Capnpugwash is back on the Queen Elizabeth on the Autumn Retreat 2011

[capnpugwash]

Capnpugwash is back on the Queen Elizabeth on the Autumn Retreat 2011

Without wishing to start on a negative note, today is the 47th anniversary of the death of my father who I still think of fairly often, I wasn’t able to be with him when he died and I regret that fact even today. He would be 98 today so he died at a relatively young age. Subject closed!

As usual I woke early this morning anticipating this cruise but unusually I was able to get back to sleep and eventually rose at 7am. After performing my ablutions I finished packing my shirts and suits and went downstairs. I had a quick breakfast and then watched the Rugby World Cup final, New Zealand, in spite of their pre-game smugness just managed to beat France by one point.

As soon as the game finished I bade farewell to my family and drove to the port. The journey only took 85 minutes and upon arrival at 12.30, I was directed to drive to a vehicle waiting area where I and 60 other drivers queued to allow C&PS to handle the volumes of arriving passengers. It was only a 10 minute wait but I have never experienced it before. I was still on board and in my cabin before 1pm.

I found that my cheap and cheerful inside accommodation had been replaced by an outside cabin whose window overlooks a lifeboat, at least there is light coming into the cabin so in reality it doesn’t matter a jot.

The ship was berthed facing in with the port side to the dock which meant that I was unable to take a nostalgic picture of the stern while it still bears Southampton as its home port.

After a snack in the buffet I wandered around and bumped into some passengers and crew that I have travelled with before. Speaking to the crew I enquired of them whether the re-flagging would affect them at all. They were unanimous and quite vehement that it would not and they went on to say that if it did result in a cut to their income they would easily be able to find alternative employment with other lines. I know that there are various threads being stoked by the ignorant averring that it will reduce their income, perhaps this tedious subject can now be put to bed as I have related the true story from the horse’s mouth. To me it was blindingly obvious and not even worthy of comment that these crew members are only on board to make money which they mostly save, therefore any threat to that situation would result in a mass exodus to the gangway.

The Captain is Christopher Wells who I certainly have sailed with on some P&O vessels and the Entertainment Director is Amanda Reid who is an absolute sweetheart. I am in my cabin awaiting my luggage and have opened my unpacking juice, or as you may know it the Pol Acker. I am on my second glass so the initial shock has been survived and doubtless I will be able to finish the bottle before the passenger muster at 4pm.

For those of you who relish such details, there are 2 US, 1 European and 1 UK power sockets in the cabin, there is a slot by the door that requires a card to be inserted to ensure that the electricity is switched on, a Nectar or similar card works equally well as does the room key and is far more convenient. The A/C is not switched off when the room’s electricity is off as it is obviously supplied centrally. I have my trusty power strip with me as usual which will give me 4 UK sockets in case I may need them. There are 37 TV channels which include German, French and Spanish film channels, bow and stern cameras, 5 news channels and 9 radio channels. The rest are UK or US drama and films. There is a TV programming guide in the cabin that gives details of what is available to watch which may prove useful, the QM2 no longer provide this information, possibly in line with their attempts to be greener although I sense a bean counter at the bottom of the decision which is always a good place for them.

Our first port of call will be Amsterdam tomorrow afternoon and overnight, the tour office is advertising some quite expensive tours for our visit. They include a 3 hour cycle tour at $69, a 2 hour evening cruise at $72, a 3 hour canal cruise and a visit to the house occupied by Anne Frank at $82 and a 7 hour trip called “The Best of the Netherlands” at a mere $125 each. It would have to be good at that price. This city is one of the easiest to walk and the public transport is great, not that I am an advocate of such things but a few Euros will take you a long way on a bus, canal boat or in a cab, there may be a queue to get into the house of the unfortunate girl but $82 each is ludicrous in my opinion.

The unforgiveable has happened, I only managed to get 3½ glasses from the bottle and my luggage is still missing, so much for priority luggage handling. I suppose I may be to blame by having a long pour but looking through the on board documentation there is no help line that I can call for a replacement or additional bottle. Extra stress this early in the trip is not a good thing.

