Live from the Queen Victoria world cruise (with a QM2 prelude)

Crystal Symphony is at sea from Itajal Brazil to Punta Del Este Uruguay. QV is at sea from Hamburg to Southampton

 

I concluded my final 5-mile walk on QM2 about 7:10. It was overcast and close to drizzle bud not quite drizzle with a temperature in the mid-40's. For the first time the nearest land was European with Ireland about 170 miles ahead of us.

 

Despite losing an hour at noon to get to UK time, there were 4 New York Times/Cunard Insights programs. Peter Lewis started things off with “Privacy and Security” at 10, Clyde Haberman on relations with Asia at 11, and David Cay Johnston with his program for 21st century taxation at 12:15.

 

I went up to deck 13 for the final testing of the horns, and the noon report indicated that we would pass Bishop Rock about 4PM and be docked about 6:30.

 

The final (3:30) presentation was John Schwartz on “The Marriage Revolution”. Schwartz os both an avid court watcher and also has a gay son, and his talk was quite a mix of legalese and poignant personal experience. When the talk ended we were just short of Bishop Rock, but it was about 17 miles to our port and not visible.

 

We enjoyed a lovely final dinner at table 84. I had an excellent sirloin steak.

 

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The evening entertainment was piano showman Chris Hamilton. He closed the show by creating a medley of songs called out by the audience, and put on a very nice show. I returned to my room and final packing continued to about midnight.

 

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Today’s parting shot is kind of a round of kudos. On these Cunard Voyages I have ended up with more onboard credit than I would normally use. I had planned from the beginning to use some of those credits to increase the hotel service charge (gratuities), but the service provided by my main serving team of Stewardess Tatiana and waiters Rommel and Dane Paul made doing so an absolute pleasure. My waiters especially not only delivered excellent service but made the effort to learn everyone’s names and from about day 3 we were routinely addressed as “Mr. Jones” or “Mrs Smith”, something I have not seen on Cunard before. I was also pleased to be able to do that as at least one of Cunard’s sister lines has now prohibited using onboard credits to reward the crew. Well done Tatiana, Rommel, Dane Paul, and Cunard.

 

Roy

Welcome Roy, if albeit briefly...watched you come in this morning. The ship of course looked brilliant looming up out of the dark, but of course not a patch on the Vicky.

Look forward to meeting you onboard... regards Roscoe

Safe travels as you all depart Southampton!! My brother just face timed me and we could see the fireworks from his house through a gap!! Bon voyage!!

As always I on embarkation day I'm slow getting organized and my report for today will be late. I did get upgraded at the checkin counter, from Inside 8149 to OV 1101. Took my bags quite a while to find me. Sailaway was quite chilly but beautiful.

Roy

Roy....

Do you think there's any "rhyme or reason" why you were upgraded to an 'oceanview'? Luck of the draw? Or, a most-favored repeat Cunarder?

As always I on embarkation day I'm slow getting organized and my report for today will be late. I did get upgraded at the checkin counter, from Inside 8149 to OV 1101. Took my bags quite a while to find me. Sailaway was quite chilly but beautiful.

 

Roy

What a fabulous upgrade, Roy! Those oceanview rooms are roomy and so nice. Enjoy!

Congratulations on the upgrade, Roy!

Thanks all. I do think the upgrade process is entirely random. I'm sure there are many people more worthy than I.

I went on deck just after 5 to see the lights of land on both sides of us. The wind made the morning temperature of 10C/50F feel a bit cooler, but I enjoyed a brief walk of 4 laps on the promenade deck. I had returned to my cabin by the time we pulled into Ocean Terminal about 6:30, and on the bridge camera I could see both the traffic of Southampton and a heavy rainfall.

I went up to Kings Court about 7 and the rain had stopped and self disembark people were already on the way into the terminal. I left my cabin about 8:30 and found my bags in the terminal about 8:50. The 3 bags that had been left in the hall Saturday night were readily located and I was directed outside to a van to drop my luggage. It was marked Queen Elizabeth but the driver assured me that the Queen Victoria van was on the way and my bags would go there.

I had planned on using public transit in Southampton but it was later than I had planned so I opted for a taxi instead. There was a “queue” for the taxis but it was trivial and I was given the 2nd taxi for the short drive to Saint James Road Methodist Church. I arrived about 9:15 for the 9:30 service and was promptly offered a mug of tea. The church has a lovely organ but the 9:30 service uses contemporary music.

