Live from the 2015 QE World Voyage

babs, no need for such feelings!

 

Most men wear a tuxedo on formal nights - the same black tuxedo, some add a bit of color. They suffer no sense of inadequacy as result of having only packed one tuxedo. Women wearing a well tailored black gown is a classic response to the dress code.

 

But some women feel the need to pack more that one hundred dresses, several dozen of shoes- and that is certainly their very interesting choice. Why women feel the need to go to such extremes on an ocean voyage while accepting that men wear the same tuxedo is a curious topic.

 

Anyway, Babs, I don't think your wardrobe of twelve dresses is inadequate. And if anyone say otherwise, well

 

 

 

- Salacia

Thanks Salacia for easing my mind as well.

I was bringing one tux and one suit with several shirt and tie combinations. was thinking I was under prepared for my 16 night cruise but am happy now.:D

Thanks Salacia for easing my mind as well.

I was bringing one tux and one suit with several shirt and tie combinations. was thinking I was under prepared for my 16 night cruise but am happy now.:D

MicCanberra, Crikey mate, your sense of humour will more than carry the day. Anybody that has an issue with your attire (which they have no cause for doing so) just invite them for a fish slapping dance :) Cheers, -S.

MicCanberra, Crikey mate, your sense of humour will more than carry the day. Anybody that has an issue with your attire (which they have no cause for doing so) just invite them for a fish slapping dance :) Cheers, -S.

I just snorted. :o

I will need to speak to Chef and get the fish first.:D:D:D

I just snorted. :o

I will need to speak to Chef and get the fish first.:D:D:D

Ok but first fish goes to first class passengers (say that three times fast):)

Ok but first fish goes to first class passengers (say that three times fast):)

LOL,:D:D

Perhaps I can get a passed parrot instead then:p

LOL,:D:D

Perhaps I can get a passed parrot instead then:p

He's not passed...he's just resting!

A Norwegian Blue he is.

He's not passed...he's just resting!

Deceased, departed, no longer with us, an ex-parrot.:p:p

Deceased, departed, no longer with us, an ex-parrot.:p:p

No,no, something must be wrong...where's the argument? Is this is the place for an argument?

(For those not familiar with the reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y)

no,no, something must be wrong...where's the argument? Is this is the place for an argument?

 

(for those not familiar with the reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqfkti6gn9y)

lol, :d:d

I don't even possess 118 dresses :) And 40 plus pairs of shoes? Out of curiosity, where do you keep them at home?

Hi, I keep them in the wardrobes where else?

This is only my night time outfits I have the day stuff to wear on the cruise as well so maybe I have over 200 outfits. :) This is only a small portion of my main wardrobe at home. ;)

I have plenty of space as it happens to keep my clothes. .

I always take a different outfit for evening on a world cruise and as I have done a few worldies I take enough outfits for the evening, plus I dress up in theme on themed nights, so my wardrobe will include an Indian sari for instance, and a Japanese kimono.

I dress up for myself no one else, and I don't feel I have to do so as Salacia suggests. I do it as I love dressing up and that is why I cruise Cunard. I do it also because I can.:)

My husband also has many different evening outfits including a white tie suit, and a tux and evening suits and he has been known to wear his top hat and tail for the Ascot ball. He has many colourful ties and bow ties that he has hand made. So we both dress up so we have plenty of luggage. Usually 19 suitcases on a world cruise , but often many people have more than this so it not just me.

I used to store all our cruise clothes in Southampton as we do not live in the UK. We paid to have them stored each year. However, this year we had them relocated home by sea in a container.

On my last Cunard cruise a few weeks ago we had to pay excess baggage, but then again we always have to do so nowadays. We bite the bullet and pay up as we want to have our things with us on a cruise.

Coat hangers I take light weight ones with me. They never snag the clothes as I only have to get them from Southampton storage or my hotel to the ship. I usually buy some new thin cheap ones in Primark and I throw them away at the end of the cruise so I am not flying with them. I find removing the wooden ones frees up more hanging in your wardrobe.

