Live from QE's 2014 World Voyage

The transit of the canal looks like great fun.

Questions:

Do the bars serve a special drink during the transit?

 

Is there a party atmosphere on the decks?

 

Are you close enough to the dock workers or other ships to speak to them?

 

:)

The transit we did was not with Cunard, but with Princess, however;

There was no special drink - at least as far as i can remember.

There was a great party atmosphere everywhere onboard, and we spent all day either on our portside balcony or rushing to the forward or aft decks towatch what was happening.

We were so close to the workers dockside, we had a lengthy conversation in one lock with one of the lock security guys, while we slowly decended. It was quite surreal.

A wonderful experience. Incredibly hot and sticky, but not to be missed.

We are all enjoying this voyage. Lovely people on board (well the ones I met are) Although I have heard gossip of a few arugements with rude people but this has not been my experience.

It would like to add I agree with Whitemarsh, Steiner rune the Spa a lot different from Canyan Ranch and I fell they are missing out as the experience is no where near as good as on QM2. I have spent $700 this voyage on acupuncture (waste of good onboard spend) You get nothing else! Not even an offer of a rest in the retreat. You have you treatment and out you go. On QM" you get to use the spa facilities for the day including the hydro therapy pool. I questioned the reasons of why this is not the case on QE and was told it was because they are a different company , which I knew of course , but wondered why they are more expensive with their pricing also. Anyhow I won't be using t again In fact I got my manicure / pedicure done at the terminal in Limon where there are so many places that do this these treatment for half the price of the ship.

I have hosted the three meet & greets we have had so far and I have met great people. Looking forward to receiving our new members in San Fran.

I dressed up for the theme balls and I have dressed in party mode to dance on deck at sail aways. There was a great fun deck arty on deck nine as we sailed through the canal where I danced and had some exercise in the heat!!

The canal was as wonderful as ever and a very hot sticky day as usual but no rain.

See you all soon.

Elizabethen Ball

Verandah restaurant.

Burns night.

QE Aruba

Thanks to all of you who posted pictures. It was an amazing journey through the canal. Everyone needs to do it!

Totally agree with Scrapnana. It was a very special day.

Pat xx

I wish I had known you were going to Spotted Pig here in NYC...I live just 3 blocks away...hope you enjoyed my bit of the world!!!!!

Full moon(s) and smoothe seas to you !!!!

Hi again,

 

Well I tried the Verandah but unfortunately I made bad choices when it came to choosing what to eat so I didn't really enjoy it that much. My dining companion went in the opposite direction and picked all the delicious options, so when I try it again I will have what they had. FYI the pork rillette is a no goer.

 

I also tried out the spa today, it's quite nice but I am not sure about being able to look through the windows and see everyone out on deck nine; I think I prefer the sanctuary feel of QM2. I do prefer the Canon Ranch operation with regards to letting you use the spa all day if you book a treatment, as opposed to Steiner (on QE) which only allows you to use the spa for an hour before or after your treatment. Also, I wasn't impressed with the therapist, she had zero personality and rather than stay for the whole treatment I left half way through - obviously I still had to pay for the whole thing, but at that point I would have paid extra just to get out of the room.

 

Last night Nexus (the QE Caribbean band) was out on deck nine for an outdoor party which was very well attended and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The upshot from this was that Nexus wasn't playing in the Yacht Club. The DJ seems to have had a change of heart and played an excellent set, the music was great and lots of people were up dancing, including some officers. I was really surprised, what a fantastic night! And the clocks went back an hour so that's always good.

 

The CWC party was on this evening and I made good on my promise to engage the captain in some conversation. Chalk one up for me. He gave another good speech and a bunch of people were recognised for spending thousands of days at sea. It was quite an enjoyable little party. They had two sessions, one at 17:30 and one at 19:30, and the invitation said to attend the time slot of your preference. The only party left on this sector will be the Officer's party - I'm presuming.

 

The Queens Grill is still excellent, tomorrow night I am having steak diane, which I wouldn't normally order but another table ordered it as an off-menu request and the preparation of the dish by the head waiter was a sight to behold. I didn't realise steak diane was such an art-form, I am looking forward to tomorrow night's performance.

 

The weather has been great, plenty of sun and lots of people are out on deck. I would use the grill decks but there is no shade, which is an oversight I believe, they need some sort of shade cloth up there.

 

I happen to see inside the Q5 suites that bookend decks 4, 5 and 8 at the stern. Trust me when I tell you that they are not as spacious (inside) as the three Q6 suites in between them, I was quite shocked. If you want to be at the stern, book a Q6 and tick the no upgrade box (unless you're booking a Q1 in which case you don't need to worry).

 

Tomorrow we arrive at Limon and some of the shore tours have a very early 7:30 start.