From the church it was 2 plus miles to QM2 but QV was only 1.5 miles away and I opted to walk to the ship. I made a stop at McDonalds near the church for milk and tea, and another at a convenience store to top up my international phone. It was a very comfortable walk as the city provided some shelter from the breeze. I assume the street I passed soon after leaving the church is a testament to Cunard's importance to Southampton:

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I arrived at City Terminal about 12:45, close to the time on my ticket. Considering the long walk to deck 8, I put everything but my laptops and medicine in my smallest backpack and checked my larger day pack with the porters. Queen Elizabeth (Mayflower terminal) and Queen Victoria were facing each other with the Black Watch dropped in between us.

There were 2 lines for security. I was directed to the one for the Grills and Platinum or Diamond World Club members which was significantly shorter. Once past security the actual checkin lines were about equal length but the wait was short. At checkin I discovered that my inside cabin 8149 had been replaced by 1101, an outside cabin near the Purser’s desk (for those reading on the Crystal forum, the location is much like Symphony’s D cabins).

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My bags were quite slow arriving as they all had tags for my deck 8 cabin and had to be redirected. I went up to the Lido for lunch and there was a performance by the Royal Engineers Marching Band in the Queens Room at 2:30.

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I finally got the first 2 of my bags about 3:40 and unpacked until the 4PM muster drill. My station is in the Brittania dining room and I was seated at a table close to the one where I dined on my previous QV cruise. All Cunard ships muster in public rooms on or close to the deck where the lifeboats are situated. We carry our life jackets to the drill but wear them only during a demonstration. We saw Black Watch passing us from the dining room windows during the drill, On the way back from the drill I passed the pursers desk and saw my smallest bag (the one left with the porters as I boarded). It had not yet been tagged with my new cabin number but I took it with me, glad to be reunited with my sport coat and rain jacket.

Captain Peter Philpott cam on the PA about 5:45 and said Queen Elizabeth was leaving and would soon pass us. I found a spot on deck 10 as QE sailed by us and then we had a 4-minute fireworks display, one of 3 with one for each ship. We finally started to swing out to turn around and leave about 6:20. As we made our way past my home for the last 7 days there was an exchange of horns. I had one final chance to enjoy QM2's unique set of horns but what was really special was the echo of our horn against QM2 where each blast of our horn reverberated for several seconds. As soon as we were past QM2 I headed down to the lido for some food.

I went down to the Brittania Dining Room about 7 to join my tablemates for coffee and desert. I am at Table 586, on the upper level, only one table away from the back windows, center between port and starboard. It is a 6-top with a couple and a solo lady, and hopefully 2 more people we will meet in the future. When I returned to my cabin my big bag was on my bed.

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The evening show included a number by the dance couple Dan and Olena and “That’s Life” by the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers. The Royal Court Theater was packed. After the show I stopped briefly at the Golden Lion Club (For Crystal followers this one reminded me a lot of the Avenue Saloon, but bigger, somewhat more than double the Avenue size appropriate to a 2000 passenger ship). Glenn Monie was quite good although his repotoire apparently starts with the 60's so there may not be any big band/swing played there. The chief drawback is that he only plays until 9:45 with trivia right after that.

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I did mostly unpacking until retiring about 11. I’ll start with a bit of explanation about today’s parting shot. One of the unique features of QV is a series of signs scattered along the promenade deck titled “Quote Quest”, and I will feature several of these on my QV reports. Today’s is by Thomas Hardy: “While a good deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened”.

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Roy

Roy, What is your international phone?

Roy....

Thanks for posting the QV daily programme. I was curious if the NYT's "Insights" presenters from the QM2 crossing would be on the return QV to NY leg? Guess not.

Hang on and have mucho fun. The north Atlantic radar map shows 'activity'.

T&C

Thanks, T&C. Actually, if the NYT people had stayed on board they would probably have been on QM2 which is stopping in NY, but I don't think they did. The seas are quite active.Crystal Symphony is at sea from Punta Del Este to Buenos Aires. QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

At 5AM it was quite windy. I found a couple of doors to the promenade deck secured but one next to the Royal Court theater was not. I went out and walked a lap but found that all the other doors were secured and concluded I should not have been out there and walked about another half hour inside the ship.

There were 2 morning presentations in the Royal Court Theater. There was a talk on Ponta Delgado by “Port Presenter” Ben. He is part of the shore excursions department and while

it started in with useful information on the island it quickly became a description of the shore tours. The Cunard Insights series started at 11 with Tristan Elmhurst and “How to become a forensic scientist in 2 easy steps”. It was a very interesting talk.

