mljatsea

This has been one hell of a week in Texas. Today, Friday, I can hear the ice and snow melting in the sun and most folks have their power back. We have water now but are on a boil water notice. Store shelves are bare even if you venture out which my DH did. Fortunately we are well stocked. We only lost power for 20 hrs but our daughters homes were without much longer--one of them for three days. Lots and lots of damage to homes and buildings. This storm expected to surpass Hurricane Harvey in damages. We usually spend Feb. and March in Mexico but glad we were here to tend to things.

A favorite meme going around: 2020--the year from hell; 2021--the year hell froze over!

Happy 2021! We were lucky to get word early that the vaccine  was available for 1B (+65) and got our first doses of Moderna on Monday after waiting an hour. As the week progressed the distribution system got bogged down with long waits in cold damp weather. Hoping they will get something better in place. This was through our county health department.

We had a great Thanksgiving with just the two of us for dinner. Earlier in the day we did Zoom bingo with our daughters' families that live in our area. We were reluctant about joining them and grateful that they called it. Today is my birthday and we all met up in a parking lot between our homes. Exchanged birthday presents with our daughter whose birthday is 12/3. Here are the grandkids with their presents.

We live in Texas which is a hot spot, especially in the southwest which is far from us. People around the DFW area where we live seem to be very compliant with the mask mandate. I am surprised and thankful. Our daughter is an elementary school principal and has had some minor issues at her school. My granddaughter's junior high has reverted to all virtual learning. 

We usually spend Feb. and March in San Miguel de Allende Mexico but won't be going this year. Our next cruise is on the books for October 2021. Certainly hope we'll be in a better place by then--not so much for the cruise but for the good of the world!

My main question is "Are each of the four restaurants the same size?"

We will be using the four main restaurants on our Apex cruise in October 2021. I have been trying to find the capacity of each (normal capacity, not trying to figure out any COVID spacing). Are they all the same size? From reading my roll call it seems that people are already making reservations in these (not speciality) restaurants a year in advance! Our last four cruises have been on small ships with  true open dining and our previous Celebrity cruises were in Blu so I'm trying to figure out this different system for our "open" dining on Apex.

Thanks in advance for replies.

Three of our last four cruises were on Seabourn, the other being Azamara. Our current booking for October 2021 is on Celebrity. While I love the smaller ships I will feel safer with a more spacious environment. No doubt precautions will be taken on all ships to provide a better space ratio than in the past. When we sailed on Azamara in January 2019 there had been a Norovirus-type outbreak on the previous sailing. We were very impressed with the extra precautions that were taken to for our safety and heard of no problems. I realize these are different types of diseases.

That said we won't be sailing at all unless things change drastically and there is an effective vaccine.

Found these on our September cruise and felt them an upgrade from two years prior. 

We also had a last minute upgrade after getting our assignment a week or two prior on the Sojourn. Used Luggage Free last fall with delivery to QM2 and it was in our suite before we were! 

We are so glad we had our Azamara cruise there in January with seven nights in Cuba. Our next cruise is on Seabourn which is owned by Carnival and when you sign into their site the first thing that pops up is that they have stopped all cruises to Cuba immediately. If you were booked because of Cuba I'm afraid you are out of luck. So sorry. It's a beautiful country with lovely people and lots of problems.

When we were in Cuba my husband bought five cigars at the government shop at the fortress in Havana. He tried to smoke two of them on the ship and both were plugged. One more was okay. Tonight at home he tried another that was difficult to draw. He bought some in Cienfuegos that were good. Beware! He has bought ones he likes just as well here at home or in San Miguel, Mexico. His favorites ever where ones he bought in La Palma in the Canaries but hard to find ships that stop there any more.

Lucky you! Azamara changed our three days in Havana to two!

There is lengthy post on TripAdvisor that offers much food for thought. After reading a good portion of it, I'm inclined not to bring handouts.  I tried to copy the link to there post but it didn't work. You can find it if you look for "Small items to bring as gifts?" on the Cuba Forum on TripAdvisor.

Feeling offended that weAmericans for relaxed dress. We are shelling out quite a few $ to have a case sent to Hamburg for our October crossing after touring Croatia for three weeks. Not expecting QM2 to meet our Seabourn standards but we will soldier on.

Thinking of this shore ex on our one day in Southampton on a QM2 crossing from Hamburg to NY in October. Has anyone done this and your thoughts? We don't need any more time in London and would consider Stonehenge where I have been but DH has not. Would appreciate recommendations.

An espresso is free after lunch and dinner.

For breakfast I always went with the usual joe.

I never ordered a cappuccino after a meal, simply because everyone who does goes straigth to hell according to Italian dinner etiquette.

Exactly--no cappuccino after 11 a.m.

SaragassoPIrate--when do you sail? We embark in Hamburg on Oct. 16. We are doing the same thing with shipping a bag as we will be traveling for three weeks prior. We've opted for late seating so think we'll be okay.

Thanks for all the replies. I have changed us to the late seating. Sounds much more relaxing.

Thanks to steve1young and shuffleboard dude for posting the daily programmes. That is a great help.

Be sure to volunteer for the National Symphony Orchestra choir.

Is that by audition? DH was part of a choir on a Celebrity crossing directed by a British opera singer/music teacher and loved it. However they took all comers. He has been part of our church choir but would not have the confidence to audition.

What time can I expect the evening entertainment on a crossing? Are there two performances each evening to give opportunities for both dining times? We are on an October crossing with the National Symphony.

Can you upgrade to BC? (or PG or QG) That way you may dine when you choose, a different time each night if that suits you.

Don't I wish!

We will be doing a westbound crossing in October. We were on the late seating but for some reason our TA had waitlisted us for early. Now it seems we have early. We have not had an assigned dining time in ten years and would never dine at 6 p.m. at home. On the other hand, we would not dine at 8:30 and since we are going westbound that time will be an hour later body time each evening. We do enjoy a before dinner cocktail and the Commodore Club sounds inviting. Recommendations? I expect we could change back to late at this point.

I know the dress issue takes up too much space on this board but DH asked me to pose this: Are tuxes or dark suits in the majority on the QM2, esp. for Britannia? We are on a crossing. If he takes the tux should he also have a dark sport coat for other evenings? Our last two cruises were on Seabourn where was there was a mere smattering of tuxes. DH hasn't taken a tux on a cruise in ten years but looks dashing in his--and yes, it still fits.

My question regarding the the masquerade ball--do people take their masks to dinner or just to the ball? We are not ballroom dancers and doubt we would be attending.

I was so pleased to see this thread. We are embarking in Hamburg and continuing to NY. I had no idea so many would take the two-day trip to Southampton. Glad to be forewarned of the long embarkation since we do not have any status having only one prior crossing on the QE2 22 years ago.

I think we will opt for the shuttle from the Hauptbanhof. How does one find information on this service?

Since our trip is in mid-October I expect we will have darkness or near was we sail away. I can't seem to find departure time as yet.