Queenvee

Thank you to everyone who provided input and helped me consider fare prices. I'm glad to know that my original understanding was correct that most on-line agencies can/do give a discount off the fare out of their Cunard commission. The other thing I've confirmed is that I need to stop using my current on-line cruise agency since I don't trust the information they give me. When I was on the QM2 last week I was speaking with another passenger (American) who uses a cruise specialist travel agency that she was very happy with; as someone mentioned above, they send her a rebate check of 5%-10% of the fare following the cruise so I will contact that agency for my November 2024 QM2 crossing. It's a shame because for 10+ years I thought I had a great agent and would have kept using them until I keeled over but....no one likes being taken advantage of. Onward to someone else!

@D&N and @Pushpit, I took your advice and just called Cunard. They fare they quoted me is considerably lower than what my on-line travel agency charged me. I then called my on-line travel agency and asked to speak with a supervisor; he said the reason for the price difference is that the agency's fares are "prevailing market" and can change from minute to minute; and at the time I booked the cruise, the fares were higher than they are now. The agency doesn't adjust fares to reflect drops in price. Given this, I think I'll book my next cruise directly with Cunard and see how that experience goes.

@Pushpit I agree - it's time to change on-line agencies. But I'm trying to figure out if it is standard operating procedure for on-line travel agencies to add on some amount (say 10% of the fare) to the fare they quote people as additional revenue for themselves (beyond the commission they receive from the cruise line)? If that's the case, I might be better off booking directly with Cunard but I want to understand the fare process better.

I'm feel foolish asking this question but after interactions with Cunard and my on-line travel agency, I think I should! I'm an experienced cruiser (over 50 cruises, 20 on Cunard) and have used an on-line agency XXX for 10+ years. Once XXX gives me a price quote, I check the prices from two other on-line agencies. If the other agencies' prices are within $200 of XXX's price (which is about 10% of the fare), I book with XXX; even if another agency's price is $200 less than XXX's, I stick w XXX for the sakes of continuity, giving my "XXX cruise counselor" business and making getting some OBC from XXX. I have always been under the impression that on-line cruise agencies receive a commission from the cruise lines and that's how they make their money. My question for you is: do on-line agencies add an additional amount to the fare they receive from Cunard and that is the price they quote me? In other words, does the price from an on-line agency include a profit percentage for them, in addition to the cruise line commission? What raised this for me was receiving a wait list match notification from Cunard this morning stating that a single oceanview cabin on QE for an upcoming cruise was now available; the notification included Pricing Details and the total price was $150 less than XXX's price for a lower level cabin (an inside guarantee). Since this match had to be accepted ASAP and my XXX cruise counselor doesn't work on Mondays, I called Cunard; I specifically asked them to clarify whether the pricing shown on the wait list match notification was the correct price for this cabin and he confirmed that yes, it was. He told me the cabin category, number and the total price. I asked a question about OBC and he put me on hold; when he returned he stated that he didn't realize this was a travel agency booking and that he couldn't discuss or provide any financial information and that I should call XXX. I explained that I just wanted to understand the pricing on the form and thanked him. I don't think that normally i would have been sent the wait list notification; it would have gone to XXX BUT when I was on QM2 last week, I booked a future cruise and asked them not to assign it to me directly, not XXX so they removed XXX from that booking...and I guess that XXX was removed from my records for all cruises? Anyway, seeing this lower price made me wonder if XXX is increasing the fares beyond the price quote they get from Cunard; I understand they're a profit-making business but I thought that cruise line commissions were the sole source of their income. I've had other issues with XXX recently where they gave me false information about payment due dates and cancellation fees; also, they were unable/reluctant/untruthful about contacting Cunard regarding OBC but when I called Cunard to discuss, I ended up getting the OBC. These issues are why I did not have last week's FCC sent to XXX. It's important to me to be an informed consumer, and I don't trust XXX or Cunard to give me an honest answer about whether on-line agencies increase the fares, so I'm asking my CC buddies! Thank you...

