It’s official-My GF and I are joining the Crossing Club

[buchanan101]

On 9/27/2022 at 2:45 PM, steve4031 said:

We are excited about this crossing.  I know it is impossible to predict EXACTLY what the weather will be like on a particular crossing.  But I am curious about what the temperatures would be once we are at sea.  I was thinking 50's or 60's if it was sunny and calm outside.  

On your starboard balcony in July I'd expect in to the 70s surely if sunny and calm (there should be a 20 knot "wind" though)? I'm sure it must have been in the 60s port side westbound back in October. I'd assumed you'd booked starboard for the crossing, not specifically the Statue of Liberty; we had port side the other way - because of the weather on the crossing; good job as the 5am arrival in NYC was in thick fog so no SoL (or anything) visible.

 

 

 

[buchanan101]

On 2/28/2023 at 2:36 PM, steve4031 said:

I just made the final payment yesterday.  I have 300 in shipboard credit, prepaid gratuities, and dinner in the steak house.  I am quite pleased with my TA.  We are not big alcohol drinkers so 300 will go pretty far.  

Not if you use the wifi*, and gratuities will eat up much of it (unless that was included for a US traveller?)

 

*share a connection rather than doubling up - you only get 10% discount for the second - need to switch between devices. Also, if you can don't subscribe until the morning after you leave as you'll pay a day less

[North West Newbie]

39 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

Not if you use the wifi*, and gratuities will eat up much of it (unless that was included for a US traveller?)

 

*share a connection rather than doubling up - you only get 10% discount for the second - need to switch between devices. Also, if you can don't subscribe until the morning after you leave as you'll pay a day less

 

More than one device can simultaneously share the same connection using tethering.

[steve4031]

From what I understand the wifi isn't that great anyway.  I think it would be best if we left it alone.  Would it even work for text messages on an Iphone?  I know sending photos or doing anything more is not doable on any cruise ship.  

[IB2]

Excellent choice.  Unlike the westbound crossings, into the prevailing wind, crossing the Atlantic eastbound in summer can often be surprisingly wind-free, given luck with the weather.  Because the ship and the air are moving in the same direction at similar speed. So it may well be a pleasure to be up on deck mid-Atlantic.  And you won’t feel compelled to get up at 4 am to see the Isle of Wight in the dark, or to be up on deck at 5-6am when the ship pulls into the magnificent sights of Southampton Water.  Enjoy!

[exlondoner]

7 minutes ago, IB2 said:

Excellent choice.  Unlike the westbound crossings, into the prevailing wind, crossing the Atlantic eastbound in summer can often be surprisingly wind-free, given luck with the weather.  Because the ship and the air are moving in the same direction at similar speed. So it may well be a pleasure to be up on deck mid-Atlantic.  And you won’t feel compelled to get up at 4 am to see the Isle of Wight in the dark, or to be up on deck at 5-6am when the ship pulls into the magnificent sights of Southampton Water.  Enjoy!

On the other hand it does feel like that after all those 23 hour days. 😀

[D&N]

1 hour ago, steve4031 said:

I know sending photos or doing anything more is not doable on any cruise ship

That wasn't my experience.

Coverage in cabins is not good. Repeater routers are roughly one every 14 or 15 Britannia cabins and the heavy cabin doors block the signal. In public places you will see the routers on the ceiling. Sit near these when having a drink .

Large photo files take ages to upload. I used "Photo Compressor and Resizer" for Android to reduce files to upload quickly. There must be something similar for Apple products.

I was posting here, on Facebook and WhatsApp several times per day. Checking banking, and news sites and accessing our cloud photo archives any time I wanted to show anyone pics from decades ago.

[NE John]

On 2/28/2023 at 3:25 PM, steve4031 said:

I am sure I won't go hungry.  That menu in the pub is enticing.  There are several lunch items on there that I would enjoy.  

One fun hint for dinner at the Britannia Main Dining Room: once you and your waiter get to know each other a bit (maybe on the second Gala night) when he gives you the menu, leave it closed and hand it right back to him and ask him to decide your meal. We had a great time with our waiter on a TA and he was honored and thrilled that I trusted him to make all decisions about my meal. 
It was awesome and he loaded my plate with everything he could, even off menu items. 
We were both very pleased. My DW just rolled her eyes…

Please return back to this board to let us know about your Crossing. 

[steve4031]

l will definitely create a trip detailed trip report that I hope will be helpful to newcomers.  Even though the days are shortened to 23 hours, we will probably be ok.  We will do a couple of activities a day.  The rest of the day will be spent eating, napping, or just enjoying the ship.  I am most interested in the planetarium.  

 

This will be my first trip on a ship with several consecutive sea days.  Previously I had only had two sea days in a row.  Once on an NCL Baltics cruise and once on a Carnival Cruise.  

 

I was looking at the blog for the around-the-world trip on QM2 and I noticed that someone was using a website or app that forecasts sea conditions.  If the seas are rough, it shows red, if they are calmer it is blue.  I would be grateful if someone could point me in the direction of finding this website.  It would be fun to use for our crossing.  

[NE John]

You’ll find the QM2 quite stable in rough seas, better than most traditional cruise ships. Not 100% stable but on rough weather days when Promenade Deck is closed, one barely feels movements. 
I felt it on forward fitness center when on treadmill (weird sensation). BTW, try to burn off some calories…
You won’t be bored and in fact wonder how quick the day went by. 

[steve4031]

Thank you for the reassurance.  I was just curious about the sea forecasting website because I thought that was cool.  I probably would not even know if the seas were rough or how high the waves were just by looking at them.  Especially since the QM2 is adept at handling these conditions.  

[D&N]

You'll find this display on deck 12 just forward of Pavilion Pool. It fluctuates between this screen, a  location chart and one with course and speed. Not sure if there are any more in other parts of ship.

