richard_london

3 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I have been offered 110% FCC, but will take a full refund instead, as I feel the need to draw a line under this - I made my original booking back in October 2019.

I came to the same decision too.  I booked my cruise back in December 2020.  Think that is the same one that si_boy was booked on.  It was just before Christmas so it was a little present to myself after a rotten year. Not booking anything else with Cunard in 2022 until all ships are back in service.  Have booked one for 2023 and shifted two 2022 cruises to 2023 because I don't have much confidence with this situation (since they were QV voyages).

I understand the QV is being used to house crew, so they can rotate crew from other ships, and potentially those with Covid which is understandable but why the Victoria?

What I don't get is Carnival has just announced two of their old ships are going for scrap.  Why on earth do they not use one of those and get the QV back into service quicker?  The Sensation was in warm lay-up so could easily have been deployed to replace the QV.  Then the QV would be back in service earning money for Cunard.

I feel it is a bit disrespectful to the Victoria and to Cunard's customers to have done this, when there seems other options for fulfilling the Victoria's role at the moment. 

I had an email from Cunard today about my QV voyage and I noticed the QV branding on the bottom of the email reflects the new style of font used on the hull of the Queen Anne.  So it looks like they might be retiring the Cunardia font they use on their publicity material?  (see attached image)

According to the mail (which was announcing the cancellation of my voyage) the QV will be dry docked before returning to service on 5 June 2022.  I wonder if she will get the new hull paint scheme shown on the Queen Anne?

Just received an email, as I'm sure have many others about this:

...ahead of her scheduled return to sailing, Queen Victoria is currently located in Barbados. She will be staying in the Caribbean for longer than planned before her dry-dock and will now return to full service on 5 June 2022 with her existing itineraries from this date. As a result, we are sorry to advise that your voyage has been cancelled.

Various articles on the usual cruise news websites (with the same wording, so assume a press release) say "The Queen Anne's maiden season program will go on sale in May, with the ship's first sailings in early 2024."  So not long to wait to see where she is going.  I suspect the maiden voyage will sell out within hours.

2 hours ago, eroller said:

Any comments on the "refreshed" livery?  The only thing I detect is they moved the black stripes in the funnel closer together towards the top, instead of spread out evenly.  I suppose this provides a more modern look.  

 

 

They look further up because in these computer generated images the funnel doesn't have the air scoop at the base that the other Queens (going back to the QE2) have. 

The funnel looks squarer at the back too.

2 minutes ago, Cruise Puss said:

I agree. All for some changes,  but Cunard have a 'look' which is pretty unique. It would be a shame, in our opinion, to move away from that. We shall have to wait and see.

I will still try a cruise on her, but I agree with you about the Cunard look.  You couldn't mistake it for something else.  Maybe when we see more of the ship, like the dining rooms but I can't help feel a bit disappointed by this reveal.  I don't think the name helps despite it being rumoured for ages, I was always hoping it would be something different.

2 minutes ago, johnnylikely said:

Yes, sounds like ur right. I like it!

The interiors look dramatically different from the look onboard the current three Queens.  Clearly a deliberate decision to move away from that look.  I'm worried it's not very distinctive.  If you didn't know they were views of the new Cunarder's interiors you would be had pressed to identify which ship they belonged to.  Could easily be a P&O ship.

What do you reckon to the interiors?

I'm thinking the two views shown are the main lobby/atrium and Queens Room?

2 hours ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

Latest trademark that was re-registered by the company is Queen Elizabeth 2.

So along with the Queen Anne's, Queen Isabella's, Aquitania's, Mauritania's and King Jame's trademarks comes the Queen Elizabeth 2 one.

They have painted themselves into a corner by naming the current three Queen X.  I suppose Queen Victoria was never an original Cunard liner name, so I doubt using a historic name matters more than calling the new ship a Queen.  I imagine most passengers don't know the names of all the famous Cunarders of the past, so they can just choose a name that fits. 

Queen Anne just doesn't sound like the name of a ship, more something you would hear on the Antiques Roadshow.  Reading the Wikipedia page of Queen Isabella, do they really want to use that name?  Plus if the abbreviate the name like the other three she would be the QI, which immediately makes me think of the BBC quiz show.

1 hour ago, SilverHengroen said:

I'm thinking look no further than the Queen Victoria's Britannia Club and adjoining corridor. If you squint you can perhaps see a couple of Art Deco nods, in the carpet, the light boxes on the wall and the indirect lighting, but overall it runs much closer to modern generic luxury hotel styling (i.e. looks a lot more like every other cruise ship in this market segment). Not that I'm a massive Art Deco fan, but generic would probably be worse. 

