Victoria2

Depends on your cover.

and if there's no aircraft movements due to weather etc but the ship at the other end [maybe thousands of miles away which is where our flights used to end up] is OK to go? Thinking for instance, it's a bit difficult to join a TA after the ship has sailed. 🙂 We might not make the ship but we'd get our money back. No one has addressed that yet. I get it. We will avoid risks and book with Cunard. Others will book direct and hopefully with excellent travel insurance.

1 We buy the ticket we want, on all fronts, rather than chance an upgrade 2 Our agent is available but our plans are set and we don't change them unless it's for an emergency and if we do, and we have done, we learnt airlines always have what I am terming compassionate seats. Full fare, granted but the seats are there. 3 Haven't tested the theory our agent can do just as much as direct but I suspect he can. 4 Think we've established one way fare info. 5 I was top tier on an airline Pre Covid just through vacation trips to the US so know all about personal airline consultants. Horses for courses, and all that.

I'm amazed we all dare leave our cabins with all these little beggars out to get us!!!😅 Over thinking is just so not me but luckily I'm a washer so will ignore all the dire warnings and carry on as I have been doing for the past decade or so.

I totally agree going a few days earlier could/will probably negate most flight issues but for us, if going long haul, which we're not now as our cabins of first choice would not be available, it's not just the flights which can be problematic, it's the ship itinerary too. A change of itinerary can easily screw up travel arrangements. Luckily at the moment, it won't be an issue for us.

Good call Batman! Didn't occur I should qualify my buffet regime as it's obvious one doesn't double dip cutlery but that's more a taste transfer and also meat to fish to salads etc for me than salmonella so thank you for highlighting this in case I set a trend! 😄

As did we. Although not quite as canny as david63, our outlay has just about been recouped through additional obc, with the added plus of the shares almost doubling in price. All good fun and to quote a well known UK chain store's slogan, every little helps! 😅

I like that term, 'risk management'. Booking your own flights and managing any change in travel schedules is a risk we were not prepared to take. I remember a Caribbean holiday [not Cunard] when a cruise organised flight was delayed due to seriously bad weather. The ship left on time, without the couple of hundred delayed passengers. They were bussed to the next port of call. I would want all that sorted for me rather than deal with it ourselves. Horses for courses. Risks were/are not for us.

Which is why I never use provided utensils and use the cutlery pre wrapped in napkins. I have seen less than hygienic passenger practices but no way am I giving up on my occasional Lido lunch treats. I usually go for the food 'at the back' too making sure my sleeves do NOT trail in the food on display. Lido buffet? Yum yum. Pick'n mix on a plate. 👍

Not a family member but has become a friend over the years. There are many agents out there, just as good. The trick is to find one. 🙂

OK, you won't give any details so I assume one is as good as the other and and you are right, t doesn't matter in the slightest except when saying one can control one's flights if booking direct with an airline, when the issue revolves around booking direct or through Cunard where one has just as much control, is to obliquely infer one system has more control than the other which is giving a false impression of the booking facility available when choosing flights and booking with Cunard. Neither one is more efficient than the other and neither one is less efficient. Personal choice is all

You haven't really answered my question. You said you want control and I asked what do you do for 'control', that I haven't specified?. I take that you won't use an agent, but our agent is our go-between and books our flight requirements with Cunard and so they're not agent booked flights, they are Cunard booked flights, cruise and flights booked with Cunard by our agent. Cunard booking our exact requirements is exactly the same, control wise, as you self booking your flights but with the added protection for us if things go whatsist up, it's in Cunard's ball park to sort it out somehow. So please correct me if I'm not seeing the whole picture, but the only difference apart from the cost differential is our flights are bundled up with the cruise for our own peace of mind, and your flights are booked separately. As such, we are just as much in control of our flight choices by dictating our exact requirements to Cunard, as you are by booking direct with the airline. We have just gone about booking in a manner which suits us, as you do to suit yourself but the control is there, either way.

For me I like to be in control of my flights. This comment crops up so many times. We choose the airline and through choosing the routing/itinerary, we choose the aircraft and thus the aircraft configuration; we choose which class to fly in; we choose the routing/itinerary and as we pay when the flights become available which is usually approx. 11 mths in advance, we choose our seats as soon as the scheduling is released. All this is on our Cunard booking/ through Cunard and comes under one booking reference and all facilitated by our wonderful TA. I am genuinely interested david63, so costings apart, please would you tell me what more you do in order to be in complete control of your flights?

