Capnpugwash is making his last crossing of 2011 on QM2.

[rgaudet]

It is now 3.30pm and the sea continues to be a little boisterous with 8-10 foot waves and a force 7 near gale blowing foam and spray everywhere. The ship is bouncing around quite a lot now and as I walk along the corridor initially I am climbing a hill and this is immediately followed by the sensation of running downhill as the ship rises and falls quite severely, the main movement is pitching and there is a slight rolling but think that this is only caused by the wind blowing on the side of the ship.

 

Finally some movement for you! Glad to hear it after all your smooth TAs this year!

 

Have fun!

[Lady Hudson]

Enjoy your trip, Jim. I will be following all of your exploits and wishing I was with you! Katherine

[JWB.ESQ]

Hello, Jim. I'm glad you're enjoying the ride.

 

Betsy and I will be back aboard 19 December - 03 January. Like you, we've never met Mr. Howie. I assume that he'll be aboard for our trip. Do you have any word on who'll be in command after the refit? The Cunard US website just updated the November officers list today, but it's silent about post-refit staffing.

 

Thanks for the posts.

[capnpugwash]

Update no 4

 

I had a very nice time for the cocktail hour; the bar was fairly quiet as most passengers had predictably gone to the Captain’s party. At 8.30 I went into dinner and shortly after that the remaining tablemates and the host arrived, there was 1 man missing and the consensus on the table was that he had been laid low by the movement of the ship. The Hotel Manager, Robbie Howie was in charge of the table and we had a fine old time. The conversations around the table were wide ranging as usual and our table was the last to leave the Britannia at 11.15. Robbie confirmed that the QM2 would be re-flagged during the upcoming refit and that the operative date is December 1st. he also told us that as part of the refit it is intended to fit spy-holes in every cabin door in accordance with new regulations, I suggested to him that it might be a good idea to fit a pair of coat hooks on the outside of either the bathroom or wardrobe walls, it will be interesting to see what actually happens.

 

The ship was moving quite a lot during dinner and this continued for the remainder of the evening. The wind remained at force 7 and the Commodore Club was quite empty with less than 10 customers. Nonetheless there was a great party atmosphere along the bar which continued with the addition of a few people until the bar closed at 2am, which given the hour adjustment was in fact 1am. Whilst there Paul O’Loughlin turned up and in response to my question explained that the missing DJ would be replaced before we leave New York on Thursday.

 

Today is Saturday November 12th and it is 6.45am, the sea state has reduced a little and is now slight, the westerly wind is a force 5 strong breeze and the barometer is now rising. The air temperature is 55/13 degrees and we are currently 815 nautical miles from Southampton and 2440 from New York and are making 22 knots.

 

I am heading up for an early breakfast and I believe that the Norovirus situation has been eradicated and that today we will return to a Yellow level which means that bar snacks and canapés will reappear.

 

More later

[capnpugwash]

Update no 5.

 

The buffet was in full operation, there was no need to be served so it seems that the crisis has passed which is a great relief, not only to me but also to all the crew who have to perform so much more cleaning and sanitising. Roberta who is a tablemate told me last night how well she thought that the Captain and the crew had handled the outbreak, she has been on board for the last 19 days and gets off on Thursday in New York where she lives.

 

The weather is quite peculiar, the sea looks like glass although the swells are still present but as the wind has died to a mere force 3, gentle breeze. The barometer is falling yet the sun is shining and being reflected by the glassy sea. The temperature has dropped to 52/11 degrees. We seem to be surrounded by rain clouds as everywhere I look there are rainbows or parts of rainbows; where is that pot of gold when you need it? Our speed is now only 19 knots which feels like we are parked.

 

I am just back from the spa having got there just after opened at 8am, I was getting changed a few minutes ago and there was a cacophony of noise from the pool. Being inquisitive I stuck my head round the corner and there were about 10 people in the pool, 6 or 7 in the hot tub and most of the seats were occupied and I must say that I have been to quieter rugby matches, thank heavens I got my bits done before that lot arrived.

 

The guest speaker programme seems quite interesting; there is a Deputy Captain Rick Reynolds who used to fly Concorde, an American geologist called Dr Kenneth Johnson, Roger Guinn who formed the group The Byrds back in the distant past and a diver and maritime lecturer Martin Woodward. The entertainment remains pretty standard with the same Headliner shows being performed week in, week out. There was a male singer performing yesterday who reportedly was very good, hi is called David Shannon and hails from Cork, I didn’t see him but all those to whom I have spoken who did, said how very good he was.

 

More later

[Cornus]

Roger McGuinn was also on our east bound TA on Oct. 7. I really enjoyed his presentations.

[Whitemarsh]

Whilst there Paul O’Loughlin turned up and in response to my question explained that the missing DJ would be replaced before we leave New York on Thursday.