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I made it up as far as Winter Garden for the noon test of the horns. It was still very windy with about 4-meter seas and the outer decks were completely closed with the exception of doors leading to a couple of smoking spots as well as deck 9 behind the lido. Captain Philpott expected conditions to remain much the same for the next 24 hours.

Our Cruise Critic meet and greet was held at 2PM in the Commodore Club. We had a very nice turnout of about 25 people despite a lot of motion up in that high, forward perch.

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This voyage is featuring a program on scrapbooking presented daily in Hemispheres. Somehow I was thinking it was at 2 (concurrent with the meet and greet) and missed out on it. I may try to join Tuesday for part 2. Queen Victoria may be the only ship in it’s class who’s midship pool does not have a moveable cover. Right now that would be a much welcomed addition. The pool deck was deserted all day with the furniture covered up and just one solitary lady bundled up in a lounger in the little covered area close to the spa. Captain Philpott came on the PA about 5:45 and advised conditions had worsened with now 7-meter seas and were not expected to improve until at least noon Tuesday. At one point in the afternoon I heard a noise and looked over at my window to see a torrent of water washing down the side.

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It was the same 4 of us at Table 586. I have found something in common with all my tablemates. One has been through the Northwest Passage (she did it on Le Pondant while I will sail it this summer on the Crystal Serenity). It somehow came up in the conversation that the couple and I had been on the same Pacific crossing on the Crystal Harmony in 2004.

I have been diagnosed with diabetes which is controlled by diet rather than medication. It is very helpful to me to be able to plan my days eating for the day rather than 1 meal at a time and I had problems on QM2 with dinner menus being posted at the last minute. I mentioned this to our head waiter and he is bringing me the next day’s menu at dinner. This has the additional benefit that it is easier and clear to scan that page rather than photograph the menus. Sunday night I just got the Monday dinner but on Monday he produced a double sided sheet with lunch on the back side. I hope to be able to add lunch menus to my blog but think I found attractive Tuesday choices for both lunch and dinner in the dining room.

I stopped by the Golden Lion after dinner and Glenn Monie’s 7:30-8 slot may work better for me than going after the show where he only plays until 9:45. The evening shows on QM2 were at 8:45 and I had that time on my mind. The early show on QV is 8:30 and tonight I missed the first 15 minutes of Izabella Zebrowska’s show. She is a classically trained violinist but plays a variety of music in her shows. There was a lot of motion up in the Royal Court Theater and I was thinking she could easily have performed seated but she remained standing and handled the motion of the stage very well. I thought she put on a very good show.

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I’ll take my parting shot from Izabella Zebrowska’s show. Her closing number was a very well known song and she asked the audience to sing along. I’m glad I was not alone, all anybody was singing was Na-Na-Na-Na Na-Na-Na-Na. Hey Jude, what happened to our memories.

Roy

Golflover51, I use a basic unlocked phone with a sim from a UK company, Lebara.

very little I can add to Roys extensive post, it had been a bit rough but today has settled quite a bit. It was nice to have so many to the meet in the commodore club and put a few names to faces. What was also nice was that everyone seems a happy bunch and not a group of moaners...we are at sea on Holiday, on the most fabulous ship afloat, what could you possibly find to complain about?

Looking forward to Bill Millers lecture today, just sitting in the cafe looking out to sea and enjoying the salt air with not a care in the world....

and the black and white ball tonight with the Captains cocktail party before hand....

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Thanks for the update Roy, does the Golden Lion pianist finish for the evening at 9.45 ? Usually they have a break for the game show and then carry on until late.

Hi Roscoe,

I'm not onboard but know Bill Miller, my friend Paul Stipkovich is also onboard, he's an artist and NYC chapter chairman of the s.s. United States Conservancy, hopefully you'll be seeing him onboard, do me a favor and tell him Glenn & Isabel say hello- I'm attaching a pic of Paul so you recognize him- Hope you all have a save arrival in the Azores and a great crossing- Glenn

Hi Roscoe,

I'm not onboard but know Bill Miller, my friend Paul Stipkovich is also onboard, he's an artist and NYC chapter chairman of the s.s. United States Conservancy, hopefully you'll be seeing him onboard, do me a favor and tell him Glenn & Isabel say hello- I'm attaching a pic of Paul so you recognize him- Hope you all have a save arrival in the Azores and a great crossing- Glenn

DAMN...as it happened, I was sitting behind him this morning in Bills Lecture and he gave me one of the post cards for the SS united States..... If I see him again Ill give him some abuse from you .... Bill chatted to him like they were old friends.

regards Roscoe

Thanks for the update Roy, does the Golden Lion pianist finish for the evening at 9.45 ? Usually they have a break for the game show and then carry on until late.

