A Guarantee Cabin or not, whats the choice?

Over the last few months there have been a large number of 'Getaway deals' or 'Guarantee' deals on the various cruise lines, so I am not sure recently how many times I have had the conversations about guaranteed cabins, but thought that this would be good to share.

So let’s start, what is a guaranteed cabin, well it means you will get at least a cabin of the category you book on but at the time of booking we do not know exactly which cabin it will be. Each cruise line has different descriptions, but if you book a guaranteed inside you will get at least an inside, a guaranteed suite means you will get a suite etc. 

 

You will certainly be advised before you sail of your assigned cabin, however if you don't like the position there is little or no chance that the cruise line will change the assigned cabin.

Simples, so far! But is it like a game of poker and can you improve the odds?

How many D8 inside cabins are there on Cunard ships, how many A7 cabins are there on QE and QV or how many BF cabins are there on some Princess ships? Can you find a Category W, X, Y or Z cabin on a deck plan for Royal? Well, the answer is not many and no respectively.

These are the ones that are generally sold on a guarantee basis; don't know why, probably so the lead price advertised by the cruise line is low and increases the 'popularity' of the sailing.

So choosing one of these or other guaranteed cabins may increase your odds of getting an upgrade, you might get a Royal Flush! or you might just have to stick. If you want to win it you have got to be in it! But beware, some of the balcony cabins in the categories on which the guarantees are sold may have a metal front or even an obstructed view.

Bit of anecdotal evidence, booked one of my regular customers last Sunday, I will call him Mr WXYZ. onto Queen Victoria, he does book late and look for the good cabin at the right price and we had a long discussion about what to do, he took a guaranteed Balcony cabin (A7). I have just had the upgrade notice and he has got an A1 balcony in an excellent midships position, what a result!

I have seen others, and not just from Cunard or Princess but don't forget someone will get the obstructed view cabin or the one right at the front and you can't complain if its you, the rub of the 'cheap' deal there!

Now there has been a lot of press about P&O and Cunard's new Vantage fares and also the re-categorisation of the cabins, so not sure what will happen next year. But if they do do Getaway fares on a guarantee the same principles will apply.

 

This approach is really no good if you want a specific cabin, want to be on Port or midships etc. but if you have no preference then is it worth your gamble? If it was me, I'd probably give it a go the more the bargain the better.

24 hour travel fantasy

The other weekend when we were having great weather, well nothing but rain, my wife and I were reading one of the weekend papers and saw an article were a celebrity discussed their 24 hour Travel fantasy, with no travel restrictions.

So for about an hour we discussed ours, they were different, so I thought I'd share mine.


So I'd start my day by waking up on Cunard's Queen Victoria, for breakfast on the balcony (starboard side) while the ship winds its way into Venice, so you get a perfect view of St Marks Square first thing in the morning.

Then onto Anthony's Key Resort, Honduras. This is a great place for a Dolphin encounter, for me it does not look like the Dolphins are in captivity, although they are. Once you have swam with the Dolphins, then off to the beach for a rest!

Time for lunch, so off to Central Park New York for hot dog frrom one of the many stalls and sit and watch the softball games.

In the afternoon, off to San Francisco to ride the tram from Union Square to Fishermans Wharf. Irrespective of the views when you reach the top of the hill, I find the sound of the bell and rattle of the trams so soothing.

Pre-dinner drinks, off to St Kitts the bar in the middle of the cruise port does an excellent Rum Punch, the 'Drunken Monkey' will keep me going for a little while.

Time for an evening meal, back to Europe and Caffe Ciampini close to the Spanish Steps in Rome. It is all about the view and the feel of the city, nice food and a lovely glass of Red.

Nearly finished, just need to see the sun set and for me there is only 1 place for this. On the South side of the Grand Canyon on the  Rim Trail close to Grand Canyon Village. To quote our American cousins, awesome.

It has been a long day, not practical but to me a perfect day. No doubt as I visit other places this dream will change, but hey isnt that part of getting new experiences.

Let me know your dream day, and call me if you want me to add these into your next cruise.

A Miser-ables Cruise?

