AussieVoyager

To pick up on what Glenndale said regarding the spa and sauna, I confirm that apart from the facilities in the spa (for which you need a pass which is around $35 for a day), there are great free saunas in the changing rooms.

I really enjoyed the free sauna as it is very bright with a glass wall overlooking the sea - you can whale watch from your sauna bench!

8 hours ago, Stella1250 said:

We are already upgraded!!!  I will find a way to stick it in the garment bag. It really isn't too big - I hope LOL

When we were visiting the UK a while ago my wife found the hat she wanted to wear to our son's wedding back home in Australia.  On the advice of the shop assistant, she bought a postage box at the post office to protect the hat and was able to squeeze the box into her suitcase for the next 3 weeks, arriving home with no damage to the hat!

On 3/9/2019 at 11:48 PM, ToadOfToadHall said:

 

But they don't ask you for your cabin number so how would they know ?

 

They don't.  I have had lunch on embarkation day when I've got on during a continuing voyage.

10 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

AussieVoyager, I am soooooo jealous! I'm not sure I could have contained myself from just peppering him with questions. 

On our very first Cunard voyage, a crossing on the QM2 in Britannia Club, we received a last minute invitation to dine at the Captain's table with the Deputy Captain. It was a very serendipitous stroke of good fortune and I don't think I ate a bite of my meal. The poor man could not have been more gracious in answering all of my questions about the ship but suspect he drank a bit more wine that night than usual. 

It was a great experience.  And I didn't even realise who I was talking to until about 5 minutes into the conversation when he asked me what I thought of the ship...

25 minutes ago, alibabacruisers said:

Yes on my VP for the 5-31 May cruise, I have 6 listed:

 

6 May Madam Butterfly

9 May B & W

12 May Masquerade (not showing on the link/list provided above)

19 May Elizabethan

22 May Roaring Twenties

29 May Royal Cunard

 

Hi Eugene, are you doing the 17 or 27 nights?  

I’m on the 17 nights

I've noticed that the on line version of the breakfast menu seems to have been cut back from what I've experienced on my last 5 voyages.  For example, I note that melon platter, eggs benedict, waffles and french toast are no longer on the Britannia menu, but they do appear on the Britannia Club menu.  Is this a recent change or cutback?  From my recollection Britannia and Britannia Club used to have the same menu at breakfast.

And how am I to cope without several of my favourites?  

Eugene

4 hours ago, bluemarble said:

FYI, here are updated links to the dress code schedules for each ship through June.

 

QE: https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/before-you-sail/QE_dresscode_Q904_Q919.pdf
QM2: https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/before-you-sail/dresscode_M904_M919.pdf
QV: https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/before-you-sail/dresscode_V906_V917.pdf

 

It's interesting that the list above is slightly different to what's shown on my voyage personaliser.  I am doing Tokyo-Vancouver on QE, departing 5 May 2019.

The list above shows 3 formal nights for that voyage; they are:

6  May  Madam Butterfly Ball

9  May  Black and White Ball

19 May Elizabeth Ball

My VP has all of those but in addition shows

12 May Masquerade Ball

Interestingly, 12 May is "Groundhog Day" where we cross the date line and thus have the day twice.  So, according to the VP we have 4 or 5 formal nights (depending on whether we repeat the formal night on the repeat day) but according to the list we have only 3.

Any thoughts on which one is more likely to be correct (and if the VP would we do it twice?)

Eugene

I don't know if it's always the case, but I'll throw in my own experience:

I boarded QM2 in Sydney a few years ago and sailed the Sydney - Hong Kong leg of the world voyage.  I arrived at the terminal quite a bit earlier than my allocated time and was waved straight through, moving from terminal to my cabin in less than 5 minutes.  I then went straight to the Britannia dining room and it was open for lunch.  I was swiftly seated at a shared table and enjoyed embarkation day lunch within 15 minutes of arriving at the terminal.  And as an extra special bonus, when I chatted with my neighbour at the table I found I was seated next to none other than Stephen Payne, architect of the great ship!

Queen Elizabeth will be in Fremantle on Monday 4 February 2019 and I'm planning to drop by to see her in port.

The Port Authority website shows her departing at 22.00, which is rather later than I've seen any Cunard ships depart Fremantle in the past (but it's good for me as I'll have to get away from work and have dinner near the port).  Usually they leave around 17.00 or 18.00.  Does anyone - maybe even someone currently on board - have any other confirmation of departure time on that day?

Not having a problem with mine... that's probably no help to you at all sorry!

