Capnpugwash is back on the high seas, BTB on QM2

[Coolgran]

Try using the page refresh at the top of the screen.;)

 

Thankyou so much----IT WORKED. Now I feel with the posts on here and the web cam I am with them, not that I want to spoil the cruise for them you understand, but we did 20 cruises on QE2 but still have to experience QM2.

Enjoy your fisrt cruise--there is nothing like it

 

Coolgran

[omakim]

Not wanting to disturb the flow of CapnP's postings, but the subject "lateness at the table" has surfaced. Need some advice: If I don't plan to make a sitting at all, should I tell the Britannia people ahead of time? Whom do I tell? The reason I ask this is because when the ship sails from Manhattan on 1 July I think the first sitting will coincide with passing out of New York harbor and I'll have my grandson with me and I don't want to miss it. Someone (Salacia) suggested that, because I have a balcony cabin, I get room service instead for that first supper and eat on my balcony and watch the harbor slide by.

 

So the question is: should I tell someone in Britannia if I'm not going to make a meal? I suppose I'm talking about supper only, as both breakfast and lunch are not first and second sitting.

 

Thanks. Jon.

[yojimbo]

 

So the question is: should I tell someone in Britannia if I'm not going to make a meal?

Thanks. Jon.

 

IMHO, it is common courtesy to inform one's tablemates if one is going to miss a meal in the dining room. A call to the maitre'd can accomplish this also

[Underwatr]

Coolgran:

If I might make a suggestion: :)

 

In your signature, if you place a space or a line feed between your tickers, they won't try to all display on the same line. Since the browser tries to put all of them on the same line, that makes your post wider than the screen width (and wider than all the other posts in the thread) on my computers, at least.

 

This makes it easier to reply to your posts since we won't have to scroll over to find the Quote & Reply buttons.

 

Thanks!

[omakim]

IMHO, it is common courtesy to inform one's tablemates if one is going to miss a meal in the dining room. A call to the maitre'd can accomplish this also/QUOTE]

 

Thanks. I believe in common courtesy too, but I don't know who my table mates will be. So - and I don't know how to "call" the maitre'd - I'll find him early on and tell him.

 

For following meals I will certainly let my table mates know if we won't be there, or any other irregularities.

 

Jon.

[newby20]

i think cunard should cut capn a cheque, after the last week of reading his posts, i have decided on booking a crossing next June. :-), thanks capn for all the wonderful updates, it almost makes me feel like im there. good times

[Coolgran]

Coolgran:

If I might make a suggestion: :)

 

In your signature, if you place a space or a line feed between your tickers, they won't try to all display on the same line. Since the browser tries to put all of them on the same line, that makes your post wider than the screen width (and wider than all the other posts in the thread) on my computers, at least.

 

This makes it easier to reply to your posts since we won't have to scroll over to find the Quote & Reply buttons.

 

Thanks!

Thank you that is much better:D

Coolgran

[capnpugwash]

i think cunard should cut capn a cheque, after the last week of reading his posts, i have decided on booking a crossing next June. :-), thanks capn for all the wonderful updates, it almost makes me feel like im there. good times

 

All contributions gratefully received :)

 

Don I will make a dogged enquiry but I do feel that I will be barking up the wrong tree, plus they lock you in from 8pm until 6am, not too conducive to socialising and it might end up like being in a penitentiary where you cellmate is a large mastiff. :eek:

 

Update No 28

 

We have just had the noon announcement by the Captain and nothing much is happening so he only spoke for less than a minute, there are no problems anticipated or forecast for the remainder of our crossing.

I went up to TE for lunch and this time I had two starters and no entrée, I also had a dessert and I didn’t feel at all full. That seems to be a good compromise. I did somehow manage to break my rather smart lightweight reading glasses so after the meal I went to the Purser’s Desk to see whether someone on board could repair them with Superglue or something similar, they took them to make the enquiry and said that they would let me know later. As I headed back to get changed for the spa, I walked through the gift shop and was delighted to find that they sell the plastic reading glasses of similar style for only $20. I know that they are cheaper ashore but not by much so I bought a pair which enables me to see to type and do some work. When I returned afterwards there was a message from the desk to tell me that regrettably they were unable to effect a repair, I didn’t think that they would be able to as the bridge piece which broke is of such a small cross section that there is very little to glue.

