Victoria2

Not having been aft on deck five for many years, I have no idea if these were included in the refurb. but having had the corner deck five cabins in the past, on a sunny cruise, we would always have gone for the larger balcony if available.

In addition to #9. I would also add, some countries have different additions to the cruise price/ticket and in that case, a drinks package might be added, in which case some coffees might be included, a source of interesting debate occasionally. Cunard is not thank goodness, AI, fully or partially for us, yet.

I think you were either in QG or PG. Either way, coffee is available for quite a few hours of the day and the odd cookie too if it's known you are partial to them. For the rest of the ship bar the Lido [deck eleven being QE/QV], I have no idea of the cost differential between Cunard and Oceania but if you pay more on the latter, that might account for the inclusive bit.

Confirming your 'etc', unfortunately ☹️, snacks are available in the buffet throughout the day too and I would have thought, although not tested, for night owls too.

We have inadvertently been on mini cruises when our main trip has had shorties either end. Whilst in no way have we experienced a booze cruise, the atmosphere of the ship can be quite different on the short legs. I would say more lively, for want of a better term and that's not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

As our steak consumption is all but limited to our Cunard holidays these days, I can confirm the Cunard chefs are very capable when producing a beautifully cooked steak, cooked in my case being to be plated up as blue.

Us too.

Funnily enough, we attended a 'do' the other day and I had my first Wagyu for many years. I do wonder if the presentation has anything to do with it. My first one was pre-ordered, medium rare. It was OK but nothing to write home about. This latest, also 'mass' catering was served almost blue and it was a different taste altogether. I wouldn't order it if dining à deux as a well sourced filet mignon [blue] at a fraction of the price is good enough for my taste buds...and my wallet. 🙂

Our thoughts are always [only slightly tongue in cheek] 'if spared'!! 😅 Well done on the booking. Sounds a great itinerary on a wonderful ship.

So was/am I, or that had been my experience when applying for the obc since we bought our shares summer'22. The possibility of restricting the 'perk' and the lack of clarity on the AGM minutes sparked a little frisson of 'what's up Doc'. Luckily, all cleared up by HH's post. 🙂

Yes but after a decade of a thread, maybe a bit of frivolity is acceptable!

I don't require lifelines. My requests were answered and will be dealt with at the correct time.

Good to know you're on the ball and thank you for starting this thread. I have learnt one or two things. I'm not CCL savvy and am perfectly happy to own my own incompetence or short comings [of which I have many] and knowledge of how 'things' work between CCL shares and the obc they give. However, I'm also very happy to own my savviness in buying shares at all but rock bottom prices. Not savvy enough to buy loads of shares and sell some on admittedly but savvy enough to see my outlay recouped this year and more than happy letting others do the leg work for me in all things to do with our cruise holidays. My future cruises have been registered with the company who deals with my CCL shares and will apply for the credit at the appropriate time. One happy punter here, incompetent, absolutely, but also savvy too! 😄

Excellent news.👍 Thank you for sharing.

Nothappiburruh?😅 Or is it said through a haze of bewilderment. 🙂

maggielou362, don't be confused as we say Wus ter shur or Wus ter Sauce depending on what comes out of our mouths at the time. Lea and Perrins will do too. 😀 You'd be amazed at the number of local UK names which are pronounced incorrectly by non local, native English speakers. All the fun of the fair. The pronunciation of the city of Worcester however, is a continual source of merriment to us and our American friends. Edit Try Belvoir Castle! 😄

Schwa [no H by the way]. The lazy vowel. FMAXROBs1-,that will be a new word for many. As a teacher of phonics for many years, it never encroached on my lesson plans as it would have truly messed up little minds and spelling. The English language is a night mare anyway should all its rules be strictly followed. Spoken lazy vowels are very common but as an unposh Brit who has no intention of sounding posh, my use of schwas is limited and I do tend to pronounce many syllables where others might use a schwa. Cue-naaard. Up to personal interpretation. I go with the past captains but at the end of the day, pronunciation is in the ''I say tomarto. you say tomayto'' / ''I say varse, you say vayse'' bracket. Talking of which, don't get me started on Worcester. 😄

I don't think we've ever seen the kind of behaviour you're concerned about on Cunard and we have had many school holiday cruises on QV. The children/teens have been a delight to see. There were quite a few teens on our Baltic sailing last summer and they were obviously having a ball hanging out together and dressing to the nines each evening. We don't see the littlies unless they're on a pirate rampage/treasure hunt around the ship with their youth staff.

