William Dean

Much as I dearly love Capri, I would say that if you are on a once only visit to Naples, you have other things to see.

Capri, to do it any justice, is an all day trip. Going for part of the day means you cannot go up to Anacapri, do the chairlift and actuallly see the best bits.

On the mainland you have Pompei, Ercolano and Napoli itself, as well as the Amalfi coast. I would suggest either Pompei or Ercolano (we did the latter) and then the coast OR the city.

Napoli is a wonderful stop.

And Capri is best after 17:00 - when all the day trippers leave!

WD

I wonder if, as newer ships get quieter and smoother, our perceptions change. I remember older ships which vibrated so much sometimes that you could actually see the walls shake enough to blur vision.

 

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I think that people don't actually want to travel on ships. The preference is for some sort of hotel that merely moves. The sea is becoming a nuisance, not a pleasure.

WD

I really enjoyed Liverpool. The hop-on-hop-off bus takes you to many of the sites you mentioned- including where the Beatles grew up and the music school that Paul McCartney attended. Then you see various churches and remnants of the damage done during the war.

He may be a famous son of Liverpool, but he has left it behind. He now lives in Sussex.

WD

A room on Queen Victoria that doesn't work well for me (unlike on the Queen Mary) is the Chart Room. It is not a distinct room, more like a space, far too long and narrow and too out in the open as if your living room is set on in the middle of a crowded mall. It is not the distinct room it is on Queen Mary. It also openly borders a passageway through which many passengers travel coming and going often in a somewhat loud fashion which can disturb the mood that is sought in the Chart Room. In addition, because it is a very long narrow open space it is sometimes difficult to hear the live music being played either by the pianist or the string quartet if you are sitting in the farther reaches of this space. That is not all true on Queen Mary. I don't know what can be done about this flawed space. One good point, thought, is that the seating is very comfortable. A lot of nice chairs and sofas and views of the passing sea.

Exactly my view - and I think the use for the space for Britannia Club on QE is a very much better use for it. I would not be surprised to see the Chart Room disappear on QV to be replaced by the Club restaurant, assuming that the galley arrangements allow this.

WD

Who is Speedo and why are other people wearing his clothes?

WD

Did I mention that Cunard has the greatest orchestras???

They've hired the Berlin Philharmonic?

WD

I may be fooling myself but I walk well enough to handle the requirements of the ship and port bus excursions but standing for the life boat drill was excruciating on our last cruise - Holland America. We were standing there for almost 90 minutes in the heat and humidity and icould barely walk after it was over. Is there any way around the requirement? Could a chair be provided? Private session? Sit in a lounge as I did on a Princess drill?

 

I am reluctant to book again for only this reason.

As you know, there is a requirement to attend.

However, if you have some sort of disability then the various different laws in the US and EU will require HAL to provide an appropriate chair.

WD