MrsPeel55

@Pushpit is right. My daughter got Premium Net Package because she had to do some work stuff and we need to be able to be reached by family too, we have free roaming in Europe with our mobiles/cell phones, so I didn't get it, but on board Queen Victoria the net access was great 99% of the time. There was one day she threw a bit of a tantrum because there was no access, but she called them and was explained that she had logged herself out, she only needed to re-connect, so the internet package will be your best bet. Having said that, I remember reading here when I first joined, someone mentioned a phone call letting them know they became Grandparents. Can't remember if he/she received the call or made a call from the Pursers desk (I maybe wrong about the location but it was to do with a phone and crew) and when they mentioned to include the cost in their bill, was told that no cost would be charged taking the very special occasion.... If I'm not mistaken, it was someone who often posts here, but my brain is mushed up by the years and overloaded with medication..... not sure if this is a possibility still, but depending on the grade of needing to be reachable, I would most certainly go for a premium internet package to be in the safe side 🙂

Agree 100% on David Tenant best Doctor, looking forward to watching again, we stopped after a few episodes with Peter Capaldi, we thought maybe we may grow to like him as was the case with Mat Smith... but nope, didn't watch it anymore. Also LOVING the new version of All Creatures Great & Small.... I don't usually like new versions, but this one is delightful.... ❤️ Something that really gets me in screen (right now fresh in memory as the adverts for A Haunting ion Venice is everywhere) is Keneth Branagh insisting on playing Poirot, David Suchet was exactly what I imagine Poirot to be since I started reading the books when I was in my teens....can't remember what year we started watching the series, we never get tired of watching and re-watching, When this last Murder in the Orient Express (K Branagh) came into cinemas, we didn't go or I would have cried for the wasted money, it released soon after in Sky Cinema which we have included in our subscription...we started watching.... couldn't get pass the first 20 minutes...shame as the rest of the cast had many of our favourites 😞

I thought something like that would be the problem if I'm on my own... thanks so much for the info, will have to be left for next year when my daughter can come with me 🙂

@delgirl big difference indeed! we did something like that in Malaga, before we left the port terminal, as we were walking out, there was a stand, like a ticket booth, from the Hop on Hop off Sightseeing buses... it was £25 each, plus they had no problem on taking my wheelchair (a very small, light, transit wheelchair which my daughter pushes, not the ones with bog wheels) which Cunard not always is the case, and the tours were US$140 for the both of us...we took the Vigo one which was ok, but for the next sailing we will most definitely research to see what is available and what is more convenient... Anyway, hope you have a great time!!! @Lanky Lad hello again! 🙂 how long was all together to get to Bruges? free shuttle and train seems perfect...if I am with my daughter, not sure it will work if I am on my own, will need to enquire with both Cunard shuttle & the rail line to see if is possible with my mobility scooter... I'm determined to go for a sailing that includes Bruges, we ended up not going when in Brussels, I have been dreaming about it since.... which means a VERY long time as Brussels was 2007!!!!

@Victoria2 agree 100% I will take a photo of all the stuff we brought back with us (and have no intention of getting rid of!!!) .... we maybe only silver but the love for Cunard is strong, my daughter especially fell in love with Queen Victoria, we both are emotional and attached to little things that, like you well mention, may not mean anything to others... but even with valuable stuff.... my husband has the complete collection of Sandman comics, all in their original protective bags, which he always said would be for our daughter...when she was going to Uni, some of her friends suggested she could sell the collection....she didn't want to. My mum has the sea travel the other way around... she loved the sea and they cruised quite a lot with my dad, these days (she is 87 and not in very good health) she refuses to step into anything that goes in the water!

I know you can find out about which Gala Evenings themes/dress code in this thread, courtesy of @bluemarble , here is the one for 2023 9n case you are sailing this year https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2898029-dress-code-and-theme-schedules-for-2023/ and the 2024 (not sure how complete it is now) https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2971177-dress-code-and-theme-schedules-for-2024/#comment-66420667 I have only seen info on entertainment, music, performances, lectures etc, in threads from people who either are sailing and go posting as their day happens or very soon after they are back home, don't think I have seen it listed in advance ...