Yes, I hadn't thought of that now you come to mention it, as it was added later.  I do actually like the Britannia Club, but it doesn't quite fit with the overall feel of the rest of the ship.  Probably then, the refit of the QM2's Carinthia Lounge, which I also like, might be more the style they have gone for.  The new P&O mega ships are more in line with generic land-based hotels, and it's not a style that I would associate with Cunard so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Remembering back to when they announced Adam Tihany would be leading the design and what he said:

"passengers can expect a 'much lighter, contemporary feel, but crucially it will still feel like a Cunard ship"

" [Cunard] it has always been a forward-looking brand. It has a classic image but actually each ship has been innovative for its period. We want to continue this tradition and move the brand forward "

"The new ship will celebrate Cunard’s British heritage but with a whisper, not a shout. Everything a guest expects to see on a Cunard ship will be there, but in a different way to the other three [ocean liner Queen Mary 2 and sister vessels Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria].'"

(Source https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news-headlines/tihany-leads-interior-design-cunards-2022-newbuild)

We only have a few days to wait, but if these comments are an accurate reflection, she might look quite different and closer to the HAL ships than the Cunard QV/QE.

I expect the Art Deco styling will be toned down a lot, hopefully it will still be distinctive, otherwise it will seem like an anonymous land-based hotel.

This is the photo from the steel cutting of the new Cunarder (photo from https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/cruise-ships/new-ship).

You can see the "feature" in between the funnel and forward superstructure.  Not sure it "helps" the profile. 

The Rotterdam (photo from https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/cruise-ships/ms-rotterdam/0.html) has a similar structure in the same place but it doesn't have a tower-like element to it.

I'm sure all will be revealed on 8th. 

If you click the link on the email and go to the image on the web page and zoom in as much as you can, you make our her basic outline. 

The superstructure at the front of the ship is much more built up than the QE and QV, so very much like the HAL ships. 

There is definitely a tall structure between the superstructure block at the front and the funnel.  It was there on the silhouette when they did the steel cutting at Fincantieiri if you look at the photos.  I wonder what it could be?  Is it going to be like the North Star on the RCCL ships?

And is it me, or does the funnel look a bit chunkier, more prominent?  Maybe they have enclosed the exhausts at the top?

What are your thoughts?

Although not a liner like the QM2 I am excited to see, especially the interiors.

Been searching the Internet to see what the progress on the Ambience.  On MarineTraffic she is still in the floating dry dock at Rijeka in Croatia.  Found this photo from December.  They've stripped the hull back to the bare steel, so looks like she is getting a complete repaint.

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=3371610

I wonder how her interiors are looking.

I see from Marinetraffic that she's in the Viktor Lenac shipyard in Croatia.  News on her seems elusive, but I found a Tweet showing her at the end of October.  She still has Satoshi on her bow, but her lifeboats are removed so work must be taking place.  I've read online it is meant to be finished in February.

The absence of any news is somewhat odd, news on new builds for other lines is much clearer if you read the cruise news sites.

I periodically check the Cunard website to see if the fourth vessel is still listed because I have a theory.  But with radio silence for Cunard, I like everyone in this thread is speculating.  So this is my thought.

According to the following story from March this year HAL shed 5,308 berths when it sold off its four ships early on in the pandemic.  The new Rotterdam gives them back 2,650.  But HAL is still 2,658 down from its pre-Covid berth count.  What better solution that an under construction vessel based on the Pinnacle class to slot in to the HAL fleet and fill that gap.  Two new ships of 2,650 berths is much more efficient than the older four they sold of which were around (average of) 1327 per ship.

Anyway, it's just a hunch, but given Carnival is moving other ships around - a Costa vessel to Carnival and an Aida new build to Carnival - to balance up all those ships sold off, who is to say the new Cunarder won't go the same way?

Personally, from the way it looks I'd rather it went to HAL and for Cunard to add a pair of smaller vessels. I love Cunard but I think the luxury market has moved on so much since the QE entered service.  Something like MSC is doing with its new Explora brand would be great for Cunard as its ships could still be Cunard luxury but to differentiate from the QM2, QV and QE by being able to go to the smaller ports, and take a leaf out of Azamara, with overnighters and curated tours. 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24644-holland-america-line-status-update.html

Yes, you have to be quick to get them.  As soon as the voyages are released you need to be poised ready to book. 