One week from today, we will be joining you in San Francisco.

I'm looking forward to meeting all of you. If I am correct, the Cruise Critic meet & greet will be the following day at 12:15 pm in the Commodore Club?

Stupid question: Does Cunard provide umbrellas?

See you soon!

Glenn

Umbrellas are in the QM 2 QG suites, but you are not supposed to take them with you on a tour.

Umbrellas are in the QM 2 QG suites, but you are not supposed to take them with you on a tour.

You might be mistaken for the tour leader if you wave an umbrella around! :D

You might be mistaken for the tour leader if you wave an umbrella around! :D

Absolutely right. How could I have overseen this.

But don't use the black Cunard rain capes instead. They are useless.

Umbrellas are in the QM 2 QG suites, but you are not supposed to take them with you on a tour.

I thought they were a gift - used mine a lot today.

I thought they were a gift - used mine a lot today.

So did we - and never kept them. But in May 2012 at Stavanger in one of the worst rainstorms we ever had on a cruise we were stopped at the gangway and told that we were not allowed to take this umbrella off the ship. Well, I admit that I did not follow this instruction.

A question for anyone currently sailing on QE. Who is giving the port talks? On our voyage on the QE last year, we had a delightful young man (I believe his name was Gavin) who gave the most interesting port talks. The theater was packed each time he spoke. I am hoping he might be on board again. Less than a week until San Francisco!!

Hi again,

Here's an update from somewhere off the Californian coast about six hours from San Francisco. Well so far everything is nearly perfect! So perfect that I haven't yet been able to go down to the Purser's desk and seek any extra OBC, not a single penny.

As you know, the Verandah restaurant was open on the first night I went there for dinner (some days it isn't open you see). I didn't like what I ordered that night but that can happen anywhere. I returned a couple of nights ago and really enjoyed the dishes I ordered. It's a nice change from your allocated restaurant and I will certainly be going again.

Speaking of allocated restaurants, the Queens Grill is just as lovely as ever, the head waiter did an amazing steak diane the other night, it was delicious. The following night he did a special pasta dish, which was also delicious. The sauce was quite spicy and had a nice kick. A couple of days later I asked him to do a variation on it using a cream sauce and scallops and it was really good.

The sommelier and I have been quite adventurous with my wine selection. We've done a white and now I've moved onto the red. The first bottle of red she suggested was fantastic, the next bottle not so much. I offered it to the table next door as one of the gentlemen on it is a wine buff. He didn't really like it either and neither did his wife. The next day the sommelier advised me that they weren't going to charge me for the bottle which was a nice surprise.

Also, I got my money back on that less than impressive experience in the spa. The following day I went and spoke with the assistant manager and explained what had happened. Pleasingly she didn't try to make excuses or challenge what I was saying, she just offered a refund which I gladly took.

With regards to the entertainment I have to say that I'm really impressed with the Cunard singers and dancers. Palladium is a great show, as is the one that just involves the singers. The hotel themed show I can live without seeing again. I'm convinced the four singers on this cruise are the best I've heard on a Cunard voyage. The dancers are excellent too. Last week we had a performance in the Queens Room by "The Manhattan Dolls' a trio of girls who sing music from the 40's & 50's. I thought they were very good and enjoyed the show immensely. I also thought the Queens Room looked better at night than it does during the day.

Bill Miller's lectures have been very enjoyable and I also caught the last lecture by Derek Fraser which was on Margaret Thatcher. The entertainment director is a lady named Jo something. She's really good, I quite like her. She's getting off in Sydney and Amanda gets back on.

The Behind the Scenes tour was very enjoyable, some areas were a surprise - the dressing room for the dancers is minuscule - and others weren't - the medical centre looks like a medical centre. We saw them make bread in the bakery, visited the printing room, saw the recycling/garbage area, had a tour of the Royal Court Theatre and saw where all the luggage comes in and out on embarkation/disembarkation days. The bridge was very interesting, I learnt that the chief engineer and captain have the balcony cabins just behind the bridge. After the tour they delivered the commemorative photo that had been taken. Unfortunately I wasn't in the photo as it was of the other tour they had that day. I rang the Purser's desk to advise that I had been given the wrong photo. "What's wrong with it" she said. "I'm not in it" I replied. I still haven't received the correct photo but I live in hope.

Today someone won $750 at jackpot bingo. I was disappointed that it wasn't me.

I went to the Senior Officer's party. Unfortunately they were all under strict instructions not to say anything remotely controversial or interesting. I'm not a fan of the midday cocktail party, especially when they want you to wear evening clothes for it. Seems a bit silly to change three times in a day (casual, cocktail party, back into casual then back into the night's dress code at 6pm). I have read some comments that the officers don't go up and chat to people. Well that maybe true, but you just have to go up to them.

