Holiday review - QM2 from New York to Southampton

[Boris+]

Hi Alan,

I am so sorry to read about your trip and all the things which were perhaps not quite as you may have wished. However, it was most certainly an experience from the sound of it, and if nothing else, despite the bathroom situation, I bet you're glad to be home.

[melsea]

Wow Shiney I'm exhausted. Sounds all fabulous.
We will be sailing on QM2 to NY in December and only having one day in NY then we do a xmas/new year cruise on NCL for 10 day sail back to NY for one day again then sail back to Southampton on QM2.
2 questions for you. 1. Did you book the 9/11 memorial park or can you just turn up? 2, does the subway do day travel tickets or do you have to do single journeys only?
We have been to NY before when we visited on Aurora in 2013 when we were there on the 10 & 11 Sept so we couldn't visit the 9/11 memorial, it was a very emotional anniversary as it was the first time Aurora had been back there on the actual anniversary as it was the ship that was there at the time, well actually it was being used for a conference up state and when the attacks happened the ship was used to take many brits who were stranded there as there were no flights. It was also an emotional journey for the Captain Neil Turnbull as he was the Captain on board at the time.
Thank you for your report.
Melsea

[Raybosailor]

Great review Alan, this is practically a carbon copy of what I would like to do and you have really whetted my appetite for doing it next year.
You said that you used Virgin Atlantic for the flight out to JFK the week prior to the cruise back, was this arranged by Cunard as part of the cruise and flight package or did you book it separately ?.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I can't answer the Virgin question directly, but I'm sure Shiney will. But in our case (cruise out, fly back to Manchester) the standard flight would have been United, but because we pushed the date back and more importantly wanted to upgrade to Premium Economy (my legs are long so I suffer on long flights without extra legroom) we were transferred to BA (via Heathrow but I decided the change there was worth the extra comfort).

[Silver_Shiney]

Wow Shiney I'm exhausted. Sounds all fabulous.
We will be sailing on QM2 to NY in December and only having one day in NY then we do a xmas/new year cruise on NCL for 10 day sail back to NY for one day again then sail back to Southampton on QM2.
2 questions for you. 1. Did you book the 9/11 memorial park or can you just turn up? 2, does the subway do day travel tickets or do you have to do single journeys only?
We have been to NY before when we visited on Aurora in 2013 when we were there on the 10 & 11 Sept so we couldn't visit the 9/11 memorial, it was a very emotional anniversary as it was the first time Aurora had been back there on the actual anniversary as it was the ship that was there at the time, well actually it was being used for a conference up state and when the attacks happened the ship was used to take many brits who were stranded there as there were no flights. It was also an emotional journey for the Captain Neil Turnbull as he was the Captain on board at the time.
Thank you for your report.
Melsea

Hi Mel

Trust me, it was fabulous - I reckon it was our best holiday ever.

In answer to your questions: You can just turn up at the Memorial Centre, bookings are not required unless you want a guided tour. We just did our own thing going round, and gained admission via the New York Pass, so can't advise on the "direct" cost of admission or the guided tour. The New York Pass is available for one day, so it might be worth considering if you have time to get in at least one more attraction. I'm pretty sure I didn't see an option for a one-day travelcard on the ticket machines in the subway, and I can't see anything on their website about it. The pay-per-ride card might be your best option.

You buy your ticket from a machine in the subway station, then swipe it through a card reader at the turnstile to get in, you don't need to swipe it again to get out. As I may have said in the report, you have to pay cash, the credit card option is only for residents who can enter their zip code.

It's about a mile or so walk to the nearest subway station, which could be either Carroll Street or Bergin Street. I would suggest getting the F line to Forest Hills, getting off at Jay Street/Metrotech, two or one stops up the line, and transferring to the R line to Forest Hills, getting off at Cortlandt Street, which is a short walk from the Memorial Centre. Some trains are modern and have a display in the carriages telling you what the next stops are, which is very useful when you are trying to find your feet in the system! Returning, you'd want the R to Bay Ridge, changing again at Jay Street/Metrotech and then the F to Coney Island.

[Silver_Shiney]

Great review Alan, this is practically a carbon copy of what I would like to do and you have really whetted my appetite for doing it next year.
You said that you used Virgin Atlantic for the flight out to JFK the week prior to the cruise back, was this arranged by Cunard as part of the cruise and flight package or did you book it separately ?.

Hi Ray

Thanks for that.

We asked Cunard to book us on our national airline or, failing that, BA We booked 18 months ahead of the journey but they couldn't change the flights from "arrive the morning of sailing" to "arrive a week earlier" until 12 months before departure, and it cost (I think) about £50 to make the change. We then had an email to say the flight was booked with Virgin's partner, Delta, and were given a Delta flight number, and we should go to their website to manage the booking. Having gone there, they said that that flight was being operated by their partners, Virgin, and to go to their website!! When the time came to check in, I found that the booking reference given by Cunard and Delta were all rejected and, getting into a bit of a panic, phoned Virgin, who patiently and kindly went through the back door to find the booking and give me the proper booking reference for that flight. Once I had that, it was a doddle to manage the flight online. You can choose your seats whenever you want but if you do it more than a couple of days before departure, you will pay dearly for the privilege. If you choose the seats during the online check-in process, you don't pay a penny, and it's dead easy to change the allocated seats to ones that suit you better. For all the talk about partnerships with Delta, and the flight having both a Virgin and a Delta number, it was actually a Virgin aircraft we flew on.

Any more questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

[gfwgfw]

Great interesting review, made my day

Thank you Alan

Graham

[Gill W]

Thanks for your review, it sounded like an excellent trip.

We did a city break in New York about 20 years ago, for 4 nights, and loved it. My favourite thing was Ellis Island. The building was so atmospheric - all if you could feel the hopes and dreams of all those that passed though.

Will also never forget seeing New York from the outside viewing gallery of the World Trade Centre.

[oldbluefox]

Thanks for your review Alan which made interesting reading. I only wish I had read the review before watching the video, then I would have known what was what. That's what comes of reading the back page of the newspaper first every time.

[Silver_Shiney]

Incidentally, I heard a while back that there's an image of Homer Simpson on one of the bronze(?) relief panels on Deck 3. I spent ages looking for it but, yes, it's there. However I am not at Liberty to say where...

[Solent Richard]

Wow. I was interested in your 'High Line Walk' guided tour.

We did it while on a one day stopover on QM2, taking the subway from carroll Street in Brooklyn...

http://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/201 ... line-walk/

I was interested to read on another forum that some folk had taken my advice on this route and, on a separate day, had visited the John Lennon "Imagine' memorial whereas we covered it in one day.

Glad you enjoyed your time and thanks for all the nitty gritty on one of my favourite ships.

I'm looking forward to a short cruise on her next July to Hamburg and will report on the refit.