Anyone booking any of the new sailings today ?

[Host Hattie]

I hope you get what you want 🤞

[exlondoner]

34 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

I hope you get what you want 🤞

Hope so. Judging by the negative comments here, I may have a ship entirely to myself.

[Victoria2]

12 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Hope so. Judging by the negative comments here, I may have a ship entirely to myself.

Sorry, you might have us to share a ship with!  😀

We are definitely booking today.

[majortom10]

No not for me this time. Decide to have a look round at other cruise lines for Autumn 2025.

[lindylooellalouise]

Yes hopefully we get the suite we want on Queen Anne. 👍

[BigMac1953]

I hope to book! Addicted to the mediocre food.🙂

[D&N]

I won't be booking anything.

But I know someone who will.

[LargeNegroni]

Would love to but we don’t want to spend ages on the phone and we don’t have a travel agent . We will risk it and wait until tomorrow. 😬😅 🤞🏻 

[rakkor]

There have been loads of of people pre-booking them on board. Apparently they are all going in a spreadsheet and will be entered as sales when the are live

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, rakkor said:

There have been loads of of people pre-booking them on board. Apparently they are all going in a spreadsheet and will be entered as sales when the are live

It's not actually pre booking, it's more a case of pre registering interest. The booking is an open feast come 1pm BST.

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

It's not actually pre booking, it's more a case of pre registering interest. The booking is an open feast come 1pm BST.

You mean like the scrum in the buffet on embarkation day.

[Victoria2]

6 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

You mean like the scrum in the buffet on embarkation day.

I guess so except I have someone joining the scrum for me!! 😄

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I guess so except I have someone joining the scrum for me!! 😄

Yes, absolutely. Best to let a TA do it.

[tacticalbanjo]

We've preregistered for a QA trip which looked good value. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my travel agent can get three rooms together with two of them three berths which might be a tad optimistic.

 

Good luck to everyone!

[sogne]

3 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Sorry, you might have us to share a ship with!  😀

We are definitely booking today.

I will be joining you as well.

[thereandback]

I am on hold! Why is that CunardFare is not showing on the website for my selected transatlantic...just a choice of either guarantee or the enhanced package (More, or whatever it is currently called)? I had assumed that Cunard Fare would become available when booking opened. Moreover, logged in at one minute past opening, and all the cabins I was most interested in are gone!!!

[exlondoner]

Success. The TA said in amazement that the system hadn’t crashed today. Does that mean not so many are trying to book?

[Host Hattie]

We don't normally book on launch day but we're booked on Queen Anne for June 2025.

[thereandback]

Success! Incredibly nice and helpful Cunard operator explained that there is no plain old Cunard Fare showing because it would currently be the same amount as the fare with the promotion package. I have never booked so close to launch date, so this is all, um, uncharted territory for me. Looking forward to over a year of checking for price drops. Good luck to all booking today!

[D&N]

I got a call at 13:10 UK time for my credit card details.

I wouldn't normally entertain such a thing, but since I was expecting the call and recognised the lady's voice I didn't have a problem.

As she had already warned me, there was only one A1 cabin allocated to the itinerary that we wanted so she was on sharpish and nabbed it.

We'll see if we can change it to one of our preferred numbers at a later date.

It doesn't have a connecting door, which was the most important thing. It's about 6 cabins further on the wrong side from what we would prefer, but it's not a big issue if we end up staying there.

[BigMac1953]

We also got the suite we wanted on QA for Medeira (overnight) and the Canaries, November 2025.

 

All booked in less than 10 minutes.

[D&N]

Writing as a retired professional scheduler/planner in the transport industry, Cunard's methods of allocating cabins to itineraries seem very basic.

 

With bus or light or heavy rail there could be several million potential pieces of a jigsaw to cover, and these could result in infinite combinations of potential crew shifts. When I started out all that was done manually on pencil and paper, but for around forty years there have been continually improving software solutions to speed the tasks up and minimise cost.

 

The cabin grade we've booked can only be allocated to four other different itineraries that could overlap while we are onboard. In fact the ones we would prefer are all allocated to the east and west components of our round trip. That makes it a very simple case of two halves or both together.

It seems odd that they'll make 90%+ of the cabins available to the east and west crossings only, when it would be quite simple to cross off the same one in each direction and allocate it to the round trip.

 

It ties in with the familiar theme of their IT not being the best.

 

[Pushpit]

For those with Cunard World Club membership, an email has gone out (I received it at 13:15 hrs BST) which gives a link to fares and bookings. There is a 5% CWC discount until 4 December.

 

T&Cs on that 5% (own paragraphing to make vaguely readable):
Cunard World Club members will receive a 5% early booking saving on the advertised fare when booking a Cunard Fare or Early Saver Fare. This is valid on new bookings made between 4‌ October 2023 and 4‌ December 2023 for all new voyages sailing between 21‌ April 2025 and 6‌ January 2026, for Queen Anne voyages sailing between 27‌ April 2025 and 6‌ January 2026, for Queen Mary 2 voyages sailing between 27‌ April 2025 and 3‌ January 2026, and for Queen Victoria voyages sailing between 21‌April 2025 and 6‌ October 2025. Queen Elizabeth's Summer 2025 programme will be launched at a later date and is therefore not included in this offer. The 5% saving is on the cruise only fare.

 

Cunard Fares and Early Saver Fares shown are per person based on two adults sharing the lowest available grade of stateroom within the applicable stateroom type and are subject to availability. Fares for sole occupancy and supplementary fares are available on request. Fares and other information are correct at the time of going to print. Additional complimentary Cunard Fare benefits vary by voyage type and apply to new bookings including those made with Future Cruise Credit of 7‌ nights or more and are not combinable with Early Saver Fares or Saver Fares. However, complimentary return coach transfers or car parking is available on all Southampton roundtrip voyages of 7 to 60‌ nights only.

 

Complimentary money to spend on board is based on selecting the Cunard Fare benefit of on board spending money. Amounts shown are per person and apply to the first two guests sharing a stateroom. This can be spent on shore excursions booked on board, drinks, spa services and in the on board shops. Money to spend on board is non‑refundable and non‑transferable. Offers cannot be exchanged for a cash alternative. Cunard reserves the right to withdraw the offer in whole or on individual cruises at any time.

[exlondoner]

13 minutes ago, D&N said:

Writing as a retired professional scheduler/planner in the transport industry, Cunard's methods of allocating cabins to itineraries seem very basic.

 

With bus or light or heavy rail there could be several million potential pieces of a jigsaw to cover, and these could result in infinite combinations of potential crew shifts. When I started out all that was done manually on pencil and paper, but for around forty years there have been continually improving software solutions to speed the tasks up and minimise cost.

 

The cabin grade we've booked can only be allocated to four other different itineraries that could overlap while we are onboard. In fact the ones we would prefer are all allocated to the east and west components of our round trip. That makes it a very simple case of two halves or both together.

It seems odd that they'll make 90%+ of the cabins available to the east and west crossings only, when it would be quite simple to cross off the same one in each direction and allocate it to the round trip.

 

It ties in with the familiar theme of their IT not being the best.

 

As I have said in similar cases, you are being charitable.

[Victoria2]

Yes. We were booked within seconds of itineraries being release.