Coathanger

There is a wonderful selection of books in the QM2 library, including quite a few about ocean liners and Cunard. Really enjoyed ‘The Only Way to Cross’ which covered the golden age of Transatlantic express liners. Transport also gets good coverage with whole sections on trains, planes (Concorde, Spitfire et al) and automobiles. There is also a beautiful hardcover edition of Paddington.

I thought My Voyage was actually pretty good and used it daily on QM2 recently. Great to be able to book a dinner time when on Open Seating, lock in Shore Excursions and even book planetarium tickets. Account was up to date and reflected things like onboard credit and World Club discounts for things like wifi. If you follow the ‘Add to Home Screen’ steps, it’ll pretty much work like an any other app including remembering your login details. https://myvoyage.cunard.com

Go for it. My first two experiences on QM2 were Southampton to Hamburg, and then in reverse a few years later. By then I knew I loved the ship and had the time to do an Eastbound Transatlantic in 2018. Just finished a wonderful 16 nights on the Sydney to Hong Kong leg of the QM2 World Voyage.

I was actually pleased with the selection of films on the QM2 Sydney to Hong Kong leg with Hidden Figures (African-American women who made significant contributions to the NASA space program), Golda (covering the Yom Kippur War from the perspective of Prime Minister Golda Meir) and Mao’s Last Dancer (the story of Li Cunxin and his journey from rural China to ballet school and Houston Ballet). Li Cunxin and his wife Mary, both former principal dancers with the Australian Ballet, were aboard as keynote speakers and watched the film from the back. Illuminations was close to capacity so I stood at the back to watch. The other thirteen or so nights had less interesting films, but there is some quality to the programming.

Cruised solo on Odyssey in December and had a great time. You’ll be invited to a hosted table of 6-8 each night with a senior member of crew or entertainment team. Exception will be the first night aboard (where I had dinner at the TK Grill). There was also an invitation to a solo guest cocktail party, though I didn’t attend.

Received the email survey within 24 hours of disembarking Odyssey last week. The survey is run by Medallia and is sent from Seabourn@express.medallia.com for the avoidance of doubt.

Fair question. I was keen to see Cloudy Bay specifically given the history in establishing the wine industry in New Zealand. Typically look to book a more in-depth or behind the scenes tour where possible to go beyond a standard tasting, which I agree are mostly the same. Had a great experience at Mont Rochelle in Franschhoek staying at the hotel, which is part of the Virgin Collection, and getting a behind the scenes tour of the working vineyard on site and learning the importance of canopy management from their winemaker. Will look at something like the First Taste tour for a future trip: https://www.cloudybay.com/en-au/visit-us/marlborough-first-taste-tour/

Thanks for sharing your experience. Seems like Cloudy Bay is one you have to book direct with, rather than through a shore excursion. I mentioned to the sommelier in The Restaurant last night that it’s an opportunity to create a wine enthusiast version of ‘Shopping With The Chef’ given they seem to have some relationship with CB already. He did also mention that Peter Gago from Penfolds was aboard another Seabourn ship last year, with BIN 707 being particularly memorable.

Review of two shore excursions in Australia / New Zealand given Odyssey is doing the itinerary a few times in the coming months. Port: Philip Island, Australia Excursion: Philip Island’s Famous Penguins Duration: 4 Hours Price (USD): $139 Recommended: Yes A solid excursion with scenic drive across Philips Island to Summerlands, where the fairy penguins return to shore. Plenty of wallaby and Cape Barren Geese to be seen. Our guide Peter was great with a balance of facts and stories. New visitors centre has a cafe with hot meals for dinner, useful as the excursion departs around 6:30PM and finishes four hours later. The vegetable green curry was quite good. Naturally the highlight was seeing the penguins return to shore, and that alone was worth the price of admission. Port: Picton, New Zealand Excursion: Wine & Garden Duration: 5 Hours Price (USD): $300 Recommended: No Draw card of this excursion is the visit to two iconic wineries of the Marlborough wine region. Prologue is the communications manager from Cloudy Bay, by far the most iconic winemaker In Marlborough, was onboard to give an afternoon talk and host a speciality dinner. Asked if any of the shore excursions would include a visit to CB and she indicated that one would. Asked at the Destination Services desk the following morning and was told they weren’t sure so I didn’t book. Received a call at around 5PM advising the tour would be visiting CB. Appreciated the follow up so booked the shore excursion. Departing the ship at 9AM our first stop was Woodend Garden, which is a lovely space but about the size of a football field so an hour here felt excessive. Second stop was Hunter Wines, which had a nice garden setting out the back of the founders original home now used as the cellar door. Nice wines but a standard tasting which retails for NZ$15. Third and final stop was a boutique winery Fromm, which focussed on red wines like Pinot Noir rather than the white wines like Sauvignon Blanc that Marlborough is famous for. Being a smaller outfit, the experience here was good and the Pinot was excellent. Then it was a drive back to the ship by about 1:30PM, so just over 4.5 hours total. Putting aside the Cloudy Bay issue (we actually drove past…) there was nothing unique or special about this shore excursion to justify the price. If you enjoy wine, you’ll probably get more value putting that $300 toward a wine dinner aboard.

Great, thank you @2SailingNomads. Is my email address sufficient or do we need additional details?

Usually a Cunarder, but am sailing Seabourn for the first time in December 2023 (i.e. next month). Booked via an Online Travel Agent (OTA) without any OBC. Assume I'll be eligible for the Referral credit so if a fellow member has a referral please let me know.