QM2 NYC-QBC Log

If it is possible to be “slumming it” on Queen Mary 2 that’s what I will be doing on this NY-QBC segment. Due to a late booking and a full ship I grabbed what became available – an inside. It will be an adventure to see what the Cunard experience is like for a “rower”.

I arrived about 1:30. A HUGE checkin line had built up by my being Platinum let me wiz through the priority line. A staff member checks tickets to ensure that one is entitled to use it.

The size and layout is similar to what I had in BC but it does feel smaller without the glass balcony. Due to the room configuration the LDC screen is on a stand where the old CRT had been. The amenity tray takes up half the desk but can be moved aside.

Upon arrival there was a bag with the right number but obviously not mine. It appears somebody who booked earlier got upgraded but never thought to change their luggage tags. My steward takes care of it but the owner will probably be moaning that it took so long for their bag to arrive. But with that now taken care of I can get to my favorite embarkation day activity – a stroll on her promenade deck. It’s an unusually warm day for late September in New York. I love to watch the “red cards” as they explore the ship for the first time. Mine is marked “silver” but it’s a goof I won’t pursue since it really does not mean anything on board.

Something new since last December – during the muster drill our stateroom cards are now scanned. Another new thing at the Redhook terminal: the NYC Ferry has a dock right next to the passenger pickup area. This may make travel into Manhattan a lot easier for those staying on with the ship. I have not checked the pickup points or schedule but this may well be a travel alternative to Redhook. One can stay overnight in Manhattan and take the new ferry. (Don’t know if there is a luggage limit. If there is I would be way, way, over it!)

Captain Philpott announced that our departure is pushed back to 9PM. We were told that the fuel barge had some problems today and they were way late in arriving. So if you are wondering why QM2 is still in NY, that is the reason.

Hope you have a great time, Blue! And hope you survive missing your beloved Princess Grill! Life's not so bad in Britannia, don't cha know!

Thanks for the report, have a wonderful trip.

If my app is correct, it looks like the QM2 is already leaving Newport (10am EST)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If my app is correct, it looks like the QM2 is already leaving Newport (10am EST)

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes, it looks like QM2 was within the Newport anchorage for about an hour this morning (between about 7:30 and 8:30 am) and then started heading back out to sea. Presumably the captain determined the conditions were unsafe for tendering and has cancelled the call at Newport today. I'm sure BlueRiband will fill us all in on the details.

Hi

We are on board too. The captain made an announcement a about 8am to say it was unable to tender due to adverse whether conditions so we are having an enforce seat day.

They have managed to arrange a few speakers to fill in.

We just went to the casino and I manag d to win 131 dollars on a 30c spin, s but not a bad morning.

Had a lovely lunch in QG and now settled in room chilling with some fizz. All very nice.

Our first formal night tonight although when we returned after the room had been made up the TV said it was informal. Checked with The maitre d and he has confirmed it is definitely informal so not sure why the TV hasn't caught up.

Congratulations on your win, good to hear you're making the best of the extra sea day !

It sounds like the winds are persisting. I have heard from friends on board the Soton to NY voyage that they encountered force 10/11 so that was the reason that QM2 docked late into Brooklyn. Looks like the winds possibly due to the hurricanes are following the ship.

Reading the post above, proves my point, that if you get upgraded at the terminal, it is quicker to retrieve your bag from outside your old allocated stateroom your self , unless of course you are travelling Grills, Then obviously "The Butler will sort it for you" Or should do.

I have a friend whose birthday is today. She was supposed to have traveled to Martha's Vineyard off the Massachusetts coast this weekend but the ferries haven't been running so she has returned home.

Remember the days of dialup internet? Those memories will come flooding back when you try to connect on board. This internet service is the worst I’ve experienced on the ship. CC has been timing out my post attempts.

On that happy note, a cell signal doesn’t reach inside staterooms as the satellite cannot penetrate all these layers of steel.