@3rdGenCunarder I didn't think fast enough to say anything at all but that would have thrown her for a loop, I bet. Killing them with kindness... Someone mentioned Hyacinth Bucket in a recent CC post and although I've seen that episode several times, I'd forgotten about it. These two women were like Daisy and Onslow (maybe that's too much credit...)

@exlondoner Sorry, I should have said...it was the Mayflower terminal.

On the Nov 19th TA, in the late afternoon of embarkation day, I was relaxing in the Commodore Club; it was relatively full and people were walking through who were exploring the ship. Two British ladies were sitting next to me and the next thing I know one of them is Facetiming her husband with a running commentary of her embarkation, the CC lounge and she stood up to provide a panoramic shot of the CC; while she started off in a quiet voice, his volume was quite loud and as she described their afternoon, her voice got louder and louder. I walked over and asked her if she would do that outside the lounge; she was astounded and said "I'm saying goodbye to my husband and showing him the ship"; I said "I understand but this is a sophisticated, quiet space and you're quite loud"; I went back to my seat and she said to husband (who said "who's that") "some stupid woman". Fine, I can handle that. The couple on the other side of she & her friend got up and moved to seats on the other side of me and said "thank you - I wanted to say something" as they re-settled. The friend was silent and the women lowered her voice and disconnected quickly. As an aside, I noticed she and her friend remove their stateroom bottle of Pol Acker from their hand bag and open it; then realized they had brought the glass flutes from their cabin and glasses of cranberry juice from the Kings Court with them - that is so tacky! I have no problem with people bringing their favorite beverage on board to drink in their cabin but to bring it to a lounge - along with glasses and mixers - is unacceptable. They were happy to accept the crisps the bar server provided and he will have to clean up their stuff. To my thinking, if you can afford to be on a cruise, you can afford to buy a drink in the lounge. I have this seen this low-life approach on more mass market lines, but not on Cunard. To finish this, i saw them later that evening as I was exiting the side elevator (that goes from Deck 8-11) and they were looking for the Deck 11 outside viewing area, so I said "it's just to the left" and as I walked through the door, one of them said "that's her, that's the one". Too funny. Then, on the day before we reached Brooklyn, I was waiting for an elevator and they got off one and said "that's her, that's her" and as they stopped on the stair landing to stare at me; I was so amused that I stared back and waved at them - no wave or smile back, just turned away. And these women were 50+ years old but acting like children. I wonder if they'll be back on Cunard...

FYI... I am Diamond level and boarded QM2 in Southampton last Sunday (Nov 19). My boarding pass stated "Diamond/Priority Boarding". My assigned boarding time (Deck 11 stateroom) was 1:45 pm and I arrived at 1:00. There was a longish line outside the terminal but when I approached the check-in folks outside the main door and asked about a Diamond priority line, she sent me inside immediately. The first stop was the Security line which moved fairly quickly (about 15 minutes) due to people having to take off their winter coats (despite check-in staff reminding everyone to remove their coats while still in line). Then the actual check-in process and again the staff directed me to the priority line which had one person in it. Speedy process and then up the escalator to the waiting room w seats but as I got to the top of the escalator, they were calling PG and QG AND Diamond passengers to board. They specifically said "only these passengers can board now". They had a number of check-in staff who questioned people walking toward the embarkation line to confirm that they were PG or QG; when I mentioned that they had just called Diamond, there was a hesitation but then the announcement was made again including Diamond and off I went to the final line. It also moved quickly. From arrival to getting into my cabin took 30-35 minutes. So, that key perk does still exist...at least in Southampton!

