handp

Have any cruisers been on a cruise this summer which included Vanuatu? I was wondering if it was able to become the lovely port it was before and able to get back the tourist trade from the cruise ships. (Apologies if this has been asked before) Helen

Looking at the deck plans, it would seem the cabin you had, had a window onto a 'promenade' type area , ie it wasn't a balcony? Would it be annoying to see people walking past your window? But then there were a couple of other photos that showed different layout and balcony with chairs.

Do the cabins on decks 9 & 10 have the 'traditional' balconies? It is a bit difficult to work out.

What type of restaurant is the Waterfront? Is the MDR The Marquee? Is there a bar where you can sit and watch the sea, as some ships have at the front of the ship? ( a real annoyance of mine is that some ships, as this one has, have the FITNESS CENTRE at the front of the ship where the best views are!!!!!!! Much rather have a lounge bar/ seating area there, surely)

It will be nice to have a smaller ship on the Australian cruise routes.

We always assumed that balcony cabins had the sofa next to the door and the bed next to it. We found out accidentally on Cruise Critic that alternate cabins on Celebrity Solstice have that and the other cabins have the bed right next to the sliding door. But Celebrity could not tell us which way our cabin was configured! We prefer the sofa by the door, as most ships seem to have, so we can sit and look at the passing sea or whatever there is to look at. (We were lucky that that was the configuration we did have) Deck plans with correct bed positioning would help in a situation like this.

I originally posted this on another thread. Since then I have seen on the deck plans of Voyager of the Seas that they also have beds by the door. We have been on Dawn Princess, with the bed not by the door. Are there other ships with all/some Cabins with beds by the door? It may seem silly to ask this, but we do like to spend some time in the cabin and if the balcony is unusable we don't particularly want to sit on the bed.

We always assumed that balcony cabins had the sofa next to the door and the bed next to it. We found out accidentally on Cruise Critic that alternate cabins on Celebrity Solstice have that and the other cabins have the bed right next to the sliding door. But Celebrity could not tell us which way our cabin was configured! We prefer the sofa by the door, as most ships seem to have, so we can sit and look at the passing sea or whatever there is to look at. (We were lucky that that was the configuration we did have) So deck plans with correct bed positioning would help in a situation like this.

We went down to see QM2 depart, only to be told by security (who were walking around the viewing areas) that she was not leaving til 8am, as the previous poster said. There was no explanation given. Hopefully someone on board will read this thread and tell us the reason, if we assume passengers were told.32

That must be very disappointing for the passengers on QM2, but safety first. We have friends on board, so we hope they enjoyed their time in Picton yesterday.

I saw on a webcam site that Queen Victoria was in Picton and wondered about that. Thanks for the information. Have other ships berthed/anchored (?) there before? It certainly looks a pretty port.

We are sailing on Queen Mary 2 out of Sydney on February 19th at 9pm. Our dinner is the 8.30 seating. Do we miss our first dinner to be on deck for the Sailaway, and so not meet our dining companions on the first night (will they be at dinner or on deck??), or be out on deck to see the ship leave Sydney? We have previously been to a Sailaway out of Sydney, but not on the QM2. Hmmm I guess we could always just have first course and then run up on deck!! :) Helen

In 2011 we cruised on QE and there were FORMAL, INFORMAL and an additional dress code of "SEMI-FORMAL". So I was quite surprised when receiving the information booklet after booking a cruise on QM2, showing just 2 dress codes. Have they all now just Formal and Informal?

A few months ago there was a thread about where the Sapphire Princess would be May to September 2014 as these months were not showing available for booking. I don't know if there has been an up-dated thread on this. I have just looked at the Princess website 'news and information' page and it states that during this time she will be doing cruises from Shanghai - 3 to 7 days, with bookings opening Nov 1st.

We are so disappointed as were were hoping to go on a "sapphire wedding anniversary" (45 years) cruise in August, but we have no interest in cruising for such a short cruise and out of China.

From October the cruises are from Singapore, which is at least closer to Australia, so that is our other option, just not on our anniversary. :(

Helen and Phill