On Friday our departure was late due to the bunkering and the late dinner seating. I missed the sail away on deck. But a late stroll after dinner showed the magnificent sight of night time New York receding in the background. The ship still had her nighttime illumination on. Even up close it looks dramatic.

My table has 9, but only the 5 solos showed up. So I don’t yet know if couples and solos were mixed or if this is a singles table. Of my table mates one is from Australia, another Alaska, Boston, and Canada. They are pleasant but there is one person with strong opinions against religion that I wish was not there.

This morning brings a heavily overcast day. No fog but very dreary. Some crew members are starting to get the tenders ready so things looked promising that we would go into port. After almost an hour’s wait in the Royal Court Theatre the call is cancelled. Sea and wind conditions are too rough to tender safely so we will have a sea day. So there is only one way to handle a situation like this: run up to the Spa to book something before too many other people get the same idea. Actually I would miss a speaker because the Insights speaker schedule was shifted with the unexpected sea day.

Our arrival in Boston will be at 11AM tomorrow. We are told at the Noon announcement that we cannot arrive earlier due to QM2’s draft needing high tide.

Tonight was actually a formal night - stated in the program and on TV.

As I write this a night the fog is so thick that the clouds can be seen rolling over the deck. It’s impossible to see any coastline. No rain but all of the humidity is making the deck wet because condensation is dripping off the lifeboats. Some wind must be expected tonight because all of the teak loungers are tied to the railing.

Woken up to sea like glass and what looks to possibly be a nice day in Boston weather wise. Let's hope the weather stays like this as the fog yesterday was bad and the foghorn was used.

Scheduled to dock at 11 as the ship needs the high tide. No tour planned for us, just looking to hop,onto one of the duck tours as we have done the trolley tour previously.

Temp currently showing on the TV is 19c or 66f.

Had afternoon tea in the Queens room yesterday which is a first ever for us. A lovely couple joined us fro Seattle and we had a good chat about Alaskan cruises and Crystal cruise line, which is now in our radar.

Blue Riband - hope you pop by to meet and greet at 12 tomorrow. We have lunch in the Verandah scheduled at 1.30 as our Diamond freebie which I'm looking forward to and certainly know what you mean about the clunky internet which I'm on whilst waiting for our breakfast in the room to be delivered.

I noticed the QM2 bridge webcam shows another ship docked forward of QM2 in Boston today. That's Serenade of the Seas and that's an interesting coincidence for me personally. The last two ships we have been on happen to be QM2 (for a crossing during summer 2016) and Serenade of the Seas (for a Baltic cruise this past summer). Now they both happen to be in Boston on the same day.

I hope everyone has a great time in Boston today, especially after having to take a miss on Newport yesterday.

Regards,

John

Had a wonderful day in Boston. The weather was perfect at about 24 degrees.

Went to the Prudential Skywalk Observatory and did a Duck tour. It's now 6pm and we're back on board eating canapés with some fizz on the balcony. What more could you ask for.

My posts have been few and far between thanks to 1mB internet speeds. I’ve taken to checking only late and night rather than burn internet time that only times out.

Sail away in Boston takes place on a summer-like night. As I stand on deck 12 aft (open because the kennels are not in use) I notice that planes coming into Logan airport are flying lower than where we are standing. We had an easier time backing out of the Falcon Street terminal than in the past. This time there is one container ship but not double-berthed warships as had been the case in 2012. As we sail away we have the Boston night skyline receding in the background.

With 12 hours in port there was plenty of time for independent activity without having to watch the clock and get back to the ship. A table mate used the time to visit a great-grandchild she had not yet seen. I just took the shuttle into town and strolled about. On State Street I found the Cunard Building. Very impressive and just inside the lobby is an 8ft. long model of the Servia. Too bad it’s Sunday. If it were a normal business day I probably would have been allowed into the lobby to photograph it.

