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Roundtrip Crossings


jaycruises
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I noticed that Cunard is showing a lot of Roundtrip crossings on the QM2. I wonder why someone would book that? Now we are real cruisers and that might appeal to us.

 

 

 

For some people two weeks at sea on QM2 is a dream vacation in itself. And although we’ve never made a round trip voyage ourselves, when you consider all that the ship offers and the sheer relaxation of 14 days on the Atlantic, I understand why others find it so appealing.

 

 

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Count me in as one who thoroughly enjoys a round trip crossing on QM2. There are many reasons to go on a cruise. For some, the main reason is to explore a lot of new ports of call or spend time soaking in the sun on a variety of tropical beaches. Of course there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. We have done several port-intensive cruises and enjoyed them very much. But there is also a lot to be said for a round trip crossing where QM2 is the "destination" and there is no long flight involved either before or after the voyage. One can simply relax or take in as many of the on-board activities as one wishes. I always seem to find there is never enough time to fit in everything I would like to do.

 

Our next voyage is a 21-day round trip from New York on QM2 this June which includes a 7-day voyage to Norway between those two 7-day crossings. That way we get to enjoy a couple types of cruising (two leisurely crossings with a more port-intensive cruise sandwiched in between). Then in July 2019, we have another 21-day round trip crossing planned from New York on QM2 which combines a regular 7-day eastbound crossing with a 14-day westbound crossing including stops in Liverpool, Iceland, and Canada on the way back to New York. Again two types of cruising for us to enjoy during the same trip. But there is also a lot to recommend simply doing a traditional 14-day back-to-back crossing on QM2 with just one port call on turn-around day.

 

Regards, John

Edited by bluemarble
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I noticed that Cunard is showing a lot of Roundtrip crossings on the QM2. I wonder why someone would book that? Now we are real cruisers and that might appeal to us.

 

We did our first [and second] crossings this past September - and enjoyed both crossings and both port days. As you can see from the sig, we have another round trip planned for our next cruise. We did not plan on having the National Symphony for the last cruise - but enjoyed it enough to make the Symphony a tier breaker when selecting the next round trip pair.

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Me too!

Last year we went on a roundtrip crossing - after having done three westbound crossings on the QM2 and QE2 through the years. It was delightful. We love the ship and its offerings. Also, my husband has mobility issues, so port calls are less appealing to us.

 

Plus simply, there's something really special about charging across the North Atlantic in the only ship that was designed for crossings. Extra points for bits of bumpy seas.

On the afternoon of our final day last year, we booked another roundtrip for this coming September. I can't wait.

Edited by MarkBearSF
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There is NOTHING to compare with slicing across the stormy ( well, some days its stormy ) North Atlantic on the worlds only ocean liner. We did R/T crossings in both Nov '16 and Nov '17, and loved every elegant / glorious moment.

 

I'm sure Nov '18 may see us there, again :-)

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For those in high pressure work who need to decompress and have things to occupy them IF THEY WANT, there is nothing like a R/T on QM2. I’ve done it on QM2 and earlier on QE2. The dynamic Atlantic light, weather, the variety of folks and the spaciousness of the ship and the activity options make for a truly relaxed traveler when returning home to the grind.

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For 14 days of fresh ocean air, great food, and light exercise in the most delightful atmosphere a B2B cannot be beat. Try pricing two weeks at a land based seaside resort! And if the weather should be bad there are plenty of activities to show up for, or to ignore, as you please.

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Quite a few years ago we were on QM2 for 21 days, RT Brooklyn, including 7 days into the Med. It was a great trip and hooked us on the QM2 and ships in general. We loved the time on the Atlantic, the activities on board the QM2, the people we met, our adventures. We have returned many times for crossings, although not BTB since we have been headed either to or from Europe. I completely get this idea.

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When you take a round-trip tranatlantic crossing, do they have different insights speakers, different evening entertainment and different afternoon concerts, different dinner menus, etc. for the 2 crossings? I assume that they do, for I can't imagine anyone would want to duplicate the previous experiences during the return trip. For those who have done the round-trip crossings, what did you find? Barbara N. (babscruiser)

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There were no repeats aside from the Black and White Ball and pre-recorded planetarium shows on our roundtrip.

