Solent Richard

While I take the view that this new innovative style of multi choice alternative dining could be a winner for Cunard (and eventually its shareholders), I would also admit I'm certainly neither overwhelmed with the choice of options nor inspired with the launch programme. Having yesterday checked with 'My bookings' and, with 38 days to go, this was the offering.... No prices as yet and a dollop of confusion as to advance booking..... Of course, being a conspiracy theorist at heart, it may well be that Cunard have a plan for this rather special event. 😈 😈 😉

Hah. It was close call for us as well. But that's the look of the draw and we will be out on the water to welcome her arrival.

Like many others I'm following @roscoe39 's Blog from Queen Victoria though none of the ports are entirely new to me. My eyes did however light up when at Hong Kong he took a ship's excursion to Macau... http://exitviathegiftshop.blogspot.com/2024/03/macau-little-portuguese-paradise-in-asia.html?view=magazine .....and I recognised a number of the sites visited. Frustration set in when, tracking through my digital collection of photographs, I could not find a particular photograph that was nestled in my memory bank. When my wife and I spent Christmas 1990 in Hong Kong, digital photography wasn't really available. A quick visit to the attic followed by a minute on my scanner and all was revealed.... Like Roscoe, we had taken the then latest high speed ferry across to Macau where top of my list was a visit to the Protestant Cemetery just a 5 minute walk from the ruins of St Paul's Church. Military history being one of my interests it was the grave of Lord H. J. Spencer Churchill that I came to see. He had been the captain of the Royal Naval ship HMS Druid during what became known as the Opium Wars. Poor chap actually died of Dysentery on his ship while anchored in Macao Roads. He was in fact the Great Grand Uncle of our very own Winston Churchill. Cheers @roscoe39 , and thanks for the inspiration.

Thank you. I'm just so pleased that the arrival details have now been published. Some of us have been under an embargo on discussing our sea borne arrival programme.

Sadly, over the last ten to twelve years, there is not as enticing additional features on the World Cruises as Cunard once included. Even at Grills level the 'experiences' have been somewhat bypassed. I would hazard a guess that @Bell Boy would support me on this as we experienced how it used to be. Including the Governor's House Reception on our call to Hawaii...

Couldn't agree more though I expect our shared view is based on our experiences on Queen Mary 2: sailing on decent length voyages, with our partners, as opposed to short 3 or 4 day shorties out of Southampton. In my view the crew onboard Queen Mary 2 also tend to exhibit more pride in the fact they are serving on Cunard's flagship.

Good morning @watsonbeau . My final offering on this thread is how I did Malta.... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/04/28/one-way-to-do-malta/ Having spent many a fine ship visit there during my time serving in the Royal Navy it was good to get away from Valetta and to discover the far more attractive city of Mdina though the pull of fond memories down the 'Gut' necessitated a roam around modern Valetta and Sliema as well. There's nothing quite like a trip across Grande harbour in the traditional Maltese Dgħajsa .... Anyway, I hope my musings have been helpful to you.

Mostly during the allotment season. 😁

My camera photograph 'shoot time records' indicate a 12 minute turnaround time when we were there.

Good morning @watsonbeau . Today's offering is for Corfu.... We chose to take a ship's excursion on this occasion due entirely to the choice of places and their distance from Corfu Town... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/11/03/one-way-to-do-corfu/ Having then visited these wonderful places we still had time in Corfu for a decent wander....

I expect the 'other' will be tendering, as was the case when we were there....

Yes, we will look forward to that and of course, a number of earlier ones.

I would beg to differ having travelled more recently. There definitely was a separate train for ship excursion booked travellers as my blog review at # 2 indicates.... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2023/08/02/one-way-to-do-flam/ I had booked online using the same website as the OP and my wife and i found no problem picking the seats that suited us on the day.... ...though there was a small section reserved in that particular carriage. If I could possibly give a tip to those travelling in the near future, @buchanan101 in particular, aim to sit on the outward journey in the second carriage from the front left hand side. The reason I mention this is because when the train stops at the Kjosfossen Waterfall you are in a prime position to find an advantageous position for an uncluttered view of the legendary and seductive Huldra entertainment performance.... ********* *******

It crossed my mind to mention that when I originally answered your OP. I'm always eternally grateful to the member(s) who do consistently book through the cruise line. Your challenge is now to climb that valley side to the mini-glacier prior to the train ride, I did it afterwards.... ******* ********

Hello @foodsvcmgr , I've just the thing for you to whet your appetite in Ajaccio.... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/11/12/one-way-to-do-ajaccio/ As previously mentioned it's within spitting distance of the town... And of course, its the ancestral home of a certain chap.... 😂

Though many of us will, Cunard, Seabourn, P&O, Princess and, God forbid I mention it here on a Cunard page, Carnival. 😂 Carnival is our oyster.

Today's advice information for @watsonbeau is for Split. Here's the link to my cruise blog page on that interesting piece of Croatia..... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2016/06/17/one-way-to-do-split/ While the review is a few years old the basics remain the same except for the fact that cruise ships can now berth alongside.... ...and visited more recently on the motor yacht Lady Eleganza' .... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2022/07/21/lady-eleganza-croatia-and-adriatic-maiden-season/ It was a relatively easy 10 minute walk to the main attraction, the Diocletian’s Palace…

We did Norway best as well, I even produced an article on my cruise blog... https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2023/08/02/one-way-to-do-flam/ The cruise lines do have their own trains allocated.... While I have no means of checking your Cunard price I did make a note of the cruise line's that we used last May.... Of course, for those who by their very nature prefer to stick with the cruise line for their shore experiences, there is the guarantee that should the visit be cancelled they are sure of a full refund. If you are like me, then a gamble, whatever the challenge, is often worth the outlay 😂

Thank you. I'll leave it at that.

Nice one @ChrisMV Always good to see someone else's photographs. 😉😉

These Guys?..... They were pretty tooled up .

What a shame and such a tough call for north (Hue) or south (Hoi An) excursions.

Terrorist precautions? I make a habit of noting what's on offer in the security stakes. It always draws my attention, particularly sailing out of New York onboard Queen Mary 2 with both the NYPD... ***** ...and the US Coast Guard.... ...in armed attendance....

No doubt many members have been following @Roscoe 's blog.... http://exitviathegiftshop.blogspot.com/?view=magazine ...and will have spotted his take on Queen Victoria's anti-pirate measures while sailing in Asian waters... ***** He does also mention additional measures but the stern promenade deck where they were positioned was 'out of bounds'. So I thought it maybe of interest to show what I captured on my trusty Nikon while preparing to sail Trans Atlantic on Queen Mary 2 some years ago. The LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) .... ******

Hello again @watsonbeau Here is a link to my offering on Zadar.... A veritable gem of a visit and probably the easiest of your visits to undertake on your own. https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2023/01/27/one-way-to-do-zadar-croatia/ You should be berthed in the same position as the opening photograph which is also indicated on the attached map and within spitting distance of the famous 'Sea Organ'... Whatever you do, do sample Zadar's magnificent seafood... Next up Split and Malta