Host Hattie

Thanks for the update, have a great trip

I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip Arthur (& Castro and Millie !)

Thanks, I'm not a frequent collector but my Cunard bears are all from Indonesia.

Thank you very much for your first hand report.

Was this on Cunard ?

As this thread has moved into red banner territory I'm locking it. If anyone wants to comment on the situation on QM2 now please start a new thread.

My understanding is that the regular waiters get their share of the daily Hotel and Dining charge or whatever it's called now.

The UK website still says this - For all bar and wine purchases, a 15% service charge is added to your account and this is shared amongst the beverage staff. Is it now 18% ?

I transferred a booking in February and got the new booking confirmation the same day.

Thanks for the update, enjoy your crossing.

Are you onboard now ? @safarigal mentioned it on her blog last week, I wondered if it was a temporary arrangement or a permanent change.

There's nothing on the Cunard website to say that a recovery certificate will give you an exemption from the requirement for a pre-cruise test. I wouldn't risk it.

Thanks for reporting back, it's good to hear that you had a wonderful week.

Asking for agents names is not permitted on this site.

Great photo

As the Cunard fleet is stuck rather close to home I thought it would be nice to remember happier times so let's see the ships in port or at anchor & see if we can identify the location. I'll start off, which ship (easy) & where ?

Greetings, Cunard Cruisers - In an effort to give our members a place where we can discuss how things are where YOU are related to the Coronavirus, hosts are starting these threads so we can chat during the crisis. Let's talk about creative ways our families and neighbours are coping and helping one another out; share ideas for parents who are at home 24/7 with their school age children; you get the idea..... My only request is that we AVOID turning this into a political or health debate thread. This is a stressful time for everyone. Let's practice some kindness and make Cruise Critic a place members want to visit in this difficult time. I'll start .... I live in a small village on the coast of South Wales, we have a village shop and 2 pubs. Both now closed because of new restrictions imposed on Friday, the one directly opposite our house is planning to continue with takeaways, we had Fish and Chips from there on Friday. I already had my groceries delivered so I’ve been relatively lucky, just long waits to get onto the Ocado website. Our nearest town has a Coop and a NISA and they’ve been relatively well stocked – so my husband says I haven’t been out ! His Mother lives there and he’s done a few bits of shopping for her – not always successfully, she was expecting minced beef yesterday and he delivered a packet of mint sweets !! I’ve been working from home since last Wednesday, again not always successfully – our Company has a large number of employees in mainland Europe who have already taken all the available log-ins before we get up in the morning. Things were better on Friday so I’m hoping for some improvement this week. I’m due back on site on Wednesday, although things may have changed by them. I’m also a Union rep so I’ve been trying to make sure people are looked after. A steel works isn’t very easy to “hibernate”. It was my birthday yesterday so instead of going to the classical concert we’d planned, I found the same pieces on Youtube and Mr HH made me a lovely meal. He’s still working for the moment although he’s due to be made redundant at the end of the month anyway. We didn’t have any cruises booked so I’ve haven’t had anything to cancel/re-arrange. We had a week’s holiday in Spain at the end of February, with the benefit of hindsight that seems to have been perfect timing. Stay safe everyone and let’s keep each other company.

