bluemarble

Yes, it does. Again from the terms and conditions. "• The Specialty Hot Drinks Option may be pre-purchased up to 4 days prior to boarding the vessel and is offered on board on the first 2 days of your voyage. If you opt to purchase your Specialty Hot Drinks Option on day two, you pay only for the remaining nights of the voyage." This means you effectively have these two viable options for purchasing the Specialty Hot Drinks Option in your scenario. 1) Purchase prior to your voyage for $15.75 per person per night = $141.75 per person for nine nights. 2) Wait until the second day of your voyage and purchase the package on board for $17.50 per person per night = $140.00 per person for eight nights. It's essentially a wash. You'd end up saving $1.75 per person by deferring your purchase to the second day on board. And you could use your on board spending money that way. But you'd also be paying as you go on day one which would eat up those savings with a single drink purchased on day one.

Here are the passenger and crew counts QA reported to Southampton VTS. Queen Anne - June 7, 2024: 2,694 passengers; 1,235 crew

I can confirm what others have reported for QA's first scheduled meetings in port with QM2 and QV. I wasn't expecting to see a meeting between QA and QE but there is one on the schedule while QA is on her 2025 world voyage and QE is between Australia and Japan. QA and QM2: June 23, 2024 - Southampton QA and QV: August 5, 2024 - Civitavecchia QA and QE: March 19, 2025 - Hong Kong In addition to several other dates when QA will be in Southampton with QM2 or QV, there are also these other meetings with QA on the schedule. QA and QV: November 7, 2024 - Funchal QA and QV: December 12, 2024 - Lisbon QA and QM2: April 24, 2025 - Cadiz I'm not seeing any "Three Queens" meetings on the schedule (involving QA or otherwise). In fact, here is the only date I'm finding where QM2, QV or QE are scheduled to be in port on the same day in the itineraries released so far. QM2 and QV: October 24, 2025 - Southampton

We were on last year's NSO crossing (11-18 September 2023) and enjoyed it very much. Here are playlists I transcribed from the three performances during that crossing. Playlist from "The First Night of the Cunard Proms: An American Evening", Anthony Inglis and the National Symphony Orchestra. 1) "The Star-Spangled Banner" 2) "The Carousel Waltz" - Rodgers and Hammerstein 3) "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (guest pianist Captain Hashmi) 4) "Liberty Bell March" - Sousa (guest bell ringer/conductor Captain Hashmi) 5) "Rhapsody in Blue" - Gershwin 6) "Maple Leaf Rag" - Joplin 7) Medley from "South Pacific" - Rodgers and Hammerstein Playlist from "Last Night of the Cunard Proms", Anthony Inglis and the National Symphony Orchestra. 1. "God Save the King" 2. "Patience: Overture" - Gilbert and Sullivan 3. "Aircrew on Parade" - Haywood 4. "Romance for Violin and Orchestra" - Inglis 5. "Pop Looks Bach" from "Ski Sunday" - Fonteyn 6. "We'll Meet Again" - Lynn/Parker/Charles 7. "Hornpipe" from "Fantasia on British Sea Songs" - Wood (guest conductor Captain Hashmi) 8. "Rule Britannia" - Thomson/Arne 9. "Jerusalem" - Parry/Blake 10. "Land of Hope and Glory" - Elgar/Benson Playlist from matinee performance "An Afternoon of Strings" with the Strings of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Harmony String Trio under the direction of Anthony Inglis. 1. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" - Mozart 2. "Serenade for Strings" - Dvorak 3. "Adagio for Strings" - Barber (a tribute to September 11th, the departure date from New York for this NSO crossing)

Cunard have posted this 15:30 highlights video of the Queen Anne naming ceremony on their YouTube channel.

The cost of the coach transfer from Southampton to Heathrow is quoted as $90 per person on the Cunard US website as a post-voyage transfer option offered during the booking process. That's the same cost as listed on a Southampton Transfer Booking Form collected on board QM2 this past September. If you wish to add this transfer to an existing booking prior to your voyage, call Cunard customer service or your travel agent. Otherwise you may book the transfer on board.

I hadn't noticed this until a couple days ago. The US version of My Cunard has been listing both the prices to pre-book shore experiences via My Cunard and the prices to book them on board. It appears Cunard have started to offer a standard 10% discount to pre-book shore experiences. That's the same discount they offer to pre-book drinks packages and alternative dining. Here are examples of what I'm seeing offered for the prices of shore experiences on our upcoming crossings on QM2. New York Highlights: From $79.20; On board price from $88 New York Insight & Top Of Rockefeller: From $137.70; On board price from $153 Statue Of Liberty & Ellis Island: From $118.80; On board price from $132 Transfer To Macy's: From $58.50; On board price from $65 Prehistoric Stonehenge: From $133.20; On board price from $148

Thank you. That's a much better view than mine! Welcome to our game, @Eddie99. It's always good to see new contributors to this amazing thread.