The steward will always bring more wooden ones if you need them or wire ones if you don't want bulky wooden ones. They replace them all back when you leave. In fact they usually remove the wire ones and replace the wooden ones on the final night as they do the bed turn down.

I love to dress up and it is for me what cruising is all about. I go back a long way with my cruising experiences and I have some very old style ways that I still prefer. Dressing for dinner is one of them.

I don't care what other people think, if I want to dress OTT each night. I would rather see someone well dressed and obeying the dress code then some one who isn't. Have a good cruise. :)

No,no, something must be wrong...where's the argument? Is this is the place for an argument?

 

(For those not familiar with the reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y)

Thank you Salacia. Loved it! I heard a bit of this on the radio last week and did not know the reference.

I don't even possess 118 dresses :) And 40 plus pairs of shoes? Out of curiosity, where do you keep them at home?

My wife and I did the world cruise on Q.E.2. in 2007, and one couple travelled with their son and daughter in law with 103 cases, I spoke to their steward and he said they travel each year like that and they have a grill suite.

Hi again everyone...sorry I had run out of internet minutes until the next segment, which was SFO.

Louise, I had read a lot of threads about the hangers prior to the cruise so when I got here, I removed the rack and the hangers that they provide because they are so bulky. Then I asked the steward for wire hangers and he brought them...no problem.

Friday, 6 Feb

Slept pretty deep last night which meant I rolled over to see the time on the

clock showing 6:10am. I felt like pancakes this morning, but it was still a

bit early for them yet, so had to settle for other things. After we ate, I

was feeling a bit nostalgic about life and for the next hour or so, talked

about things I remembered from growing up. My DH listened attentively, as I

retold stories I had heard from my parents, aunts and uncles and grandparents. It was so nice that Cunard inspired this nostalgia and even though my early days never had much to do with cruising, it was all those years that got both me and DH to this exact point in time....on Cunard. Hmmm....nice to enjoy thinking of how life works, isn't it?

Well, today is Waitangi Day, according to the DP and as we visited Waitangi

last year on QM2, we know that this day is special to our friends in NZ. There

will be an informal get together at 3pm in the Commodore Club to help NZ

celebrate. So Happy Waitangi Day!

Not sure what I will do today, so will walk around until something inspires me.

I have finished 5 books and have a new one to start, but the last 4 were in

a series and this new one is completely different, so not sure if I am ready

to begin this on yet.

An interesting note in the DP is about the dry cleaning service. Summarizing,

it says that they will no longer accept delicate items such as silk and sequined

items for dry cleaning on board. In key ports, they will arrange for the dry

cleaning of those delicates to be done ashore. You will be charged the ship's

rates and it will be charged to your onboard account. There must have been an accident with regards to the above. I noticed that there seems to be a lot of women, including myself, wearing sequins this time around, so maybe too many sequins cause problems.

I was wandering around trying to decide what to do when I ran across the sales tables set up around the shops. Watches 50% off, clothes clearance sales, and the per inch jewellery sale. Then I ran into some CC friends, David and Lin. We spent a moment catching up and discussing the weather repercussions in SFO tomorrow. Have to search for the rain ponchos I brought, but have not found or needed as of yet. (Thanks Karen for the weather heads up). Then headed to the Cafe Carinthia for a bit of reading. Movement is noticeable, to me, today so in order to be pre-emptive, I will take Avomine tonight...don't want to repeat my previous incapacity. I would like to thank the Captain for his current speed of 11 knots in these waves, because I think if he was going faster I would be laid out across my bed. The current conditions, at this moment, are temp of 17C, humidity 79%, winds 15 knots, and 1.5 meter waves but it sure feels like the waves are more than that. Also, glad we purchased Ginger Ale in FLL as it helps with the nausea.

