Musical Arrivals

QueenElizabeth departed Gibraltar mid Sunday afternoon to arrive in Southampton at0630 on the Wednesday morning.

At about1630 on Monday, north-west of Porto in Portugal, we were advised that ahelicopter would arrive around 1830 to expedite a medical evacuation. Then an hour beforehand we were told therewould be no helicopter, but instead, we would be making an unscheduled stop inVigo, Spain. This we did.

I am guessingwhen I suspect we lost about four hours or so and on leaving Vigo I expected usto increase speed to arrive Wednesday at 0630 in Southampton. But no, we transited the Bay of Biscay thatnight at 19 knots which was roughly the same speed we had been going before theunscheduled stop. The navigation system was still reading an 0630 arrival. How could this be?

At 0730Tuesday morning the navigation system was still showing 19 knots and an 0630arrival. My immediate reaction was thatwe would be late into Southampton. Why weren’t we trying to make up time,perhaps because of the price of oil. Just before going to breakfast I noticed the speed had been increased to23.5 knots. Were we now trying to catchup?

No, itappears not, at 1015 whilst at breakfast there was an important announcementfrom the bridge saying that due to the loss of time going into Vigo we shouldnow be arriving at 1100 in Southampton and not 0630. So why have we just increased our speed if weare going to be that late?

There was passengerconcern about the re-booking of flights to Germany and the USA, which were themost common ones I heard. The navigationsystem was still registering 23/24 knots, but now an 1100 arrival. We wereadvised we would receive amended paperwork in our cabins. We never did.

At 1600, theevening before arrival, there was an announcement to public areas andcorridors, not cabins, so I missed it. Ihad to rely on others and was told we were now arriving in Southampton only 90minutes late at 0800. This was a relieffor those who had not changed their flights and annoyance for those who had andnow had to wait all day at the airport. Similarly, for train bookings. A reason I heard for arriving early was thatbad weather anticipated didn’t materialise. This was a surprise as it didn’t look like there was going to be any atall, not even in the Bay of Biscay. Theother reason for arriving earlier was there was no pilot in Southampton for an1100 arrival.

There issomething about these reasons that didn’t ring true. If the speed was increased markedly eighthours before the 1600 announcement someone must have known we should arrivewell before 1100. I had guessed it and was telling others on Tuesday lunchtime.

At 1830 onTuesday the navigation system was still suggesting an 1100 arrival, even thougha change to 0800 had been notified at 1600.

The bridgemight have been congratulating themselves ‘everything running smoothly up here’,but from a PR perspective not so good for passengers.

Then as wewere edging into the berth at Southampton there was an announcement that thiswas City Terminal Berth 101 and not Ocean Terminal as planned. Apparently, a ship in Ocean Terminal had notdeparted for technical reasons. Cunard could not have foreseen this.

The docksidepeople told us that Berth 101 was not fit for purpose for a large ship likeQueen Elizabeth and disembarkation was a slow procedure. Passengers were informed their cars werestill at Ocean Terminal and coaches would be provided to take them and theirluggage to their cars. This must havebeen a slow process.

To cap itall, when we arrived at baggage reclaim someone had made off with one of ourbags. They had left the terminal. This is the second time that this hashappened to us at Southampton even though we have unique markings on our caseslike ribbons. The lady in charge ofbaggage said if we knew how often this happened we would be amazed at the highoccurrence. What is the matter withpeople?

QueenElizabeth departed Gibraltar mid Sunday afternoon to arrive in Southampton at0630 on the Wednesday morning.

 

At about1630 on Monday, north-west of Porto in Portugal, we were advised that ahelicopter would arrive around 1830 to expedite a medical evacuation. Then an hour beforehand we were told therewould be no helicopter, but instead, we would be making an unscheduled stop inVigo, Spain. This we did.

 

I am guessingwhen I suspect we lost about four hours or so and on leaving Vigo I expected usto increase speed to arrive Wednesday at 0630 in Southampton. But no, we transited the Bay of Biscay thatnight at 19 knots which was roughly the same speed we had been going before theunscheduled stop. The navigation system was still reading an 0630 arrival. How could this be?