I do not know of any other calls to Portland by Cunard ships with passengers on board. I have no itineraries for the current fleet or QE2 listing Portland and I can't find any other references to calls at Portland by Cunard ships. Here's a webcam capture from the camera at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy showing a distant view of QM2's arrival this morning. I've circled QM2 in red at the far right. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of her upon departure this evening but she made a sharp starboard turn on her way out which kept her just out of the view of the camera. Well, at least we now have a view for this thread of QM2 calling at Portland during a voyage with passengers even if it isn't much of a view.

Yes, that gap is most likely for QM2's extended mid-life refurbishment which others on this forum have mentioned is due in 2026. It's typical for Cunard to leave a gap in the voyage number sequence for a drydock and to schedule a short cruise immediately after the drydock. For her most recent Oct-Nov 2023 drydock, there was no voyage number M333 in her schedule. And voyage M334 was a short 3-night cruise to Zeebrugge.

Bon voyage from me as well to all those on Queen Anne's British Isles Festival Voyage. I've been watching the departure on the Solent Ships YouTube channel and will be following along as much as possible for any coverage of the naming ceremony in Liverpool. For those who may be interested, here are the counts reported to Southampton VTS during departure this evening. Queen Anne - May 24, 2024: 2,546 passengers; 1,249 crew

This may be well known to some/many of you, but I was not aware QM2 had been carrying an eternal flame from Paris and destined for Arlington as part of QM2's westbound crossing completed earlier today in New York. Here's a link to the Cunard press release. https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/queen-mary-2-arrives-new-york-city-eternal-flame-honoring-80th

I don't have direct knowledge of the QA alternative restaurant pricing since I haven't been on board QA yet, but here is what I've found. Sir Samuel’s Steakhouse Lunch: $31.50 in advance ($35.00 on board) Dinner: $58.50 in advance ($65.00 on board) Aji Wa Omakase menu: $58.50 in advance ($65.00 on board) a La Carte: $20.00 deposit subtracted from cost of meal ordered Aranya $31.50 in advance ($35.00 on board) Tramonto $18.00 in advance ($20.00 on board) These prices reflect the recent policy of offering a 10% discount for booking alternative dining in advance on the other ships. I will note one discrepancy though in that others on this forum have reported the price to book Tramonto in advance has been $18.10 rather than $18.00.

I wonder if this might have something to do with the first Le Gavroche at Sea residency with Michel Roux which is scheduled for the June 2nd Norwegian Fjords cruise. That will be taking place in the Verandah. I don't know why they'd necessarily have to close the Verandah to prepare during the 3-night May 30th cruise immediately preceding that first Le Gavroche at Sea cruise. I don't recall reading anything about the Verandah having to close prior to the recent Festival of Food and Wine crossing which also featured dinners by Michel Roux in the Verandah. But that's one possible theory that comes to mind anyway.

Ah, yes. Those are some good additional hints I hadn't picked up on for QM2's 2027 schedule. Queen Mary 2 15-Jan-2027: Funchal (from Southampton, to Basseterre) 26/27-Feb-2027: Funchal (from Ferrol, to Dakar) 23-Mar-2027: Bergen (from Andalsnes, to Southampton) Those are a couple intriguing ports (Ferrol and Dakar) before and after QM2's Feb 2027 call at Funchal (which I see now is indeed a two day call there). So, this looks like it might be the Caribbean for QM2 in January, Spain and Senegal in February, and Norway in March. Maybe not a full world voyage for QM2 in 2027, but cruises to several different regions which could be turned into an exotic voyage. Naturally these port reservations aren't conclusive as to what's going to be announced for 2027. But they do offer some good clues for what we might look forward to for early 2027.

Yes indeed, there are some interesting tidbits to be found on some of the port authority websites offering a preview of possible future itineraries. @sogne's post got me doing some digging. QV is on the Funchal schedule for a total of four additional dates into early 2027. Queen Victoria 15-Nov-2026: Funchal 08-Dec-2026: Funchal 21-Dec-2026: Funchal 09-Feb-2027: Funchal So, I think it's fair to say we can anticipate QV will be doing several cruises to Madeira following her return from the Mediterranean in October 2026. QM2 can be found on a couple port authority websites which may shed some light on her plans for early 2027. Queen Mary 2 15-Jan-2027: Funchal 26-Feb-2027: Funchal 23-Mar-2027: Bergen This schedule hints at QM2 not doing a world voyage in 2027. Finally, there's one 2027 date I've been able to find for QA so far. That's on the Gibraltar port authority website, although they have her listed as "Queen Ann" for this 2027 date. Queen Anne 17-Apr-2027: Gibraltar

To complete the set of webcam images for the ports of call on this itinerary, here's a capture showing QA's departure from A Coruña this afternoon. This is from the "A Coruña (móbil)" webcam on the CRTVG "g24.gal" website.