On my cruise from the 3-10 January, the pianist, Glenn Monie, played from 10.30pm until late.

DAMN...as it happened, I was sitting behind him this morning in Bills Lecture and he gave me one of the post cards for the SS united States..... If I see him again Ill give him some abuse from you .... Bill chatted to him like they were old friends.

 

regards Roscoe

LOL, no worries- you all have plenty of time to get acquainted. Yes they are good friends- Bill, Paul & I know each other well from the New York maritime circles. Isn't it amazing listening to Bill- he's a shippie god.

I hope all of you are past that nasty weather, it looks pretty good for the rest of the way down to the Azores. Cheers mate- Glenn Lappin

Thanks all for continuing to post. I am starting to go through cruise withdrawal and reading all the interesting posts help. (I have to wait until 2/21 for my next cruise.) Best wishes for a continued wonderful voyage. Katherine

Thank you all, and I'm especially glad that some of my shipmates are adding depth to the thread. Host Hattie, Glenn does come back on later but that's too late for my schedule.

Crystal Symphony is in Buenos Aires. QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

This is not a day that started out well. When I woke at 5 I felt a bit of moisture on my face and ound it was blood. I spent the next half hour in the bathroom packing my nostril with tissue and then replacing it every few minutes, generally with a steady drip whenever I changed the packing. In the times I ventured back into the room between packings, the TV navigation channel indicated that the weather had closed all the outer decks for our safety. When the nasal situation was finally under control I walked a half hour on the ships inner corridors, ending my walk at the lido on deck 9. I carried some spare packing material in case of an emergency but the incident has not resurfaced.

Sunrise is currently quite late. I went up to the lido just after 8, and took my pancakes out on the back deck. It was clear overhead but cloudy around the horizon. Sunrise was 8:40 and I caught just a quick sliver of the sun soon afterwards with the sun peeking through a crack in the clouds. A few minutes later I actually saw the sun but the best sky was about 20 minutes before sunrise.

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While it was somewhat sheltered on the back deck there was still a bit of a wind chill and I didn’t linger long after finishing my pancakes.

The morning was a bit lazy for passengers as it was the day for crew drills. They were announced for 10 AM but there was a surprise (at least for us) call of a man overboard at 9. At 10 the crew was called for a “fire in the generator room” and they got quite busy, elevating to a point of abandoning ship close to 11.

The 11AM Cunard Insights talk was Bill Miller with “Floating Palaces”. When I walked upstairs at noon I found the upper decks had been opened and I watched the daily horn test within actual sight of the horns. Captain Philpott reported things were improving and the remaining time should be somewhat better than at present.

Intrigued by the Spa beef stew selection, I had planned to have lunch in Britannia and then walk on the promenade deck, but found the restaurant did not open until 12:30 and walked 6 laps before lunch and another 4 after. I did briefly check out the Scrapbooking but decided to refrain from adding physical things to the stuff I carry to Antarctica. I enjoyed a late snack at afternoon tea in the Queens Room with Glenn Monie from Golden Lion providing the music.

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Our first formal night was kicked off by the Captain’s welcome aboard party in the Queens room with an introduction of the senior officers. I found the room a bit on the small side for the number of people attending. We had our usual 4 at table 586. Our waiters say there are 2 other people expected at the table; I wonder if they will ever show up.

The main entertainment was the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers in “A Stroke of Genius”. The singing and dancing were great but there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect between the posted theme and the program. On the way back to my cabin the Black and White Ball was just getting started.

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I’ll take today’s parting shot from the “Quote Quest” series, this time by Benjamin Disraeli. “What we anticipate seldom occurs and what we least expected generally happens”.

Roy

Thanks for the report Roy, hopefully you won't have the nosebleed when you make landfall tomorrow. The weather system you're experiencing has been brewing over Bermuda for a while and has been making it's way East towards the Azores but has diluted quite a bit. Weather for Ponta Delgada for tomorrow is 16c/ 61f with occasional showers, enjoy.

Thanks for the report Roy, hopefully you won't have the nosebleed when you make landfall tomorrow. The weather system you're experiencing has been brewing over Bermuda for a while and has been making it's way East towards the Azores but has diluted quite a bit. Weather for Ponta Delgada for tomorrow is 16c/ 61f with occasional showers, enjoy.

Thanks. Good and bad news on the medical front. Good news is no further issues for me. Bad news came with Captain Philpott's noon report. We are steaming at top speed towards Ponta Delgada with estimated 0130 arrival and a medical disembarkation. A heck of a way to start off a World Cruise (or even a segment).