I did a Norwegian cruise on the QM2 in one of the solo cabins on 3 deck.  The cabin had a huge circular window (like in the Gallery on the other side) and is considerably larger than those on the QE and QV. The cabins are wider than they are deep so you get a huge space for a solo cabin. 

The one thing that would prevent me choosing one on Deck 3 again is that guests leaving the G32 nightclub on the port side of the ship use the corridor with the solo cabins on to get around the Britannia Restaurant.  I was woken every night multiple times by loud voices and doors opening/closing.  

I would try one down on 2 Deck instead.  

55 minutes ago, bbtablet said:

However, if you are on the QM2 from Southampton on January 14th 2022 I don't think you need to fear being bumped off.

I'm the 4-day Hamburg one, which I think is the cruise before yours.  I shall keep an eye on the boards and will wait and see what happens.  Hoping I don't get bumped, it will be 2+ years since I last was able to cruise.

Hi, apologies if this has been answered previously but I couldn't find anything.

If Cunard's ships are sailing at reduced capacity, are Cunard limiting sales or are the selling future cruises to 100% capacity on the assumption or hope that it will be possible by the date of the cruise?

I've just paid the balance for a January cruise on the QM2 and moved it from a QE cruise with their transfer policy so I'm relatively late booking.

I'm wondering, if they sold it at 100% capacity and then can only sail at say 70% capacity I assume they'd have to cancel some people's bookings?  And then if so, on what basis, last on first out?

Has anyone experienced being bumped off a Cunard cruise due to capacity issues?

Thanks in advance.

I've had mixed messages from Cunard on this.   It might be their policy is evolving, but I've been shifting a cruise around using their transfer policy.  When I shifted the cruise (back in July) I was originally on a table for six, and the agent said she wasn't sure how it would work with a solo passenger, so I just said to put me on a table on my own (which doesn't concern me).

I shifted it again (a few weeks ago) and have just paid the balance yesterday and the confirmation says "Sit With Singles".  So it does seem like it is possible, which is different from earlier. 

I see on the FO website that they've updated the virtual tours page so you can have a look at the interiors of the new ships.  https://www.fredolsencruises.com/our-ships/virtual-tours

I guess it must have been difficult refitting two ships during the pandemic. Carnival, Azamara and Cunard are refitting their ships for service and are dry-docking them in the process.  From what I could make out checking the FO ships on Marine Traffic they were never drydocked, where they could have done a more thorough refit.

Curious about VV but I'm a light sleeper.  With the late night activities on board did you experience any noise issues, either from venues or people in the corridors or adjacent cabins?

Interesting to read your thoughts as a Fred regular.  Thanks for the advice on the Braemar.  i shall definitely take that into consideration.  

It sounds like they haven't been able to do much overall with the ships to bring them into line with the original fleet.  I shall wait and see what other reviews have to say.  

I'm a solo traveller and I can't really afford or justify paying Fred's prices anymore which is a shame.  

Having read some of the initial reviews posted for Borealis I was wondering how Fred Olsen regulars were finding the new ships compared to the existing fleet and the retired Black Watch and Boudicca. 

I've seen FO's videos on Twitter including their recent tour videos stating how the ships are designed 'The Olsen way' (their use of inverted commas).  I wonder if it is disingenuous of them to say that since the ships seem little altered from the HAL days save the soft furnishings and carpets.  Have Fred actually added anything new to the ships?  (I see they could still get that green carpet with the multi coloured paint trails produced!!)

I've only cruised on Balmoral and was due to sail on the Black Watch and Braemar but Covid intervened.  I would definitely want to try the Braemar on the right itinerary. 

Fred always seemed to refresh their fleet regularly and although older than most other ships in service I liked their light and airy interiors and classic lines. The spaces all felt contemporary and fresh but the new ships look rather dark, with lots of dark wood finishes with the atriums dominated by those odd mechanical clocks. They don't look like they've been touched since they entered service. 

So how are Fred's regulars finding Borealis and Bolette?   Do they fit in well with Balmoral and Braemar?   I've always liked Fred's itinearies but with these new ships and the (ridiculous) prices i'm wondering what the Fred experience is like now?

The list of cruises for 2022 is very much like those that CMV used to do so they are attractive itineraries. 

But the way CMV carried on selling cruises right up until they went under was terrible and what happened when it went into administration was awful.  Seeing the same names back involved in cruising seemingly without repurcussions isn't necessarily a good look for a new company.