Bingo was being held twice today, once this morning at 11:15 and the Snowball game (big prize guaranteed to be won) at 5:00. I went to the Casino desk and purchased a Jumbo Pack for $30 early for the early game only. There are a total of 4 games for that price and I still think they need to reduce it because $5 a game is a bit steep. I put aside that thinking though for a bit because I actually won the 3rd game with the prize of $40!! So that was a profit of $10 so I am happy! :)) Thanks David and Lin for wishing me Good Luck...I am sure that was what did it! ;)

Since I was in the Golden Lion Pub, I had a hankering for their delicious Fish

and Chips! Gosh, if all the fish tasted this good I would eat it everyday! DH

filled me on his busy day which consisted of exercising in the gym, and two

hours of ping pong (sorry, they call it table tennis here). Whew, glad someone

is getting their fill of physical activity! Mine consists of walking the length

of this ship several times a day and with the movement I feel, that is extra

work as I try not to kill innocent bystanders as they pass me. LOL.

Sat around and read in various places the rest of the day. Had dinner in the Lido which was pretty good. Walked around the aft pool area to get a breath

of sea air and then went to bed.

Saturday, 7 Feb

Up extra early today at 4:30. Got ready and went to grab our breakfast and it

was good that the opened around 5:15. We got finished , came back to the cabin and got our backpack ready to go. It did not feel too cold, but we took our jackets anyway. The forecast was 17C with a chance of rain. We were told to take our passports with us today as well. In December we booked the Alcatraz Early Bird Tour online and boy we are glad we did (Online $30pp and Cunard's Alcatraz and Sausalito Tour was $96)! The ship was ready for us to get off at 7:30 and we were in line at Dec 1 Stairway B when they opened for us to leave. We departed Pier 35, turned left and went to Pier 33 to the Alcatraz Pier..took about 10 minutes. We were early so I took some pictures, browsed the cafe/gift shop, and watched the tour leaders take an early ferry to prepare for the day. We were the first group over to Alcatraz and it was good to be able to see things before the hordes arrive. We went straight to the top, to the Main Prison to take the audio tour. It was really interesting and I really recommended it! After that we went to the hospital which was not part of the audio tour and that was strange to see. You could almost imagine the goings on here. Next we went to the gift shop and made a small purchase to commemorate our trip here. Then we wandered around a few of the other areas around the island and then headed back down to the ferry for the return

journey. I guess we were there about 2 hours, although it felt like much

longer. Whew, our legs are yelling at us already! You can get some great

shots of the ship and San Francisco from Alcatraz and while you are on the

ferry.

We got back to the ship and headed straight for the cabin so we could shed

our coats, long pants, and heavier shirts. Since the sun keeps coming and

going, and the temp is feeling warmer, we opted to change into 3/4 pants and

short sleeved shirts. We did take our jackets just in case, which was good

because it kept drizzling off and on throughout the day. Next we practically

ran to the Lido for nourishment and fluids! While we ate I had to plug in the

camera to be recharged for the next outing.

Meal finished, clothes changed, water bottle refilled and we were ready to go

again...well our legs really protested, but we gave them a pep talk. This time

we decided we'd walk out Pier 35, turn left again, but walked all the way down

to the Ferry Building. This was at the Embarcadero and Market Street. Some

interesting things to see along the way and got some nice shots of the Coit

Building and the Transamerica Pyramid Building. Also, saw some steamship boats that take you into the harbour for dinner and they were so pretty. Once we got to Market Street, we walked all the way to Westfield Shopping Center. It sure seemed so much further than a couple of inches on the map. The mall was nice and had lots of high end stores, which included a 3-4 floor Nordstroms. Then we wanted to see Macy's. So many sales people! Looked like they could have had a salesperson for every 5 shoppers.....unbelievable! Then we decided to try and head back to the ship. DH came up with an idea...cut across a different street and cut the time. We ended up, unknowingly at first, walking right through the center of Chinatown. It was so colorful and so pretty. Some nice architecture there too. Lots of shops as well and of course we had to get some San Francisco souvenirs, made in China....lol. After, all the walking we finally made it back to the ship! We had walked at least 7-8 miles today all totalled! Feet, legs, knees, hips....you name and it hurts. I am sure after a little rest, food, and drinks we will be trying to figure out what to do next.