If you have read my blog before you know that although I love cruising with Cunard, the entertainment has not in my opinion been up to the standards that I would have expected. So here is a nice story about Cunard's entertainment.

In the last few days with it being Mothers day, my Wife and I have made the journey back to Lancashire to visit family and friends and while there we spent some time talking about things we like to do!

The subject eventually ended up on music, and specifically a group called Beyond the Barricade.

 

We  were introduced to them a couple of years ago, and went to see them at the local Theatre here in Redditch and had an awesome time,  I thought the show and songs were excellent and have been looking to go again.

Well, it transpires that they were the headline act on Cunard Queen Elizabeth for New years Eve in Madeira, their first appearance as an act on a cruise ship.

And since this, they are currently on Fred Olsen Black Watch and have dates lined up later this year to appear on Cunard again.

If I was on any ship while they were on board I would definitely not miss  that show, and if I knew far enough in advance when they were on a ship I would if I could make a booking just to see them........ next week I will have to head to the local Box Office to book my tickets for November.

Now, if this is the way that Cunard are going to go and take note of some of their past passengers comments then that is a great thing and will be a massive improvement to the quality of entertainment on board the 3 Queens!.

Restricted view, is it the same with each Cruise Line?

Having just got back from my cruise on Queen Victoria I was asked a question by a passenger about restricted view cabins and this made me think about any differences between the cruise lines.

 A restricted view cabin

I spoke about this when I came back from my ship visit to the Celebrity Eclipse in July, read my review here, so what is there a difference between Cunard and Celebrity in how the categorise restricted view cabins.

So on the Solstice Class ships with Celebrity, the 2D & 2C balcony cabins on Continental Deck (Deck 6) are sold with a restricted view, the system says about 30% restriction. As you can see from the picture, you are just over the lifeboats so your restriction is in your downwards view.

Celebrity Eclipse

Now on the QV, and also the QE , the A4 balcony cabins on deck 4 are sold as clear view, but if you look at the picture below of the QV, the A4's on Deck 4 are just above the lifeboats on the left of the picture.

Queen Victoria

Is this any different to the 2D & 2C's on the Eclipse? I don't think they are; yet the cruise lines have a different opinion as to what constitutes a restricted view.

If I did not know and took the A4 on Cunard I would be less than happy, especially as they cabins have a slight overhang! See the picture below.

A4 cabins deck 5

So the moral of the story is, always ask your cruise specialist because we can give you these bits of knowledge that others might not be able to.

My Cruise on Queen Victoria to the Greek Isles and Aegean Treasures - part 2 the Ship

I recently wrote about the itinerary in my last blog, please read, so I thought I'd now talk about the ship and experience on board.

I have been lucky enough to sail on Queen Mary 2 and saw Queen Elizabeth when she was launched in Southampton, so I was really looking forward to spending a pleasant cruise on QV.

My first view was that she is intrinsically the same ship as the Queen Elizabeth, far smaller than QM2 and more of a cruise ship than an Ocean liner but this does not comprise on space and I never felt as though she was full to overflowing even though she had been fully sold out.

The public spaces are well appointed and maintained, and throughout the cruise I did not find it difficult to find a seat in any of the bars, lounges or the nightclub, Hemispheres when I went to them. In fact the staff were scrambling to serve you to have something to do in the Golden Lion, great for a traditional pub lunch though, and with draft Guinness!

Grand Lobby

Golden Lion

Champagne Bar

Food and service on board was I thought excellent, I heard of people saying the service was not up to scratch, but it does depend on the waiter and I found that everything was at a standard that I was very happy with. In fact we had a bonus on the table front, Table 396 deck 2, right at the back with an excellent view through the windows, perfect.

There is speciality dining in Todd English, and they do an alternative dinning in the Lido and it is disappointing that since my last Cunard cruise they have started to charge a supplement for the alternative dining. However, they have just moved the 'Taste of India' from the Lido to the Todd English - charge has doubled for this from $10 to $20pp - but I have to say the food and service was excellent.

I don't usually take pictures of food, but this is the starter.