I just phoned Mrs P to wish her farewell and to let her know that there is no further need for the insurance policies as I arrived safely, as we spoke about the cabin I remembered that our previous trip on this ship had been in a Q1 suite with a butler and all the trimmings last November. In all honesty I am just as happy here with my lifeboat for company in spite of the missing 2800 square feet of space and having to unpack my own cases and open the wardrobe doors. 3000 square feet for two people is lunacy in my opinion and whilst the food and service were nice in QG, I have never had great problems in Britannia and our butler was as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.

The luggage duly arrived and I have unpacked and am ready to start the rigours of a 5 day cruise.

We have just had the muster and as usual it all went very well, the Captain gave the usual address and I believe that he reads a prepared text from a card although it might be that the bridge play a recording of the speech as it is invariably the same. I am back in the cabin and am heading up to the Commodore Club for an early meet and greet, we have decided on this evening as there are no sea days on which to hold it.

More later

[philayl]

Hi Jim, about time, I have been patiently waiting for your take on the re-flagging issue.:D

p.s. Have a good cruise.

[guernseyguy]

Speaking to the crew I enquired of them whether the re-flagging would affect them at all. They were unanimous and quite vehement that it would not ...I know that there are various threads being stoked by the ignorant averring that it will reduce their income....

 

Indeed! But given this is the case, one must wonder why Cunard has handled the PR so poorly.

 

Hope you have a fun voyage!

[pepperrn]

Cap'n, Have a G R E A T time, looking forward to reading all your posts.

 

(Last weekend I managed my fastest ever boarding of QM2, a little over 20 minutes from arrival at the QEII Terminal to entering the Grand Lobby! My "Priority" luggage arrived just after lunch... as always...)

 

With very best wishes,

[shinyshoes]

Hi Jim, Masefield obviously had you in mind. Have a good trip, the PA must be addictive.

Shiny

[Underwatr]

For those of you who relish such details, there are 2 US, 1 European and 1 UK power sockets in the cabin,

Capn,

 

On QE's sisters I have discovered a third US outlet in the corner behind the TV. It was easier to find on QM2 after they replaced the CRT TV with a flatscreen. Is there an unused outlet here on QE?

[Sauer-kraut]

The ship was berthed facing in with the port side to the dock which meant that I was unable to take a nostalgic picture of the stern while it still bears Southampton as its home port.

They are probably sanding off the letters already....:cool:

[Cruise Liner Fan]

Cap'n, I enjoy reading your posts.Have fun aboard Queen Elizabeth :) Regards,Jerry

[Salacia]

[/size]

They are probably sanding off the letters already....:cool:

 

It would take too long to sand off SOUTHAMPTON...my guess is that SOUTHAMPTON will be covered over with black paint under the cover of darkness when the ship is positioned in such a way as to avoid photo opps. Of course, I could be wrong, and Cunard will afford photographers the opportunity to record this historic change on the stern on each ship. -S

[Andiamo]

Good morning Jim.

 

Have a super wonderful Birthday on Board today.

 

Looking forward to hearing about your journey.

 

All the best,

 

Jeanne

 

PS: Yes, it is a dumb hour to be up right now!

[fg_hb]

Also birthday greetings from me. What's better to be on a ship such on a great day? I only think being in the mid of Atlantic on a liner with some motion of the sea is better.

 

I like your posts as every time. Please enjoy your trip.

 

Frank

[tangoll]

Why doesn't Cunard (or Carnival) just pay the Bermudan Gov't to create a new postal address with a town name of South-ampton or New Southampton or Southampton 2 or something that would satisfy the purists.

 

It would be nice to be able to leave some version of Southampton on the stern of the 3 Queens.

[capnpugwash]

Capn,

 

On QE's sisters I have discovered a third US outlet in the corner behind the TV. It was easier to find on QM2 after they replaced the CRT TV with a flatscreen. Is there an unused outlet here on QE?

 

There are 2 US outlets there, one of which is being used by the TV.