@delgirl ...are you sure the Cunard $75 is just a shuttle? maybe is a tour? will look the details up but generally Cunard has free shuttles, so maybe that price is for more than just taking you there? I know @Lanky Lad is A LOT more experienced in Cunard knowledge than us, we just did our first Cunard sailing last September, and, though I am conscious Cunard's tours are quite expensive, think is a bit too much for just a shuttle, considering they have free shuttles in so many of their itineraries.....

maybe a 15 seconds search, still, thanks for sharing!

@bitob so glad to hear you got a relatively happy ending. 🙂

Not sure how long it will take for the items to reach a huge price, but I most definitely know there is a growing interest in all Cunard things both sides of the pond, I m talking UK and USA, which is what I have good knowledge of it. We have always been interested in Queen Mary's history in all her incarnations as both members of my family and my in laws had served/worked on board at some point. A few years ago, Patricia V. Davis, a USA writer, did a trilogy novel, Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy : book 1 Cooking for Ghosts, book 2 Spells & Oregano, book 3 Demons, well Seasoned. The whole thing happens on board of Queen Mary which is docked in California, The Secret Spice Cafe is a fictionary (not sure it is the right word?) restaurant, the owners and workers live in the ship. We saw a lot of people in social media started to be curious about British ships in general. The fact that so many personalities and entertainment people have sailed in Cunard's ships also is an attraction for young and not so young these days as "vintage" is trend. My daughter mentioned that some of her friends watching the Now & Then- Beatles documentary - mentioned Paul Mc Cartney talking about Queen Elizabeth when considering staging one recording on a ship, and there is a couple of minutes video of a Cunard ship (not sure if QE, but definitely a Cunard ship), apparently some of her friends asked her about the experience we had on board in September after watching that.... Also, judging by the prices I was able to sell some of my clothes from the 70s & 80s..... @Victoria2 maybe right and we wont see the items reach a good price in our life time...but I think my daughter will.... thing is, the way we hoard on memorabilia (well, anything, really, specially me, I am sooooo hard to part with stuff that has some significance, I scrapbook, also have proven that old clothes of mine my daughter hated at 14, she now treasures and she is on her way to being the extreme hoarder I am LOL....) not sure she will sell all we collected from Cunard! 😁

gorgeous photos both!!! so great that they both are getting on well and I can imagine how happy Coco-Canel has to be with her new family ❤️ You guys look so happy, what a beautiful way to start my day 🙂

indeed... I would have booked at least one more sailing for 2024 ... have been looking for something that will keep me from anxiety until we cruise for Christmas 2024.... the ones I would like to do, my daughter can't, the single prices with this kind of offer would get my booking 😞

there are a bunch of photos of an inside cabin in this post in Emma Cruises blog https://emmacruises.com/queen-mary-2-inside-cabin-review/ not sure how accurate the view of the space is, but like Winnifred said, no coach. We stayed in a balcony cabin deck 6, those have a coach/sofa, for what I researched before going in our cruise last September, Ocean View cabins in Queen Mary may have a coach/sofa, but not sure if this is in all of them, there are different levels of the same category, I think. Hope it helps 🙂

@techteach thanks for that!!! sounds like something we will love here!!!

don't get it either..... terrible environmental danger.... I honestly wouldn't sail in one of these huge ships not even for free..... not our thing....

as Winnifred said, you need WiFi We have iPhones, my daughter got the WiFi premium package, we have free roaming in Europe and I am not too keen on social media these days, so I would talk to people online on port days. One night my daughter took me to our cabin then went to the Commodore and listen to a filk duo.... it was 02:30 m and I woke up, she wasn't there...I sent 4 texts and was getting anxious when I saw the text were not delivered... (I'm on a transit wheelchair, my daughter pushes, I couldn't walk to find her) so most definitely will get wifi pack for our next cruise!!!

same here, not with cruising, but we had to cancel entire holidays for reasons which the insurance shouldn't pay, that's mainly why I don;'t like booking travel so much in advance.... so yes, I also understand 🙂

