TouchstoneFeste

3 hours ago, e&mcruise said:

Let alone an "eraser/rubber/condom" confusion........ 😉

To add another language to the mix:

Akron, Ohio, was dubbed "Rubber City" for its association with the tire (tyre?) industry, and the shorthand adopted by local American Sign Language users was the same nickname (so they don't have to sign A-K-R-O-N every time they mention it).

Imagine the growing consternation of a visiting deaf clergyman as he was repeatedly welcomed to the city at a testimonial dinner .... until the coin dropped.

(Related to me by an attendee at the event; she swears it's true.)

(By the way, there is no longer any natural rubber in the thing used for removing pencil marks, nor in the thing used to evade paternity suits.)

15 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

Elephant1151,

We are on the Istanbul, Greek Isles QV cruise next May. Did your recent 21-day cruise stop in Santorini and, if so, do you have any recommendations (pro or con) on any specific excursions? Sorry Babe, I apologize for asking an off topic question.

Jack

Jack, I've been pondering whether or not I should reply. I can't comment on any specific shore excursions, but you may want to "cruise" through the Greece Ports forum

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/463-greece-ports/

where the topic of touring Santorini is discussed to exhaustion. It may give you some tips on what to look out for in excursion descriptions.

It's a delightful, beautiful location - I would go back in a second - but be warned that nearly all the discussion on Greece Ports is about how there are too many tourists (so you can't enjoy the beauty) and getting around can be difficult (so you may wait literally for hours to take the cable car down from the top). @rog747's suggestion gets around the latter problem, at least.

17 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

I know we're Cunard but come on, a fight...and in black tie too!!

Channel your inner James Bond.

19 hours ago, CCJack said:

I don't think it is necessary to make a special vaporetto trip to see views from the water as opposed to views from the sidewalk / bridges, etc.   All views are great.  The best way to see any city is walking, if you have the time and energy!

 

While I would agree overall that Venice should be seen on foot, that vaporetto trip down the Grand Canal is pretty spectacular ...

35 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

The location on QM2 is also a bit unfortunate, thanks to the door to the outside deck, something rather obviously not present on QV and QE.

Unless I've missed something, the Verandah bar area is literally the only access to the outside deck that doesn't require you to go up or down a deck. Am I right?

You might want to check how many big ships will be in port that day  to judge the competition, so to speak. 

Over on the British Isles/Western Europe forum, this topic is covered extensively,  and one piece of advice I've seen repeatedly is to book the taxi through the hotel the night before,  perhaps as you check in.

All that said,  taxis are plentiful, and the rides are short. 

1 hour ago, Germancruiser said:

OH what utterly nonsense that 4 class idea is. If Britannia Class is considered 4th class- I am happy to take that anytime. Does one really feel " 4th Class" when sitting in one of the wonderful Lounges on board QM2- say Chart Room Bar, Commodore Club, Champagne Bar?

I do not want a behind the sceanes tour- other then the technical part- etc. I do not want to see the accommadations of the crew- as one mentiones already- it is their sanctury - the only place they have for themselfes. Nobody forces anyone to work on a ship- sometimes the crew members feed whole families from what they make on their contracts.

Personally I was disappointed in the quality of the ceilidh we experienced in Cunard 4th class 🙂

We did the behind the scenes tour last December.  We passed through the crew quarters area, but weren't allowed into any actual cabins. While passing along the Burma Road we were allowed to peek into the crew cafeteria, which seemed large and cheerful. We were told the food catered to the taste of the mostly Asian crew (so I agree with the suggestion that a "crew menu" night might be very good.)

20 hours ago, TowandaUK said:

Having experienced a ploughman’s lunch in the Golden Lion on Queen Anne I would never dream of eating dinner there if it was available. Very small portions - and while we don’t want to eat a lot at lunch time the offerings were tiny. Worse than that the quality was well under par, quite different to food available everywhere else on the ship. 

To be fair, the ploughman was only 4' 4"

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

No, ‘request’ here is surely a polite way of saying ,  ‘Do do this.’ Surely jeans are a sub category of trousers in a way shorts aren’t. I suspect what they don’t want is people turning up for dinner in shorts, hence the mention of trousers.

I'll respectfully disagree. :)

3 hours ago, moses0 said:

Not trying to "get away" with anything. 🙂 My "jeans" look more like trousers than jeans and though I say it myself I looked as proper as anyone better than some. 🙂

I agree with you in spirit - I often wear "smart" grey or black jeans with a sport coat to the theater or concerts in the U.S. - but they really do violate the letter of the law. I don't wear them in the evenings on Cunard in spite of the fact that I think I look much better in them than I do in dress trousers.

I disagree with you @D&N

14 minutes ago, D&N said:

"we request you wear collared shirt and trousers".

