IB2

It took almost a whole month before I was free of the debit card authorisations after my TA in August

Lots of dogs.

True, except for the weekly photoshoot, until the captain recently allowed dogs to use the boardwalk deck of an evening. Now, passengers can go interact with the dogs up there every evening, during a TA.

Of course not. It’s an opportunity for passengers in the know to meet the dogs, and usually quickly out come the cameras. Of an evening that deck would otherwise be deserted. And the kennels are also using it as a chance to give the cats a bit of freedom inside the kennel room.

I saw it open on one day on one of my two TAs in 2019, but never since. And that large open, completely unused, deck was irksome to kennel passengers who could sit and look at it through the kennel window but never use it to exercise their dogs - until this year, when the new captain has allowed the dogs to be exercised there for an hour every evening. Which is great for the more active dogs, which can get a runabout every evening before bedtime. And also for those non-kennel passengers that want to see the dogs or meet the owners during their crossing.

Will pink suffice as red for the luggage tag?

Someone should post a guide to the Cunard luggage label colours and where they refer to?

The questions about the kennels are all answered in detail on the other thread (old, but recently added to) or by the article, photos and comments below it on the Cruisemaven website. Basically, it’s the latter - not allowed all over the ship. Cunard used to be very strict on only allowing properly trained and certified service/assistance dogs elsewhere on the ship, but since the pandemic they seem to have become more lax and accepted at least a few of the ‘fake’ service/support dog scams that so many owners get away with in the US itself.

Yes, on my last crossing a few weeks' back, it was 75% repeat travellers, including one dog we'd met before. So the owners clearly don't mind the experience, at least.

I think that’s harsh - after the dogfight incident a few years ago, Cunard arranged for the ship’s doctor to operate on the injured dog, and the new Captain has given permission for the dogs to use the open deck every evening. And he comes up to meet the dogs during the crossing. And the cost, although high, doesn’t seem quite so unreasonable once people start getting quotes for taking their dog by air. The ship tends to have a mix of larger dogs and snub-nosed ones; the two categories where it is most problematic to fly. Where we dog owners miss out is that we provide an attraction for the other passengers on the ship, for which we receive no remuneration…

The counter-argument would be that flying in an aircraft hold can be extremely traumatic for a pet, and deaths in transit aren’t unknown (as a quick Google will confirm - one site claiming to keep track reports a death and an injury commonly every other month). Yes, the ship can also be traumatic, but the experience is closer to that of being kennelled (when the ship is steady, which is most of the time) and the dogs do know their owners aren’t far away, and with them much of the day. And some dogs don’t seem to mind the experience at all. For most who have a choice, it’s between the significant but short trauma of a flight, or the extended lesser trauma of the ship

And it’s worth adding that, since that video was filmed, thanks to Captain Hall the dogs are now allowed out to enjoy the large deck every evening, which makes a big difference for the more active dogs as it’s possible to have a good runabout before bedtime.

Generally, yes, but it does depend on your interests. Typically there is someone covering a history topic, someone covering politics or current affairs, someone with a maritime topic, and someone talking about film or fashion or dancing or celebrities. But it does vary by cruise - having been impressed by my first few crossings, on my latest none of the speakers really appealed, but that was down to my interests rather than the quality of the talks. If you can’t catch them live, the talks are repeated on a loop on one of the ship’s TV channels. If there’s a topic you’re not sure you are that interested in, that’s often a good way to catch the lecture and decide if you want to hear more, since in your cabin you can multi-task with just one ear on the lecture.

Yes, it isn’t the holiday for dogs that you might imagine from some of the promotional literature. How the dogs cope varies significantly, by breed and the character of the dog. The kennels are open eight hours daily, during which time most owners are there spending time with their dogs, on deck when the weather is good, otherwise in the kennel room. During the night the dogs are locked away, which is eleven and a half hours on the eastbound and can be either eleven and a half, or twelve and a half, on the westbound depending on the clock changes. Most of the dogs hold themselves through the night, but there are accidents, particularly during the stress of the first day or two, and depending on the weather and hence movement of the ship. The kennel staff do a good job cleaning up such incidents, and also do a good job keeping the deck as clean as they can. Oliver and his assistant are working all the time the kennels are open, but they are not there to walk and play with the dogs - with up to twenty four on the ship, that wouldn’t be practical. If a particular owner can’t make a session when the kennels are open, they will give the dog a brief walk round the deck so that it has a chance to meet its toilet needs, that is all. Hence the responsibility sits with the owner to do what they can to occupy and stimulate and comfort their pets - don’t expect to be doing too much else on the ship (beyond meals, and late evening entertainment if you still have the energy) if you are making the crossing with a dog. It’s not for everyone, but there are many owners who won’t fly their dogs or cats, particularly those with medical issues or from breeds for whom flying would be problematic, or not possible. By the end of the crossing, there’s usually a good camaraderie between the pet owners, who have spent most of the week together in the kennels. Note that from next year the prices increase by 50%, so it will be $1500 for the lower kennels (dogs over 25 lbs) and $1200 for the uppers. And to be certain of a place, you must either book two years’ ahead, or be able to travel at very short notice. The article and particularly the comments below it on the cruisemaven website contains a lot of useful information, including photos (although the description of the documentation required is now out of date). Most of the advice is obvious, if you sit down and think about what it means to have a dog in a ship’s kennel for a week; sadly there is sometimes the occasional person who arrives not really having thought it through.

The Cunard tradition of some of its passengers obsessing about the most trivial of details is however far from going away.

Well I see that that old thread has the answer, for a debit card, which is to board with a tiny cash balance, such that the onboard debits are all declined, then top up the card on the last night. That’s what I will do for my October return.

Having made deductions from my debit card each day to cover the cost of my on board spend for my recent crossing, yesterday Cunard decided to debit the entire total bill for a second time from my card - despite the statement they gave me before disembarkation that I had a zero balance. Am I the only one they’ve done this to?

As the first reply said, I suspect my OP is a red herring, prompted by a less than reputable website claiming to have the 2027 schedule when it doesn’t. Case closed?

Cunard is very good at record keeping and tipping off staff as to passengers they have encountered before. Just saying.

The answer to the second part of the question is obviously a personal matter and every person’s experience and preference will be different. I wouldn’t, however, recommend trying to roam for the internet from land while on a large ship. It’s best to turn roaming and mobile data off, and use WIFi only.

The unofficial QM2 schedule for 2027 that you can find on the internet suggests that the QM2 is moving to six nights as the standard SO-NYC/vv Transatlantic. Does this seem likely, and if so I wonder what the thinking is? Same prices, fewer days, freeing the ship for other trips?

When the weather is bad, the QM2 actually seems more stable, as they turn the stabilising fins on, which are very effective, but expensive to run. So on my crossing just completed, the patch when we encountered ex Hurricane Ernesto was gale force winds on deck, but the ship’s movement wasn’t that great. We had more pitching the first day at open sea, when winds were light but there was a significant swell in the sea, perhaps running ahead of the storm. That day I guess they didn’t use the stabiliser but did kindly put out the sick bags by the lifts. Not that I saw anyone needing them.

No, my plan was to return using the NYC ferries, for a costly $4. But I need to dump the bags, keeping the dog, to make that practicable.

Does anyone know how early, on embarkation day, you can drop bags for the QM2 TA departing Brooklyn? I’m returning to NYC with a hire car that morning, and am thinking that if I can drop my bags off first and then go return the car, it will make getting back to the ship without the car much easier, if there is time.