The cabisn are no different in size to those on Queen Elizabeth, but how much time do you really spend in the cabin. So for 12 nights it was just perfect, one day I will go for a Grills just to see how the other half live!

Overall, this was an excellent cruise. The itinerary was just perfect and went to the places we wanted, the weather which was in the late 20's everyday, except the rain in Dubrovnik, added to an excellent experience onboard - all in all the perfect atmosphere to book another cruise especially as we are now Gold Cunard World Club Members.

Rain in Dubrovnik, but it went in 20 minutes

But the offers on board this time were not as good as last year, my credit card bill last week was just £3 after the on board spend we had for the cruise, so I think I'm going to sit and wait and see what happens to the price of the Queen Elizabeth cruise we want to do.

As I say, its the overall cost when you get off that you have to look at.

My Cruise on Queen Victoria to the Greek Isles and Aegean Treasures - part 1 the itinerary

I thought that for this cruise I'd do my review of this Queen Victoria sailing in 2 parts, firstly the destinations and then the ship - partly because for me the decision to go was based on the itinerary, places I've always wanted to go to or been to and wanted to go back.

So, we started on 9th September in Rome not that you see anything just the hour drive from the airport to Civitavecchia and departed that evening for Naples.

Naples has a reputation, and I was a little concerned but we took a taxi to part of the Old Town and then walked along the narrow streets back to the ship. Now we Italy, so this was an excellent day but you do get to see some strange groups of people!

From Naples we headed after a day at sea to Santorini, 30 years ago I had a holiday booked for this beautiful island, but for 1 reason or another we could not go so we were really looking forward to this stop, and it did not disappoint.

The island of Santorini is the rim of an old volcano, and the ships anchor in the caldera and you are tendered to the port. There are 3 ways to the town, cable car, donkey or by foot, for me you need to take the cable car but watch for the queues, on the day we were there there were 6 cruise ships in and the queues were long and it was very hot so walking was a really bad choice!

From here we headed to Izmir for Ephesus, a historic ancient city although the day we visited I think everybody in Turkey was also there! At least I can say I've been to Asia, as this site is in the Asian side of Turkey.

Then for me one of the highlights, the sailing into Istanbul where we had an overnight stay, and it was great to get off ship in the evening and walk around the restaurants and some shops taking in the sounds and smells.

The picture below is taken from the balcony of the cabin and has the minaret's of the Blue Mosque and St Sophia's on the headland as well as Topkapi Palace.

Then there is the Grand Bazaar, don't forget your credit card! They say that there are 5 miles of passageways and thousands of stalls, I did not try to check but this is an amazing place.

After this stop in Istanbul, the ship sailed for Samos, Athens and Zakynthos- typically Greek with gorgeous weather in fact on 1 day the mid afternoon temperature was over 100 and the pool was a welcome cooling point.

From there we headed to Dubrovnik, a new place for us and one were looking forward to, especially as for a couple of years in was regularly in the news in the 1990's about the conflicts in the area.

It is a walled city and there was a courtesy coach from the ship to the town, this was the only day that the weather was inclement and we got caught in a storm on the wall, but found shelter and then a bar, well I have to get refreshments!

I have to say that we loved this port, and it is somewhere that I will go back to and may even do a land holiday here.

This was towards the end of the cruise and the last port of call was Venice, a city we visited about 6 years ago but only for a day. I had spent ages making sure we had a cabin on the correct side of the ship for the sail in especially as we had 2 full days in the port, however Cunard changed the itinerary and the sail into Venice was mid morning - I was not disappointed.

OK, if you stop on St Marks Square to get a drink or something to eat it is expensive a tea and coffee with the music was 30 Euros, but head off down the side streets and alleyways and you will stumble across so little cafes and bars which make a place like this.

After 12 nights we had to come home you can read my thoughts on the flights at A Tale of 2 Airlines, if I could have stowed away to do it again I would have done! This to me was one of the best itineraries that I have seen and I would happily do this trip again.

Part 2 about the ship will follow in due course.

