Syzygy2002

25 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

Glad to help. If you do manage to get two bookings in the same cabin, be sure to request the "No Upgrade" option on each booking as we've been discussing in the "Unwanted Upgrade" thread. Otherwise you might end up with Cunard giving you a complimentary upgrade on one of your bookings, moving you to a different cabin for that voyage and defeating what you want to accomplish.

 

On the other hand, do consider booking into a different glass-fronted balcony for the Fjords cruise. I haven't moved cabins between voyages myself, but as Summergee has stated, I understand the process is relatively painless. You shouldn't have a problem getting that move initiated on the morning of your day in Southampton and be on your way to the Solent museum in time for their 10:00am opening time.

Aha! Brilliant suggestion to note the unwanted upgrade! It sounds like swapping cabins may not be the hassle I anticipated, so I thank you all so much for your advice!

15 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

As long as it's a sheltered balcony, it should be possible to get the same cabin for both voyages. That's the only Britannia balcony category I'm seeing currently available on their Sept. 4th crossing. I am seeing many cases where the same sheltered balcony cabin is showing as available on both the Sept. 4th crossing and the preceding Aug. 28th Fjords cruise.

 

What grade of balcony cabin are you currently in on the Sept 4th crossing? Perhaps the issue is that you would be attempting to downgrade to a sheltered balcony on your existing booking to accomplish what you want.

 

Are you from the US or the UK? If you have a US booking, you should have the option of cancelling your existing booking and then re-booking both voyages in the same cabin without penalty (unless you booked a fare with a non-refundable deposit). You would of course have to re-book at the current fare and other booking conditions to do it that way.

We're in one of the glass-fronted balconies, though I'm open to a metal sheltered balcony if this would enable us to keep the same cabin. I'm thinking my first hunch was correct- they're trying to avoid downgrading us (at the expense of another booking from us, incredibly). We're in the US. We're not in a non-refundable cabin. I'll chat with my husband but may see about cancelling and rebooking. It seems more a hassle instead of just reassigning our cabin and adding the second voyage, but what do I know.  Thank you so much for your help, bluemarble!

Thank you, Summergee- I was pretty clear that I was ok to switch cabins/balcony types. I'm wondering now, though, if they were only going for upgrades instead of downgrades (I really just want the same cabin of any balcony type). Maybe I'll call back (or call back after the deposit due date is over to see if things shuffle around). 

I guess my main concern is that the day in Southampton be an excursion for us. I was hoping to just be able to hop off and go to the Solent museum and not have to worry about packing up and leaving one cabin and unpacking in another.).  Oh well. 🙂

My husband and I are booked for a transatlantic on 9/4 (our second on QM2) and noticed there's a Norwegian Fjords trip the 8 days prior. I just called Cunard to inquire about the possibility of adding that trip (to make a 2 week trip) and remaining in the same cabin (we're in a balcony but are flexible on which type) and were told that it's impossible. I guess I'm having a hard time believing that there are no balcony cabins of *ANY* type available on BOTH trips this far in advance (particularly since I see them available online and am flexible about which balcony). Has anyone tried to do this type of thing before and been successful? Is this something a travel agent might have better luck with? Thanks so much in advance. 

Of course! Have a wonderful cruise! We're now thinking about another sail with Cunard....! :)

Absolutely! As a bright spot, I think both Cunard and P&O now avoid offering tours that overtly exploit non-human animals.

That's great! Tinkerbell1963, I hope you have a wonderful cruise and I look forward to reading your review!

rebeccalouiseagain, I think you'll find you'll be well taken care of. Cunard has a spa menu they offer at each meal. I don't know if these are specifically low carb but they're definitely health conscious. But, if you tell them your restrictions, I'm confident they will find ways to make it work for you. Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you, everyone, for your comments. I hope this is of some use to other vegans thinking about sailing with Cunard.

Balf, I didn't know about the dolphin swim- I, too, hope it's discontinued.

MarkBearSF, we're from the same neck of the woods (maybe not surprisingly)! I have sent in my cruise review with hopes that others offer similar feedback. I imagine Cunard won't consider any changes to their current vegan plan unless/until they receive more feedback about actually replacing meats/cheeses instead of simply removing them. If airlines are able to do it, cruise ships may, too, someday.

And it occurred to me that this won't be of interest only to vegans. I have several friends and family members who, for various health reasons, have been told to eat less or no meat (and they face the same issue vegans do at restaurants- a small plate of veggies and a starch). Although I know many people throw their diets out the window on vacation, not everyone does, and if done well, I think the replacement meats and cheeses, which are much, much better than they were in years past, would be ordered by meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans alike onboard.

And I'm certain if Cunard decides to do this someday, they will do it very well.

Bell Boy, it's a good idea- I will share my thoughts on social media. I'm also part of a couple of vegan travel groups on Facebook and I may share my thoughts, there, too.

Lakesregion, we actually saw several people, most of whom I'm certain weren't vegan, in both restaurants, so maybe this isn't just a vegan thing! Hey, it's vacation, why not second dinner. :)

Last thought: I was really happy to see Cunard has a written statement in their excursion materials recommending guests do NOT use the donkeys in Santorini "for animal welfare." And I didn't really see anyone using them. Thank you, Cunard!

That's good to hear - we're in Sarande on the Elizabeth next month and I quite fancied that shore excursion. Were there issues with Mozzies,the VP does suggest there might be a problem?

We didn't have any problem with mosquitoes in Gjirokastra- I didn't see one- but I did wear long pants because of the warning. It may depend on the time of year/time of day, though...

