3rdGenCunarder

On my cruise, the "everyday" items were at the end of the list of main courses, not shown as a separate list. I recall "rustic lasagna" and roast chicken being there every night. I don't recall the steak, but it could have been there. The menu choices are more limited on gala nights because they print the fancy menu, but I would think that you could ask for the "everyday" items.

Is it too late to do a dispute with your credit card company?

And I checked again between the pre-booking descriptions and the booking descriptions and the prices are higher, but they didn't go back to change the old blurbs. They should leave the price off the pre-booking descriptions, the way HAL does.

I'm booked on Ocean Voyager departing Chicago (or Milwaukee?) June 13 (or maybe the 14th, do I count the hotel stay as the departure date?). I've wanted to do this cruise for a long time. Companies came and went, and the ships changed names and owners. But I was hopeful that AQV had enough experience to run the cruise well. Now, I'm wondering about that. Nothing seems to be consistent. I'm hoping posters here can answer my questions. I don't have a lot of faith in the AQV agents. And reading recent reviews has made me very nervous. I know, a lot of people who post reviews are the unhappy passengers. I'm just afraid I'm going to turn out to be one of them. The cruise leaves from Chicago. Or does it? A poster here said his left from Milwaukee. I could swear somewhere it said that we would get a tour on the way to the ship. Now it's $99. So if I don't do that, do I have to take a taxi to the pier? Or will there be a later bus that just goes to the boat, wherever it might be? I really don't want a bus tour of Chicago, especially at that price. I've been to Chicago a couple of times and would prefer to spend the time enjoying it on my own. I've been checking on shore excursions. Somewhere, I read that the excursions would be available last week. But when I tried, I couldn't book anything. And everywhere I looked said excursions would be available 90 days out. So I did a "chat" with an agent on Jan 30. Her reply was: "Our Development Team is currently working on all the details. They've instructed that all the information should be up and ready by tomorrow afternoon. The booking, however, should be available within the 90 days." I was told to check again mid-March. Out of curiosity, I checked today. Optional tours are open for booking. And now, instead of 90 days, it says tours can be booked 180 days ahead of time. What the what???????? And two that I was interested in aren't showing as available. One port isn't showing anything, not even the included tours. BUT if I just research the cruise as if I hadn't booked yet, those tours are showing on the itinerary for my cruise. IF they're already sold out (in a week?), do they keep a waitlist? Included tours are not open for booking. Will I be able to choose my time in advance, or do I have to wait and book that on the ship? Or at the hotel at their "desk" in the hotel? BTW, I was told that the pre-cruise hotel would be the Sheraton. I know this is a lot of picky stuff, but the whole thing feels too disorganized. This is an expensive trip, twice the cost of 10 days on Cunard! Any information/advice about the Chicago to Toronto cruise would be appreciated!

Thanks for the recommendation! I wonder if all that water and soda really gets destroyed or does it end up in the port workers' break room?

Very inconvenient on a tour. With a bottle, you can put the cap on and leave it in a tote bag, or even on a bus between stops. But once a can is open, if you don't hold it, it's likely to spill. I need to find a new water bottle that's easy to fill at the sink in my room (I don't mind tap water) because they don't let you fill it at the Lido.

On a related food note, HAL's former buddy ATK has just signed some kind of deal with American Queen Voyages. It isn't clear what the connection is beyond AQV being a sponsor for ATK. (There are posts/announcements about it on the AQV board)

You know, I was wondering if she actually HAD that sandwich (or just saw it the press release HAL gave her). And if she DID have a fish sandwich, there are some pretty good fish take-out places in Alaska. Edited to add: I just reread that article. She never says that SHE experienced any of this. "Guests can enjoy..." Not "I enjoyed..."

I had a similar experience with my phone. If the internet went out, I was still connected to the intranet and Navigator. When the satellite signal came back, reconnection to that was not automatic. Sometimes it reconnected on its own, and sometimes I had to reset the internet connection.

You're right that airborne transmission is the main way it is spread. Early on, people worried about fomite transmission--remember when we "aged" our mail before opening it???? But we've learned so much about how Covid spreads since then. A woman at my table said she had caught covid on a previous cruise, 6 or 7 months ago. She described moving to quarantine with a crew member fogging the air behind her as "the walk of shame." There is an element of luck in whether you get covid on a cruise. You can't control how many people bring it onboard, or how those people behave. I was being careful about masking on QM2 when I caught it last September. I was less careful on Eurodam last month and I didn't catch it. But you can improve your odds by being careful, especially in close proximity to other people. As I said earlier, I worry about crowded loud entertainment venues. Also tour buses. I wore a mask on the bus for my tours. My feeling is I do the best I can to keep healthy.

Ah, I forgot that. Well, that saves me some planning time and luggage space.

I'm on the QV Northern Lights departing October 27 (returning to Soton on Nov 8). There are four sea days that are "eligible" to be gala, but only three are. All other nights are "smart." Oct 28 Gala Black & White Oct 31 Gala Masquerade Nov 5 Gala Roaring 20's I have a question for anyone who has been on board for Halloween. Do people dress in costume? (UK "fancy dress") I know that on any other Masquerade night, it's only fancy masks in the Queens Room. But for Halloween...?

In contrast to fellswoop's cruise, I was on Eurodam in the Caribbean at the same time. There were no rumors about covid cases. I was aft and walked to the spa each day, varying the deck so I could look at all the interesting vintage photos. I never saw red dots (don't know if Eurodam does that) and the few times I saw a tray in the hall, it didn't have a blue napkin over it. I rarely heard anyone coughing. Not a lot of people wore masks. I wore a mask in the bus on my excursions, but not at the beach or while we were walking in the rainforest. I did wear a mask when I went to performances, which was mostly LC--small room, chairs close together and full. If I went to the main showroom, I found a seat toward the back where there wouldn't be anyone nearby, and I wore a mask. I didn't go to Billboard or BBKing (no Rolling Stone on Eurodam) except to walk past a few times. I suspect they are likely spreaders because they're crowded, and people have masks off to drink. Anyone who wants to talk has to shout over the volume of the music. The louder you talk, the farther you expel air (and viruses).

