IB2

The ship observed the speed restriction Thursday on approaching the US, only to be overtaken by a poxy cargo ship.

It’s certainly gone warm, but we’ve had Force 8 winds on deck today

That is what the captain said at noon. Tomorrow will be a rough, windy day with gale 8-9 winds but by Wednesday we will be back in calm, sunny conditions.

We’re 500 nm north of the Azores, sailing west, towards the remnants of a hurricane.

I boarded yesterday at Southampton and they didn’t take a new photo; just used the one I had already uploaded as part of the online checkin. The guy in front of me had left his passport on the train that morning and was trying to board on the basis that he had a spare photo of himself in his pocket. Quite how this photo was going to help him get on the ship wasn’t clear, and I had to move on so never found out how that story ended.

And in the US or Canada....?

These packages rarely work out to be worth it, unless you drink way more than you should. And all the fiddly rules and restrictions and potential extra charges make the whole thing very unattractive anyway.

Right first time. Cunard says he is (or was, in 2022) the only Pumi to have crossed the Atlantic by sea, and we shall have to see if he retains his crown when we go again soon.

My favourite, simply because the dog was so pleased to be finally off the ship…

Asking whether you need it or not, in terms of being able to board and make the crossing, the answer is probably no. Despite all the stuff Cunard send you in advance about insurance, I have never known them to check or make a fuss about whether you have it or not, and suspect they’re really hoping you will buy their own promoted policy. On the other hand, however, of the four TAs I have done, someone has been airlifted off for medical treatment on two of them. Those passengers will either need to have been fully insured (including for cruises, which often aren’t automatically included within standard travel policies) or have very deep pockets, particularly if their airlift happens on the American side of the Atlantic. Any passenger travelling without full cruise insurance cover does need to consider the risk they are taking if their heart provides unable to cope with seven days of non-stop eating and drinking and a calorie intake probably double that to which they are normally accustomed.

I hardly think the small rows of single person cabins on decks 2 and 3 have made much difference to the level of “crowding” on the ship? Whether or not the bulk of numerous Britannia cabins are fully occupied will make far more difference to the number of people on the ship.

On dress code, on the two crossings I have done since the pandemic, my perception was that dinner jackets/tuxedo were no longer universal on formal nights, with a decent sprinkling of (subjectively, mostly American) guests wearing smart dark suits. Such that if you don’t take a tuxedo, you won’t feel like “the only one”, but you will be in a relatively small minority. Obviously, how it is on deck depends on your luck with the weather, which generally tends to be warmer at the NYC end of the crossing than at the UK end. A point often overlooked in discussion of the TA is that the prevailing wind in the Atlantic is typically from the South West, often around 20-30 mph even on fair weather days, and the ship is sailing at roughly the same speed. Such that it is very common that on westbound crossings the felt wind on deck is close to 50 mph and being outside is a gusty experience, whereas crossing eastbound, if you are lucky the wind and ship’s speed cancel out and you can sun yourself on deck in the calm. So on average being out on deck is a much more pleasant experience crossing eastbound.

I don't believe, based on personal experience, that those rules are being applied as strictly post-pandemic as they were in years previous.

Thats why for the TA I prefer the early sitting westbound and the late sitting eastbound. If you eat late westbound, by the time you're nearly there it feels like you're not eating until really late, whereas the early sitting eastbound comes along far too early, later in the crossing.

Yes, I skipped over that the OP is going to Alaska. There won't be any pets on that trip!

Just to alert any potential TA passengers with kennel bookings going westbound that, from 1 August 2024 onwards, new US entry requirements for pets entering the US come into force, which will require significant extra paperwork as well as completion of an online registration in the day or two before embarkation. You will need to visit a UK or German vet to start the paperwork and also get endorsement from a government approved vet. The details of the CDC announcement are linked below, and I know that the UK side is currently working through what it needs to do to comply. Cunard is likely to be communicating to affected passengers once these derails become clearer. https://www.cdc.gov/importation/bringing-an-animal-into-the-united-states/dogs.html

The other specific faux pas is trying to blag your way into the kennels as a non-pet owner. Almost every crossing someone gets in there, hoping for some photos or video for their social media, and neither the ship nor the pet owners look on it kindly. Passengers are welcome to come up to the kennel gate and chat to dog owners and see those pets that are outside, and people wanting photos of the doggies on board should find out when the pet parade during the crossing will be held - usually late morning a day or two before arrival, depending on the weather. Then all the dogs come out for the group photo on the deck area where the boardwalk cafe is, and then get to parade and exercise their dogs, mingling with the few passengers who have heard about it on board. Keep this secret info to yourself, as it’s not supposed to be an audience event!

First you need the App to accept the evidence you have submitted as to your shareholding. Then you use the App to submit the claim to Cunard, and the App will tell you whether it is accepted or not. If it is accepted, Cunard will email you an amended booking confirmation, showing the extra OBC, straight away.

And they are most welcome, just as I am welcome to my opinion that it’s over-rated. Since when did all reviews and comments on here have to be positive? That certainly doesn’t apply to anything relating to Cunard!

Norway is an absolutely fantastic place to visit. Highly recommended.

It's not a difficult trip by train. But to be honest, Trieste is a marvellous and sometimes under-rated destination, and a decent day there is worth a lot more than a much shorter time in Venice with time sitting on a train (or on the Cunard coach) all the way there and all the way back.

It's an over-rated excursion, anyway. Yes, the train goes up a valley and through lots of tunnels, and yes, it's a bit steeper than other railway lines. But there's nothing particularly special about the valley it goes up; anyone who has travelled around Norway has seen better scenery many times every day. When it's not in a tunnel, the views are mostly on one side of the train, so you'll either be standing peering out of the other side of the carriage, or seated with all the folks on the other side standing over you trying to take photos out of your window. Having trundled up the hill to basically a station in the middle of nowhere, you'll travel back along the same route with the same views with the added bonus of ear-shattering screeching as the train has its brakes on all the way down, with a stop for some frankly bizarre 'entertainment' en route. It's one of those over-priced trips pitched at people arriving on the ships for its novelty value, and at railway enthusiasts wanting to tick it off their bucket list.

I've done it for my two crossings this autumn and, despite not being able to do it the quick way being outside of the US, once they accepted my photos of my online shareholding, Cunard provided the OBC and reissued the booking confirmations very quickly indeed.

Of course, go for it. You will get a good enough feel to know if you want to return for a longer trip, for sure.

They might want to look at the amount of debt that Carnival is carrying, first. The shares have perked up recently largely because people don’t expect further interest rate rises. But their debt burden is massive.