The wind has abated a little to force 5 but the sea remains rough. It is now 5.40pm and the temperature is55/13 degrees with a rising barometer. We have sailed 1506 nautical miles and 1622 remain, so we are almost halfway across.

More later.

[david,Mississauga]

I must agree but they are only mid 60s

 

Update No 27

 

... it did become apparent that Mr M-G has a long held dislike of walkers and joggers on the promenade decks, a view which I am able to fully support.

 

As someone who enjoys brisk walks - at sea as well as on land - I must respectfully "half" disagree with the Capn and Mr Maxtone-Graham. I agree that joggers are anoying with their inflated opinion of themselves as being a higher rank than walkers. (If my computer would do so, I would insert a smiley face icon here and at the end of these comments.) As there are people who object to passengers walking on the promenade deck, I suppose there are those who object to people swimming in the swimming pool or drinking in the bars or ... enough of this whimsy. But thanks for my morning smile!

[capnpugwash]

I must agree but they are only mid 60s

 

Update No 27

 

... it did become apparent that Mr M-G has a long held dislike of walkers and joggers on the promenade decks, a view which I am able to fully support.

 

As someone who enjoys brisk walks - at sea as well as on land - I must respectfully "half" disagree with the Capn and Mr Maxtone-Graham. I agree that joggers are anoying with their inflated opinion of themselves as being a higher rank than walkers. (If my computer would do so, I would insert a smiley face icon here and at the end of these comments.) As there are people who object to passengers walking on the promenade deck, I suppose there are those who object to people swimming in the swimming pool or drinking in the bars or ... enough of this whimsy. But thanks for my morning smile!

 

To be fair, I don't really object to walkers as much as joggers, I don't fully understand the attraction of constantly circling the deck but each to their own :):)

[NFLgirl]

Capn

 

Thanks so much for your posts. 10 of us are traveling aboard Queen Mary 2 eastbound on October 7 for our first TA. We are all celebrating signficant birthdays this year and this is our reward. It's been great to get a sense of what our week could be from reading your witty words.

[Underwatr]

NFLGirl:

 

There's a roll call thread for the October 7 crossing over here. Be sure to check in there (it's not very active over there yet).

 

I'd suggest you also seek out the photo galleries linked by a member named pepperrn.

[rgaudet]

 

To be fair, I don't really object to walkers as much as joggers, I don't fully understand the attraction of constantly circling the deck but each to their own :):)

 

Ok, I have to admit, that I...gee this is hard to say....OK I'll just say it:

 

I JOGGED ON DECK 7 OF QM2!

 

I feel much better now!

 

Seriously, I think I understand the concern, as I got elbowed by a jogger passing me as I was jogging, it can ruin a nice walk or stroll on beautiful deck (one of the best parts of the ship isn't it?). I tried to follow my own rules of simply walking when there were people around and only jogging when it was totally clear. The first time I jogged I noticed someone get a bit startled hearing me coming from behind and I felt quite bad about that. I never got that reaction again after I simply went with the flow when it was busy and really tried to not make anyone feel like they had to get out of the way. (hope that shows we all don't consider ourselves a higher rank;))

 

And why do it? What a special place to jog, in the middle of the ocean, the sea air, and the light sea spray on my face, well it made my day even if I was walking for much of it.

 

And now back to your original programming!!

[Salacia]

 

Ok, I have to admit, that I...gee this is hard to say....OK I'll just say it:

 

I JOGGED ON DECK 7 OF QM2!

 

I feel much better now!

 

Seriously, I think I understand the concern, as I got elbowed by a jogger passing me as I was jogging, it can ruin a nice walk or stroll on beautiful deck (one of the best parts of the ship isn't it?). I tried to follow my own rules of simply walking when there were people around and only jogging when it was totally clear. The first time I jogged I noticed someone get a bit startled hearing me coming from behind and I felt quite bad about that. I never got that reaction again after I simply went with the flow when it was busy and really tried to not make anyone feel like they had to get out of the way. (hope that shows we all don't consider ourselves a higher rank;))

 

And why do it? What a special place to jog, in the middle of the ocean, the sea air, and the light sea spray on my face, well it made my day even if I was walking for much of it.

