QM2 Christmas Cruising live thread

Live from the Golden Lion, it's the QM2 Christmas Thread!

We arrived from our downtown Manhattan hotel at around 10:30 which was about 15 minutes before the start of checkin. Others have asked-the waiting area this early consists of the 50 or so seats in the front entryway just before the first passport and ticket check. We only had to stand and wait about 10 minutes before the checkin process began. Boarding started a bit later than I was expecting, at about 20 minutes before 1PM but two of our three checked bags were waiting in the hallway outside our stateroom when we arrived and the third showed up a couple of minutes later.

Enjoying a pre-lunch Old Speckled Hen in the Golden Lion. My first choice was a mojito but they're still loading the mint, I'm told.

Live from the Golden Lion, it's the QM2 Christmas Thread!

 

We arrived from our downtown Manhattan hotel at around 10:30 which was about 15 minutes before the start of checkin. Others have asked-the waiting area this early consists of the 50 or so seats in the front entryway just before the first passport and ticket check. We only had to stand and wait about 10 minutes before the checkin process began. Boarding started a bit later than I was expecting, at about 20 minutes before 1PM but two of our three checked bags were waiting in the hallway outside our stateroom when we arrived and the third showed up a couple of minutes later.

 

Enjoying a pre-lunch Old Speckled Hen in the Golden Lion. My first choice was a mojito but they're still loading the mint, I'm told.

Have a great time, don't forget to post the pictures of empty beer cans and bottles and the dishes of peanuts. :)

Hi Underwatr, This is the first time in 5 years that we won't be on for Christmas. So glad that you are going to be filling us in to what we will be missing.

Please give lots of details. Have a wonderful time, enjoy, and wash hands often. :D

Have a great time -- I am sure the ship looks beautiful. Would like to do the Christmas voyage some time -- but will have to bring my whole family and pay for for everyone! Best wishes for a wonderful journey.

No doubt you will have a wonderful trip. Any news on sailing times? Watching the webcam and she seems to be still docked. 11pm here in uk.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

She is delayed awaiting late passengers

Have a wonderful cruise. Happy holidays!

Wish the OP would give us a clue but maybe it is dinner time?

Have a wonderful time and post often so we can live vicariously through you while we endure the frozen north!

Wish the OP would give us a clue but maybe it is dinner time?

I am on board the QM2 now. Just finished dinner at the early seating a few minutes ago. The captain did announce that we were delayed waiting for late arriving passengers.

Regards,

John.

I am on board the QM2 now. Just finished dinner at the early seating a few minutes ago. The captain did announce that we were delayed waiting for late arriving passengers.

 

Regards,

John.

Hey bluemarble! Oh, I'm happy to read that the ship waited for passengers - air flights have been scrambled due to severe weather in most of North America.

Wishing you a very merry voyage and a happy 2014!

Regards,

Salacia

P.S. Have you planned where you'll be on New Year's Eve?

Hi Underwatr, This is the first time in 5 years that we won't be on for Christmas. So glad that you are going to be filling us in to what we will be missing.

 

Please give lots of details. Have a wonderful time, enjoy, and wash hands often. :D

;) Yes, and just to add: get as much fresh air as possible, Underwatr :)

Have a wonderful time.

Keith

Hey bluemarble! Oh, I'm happy to read that the ship waited for passengers - air flights have been scrambled due to severe weather in most of North America.

 

Wishing you a very merry voyage and a happy 2014!

 

 

Regards,

Salacia

 

P.S. Have you planned where you'll be on New Year's Eve?

Thanks, Salacia.

Happy holidays to you too and to everyone who has contributed to making this Cunard forum such a vibrant and helpful community.

We had a good turnout at our meet and mingle in the Commodore club this afternoon. It was a pleasure to meet many of those from the roll call and in particular, Underwatr who started this thread.

This is our first Christmas/New Year voyage on the QM2. The ship is beautifully decked out for the season and we have been led to believe that Santa will be making an appearance.

As far as plans for New Year's Eve, I think we will probably be ringing in the new year in the Queens Room.

All the best,

John.

Thanks, Salacia.

 

 

 

As far as plans for New Year's Eve, I think we will probably be ringing in the new year in the Queens Room.

 

All the best,

John.

John.....plan on getting there very early if you want a seat. I don't know exactly how early because we've not made it in time so we always ended up in the atrium.....very lively at midnight. ;)

Random thoughts and observations:

The ship departed about 10 minutes before 7 Sunday night.

Our room is on deck 5, port side, aft of Stairway D. There's no vibration here but we can hear a low drone - sort of a combination between a vuvuzela and a ship's horn - constantly. It not at all enough to be annoying but it's constant. Its slightly louder when I open the balcony door. Interesting - I'll have to investigate further up on 7 to see if I can hear it up there.

Normally we've been more forward on the ship; I think generally we end up between A and B stairway. This changes some of our evening rituals - rather than a pre-dinner passagiato of sorts along Deck 2 or 3 en route to dinner we sneak down to our table via D lift and the Britannia club entrance. Maybe we'll get more exercise en route to and from the theatre and Commodore club... On the plus side it's about 30 feet to the laundrette.

The Captain currently is Commodore Rynd. Paul O'Laughlin is cruise director.

My wife has plotted out her agenda for the cruise - bridge lessons in the morning (to which I've also been conscripted) and watercolor in the afternoons.