I think the message is clear. I think the "request" is just a polite way of saying "Don't do this". And even I - a dedicated jeans guy - don't think jeans are trousers. If Cunard didn't think it mattered, they would just leave the term off the description of acceptable wear. They'd just say "we request you wear collared shirt", period.

7 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

The use of different words for the same thing is funny too.  (Re: @TouchstoneFeste’s comment on draught vs fountain.)

It gets more complicated. In my part of the U.S. the generic term for "carbonated soft drink" is "pop". (I had to backtrack and replace it with "soda" in my post above.) I'm told, although I haven't experienced it myself, that "coke" does that job in the southeast (so you have to describe what kind of coke you want). "Soda" seems to be the preferred term in the northeast, so I cause confusion when I order an unflavored carbonated water in NYC.

2 hours ago, snaefell said:

As for economy,again IME if you ask for no ice you will often get a smaller glass with the same amount of liquid.

That's odd. I can't remember the last time I was in a restaurant where a soda wasn't refilled for free so I don't know why they'd bother putting it in a smaller glass. I'll try asking for no ice next time and see what happens. I'm speaking of fountain drinks (perhaps known as draught in the UK?) of course.

The demographic mix could well have changed somewhat between the first few (overloaded with  Cunard old-timers who wanted to be first) and later voyages.

6 hours ago, exlondoner said:

The ROH certainly doesn’t, though I did once see a chap in a dinner jacket, an unwise choice on a very hot day.

The last time I was at the Met in New York, I specifically looked around to see how people were dressed. Full house, and only about 10 other men were wearing a tie. (Is that the experience at the ROH? Or do people tend to dress more formally overall?)

48 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

if you like the appetizer you'll be wanting for more,

Of course, that's sort of the definition of "appetizer" ...

Can't comment on the kayak option. Regarding the walls, though:

Although a good guide can always enhance your visit, you probably don't *need* one for walking the walls - guide books or online research should suffice. It's a great walk with excellent vistas and numerous points of interest, but not very complicated.

The GOT tour will probably take you back up to the walls, by the way. Several points were used as shooting locations.

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Give a man a uniform and they want to take charge.

Well, to be fair, in this case he IS in charge. :)

39 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

We used Luggage Forward for a December 2022 crossing, with them picking up our suitcase about 6 weeks prior to the embarkation date. We didn’t put Cunard tags on it - obviously, well before they were available - and it was delivered to the cabin without a problem.

 

Perhaps it has changed now, but Cunard luggage tags were not required for Luggage Forward in the past. 

I'm sure our misplaced bag was an anomaly. (It was delivered, ultimately. By our neighbor.) Nonetheless, I'd be inclined to include a Cunard tag if at all possible.

7 hours ago, rj1227 said:

But if I leave a suitcase behind with a family member or neighbor for Luggage Forward to pick up, does Luggage Forward need the Cunard luggage tag, or is the basic information as to the sailing, sailing date, and cabin number sufficient?

I'd avoid relying solely on Luggage Forward's tags (which as I recall do have your sailing, sailing date, and cabin number on them, but in tiny letters). On our first use of LF I misread the instructions and intentionally left off the Cunard tags. One bag was delivered to a different cabin.

So try to employ one of the methods recommended above.

4 hours ago, Clewgarnet said:

A friend saw one of the Virgin ships in person, and described it as, "I'm surprised it hasn't sunk out of sheer embarrassment."

 

No wonder she's still a virgin.

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

Just a theory.

I just love watching you work, man :)

6 hours ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

Mine is 10 digits with no letters. I'm in the U.S. We booked our first Cunard voyage in 2020.

In the interest of science: My wife's is a different 10 digit number. The first 8 digits are the same, the last two are "...89" and "...96"

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

That's very interesting. So is your Cunard World Club number nine digits (without a letter at the end)? Australia/New Zealand numbers have been ten digits without any letters.

Mine is 10 digits with no letters. I'm in the U.S. We booked our first Cunard voyage in 2020.

12 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

 

I drove a sunrise group some years back, they were staying in a hotel in Salisbury.

There were no facilities a out of regular visitor hours.

But they knew that, the coach had hot drinks and a bathroom, they brought food with them, and they didn't need audio guides because they'd hired a very knowledgeable local guide who travelled with us.

 

Was it the same for you ? Or were there any facilities at that God-forsaken hour ? 

 

JB 🙂

Ours left London around sunrise, so it turned out to be a "Pretty early in the morning" tour; still, it was breathtaking to be alone in the inner ring. The facilities were open and the regular tour buses were just starting to arrive as we left.

9 minutes ago, Jack E Dawson said:

 

Must have been windy to get that seaweed blown across their faces.