 

At 0730Tuesday morning the navigation system was still showing 19 knots and an 0630arrival. My immediate reaction was thatwe would be late into Southampton. Why weren’t we trying to make up time,perhaps because of the price of oil. Just before going to breakfast I noticed the speed had been increased to23.5 knots. Were we now trying to catchup?

 

No, itappears not, at 1015 whilst at breakfast there was an important announcementfrom the bridge saying that due to the loss of time going into Vigo we shouldnow be arriving at 1100 in Southampton and not 0630. So why have we just increased our speed if weare going to be that late?

 

There was passengerconcern about the re-booking of flights to Germany and the USA, which were themost common ones I heard. The navigationsystem was still registering 23/24 knots, but now an 1100 arrival. We wereadvised we would receive amended paperwork in our cabins. We never did.

 

At 1600, theevening before arrival, there was an announcement to public areas andcorridors, not cabins, so I missed it. Ihad to rely on others and was told we were now arriving in Southampton only 90minutes late at 0800. This was a relieffor those who had not changed their flights and annoyance for those who had andnow had to wait all day at the airport. Similarly, for train bookings. A reason I heard for arriving early was thatbad weather anticipated didn’t materialise. This was a surprise as it didn’t look like there was going to be any atall, not even in the Bay of Biscay. Theother reason for arriving earlier was there was no pilot in Southampton for an1100 arrival.

 

There issomething about these reasons that didn’t ring true. If the speed was increased markedly eighthours before the 1600 announcement someone must have known we should arrivewell before 1100. I had guessed it and was telling others on Tuesday lunchtime.

 

At 1830 onTuesday the navigation system was still suggesting an 1100 arrival, even thougha change to 0800 had been notified at 1600.

 

The bridgemight have been congratulating themselves ‘everything running smoothly up here’,but from a PR perspective not so good for passengers.

 

Then as wewere edging into the berth at Southampton there was an announcement that thiswas City Terminal Berth 101 and not Ocean Terminal as planned. Apparently, a ship in Ocean Terminal had notdeparted for technical reasons. Cunard could not have foreseen this.

 

The docksidepeople told us that Berth 101 was not fit for purpose for a large ship likeQueen Elizabeth and disembarkation was a slow procedure. Passengers were informed their cars werestill at Ocean Terminal and coaches would be provided to take them and theirluggage to their cars. This must havebeen a slow process.

 

To cap itall, when we arrived at baggage reclaim someone had made off with one of ourbags. They had left the terminal. This is the second time that this hashappened to us at Southampton even though we have unique markings on our caseslike ribbons. The lady in charge ofbaggage said if we knew how often this happened we would be amazed at the highoccurrence. What is the matter withpeople?

if you are referring to the navigation info on the cabin TV then that in my experience is often wrong or slow to update ,AIS had her doing 22+ knots through most of Biscay, 23.5 off Ushant and west channel pilot availibity is outside ship control, City Terminal frequently has ships lager than QE, eg NOTS , IOTS and Celebrity Eclipse in the next 4 days so the comment by shore staff is strange to say the least

on our delayed return from Baltic (Kiel) last year she did 23 kt all the way except through parts of the Great Belt

Berth101 is the terminal normally used by Celebrity Eclipse and the large RCI ships - so not sure why you were told it was not fit for purpose!

if you are referring to the navigation info on the cabin TV then that in my experience is often wrong or slow to update ,AIS had her doing 22+ knots through most of Biscay, 23.5 off Ushant and west channel pilot availibity is outside ship control, City Terminal frequently has ships lager than QE, eg NOTS , IOTS and Celebrity Eclipse in the next 4 days so the comment by shore staff is strange to say the least...

 

First, I believe speed and direction in the cabin is accurate as it is driven from ship control system whereas other things like arrival times are only updated from time to time manually, but when time of arrival is being changed so regularly it should be kept up to date.

 

 

Secondly, I know that pilot availability is outside the control of the ship, but you are missing two points. Wouldn't it be wise to check pilot availability before announcing an arrival time and in the few hours away from Southampton how do you arrive at 0800 instead of 1100 with no speed increase? The facts don't add up.