Never tried to order the Verandah's Wagyu beef so don't know if you'd get that but you can order just about anything you like as long as the ingredients are on the ship. Our favourites are Dover Sole, Crispy Duck but give the staff time to shoot the thing, hang it and cook it 🙂- usually three days, Indian and Chinese evenings and just about anything else which might take our fancy if the menu doesn't suit that night.

Not sure what's disappointing. Of course it's personal choice. Horses for courses as I have said and maybe I misinterpreted your comment in #68 which to me seemed to imply differences in ticket price could involve silly money. Not in our experience , although that can happen for flights booked direct, if bought on the day of travel. Now that can involve silly money! Been there and done that! Once.

I think I have to answer this. We have yet to have had a cost differential in the thousands. Yes of course using points/FF air miles will save thousands, depending on the class of travel and we have used them in the past before we changed airlines for personal reasons and area of the world and so wanted a Cunard package, but since then, I can honestly say, the price differential has no way been in the thousands between booking direct with the airline or through Cunard. If that had been the case then we might have decided on a different course of action. There comes a point where a difference of thousands of pounds, would definitely be a deal breaker for us but then we have been lucky and got reasonably priced flights which I must stress again, were NOT thousands of pounds different.

Cheaper still is using FF miles which we have done in the past until we changed airline allegiances. Then all we paid was the tax. Now that IS cheaper than any Cunard flight! 😄

I think it has been made quite clear, it's horses for courses. A ship will not wait for delayed passengers unless it's a plane load and even then, possibly not, and fly/cruise passengers will hopefully be bused/flown on. We have seen that in action although not a Cunard cruise. For some, the price differential will be the sticking point, for others the peace of mind any issues will be up to the cruise line to solve, will be the panacea. For the former, a scrutiny of travel insurance t&cs will be of particular importance. Basic cover will not necessarily be the solution if things go pear shaped. I have yet to learn if all passengers not on Cunard travel and who are affected by the re routing of QM2 will have their extra costs reimbursed if insurance doesn't cover. Basically, will/ has Cunard put its hand in its pocket for all affected?

No. It doesn't ignore. War/pestilence/weather are all remote possibilities, but they are there. You seem to be able to go a week prior to any long haul cruise. I would take a punt those in work carefully arrange dates which would not include a buffer of a week so you factoring a week's buffer is a tad of the 'I'm all right Jack' scenario. Cunard wouldn't get us anywhere if the above scenarios occur but if possible, I would hope they would get us to a port to join the ship as happened when we were on a Caribbean cruise years ago. Plus most on this board are travellers rather than just tourists and as such, will have a pretty comprehensive travel insurance in place. I would hazard a guess most holidaymakers, have a basic/ minimum policy. Yes, buyer beware but so much easier to let an umbrella organisation [Cunard] take the strain. So you do it your way but don't discount the thousands who like the ease of mind a fly/cruise booked on the same ticket with a cruise company. Not a cruise issue but I got caught up in the Ash Cloud travel. I learnt the beauty of my wrap around insurance policy. Many folk lost varying amounts of money. I didn't.

The current proxy statement apparently includes a recommendation to vote in favor of the shareholder benefit For what my vote is worth, I have voted on the proxy form but didn't see this which is why I said I have missed it. If it happens, great, if not, I have the fun in watching my 100 shares double and then some in value having already recouped the initial in cruise obc. As I said, all good fun. 🙂