sfred

36 minutes ago, Flickit said:

Tauranga - Mount Maunganui today.

Thanks much for your photo updates, @Flickit.  Appreciate you sharing your adventures.  It looks like your weather has been a bit hazy/stormy.  Or is it just my eyesight getting fuzzier with age?

A little over two months to go for us to be back on QE again.  Counting the days!

2 hours ago, rog747 said:

May I have my first go at WITW please>? 

There is much history surrounding the chap in the statue.
If you look very close you can just see the Cunard ship...an extra point if you can name her.

That would be the statue of Charles I of Austria, in the Monte gardens of Funchal, Madeira.  Both QE and QV have been there this year, QV a bit more recently, so I'll guess QV.  In your photo, the ship seems to be more to the left side of the Funchal pier, whereas QE was further to the right when we were there on 14 September.

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

It looks like La Rochelle

The three towers of La Rochelle (Saint Nicholas, Lantern, and Chain) which guard the port entrance have a rich history, dating from 1384.  A chain extending from Saint Nicolas to Chain was used to stop ships from entering the harbour.  Presumably there were no barriers to @Lanky Lad's QV port call in 2018.

1 hour ago, QM2_SYD said:

I would say Queen Elizabeth at Port Chalmers, Dunedin NZ.

Correct!  Webcam captured during QE's port call today 7 December 2023.

https://www.portotago.co.nz/otago-harbour/webcams/

Here's a webcam for an already-seen port.  I've cropped out the data/time banner.  One of the port vehicles is just covering the ship's name on the stern, so bonus points for guessting the ship between QE/QV.

21 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Queen Mary 2 2026 Itineraries

The first thing that stands out for me is the "Panama Canal Transit" on the 2026 World Voyage itinerary. We know QM2 can fit through the new Panama Canal locks but it's a tight fit for QM2 to get under the Bridge of the Americas.

It will be a very close fit.  The Bridge of the Americas clearance at high tide is 61.3 meters.  QM2 from keel to funnel is 72.0 meters.  At a typical draft of approximately 10.3 meters, that leaves an air draft of approximately 61.7 meters.  I guess they are planning to go through at a lower tide.  And maybe tell everyone out on deck to crouch down.

It felt close even for QE during our August transit earlier this year.

If it occurs, the Bridge of the Americas would replace the Askoy Bridge in Bergen Norway as the lowest bridge in the world that QM2 passes under.  Askoy has a clearance of 62 meters.

4 hours ago, kindofanewbie said:

Will be travelling on QM2 and dining in Britannia. I have a tradition with my 13 year old son that on our last night of any holiday, we only eat desserts for dinner (cakes, puddings, ice cream, whatever he wants!) Would this be any sort of issue in Britannia? Would it cause hassle for the servers in any way? We can stick to King's Court if so, but I think he would enjoy the experience more in the "posh" dining area.

 

Thanks!

Sounds like a very nice tradition.  "Whatever he wants" might not be possible, although your waiters would probably try their best.  A selection of any or all of the items on the dessert menu that day will definitely not be a problem.

We bought two plug adapters (adaptors?  I think you are right @maggielou362) for our last QE voyage at one of the local Australian tech retailers, one for a UK plug and one for a Europe plug.  They have two usb ports and an Australia socket.  These, plus a few standard simple plug adapters for the US, are enough for all our devices.  I've never been questioned about using  these when aboard.

As you say, Cunard (and the world in general) tends not to provide a great deal of support for our somewhat unique Aus/NZ power needs.  Plug adapters are needed.

A typical QM2 Britannia cabin will have two UK plugs and two US plugs at the back of the desk.  There are two more US plugs to the left of the below photo, near the kettle.  QV and QE also offer a European plug, but QM2 does not. 

Power strips, particularly those containing circuit breakers/surge protection are not allowed, so we bring several adapters.  Per the Cunard FAQ:

1 hour ago, alibabacruisers said:

We are happy to be home after 8 days in Barcelona and 34 days on QE.  There was quite a bit of coughing most of the cruise with people still not covering their coughs, not using the hand sanitizer and blaming everyone else.  Early on we almost were not going to be allowed without masks at one port (forgot which one) because of covid cases, but then they changed their minds...hmmm.  Luckily, we did not get sick and are still ok.  

 

I hope you are doing well woorimbeachlady.

Welcome home to Australia, @alibabacruisers!  Glad you had a nice voyage.