The first night's entertainment was Brett Sherwood, a professional magician of some talent. I have no idea where the bottle of Veuve Clicquot materialized from. I wonder if he can do this on request. Last night was a man by the name of Gary Lovini. The Daily Programme made no mention of what his talent was, aside from mentioning that he has "performed all over the world and that his spectacular performances and overall showmanship endears him to people of all ages and tastes." Turns out he's a violinist, who won a British talent competition program back in the 1980s. He admitted to the audience that he asked Paul O'Laughlin not to disclose that his act was violin music so as not to scare people away. I went. I stayed. I almost stayed awake.

PS: I met Bluemarble and a few other CC'ers in the Commodore Club yesterday. about 10 of us in all...

I met a very nice couple in Churchills in Sept.....they were on to teach watercolor.....very talented. If it's the same couple, you are in for a treat.

It is Tuesday, December 24.

More random observations:

The board games have been placed back out in the Deck 2 corridor – perhaps we've avoided the gastro problems this year. They never did go to full service in Kings Court, instead allowing passengers to serve themselves from the buffet lines from embarkation day.

The weather sunny and is fairly pleasant, with temperatures in the low 70s. But we’re sailing into a southerly breeze making it fairly windy out on deck. The noon navigation report predicted rain tonight and into tomorrow with clearing tomorrow afternoon.

I did a bit of exploring this morning to try to locate the source of the vuvuzela noise. Out on deck 7 port side, about as far back as the Princess grill dining room, there are some engine air intakes. I can hear the same low drone in the area of these intakes that I can hear in the room.

I was trying to take some photos of the Christmas decorations around the ship and for some reason my wife’s compact camera has gone belly up. At first it wouldn't focus and now the lens retracts as soon as it extends, all the while the camera makes complaining sorts of buzzing noises while trying to perform its power up checks. Maybe I can find a small inexpensive camera in St. Thomas. I still have my DSLR but it’s convenient to have a small camera in one’s pocket in case a photo-op presents itself. My Android phone doesn't take very good photos in tricky light so it’s not a good alternative at present.

Has anyone ever stayed awake during an Illuminations planetarium show? Laurence Fishburne’s voice can be very relaxing to listen to…

I checked my onboard bill this morning to confirm that all of my onboard credit had been applied. It would be convenient if Cunard were to publish email addresses for submitting Shareholder and military OBC documentation, and also if they would provide some sort of confirmation of having received and processed my documentation. I had relied on an online faxing service (upload your documents and they fax them to the destination and later provide email confirmation that the fax has been delivered) and hearing nothing prior to embarkation can make one nervous. The good news is that all our credit appeared as expected and as of this morning we still were running a small credit balance (it won’t last).

Really enjoying your report. Good to hear your OBC was applied for your shares. Carnival make it easy for us Aussies to apply for shareholder privileges. There is an email address on the personaliser landing page explaining how to apply for it, and you actually receive a confirmation that all is in order.

Enjoy Christmas Day onboard!

I am enjoying reading your "Live" report. I don't think cameras ever break except when on vacation. I have had two die that way!:eek:

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and happy holidays!

I stayed awake in the planetarium, my husband was out in 20 seconds. :)

I stayed awake in the planetarium, my husband was out in 20 seconds. :)

You didn't slug him, did ya? :D

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I’ll capture some photos of the decorations onboard and post them when I have a better Internet connection.

Some random thoughts and observations:

The little dishes of salty snacks appeared in the lounges shortly after the board games.

Before dinner I visited Petra and YoYo in the sales office about a booking for next year’s Caribbean cruise. The base fare was nothing to write home about but it included prepaid gratuities and a king’s ransom in onboard credit (I might need to plan ahead to spend that much). Plus I was able to reserve a sheltered balcony on deck 5 between A and B lifts as is our normal custom. It roughly works out to the same final cost as we paid for this year’s sailing, and maybe something good will happen with the fare in the meantime.

When we returned to our stateroom after dinner last night, on the bed was a greeting card signed by the Commodore and several senior officers, and this year’s gift which is a Wedgewood china coffee cup with a “Season’s Greetings” applique in gold. The pattern on the cups is similar to the style of the artwork on the greeting card.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

 

I’ll capture some photos of the decorations onboard and post them when I have a better Internet connection.

 

Some random thoughts and observations:

 

The little dishes of salty snacks appeared in the lounges shortly after the board games.

 

Before dinner I visited Petra and YoYo in the sales office about a booking for next year’s Caribbean cruise. The base fare was nothing to write home about but it included prepaid gratuities and a king’s ransom in onboard credit (I might need to plan ahead to spend that much). Plus I was able to reserve a sheltered balcony on deck 5 between A and B lifts as is our normal custom. It roughly works out to the same final cost as we paid for this year’s sailing, and maybe something good will happen with the fare in the meantime.

 

When we returned to our stateroom after dinner last night, on the bed was a greeting card signed by the Commodore and several senior officers, and this year’s gift which is a Wedgewood china coffee cup with a “Season’s Greetings” applique in gold. The pattern on the cups is similar to the style of the artwork on the greeting card.

Merry Christmas to you, and all reading the thread :)

Thanks for the update - the gift sounds lovely, I hope they do something similar next year. It's always nice to get something useful, although I may never use it and it may end up with my collection of Cunard memorabilia. Did they do something else special for Christmas Eve? Did they have Carol singers?

I am looking forward to meeting you on next years voyage. Yoyo didn't give us such a good deal, but I will just be happy to get a few days away from the frozen north next year!