Help! I’m confused!

We have booked our first voyage on the QM2, the round trip transatlantic for next year which we are very much looking forward to. We have cruised on various cruise ships but never on a liner or Cunard before. Whilst browsing through the other itineries for next year I noticed the westbound only trip for the same date shows guest speaker Anthony Inglis and The National Symphany Orcestra onboard but nothing is mentioned about this on the round trip. Is there an explanation why this would be?

Hi, Bennybluehat.

Am I correct in assuming the round trip transatlantic you have booked is the one from 18 October to 1 November 2018?

I think the answer to your question may be that Anthony Inglis and the National Symphony Orchestra will only be appearing on the westbound crossing from 18 October to 25 October. If Cunard were to promote the round trip crossing as featuring Anthony Inglis and the National Symphony Orchestra, that might give they wrong impression that the orchestra would be performing during the entire round trip including the eastbound crossing.

Edit: I do find it odd that there appears to be an eastbound crossing from 15 September to 22 September 2019 featuring the National Symphony Orchestra but the description of that voyage seems to make no mention of it.

Regards, John

Thank you for your fast reply. That is very true I never looked at it like that. Yes that is the trip we have booked and it’s a nice surprise to have the National Symphany Orchestra onboard as it’s something we were not aware of when we booked. I take it you have done this journey previously? We haven’t visited New York before so is there any advice about the ship or destination you could give us?

Edit: I do find it odd that there appears to be an eastbound crossing from 15 September to 22 September 2019 featuring the National Symphony Orchestra but the description of that voyage seems to make no mention of it.

I was on the eastbound crossing that the NSO was on last month and they started advertising it relatively late on cunard.com, probably only within 4-6 weeks of departure.

Thank you for your fast reply. That is very true I never looked at it like that. Yes that is the trip we have booked and it’s a nice surprise to have the National Symphany Orchestra onboard as it’s something we were not aware of when we booked. I take it you have done this journey previously? We haven’t visited New York before so is there any advice about the ship or destination you could give us?

First of all, welcome to Cunard and the QM2. You are in for a real treat, but then I would say that since the QM2 is my favorite ship. As the saying goes, a transatlantic crossing on the QM2 is "the only way to cross".

Unfortunately I don't think I can be too much help on what to see in New York during the limited time available on a turn-around day. We start our crossings in New York and always fly in several days ahead to give us time to see things like the Metropolitan Museum, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the New York Botanical Garden, the High Line, etc. when we can dedicate most of the day to each. You may want to take a look at the Cunard shore excursions when they become available closer to your voyage to see what Cunard will be offering for New York shore excursions. I'd also suggest joining the Cruise Critic roll call for your voyage (if there is one) or start a roll call (if there isn't one already started) to touch base with others on your voyage.

Regarding the ship itself, one place to start is the sticky on this forum called "WELCOME TO THE CUNARD BOARD ... Here are some useful links" which is found here.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2198505

That sticky contains a wealth of information about Cunard in general and the QM2 in particular. Check out the links to the various QM2 photo tours and the daily programmes to get an idea of the venues and activities offered on board.

You might also enjoy some of the suggestions found in this Cunard document.

101 things to do. On the newly Remastered Queen Mary 2.

I think that's probably a good start for now. Don't hesitate to ask any further questions you may have. Someone on this forum is likely to know the answer.

Regards, John

I agree with bluemarble about a Cunard shore excursion. New York has weeks and weeks worth of things to see. You won't have a lot of time and while the ship's tour may not be the best way to see NY, it's probably the best way for the time you have, even if it's a lot of driving by on a bus. An independent day is tricky to plan because you never know how backed up Immigration inspection could be, giving you a late start. And then there's the risk of ending your day in a taxi stuck in traffic while you worry about all aboard.

Thank you for your fast reply. That is very true I never looked at it like that. Yes that is the trip we have booked and it’s a nice surprise to have the National Symphany Orchestra onboard as it’s something we were not aware of when we booked. I take it you have done this journey previously? We haven’t visited New York before so is there any advice about the ship or destination you could give us?

Also some more ideas if you can fit any of these in, the new one world observatory and poignant memorial fountain is a nice visit, Bloomingdales and Maceys for pre Christmas shopping, Smith & Wollensky for a famous 31 oz lunch steak, if it's a bit of fun your looking for then themed Ellen's Stardust Diner on corner of 51st street theatre district for breakfast or lunch, where broadway hopeful servers sing while you eat. Very entertaining.

One nice feature of the National Symphony crossing is the passenger chorus. There are several rehearsal sessions, followed by a performance with the Symphony on the last evening.

On our crossing, Captain Philpott was drafted to conduct during the concert :-)

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I get what you are saying about the short time we will have in NY so an organised tour probably is the way to go. I did read somewhere that Cunard provides a shuttle service that you pay for that will drop & pick you up outside Maceys. Does anyone have any knowledge of this such as how often they run & what time is the final bus back to the ship?

I don't have direct knowledge of the shuttle bus to Macy's, but I did find this fairly recent post (23 July 2017) from transatlantic fan that provides some details about it.

They have a shuttle bus, and is only for those people doing the B2B, and runs once (about7.30am) from the ship to Macy's and then back again at about 4pm. Cost is about$50 each return.

The ship won’tleave without it

Regards, John

We did the shuttle to outside Macy's despite the early start (meet at 7.30am) it was 9 before we were in town. We walked from there to Grand Central Station, The Chrysler building, waited for the library to open at 10 had a look round. walked back to Times square & around the general area including going all through Macy's itself buses to return to the ship left at 2.30 but the first one went at 2 - they just go when full. There is now the option of catching the water taxi from next to the ship across to Wall Street (or I presume any of the other stops) which I would seriously consider in future. Or you could walk across the Brooklyn bridge and water taxi back in the available time. Manhattan is fairly easy to navigate especially if you do your research before hand. Our 2nd TA had the NSO on board which we had been unaware of when booking but it was really good, got chatting to some members in the bar after their performance :-)

One nice feature of the National Symphony crossing is the passenger chorus. There are several rehearsal sessions, followed by a performance with the Symphony on the last evening.

On our crossing, Captain Philpott was drafted to conduct during the concert :-)

Not sure if you were there on American Night, but he was also drafted to ring the ship's bell when the orchestra played the Liberty Bell March.

Thank you for all your information. I do like the sound of the shuttle bus, it would mean that, although our time in Manhattan was brief, we would be able to see up close some of the places that are on top of our list to see. I’m glad it’s quite easy to navigate with a bit of homework and we can both cover a lot of ground as we are used to sprinting around in our every day lives! All we need is a hearty breakfast on the ship & we’ll be set up for the day!

They also do a 3 stop trip that goes to uptown (central park I think) mid town (maceys) down town (wall st/world trade centre I think) and that might suit you it costs around $10 more than the 1 stop shuttle. Enjoy your trip there's nothing like it.