 

And now back to your original programming!!

 

Hi rgaduet. I am one of those passengers that annoy joggers. I walk the deck. Well, I think I'm walking, but my husband tells me I'm only strolling. He prefers a faster pace, so he goes to the on-board gym and jogs like crazy on the treadmill (or whatever it's properly called) and then we walk/stroll around the deck several times.

What I like about walking the Pomenade Deck: I still get the light sea spray on my face even at a slower pace. I've found that often there is an opportunity to exchange a pleasant greeting with fellow passengers while walking. (I've noticed that joggers might have a brief exchange with other joggers, but more often wear head phones, shutting out the rest of the world while others jump out of their way.) Plus I don't have to wear a jogging outfit -which often looks like underwear -to simply walk the Promenade Deck.

 

Nevertheless, I am happy that the ship is large enough to accompany a variety of activities, and I applaud your healthy pursuit of physical fitness.

 

Regards,

Salacia

Stroller

[Salacia]

For those unfamiliar with walking the deck on QM2, here is a video that was posted by jodal2 on Utube titled "Walking the around the deck - Queen Mary 2 June 2010"

[Railer]

I've always thought of cruising as a nice way to get to other places. I have my second cruise booked, an eastern Mediterraen on the QV in October. It involves only two sea days out of twelve. While visiting the various ports I expect to be on my feet for long periods of time so I may be quite tired by the time we get back on board. I'm surprised to hear from the Capn how few people there are in G32 on a TA. I would think that on a relaxing cruise like that, more people would be going out for the night. My thinking has always been to visit Europe, one would have to fly. My attitude has changed. I've started thinking about planning a trip to England using Cunard for my transportation. I must admit Capn that I'm very envious that you are privileged enough to be able to enjoy the QM2 so often. Enjoy.

 

Russ

[brigittetom]

Capn, I have really enjoyed the reading. So glad you are having such a wonderful journey once again.

 

Personally, I find that on any ship, you just have to deal with people who decide that it's their right to have their space on the ship and everyone else will have to deal with it. Determined joggers, determined teens, determined people in line to get anywhere on the ship that has lines. All really nice people until they want their space. Who knew???:)

 

I'm still wondering why the late night life on the ship is basically non existant. It seems as if Cunard has been working on discourarging it lately. :)

[capnpugwash]

Capn, I have really enjoyed the reading. So glad you are having such a wonderful journey once again.

 

Personally, I find that on any ship, you just have to deal with people who decide that it's their right to have their space on the ship and everyone else will have to deal with it. Determined joggers, determined teens, determined people in line to get anywhere on the ship that has lines. All really nice people until they want their space. Who knew???:)

 

I'm still wondering why the late night life on the ship is basically non existant. It seems as if Cunard has been working on discourarging it lately. :)

 

I can't explain G32 but it is all the bars, they are all very quiet, the loss of an hour doesn't help but it is only 1 hour:eek:

 

Rob, this is not a confessional but it is good to tell the truth, at least that is what my priest always says whenever I visit him in prison. :)

 

Update No 29

 

Dinner passed without incident and I thought that I might have an early night for a change. The temperature is 55/13 degrees and we have a force 5 breeze with a rising barometer; the sea is still classified as rough with 12 foot waves. We are over half way to Southampton having run 1612 miles leaving 1515 to go.

Today is Tuesday June 14th and I woke after a good sleep at 7.30am, the temperature is 54/12 degrees, the wind and sea state are unchanged and we have sailed 159 nautical miles overnight. Our speed has reduced to 17 knots.