 

Update no 1

There were only 3 of us at the M & G but we still managed to put the world to rights in the very pleasant and convivial hour or so that we spent together. Returning to my cabin I dressed for the elegant casual dinner which lay ahead. We were heading out past the Isle of Wight into the English Channel and the ship was being buffeted by fairly strong 30 knot winds and a choppy sea, this caused the ship to pitch and roll a little for the remainder of the evening and overnight.

I had been assigned a 10 seat table in the Britannia and was the first to arrive, I was joined quite soon by a young man from the west country, a classical pianist from Israel and a classical singer who hailed from Serbia. There was a married couple who had cruised regularly on Royal Caribbean and the complement was joined by two mother and daughter pairs. We had a lovely time although there were some mix ups with the food orders for a couple of the assembled tablemates. It was nothing serious and was soon remedied once the waiters were made aware of the matter. I only wanted something light so I chose a Caesar salad followed by some spaghetti with a tomato based sauce. Both dishes were excellent and after dinner the singer, pianist and the solo male joined me in the Commodore Club, as we were switching to European time overnight it soon reached midnight and they all joined me in celebrating my birthday. We did quite a lot of celebrating, concluding the morning in the Yacht Club which is a disco bar adjacent to my usual haunt. The staff soon deserted us at around 3am and we managed to talk the pianist into playing some music for us on the grand piano that was in the corner. It was very special and she certainly has great skills on the piano.

Today is Monday October 24 and the time is 9.30. I awoke at 8am and went for breakfast to the Britannia where I sampled both the porridge and the eggs Benedict, after that I walked along to the very front of the accommodation on deck 6 where there is a metal door which gives access to a deck area in front of and below the bridge right at the bow of the ship. It was just after 9am and it seemed that my timing was perfect as we were just passing the mole that protects the entrance to the North Sea canal which grants ships access to Amsterdam. It is very sunny morning and quite chilly on deck although the wind strength has reduced significantly to 14 knots. We are due to arrive in the city just after 11.30 this morning. We are currently in the lock at Ijmuiden being raised to the same water level as the canal.

More later.

[cochboy]

Ahoy Cap'n.

We are sailing on Friday on QE for the first time and appreciate all your info. Was especially interested in the time you arrived as we are driving as well so wil now aim for 1200hrs ourselves. Have a great trip and enjoy your birthday.Tom

[north east girl]

Hi Capn, looking forward to reading all your posts. Have a great trip, you have some interesting table mates. How nice to get the pianist to play for you.

 

Catherine

[Bell Boy]

Hello Cap'n Jim, My word off again and so soon! What an understanding OH you have... she must be a saint to let you go off gallivanting again ;)

 

I was just thinking..... the next time (and it's not too long now) that you go off again, I'll be shadowing you...... So do I nip down to the computer room to catch up on your daily blog or..... Mmmmm..... do I hear it first hand over a drink or two before dinner.:D

 

Enjoy QE.

 

Bell Boy ;)

[lannp]

Happy Birthday Jim!

Eggs Benedict - sounds like the perfect birthday breakfast.

Linda

[capnpugwash]

Update no 2

 

Upon returning to my cabin just now I found two birthday cards on my bed, the first was from the Captain and the Entertainment Director whose signatures appeared to be pre-printed but the other card was from Jamie Firth who is the Maître d’ in Britannia, what a very kind thought from a very nice man. As we are in Amsterdam overnight it seemed reasonable to plan to head out into town after dinner this evening with the usual suspects from last night, I have no idea whether we will achieve our plan but if we do, it could be a lot of fun. One must consider that this plan was formulated a little after 3am this morning but even in the cold light of day it seems like an OK idea.

 

We continue eastwards along the canal at only 8 knots, this is probably in response to a local speed limit which seems logical on these waterways as a large wash could have serious consequences along the banks.