 

 

As a result of the lost luggage I spent quite a long time at Berth 101. Whether the shore staff move from terminal to terminal I don't know, but in this case they turned up at Ocean Terminal for work to find the ship was being diverted to Berth 101. Those I spoke to said it was normally smaller ships at this terminal. My experience was that disembarkation was backed up on the ship because on getting off the walkways were narrow and you could only proceed at the pace of the slowest. It was impossible to overtake. On arrival the entrance to the baggage reclaim was about 2m wide only and all the trolleys were parked there. People were backing trolleys out into the on-coming queue. The baggage area seemed crowded and congested compared with Ocean. We were told that getting the baggage off the ship is slower at Berth 101.

 

 

When we were ready to leave I called our driver and he was in a 400m, slow moving queue, to pick us up as there is only one single roadway approach. After about 10 minutes we decided to walk down the road to find him. We did after 200m. This is not a problem at Ocean as there are many approach lanes.

Has your missing case been returned to you?

Regarding disembarkation, we recently arrived on the QM2 at the Queen Elizabeth II Terminal. Although that terminal doesn't have the convenient ramps that the Ocean Terminal has, the procedure went smoothly and our two cases were where they were supposed to be.

Has your missing case been returned to you?

 

Regarding disembarkation, we recently arrived on the QM2 at the Queen Elizabeth II Terminal. Although that terminal doesn't have the convenient ramps that the Ocean Terminal has, the procedure went smoothly and our two cases were where they were supposed to be.

Yes thanks David. After hunting around for about 15 minutes or so I saw a case identical to ours but with a 3 inch diameter orange leather fob around the handle. Ours had ribbons so why he took ours I don't know. His case had a mobile number on the disembarkation label provided by Cunard. I called it twice over the next 10 minutes, but all I got was voice mail. I left a message. Then I found a person in charge of baggage and was about to fill forms when he phoned me back. He was one of first off the ship and had left by car. He wanted me to take his case and meet up somewhere, but the baggage boss wouldn't allow that he had to come back. With all the jams it took ages.

I watch your posts with interest because if you recall we sat on adjacent tables in the QM-2 Princess Grill on a NY to SO crossing a few years ago.

if you are referring to the navigation info on the cabin TV then that in my experience is often wrong or slow to update ,AIS had her doing 22+ knots through most of Biscay, 23.5 off Ushant and west channel pilot availibity is outside ship control, City Terminal frequently has ships lager than QE, eg NOTS , IOTS and Celebrity Eclipse in the next 4 days so the comment by shore staff is strange to say the least...

 

First, I believe speed and direction in the cabin is accurate as it is driven from ship control system whereas other things like arrival times are only updated from time to time manually, but when time of arrival is being changed so regularly it should be kept up to date.

 

 

Secondly, I know that pilot availability is outside the control of the ship, but you are missing two points. Wouldn't it be wise to check pilot availability before announcing an arrival time and in the few hours away from Southampton how do you arrive at 0800 instead of 1100 with no speed increase? The facts don't add up.

 

 

As a result of the lost luggage I spent quite a long time at Berth 101. Whether the shore staff move from terminal to terminal I don't know, but in this case they turned up at Ocean Terminal for work to find the ship was being diverted to Berth 101. Those I spoke to said it was normally smaller ships at this terminal. My experience was that disembarkation was backed up on the ship because on getting off the walkways were narrow and you could only proceed at the pace of the slowest. It was impossible to overtake. On arrival the entrance to the baggage reclaim was about 2m wide only and all the trolleys were parked there. People were backing trolleys out into the on-coming queue. The baggage area seemed crowded and congested compared with Ocean. We were told that getting the baggage off the ship is slower at Berth 101.

 

 

When we were ready to leave I called our driver and he was in a 400m, slow moving queue, to pick us up as there is only one single roadway approach. After about 10 minutes we decided to walk down the road to find him. We did after 200m. This is not a problem at Ocean as there are many approach lanes.

 

 

 

Vigo to Southampton is about 650 miles which at 35 hours if you left Vigo at about 2100 gives an average speed of 18.5 knots for an arrival at 0800 on 25th. Upto Cape Finisterre that according to AIS was her speed. For much of her track across Biscay she was doing 22- 23 knots as others have said on another thread. Off Ushant she was doing 23.3/5 knots, a speed she maintained up channel almost to the Nab. On leaving Vigo AIS gave her ETA to the Nab as 0845 local which would tie in with an 1100 arrival. Later while on the Biscay transit this changed to an earlier arrival time.

