First-Time Cunarder: Which Itinerary?

[NieuwAmsterdam]

Hello Everyone! Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I’ve never sailed with Cunard before, but I’ve always wanted to; I grew up fascinated by the ocean liners of old. It was always a childhood dream of mine to sail aboard a Cunard Queen, and I’m finally ready to book a voyage aboard one. I suppose that the doom and gloom of today’s climate is making me crave something big to look forward to. I’m at the very young end of the Cunard age spectrum, but I don’t mind that at all. I just want to get away by myself for a few days of quiet. 

 

The two itineraries that I’m debating are a QV 2-night to Hamburg in JAN 2022 (V202) and a QE 3-night to Zeebrugge in JULY 2021 (Q125N). QV includes flights and I’d spring for a balcony, and QE is one of the new itineraries and I’d book a balcony to get the upgrade to Club. I know that the Cunard experience really shines on longer voyages, but I’m a cash-strapped student. Safe to say that I’m torn between the two!

 

Any comments/advice would be appreciated. If there really isn’t a difference worth worrying over, please tell me. Thanks everyone!

[Host Hattie]

Welcome, I'd probably go for the 3 nights to get as much time as you can onboard. The ships are very similar so there's not much to choose there.

Winter cruises can be an experience but I would choose July over January as well.

The bonus is not as long to wait !

[carlmm]

7 minutes ago, NieuwAmsterdam said:

Hello Everyone! Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I’ve never sailed with Cunard before, but I’ve always wanted to; I grew up fascinated by the ocean liners of old. It was always a childhood dream of mine to sail aboard a Cunard Queen, and I’m finally ready to book a voyage aboard one. I suppose that the doom and gloom of today’s climate is making me crave something big to look forward to. I’m at the very young end of the Cunard age spectrum, but I don’t mind that at all. I just want to get away by myself for a few days of quiet. 

 

The two itineraries that I’m debating are a QV 2-night to Hamburg in JAN 2022 (V202) and a QE 3-night to Zeebrugge in JULY 2021 (Q125N). QV includes flights and I’d spring for a balcony, and QE is one of the new itineraries and I’d book a balcony to get the upgrade to Club. I know that the Cunard experience really shines on longer voyages, but I’m a cash-strapped student. Safe to say that I’m torn between the two!

 

Any comments/advice would be appreciated. If there really isn’t a difference worth worrying over, please tell me. Thanks everyone!

 

My view is in this case simple: The longer the better, take the the 3 nights. 

In your situation I would even recommend to save the money and stay in a balcony cabin, rather than the Britannia Club.  The cabins are exactly the same (besides the location), the added comfort of the smaller restaurant might even be a disadvantage for a young first timer. The Britannia Restaurant is grander and more "Cunard Queen". If rules will allow by them you also have a better chane to socalize.

[exlondoner]

Welcome. I agree with the previous posts. More time and better weather, even though Zeebrugge is not nearly as interesting as Hamburg. Just be warned: this may be the first step towards handing over an awful lot of cash to Cunard. I think many here thought they would just go once for the experience, and are now well into double figures of cruises. 😀

[lindylooellalouise]

33 minutes ago, NieuwAmsterdam said:

Hello Everyone! Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I’ve never sailed with Cunard before, but I’ve always wanted to; I grew up fascinated by the ocean liners of old. It was always a childhood dream of mine to sail aboard a Cunard Queen, and I’m finally ready to book a voyage aboard one. I suppose that the doom and gloom of today’s climate is making me crave something big to look forward to. I’m at the very young end of the Cunard age spectrum, but I don’t mind that at all. I just want to get away by myself for a few days of quiet. 

 

The two itineraries that I’m debating are a QV 2-night to Hamburg in JAN 2022 (V202) and a QE 3-night to Zeebrugge in JULY 2021 (Q125N). QV includes flights and I’d spring for a balcony, and QE is one of the new itineraries and I’d book a balcony to get the upgrade to Club. I know that the Cunard experience really shines on longer voyages, but I’m a cash-strapped student. Safe to say that I’m torn between the two!

 

Any comments/advice would be appreciated. If there really isn’t a difference worth worrying over, please tell me. Thanks everyone!

Both ships are fantastic I would go for the 3 nights on QE which is my favourite ship and I would also go for the balcony cabin the only difference with the club is the dining choice and you will miss out on the splendour and atmosphere of the Britannia dining room.we have just booked B2B cruise on QE from 4th July for 24 nights can’t wait to be back on board.