@NE John we have it!!!!! ❤️

We also much, much prefer smaller ships, it was looking for smaller vessels that we found Cunard... the other day a friend of my daughter said to watch a new program called The Good Ship Murder.... (as we are promoting Cunard cruising passionately to everyone!) ...is filmed in one of MSC's ships, both my daughter and myself agreed, that kind of huge ships are NOT for us! The program isn't all that either..... With us in the spa, the sales pitch didn't go as far as in the 1000s... more like between 300 and 700 US$, I know Elemis products are good, but we can buy cheaper in central London... what I was tempted to go for was the insoles (not sure if that is the name) they offered after doing a posture assessment... I know they work, I used to have them growing up, but thought twice as I only am on my feet at home, so didn't go for it in the end... the massages were without a doubt the best massage we both have had in over 10 years.... the people working at the pa are so very nice...it was a shame that the sales pitch kinda broke a bit the whole enjoyment...nut not to the point of annoying us, so we will go back for more next cruise 🙂 same here 🙂 I had my 65th birthday present in September West Med (a few days after my birthday but we were celebrating the whole week!) Cunard is marvellous!!!

same here, always welcome ideas for Christmas`s table 🙂 My daughter has an aversion to Christmas Purim/cake here, my mother in law used to make them soaked in some extremely sweet syrup.... I had to learn how to make a Christmas table for winter (most of our Christmas until 2003 and even every two years after, were in the tropics, some of the stuff is universal but when you are in north east Brazil or even in scorching heat in Buenos Aires....not much hot food!) when my daughter was little we put together ginger bread houses, I used to make pannetore but the price these days is much cheaper the ones store bought.... even in the Italian or Spanish delicatessen... never attempted a proper European Christmas cake! After burning a LOT of food processors and having issues with my joints and bereaves in the arms, we got Kitchen Aid, a wonderful food processor and the stand mixer.... I didn't even know they existed in this country, I heard about lot throng all our people in the USA, in 2020 after so much cooking ion lockdown, when our last processor and mixer got burned, started looking for something that would last.... we are in love with the Kitchen Aid, both appliances are marvellous, we have friends who have them for over 25 years... if you can ask Santa for that make, they are wonderful (a bit stiff in price but so worth it!!) @D&N her name suits her indeed! we also sell cinnamon Similarly (canela) she looks like a model indeed! both together look gorgeous 🙂 The weather in London is so miserable, but at least we are cooking and eating some nice food.... earlier on was mozzarella, pesto, roasted red peppers paninis with skin on roast potatoes with oregano and rocket with balsamic dressing 🙂

@Winifred 22 yes, we do have a stop in Lisbon 🙂 I'm adding to the list to shop at that market now! Thanks! @techteach so much fun and brilliant recycling!!!

@Winifred 22 YES!!!! we LOVE Christmas decor! I'm excited about decorating the cabin and loved the photos we saw when we booked off the ship's decor.... my daughter is as excited as she was in her first Christmas in the UK... she was almost 7 years old, had never seen snow, it was snowing here when she was born, but then all our Christmas until 2002 were in the tropics.... and...hey... sometimes tacky can be extremely cute and fun!!!!!! Our sailing will be 12 days, so we are thinking doing something adding a new item every day for the 12 Days of Christmas and go full on Caroline even if it is only for ourselves! 🙂 The only low down of booking so much in advance...this Christmas is still a but away...and we want the next to arrive soon! LOL I maybe going for Transatlantic both ways next summer to keep me going till then!!!

I have been missing coming around here as we have been very busy.... now I need to schedule serious time to come watch the videos....thanks for all!!!

and one or two for me please!!! 🙂 We heard similar from, friends who cruised last month.... they weren't as informative as you are here, but comparing to their pre pandemic experiences, they noticed the cuts... Jennifer Tierney, we have not seen her, but know she was in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria (London) as Elphaba under study ages ago, friends of ours that went for Rachel Tucker and got Tierney were not very happy, but then again, musical people can get very intense, especially Wicked fans, who have been more than three or four times... @Blazza thank you so much for the amazing photos!!!!!

I see this was posted last week, in the UK site just now, I get this and another 41 pages of questions...