 

Having been at sea professionally in both SAR and pilotage for 25 years pilot availability can change for all number or reasons, delay on previous pilot duty, traffic changes etc . I would have expected the ship to advise Southampton VTS of its arrival time for pilot at least 24 hours in advance, the indication on her AIS signature on leaving Vigo suggests this was done. It is a request which may be met or not.

 

As to the city terminal the staff were partially correct in what they said, small ships, FO and Saga use it but so do ships much larger than QE with more than 1000 extra pax, namely IOTS, NOTS and Celebrity vessels as I know to personal experience.

 

The ship made up time arriving only 1 hour late with what I think would have been a 4 hour diversion. I would have thought this was a cause for gratitude. Obviously I don't know what was on the navigation page on your TV but AIS is very accurate.

 

The medical emergency and the change of berth were as you say outside the ship's control.

 

On leaving Vigo AIS gave her ETA to the Nab as 0845 local which would tie in with an 1100 arrival. Later while on the Biscay transit this changed to an earlier arrival time.

 

 

The above bit is what I do not understand. We had cleared Biscay and at 1015, the day before arrival, we were advised an arrival time of 1100. Then at 1600 the time was pulled back to an 0800 arrival. They must have known before 1600 we should arrive at the earlier time, but didn't tell us.

 

It didn't inconvenience us too much, but many on the ship spent, between 1015 and 1600, much time changing flights and trains etc. Some were unable to make changes so it finally turned out ok for them, but there were others who managed to change to later flights and then had to spend many hours longer at airports. I'm sure the PR could have been better.

 

On leaving Vigo AIS gave her ETA to the Nab as 0845 local which would tie in with an 1100 arrival. Later while on the Biscay transit this changed to an earlier arrival time.

 

 

The above bit is what I do not understand. We had cleared Biscay and at 1015, the day before arrival, we were advised an arrival time of 1100. Then at 1600 the time was pulled back to an 0800 arrival. They must have known before 1600 we should arrive at the earlier time, but didn't tell us.

 

It didn't inconvenience us too much, but many on the ship spent, between 1015 and 1600, much time changing flights and trains etc. Some were unable to make changes so it finally turned out ok for them, but there were others who managed to change to later flights and then had to spend many hours longer at airports. I'm sure the PR could have been better.

 

 

perhaps they were waiting for pilot confirmation bearing in mind that ship arrivals especially containers ships run as do cruise ships to a very tight schedule

 

if they had stuck to their original 1100 arrival someone would no doubt have worked out that by increasing speed to 22 /3 knots they could have arrived sooner and posted an adverse comment about not making up lost time "to save fuel" on FB or some other public forum

...

I watch your posts with interest because if you recall we sat on adjacent tables in the QM-2 Princess Grill on a NY to SO crossing a few years ago.

RJ, I don't specifically recall meting you in the restaurant, but I'm not saying we didn't. I do recall meeting you on an e/b crossing at the Cruise Critic get-together. I think that was 2014.

It's a good thing your missing case was sorted the same day, but it is still a worry and a major inconvenience.

Twice we have had luggage removed from 'Luggage Reclaim' at Southampton by other passengers even though we use ribbons on the handles with our initials.

I note some use named luggage straps. Is there a downside like USA customs opening the luggage and not putting them back?

Any thoughts please?

Any thoughts please?

Self-disembarkation puts the odds of this happening at as close to zero as possible.

What everyone on here says about City Terminal (berth 101) is correct. QM2, Norwegian Epic, Anthem of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas have been in it. It was expanded in 2007 to accommodate over 3000 passengers on Navigator of the Seas that summer and then Independence of the Seas from 2008. It was only chaos because of the last minute change. If you sailed from there on a bigger ship you'd see everything running like clockwork.

As for your navigational info, it isn't updated regularly. I've been on ships which kept the originally scheduled arrival time when we'd be early or late. Tracking websites like Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder were showing your actual speed. I had friends aboard so was updating them with VTS timings, ship location and speed. All important announcements like that should be in the cabins.