[PORT ROYAL]

Welcome to Cunard - Three nights will give you a better experience 

Do consider how many future Cunard Cruises you may wish to book, after this one, the new Brochure will be out soon, and either take advantage of some of the book onboard benefits, and/or purchase a tranche of FCDs

[Host Hattie]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

I think many here thought they would just go once for the experience, and are now well into double figures of cruises. 😀

That's me....

[North West Newbie]

46 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

That's me....

 

+1

[ExArkie]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

That's me....

Would have been me, too, except for the 2020 suspension of service - we were scheduled for #10 in July (Baltic on QV) that's now booked (tentatively) for next year.

 

By the way, I vote for the consensus - longer voyage (3 nights over 2) and balcony (Britannia over Club)

Edited October 2, 2020 by ExArkie
Added last sentence

[Lanky Lad]

I would go for the 3 night trip and stay on board in Zeebrugge.  These are not uncommon ports so you will have chance to go to Hamburg at a later date.

[lindylooellalouise]

19 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

That's me....

And us too

[BigMac1953]

Be very careful!

 

We just wanted a trip on QE2 in 2007 because it was on our bucket list. Our TA put us in a P1.

 

Our next mistake was to book a QG for the following year. Unfortunately there's no going back so it's been QG for the past twenty something cruises.

 

My bank manager is never sure if I'm going on holiday or buying the ship.

 

Stewart

[akmday10]

I would definitely recommend doing the QE three night cruise, not only is it longer, but after next year, the QE sailing from Southampton and at a reasonable price could be a while. The QE is my nans favourite ship and we have not sailed on her since 2015, as we do not do fly-cruises and do the shorter cruises for the price.

 

If you enjoy Cunard and the 3 night cruise, it is worth looking at the QV's 6-10th January 2022 cruise to Hamburg. We have done it for the last two years in Britannia Club and then Balcony, both extremely cheap prices.

 

Also its nice to know another young person wants to try Cunard, I did my first cruise at 12 years old which was 12 years ago, and I am addicted lol. 

 

EDIT: Just seen you were referring to the 2 night Hamburg cruise in Jan 2022. The QV has the cruise on offer nearly every year I think? I have done the 4 nights for last two years and can say it is great. It will likely be on offer in 2023, so you can always aim to do that 🙂 

Edited October 3, 2020 by akmday10

[NieuwAmsterdam]

Thank you for your advice, everyone! The consensus opinion for the three-night voyage makes my decision a lot easier to make. I’m a bit nervous as July 2021 seems a little too soon to cruise safely, but I agree that more time onboard is better. If it doesn’t go ahead, I suppose that we’ll all play another round of the FCC game? 

 

23 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Welcome. I agree with the previous posts. More time and better weather, even though Zeebrugge is not nearly as interesting as Hamburg. Just be warned: this may be the first step towards handing over an awful lot of cash to Cunard. I think many here thought they would just go once for the experience, and are now well into double figures of cruises. 😀

 

I’m fully ready for the terrible consequences ahead... woe is me if I ever end up on a transatlantic! 😉 

 

22 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Welcome to Cunard - Three nights will give you a better experience 

Do consider how many future Cunard Cruises you may wish to book, after this one, the new Brochure will be out soon, and either take advantage of some of the book onboard benefits, and/or purchase a tranche of FCDs

 

This is also a great recommendation. Thank you! What do FCD benefits look like on board? 

 

1 hour ago, BigMac1953 said:

Be very careful!

 

We just wanted a trip on QE2 in 2007 because it was on our bucket list. Our TA put us in a P1.

 

Our next mistake was to book a QG for the following year. Unfortunately there's no going back so it's been QG for the past twenty something cruises.

 

My bank manager is never sure if I'm going on holiday or buying the ship.

 

Stewart

 

And straight to QG from a teaser on the QE2 is just about as good as it gets! Amazing. I won’t be affording anything close to QG for a very long time I imagine, but I wouldn’t mind getting hooked into a yearly cruise in Britannia... 

