  Different insurers and underwriters may have a different result in what they are prepared to cover, and for what premium. However in general not notifying the insurer about the inability to have the full vaccine doses would likely simply void the policy. In that case you could end up with significant costs that you would have to finance from your own funds.

Nice to see this news.