I went to King’s Court for my breakfast, no Weetabix in sight but they do have a delicious Birchermuesli which makes a good substitute, it is muesli with fruit and other unidentifiable things in it, all mixed up with a milk and yogurt blend. It is creamy and very nice, now I am going to pose a question that you may wish to answer, what was the nationality of the lady who I overheard saying to the chef this morning, “Gimme a 4 egg white omelette with cheese, that’s 4 egg whites only with cheese. Don’t forget the cheese”. She disappeared to collect the rest of her breakfast and when she returned said “Is that it? Did you put cheese in?” I thought how charming, not a please or thank you in sight, sadly that seems to be very often how passengers speak to the crew on here, not all passengers but certainly a large number of them. On that same subject I have just walked along the quite rocky deck and I opened the door to go inside to find an elderly couple who could well have been related to this lady. I held the door open for them and indicated that they should come through, they did so in absolute silence so I felt compelled to say quite loudly to them, “Thank you very much, you’re welcome”, with as much irony as I could muster, he then mumbled his thanks and scuttled off in the wake of his wife. I was always taught that good manners cost nothing and that please and thank you are perhaps the most important words that one should use.

While I was in the spa pool the ship started to rock fore and aft, there is not much more pleasant than being in a pool on a ship, and there is not much more pleasant than being in a warm, bubble filled pool on a ship apart for when the ship is pitching so nicely and you feel as though you are on the gentle cycle in a washing machine. This idyllic scene was interrupted when a tall bearded gentleman took off his robe and proceeded to show me that in fact he was the proud possessor of two beards! The second one had a distinctly larger nose though! I pointed out that swimming costumes were required and he speedily redressed and disappeared into the changing room not to return. And people say that life on board is dull.

I must mention a deck walker that was performing this morning, he was wrapped up warmly and as he strolled along he had his hand tight to his chest holding the stem of a video camera filming the scene as he circumnavigated the busy deck, all the oncoming passengers will be possibly unwilling stars in his film, my advice is to wait for it to appear on YouTube, you heard it here first. The only other matter is that I saw the gaudiest pair of trainers ever, they had lime green soles and the uppers were a combination of bright orange and Day-Glo yellow. I imagine that they must be made to provide extra visibility in the early morning or twilight.

The Captain has just made his noon announcement and said that the seas are currently running at about 15 feet and that they are forecast to increase to 20-25 feet later today and tomorrow. The temperature is still around 54/12 degrees and the wind is force 5 from the northwest. Our speed is 20 knots and we are 450 nautical miles from the Azores, which is an island group in the mid Atlantic and were formed by the Mid Atlantic Ridge when it rose from the sea bed.

Mr M-G is giving his fourth lecture this afternoon at 3.30pm and his subject matter is SS France which apparently became the Norway, it doesn’t really sound gripping but the others have been so good that I feel duty bound to attend and expand my horizons.

More later.

[rgaudet]

Rob, this is not a confessional but it is good to tell the truth, at least that is what my priest always says whenever I visit him in prison. :)

.

.

.

The Captain has just made his noon announcement and said that the seas are currently running at about 15 feet and that they are forecast to increase to 20-25 feet later today and tomorrow. The temperature is still around 54/12 degrees and the wind is force 5 from the northwest. Our speed is 20 knots and we are 450 nautical miles from the Azores, which is an island group in the mid Atlantic and were formed by the Mid Atlantic Ridge when it rose from the sea bed.

 

 

Ok, that made me laugh! Very funny!

 

Curious to know about how the ship and the people react to the 20-25 foot waves. Is it common to have waves that high? I'd like to get to the point where I could enjoy that but fear I'd be turning green!

[capnpugwash]

Ok, that made me laugh! Very funny!

 

Curious to know about how the ship and the people react to the 20-25 foot waves. Is it common to have waves that high? I'd like to get to the point where I could enjoy that but fear I'd be turning green!

 

Rob there is a mixed reaction, vomit bags appear and passengers disappear but that is exactly what this ship is designed to cope with. It is wonderful, exhilarating and memorable. Especially low down on decks 2 or 3 through the windows or from an in-hull balcony. The awesome power of the ocean is clearly demonstrated.