 

I am letting my breakfast settle for an hour or so before venturing to the gym for some rowing and cycling. I went up to the gym and did a solid 30 minutes cycling and rowing and then had a great sauna which is free and situated in each of the two changing rooms. There are lockers in these rooms and to gain a key you hand in your cruise card. Let me give you a word of warning, if you are going to spend 20 minutes in the heat of the sauna and you leave the key fob on the bench make sure that you pick it up by the plastic part rather than the metal of the key. As you may have guessed, I didn’t. But a small blister doesn’t really hurt, does it? In order to cool down I went to the outside pool on deck 9 and whilst the water was almost warm enough the air temperature was way too cold. Still it accomplished what I wanted and I am now showered and in my cabin seriously contemplating a nap to make up for the lost sleep overnight.

 

I couldn’t manage to actually get off but I do feel rested which might prove useful this evening. It has been a beautifully clear and sunny day but the temperature has just stayed low at around 11/52 degrees. We have moored at the cruise terminal which appears new, or maybe I just haven’t moored here before on prior visits. There is a bridge walkway connected to the ship rather like an airport jet way and this leads into the terminal building. There is a fairly large Movenpick hotel next to it which I think I remember from before but there seems to be an immense amount of construction going on throughout the dock area.

 

I am getting ready for some pre-dinner drinks so I will let you know tomorrow how this evening pans out.

 

More later

[phoebecat]

Dear Jim - wishing you a very happy birthday from myself and Paul. I will be boarding QE shortly with my Dad for a cruise to the Canaries (again!) - well it's to give Daddy a break after the rotten few months we've had since losing Mum - but anyway, that aside, Im so enjoying reading your notes on this new ship, and I so look forward to learning about her before we join in November. Take good care, and enjoy a glass or three tonight! Best, as ever.

[Bispham Boo]

Hope you had a good birthday evening, whether on or off the ship. Bev & Paul

[cunardqueen]

Speaking to the crew I enquired of them whether the re-flagging would affect them at all. They were unanimous and quite vehement that it would not and they went on to say that if it did result in a cut to their income they would easily be able to find alternative employment with other lines. I know that there are various threads being stoked by the ignorant averring that it will reduce their income, perhaps this tedious subject can now be put to bed as I have related the true story from the horse’s mouth. To me it was blindingly obvious and not even worthy of comment that these crew members are only on board to make money which they mostly save, therefore any threat to that situation would result in a mass exodus to the gangway.

 

The crew are hardly going to bite the hand that feeds them are they.Remember that have all signed pretty tight contracts.

 

And for what its worth the lecturers are advised as part of their contract not to make any adverse comments..On or off the ship.Everyone on board is singing from the same (Carnival) Hymn sheet

As for putting the subject to bed, Cunard might just realise this subject is still wide awake...

[thames_side]

"I walked along to the very front of the accommodation on deck 6 where there is a metal door which gives access to a deck area in front of and below the bridge right at the bow of the ship. "

 

Congratulations on getting out for a view over the bows. I was on her recently and all the doors to the little decks at the front seemed to be locked and barred. Did you have to open sea doors?

[Andiamo]

Jim,

 

If you think of it, please say hi to Jamie for me. You have my last name.

 

Hope your day today was grand.

 

Jeanne

[Ray66]

"I walked along to the very front of the accommodation on deck 6 where there is a metal door which gives access to a deck area in front of and below the bridge right at the bow of the ship. "

 

Congratulations on getting out for a view over the bows. I was on her recently and all the doors to the little decks at the front seemed to be locked and barred. Did you have to open sea doors?

 

Isn't this a crew area? When we arrived at that door on deck 6 on our QE cruise in June, it looked as though you weren't supposed to go through it. This is the part of the deck which you can see on the webcam I think. It sometimes shows people sat around sunbathing.

[Lady Hudson]

Jim - best wishes for a great voyage and Happy Birthday! I just read an email from Evelyn (remember she was at the doctor's table with us) and we are already talking about next summer and when we will both be on QM2. Please say hello to Jamie for me -- he is a very special person. I look forward to reading about your exploits as I get ready for parent/teacher conferences and report cards! Enjoy. Katherine