Do you mean the QV winter 26/27 schedules? QV's schedules have been announced up to 16 October 2026. The past few years QV's schedules have only been announced into October corresponding with the end of her Mediterranean season. Similarly, QE's schedules have only been announced into Spring for the cruises leading up to her Alaska season. I don't have any specific insight into when the next batch of Cunard itineraries will be announced. I will observe though that for the first time this year Cunard announced what was essentially a full year's worth of itineraries back in February. That would be my best guess as to when we can expect the next batch of itineraries (for 2027) to be announced. Alternatively, if Cunard were to revert to past practices, they might only announce the World/Grand/Winter/Spring 2027 schedules next February/March and then announce the Summer/Autumn 2027 schedules around September. But I suspect they'll repeat what they did this year and announce most of the 2027 schedules next February/March. Edit to add: The announcements of QE's Alaska schedules have mostly been made around the December timeframe. That's my best guess for when we will learn QE's 2026 Alaska season.

@Jim_P, I won't pretend to be knowledgeable about proper etiquette concerning which side to walk along passageways on Cunard ships. I will say as an American, I tend to walk on the right-hand side, in line with the side of the road we drive on, which no doubt adds to some of the confusion. I will offer this transcription of a portion of the Captain's Emergency Procedure Broadcast made prior to departure which may be of some further help to inform the matter from a purely procedural standpoint. This goes along with the crew keeping to the right. The Captain's instructions for proceeding to your assembly station in case of an emergency state "Walk quickly and quietly keeping to the right-hand side."

I can comment about the 2019 Literature Festival at Sea I attended. My archives show I received an email from Cunard with a link to the festival's programme pdf file on October 29, 2019. The departure date for that voyage was November 10, 2019. So that was 12 days prior to the departure date back in 2019. I also have a hard copy of the programme which I might have received through the mail prior to the voyage but I have no recollection about the timing for that.

Yes, there has been a recent price increase for alternative dining. It applies across the fleet. The prices used to be as follows. Kings Court/Lido Alternative Dining: $20pp in advance; $25pp on board Verandah Lunch: $25pp in advance; $30pp on board Verandah Dinner: $45pp in advance; $50pp on board Here are the prices for QM2, QV and QE listed on their FAQ for travel agents. This represents a 10% discount for booking in advance, consistent with how they discount their drinks packages when purchased in advance. Kings Court/Lido Alternative Dining: $31.50pp in advance; $35pp on board Verandah Lunch: $31.50pp in advance; $35pp on board Verandah Dinner: $58.50pp in advance; $65pp on board That said, I'm still seeing Verandah Lunch bookable on QM2 in My Cunard for $25pp, so perhaps the price increase for Verandah Lunch to $31.50pp is still in the works. Edit to add: I'm seeing a note stating the new prices for QM2 and QV are effective now but for QE they are effective July 2024.

That sounds to me like you have a refundable deposit. When the deposit is refundable, I don't think you'll find any phrasing in your booking confirmation specifically stating that the deposit is refundable. But if there is no cancellation penalty listed prior to the final payment date, then that ought to mean you'll get your deposit back if you cancel prior to that date. You'll want to get confirmation of that from your travel agent though.

To keep the webcam images coming, here's what QA's departure from Tenerife looked like this afternoon. This is from the Skyline Webcams "Santa Cruz de Tenerife - Plaza de España Live cam".

Assuming you have booked a fare with a refundable deposit on a US booking, then you may cancel and get a full refund up until the final payment date (120 days prior to departure for voyages of 30 nights or less, 150 days prior to departure for voyages of more than 30 nights). Most US fares have a refundable deposit but some do not. The fare they call "Our Lowest Fare" on their website is an example of a fare with a non-refundable deposit. My travel insurance company allows me to cancel my travel insurance but they only issue the refund as a credit voucher for use on a future purchase from them. You will need to check with your specific travel insurance company to see what their cancellation policies are.

That's correct. That webcam capture is showing QE's recent arrival at Seogwipo on May 17th. The image was less than 24 hours old when I posted it. By my count, we've now reached 660 locations on our seen ports list.