jeh10641

We are on a QE Alaska cruise August 2026. There only 2 sea days in 11 plus two visiting glaciers. Lots of time in the ports. Haines instead of Skagway is a downer but since I have never been there, it is okay. I love seeing new places. Jim

I, too, have seen photos and videos of QE's redo. I love it. I am an 83 year old American. Jim

We stayed at the Premier Inn City Center in 2023. It was about US $125.00/night. We were there in the middle of October for two nights. Took a train to Winchester for a private walking tour, the two us plus a guide (150 GBP). It had a nice restaurant on the top floor with a city view. It was about 10 minutes by taxi from the Royal Caribbean Pier. The hotel booked us taxis for a couple of outings. Had dinner one night at the Duke of Wellington pub. Great food, nice people. Jim

I always ask my room steward(s) to empty the refrigerator. Never had a charge for an item. Photos sound like simple solution. Jim

That is one reason to use a travel agent. Jim

Do we go "Waltzing Mathilda"? Jim

Brooklyn Jewish Hospital. My parents were on East 92nd Street in Manhattan. Moved to Pelham in time for kindergarten in 1946 or 1947. Jim

I was born in Brooklyn two months before Pearl Harbor. Grew as a Dodger fan. Jim

Hello, Host Hattie and others, I see some familiar handles on this thread and a lot of new ones. We just booked our first ever Cunard cruise on QE for August 27, 2026 from Seattle. A bucket list cruise for us. I just created a CC Roll Call thread for anybody on that cruise. I love "meeting" new friends this way. Jim

Madie and I just booked a Queen Elizabeth cruise to Alaska on August 27, 2026 from Seattle. I have started a Cruise Critic Roll Call thread for that cruise. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP AND COMMENTS. I hope we meet some day in person. JIm

THANK YOU ALL for your interesting comments and help. We just booked a Queen Elizabeth cruise to Alaska for August 27, 2026. I just created a Cruise Critic Roll Call thread for that if anybody is on it. I hope to meet you in person at some point. Jim

Well I did it. I booked my first Cunard cruise, to Alaska, yesterday. August 27, 2026 from Seattle on Queen Elizabeth. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR COMMENTS, here and elsewhere. I hope we get to meet you in person. Jim

Hi, DukeBeetle24, The Chateaubriand is our go Anniversary Meal at The Met (local slang for the Metropolitan Grill). I am glad O could help. Have a great time. our weather is finally becoming warm and sunny. We hibernate for 8 months (October to May) and now can function again. Jim

i have never been on a Celebrity cruise. Both my son, his wife, my nephew and his wife have and they liked their trips. Personally, my wife and I are HAL cruisers with a couple of Royal Caribbean thrown in. Never will go on a mega ship. I am about to book my first Cunard (QE) cruise to Alaska for 2026. I am so looking forward to that. Never thought I would get the chance (because of locations, price and formality dress code). Jim

No I do not find it tacky. Jim

Hi, swjumbo, I agree about lower prices equate to more cruises and activities on them. We like "any time" dining and I always give the MDR host or hostess an extra cash gratuity early on the cruise so that we get "better" tables if not the same one. More importantly, I try to greet them by name whenever I see them as well as my cabin stewards. We are about to book a QE Alaska cruise (on Wednesday the 28th) for August 27 2026 from Seattle. It is a great price and we are only 20 miles from the port. NO AIRPORT HASSLES! Jim

Yes, there are people who watch the You Tube Cruise Vloggers. I watch at least 8 or 9 different contributors on a regular basis. We are about to book Cunard for the first time, and I want to know what to look for on QE. I completely disregard their "click bait" headlines because I now trust them. I weeded out a large number of vloggers whose content did not live up to their headlines. I especially love the ship reviews of the next ship I am going on. I do not "subscribe" to any. I like being educated by fellow travelers. My wife and I are in our early 80s, and we do not want any travel "surprises". We have a champagne taste on a beer budget. Our cabins are on the "cheap" end of the scale so we can see more sites and sights in our ports of call or on the ship (think specialty dining venues). Jim

Wow! Sounds like age discrimination to me. I faced that with a car rental from Fox Car Rentals. Jim

I took over a CC Roll Call for a HAL cruise to Hawaii when the original OP had to quit for health reasons. We had well over 100 people on our spreadsheet and most showed up for the M/G. HAL had to change venues three times because of the large number. No officers attended. You can see the spreadsheet in my signature below. Jim

We live on the inland NW US coast near Seattle. I always buy additional travel insurance (as recommended by most You Tube cruise bloggers). I purchase from both the cruise line AND from Allianz, usually at the US $500,000 level for Med-Evac. Is that sufficient for Cunard? Thanks for this discussion. Like most CC threads it is very informative. My wife and I are fairly active in our early-80s. Jim PS- I am purchasing an Alaska cruise for August 2026 on QE from Seattle (11 days).

Talking about ship classes... My first ever transatlantic cruise (8 days) in 1959 was on Nieuw Amsterdam 1938 version. There were three classes: first, cabin and tourist. God help you if you tried to move up to a class area you had not paid for! It was okay to visit downward though. We called it "slumming" but most of us were 17 or 18 years old. We were booked in Cabin Class. Jim

A minor clarification: closed loop on US cruises means departing from and returning to the same port usually Alaska, Mexico or Caribbean cruises. By US law, all must include a foreign port except Hawaiian cruises that never leave the state.

I have never cruised with Cunard but have with HAL and Royal Caribbean. As such, I have attended several Meet/Greets and even organized one on HAL with HAL's help as well as a Group Slot Pull. Just social events to meet the "names" from Cruise Critic Roll Calls. CC was not onvolved with the planning Jim

We have always liked the Westin Seattle Hotel (4.0 Stars and about US$250/night). The ratings are from Trip Advisor. It is at one end of Seattle's iconic Monorail which goes to the site of the 1962 World's Fair (Seattle Center, although it is NOT at the city center). The Seattle Space Needle is there with great views from the top (on a clear day). The Chihuly Glass museum, Museum of Pop Culture (MoPop) and the Pacific Science Center are located there as well. Pike (not Pike's) Place Market is worth a visit. The underground tour of Pioneer Square is worth the cost for a look at Seattle's past. If art is your thing, the Seattle Museum is another place to visit. the Museum of History and Industry (MoHai) is located at the south end of Lake Union. If the weather is good, there is a new walk along Seattle's waterfront that houses the Seattle Aquarium, the Seattle Wheel (think London's Wheel) and some other touristy attractions. The Edgewater Hotel (4.1 Stars, US$450/night) is where the Beatles stayed during their visit in the 1960s. It used to be possible to fish from some of the rooms there. The Fairmont Olympic Hotel dates back to the 1920s (4.5 Stars, very classy, about US$320/night). Seattle Mariott Waterfront Hotel (4.0 Stars, US$409) is across the street from Pier 66. It offers baggage assistance to that location. Our favorite city center dining spots include the Metropolitan Grill (a very expensive steakhouse but well worth it), Elliot's Oyster House (on the waterfront with great seafood), Anthony's Pier 66 (seafood and more with great views of the harbor, ferries and all that). In Pike place Market, you can try Matt's in the Market (upscale), Le Pichet (a French bistro), Piroshky, Piroshky (yes, twice; Russian food). The Starbucks, not the original but the second one, as I think the original one no longer exists. I hope this helps. We have been to most of these places over the years. Jim