There are 1400 people disembarking in San Fran, so that means that we'll have a brand new ship. Depending on who you listen to we will have a big Asian or Australian contingent boarding. One (or both) of those rumours are wrong. Quite a few of the crew are leaving too, including the DJ who, by the way, has improved since I last put pen to paper. I'm informed that the new DJ is a man in his sixties named Michael Jackson. Yes, really.

Sorry about the lack of OBC, it seems that you're enjoying yourself and having fun. Thank for the update.

I can always go down and complain about having nothing to complain about. :)

Actually, I have just thought about something I can complain about. The ship's photo lab is adding a really soft focus to all the portrait pictures they take on the stairs etc. It's hilarious, everyone's skin has this weird glow about it and no one has any wrinkles. I couldn't purchase a couple of the pictures they'd taken as it really didn't look like me. I mentioned this on the Behind the Scenes tour when visiting the photo lab, but got a curt reply in the form of "well we have to try new things".

What do you reckon, the soft focus on the pictures has to be worth a couple of hundred dollars of extra OBC. ;)

I can always go down and complain about having nothing to complain about. :)

 

Actually, I have just thought about something I can complain about. The ship's photo lab is adding a really soft focus to all the portrait pictures they take on the stairs etc. It's hilarious, everyone's skin has this weird glow about it and no one has any wrinkles. I couldn't purchase a couple of the pictures they'd taken as it really didn't look like me. I mentioned this on the Behind the Scenes tour when visiting the photo lab, but got a curt reply in the form of "well we have to try new things".

 

What do you reckon, the soft focus on the pictures has to be worth a couple of hundred dollars of extra OBC. ;)

Definitely, I think the process is sponsored by Help the Aged. The War criminals pioneered it in Brazil in 1945 for their passport and ID photos. It's nice to see it being put to good use.

Umbrellas are in the QM 2 QG suites, but you are not supposed to take them with you on a tour.

So what is the point of them? We took ours ashore and weren't challenged.

Well I arrived in San Francisco late last night after a 12hr flight delay. Can not wait to board tomorrow. I have a wine tour today to look forward to. There were a lot of aussies and kiwis on the flight that are boarding tomorrow as well. Can not wait

Chez:

Just happened to look out my hotel window, and what do I see..? Queen elizabeth just sailing by!

chez

I hope all of you getting on the ship today have an easy time of it. My mom is going to be visiting my brother while in San Fran--I'm looking forward to talking to her finally!!

Thank you for the continued updates--I really enjoy them!

After more than one year of waiting, I only have to wait one more day!

I'm real excited about joining all of you on the Queen Elizabeth tomorrow in San Francisco! See you soon.

Glenn

Enjoy your voyage. Today on the east coast we are having an ice storm. Power outages for many people in our county -- but so far not us. Sitting here listening to all the branches break off the trees and it looks like a disaster zone when I open the front door. So have a great time everyone on your voyage -- wish I were there!

Nice to see some new posts on this thread; it's been pretty quiet for several days. Enjoy your journey Chez and Hobie!!

to the world cruisers who post on here, (eg. Scrapnana and Maggieou) has the probability of actually visiting Egypt been discussed on the ship at all? Still curious if we will actually get to see the Pyramids when we visit Sokhna. We will be joining the cruise in Dubai and can't wait to meet you all at the meet and greet.

Keep up the good work with your update posts. Maggiemou, we are also following you on your blog which is really interesting. And despite some of the feedback regarding your comments about the Arcadia, we are actually interested in your comparisons because we didn't read your blogs from last year. So don't listen to the negative people, just keep doing it just as you have been.

See you soon, although not soon enough!!

Cheers,

Kerry and Keith.

Australia.

to the world cruisers who post on here, (eg. Scrapnana and Maggieou) has the probability of actually visiting Egypt been discussed on the ship at all? Still curious if we will actually get to see the Pyramids when we visit Sokhna. We will be joining the cruise in Dubai and can't wait to meet you all at the meet and greet.

 

Keep up the good work with your update posts. Maggiemou, we are also following you on your blog which is really interesting. And despite some of the feedback regarding your comments about the Arcadia, we are actually interested in your comparisons because we didn't read your blogs from last year. So don't listen to the negative people, just keep doing it just as you have been.

 

See you soon, although not soon enough!!

Cheers,

Kerry and Keith.

 

 

Australia.

I have not heard anybody official talking about it. I do know they are still selling excursions in Egypt.

A question for anyone currently sailing on QE. Who is giving the port talks? On our voyage on the QE last year, we had a delightful young man (I believe his name was Gavin) who gave the most interesting port talks. The theater was packed each time he spoke. I am hoping he might be on board again. Less than a week until San Francisco!!

Gavin is doing the port lectures right now. I have not been to one but I watch them on the TV.