Bennybluehat

This site is just awful. I want to book a cruise which is over a year away & picking a cabin is virtually impossible. When I try & choose a specific cabin they are always “already sold out” which leaves approx 3 cabins in the worst position it will actually let me pick. I don’t believe for 1 second they are sold out, it happens on every category you choose! What the hell is going on with it, it’s getting me frustrated!

Thanks for all of your replies, it looks like a trip to the travel agents is in need or do you think booking directly over the telephone with Cunard would also be effective?

We are planning our 2nd transatlantic btb on QM2 in 2020 but I’m having difficulty booking any of the staterooms we would prefer. On the Cunard website it only gives you a choice of 4 rooms & when I put in an exact room number they are always not available. I remember something like this happened last time we booked & eventually more rooms did become available. Does anyone know why this happens & at what point will we have a bigger selection to choose from?

Thanks everyone for your replies. I will contact Celebrity and see if it is possible to get an earlier sitting. We have been on 8 cruises with various companies and have never experienced this before. If Celebrity can’t change the time then I wont be using them. 

We are planning to sail with Celebrity for the 1st time although previously we have sailed with several other companies. When I try and book online there is a section where you pick dining options. The problem I have is that there are no options except for 8.30pm sitting. This is no use to us as I can’t eat a main mail after a certain time of day which is why I would have opted for flexible dining had we been given a choice. Does anyone know why there wouldn’t be a flexible option or even an earlier dining time? We won’t be able to cruise with Celebrity if this is how it stands.

Thanks for the replies. We didn’t pay for ours, it was in our ducket along with a lovely set of coasters with Arctic scenes on them. We are doing our 3rd cruise to Alta later this year and are really looking forward to it.

Does anyone know if P&O still provide a certificate for crossing the arctic circle onboard Aurora? We received one when we did it on Oriana but friends who completed the journey on Aurora last November did not.

I don’t understand why people can’t stick to the boarding time they have been allocated. If your cruise company tells you to arrive at 2.30pm you arrive at 2.30pm, it’s not difficult. Why can’t people stick to rules anymore?:confused:

At the end of the day money does not buy you class or make you a better person. So I shall enjoy my Britannia balcony cabin which I have worked damned hard to pay for & not give a stuff about those who think they are better than everyone else!

I came across the menu for The Golden Lion on QM2 on another thread & wondered if meals are served at lunch time only or if they serve food in the evening aswell. Also wondering if the bar provides darts to use or are u meant to bring your own? Thanks in advance.

Long term Diamond members

Did 14 day QE Southampton to Southampton last Aug Sept ....food etc was great

 

Other family members did cruise before and afterwards and were equally happy

 

Booked 17 day Southampton to Southampton this year and oh boy has the food quality gone downhill

 

Very very concerned now as had already booked Southampton to Hong Kong on QMary Jan 2019 back in March 2018 and being in the UK denied option to cancel ......bad enough they have cancelled Kota Kinablu stop and replaced it with dead and alive hole of a port in Vietnam but not bothered to tell anyone who booked onboard QE .....but if the quality of the food on QM is like QE it will be the last time we sail Cunard

 

Have always loved the dress code, the chancd to dress up and wear glamourus clothes the entertainment , the food , but it seems that USA guests refusal to dress nicely has wrecked Dress Code and other influences of Carnival PLC has spoilt the rest

What was wrong with the food?

I believe Captain Wells is now back in charge onboard QM2 & am wondering if he will still be the captain when we do the BTB transatlantic at the end of October. How long a stint does the captain do before they get a break?

Update - I just heard that Chris Wells will be coming aboard in Southampton (YAY!)

 

- Mark

Does this mean that we are likely to have Captain Wells as Captain when we do the transatlantic in mid October?

The way to arrange early MDR seating if it is utterly sold out is to wait a day, then ask kindly for the dining room leadership to sort out a temporary place. The no-show rate is significant for assigned dinner places.

What exactly does that mean? I thought if you chose your time slot that would be the time you would get a table for your evening meal or is it like P&O where you arrive at that time and if there’s no tables available they provide you with a pager?

We applied for ours 2 month ago and put “ in transit” as we are on the RTT.

It does fascinate me which speakers or celebrities want interaction with the passengers and which don’t. We had the privilege of listening to a gentleman who was a glider pilot during WW2, a truly inspiring man who had time for anyone who wanted to talk to him. We bumped into him frequently around the ship & he was an absolute joy. Then you get these so called celebs who really don’t want any interaction & make it clear they don’t. The true stars in this world shine brightly, way above the others & they are always the most humble.

Makes me wonder if a lot of the noro virus cases onboard aren’t that at all, but are down to people making themselves ill by eating like pigs, guzzling alcohol like there’s isn’t another day coming & spending far too much time baking in the scorching sun!! :confused:

Just a light hearted post : Having cruised quite a few times now we have seen a few celebrities & guest speakers on the ships & I am curious to know what you think about approaching them when you see them around the ship? Also if you have done this what were your experiences? We have bumped into a few whilst out & about on the decks & a few were lovely but lots of them look very unapproachable!

I agree about all 3 & it's the same whichever cruise line we've used. I take my own coffee into the buffet for breakfast & then buy the speciality coffees. I've often thought they deliberately have crap coffee so coffee lovers are forced to part with their money to get a half decent one. As for the toast, its always hard & tasteless, never had decent toast yet! The croissants are also below par, mediocre at best!

Having enjoyed so many Cunard cruises over the years, I have found very little to complain about and the same goes for the cruise that we disembarked from on the QV last week, but as with virtually all of the previous voyages, I have to complain strongly and loudly about the number of rude, ill-mannered and inconsiderate people who enter the theatre following the start of the show.

 

It is quite common for people to enter the show, in the darkness up to 20 - 30 minutes after the start of the show showing total disregard for both the artists and the audience. I also have a message for those who follow this practice, dropping your shoulders by two inches and adopting a strange sort of "duck-like" waddle does not make you invisible, it just adds to your annoying behaviour.

 

I can't see it ever happening, but it would be a great day when cruise staff were placed at each entrance and nobody was allowed in once the show had started. .

Unfortunately that's how society is now. The general public have very little respect for others around them & it goes for all age groups. I work with them & I'm afraid as the years go on the lack of disrespect is growing fast. It proves that people do need rules & regulations to keep them in line & I think they shouldn't be allowed into the theatre once the show has begun but just like in everyday life nobody has the guts to enforce these sort of rules.

Looks like a very interesting set of speakers for roundtrip TA really looking forward to it.

I’m particularly looking forward to John Peters on the way there and Geoff Hughes on the return journey. I think we may need to get in the theatre early for those lectures.

Hi Benny, Yes it’s not far off now eh!? Are you doing it both ways or just WB?

How did you find out which speakers are on board???

It's definitely coming around fast, I've even thought about packing! If you go to the Cunard site & look for enrichment programmes you can download a list for QM2 for all the speakers that will be onboard.

Hi Phil50 we are also on the same trip as you & we are getting really excited! Although we have cruised before we have never been aboard QM2 or been to NYC so it will be different to what we are used to. Looking forward to The National Symphonic Orchestra & there also seems to be some very interesting speakers onboard aswell!

Although that is technically correct, she is often late. If you are sailing on her, you should aim to be at the dock at least an hour earlier.

We are doing the BTB in a few weeks time but are planning on getting the bus into New York which Cunard organises, so I presume the ship will wait if the bus was to be late back.

Anyone know at what time Queen Mary 2 sets sail from New York to Southampton generally? Thanks in advance.