Thanks to bluemarble for putting this together ..... What do the obstructed balconies look like? As of February 2019, information about the views from obstructed balconies is non-existent on the US FAQ and is confined to only the Queen Victoria on the UK FAQ. Here are details showing the views from the obstructed balconies on each ship. What do the obstructed views look like on Queen Mary 2? Please click on the stateroom numbers below to see the view from the selected stateroom. Views from staterooms on the opposite side of the ship are similar to those listed below. 8014 - A life boat is visible to the left of the balcony. 8016 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8018 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8020 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to most of the view. 8022 - Life boats cause a major obstruction to most the view. 8024 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8026 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8028 - Life boats cause a major obstruction to most the view. 8030 - Life boats cause a major obstruction to most the view. 8032 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8034 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8036 - Safety equipment and a life boat cause an obstruction to most the view. 8038 - Life boats cause a major obstruction to most the view. 8040 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8042 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8044 - Safety equipment and a life boat cause an obstruction to most the view. 8046 - A life boat Life boats cause an obstruction to the view. 8048 - A life boat Life boats cause an obstruction to the view. 8050 - Life boats on either side of the balcony cause an obstruction to the view. 8052 - Safety equipment and a life boat Life boats cause an obstruction to most the view. 8054 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8056 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8060 - A tender and some safety equipment cause an obstruction to most of the view. 8062 - A tender causes an obstruction to majority of the view. 8066 - A tender and some safety equipment cause an obstruction to most of the view. 8068 - Tenders on either side of the balcony obscure most of the view. 8070 - A tender and some safety equipment cause an obstruction to most of the view. 8072 - A tender causes an obstruction to majority of the view. 8074 - A tender causes an obstruction to majority of the view. 8076 - A tender and some safety equipment cause an obstruction to most of the view. 8078 - A tender and some safety equipment cause an obstruction to most of the view. 8080 - A tender causes an obstruction to majority of the view. 8082 - A tender causes an obstruction to majority of the view. 8084 - A tender causes an obstruction to majority of the view. 8086 - Tenders at either side of the balcony and safety equipment obstruct most of the view. 8088 - A tender and some safety equipment cause an obstruction to most of the view. 8090 - A tender causes an obstruction to majority of the view. 8092 - A tender causes an obstruction to majority of the view. 8094 - A tender and some safety equipment cause an obstruction to most of the view. 8098 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8100 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8102 - Safety equipment and a life boat cause an obstruction to most the view. 8106 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8108 - A life boat causes a major obstruction to the view. 8110 - Safety equipment and a life boat cause an obstruction around half of the view. Obstructed view staterooms are classed as DB, DC or DF grades, which can be found on Deck 8. What do the obstructed views look like on Queen Elizabeth? To see the views from various staterooms, please click on the links below. Staterooms on the starboard side of the ship have very similar views. 4002 - This is a metal fronted balcony. Staterooms 4004 through to 4042 are similar to this. 4054 - Life boats are visible when looking towards the rear of the ship from the balcony. 4055 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view. 4056 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4057 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view. 4058 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view. 4059 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view. 4060 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view. 4061 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view. 4062 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4063 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4064 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4065 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view. 4066 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of view. 4067 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of the view. 4068 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower half of view. 4069 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4070 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4071 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4073 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower part of the view. 4074 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4075 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower part of the view. 4076 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view. 4077 - A life boat fully obstruct majority of the view. 4078 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view. 4079 - A life boat and ship structure obscure the view considerably. 4080 - A life boat obstructs a majority of the view. 4081 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower part of the view. 4082 - Ship structure and safety equipment obstructs a majority of the view. 4083 - A life boat fully obstruct the lower part of the view. 4085 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view 4086 - A life boat fully obstructs the lower half of the view. 4087 - A life boat and ship structure obstructs the view considerably 4088 - A life boat obstructs a majority of the view. 4092 - Life boats are visible when looking towards the front of the ship from the balcony. 4103 - Although looking forward, the view is unobstructed, looking right (towards aft of the ship) safety equipment and tenders block the view. Additionally, the window view is obstructed. 4108 - Although looking forward, the view is unobstructed, looking left (towards aft of the ship) safety equipment and tenders block the view. Additionally, the window view is obstructed. 4110 - A tender and some safety equipment obscures a majority of the view. 4112 - A tender fully obstructs the view from this stateroom. 4114 - A tender fully obstructs the view from this stateroom. 4116 - A tender and some safety equipment obscure almost all of the view. 4118 - Safety equipment obscures a majority of the view. 4120 - A tender and some safety equipment obscures a majority of the view. 4122 - A tender fully obstructs the view from this stateroom. 4124 - A tender obscures a majority of the view from this stateroom. 4126 - A tender and ship structure obscure a majority of the view. 4128 - A tender and ship structure obscure a majority of the view. 4130 - A tender obscures a majority of the view from this stateroom. 4132 - A tender fully obstructs the view from this stateroom. 4134 - A tender obscures a majority of the view from this stateroom. 4136 - A tender and some safety equipment obscure almost all of the view. 4138 - A life boat and some safety equipment obscure almost all of the view. 4140 - A life boat obscures the lower half of the view. 4142 - A life boat obscures more than half of the view. 4144 - A life boat and some safety equipment obscure most of the view. 5112 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5114 - A life boat on the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5116 - A life boat on the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5118 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5120 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5122 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5128 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5130 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5136 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. 5138 - Safety equipment from the deck below can be seen through the balcony glass. Obstructed view staterooms are classed as CA or CB (balcony) or FB or FC (ocean view) grades, which can be found on either decks 4 or 5. What do the obstructed views look like on Queen Victoria? The pictures below are all port side staterooms as the opposite starboard staterooms will have a mirror view of the obstruction. For example, for the obstruction of 4057, please see 4058. Please click on the link to see a picture of the view: 4058 - Life boat 4060 - Life boat 4062 - Life boat and equipment 4064 - Life boat and equipment 4065 - Life boat 4066 - Life boat 4067 - Life boat 4068 - Life boat 4070 - Life boat 4074 - Life boat and equipment 4076 - Life boat 4078 - Life boat 4080 - Life boat 4082 - Life boat 4084 - Life boat and structure 4086 - Life boat 4088 - Life boat 4103 - Although looking forward, the view is unobstructed, looking right (towards aft of the ship) safety equipment and tenders block the view. Additionally, there is an obstruction to the window view. 4108 (Similar to above) - Although looking forward, the view is unobstructed, looking left (towards aft of the ship) safety equipment and tenders block the view. Additionally, there is an obstruction to the window view. 4110 - Tender boat and structure 4112 - Tender boat 4114 - Tender boat 4116 - Tender boat 4118 - Tender boat equipment 4120 - Tender boat 4122 - Tender boat 4124 - Tender boat 4126 - Tender boat and equipment 4128 - Tender boat and equipment 4130 - Tender boat 4132 - Tender boat 4134 - Tender boat 4136 - Tender boat and equipment 4138 - Life boat 4140 - Life boat 4142 - Life boat 4144 - Life boat and equipment 5107 - Life boat and equipment 5112 - Life boat equipment 5114 - Life boat equipment 5116 - Life boat equipment 5118 - Life boat equipment 5122 - Life boat equipment 5128 - Life boat equipment 5130 - Life boat equipment 5136 - Life boat equipment 5138 - Life boat equipment Obstructed view staterooms are classed as CA/CB (balcony) or FB/FC (ocean view) grades, which can be found on either decks 4 or 5.