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Live from QE's 2014 World Voyage

Scrapnana

By Scrapnana,
in Cunard Line

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ckl001

ckl001

Posted
Posted

Great review whitemarsh. I feel like I am akready there!

I got a phone call today from ny ta and cunard had cintacted them asking if I wanted an upgrade.....for a cost. I am currently in a BC ande the are offering a AA for $700 or a P2 fir $2700. I ended up saying no but if they offer it for free well that is another matter. Did I do the correct thing?

 

chez

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CateW

CateW

Posted
Posted

We also boarded in NY; missed the meet and greet. Sunday was such a lazy day, stayed in bed until 1:00. I cut the ball of my foot in the spa today. They wanted to charge me $123 for some athletic tape because this didn't happen between 8 and 9 this morning when the medical center was open:(. Other than this, great trip so far, everything could not be better.

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Moonraker7

Moonraker7

Posted
Posted
If anyone can post a photo of one of the sideways inside cabins, I would be so grateful. I am puzzled as to the layout, thank you!

 

I was on QV in November but not sure if I had a sideways inside cabin. I was on deck 7. Walked in door, wardrobes on right, bathroom on left, bed straight ahead.

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Post Captain

Post Captain

Posted
Posted
Embarkation in New York was a shamozzle. The ship was late arriving, which had a cascading impact on everything that followed that day (or so I believe). I'm pretty relaxed about most things but even I thought embarkation was poorly organised. There was only one loudspeaker announcements and no one seemed to be telling the terminal staff what was going on - or they were telling them but the terminal staff were not communicating amongst themselves. There was no area for priority staff to wait, until one lady complained, and then they created one by having us sit on the opposite side of the terminal to the non- priority guests. This proved to be slightly awkward (sitting there looking at each other) so one of the Grills guests asked the terminal staff to have the non-priority guests turn around and face the other way (just kidding). After sitting and waiting for ages we didn't get our priority boarding as the terminal staff stuffed up again and let the wheelchair passengers onboard before the priority guests. So it wasn't a great start.

 

We disembarked in New York after the transatlantic leg from Southampton. As you've no doubt heard from those who stayed on from Southampton, we had a good four days or so of gales (Force 7 through 9), and Captain Wells steered a much more southerly course than initially planned, taking us southwesterly down past Finisterre and toward the Azores before setting the ship on a more westerly course in order to avoid the worst of the massive storm centered around Iceland. At times, to cope with the "lumpy seas," we slowed down to 12 knots or less. At his Friday (or was it Thursday?) noon announcement, Captain Wells suggested that we might not make it into New York before noon on Saturday.

 

As it turned out, we docked at around 8:30 a.m. Shortly thereafter, the good captain (who, you will have found, has a delightfully wicked sense of humor), announced that disembarkation might take longer than anticipated, owing to the fact that the Immigration people (or whatever they're called these days) were going to be particularly thorough in processing any and all non-US passengers (er, "guests"). Moreover, as is now the custom, all passengers were required to disembark and go through Immigration, whether or not they intended to go ashore in New York. Boarding of new passengers (er, "guests") would not be permitted until all that process had been completed.

 

As it turned out, the queues of disembarking passengers quickly backed up in the terminal, and many of us were held on the ship longer than originally anticipated, "for our own comfort."

 

But yes, QE is a beautiful ship. She doesn't handle heavy (or even moderate) seas particularly well; but otherwise--especially in the Queen's Room, the Cafe Carinthia, and the Midships Bar--you can easily imagine that you're on a true ocean liner, not a Vista-class cruise ship.

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candhu18

candhu18

Posted
Posted (edited)

Barbara

 

 

 

Alas it is not straight forward.

Fisrt you need to have a repository for your photos other than your own computer. Public ones like Flickr, Dropbox etc are fine. In my post since it was only 4 snaps I placed them in the PUBLIC folder of dropbox.

 

 

I went onto cruise critic and generated a post. For each of the snaps I went to dropbox and obtained a public URL (right click on file and choose the DROPBOX option which in turn offers three options – one of which is to COPY the URL). Within the cruise critic publishing applet I chose the upload photo icon and then supplied the dialogue box with the URL (paste operation since I had copied the URL). This was repeated for each of the snaps and the message saved.

 

 

It is similar for flickr etc. Please note that if using Dropbox you must have your snaps in the PUBLIC folder.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

PS I notice you did the Singapore to Melbourne leg on QM last year. It is one I am considering for next year. Can I ask if it was enjoyable, would you recommend it, what were the highlights?

Edited by candhu18
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laktex

laktex

Posted
Posted

I just got in from New York after our crossing.

