QE2 Med question for next July

[SakeDad]

Just got an offer for QE2 C5 cabin for $1699.00 pp plus air....anyone done this trip? Should I jump on it or look for a better deal? Have not been on Cunard yet, but it is over my birthday week:rolleyes: Also, how are the C5 cabins on board...all the pictures are the same online and I can't tell the difference.

Thanks

[dougnewmanatsea]

How long is this cruise? It's hard to tell if $1699 is a good price without knowing how long the cruise is.

 

There are a lot of C5 cabins and there are huge variations in size and layout... But most of them are pretty nice. Assuming you are allowed to choose your own cabin (that is, this isn't a "guarantee" deal), I would be glad to help you choose a good one.

[SakeDad]

Thanks! It's for the 12 day on July 16 2006....I emailed Cunard tonight to ask which C5's are available. When I looked at the deck plans it did look like there was a HUGE difference in the C5's....some look very big and others looked standard. Any tips on which ones are better than others? I still have to find out if it's a guaranteed cabin or not, but i want to find out which cabins are open before I ask that.

[pnhmrk]

Just got an offer for QE2 C5 cabin for $1699.00 pp plus air

Thanks

 

I think that's a very good price - basing on what Cunard are charging in the UK - their brochure (and their website) are offering a fare of 3177.55 USD in the UK. As to the location of a cabin - I personally don't like cabins below deck 3. I'd rather have a cabin at one of the extremities of a higher deck. In rough weather you can feel more of the movement of the ship (I like that) but you also get nicer and more convenient access to your cabin.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Without actually shopping around to see what prices are for this cruise, I'd say that $1699 for 12 days in a C5 is a very good price indeed.

 

As for which C5 cabins are the best, I prefer the ones amidships on Four Deck. Pnhmrk has a point in that the ones on Two and Three Decks can be somewhat more convenient (especially the aft ones), however they are all either at the very bow or very stern of the ship which makes them less comfortable in heavy weather and also these tend to be smaller.

 

As for forward or aft cabins on Four Deck, these really have no point to them as if you are going to be on Four Deck you might as well at least be amidships.

 

Now, by "amidships on Four Deck" I mean the C5 cabins with numbers between 4141 and 4177. All these cabins are between 201 and 210 sq ft - the largest in the category except for a couple of very slightly larger cabins in poor locations - and personally I consider them quite well located. You are right near the E staircase which offers access to all decks (except Six and Seven Decks where the spa, gym, indoor pool and the hospital are located) and are amidships and low down which is great for bad weather. (In your case, you will more than likely encounter some heavy seas in the Bay of Biscay.)

 

As for specific cabins, first choice would be 4141 or 4142 if one of those is available. These are particularly nice as they have a sitting area with a sofa, but without the odd layout of 4143 and 4144 (see below).

 

I also like 4143 and 4144 a lot, personally they would be my second choices for C5 cabins. Some people like them even more than 4141/4142 because in these cabins the sitting area is "separate" from the sleeping, down a long corridor lined with closets. Others do not like this at all, because by dividing the cabin into two parts, some people find the result rather claustrophobic. Also, the porthole is in the sitting area which means you can't lie in bed and look out the porthole. So these two are rather controversial cabins though as I said, I like them a lot (I occupied 4143 this past January).

 

The other advantage of cabins 4141 through 4144 is that unlike the other midships four deck C5 cabins, they are not connecting cabins; this gives you slightly better sound insulation (though it is not great in any of these cabins).

 

The other C5s in this area, 4145 through 4177, are also very nice cabins. Their disadvantages are that they do not have a sofa (just armchairs), and they are connecting cabins. On the other hand, some people may still prefer them to 4143/4144 because like 4141/4142 they are one large, open cabin rather than a separate sitting and sleeping area and thus feel more spacious. So while they would be my third choice, many others would consider them as a second choice after 4141/4122.

 

Hope that helps. All this makes a lot more sense if you are looking at an original deck plan (not the current one, but one of the type used until the early '80s, which showed the exact layout and furniture positioning in each cabin) but without a scan of one easily accessible, the best I can do is try to describe the layouts to you.