Some notes regarding the ship. Happily, Café Carinthia is back to serving the small plates. (But it doesn’t stop people from bringing in food from King’s Court.) I also noticed that about half of the ship’s clocks either don’t work or don’t display the correct time! Quite an inconvenience especially when it’s the one in the Spa pool area. One table mate had a wine package and those passengers seem to be getting priority for service and attention.

I also noticed that about half of the ship’s clocks either don’t work or don’t display the correct time! Quite an inconvenience especially when it’s the one in the Spa pool area.

They stopped working some time during the first half of the 2016 world cruise and haven't worked at all on any of our subsequent trips.

Thank you for the log entries, all very interesting, hope they keep coming.

Hard-wired internet is better today. It's mid morning as I type and at noon we will advance 1 hour to adjust to Atlantic time. Very thick fog this morning and QM2's fog horns are sounding. From the library it's not possible to see the horizon. Captain Philpott just made the announcement on the fourth Cunard vessel to come in 2022.

I'd imagine that the demand for internet access was higher on Saturday when people were left looking for things to do after the canceled Newport call.

I haven't had issues with access speeds on QM2 (mostly avoiding mid-day connections) but I remember liking CompuServe at 300 bps because it scrolled in at a rate that I could comfortably read along with. ;)

A lovely warm morning despite the fog and again able to out on the balcony to enjoy it. The fog just disappeared at about 5pm to at long last reveal the horizon.

Had a small meet and greet at noon with BlueRiband and others from the Facebook group from Aus and UK. It was lovely to meet everyone.

The captains cocktail party was held in the evening and was very full in the Grills and Club session and Capt Philpott confirmed the majority of guests were from the USA and the next largest group were from the Uk and over 40 other nationalities.

The raffle was held in the casino but we didn't win this time though. Played Blackjack until 2am with the usual people who I am now getting to know quite well and hubby enjoyed his 3 card poker win too.

Tender into Sydney NS today and looking forward to a massage when returning to the ship later.

Weather high is reported to be 19 degrees.

Every goddamn place you go. From the stage of the Royal Court theatre soloist Maria Friedman had to take a political stand. Not being content to just shut up and sing, she announced that with all of the turmoil in the world, she wanted to sing a “protest song” written by Leonard Bernstein during the Vietnam War. Is it asking too much for something billed as an entertainment event to just be an entertainment event? Don’t know how the rest of the audience took it because I walked out. It’s not free speech when somebody else has to pay for the stage and the microphone. (Regardless of her politics she sang flat and did too much talking.) I’ll exercise my “free speech” when it comes to the evaluation form.

To give a long overdue update, Monday was a scheduled sea day. Being the first sea day, there was an informal CC gathering in the Commodore Club. Only one is a regular CC poster, and one of my table mates knows all of the regulars but she’s an unregistered lurker. We had it quite pleasant on the starboard side with the sun exposure but the port side was so raw the deck stewards didn’t even put out the cushions. At the Captain’s welcome party there are no longer individual invitations. There is just the announcement in the program asking passengers to come to the party for their specific dinner seating. I had the opportunity to speak with the chief electrical officer. He was wondering why I was so interested in the turbines! But I did confirm that they are used quite often and always in New York harbor and any other place where reserve power is needed. There is also an electrical power setting, which preferentially gives power to the pods and thrusters, used whenever the ship has to maneuver.

Tuesday has us in Sydney, NS. Also in port are the Rotterdam and Oceana Insignia. The later ship is docked and was Payne’s project before he started work on Project Queen Mary. The enclosed forward section of the Rotterdam’s promenade deck is fully enclosed – as he would do on QM2. We’re tendering in and it’s about a half hour ride. Great for selfies with the ship in the background and it’s an unusually warm day for late September. For crew members it’s more difficult to get ashore. They have to ride in allocated crew seats as space is available. Our waiter says that she stays on the ship at tender ports as the two way ride takes up a lot of their time ashore.

Tonight there is quite a stiff breeze on deck. It’s so strong that even pushing my weight against the deck 11 doors I can’t get either one open.