 

On Tuesday night it took nearly 3 hours from the Waldorf to reach JFK - the snow conditions were horrendous and the traffic from Midtown all the way to JFK was solid, personally I have never seen it so bad. Just communicated with a friend in NY who says it is back to a "balmy" 8 degrees today. I obviously chose the wrong day to fly home - I just wish my luggage had flown home with me!!

 

Whitemarsh - you may not get those little tarts but at least you get proper clotted cream with your scones. Afternoon Tea in the Grills lounge really is a very pleasant affair but sometimes you have to get there early just like the Queens Room!

 

Trevor.

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fantasy51

fantasy51

Posted
Posted
Hi Fantasy...I just had a little giggle about "upgrades". Did you mean updates? Maybe a secret wish to the upgrade fairy for a future cruise?;)

 

Barbara, I scrolled down just now and re-read my own post, just before seeing yours! It's definitely giggle time. I certainly meant update, but I'd happily thank anyone who gave me a good upgrade.

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ColumbiaSC

ColumbiaSC

Posted
Posted

Whitemarsh --- what a joy to read your lucid posts. In one of your posts recently you mentioned replacing the non-alcoholic sodas in your Queens Grill Suite fridge. Could you tell us what is your favorite non-alcoholic beverage?

 

All the best.

 

Don, Lord Kay of Shandon.

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alibabacruisers

alibabacruisers

Posted
Posted
Barbara

 

 

 

Alas it is not straight forward.

Fisrt you need to have a repository for your photos other than your own computer. Public ones like Flickr, Dropbox etc are fine. In my post since it was only 4 snaps I placed them in the PUBLIC folder of dropbox.

 

 

I went onto cruise critic and generated a post. For each of the snaps I went to dropbox and obtained a public URL (right click on file and choose the DROPBOX option which in turn offers three options – one of which is to COPY the URL). Within the cruise critic publishing applet I chose the upload photo icon and then supplied the dialogue box with the URL (paste operation since I had copied the URL). This was repeated for each of the snaps and the message saved.

 

 

It is similar for flickr etc. Please note that if using Dropbox you must have your snaps in the PUBLIC folder.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

PS I notice you did the Singapore to Melbourne leg on QM last year. It is one I am considering for next year. Can I ask if it was enjoyable, would you recommend it, what were the highlights?

 

Thanks for trying to help me, I really appreciate it.

 

In regards to my WC segment last year - I had never done a world cruise segment so this was a first. Of course QM2 was great herself, as usual. The things I did not like or did not even think about were: 1. People embarking and disembarking at a lot of the ports and that made the ship seem confusing and chaotic because as well as passengers trying to get to excursions, you had suitcases and people trying to go to their disembarkation areas, etc. 2. There was a certain group of passengers that did not speak English, and did not adhere to the dress code early on, then each new port where new passengers embarked we had the problem all over again. I sat near the entrance of the dining room and saw this happen over and over. It was really noticeable from the Tour group operators that came in the main dining room to make sure all of their people were there.:mad: 3. We had been told that there was no need to get a visa for Vietnam because it was given on the ship. Well that part was true; however, when we left Bangkok it was hotter than heck!!! Then we were informed that MOST of the tour buses in Ho Chi Mingh were WITHOUT AC and the thought of riding 1.5 to 2 hours without AC was a no go zone for me. So you had to let them know if you still wanted the visa the night before and then you could not change your mind! So we cancelled the visa. The next day we peeked over the side of the ship and saw lots of buses waiting and they DID have AC (other passengers told us they had them as well). Lesson: next time we will get our own visa and then we can decide one way or the other ourselves without fear of the cancellation clause.

 

Having said all that, I would probably not do a WC segment in that region, but am trying a different area next year on QE. These are just my personal observations and experiences from my cruise last year.

 

There were lots of good points though. Service was great in the MDR. Room stewards were very good. The fact that we had 2 hours free internet because we got "gold" status this cruise...but to top that off we found out onboard that the 2 hours was PER SEGMENT!!! So we had plenty of internet time!:)

 

Hope this helps! If you have any further comments or questions, let me know.

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cunardaddict

cunardaddict

Posted
Posted

WCs are still an adventure, yet not as dangerous as they used to be.

 

We have to accept that other cultures have different attitudes in service and communication. The improving and steady growing countries in Asia tend to change and improve their standards as fast as the US did in the 50s. Last year no AC' th

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cunardaddict

cunardaddict

Posted
Posted

Sorry, my stupid fingers on the smartphone hit the send button.

 

Last year no AC, this year AC and seat belts in the bus. So is life and I can't se a reason for a :mad: comment. Some passengers have not been satisfied when visiting Fortaleza a few days ago. Well, they might find that Brasil is not California...

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