 

Well that's good to hear. I was wondering if any of the entertainment staff, or other crew members, had ever given their thoughts on why QM2 has a Caribbean band?

[Dutchtreat19]

After this I headed to the pub and had a couple of glasses of lager with Dario the barman before heading to the spa to book a season ticket for the 14 days. The guy serving had some strange ideas of what I should pay but I was successful in getting him to halve his first offer and agree that $10 per day was sufficient. He was happy and so was I, deal done.

 

 

How do you manage to get a $10 per day charge in the spa? The price listed on the Cunard website is much higher.

Tania

[Scrapnana]

How do you manage to get a $10 per day charge in the spa? The price listed on the Cunard website is much higher.

Tania

 

What does the daily charge cover?

[capnpugwash]

What does the daily charge cover?

 

Use of the facilities without any treatments.

 

Update no 6

We are now well out into the Atlantic Ocean, the weather and sea state are unchanged, and our position is due north of The Azores. It is now 4.30 in the afternoon and the sun set 30 minutes ago at just past 4pm. We have started our great circle route which will bring us to the Ambrose Light Pilot Station early on Thursday morning. We have now travelled 1060 nautical miles which leaves us 2200 so we have completed nearly a third of our journey.

Tonight is the second formal evening of the voyage, and perhaps the man who didn’t arrive at our table last night will be able to make it tonight. He didn’t in fact make it and after the usual cocktails I went into dinner. The host tonight was the Medical Officer, Jonathan David. He is a 32 year old doctor and was a very charming host who had only joined the ship three weeks ago and will be leaving when we get back to Southampton. I asked him why there was no longer a Medical staff table in the dining room and it seems that this may have disappeared as part of the cutbacks; this seems a great shame to me especially as the savings cannot be that great. Anyway we had a lovely evening in his company and the wines that the sommelier selected were great so it all added up to a super evening. We left the dining room at around 10.45 and there was no bar stool available in the Commodore Club so I took the hint and thought that an early night wouldn’t do me any harm.

We are not gaining an hour tonight or tomorrow night so we will do so for the last three nights of the trip. It is now about 11.30 and the ship has started to move about again, it is pitching quite a lot and there is a slight roll from side to side. We are doing 21 knots through a rough sea with waves up to 12 feet. The force 7 near gale is a headwind at about 30 knots. It is cool with temperatures around 50/10 degrees and the barometer is rising. It is very nice to have this movement on board as everyone now knows that they are in fact on a ship. Given the sea conditions the ship is performing very well, in fact it is doing precisely what it was designed to do.

More later

[Andiamo]

Hi Jim. Happy, again, to follow your journey. Hope you are having a grand time. Also, hope you got my message in one of your haunts.

 

Forgive me for treading on your musings, but saw Jack post here today and wanted to give him a hello, so, hi Jack.

 

Jeanne

 

ps: Extremely proud of myself for writing this on my I-Pad. See you in the funny pages.

[capnpugwash]

Hi Jim. Happy, again, to follow your journey. Hope you are having a grand time. Also, hope you got my message in one of your haunts.

 

Forgive me for treading on your musings, but saw Jack post here today and wanted to give him a hello, so, hi Jack.

 

Jeanne

 

ps: Extremely proud of myself for writing this on my I-Pad. See you in the funny pages.

 

Jeanne, no message from you :(

 

Update no 7

The sea state got quite lumpy during the early hours overnight and lying in bed was rather like sitting on a roller coaster with the associated ups and downs, either it didn’t last very long or it lulled me to sleep fairly quickly but it was certainly an interesting interlude.

Today is Sunday November 13th and it is Remembrance Sunday. The time is just 6.15am and the sun will rise in a little over 35 minutes, the sky is inky black except for a dark blue band at the horizon. The air temperature is only 50/10 degrees and it may warm slightly as the sun does its job but the force 7 westerly near gale will do a lot to prevent it happening. We are making 22 knots through 15 foot waves and the barometer is rising. Since leaving Southampton we have covered 1332 miles leaving 1928 to go, if I’ve worked it out correctly we should pass the halfway point early this evening.

There are 2491 passengers on board this week, comprising 1488 from the UK, 636 from the USA with the remainder coming from 27 different countries including Japan and Swaziland.

There is another group from RADA on board and some Juilliard School graduates, the Juilliard people are becoming old hands on this ship which you can tell as they are now joining the fashion and hawking DVDs and CDs of their various performances to all and sundry. I know that I keep going on about this unpleasantly blatant commercialism but it really cheapens the whole experience in my opinion. Maybe these youngsters aren’t to blame because it seems that everyone who comes on here to lecture or perform does exactly the same; if it isn’t a DVD, it is a book!