Well, we just decided to sit on our balcony and watch SFO on a Saturday night

with a nice glass of wine. Got to see the Star Princess sailaway with lots

of excited people waving to us as she passed. It is getting a bit colder so

we went inside. The next thing I knew was it was 3am! Must have needed the

rest!

Sunday, 8 Feb

Well, after waking at 3am, I just closed my eyes for a little longer and wanting

to be lazy. Started hearing the stewards up and at it trying to prepare some

cabins for the next embarking group of passengers. Time to get ready for the

day and of course get something to eat! (I know...it has been over 12 hours

since we ate..must be a record on the ship).:)) For the first time on this

cruise, we ate in the Britannia Dining room for breakfast. Not too many people

here, but most seemed to be disembarking today. It was good to see the lower

dining room. We were at a table for 2 right next to the Captain's table..probably

the closest we will get. It is cold and raining outside now at 9am. Our plan

for today is Fisherman's Wharf area.

We waited for a little while for the rain to let up and we were rewarded. At

around 11:00 it let it and we headed out for the day. The temperature was

just right today too.

Fisherman's Wharf, or Pier 39 is as it is also known, is a great place, full

of colorful shops, lots of restaurants, interesting little places sprinkled

throughout approximately 8 block area. The seagulls here are of a huge size

and I never tire of taking pictures of them because they seem so animated

and are like people. Everyone we passed was so friendly too. It did rain

on and off throughout the day, but because Fisherman's Wharf (Pier 39)

has so many covered areas, we were able to duck for cover when we needed to.

A diamond in the rough we found today was an old fashioned arcade..I think it

was called the Mechanical Museum or something to that effect. They had old

fortune telling animatrons, antique arcade games, skee ball games, and sooo

much more! The games and things were 25 and 50 cents mostly and we spent

hours here (over two stops)...it was so much fun! We wanted to eat off the

ship today and looked at so many but finally decided on a place called Lou's.

We had a delicious cheeseburger with fries. We weren't daring enough

to try the Dungeness Crabs, but wish we had at least tried it. They were

everywhere.

The new passenger drill was at 4:30 this afternoon and shortly after the

Captain came on with his Welcome Aboard speech. Welcome to everyone who

joined today!

Tonight is an informal night and we are at a new table for 2, thanks to the

maitre'd for arranging it! We're not too hungry but want to go see how

everything goes tonight and see if we see the new passengers. I love to

see how excited they are. All aboard was not until 7:30 and that explains

why the restaurant was still a bit empty. We love our new table.

Now back to the cabin and ready to rest and watch a little TV. The Captain

just informed us that we have everyone onboard and will sail shortly. He

also said that there is a depression between here and Hawaii so we will

start to feel a bit of movement tonight...quick let me get the Avomine. LOL.

Nighty night all.

John, loved reading your blog about LA. It sounds like it was a good day. The next time we will know to go to LA and not stay around Long Beach.

Looking forward to meeting everyone at today's M&G. Movement is a bit

noticeable this morning so hopefully it will smooth out a bit. The sun is

bright and shining so that is a plus.

Barbara - thanks for the update on your very interesting voyage.

Sorry to read about the change in dry cleaning - I always thought they did a really good job on board with my silk & sequined items. Looking forward to reviews on how the new system works out.

Hope the sea calms down for you. Regards, Salacia

Barbara and John.

Thanks for your updates! I look forward to reading them!

Hope you had a great meet and greet today.

