babs135

Thanks for the responses. The Queen Victoria cruise was just 'a mention' as someone had pointed out the long flights to wherever we would be departing from. As I'm looking at 2025 I have some time yet to try and find out if there is anything real or imagined that puts him off a cruise to SA. I suspect that it's a non-starter and as I am not prepared to travel solo, I'll just chalk it off as the one that got away. Plenty of other places to cruise to!!

None in particular, although the Queen Victoria is doing a cruise in 2025.

I would love to do a cruise to South America but DH doesn't. When asked he admits that he has no real reason for not wanting to go other than he doesn't 'fancy it'. He does realise that this is a weak reason but struggles to offer anything else. Do I accept that this is a cruise too far (quite literally as I'm in the UK) or do I push him into booking something that he might hate? I fear he would go with a closed mind and the thought of a couple of weeks in a cabin with someone who doesn't want to be there certainly does not appeal. Any thoughts?

We were on the QM2 when she snapped her ropes. It's quite a scary thing. However, 2 or 3 days into the cruise the captain announced that the forecast for Villefranche was not looking good and he had, therefore, taken the decision to cancel and we would go instead to Alghero, Sardinia. Both these ports are tendered. Apparently he made the right call as the weather was worse than expected and a Royal Caribbean ship had tried twice unsuccessfully to dock before giving up. Did the captain on the Britannia have no advance warning at all, or was it just a sudden totally unexpected storm?

I saw that as well and I'm afraid that I laughed rather loudly. If she's that nervous a traveller, why on earth would she go on a cruise?

I hate to sound cynical, but are these genuine savings or just a mere massaging of figures?

Should have added that after being effectively 'thrown out' by Nationwide we are now with a Lloyds syndicate company and as senior citizens with multiple health issues our worldwide annual insurance is £450.

Just to clarify our thoughts re the younger generation. We have absolutely no problem with them, it was just a shock to see so many on Cunard. We have normally just done transatlantic crossings which, by their very nature, don't seem to attract many youngsters. I have to add that those we've seen on crossings certainly seem to enjoy themselves.

Be extra careful with Nationwide. We were with them for years (still have accounts) but when hubby declared a mini stroke but NOT leading to any side effects nor taking any medication, they refused to cover him for that and worse still they suddenly decided that they could no longer cover him for his diabetes of over 20 years! No excuse was given, simply we will no longer cover you

But presumably if they don't, does that mean that they don't get any of the 'perks', ie gratuities and drinks? Not too bothered about WiFi.

If 3 adults share one cabin would the third person be eligible for the Princess Plus fare with inclusions?

We've recently disembarked from the Mediterranean cruise and these are my personal thoughts. A little background information first; this is our first time back on the Mary after an absence of 5 1/2 years and our first non-transatlantic voyage on her. Our first shock was the number of pre-teens and teens on board. We are not used to seeing so many, over 150 apparently, and although they were largely invisible/well behaved one did wonder why choose Cunard when there are ships with more facilities available sailing out of the UK. I'm assuming that school holidays and lots of intergenerational groups was the reason. The second shock was the old chestnut - the dress code. As this was a cruise rather than a crossing I'm assuming that is why there were a number of raised eyebrows at how people were dressed. On the whole, people in the MDR dressed well (there are always the exception to the rule), but out of the dining room..... After 6 pm and I saw a youngish lady going into Sir Samuels in what I initially thought were floral designed knickers - they were in fact the shortest pair of shorts I have ever seen!!! Is it really that difficult for people to pack a pair of decent trousers/skirts, etc? Our feeling, and that of others we spoke to, is that Cunard is struggling to work out where to position itself; stick rigidly to the dress code or relax it? If you relax it, where does it stop? Perhaps the answer is to make the QM2 the formal ship and the other 3 more relaxed? We had a fab time and I must compliment Captain Hall on his swift decision to replace Villefranche (forecast of bad sea conditions) with Alghero in Sardinia. This announcement was made within a couple of days of sailing. The only grumble we had was that on the morning of our arrival in Sardinia we had a very long wait to be tendered. Poor communication by Cunard as to the delay led to one gentleman asking why ALL the tenders were not being used (I'm sure maritime law would say that some tenders need to remain on the ship) and then in a loud voice to those around him he called out the Captain as a liar!! He brandished his phone which showed the weather for Villefranche and announced that the weather was good and why weren't we there. I did ask him if his forecast showed the sea conditions but was ignored and when I tried to explain the difference to the couple sitting next to me they were not interested, just simply lapping up what Mr. Bigmouth was saying. Later in the day the Captain informed us that the sea conditions had actually been worse than forecast and I later learned from a reasonably reliable source that a Royal Caribbean ship had unsuccessfully tried to dock but failed and had not been able to port elsewhere so had merely had a sea day. All in all, it was a great cruise with good table companions, good food (portions seemed to get bigger as the cruise progressed)! and for those people who grumble about the state of the ship - mainly on another social media website - I didn't go round looking for rust spots, tired furnishings, etc - I went on a magnificent ship to have a good time and we did.

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Back home and yes, we did get 'lost' on numerous occasions !! 🤣. Will post comments later.

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Thanks and bon voyage for your upcoming cruise.

TOMORROW!!! Off to board the Queen Mary 2 after a too long break of over 6 years. We have sailed on the other Cunard ships, but they are not the same!!

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6 and the suitcases are finally out of the wardrobe.

Surely part of the charm of the QM2 is getting 'lost' ?🤣🤣. We are sailing on her next week and it will be the first time in over 6 years (we've sailed on the other 2 ships) and looking forward to navigating around the most magnificent ship.

This is a photo taken using a Samsung camera Although not the best I took, I chose this to show the colour at the bottom of the 'streak'. Whilst the green was clearly visible to (my) the naked eye, the colour was not.

10. Time to get the suitcases out?