More later

[Lake Barcroft Sailor]

Although it probably isn't too good for your table mate whom you surmise is suffering from it, it is really thrilling to think of the pitching and rolling from the seas, which obviously doesn't bother you much, if at all. Aside from a very unfortunate experience when I was a young lad crossing the sea with my parents as we returned from my father's Army assignment in Germany after the war in a cabin located near the bow in troop ship without any ballast, now I love the motion of the ship in the sea. We had a little bit of it in last January's crossing of the Queen Elizabeth, but it sounds like you have had a couple of days of good "rides." Makes me wish even more I was on board.

[capnpugwash]

Although it probably isn't too good for your table mate whom you surmise is suffering from it, it is really thrilling to think of the pitching and rolling from the seas, which obviously doesn't bother you much, if at all. Aside from a very unfortunate experience when I was a young lad crossing the sea with my parents as we returned from my father's Army assignment in Germany after the war in a cabin located near the bow in troop ship without any ballast, now I love the motion of the ship in the sea. We had a little bit of it in last January's crossing of the Queen Elizabeth, but it sounds like you have had a couple of days of good "rides." Makes me wish even more I was on board.

 

All summer the Atlantic was flat calm and deadly dull , now it is showing some of its majesty and awesome power. Fantastic.

[Jimsgirl]

How do you manage to get a $10 per day charge in the spa? The price listed on the Cunard website is much higher.

Tania

 

Others do B2B's , but have to pay full price, I am sure quite a few would like a straight answer to this question.

[lemon tree]

Others do B2B's , but have to pay full price, I am sure quite a few would like a straight answer to this question.

 

Have you never bartered for anything? You don't always have to pay full price for things. It never hurts to ask, the worst they can say is no.

[Salacia]

Others do B2B's , but have to pay full price, I am sure quite a few would like a straight answer to this question.

 

 

 

I was unable to find any price for a day pass without treatment. Perhaps the price/availability varies by voyage?

 

The Spa price list can be found here:http://www.cunard.com/Already-Booked/Already-Booked/

 

Quoted in part:

 

You can download the SpaClub Guide to Services above, or email or call us (contact details below), and we will be happy to send you a Guide to Services by email or in the post.

To book your Canyon Ranch SpaClub® services, please call Reservations:

US: Toll-free 866.860.4662.

Worldwide: Call collect/reverse charges: +1.702.414.6279

or e-mail tgarcia@canyonranch.com. This email is for questions only. To make an appointment please call the toll free number.

[Salacia]

PARTIAL QUOTE

... I was wondering if any of the entertainment staff, or other crew members, had ever given their thoughts on why QM2 has a Caribbean band?

 

Maybe the mystery has been solved:

On 1 December, QM2 will be reigistered in Bermuda.

Caribbean Bands are very popular in Bermuda.

QM2 has a Caribbean band, already in place! Proper prior planning on Cunards' part (try saying that three time fast) :D -S

[MaineTraveler]

I was unable to find any price for a day pass without treatment. Perhaps the price/availability varies by voyage?

 

The Spa price list can be found here:http://www.cunard.com/Already-Booked/Already-Booked/

 

Page 4, left sidebar:

 

"SPACLUB PASSPORT

Includes use of Aqua Therapy Centre including

whirlpool, aqua therapy pool with chaise longue,

neck and back jet massage, cascading waterfall

shower, reflexology basins, sensory showers, Finnish

sauna, aromatic steam room, herbal sauna and ice

fountain. Bathing suit required.

1 day $40 | 3 days $75 | 5 days $95

A SpaClub Passport is complimentary on the day

of any Health & Wellness, Massage, Body or Skin

Care treatment."

 

Obviously, the Capn was able to negotiate a more favorable rate for the entire 14-day voyage. That seemed "straight" enough when he first explained it.

[Salacia]

Yikes, I certanly wasn't questioning whether it was "straight" or not. I've never used the spa - I have absolutely no inside knowledge of pricing or anything else - I simply gave a reference to the spa website with prices and services specified. Now I understand that the prices are fluid. And that is about the total interest I have in the matter. Cheers, -S

[MaineTraveler]

It wasn't you, ma'am. Someone else was asking for a "straight answer".

 

In response to your post, I was merely indicating where one could find the day pass rates. And given that those drop from $40 for one day to less that $20 per day for five days, it does not seem at all unreasonable to negotiate that down to $10 per day for the back-to-back. Well done, Capn!

[Whitemarsh]

It never hurts to ask, the worst they can say is no.

 

That's right; and they usually also come up with excuses like - "I'm married". ;)

 

PARTIAL QUOTE

 

Maybe the mystery has been solved:

On 1 December, QM2 will be reigistered in Bermuda.

Caribbean Bands are very popular in Bermuda.

QM2 has a Caribbean band, already in place! Proper prior planning on Cunards' part (try saying that three time fast) :D -S

 

I appreciate your creativity but that's still not a good enough reason for Cunard to punish us all.