I'm sending "smooth sailing" thoughts your way, Barbara.

Kathi

Hi, I keep them in the wardrobes where else?

This is only my night time outfits I have the day stuff to wear on the cruise as well so maybe I have over 200 outfits. :) This is only a small portion of my main wardrobe at home. ;)

I have plenty of space as it happens to keep my clothes. .

I always take a different outfit for evening on a world cruise and as I have done a few worldies I take enough outfits for the evening, plus I dress up in theme on themed nights, so my wardrobe will include an Indian sari for instance, and a Japanese kimono.

I dress up for myself no one else, and I don't feel I have to do so as Salacia suggests. I do it as I love dressing up and that is why I cruise Cunard. I do it also because I can.:)

My husband also has many different evening outfits including a white tie suit, and a tux and evening suits and he has been known to wear his top hat and tail for the Ascot ball. He has many colourful ties and bow ties that he has hand made. So we both dress up so we have plenty of luggage. Usually 19 suitcases on a world cruise , but often many people have more than this so it not just me.

I used to store all our cruise clothes in Southampton as we do not live in the UK. We paid to have them stored each year. However, this year we had them relocated home by sea in a container.

On my last Cunard cruise a few weeks ago we had to pay excess baggage, but then again we always have to do so nowadays. We bite the bullet and pay up as we want to have our things with us on a cruise.

Coat hangers I take light weight ones with me. They never snag the clothes as I only have to get them from Southampton storage or my hotel to the ship. I usually buy some new thin cheap ones in Primark and I throw them away at the end of the cruise so I am not flying with them. I find removing the wooden ones frees up more hanging in your wardrobe.

The steward will always bring more wooden ones if you need them or wire ones if you don't want bulky wooden ones. They replace them all back when you leave. In fact they usually remove the wire ones and replace the wooden ones on the final night as they do the bed turn down.

I love to dress up and it is for me what cruising is all about. I go back a long way with my cruising experiences and I have some very old style ways that I still prefer. Dressing for dinner is one of them.

I don't care what other people think, if I want to dress OTT each night. I would rather see someone well dressed and obeying the dress code then some one who isn't. Have a good cruise. :)

I have seen many photo's of Maggiemou dressed in her gorgeous outfits included in her world cruise blogs on another cruise site and she always looks amazing.

Susan

Barbara thanks for your updates of San Fran. Made me feel I was there with you. Keep up the good work. Smooth sailing Enjoy Hawaii. I love it there. :)

I have seen many photo's of Maggiemou dressed in her gorgeous outfits included in her world cruise blogs on another cruise site and she always looks amazing.

 

Susan

Thank you Susan, One can but try. ;)

I posted so many for that forum and it got to the stage I had to keep going as people were waiting for the next lot of photos and updates. Not always an easy task when you are at sea for days.

Thanks for your comments.

Here I am in Hawaii. last year on the QE world cruise.

https://www.cruise.co.uk/forum/109-cruise-news/40125-maggiemou-s-adventures-hang-loose-hawaii.html?highlight=hang+loose+hawaii

Thanks for the updates Barbara, wishing smooth seas for you.

Hi Jeanne,

 

Unfortunately, it's hard living at the other end of the world. Less cruising options :(

 

I almost booked the QM2 Christmas for this year (would be good to see familiar faces) but opted for QE instead. Something new - NYE in Madiera looked great!

 

Might do QM2 in Dec 2016 - so our paths may cross again.

Ben,

It will be almost another year before a Roll Call for 2016 will get started, but I will watch for you. In the meantime, pop by the current one anytime so we don't take up space on this thread. Everyone is doing a great job reporting live.

Jeanne

We arrived San Francisco on Saturday morning and the weather seemed kind with temperatures around 15C, but thick fog. We did not venture onto the upper decks at 5am to view the Golden Gate bridge, as we were not impressed the first time we passed under it, so that looked like a good decision. The illuminated Oakland bay Bridges always looked better to us, and there were well illuminated this year. We were berthed at pier 35 around 7am.

