Jack E Dawson

ICEX21 Also wanted to mention that Dee got COVID last week. That just confirms our decision to move forward with life but try and make smart decisions. Jack

So good to hear you enjoyed your first Crossing. Dee and I had hoped that we might have had a chance meeting onboard. I think we may have been close a few times. We saw/heard the American Bull Dog. We were just heading into security when they were coming into the terminal and getting their initial document check. We were in the first seating and had a window table on the upper level on the starboard side. We also plan to do another Crossing next year but it will be a last minute booking (inside of 90 days) and driven by pricing. Jack

ICEX21, Things are just so fluid right now with COVID restrictions. I think we were fortunate that our Crossing was the first to drop masking requirements. Even though we still choose to mask in the theaters, we found the atmosphere on board to be pretty relaxed. Was that your experience. Jack

schattenfell, We recently did the reverse schedule of what you are planning, spending a week in London first then sailing on the QM2. We booked our train from London to Southampton through The Train Line, see link below. The train runs between London Victoria Station, which is walking distance to your hotel, and the Central Southampton station, a very short cab ride from the terminal where the QM2 docks. The train takes 2 1/2 hours. We were very surprised by how much the prices varied by what time you traveled. There were 4 of us, so we got a group discount, and paid $28 per person for First Class. However, the train after ours was $126 per person. Crazy. Jack

On May 1st we landed in London where we spent a week sightseeing. We mainly explored outside venues and uncrowded inside sites, always wearing a mask indoors. On May 8th we boarded the QM2 bound for NYC. We wore masks in the Royal Court and Illuminations theaters. On Sunday May 15th we arrived home to Chicago. Dee spent the next day, Monday, snuggling with and reading to our youngest grandchild. The next morning he tested positive for COVID. That Friday Dee tested positive. Fortunately her symptoms, and his, are mild. Dee and I gave a lot of thought to canceling this voyage. We are so glad now that we didn't but instead moved forward with our lives, made the best decisions that we could and had a wonderful time. We are so grateful to the staff and crew of the QM2 who made this wonderful voyage happen. Jack

I spot checked 4 of the drinks and they were the same as elsewhere on the ship on our May 8th Crossing on the QM2. Thanks so much rakkor. Jack

Wonderful report mcloaked. We noticed the same lack of proper ballroom dancing music as our May 8th Crossing progressed. Thanks, Jack

Thorswife59, Hopefully you are onboard the QM2 and sipping Pol Acker as you depart Southampton. There will be no COVID test prior to disembarkation in NYC. This was discontinued on our may 8th Crossing. There wasn't even a health form. We were very surprised when informed but relieved as well. There were no COVID questions when we cleared Customs. Have a great Crossing. Jack

There were desktop computers in the Library that were being used by passengers. However, I don't know what all they were able able to do on those computers. I did not pass by the computer room. Jack

I think we are OK Host Hattie. Thanks Jack

Congratulations Weebo15. Enjoy your voyage and would love to hear your first impressions of traveling on the QM2 Jack

Thanks HH, didn't mean to keep you up late. Jack

Folks, As the Original Poster of this thread, I feel it has been a bit hijacked. My purpose was to pay it forward for all of the help and good advice we got from CruiseCritic by letting near future QM2 cruisers know what they might expect onboard so their trip might be more enjoyable. While I can only ask please, if your discussion is about whether or not Cunard is a luxury cruise line, or some other topic, you may want to start your own thread. Thanks Jack

MJC, It was just shampoo. Jack

ak1004, We did receive a survey, via e-mail, two days after we disembarked this cruise. It was fairly long and offered many areas to make comments. You may want to check your span/junk mail box. When it came to the WiFi service, I did not mince words. Jack

I do not Luv2Crus40, we only use the hot tobs but I’m sure other will respond. Jack

Good point bluemarble. Jack

Wow Steve, that seem pretty high. I just looked on the Cunard website at eastbound Crossings and randomly picked an Aug. 28th - Sept 4th voyage. The prices were dramatically lower for a single cabin. Jack

aungrl, Please except my apologies, I failed to notice that autocorrect had changed your name form "aungrl", as I had typed, to "angry", which I'm sure is not the case. Jack

angry, The WiFi on our QM2 was unusable for us. We used our CWC credit to partially offset the cost of the week long WiFi plan. As lissie suggested above, we had planned to use WhatApp to communicate with our family and basic internet to post updates on CruiseCritic. After spending a very frustrating first day unable to connect I went down to the Purser's Desk on the second day to cancel the WiFi plan. A very nice guest services agent persuaded me not to cancel. She reloaded the program and was able to get a connection. However, the Purser's Desk seemed to be the only location where I could connect. Finally, on the third day, I went down to the Purser's Desk again and cancelled the plan. I was able to do so with no push back and received a full refund. By coincidence, the passenger next to me at the Purser's Desk was also cancelling their WiFi plan and received a full refund. I think that on our cruise there were a lot of WiFi issues. Jack

What about seating at the bar in Golden Lion, Commodore Club and Chart Room. Is that still prohibited? Thanks Jack

Sabrina66, There was no random or ship wide mandatory testing. I suspect that you are correct that these were close contacts of passengers who had tested positive. The announcements were usually made mid to late morning, 4 bells then the announcement. I know that this is a serious situation but i still found it amusing how when those 4 bells sounded you could hear a pin drop in whichever room you were in. Then the big group sigh of relief if your name wasn't called. By the mid point of the cruise Dee and I figured that even if we did catch covid (we had had our SECOND booster 4 weeks before boarding) we probably wouldn't test positive before reaching NYC so we started to really mingle at breakfast and lunch as well as in the evenings and of course in gossip central, the launderettes. In talking with a fair number of passengers, my best guess is there were very few cases of COVID on board, maybe between 10 - 20 tops. Again, this is just a guess. No one spoke of losing their waiter or steward and all of the performers/speakers were there throughout the voyage. I can tell you that we did not see a single crew member without a mask or wearing their mask improperly either inside our outside on the deck. There were staff with bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere and they were not timid in dispensing it. I would swear those folks were being paid on commission. Jack

When we boarded the QM2 in Southampton two weeks ago the fridge was already empty except for a bottle of Pol Acker and two Champagne glasses. There was a letter on the desk saying that you could have your fridge stocked, and specify with what items if you wanted, for a charge. Jack

No David, a negative test was not required to disembark. I was very surprised when told this on the ship. It is hard to believe that a cruise ship, with known COVID cases onboard, was allowed to pull into New York and disembark 1500 passengers without any testing requirement. I actually checked with the Purser's Desk 3 times confirming this. I was told that the only people requiring testing were those who were immediately flying out on International flights. When we went through Customs the issue wasn't even raised. Jack

navybankerteacher, I believe the Silver Spirits Drinks Package on Viking is around $20/day. I'm not sure that would qualify for being in an alcoholic stupor. Jack