Roy

LOL, no worries- you all have plenty of time to get acquainted. Yes they are good friends- Bill, Paul & I know each other well from the New York maritime circles. Isn't it amazing listening to Bill- he's a shippie god.

I hope all of you are past that nasty weather, it looks pretty good for the rest of the way down to the Azores. Cheers mate- Glenn Lappin

Bumped into Paul at the lecture this morning and mentioned your regards to him and Bill so you should still be on their christmas card lists.

Bills lectures are hilarious and very popular. You can see why he has such a reputation and its good to see that he will be on the QE later for others to enjoy him as well.

Learnt quite a bit of the United States today which was very interesting.

regards Roscoe

Loving the reviews/blogs Roy and Roscoe! Keep them coming!

I will be joining QE next month and can not wait.

Chez

Thank you Roscoe and Chez. We will not be meeting but I just booked a voyage on QE for November. I would really enjoy her covered pool space right now.

Crystal Symphony is in Buenos Aires. On her next visit to BA in 2 weeks I will step aboard. QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

Conditions Wednesday morning were better than Tuesday morning but not as good as Tuesday evening. I started out with one lap on the promenade deck but noticed that all the port side doors were roped off and concluded I should not stay. Going up to the Lido for coffee I found deck 10 fully closed as well and returned to my cabin to do some computer work. The morning was very overcast with periods of fog and drizzle. I have been taking my laptop to deck 9 and working online during breakfast on the back lido desk. It was so cloudy and damp today I relocated to Winter Garden.

Later in the morning conditions eased up a bit and I walked on the Promenade Deck roughly from 9 until the first lecture at 10. There were 2 Cunard Insights presentations today. Bill Miller started things off at 10 with “The Last Atlantic Liners”, followed at 11 by Tristram Elmhirst with “Bugs, Bullets, Blood, and Bad Deeds”. When I went to the upper decks for the noon horn test deck 10 was still roped off. Queen Victoria differs significantly from Queen Elizabeth in having an uncovered midship pool and so far it has been like a ghost town. Captain Philpott’s noon update was a sad one. We are sailing near top speed and will arrive in Ponta Delgada about 1:30am rather than our planned 8am in order to carry out a medical disembarkation. It’s a sad start (if not end) to a World Cruise or even a segment. After the update I completed the remaining laps of my daily goal of 15.

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I have been asked on Cruise Critic for pictures of the food. I am not an adventurous eater and most of my pictures will be pretty boring. I really do enjoy having my meals on the outer decks, and by noon conditions were conducive to that. The lido’s featured item was roast lamb which looked good and I enjoyed that on the back deck with the sun finally starting to be relevant.

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I just haven’t thought to work it into my schedule but there is some kind of classical offering daily at 2PM in the Queens Room. Today’s performance was on the harp with the artist (a crew member who performs around the ship in the evening) starting things off with a presentation on the evolution of the harp. Lara Scabo concluded her program with a very rich arrangement of An American in Paris.

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I spent much of the afternoon working on future travel plans. I am booked on a voyage from Anchorage to New York in August. I had hoped to get to Anchorage on the Alaska ferry system. An afternoon email check brought the news that the ferry system has just published their summer schedule and that looks possible. Their superferry leaves Bellingham, Washington on August 6 and gets to Anchorage August 11. I’m thinking that gives me a chance for a hotel in Anchorage August 11 and 15 with 3 days in Denali in between. Looks to me like a very good option.

Dinner was the usual 4 of us. We talked about plans for Ponta Delgada. I will be the only one taking an organized tour. The evening entertainment was comedian Roy Walker. He was good but I think much of his material was geared to British audiences and I missed many of the references. I will try to wrap up this post before bed time as we gain an hour tonight and Thursday will be a busy day in port.

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Today’s parting shot is a wish for the best possible outcome for the person who will be leaving us at 1:30AM in Ponta Delgada.

Roy

Bumped into Paul at the lecture this morning and mentioned your regards to him and Bill so you should still be on their christmas card lists.

 

Bills lectures are hilarious and very popular. You can see why he has such a reputation and its good to see that he will be on the QE later for others to enjoy him as well.

 

Learnt quite a bit of the United States today which was very interesting.

 

regards Roscoe

Thanks Roscoe for saying hello to Paul for us and thank you Roy for the informative updates.

Thoroughly enjoying the updates from both of you, Roy and Roscoe. Have a great day in Ponta Delgado!