On a just in case tomorrow's date is pertinent basis, I have sent through more OBC requests so thanks for any heads up on this.

Which is why we book through Cunard and have the cruise and flight on the same booking invoice/booking reference. Each to their own. Having had an anxious time decades ago when a hurricane might have caused havoc with our booking, it's now up to Cunard to get us to the ship somehow should plans go awry or give us a full refund.

Family comes first. How true. We book well in advance to make sure we get the cabin of our choice due to the lack of cabins in the grade we want but it's a gamble as to what will be happening two years hence. We have cancelled two cruises, both for uninsured reasons, over the last two years and lost most of one booking and the deposit on another. Family comes first. Always.

The Queen Mother was probably hoping there'd be Gin or Dubonnet in that dispenser she's pulling. 🙂

We had two aft cabins last year and the only time the vibrations went through our bed and pillow was in a corker of a storm on the second cruise. It was such a corker, the Captain advised us all to find a chair and snooze or read as moving around the ship was a teeny bit hazardous! A normal straight walk down a corridor became a zigzag obstacle course! 🙂 A Roscoe blog. Wonderful.

Thanks for this seasickphil . Extremely interesting. My slight seafood intolerance is rearing up to 'the itch' just reading this.😄 To be fair though, my interest in other cruise lines is more for the cabins than menus and for a couple or reasons, an all inclusive holiday would be our last resort and expensive which is one of the reasons we stick with Cunard, that and the wonderful staff and service we receive. It's a sort of PAYG system which suits us.🙂 The next couple of years will be the deal breaker as we have to switch from QV to QA so we will see if staff and service remain top notch. Thanks again though for taking the time to write all that for me [and others]. I appreciate it.

As Kensington-cruiser is UK based, one assumes his/her question concerns UK bookings and as US v UK travel T&Cs and pricing can be so wildly different, US info is, as always, interesting but not very pertinent here. For UK info, if booking a one way flight, FF miles is the best option and also utilisation of the miles. Second best is probably a Cunard one way flight. If booking a return, we were told many years ago, Cunard apparently can very occasionally give great deals on Business and First if they 'get a deal with an airline' but in our experience hen's teeth with pigs flying overhead spring to mind. When booking, whilst there's no difference in choice of airline, routing, date and timing of flight if you book through Cunard [as you can dictate everything and have it all on the same booking as the cruise], there's no denying, it's usually more expensive than if you book it yourself. You can self book yourselves a flight a few days before the cruise [very sensible] but you can do that with the Cunard booked flight if you want. What booking your own flight won't do is give peace of mind in this ever changing world, where conflict, strikes and weather can ground flights and re route ships, if travel plans are screwed. LikeCraigrlewis, the peace of mind given that it's not our problem to solve outweighs any discounts we might find if we book flights ourselves.

We decide on our flights eg airline/class of travel/ itinerary and have our TA package them in with the cruise onto one booking. Usually more expensive than booking them as separate items but gives us peace of mind if one part of the holiday throws up an issue.

Wonderful on a couple of fronts. Spending time with your son being the most important of them. A cruise on QV coming a close second. 😄 My husband has had Corneliani suits over the years so I have to agree re Italian tailoring. Have fun. Edit I'm quite envious! QV is [or was before her fly/cruise itineraries] our home from home and we have a bit of experience in QG. Just ask if any question occurs to you. Between us all, we should be able to help. 🙂

I must have missed the QG reference and you are quite right. Dinner can be served in the cabin. We have had a couple of cabin dinners [with friends] and the experience was quite delightful. However, 2025 is still some way off and BVILady's circumstances might improve this year. Time can be a healer so why not wait awhile BVILady before making a decision.

What I should have said to be fair, is highlighted in red.

I am probably one of the most tolerant members on this board with regards to dress code. Tolerant as in it doesn't have to be best bib and tucker for all and as long as folk are doing their best to try and follow guidelines without stretching 'things' too much then good on them. However, your last phrase resonates with me. If anyone chooses to travel on a Cunard ship, then accept the guidelines and try and fit it as best you can even if that means Gala nights in the buffet. What you don't do is book a Cunard cruise and then use a phrase which implies the cruise line is stuck somewhere in the 1950s. It's not. It's a style of cruising, a style which is evolving for sure, which is loved by thousands, hence its popularity. So Caveat Emptor and all that. If booked-don't moan about the guidelines afterwards.