And all good for me too

Anyone still having trouble?  I can't log on to the voyage personaliser today - I get the message The personal details that you have entered are incorrect, please try again.  They definitely are not incorrect, and worked fine yesterday...

On 12/9/2018 at 11:20 AM, alibabacruisers said:

Oh, I see you are on the roll call.  We are doing the 27 nts.  So the 17 nts is cheaper now?

Yes, a big price drop...

8 hours ago, alibabacruisers said:

Which cruise?  We booked back in 2017 for May cruise on QE 27 nts and the price, right after we booked, was higher than we paid and has stayed the same since.  I check it almost daily waiting to see if it changes and when.  Maybe after final payments are made.

We’re on the 17 night Tokyo to Vancouver. 

I booked a voyage on QE departing in May 2019, and I made the booking way back in mid 2017.

A couple of days ago I looked at the website and saw that the same class of stateroom is now on sale for $2700 per couple less.  I rang Cunard to see if I could price match but - as per the terms and conditions - I was told no.  Fair enough, they're the booking rules.  So I cancelled my original booking, made a new one in the same category, lost my $1000 deposit on the old booking, lost my OBC on the old booking, and I'm still $1400 ahead.  That's a bit of extra spending money on board!

The only slightly frustrating part was my shore excursions.  They can't be transferred to the new booking apparently, as they are booked on "separate systems".  They are simply cancelled and I get a refund from Cunard, and I rebook the same excursions.  I this day and age I'd have thought there was a simpler solution...

Hi....on the point of booking our first cruise with Cunard but undecided which grade to go for.

 

Am I correct in thinking that with the Club balcony you can go at anytime in the MDR in the opening hours for dinner instead of choosing either of the two sittings as you do with a standard balcony.....more like Freedom dining?

 

Are there any other "extras" with a club balcony?

Yes Janny444, your table is "yours" to use whenever you want during dinner time. In addition, that same table is yours for breakfast and lunch whenever you choose to eat in the dining room.

Booked Q915A on QE this morning. Japan to Alaska for 17 nights. Going by the availability at my TA, it looks like I have booked the last forward glass fronted balcony on deck 4, talk about timing it right:) Also booked flights/transfers with Cunard as the price seemed to be good and it makes life easy.

I just booked the same cruise. Unfortunately though, flights and transfers are not an option offered to us in Australia.

There were several glass fronted balcony cabins remaining on deck 4 when I booked, but they may go fairly quickly - the idea of a Cunard Alaska cruise will, I think, be very popular.

On this topic of future itineraries, I was sent an on-line survey by Cunard yesterday which covered many things, but specifically talked about 7 and 10 night Alaska cruises out of Vancouver in June 2018. Has anyone else heard about this possibility?

I am also considering a transatlantic around August 2016. Is anyone able to tell me when the schedule for 2016 is likely to be published?

Today is Thursday which means in exactly two weeks we will be boarding the Queen Elizabeth in San Francisco.

 

Looking forward to meeting all of you.

 

Glenn

Looking forward to meeting you too Glenn. We're heading to SF in a week to spend a few days there before boarding.

Eugene and June

I second Glenn.

Bon Voyage and see you all in San Francisco!

 

Chez

Me too!

Eugene

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dr Payne is a wonderful speaker with great humility. When I boarded QM2 in Sydney in 2012 I had the good fortune to be seated next to him at lunch on my first day aboard. It was fascinating to chat with him in that setting.

AussieVoyager, had you taken anti-malaria medications? -S.

Hi Salacia

I had not taken the medications, but according to the Red Cross the issue was simply that I had been there, and even if I had taken the medications I was still ineligible to donate blood. My understanding was that it was diseases other than malaria they were concerned about. By contrast, I went to Cambodia some time ago (another malaria-prevalent country) and I was still eligible to donate even though I hadn't taken anti-malaria medication then either.

I'm certainly no expert, but last year I did call at Rabaul for a few hours on QM2.

I'm a regular blood donor, but when I went to donate a few months after my return from the voyage I was declined on the basis of my visit to Rabaul - I was advised that I was not permitted to donate blood for 2 years from the date I had been there because of the danger of mosquito-borne disease.

One night we enjoyed the Royal box, which I think could seat six. It was by far the largest and the best box for watching the stage because you are mostly facing forward. The side boxes close to the front don't have great views and sometimes the lights can reflect on the glass.

There is a plaque on the back wall of the box which notes that the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were guests in that box.

My wife and I enjoyed sitting in that box in our 2010 crossing. In fact, the only night we didn't use it was the night it had to be reserved and paid for. For each of the other nights we had the good fortune to be the only occupants of the box.