As a side note to @Underwatr's comments about changes to the staterooms, not all the changes he noted (post #149) were made in my interior Deck 11 stateroom. Thermostat is the same as always (no separate fan controls); shower controls are the old ones; fridge has shelf on door however I think the interior shelf was removed and there were no pre-stocked canned sodas - the only items in the fridge upon arrival were the two glass flutes and the small bottle of Pol Acker; the 2nd small bottle of Pol Acker from the Cunard World Club arrived midway through the crossing. These are minor points but wanted to clarify that not all updates occurred in all cabins, so that folks know what to expect. @moses0 Interesting that you mention Carinthia since I attended all the progressive trivia and early evening events in there and we commmented on one of the ivory, armless chairs (with brass tacks) that where the entire side had the leather badly scraped off. I didn't notice any shabbiness of the other furniture in Carinthia which probably means it was updated and that one chair somehow missed updating or was damaged in the process. Note that Carinthia was overflowing for progressive trivia and the evening events associated with the Literary Festival; twice they had to bring in stacks of black plastic & metal office chairs for the extra people so the scraped chair I saw may have been placed in storage due to its' condition and brought out for the need.

Hi John! Now that I'm back from the UK and QM2, I'll start planning my pre- and post-cruise activities for the March 2024 QE Sydney to Tokyo. See you on board😁

Since OP specifically mentioned a winter crossing, I'll contribute my thoughts since I just disembarked from QM2 yesterday in Brooklyn. Jeans are not considered "Smart Attire"; I heard staff in the Chart Room and Commodore Club suggest to two patrons who's attire did not fit the dress code that they might be more comfortable in the Golden Lion pub (one man was wearing neat jeans and the other time a man was wearing a polo shirt, e.g. a short sleeved shirt with a collar and several buttons). In general, I thought the women were much dressier than normal every night - on Smart Attire evenings a lot of women wore some sparkle, lace or chiffon in a knee length outfit. Very nice to see! Not a lot of floor length gowns on Gala nights but if not floor length, the overwhelming majority were dressy w sparkles, etc.

I forgot to mention that the dance floor in the Queen's Room was redone. Parquet in different wooden shades, I think the design is a compass and the QM2 logo appears in the center (maybe 10 inches in diameter?). The captain commented that the floor was slippery but I didn't try it out! (Only one dance host on board, the husband of a couple.)

Disembarked yesterday in Brooklyn. The refit updates I noticed were in the Commodore Club: all chairs have been re-upholstered and the carpet was replaced. Chairs are covered in lux velvety fabric in either a soft blue jacquard pattern or gold jacquard (the pattern is diagonal lines - modern but not jarring). The overall effect is elegant. Carpets in Royal Court Theater were also replaced. Note that in my Deck 11 inside cabin, there are no USB ports; the same sockets/outlets as they've always had (a US version and a UK version); so I used my iPhone charger and cable in the US socket.

Re: OP's original question: I was on QE for a 9-day circumnavigation of Japan just pre-pandemic and while there were Japanese passengers on board, I didn't notice changes to the normal Cunard processes, etc.. Specifically, there were no changes to entertainment that could be traced to the Japanese pax. The Lido buffet has always offered a specific section of Asian dishes and that may have been expanded somewhat but there were plenty of the standard European/UK/American dishes as usual. Of course, there may have been some changes but they weren't significant enough to bother me. After multiple sea voyages, I've experienced various tweaks to daily schedules, meals, etc and I go with the flow. Because more and more voyages are packaged/sold as one longer trip comprised of a 9 day plus a 14 day or something similar, there are often passengers on board for a longer duration than others. I'm often onboard for a shorter leg and have never experienced any "second class treatment". As someone mentioned further up in the post, the reason some newly embarked passengers received flower arrangements was likely due to them being part of a group with the group paying for the flowers in each passenger's cabin (my TA has done that).

Don't confuse FCD with shareholder benefits which are only available to people who own stock shares in Carnival (must be owned at the time the cruise is booked). This site explains the benefits: https://www.carnivalcorp.com/shareholder-information/shareholder-benefit

OP asked about quickstep - yes indeed, much of the ballroom dancing features quicksteps. Along with cha cha, rumba, swing, and samba. No American style foxtrot.