As the fog gradually burnt off we were presented with a good view of the Star Princess moored at the newly opened San Francisco Cruise Terminal at pier 27 and then the cityscape of the city was gradually unwrapped.

After a late breakfast we headed off the ship just after 10am and headed to Walgreens on Jones Street to purchase a 3 day transit pass. This allows 3 days travel on all transport except the BART for $26 and is convenient if a lot of cable car journeys are taken, which normally cost $6 per trip.

We then headed to view the historic ships at the Hyde Street Historic pier, which included two vessels from the UK one of which had been built in South Shields. The maritime museum next door seemed to be closed so we queued in line at the Powell Hyde cable car to take the trip to Union Square and passed the famous Lombard street – ‘The Crookedest Street in the world’.

On arrival at Union Square we decided it was coffee time so sat at an outside café and ordered a couple of coffees just as it started to rain. Quickly dispatching the drinks we headed into Macy’s. Here we spotted the signs for the post office, and purchased some stamps for the obligatory post cards home. As it was still raining we decided this was as good a place as any to have lunch, so shared an Asian fusion box meal.

The rain had mostly stopped when we left, so took the tram back to Fisherman’s wharf, where our mission was to find the local Safeway store which Maggiemou had mentioned in the Cruise Critic Forum. We had looked for it on our way from the ship, and in fact had walked right past it without realising it was there. It is in fact situated in the North Point Centre, a red brick building, but we did not spot any visible signs for either the Safeway store or Walgreens Store when walking up Powell Street. As you may now have guessed we found it and stocked up with necessary supplies, before returning to the ship.

We had intended eating out this night, but were too tired on our return to contemplate leaving the ship again, so ate on board ship and missed the entertainment provided by the MacDonald brothers, who we had seen several times before.

No fog on Sunday morning, but it was raining as forecast, so after a light breakfast we headed off the ship to be confronted by a heavy downpour. We therefore remained inside the building until there were signs it was easing to a light drizzle and ten headed across the road to the tramcar stop opposite, and took one of the historic tramcars to the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building at the bottom of Market Street. After looking around the market we decided to leave but it was raining again. We waited a short while and then when it eased set off for Fisherman’s Wharf on another tramcar.

The rain had stopped again by the time we arrived there so walked up and down Jefferson Street looking at the various shops. By now there were signs of a blue sky and the odd intermittent shower, but the weather continued to improve. We took lunch at the famous Boudin Sourdough Bakery, sharing their famous clam chowder in a bread bowl and a crabcake sandwich, and very nice it was. Sometimes simple food is very welcome !

Net we took the 39 bus up to Coit Tower, somewhere we had not visited on previous trips, and passed by the Original Joe’s restaurant at Washington Square where we ate on our trip in 2013. We had superb views over the city and of the ship below, from the top of the tower. Catching the electric bus back down the hill we then headed towards Pier 39 for a welcome coffee, and then returned to the ship. Dinner in the Britannia Restaurant was followed by a preview show in the theatre introduced by Amanda Reid, who has taken over as Entertainment Manager from Leon De St Croix.

The Captain warned last night that the weather would be worsening again and it would become a little ‘lumpy’ overnight, owing to a large depression offshore. We did have the odd bounce or two overnight and that is still the case today, Monday, as we head towards Hawaii at 20 knots. The sea looks comparatively calm but there are some patches of large swell every so often, hitting the ship on the starboard quarter, which contributes towards a bit of a wobble every so often !

Our heading is roughly 230 as we transit the pacific Ocean towards the warmer waters of the Hawaiian Islands and our next two stops in Honolulu and Lahaina.

Another successful meet and greet hosted by Barbara, and many new faces today. Quick intros and lots of chat !

John

Cheers for the review and thanks for the info on the travel pass. :D