Avoid formal dress for crossing?

[Jimsgirl]

Alise007

 

As someone who has relocated several times, I will include my twopennyworth.

 

First most of your belongings/winter clothes/bed linen will go by a company like UPS, or DHL, in large boxes, at least two to three weeks ahead of you. This assumes you will have an address in Germany , if not you will have to arrange for transporter to "hold until informed" You will be there before your goods, so this is not a problem. Germany can be cold in the winter, but if you arrive in summer, you could buy winter clothes at the time when you are living there.

 

As for the ship, the answer would be have one or more cases handled by Cunards shipping ahead to ship. This means yu would have them available on the ship, to supplement those you take yourselves.

 

You did not state ages of children, but for evening I would suggest if boys, long pants, white shirts and tie, girls well any pretty dress.

 

Yourselves , your husband will no doubt have a suit , white shirts and at least one tie. You could use either long black skirt with two or three tops, or black trousers with two or three tops. These will be useful in Germany if you have to attend business functions.

 

One of my relocates, involved travelling by ship for three weeks, in the days when you dressed formally for dinner every night, and I survived with one real evening gown , two long skirts (different colours) and several tops. At the Captains table for every meal in fact.

 

You should be aware that you will have to go through a different immigration procedure than the other passengers, since you will be living and working in Germany.

 

Are you planning to get off in Hamburg, or UK? This will be something to check into as regards immigration. Embassies of UK and Germany can advise you on this.

 

Frankly I have never found room service to be acceptable for any meal other than an early light breakfast, IMO room service is very poor on Cunard. Buffet, the difficulty there is that you have to collect and carry your food, and with the children that may prove to be difficult.

Far better to plan your dress so you can eat in MDR.

[Underwatr]

Buffet, the difficulty there is that you have to collect and carry your food, and with the children that may prove to be difficult.

Agree. This is one area where I perceived Princess service to be significantly better than Cunard - on Caribbean Princess there was generally an attendant at the buffet serving area exit to help with a tray and to find an available table. I'm not in any way an invalid but the service (particularly when an available table was not immediately visible to me) was a nice touch.

[electra2008]

From what I have read on these sites if you travel with children and eat in the main dining room the wait staff can not do enough for the children. So pack a nice pair of dress pants or a long skirt a few nice smart tops and you will be fine, might decided on Formal night to eat some where else but, enjoy, I have 1 pair of black pants and one maroon pair with tiny flowers on, a few tops that go with both and have had 50 cruising days with them and have never felt that I was underdressed.

If you feel that you would rather not "impose";) on others ask for a table for 4 when you make you booking and you will have your own little piece of heaven that the kids will know is their spot.

[Underwatr]

All the old fogies (present company included) enjoy seeing the kids in the dining room, particularly if they're dressed up a bit and smiling. :)

[alise007]

The children turn 5 and 7 this spring! They would love the planetarium :D

 

I plan on packing summer/fall type clothing for the initial trip and my husband can bring back some winter clothing. He will have to return stateside a few times for business and can load up his suitcase with extras as needed.

 

The kids will be harder because they grow so much!!!

 

We probably won't have an apartment til after we arrive. I would think the corporate office can accept packages on our behalf or possibly another coworker could assist us.

 

I am sure immigration is going to be fun. It looks like most of the sailings will deliver us to Southampton unless we can arrive a little early for the June Hamburg sailing. We "register" in Germany as residents once we find a apartment and are accompanying husband on his work visa. Hubby cannot stay longer than 365 days under his short term visa.

[DocLawDog]

We were on a TA in 2010 on our way to Ireland and there was a large group of Amish folks going over to Europe for some religious reunion. They sparked lots of interest on board...

[3rdGenCunarder]

From what I have read on these sites if you travel with children and eat in the main dining room the wait staff can not do enough for the children. So pack a nice pair of dress pants or a long skirt a few nice smart tops and you will be fine, might decided on Formal night to eat some where else but, enjoy, I have 1 pair of black pants and one maroon pair with tiny flowers on, a few tops that go with both and have had 50 cruising days with them and have never felt that I was underdressed.

If you feel that you would rather not "impose";) on others ask for a table for 4 when you make you booking and you will have your own little piece of heaven that the kids will know is their spot.

 

I agree about the table for 4. Young children can enjoy the dining room, and I think it's great to expose them to a fancy grown-up venue. However, meals are served one course at a time. If someone at your table orders lots of courses (starter and soup and salad before the main course), you could be sitting and waiting quite a while for your main course, which can be tough on a child's attention span. If you're at your own table, you can control the pace of the meal by ordering fewer courses.

[Dutchbrat]

Allow me to me to sarcastically state

Jackets required. Bathing optional

Most recent trip some well dressed folks. Dressed to the nines butnfailed to or forgot to bathe or at least use deodorant

[Salacia]

Allow me to me to sarcastically state

Jackets required. Bathing optional

Most recent trip some well dressed folks. Dressed to the nines butnfailed to or forgot to bathe or at least use deodorant

 

I don't doubt what you report, but nevertheless, I am suprised. I've only experienced 10 QM2 voyages, but I can't say I noted a lack of personal hygiene amongst fellow passengers - quite the opposite, in fact.

 

One of the things that makes me smile in the elevators on the way to dinner is that most of us have the same well scrubbed, slight scent of the shampoo, conditioner and body lotion supplied in Britannia staterooms. It's a pleasant subdued fragrance, and so many of us use the same provided toiletries that there is - happily, little capohony of fragrance. Although once the table sales on board commences, and perfumes and colgones go on sale, the balance shifts a bit.

 

Bad personal hygiene amongst passengers is not something I have encountered on QM2. Clearly, every voyage is different, just as our experience of the same voyage can differ. Cheers, -S.

[glojo]

Don't forget that some folks suffer from ailments that give off odours that unfortunately might cause embarrassment. If folks fail to have their monthly shower then I am guessing the neck area of a white shirt will very quickly expose them for what they are :)