[hwfiv]

Hello Capt.... I love the transatlantics also and have done nine of them and one back to back out of New York .. though with this new slower schedule and fewer transatlantic there's only one choice now per year for North Americans to do one from New York.. I see that you keep mentioning the slower speeds as you are happy they were actually doing 23 kn!!. I'm booked on the October 23 Crossing out of New York and have not experienced the seven day so I'm a little worried a lot of the exhilarating experiences of traveling at 28 kn are now gone.. I like to sit down on deck 2 and 3 forward and watch the waves splash against the window at 28 kn I suppose that's all gone and replaced with a flat cruiseship calm ..Though I had better get used to because looks like is the new standard as next year schedules are also 7 day crossings... I doubt they're much worried about the smaller group of passengers that want a faster crossing if the ships are still full and they're saving fuel expenses and charging more!!

 

I, myself, am THRILLED that the crossings are 7 days in length! That just means more time on the QM2 when you do a crossing. I guess I understand some may want the crossings to happen quicker if they're using the QM2 as a means of transportation, but for me, and I think a lot of others - the QM2 is not only transportation across the Atlantic, but also a destination in and of itself. I'm about to embark on a 5 night on the QM2 to Nova Scotia and Boston, and I can't tell you how MUCH I wish they had seen fit to add another couple of days to this itinerary. 5 nights just doesn't seem to be enough.

[Golfister]

Has anyone else been looking at the QM2 webcam? There's no sign of any waves and the ocean has been looking very calm! Are Cunard "doctoring" it so that we all get complacent and book a transatlantic crossing:)??!!!

[Jimsgirl]

My goodness Capn

 

Two naked men , one going westbound , and now one going easttbound,!

 

Now of course I believe you , but its strange, when in March I reported a couple who put their bare feet on the table in the cafe on the QV, there was a number of posters who implied I was lying, that such an event could not happen on Cunard.

 

I do wonder what they will make of your two visions of "nature in the raw." It seems your $10 a day spa pass also included entertainment.!

[hwfiv]

I think that perhaps both you and Salacia may be reading my position wrongly, if a table member was ill then obviously that would never be construed as rudeness. Regarding late arrivals, everyone including hosted tables are subject to the doors in Britannia being opened late. I agree that a ten minute window is fine but double that is not, or it should be accompanied by an apology and perhaps an explanation.

 

Is there perhaps a way to let your table-mates know that you won't be attending dinner that evening, if a last minute change should happen? For us, we already know which evening we'll be eating Todd English, so we'll be able to let everyone at our table know that in advance, but should one of us not feel well one evening, or if we simply decide to do something else for dinner, could we, perhaps, let the maitre d' station know (via telephone) that we won't be joining, so that the table can go ahead and eat? I'm sure they have MORE than enough to do already, but on the other hand, if tables are holding on ordering because of no-show's that may or may not come, then wouldn't it be better to at least have word somehow?

 

As far as being late, I think people should do what most people in New York City do with latecomers: If they're not there after about 10 or so minutes, then appetizers are ordered, and enjoyed. And those who were late, taking responsibility that there are consequences to being late (even if it's a no-fault situation), simply understand that they'll be missing out on appetizers that evening. In terms of strangers eating together on an Ocean Liner, then I think it's a very simple thing: the latecomers either get to miss appetizers and then will eat the main course together with the rest of the table, OR they will simply be one course behind the rest of the table, and the rest of the table should not feel unhappy about going ahead, since they were able to make it on time. I mean, it's one meal, people! Not like it's an event of a lifetime. Hearing stories about people showing up significantly late, and then blaming their table-mates for not waiting is completely absurd and selfish. Do those same people also show up late for a Broadway or West End show and then blame the actors for the curtain going up on time? Whoever said "money doesn't buy class" should have been given a medal!

[capnpugwash]

My goodness Capn

 

Two naked men , one going westbound , and now one going easttbound,!

 

Now of course I believe you , but its strange, when in March I reported a couple who put their bare feet on the table in the cafe on the QV, there was a number of posters who implied I was lying, that such an event could not happen on Cunard.

 

I do wonder what they will make of your two visions of "nature in the raw." It seems your $10 a day spa pass also included entertainment.!

 

How reassuring that you do.