[PORT ROYAL]

FCD Benefits:

• The FCD is purchased onboard.  And you can then use at a later date as/when required for a booking (not a sailing) made within 12 months of purchase.
• The full money paid for the FCD becomes part of your deposit (no loss of money).
• The FCD entities one to free "On Board Spending Money" (OBC - Onboard Credit)
• Unfortunately, no free OBC for any cruise lesss than 6 nights
• 6-9 nights on board. Grill Accommodation = $200USD. Balcony Accommodation = $150USD. Inside / Outside Accommodation = $100USD.
• Sailings of 10 nights or more. Grill Accommodation = $400USD. Balcony Accommodation = $300USD. Inside/ Outside Accommodation = $200USD.
• OBC is per FCD per person.  Only 1 FCD pp per Cruise is allowed 

Basically a FCD is a no brainer, and are purchased from the Voyage Sales Office onboard.

When you book a Cunard Cruise onboard you will automatically receive the FCD OBC entitlement, or sometimes better.  Your daily planner will advise you of the Cunard offers available.

 

 

 

[exlondoner]

4 hours ago, BigMac1953 said:

Be very careful!

 

We just wanted a trip on QE2 in 2007 because it was on our bucket list. Our TA put us in a P1.

 

Our next mistake was to book a QG for the following year. Unfortunately there's no going back so it's been QG for the past twenty something cruises.

 

My bank manager is never sure if I'm going on holiday or buying the ship.

 

Stewart

 

I can do worse than that. Our first trip was a TA on QE2 in 1997, coming back on Concorde. Because this was obviously going to be a one-off holiday of a lifetime, I suggested, after we'd booked, we should upgrade to QG. So we did. Now 23 years later, here we still are, nearly always in QG.

[Windsurfboy]

Given the 3 day cruise is cheaper then the 2 day it's a no brainer. Britannia  balcony is much better value than club, for the extra £140 per person over 3 nights you can eat in the Veranda for less than that per night

 

Let me suggest something else.

 

You will not always be a poor student so give yourself a taste of what you will one day afford . Get an extra job over Xmas, and blow it on QG. spoil your partner with bubbly in the room , order their special favourite food every night for dinner, even off menu.  Spoil yourself for life , enjoy the best Cunard experience . This forum will tell you how to ensure You make use of every benefit. You will have a reason to work even harder once you leave University. 

 

Most of us waited too long before  picking up this expensive habit. But many of us picked up an even more expensive habit first , children, they make cruising look cheap.

 

As you only have 3 days Wha,t ever you do stay on the ship don't leave it,  the ship is the destination.

 

 

[PORT ROYAL]

2 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

FCD Benefits:

• The FCD is purchased onboard.  And you can then use at a later date as/when required for a booking (not a sailing) made within 12 months of purchase.
• The full money paid for the FCD becomes part of your deposit (no loss of money).
• The FCD entities one to free "On Board Spending Money" (OBC - Onboard Credit)
• Unfortunately, no free OBC for any cruise lesss than 6 nights
• 6-9 nights on board. Grill Accommodation = $200USD. Balcony Accommodation = $150USD. Inside / Outside Accommodation = $100USD.
• Sailings of 10 nights or more. Grill Accommodation = $400USD. Balcony Accommodation = $300USD. Inside/ Outside Accommodation = $200USD.
• OBC is per FCD per person.  Only 1 FCD pp per Cruise is allowed 

Basically a FCD is a no brainer, and are purchased from the Voyage Sales Office onboard.

When you book a Cunard Cruise onboard you will automatically receive the FCD OBC entitlement, or sometimes better.  Your daily planner will advise you of the Cunard offers available.

 

 

 

 

Not forgetting Cunard treat guests are responsible adults by allowing them to bring onboard any quantity of soda, beer, wine and spirits to enjoy in one's Stateroom.

To start off the cruise, on arrival in your Stateroom is a bottle of white fizz (Pol Acker) in an ice bucket, with two Champagne flutes.

[Host Hattie]

I wouldn't bother with the Grills for a short, first trip, the extra space is great but most of the best things are out & about round the ship.

We change classes depending on my mood when we book (& the price). We had 2 nights in QG last November and it wasn't really worth it.

[exlondoner]

13 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

I wouldn't bother with the Grills for a short, first trip, the extra space is great but most of the best things are out & about round the ship.

We change classes depending on my mood when we book (& the price). We had 2 nights in QG last November and it wasn't really worth it.

 

Yes, I agree: much more worth while for a longer trip.