@bluemarble thank you for posting the daily programs! I'm on the 11/19/23 QM2 crossing and can't wait to be on Cunard again (been on 2 HAL voyages this year which were fine but for me, nothing beats Cunard). Seeing the activity and entertainment listings is a teaser😁

Update regarding @frankp01's comment about whether shareholder benefit OBC would still be granted for "discounted" fares, I submitted my request for shareholder benefit OBC for the 3/10/24 QE voyage and already received acknowledgement from Cunard that the OBC has been applied to my accounts. Glad that having a discounted fare doesn't prevent shareholder benefits from being used.

Just a quick note to thank you for creating and maintaining this! It's very helpful and I love the spreadsheet format.😁

I did see the caveat at the bottom of the FCC letter (the one i received when I purchased the FCC) but I didn't think that booking a cruise literally more than six months before sailing date would be considered "Last Minute Deals, Sailing Soon Savings and other fares offered inside final payment". I will contact the Diamond World Club desk (more to voice my unhappiness than to expect that the FCC will suddenly be granted) and I have just submitted my shareholder benefit request for my Nov 2023 QM2 crossing and my March 2024 QE voyage. I'll report back on the results of both!

I just ran into the same situation frankp01 describes; I'm Diamond level and have always bought an FCC onboard and have had no problems using it on any type of fare. Today, I booked a QM2 trip for March 2024 - not part of the Labor Day Sale - but my agent was told it's a deeply discounted fare so I cannot get the OBC that came with the FCC. I do think it's a bait and switch but we seem to have no leverage over the corporate behemeth. Although I have two FCCs, I opted not to use it for this booking since I would not receive the OBC and instead wouldn't have to pay a deposit (using the FCC as deposit). I guess I'm hoping that somewhere along the line, they'll change their policy back to what it was or else I'll wait for them to get refunded back to me.... I've been on HAL and Cunard a lot in the past two years and have decided it's time to try Windstar or return to Azamara. While no cruise is perfect, the negatives on HAL & Cunard are getting too large for me. Sigh...I really Cunard.

Just got off the Nieuw Statendam and the ballroom dancing music was recorded, played by the ship's DJ. Took place in the BB King's Blues club. Only a few couples dancing each night. No instruction.

I am an experienced solo cruiser (52 cruises, the last 20 have been on Cunard or HAL) but I’ve become frustrated with both of them lately so I'm considering MSC. I found a 15 day Iceland/Greenland cruise on the Poesia starting August 4 which appeals to me for the destination. To get a sense of the ship, I’ve watched multiple You Tube videos and read lots of Cruise Critic reviews, all of which provided widely varying opinions about MSC. I take other peoples’ opinions with a grain of salt and will make my own decision...but I wanted to check with the CC folks about a few things: (1) does the Poesia's promenade deck have room for deck chairs? I've looked at deck plans and it's hard to tell from them, and the only video I found showed a wide but empty prom deck. I love to sit on deck and read, watching & hearing the waves (even in cool weather, it's my happy place). (2) One video said that the smell of smoke was very prevalent in hallways and public areas (well beyond the specified smoking areas) so would appreciate your input on that. (3) I love playing team trivia since it's a great way to meet people - HAL & Cunard offer trivia 3 or 4 times a day on sea days; does MSC do the same? Thank you for any input! And if you have any favorite quiet spots for reading (on deck or in a lounge) or any tips (did I hear about caramel sticky buns somewhere?), I would appreciate them.

BklynBoy8 - thanks for the info! I called them and they still operate but only to support/resolve questions with World Club profiles (e.g. missing cruise credits, update personal info, assistance with logging in, etc.). I was hoping they could step in to resolve a pricing/cancellation issue since I'm Diamond level, but they suggested I contact the Reservations Dept. (Who provided helpful info).

I seem to remember that there used to be a unique phone number for world club members - not the standard customer service number. I've searched the Cunard website and the internet and can't find - does anyone have that phone number? Thanks.