Social history lessons on ship ......Cunard Heritage

As you can see from previous posts I have recently got back from 10 days on QM2, and throughout the ship there are various posters and displays about the history of both the ship and Cunard Line as well as displays showing the many 'famous' people who have used Cunard ships over the years.

The mosaic of Sir Samuel Cunard is made up of little images of many of the ships from the Cunard fleet, as you can see from the image across.

There is a long history and many ships have sailed under the Cunard name, but this week when reading the paper I read a story about the loss of life on the Lancastria in 1940 while she was acting as a troop ship.

She must be one of the ships in the mosaic, but not sure where so I thought I'd look for some background. What I did find was this Cunard Heritage site, great background about all the ships and history of the company.

Settling your onboard account

I have had a number of questions about this recently, and it has come more to the fore as in the last week there has been some press as Cunard have announced a change to the method of payments onboard from the Euro Med 2011 sailings.

So what can or can't be accepted?

Credit/Debit Cards:
Accepted - Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Diners Club. Visa Delta/Debit.

Not accepted - Solo, Maestro, Switch, Visa Electron or any Pre Paid Credit Cards.
                     - Travellers cheques or personal cheques.
Cash:
Guests will need to keep their account in credit at all times

However, are Cunard doing anything different to the other Cruise lines?

Well in reality not, most have the same requirements and not taking personal cheques or travellers cheques is the norm for the industry.

I am struggling to work out why they will not accept pre paid cards and why Fred Olsen charge a 2% surcharge for credit card payments, but I'm sure that there are good reasons for both of these.

So as long as you have a major credit card, a Visa debit or good old cash you will be able to settle your account. But why not try to find a cruise with good on board credit so you spend the cruise lines money first!

I think I am in love with a Queen!

Now don't get the wrong idea, I have just got back off an 11 night Queen Mary 2 cruise to The Land of The Midnight Sun, and I think I am hooked on the ship!

Having never been on a Cunard ship before it was with some trepidation that my wife and I travelled to Southampton on Monday 14th June to joining the QM2 sailing to The Land of the Midnight Sun.

The first sight of the ship in her berth was impressive, with the sleek lines and distinctive hull colours and after embarkation the interior decor and furnishings did not disappoint. The cabin was larger than expected, with a clear view from a window not a porthole, and the cabin steward, John, was efficient yet not intrusive.

The reason for going was both for the sights and also to experience the level of service that comes with the Cunard name. I have to be honest and say neither disappointed me. I have written a review on cruise.co.uk; and you can follow the link to read my comments and if you head to my facebook page then you will find some photos of the cruise, more to follow.

A Dubai fire sale?

With the problems in the financial markets over the last year or so, the fate of QE2 is still uncertain. The old lady is now one of a number of Dubai-owned assets which are being prepared for sale as part of there huge fund-raising exercise.

QE2 was purchased by Dubai World from Cunard three years ago for $100m, and they had plans to turn her into a luxury floating hotel, berthed at the man-made Palm Jumeirah island.

However, as property values have fallen and with the company having a significant debt burden, they have been unable to put their ambitious plans into action. To reduce the debt burden Dubai World’s advisers, led by Deloitte, are expected to present the asset sale proposal to its main creditors in the coming months.

QE2 is the world’s most loved ocean liner, many people have stories and memories of the ship. She spent 35 years as the Cunard flagship, travelled over 5.6 million nautical miles doing 25 World Cruises and cossing the Atlantic 803 times, acted as a trrop ship during the Falklands war and carried over 2.5 million guests.

What would you do with such an institution? Queen Mary is berthed in Long Beach as a tourist attraction/hotel. So I think that perhaps the QE2 should become the centrepeice of a Maritime Museum somewher in the UK.

See the link on cruises.co.uk

Queen Elizabeth takes to the sea

As we were all freezing yesterday in this heavy snow,  the Cunard Queen Elizabeth made her first movement onto water in the Italian Ship yard were she is being built.

In this time of recession, well the papers tell its still here the Cruising sector continues to increase capacity.
We will have to wait until October or so to see how she finally looks.

See this article in today's Daily Mail:  Queen Elizabeth 3 takes to the seas

Look forward to seeing this one as the year goes on.