 

Menus were different (I'd expect that they have seasonal menus with about a 6 week rotation) and the alternate dining themes changed as well (there may have been a repeat of the Italian theme). Speakers got on and off with each segment and were different. (Interestingly enough, even if they may personally have an advanced CWC level, when they're traveling on Cunard's dime as a speaker, they get a red card.)

 

I wasn't paying attention, but it's likely that the current movies had repeats between the two crossings.

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I'd like to travel over and back but I would want to spend 5 to 10 days traveling around in between crossings. We've done one eastbound crossing but we spent a week in southwest England before flying home.

 

July 2019 looks a good time to cross twice as Queen Elizabeth will be crossing on suitable dates to combine with QM2 either return or outward. Seems to work both ways i.e. ex US or ex UK.

 

Regards John

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I just booked a round trip crossing for my husband and myself. I would love to stay in the UK for a few days but found the trip planning part extremely stressful. It seemed crazy to spend so much money to go to a port for a few hours and then I read some of the comments. Does anyone know if any excursions are available?

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I just booked a round trip crossing for my husband and myself. I would love to stay in the UK for a few days but found the trip planning part extremely stressful. It seemed crazy to spend so much money to go to a port for a few hours and then I read some of the comments. Does anyone know if any excursions are available?

 

Yes, Cunard will offer shore excursions from Southampton for passengers continuing on the round trip back to New York. Here is a link to a page on Cunard's web site showing a list of the possible shore excursions that might be offered from Southampton.

 

http://www.cunard.com/destinations/british-isles-cruises/england/southampton/

 

Be advised that Cunard most likely will not offer all of those listed excursions. The specific excursions that will be offered on your voyage should show up in your voyage personaliser approximately 12 weeks prior to your departure date.

 

Just to give you a couple data points from crossings we did a few years ago, in November 2015 Cunard offered excursions to Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Beaulieu. In August 2016 they offered the excursions to Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Winchester.

 

Regards, John

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I just booked a round trip crossing for my husband and myself. I would love to stay in the UK for a few days but found the trip planning part extremely stressful. It seemed crazy to spend so much money to go to a port for a few hours and then I read some of the comments. Does anyone know if any excursions are available?

Our next crossing has two days in Southampton, Hamburg and LeHarve for the round trip. It would have been possible to omit the Hamburg segment and just book a pair of crossings with a few days in between.

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Funcruiser. I doubt that anyone books a TA crossing because they want to see Southampton. The point of the TA crossings is the magnificence of the 7 or 14 days at sea ( esp the QM2)...... esp. in winter.

 

We've done it Twice, both November, in 2016 & 2017.

 

 

We did the tour to Winchester the first year, and it was interesting.

 

 

The 2nd year we did a walking tour of Southampton/ titanic museum and the Tudor house, also interesting.

 

 

I'm sure you will Love the Crossing !!!

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Hi you lucky people-There are two independent trips that we have made within the time constraints of arriving and sailing. In both cases we disembarked as soon as the ship was cleared and Self-Help was announced.

 

You can head for the Red Funnel pier and buy tickets to the Isle of Wight on the regular ferry ; they will also sell admission to Osborne House-Queen Victoria’s residence that was designed for her by Prince Albert. The bus stops right at the front gate. After your visit, there is (or there was when we visited) an excellent pub just across the road where we had a good lunch and had good time to get back to the ferry terminal and return to Southampton and QE2.

 

You can also grab a taxi to the Central station and go by train to Salisbury to visit the town and Cathedral, have a nice lunch and return to QM2-which we did in 2004. Have a good time whatever you decide to do-you lucky people!:D

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I will find out if it was a good idea in November, but I am pretty sure I will enjoy it.

Hi Lanky Lad, looks like you're still enjoying cruising with Cunard. We have done a B2B and loved every minute, it was lovely to know we weren't leaving the ship in New York. We booked a Cunard excursion which took us to places we missed last time we were there. Never got bored once and soon got into the routine of being on board for 14 days.

 

We are looking forward to our trip on QE in November to Canary Islands, its be a while since we cruised so really looking forward it it.

 

Catherine & Tony

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