I searched the boards for information on how Cunard handles vegans before our cruise, but didn't find too much detail. So, I wanted to post this thread here to help future vegans, since this is where I think people will look for info. We just returned from a 2 week Mediterranean cruise on Queen Victoria. Overall, we felt Cunard did a fantastic job and we will definitely book again!

We told Cunard in advance that we are vegans and they were helpful and enthusiastic and sent us a written confirmation of our request. When we arrived at dinner in Britannia the first night, the crew was completely surprised and seemed to scramble for a moment. That said, they took great care of us and were able to veganize all of our meals. I mention the disconnect between the booking agents and the crew only to point out that, although they weren't prepared in advance, they were still able to accommodate us. I would definitely tell Cunard in advance if you're a vegan, but they can easily handle you, anyway. Oh, and they were able to find and serve us soy ice cream for dessert the first night (and every night if we wanted it)- they are ready!

A few notes:

BREAKFAST: In the Lido buffet, you can do a vegan full English! The chefs confirmed that the beans, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, and hash browns are cooked in oil, not butter. They have plant-based margarine out as a matter of course, so no need to ask. There is soy and rice milk for your coffee and cereal, both in the dairy-free section and in the carafes near the coffee. Halfway through our trip, in Venice, we noticed they offered soy yogurt, as well. This wasn't picked up for us- they have a small gluten-free and dairy-free section in the Lido- both of which seemed popular with guests. Note the dairy-free section isn't necessarily vegan (some things were just lactose-free) so ask if you're not sure. The soy yogurt was clearly marked vegan. Vegetarian sausage is on the room service menu and offered in Lido, but they ran out, unfortunately, do I don't know if those are vegan.

LUNCH: Most of our lunches were in port, but the Lido has many options for sea days. There are many items marked "vegetarian" but a few are also vegan-just ask. A number of the Indian curries were vegan (except things like korma, makhani, etc) and, along with the big salad/fruit bar, we ate well. They offered hummus one day, they had some bean salads on others. You can make it work. They had veggie burgers outside at the grill near the pool, but I didn't ask if they are vegan. Maybe someone else knows?

DINNER: We really love Cunard and dressing up and eating in the Britannia for dinner (we skipped it for brekkie/lunch as we felt this would be a burden on them and we'd have fewer options). I will be honest here: Cunard veganizes their meals the same way many restaurants do; they simply remove the meat/cheese, etc. This often leaves just a small, pretty plate of vegetables and a starch- and you hungry. The food was great (and the service was phenomenal), but we often snuck into the Lido after dinner to find another curry, bean dish, or something else with protein to round out our meal. If this bothers you and you're ok with the Lido, you'll find more options there. All this said, our waiters in Britannia could not have been more helpful or more attentive to our needs. In fact, the head waiter caught that we were served a small side dish of raita with our meal one night (we didn't mention it). We said it was fine, we didn't want to make a fuss. He said, "No, madam, it is NOT ok!" We didn't want to get anyone in trouble- they're busy and mistakes happen. My point is no one forgot our preferences in the two weeks (maybe except one busy chef once...) and they went out of their way to accommodate us. They couldn't have been kinder or more helpful. You will be well-cared for as a vegan.

When you request a special meal, the head waiter gives you the menu the night before so you can make your choice and prepare the chef. As a vegan, they give you the next night's menu as well as the standard vegetarian menu (same every night, but full of choices) and they indicated they could veganize anything on it. In most cases, they simply removed the non-vegan part of the meal. In a couple of cases, they slightly changed the meal. Again, it all worked out just fine and the meals were delicious and well-prepared.

OTHER NOTES: We did purchase some snacks in grocery stores on port days (nuts are a good protein supplement) for our cabin. Some stores, like one we found in Venice (Conad), had tofu, seitan, and vegan cheese. If you're really missing these items on your trip, you could grab those, too, for a cabin snack.

We found vegan restaurants (with vegan meats and cheese!) in many of our ports for lunch (Athens, Rome, Dubrovnik, Kotor). I won't detail those here, but feel free to message me. (as a side note, one of my American Airlines vegan meals had vegan cheese. It seems airlines (and maybe Cunard someday, too) are discovering the replacements slowly...).

CRUELTY-FREE: The toiletries are Penhaligons, which doesn't test on animals. None of their products on board have animal ingredients but, as a company, they do use badger hair in brushes (http://www.penhaligons.com/frequently-asked-questions). My pillow was synthetic; I believe the other bedding was, too. I obviously didn't tear anything apart to verify, but I'm sure other folks with allergies have already posted in other threads about this. I think Cunard offers down on request only? Maybe someone else can help with that.

FINAL ADVICE: Please tip well if you are a vegan! Although they were well-prepared for us and other special meals, they are going out of their way for you and it's extra work for them on an already long day. The staff on board is phenomenal and a great way to thank them for their extra efforts on your behalf is to tip them well.

Enjoy your cruise!

Smileon, my husband reminded me that, as we were on the starboard side, which is the side that permits smoking (decks 3 and 9, from what we remember), very occasionally we could smell smoke on our balcony. It wasn't a huge or constant issue, but if you're sensitive to smoke, maybe ask for port side.

We did the Gjirokastra excursion in Sarande and thought it was wonderful!

We just returned a couple of days ago from a 2 weeks Mediterranean cruise on QV and had a glass-fronted balcony on deck 4. It was wonderful. The balcony is a bit larger than those on higher decks (it sticks out farther by several inches), which means when you're up against the railing looking out, people on other decks can potentially see you. But, we didn't feel exposed when out on the balcony. We thought this was a fantastic cabin (4045). Directly behind the lift but we didn't hear it once. This was our first QV voyage, so I don't have other balcony cabins to compare it to- perhaps someone else can help you there. But, we thought the extra space on the deck 4 balcony was nice.