This was probably the worst sea state declared but we weren't really aware of any motion unless looking out windows.

 

[Host Hattie]

This was the Bay of Biscay (on the Navigation channel on the cabin TV)

 

[paulco]

Love,love Britannia DR on QM2. Hope io be back on board later this year.   Love the winter crossings!  Because the ship follows the Gulf Stream and the air temp generally is about the same as the average water temperature on my January EB was around 60 f.

Edited March 2, 2023 by paulco

[buchanan101]

On 3/1/2023 at 8:23 PM, D&N said:

That wasn't my experience.

Coverage in cabins is not good. Repeater routers are roughly one every 14 or 15 Britannia cabins and the heavy cabin doors block the signal. In public places you will see the routers on the ceiling. Sit near these when having a drink .

Large photo files take ages to upload. I used "Photo Compressor and Resizer" for Android to reduce files to upload quickly. There must be something similar for Apple products.

I was posting here, on Facebook and WhatsApp several times per day. Checking banking, and news sites and accessing our cloud photo archives any time I wanted to show anyone pics from decades ago.

I think part of the problem with the internet is automatic uploading of photos to icloud (or equivalent for androids). Most people probably have this set so all the photos or videos are sitting there trying to upload. And 2500 people will be taking a lot of photos.

 

In QG cabin our wifi was patchy and slow. On the balcony it was quite a bit better

 

[buchanan101]

16 hours ago, NE John said:

You’ll find the QM2 quite stable in rough seas, better than most traditional cruise ships. Not 100% stable but on rough weather days when Promenade Deck is closed, one barely feels movements. 
I felt it on forward fitness center when on treadmill (weird sensation). BTW, try to burn off some calories…
You won’t be bored and in fact wonder how quick the day went by. 

On rough days the treadmill must be fun as the gym is in just about the worst place for rough seas. Illuminations was a bit uncomfortable on one day on our crossing.

 

Agree it's obviously not 100% stable, and I find it strange that there are some on this board who claim that it barely moves. It depends...we were sliding around on chairs in the Queens Room on our rough day. It will be better than any cruise ship as it is bigger than most and has 4 stabilisers not 2. 

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Have been blessed to sail on Cunard since the 1970s and many times on the QM2. There is truly nothing like a crossing. Welcome to the Club!

[bluemarble]

On 3/2/2023 at 8:38 AM, steve4031 said:

I was looking at the blog for the around-the-world trip on QM2 and I noticed that someone was using a website or app that forecasts sea conditions.  If the seas are rough, it shows red, if they are calmer it is blue.  I would be grateful if someone could point me in the direction of finding this website.  It would be fun to use for our crossing.  

 

The website that's being used on the QM2 World Voyage blog to show wave heights/sea state is "windy.com". There are various settings on that site to show other weather conditions as well such as sea temperature, air temperature, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, precipitation, etc.

Edited March 3, 2023 by bluemarble

[steve4031]

3 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

The website that's being used on the QM2 World Voyage blog to show wave heights/sea state is "windy.com". There are various settings on that site to show other weather conditions as well such as sea temperature, air temperature, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, precipitation, etc.

Thank you for the website.  I will add that to my book marks.  

[steve4031]

I have taken 6 or 7 cruises and I think the "roughest" was a gentle swaying on a Carnival fantasy class ship as we were crossing the gulf current.  It was noticeable in the theater when we saw the curtains moving and felt kind of funny.  We adjusted after we went on deck for a few minutes.  I also experienced this on my first cruise.  I enjoyed it.  

 

So I am rather curious to experience rougher seas on a a crossing.  

[TheOldBear]

1 hour ago, steve4031 said:

I have taken 6 or 7 cruises and I think the "roughest" was a gentle swaying on a Carnival fantasy class ship as we were crossing the gulf current.  It was noticeable in the theater when we saw the curtains moving and felt kind of funny.  We adjusted after we went on deck for a few minutes.  I also experienced this on my first cruise.  I enjoyed it.  

 

So I am rather curious to experience rougher seas on a a crossing.  

On our westbound crossing this fall [QM2 M236] the Captain routed the ship between two major low pressure areas. For a couple of days, winds were at force 10 with outer deck access restricted. The deck 12 Pavilion pool was drained - and the deck 7 spa 'thermal suite' pool sloshed fairly vigorously [I think the deck 8 & 6 pools were closed/netted but not drained]

Dining in Britannia was normal - in fact I don't think there was impact on interior spaces other than the deck 12 pool closure.

[Jack E Dawson]

2 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

For a couple of days, winds were at force 10 with outer deck access restricted.

We also encountered force 10 winds and very rough seas on a May crossing. Even under these conditions the ship was amazingly stable. Champagne was still poured to near the top of the glass at afternoon tea. While you should be OK in the July time period, it is the North Atlantic. I strongly suggest bringing a bag of candied ginger. Pop a piece an hour before you first board and then every morning. If you do run into heavy seas you can add an additional piece in the afternoon. It never fails.

Jack

[steve4031]

I have never heard of candied Ginger.  I was planning on taking some sort of sea sickness medicine.  Buit if the Champaign is not spilling in force 10 winds I am not too worried about it.  

[exlondoner]

28 minutes ago, steve4031 said:

I have never heard of candied Ginger.  I was planning on taking some sort of sea sickness medicine.  Buit if the Champaign is not spilling in force 10 winds I am not too worried about it.  

I assume it is what we would call crystallised ginger, which I thought Cunard always offered after dinner.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

I assume it is what we would call crystallised ginger, which I thought Cunard always offered after dinner.

Yum Yum, although I'm a bit reluctant to take any now due to Covid etc. 😕