Mrs sfred and I were also lucky to get off QE in Barcelona after 36 nights as healthy as when we stepped on.  We didn't notice as many health issues amongst the passengers during our voyage.  We took the usual precautions in ports and on the ship, and also maintained anti-malaria precautions of insect repellent and preventative doses of gin and tonic (🙂).  Perhaps the G&Ts worked on covid too?

Where/when is your next Cunard adventure?  Disembarking and returning to home life seems a little easier when there's a future voyage to look forward to.

Thanks @bluemarble.  Wow.  Well, that will finally resolve the asterisk on Seattle for the "Where in the World" game.

1 hour ago, LadyL1 said:

We have had the most splendid, sunny day in Madeira.

Funchal is a great cruise stop,

Thanks or your report and photos, @LadyL1.  The Madeira holiday decorations look very nice. 

We too had an excellent day in Funchal from QE back in September.  We departed at dusk, and enjoyed sailaway from our balcony.  We have an enduring memory of all the lights on the hills as we went around the island to depart to the northeast.

25 minutes ago, NE John said:

Yea, I thought it was a lame reason too. I’ve always liked the idea of circumnavigating Australia with Cunard. Oh well. 

You still have a chance.  Q431B departing and arriving Sydney 18Oct-17Nov 2024.

10 minutes ago, NE John said:

there is very recent news

Here is a link to a press article

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/cruises-pull-out-of-melbourne-after-tax-hike/news-story/ac6baf3032039c22774376441807a295

11 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

It is one of the greatest mysteries of history how the Romans managed to conquer so much of the world without having coffee, tea, or orange juice to get them started in the morning.

So true...  Or tomatoes.  Perhaps they found inspiration from the idea of future Cunard ships bearing Roman geographic names.  🙂

The internet purchase page on the Cunard MyVoyage intranet offers the premium service first, and you usually need to scroll down a little ways to find the lower price and purchase button for the basic service.  This is especially true if using a mobile phone with a mall screen size.  Not a bad business strategy for Cunard, but it can be a little misleading and result in passengers buying the higher priced premium service by mistake.

I received an email today from Cunard indicating a change and reshuffle on Q408 in February.  Stated reason is "port unavailability".  Previous schedule was:

Changes are:

23Feb sea

24Feb Lifou New Caledonia

25Feb Port Vila Vanuatu

26Feb Luganville Vanuatu

28Feb Lautoka Fiji

29Feb Suva Fiji

Lifou replaces Isle of Pines in New Caledonia.  Other ports reshuffled.  The formal night schedule is unchanged.

12 minutes ago, rog747 said:

The old fortress of Corfu   - I was going to say Dubrovnik at first but its Corfu Town  - great for a wander 

Corfu and the Fortress is correct!  And you are right about both Corfu and Dubrovnik being great for wandering.  Photo was taken 26 September 2016, on a QV voyage from Civitavecchia ro Venice via Corfu, Dubrovnik, and Kotor.

28 minutes ago, NE John said:

I’ll open with Naples, Italy. 

Sorry, it is not Naples.

As Auckland proved to be rather easy, here's another picture from a past voyage that I found in my archive folders.  This one is from a different Cunard ship. 

@QM2_SYD and @Colin_Cameron are correct.  Photo was taken 27 February 2015 on a short four night trip from Auckland to Sydney.  This was part of QE's world voyage that year, prior to Cunard basing QE here for the summer. 

With QE now back in Australia/NZ waters for the summer season, I was clicking through some old trip photo files and ran across this picture.  The buildings in the background might be familiar enough to identify this already-seen port.

14 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

QE has arrived at Fremantle

Welcome back to Australia!!

When QE was doing the relocation from Alaska to the Mediterranean in August/September, we stopped in San Francisco and Los Angeles on the way to Panama.  SF was the first US port, LA the second.  We did not have to zero out in LA.

On the Atlantic side, Ft. Lauderdale was the first US call after stops in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Aruba.  We had to zero out in FtL.

Thanks @alibabacruisers!  Your photos brough back some good memories of a QE short weekend getaway we did in December 2019 from Adelaide to Melbourne.  Santa made a visit, and there were carols by the crew on the steps of the grand staircase.  A very enjoyable time.

Embarkation day in Adelaide was one of those ridiculously hot South Australia summer days - somewhere around 45c.  We tried to have a beer outside in the shade on deck 9 aft, but it was just too hot.  The next day at sea on the way to Melbourne struggled to get to 15c.