Transatlantic Cruise - First Timer Questions

[shetlandtim]

We will be taking our first cruise of any type when we sail on QM to New York. We are seasoned travelers but complete novices as far as cruising is concerned I have a number of questions and would be grateful for any help.

 

What are dress requirements for the gala dinners, is simply a jacket and tie enough or will I have to wear a lounge suit or, even more problematic, a DJ ?  We are going on a two month trip around Canada when we arrive and will need a completely different set of clothes for that.

 

What on-board activities will I need to book before departure, I understand the English National Ballet will be onboard for that cruise.  Will I need to prebook that or anything else ?

 

I will probably have more questions but can't think of them at the moment

 

Thanks

 

 

[Host Hattie]

Details of dress code are here -

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/the-cunard-experience/what-to-pack

 

You will need a suit for formal evenings. Until very recently the dress code was dark suit so the majority of men will be wearing dark suits or dinner jackets. 

There's usually no need to pre-book anything before sailing. 

[BigMac1953]

We are also on that crossing.

 

A TA crossing on QM2 is probably the most formal of all lines and ships.

 

It used to be Black Tie every night on a crossing, but now probably only two per week. The vast majority of men will be wearing Dinner Suits. Many ladies will be in long dresses.

 

Although the dress code has been dumbed down, even on non-Gala nights, it's still quite dressy with most men in jackets and ties.

 

There's a Roll Call for this trip that you might want to join.

 

[BklynBoy8]

Welcome to Cunard.....

[D&N]

I think If you are to make the most of your crossing you need to think creatively.

 

You could get away with a dark suit with tie. The tie won't take up much space in Canada or leave it behind on ship. You can probably wear dark suit trousers with an open neck shirt on evenings in Canada and not feel too overdressed, and probably even the jacket if evenings are cold.

 

Alternatively, and assuming you don't plan to return by QM2, you could take a section of wardrobe just for the crossing and post the stuff you wouldn't wear in Canada home to a friend or relative. One of the many parcel brokers was quoting about £75 for  1 Parcel, 5 kg, 40 x 30 x 20 cm. In that case you'd want the formal wear to be as light as possible, polyester rather than wool etc. Or depending on what you pay for the garments, again simply abandon them.

 

You can just do the minimum to get by, but to really appreciate the ambiance of the ship you might regret not pulling out all the stops.

 

[shetlandtim]

Many thanks for all the responses, very helpful

 

What is Roll Call ?

 

This is a special trip to us as we both have a birthday ending in a 0  !!

 

We want to enjoy every aspect of the trip so will take what ever we need.  The idea of posting them back is attractive.

[LittleFish1976]

17 minutes ago, shetlandtim said:

Many thanks for all the responses, very helpful

 

What is Roll Call ?

 

This is a special trip to us as we both have a birthday ending in a 0  !!

 

We want to enjoy every aspect of the trip so will take what ever we need.  The idea of posting them back is attractive.

 

The other alternative is to send a suitcase home (or to a friend) when you disembark. Luggage Forward (company) will have a rep meet you at the port and take your case away allowing you to unburden yourself of all the clothes you won't want to drag along on the other part of your holiday. I've done it myself (a changeover from Icelandic padded outer wear, hiking boots and Cunard finery to hot weather/Sicily and London gear).

[LittleFish1976]

24 minutes ago, shetlandtim said:

What is Roll Call ?

 

There's another part of this Cruise Critic website which lists the sailings of each cruise line (as long as one of the passengers has started a new thread for that sailing). If you look at the top of this page in the white strip you'll see an option that says 'Find Your Roll Call'. Open it and choose Cunard then the name of your ship and scroll down to see if your sailing is there.

Edited February 2, 2023 by LittleFish1976

[shetlandtim]

14 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

The other alternative is to send a suitcase home (or to a friend) when you disembark. Luggage Forward (company) will have a rep meet you at the port and take your case away allowing you to unburden yourself of all the clothes you won't want to drag along on the other part of your holiday. I've done it myself (a changeover from Icelandic padded outer wear, hiking boots and Cunard finery to hot weather/Sicily and London gear).

 

Many thanks, very useful

[babs135]

Some of these are no longer available but it should give you an idea of what to expect.              

CU_101thingstodoonQM20105.pdf

Edited February 2, 2023 by babs135

[terry&mike]

We also use the transatlantic crossing to be part of a longer trip, usually being gone 3-6 weeks on each trip. We find that using one 30" duffel style suitcase with wheels each gives us plenty of space, and allows us to separate our dressier clothes, while still being able to easily manage our bags. If you are familiar with these bags, the bottom part of the bag has a separate section. In the bottom of one, I place all of our dressier clothes, each with a plastic dry cleaning bag over it to combat wrinkling. In the bottom of the other, I place our shoes, and some other bulky items. In the main part of each of the bags, I have our daily wear for touring, hiking, or whatever we are doing on the rest of the trip, toiletries, etc. This way, once you disembark Cunard, you don't have to interact with your formal clothes for your daily traveling around. 

 

Admittedly, we are light packers, so this gives us lots of extra room, and there are times that instead of bringing one 30" duffel style suitcase each, Mike will have a 30" duffel stye bag, and I will have just a carryon size suitcase. When we are traveling without the need for formal clothes, our general set up is that we each have 1 carry on size suitcase each, plus Mike carries a backpack and I carry a larger purse. 

[steve4031]

2 hours ago, babs135 said:

Some of these are no longer available but it should give you an idea of what to expect.              

CU_101thingstodoonQM20105.pdf 693.76 kB · 3 downloads

This is an excellent resource.  If even half of these are available there is too much to do.  

[IB2]

On 2/1/2023 at 10:12 AM, shetlandtim said:

We will be taking our first cruise of any type when we sail on QM to New York. We are seasoned travelers but complete novices as far as cruising is concerned I have a number of questions and would be grateful for any help.

 

What are dress requirements for the gala dinners, is simply a jacket and tie enough or will I have to wear a lounge suit or, even more problematic, a DJ ?  We are going on a two month trip around Canada when we arrive and will need a completely different set of clothes for that.

 

What on-board activities will I need to book before departure, I understand the English National Ballet will be onboard for that cruise.  Will I need to prebook that or anything else ?

 

I will probably have more questions but can't think of them at the moment

 

Thanks

 

 

Welcome, and you're in for a great time.

 

You don't have to take a DJ, but most people do - however the minority who don't (mostly American, in my subjective impression) is enough that you won't feel the odd one out if you don't.

 

There are a few things you can pre-book, and nearer the time you'll be able to see these on the Cunard portal where you manage your booking.  One thing to be aware of is that if you book spa treatments in advance you'll pay full price, whereas later in the crossing they tend to make various offers to encourage people to take up unbooked slots.

 

The beauty of the QM2 is that the ship is large enough that it never feels crowded, and different passengers can carve out entirely different experiences depending on their personality and preferences - especially on a TA when you have seven straight nights at sea unpunctuated by everyone going ashore at port stops. 

 

If you want to spend the whole week in a hectic social whirl of activities and dancing, you can, or you could visit the library and find a quiet spot on deck (on better days!) or in your favourite bar and spend the week reading, with a drink at your side.  Or fill your day with lectures and the planetarium and the cinema, where you're passively sitting being stimulated, or hang out in the casino and onboard pub enjoying fish & chips and its endless cycle of quiz nights.  Or be up on deck gazing out to sea and watching for the occasional dolphin or whale. It really is up to you.

Edited February 17, 2023 by IB2