I research the ports, too. I tend to book cruises early, and ship's tours aren't available to purchase yet. If I can, I will find a similar cruise on HAL's website to get an idea of some of their tours. I don't do a lot of private tours. For me, it's ship tour if distance/logistics are difficult for independent touring, or just wandering in port on my own. I've booked four tours for my Oct Nothern Lights (Norway) with Cunard. Some of those tours are sold out already.

Sounds like you did the best you could do to avoid catching it. But sometimes COVID happens and you don't really know when/where you caught it. I find it interesting that two people sharing a rather small space can end up with only one getting sick. But there are a lot of those stories, so it shows that different people have different susceptibilities or resistances. I also travel with tests and a med kit for alleviating symptoms. Not as extensive as yours, but enough for my usual "caught a cold" needs. I also travel with saline nasal spray because dry air makes me more susceptible to respiratory infections. I got COVID toward the end of a cruise in September. I wore a mask in elevators, shows, most of the time except meals. But it got me. Slight scratchy throat on a Monday, chills Monday night, was a zombie and slept all day Tuesday, but no other symptoms. I tested Tuesday, and it was negative, so I didn't ask about Paxlovid. And by Wednesday, I was out and about in port. I thought it was the flu because I hadn't got my flu shot yet and I "wasn't sick enough" for it to be COVID. I tested on the Friday, after I got home, mainly out of curiosity, and I was positive although I felt fine. I suspect the sinus infection was the result of flying home. Those changes in air pressure can drive even a light resp infection way into the sinuses, where they're hard to get rid of. I do have a question about the tray pickup. Since you weren't moved, you were in a hallway with nonquarantined passengers. Did they give you any kind of cover to put over the tray? Not that I expect anyone to poke around in someone's leftovers, but if they're quarantining a passenger and not letting your steward take your trays, they should be more attentive to pickups. I also think you should have been given a bottle of water every day.

Maintaining an older ship can be problematic/expensive, but HAL may regret dumping 6 of its 8 small ships. Or maybe Zaandam and Volendam will be enough to handle the restrictive and unusual itineraries.

Welcome back to cruising! Interesting that you think the regular aft cabin is smaller than usual. I had a corner aft on K and thought it was smaller than the corner afts on the vista ships. And for a Neptune suite, the bathroom was very small. (I later had a midship Neptune that had a large bathroom. Maybe they skimped at the back for everyone.) I loved breakfast in CO. It was nice to have a small, peaceful venue to start the day, Waffles and pancakes made to order, not fetched from a warming tray in the main kitchen. I hope you have smooth seas. K'dam bounced and slammed down on waves like you describe. That's why I went midships on my second cruise on that class of ship. Don't miss Tamarind and the Dutch Cafe!

You can bring on alcohol bought in port, but security will direct you to what I call the booze table, where someone will take your purchases for safekeeping until disembarkation. I don't think there's any fee for this.

That's apples and oranges. I don't think the addition of a combo in Ocean bar is meant to replace LC. HAL should have both! Since word got out that LC won't be on all the ships (and I think some ships are losing BB King), HAL needs to say what will be ADDED.

I used to enjoy both the jazz sets and the ballroom sets played by the band in the Ocean Bar. The dance floor isn't huge, and the dancers weren't "Dancing With the Stars" caliber, but they were enjoying themselves. I remember one couple who had just started taking lessons. They would forget where they were in the dance, stop, laugh, count the beat, and start again. Not great dancers (yet) but they were having FUN, and that's the point.

The policy is on the luggage tags, presumably so people can't miss it (or claim that they didn't know). This is the new policy (Jan 2023): All checked and carry-on luggage will be scanned and any prohibited items, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, will be removed, confiscated, and discarded. Please refer to your cruise contract for more information. This is the old policy (Feb 2020): Bringing Alcohol Onboard? Please remember our alcohol policy: • One 750ml bottle of wine or champagne per adult in carry-on luggage, which will not be subject to a corkage fee if consumed in the stateroom. • Additional wine or champagne bottles (no larger than 750ml) in carry-on luggage are welcome, but will incur a $18 corkage fee per bottle, irrespective of where they are intended to be consumed. • Other liquors, spirits or beers are prohibited. Luggage is subject to search.

It's a running joke on the Cunard board that those of us not in the Grills cabins/suites are "rowers."

Same pattern when I was on Eurodam in January. 5 PM on sea days. It does seem like an odd time. Perhaps they look on it as "filler" at a time when the schedule is light. Or perhaps they're throwing it under the entertainment bus by putting it at an inconvenient time so they can say that nobody wants ballroom dancing. Have you walked by to see how many people show up for it? Now that I think about it, they could offer ballroom dancing in the Ocean Bar at a better time. That has an unused dance floor. They use recorded music, so they could offer it anywhere.

On Eurodam last month, Explorations Cafe opened at 6 AM and the Pinnacle Bar was open for coffee at 7 AM.

I agree, too. I forgot about the creme brulee. That was always a good choice. Fruit crisps are gone, too. I know I had dessert every night, but I don't remember what I had, and I've only been home a week, so they can't have been outstanding. Sure, some things could be better. And sometimes, I get grumpy about the front desk or the shorex people. But I took this picture to remind myself that "a bad day at sea is better than a good day at work." THIS is why I cruise.