My experience in Britannia has not been bad at all. I like late seating. Our table for eight only has four and we agree to sit around the curved end to help conversation. It cannot be made smaller as it may be full for the first seating. But do I miss the balcony and the connection to the sea.

We were fortunate to have such a nice day weather wise in Sydney because today is overcast and chilly. We have some white caps and are close enough to land for sea birds to come on deck. A tanker has been following us on the port side for much of the morning. The one habitable area of the promenade deck is between lifeboats 7 and 9 as there is a platform for the rescue craft. My new boat blanket turns out to be perfect for weather like this and I take in some sea air. Too bad Cunard doesn't use an item like this to market their Cunard on the Clyde registered tartan. Perhaps it would be too expensive of a price point?

The Noon announcement it is mentioned that we are now sailing in the restricted speed zone but we expect to arrive in Quebec on time. Also in Quebec Captain Wells will be coming on to replace Captain Philpott, so we will see QM2 fly the Blue Ensign again. One thing that is new since I last tendered - all passengers have to step across two white lines, spaced 18in apart, on a mat on their way to the tender. I didn't see anybody "flunk" this test but there will probably be questions if somebody cannot make it.

A sign displayed in Britannia mentions that the first sitting is entirely full. With 2569 passengers (capacity 2691) it means that every stateroom is booked. Not every berth, as some staterooms can sleep 3 or 4 but only 1 or 2 people are in them. Four table mates never showed so they may have wanted first sitting but it wasn't possible.

Today at 11 speaker Eric Flounders gave a talk on the planning of QE2, and how she came to be build by a near bankrupt shipping line and shipping yard. It's no wonder John Brown eventually did get absorbed and shut down. Multiple delays and ineptitude by Cunard (whose then-chairman had no shipping experience!), sequential strikes by the 18 trade unions and rampant pilferage of her fittings before they were even on board. One story has the Queens Room carpet unrolled only to find that a square for a living room with a bay window had been cut out. Stuff like this can't be made up.

I am enjoying your account of your voyage, the details make it come to life.

I see the return sailing from Quebec to New York which boards on Friday, 29th, is still advertised on the Canadian site. I believe they were fully booked a few weeks ago, but staterooms became available again last week, mainly balconies, at a much reduced rate. Very handy for someone who lives near either port and has the flexibility to pack up at short notice.

Thank you for taking the time to share this experience with us.

Had a lovely day in Quebec yesterday. Weather had a little chill in the air but a mixture of sunshine and cloud. Two days before it had been 30+ degrees, wow!

Walked around the high and low old town areas and the chateaux and did some shopping and had lunch. Love the city and more pleased as the ship docked close to the centre. We are on the starboard side and have a perfect view of the chateaux so very pleased.

It was very quiet on board last night as I guess a lot of people went on shore for something to eat. We saw lots of crew getting off bout 11pm for their night out.

We will be having our last breakfast in board before leaving our room and will chill out on the ship until our transfer to YQB at 3pm for a 6.30 flight to YYZ and then finally to LHR.

Another lovely trip over 😟.

2 weeks back at work and look forward to joining the QV in Athens. Will try to lose a little weight between now and then 😬

Have a good journey home and thanks for posting Lynne. How lovely to be back on a ship again so soon.

What a nightmare. Arrived at Quebec airport, everything fine.

Then saw all the Air Canada flights delayed to Toronto which didn't to bode well. Then ours went to delayed. A storm in toronto was the issue.

We were told not to board the flight if international as we would miss our Heathrow connection and no hotels were available. They booke us into a Quebec hotel instead but didn't get there until 9.30pm. We'd been kicked off ship at 10am so a very long day.

We're now sitting in the airport again awaiting the flight, but our BA seats are in economy which is not what we paid for. This can only be sorted out in Toronto so let's wait and see what happens. Very shatter d now and just want to get home. Hubby was supposed to have been working on Sunday but that's obviously impossible now.

I will report back when I know more.