 

Yikes, I certanly wasn't questioning whether it was "straight" or not. I've never used the spa.S

 

Really? Wow. So in your 9 voyages you've never once taken a tour, or ventured inside the Canyon Ranch Spa to see what's on offer or how much it costs?

[Salacia]

Really? Wow. So in your 9 voyages you've never once taken a tour, or ventured inside the Canyon Ranch Spa to see what's on offer or how much it costs?

 

That is correct. I have enjoyed Hair Salon services, but never the spa. I prefer to swim outdoors. I don't enjoy communal indoor baths or hot tubs. Massages - well after 30 years of marriage, Himself is better at that than any stranger. I'm quite skilled at doing my own facials, manicures and pedicures. So no, I don't use the spa. I'm happy it is there for those that enjoy it, but it doesn't float my boat. Especially since those last 9 voyages were costly enough without added puffery :D:eek:

[capnpugwash]

Update no 8

 

I had an early buffet breakfast and then spent a couple of hours in the spa; it was all very uncrowded and pleasant. After that I went to the Interdenominational Service which was conducted by the Captain, Kevin Oprey. It also included a remembrance section. The whole ceremony was so very moving and sad with some wonderful and chilling addresses and poems; we had the Last Post, then two minutes silence followed by Reveille. There were 4 hymns including “Abide with Me”,” Jerusalem” and “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” which I have always thought of as “for those in peril on the sea”. I had a constant lump in my throat and certain dampness around my eyes. It was a great ceremony and I am so glad that I and about 400 others went along.

 

After that I went to the ship’s bell being rung 8 times signifying noon. The officer taking charge was Glenn Cairns who is the Chief Security Officer with whom I sailed in the summer. I bumped into a couple on CC members, Aquaphobic who were both there as well so that was nice. After that it was beer time so I popped into the Chart Room, then I went to the pub to wish happy birthday to Ramona Tudor who is the bar supervisor there, by that time it was Todd English time and I was meeting missfrankiecat and hwfiv for lunch there at 1pm. We had a lovely time and the food was predictably quite rich but I think that I am getting more used to it as I no longer feel as bad as I used to after eating there. At dinner yesterday I had a very nice white Cotes du Rhone so we had a couple of bottles of that between us which will probably help it all go down.

 

I went back to my cabin via deck 4 so that I could see the new carpet that is being installed in all cabins. It is black or very dark brown with cream/white swirls in it. I saw it in a balcony cabin and it didn’t seem too dark but I wonder whether it will look ok in an inside cabin. The curtains had been changed and to my non-artistic eyes they didn’t seem to match very well.

 

Tonight is semi-formal dress code so basically a jacket, shirt and tie are all that is required. There won’t be a host at the table so we will be buying our own wine but I am sure that we will all be able to cope.

 

I went to the Chart Room and was soon joined by a few like-minded souls and we passed an hour or so in lively conversation and laughter, the bar became quite crowded so at one stage there were at least 6 bartenders mixing and serving, I didn’t trouble them too much with only a couple of G&Ts but they were really running around. It is great to see a well organised bar operating to capacity. For no valid reason we stayed past our normal time and didn’t get into dinner until we were almost 10 minutes late, quite unplanned and certainly coincidentally most of the table was following me in so no harm was done. Our missing man turned up for dinner as he was starting to feel more comfortable with the motion of the ship having consumed a vast quantity of Stugeron or something similar, so we had a full complement. I wasn’t too hungry so limited myself to a Caesar salad with extra anchovies followed by an Indonesian dish of very fine spicy noodles, I can’t recall the name of the dish but it was something like Bahmi Goreng and is served with a fried egg on top of the noodles, hence Goreng. It was just enough for me. After the meal finished at 10.45 I was joined by a couple and their friend up in the Commodore Club for a late night digestif. They own a small winery in Napa Valley and a chateau in central France and basically having no wish to fly they use the ship as a ferry across the Atlantic. Of course upon arrival on Thursday, they will fly to LAX from New York but at least they will have more than halved their flying time. I have met the couple before and they are quite charming and we seem to have similar views and get on quite well. Their friend Ruth is an academic in California who during extensive research for her PhD discovered an original manuscript by Oscar Wilde of his play “The importance of being Earnest” in the New York Public Library, it was among the 5 truckloads which comprised the attic contents of an old manor house that the Library had purchased but not thoroughly catalogued.

 

By the time we parted the time was approaching 1.30am and I took the opportunity for a reasonably early night. Unfortunately there was no adjustment made to the clocks overnight. The ship started to rock and roll a little overnight and this morning is continuing to do so. Today is Monday November 14 and it is 6.10am. The weather is basically unchanged apart from an increased temperature of 55/13 degrees and a moderate sea state.

 

More later

[capnpugwash]

Hello, Jim. I'm glad you're enjoying the ride.

 

Betsy and I will be back aboard 19 December - 03 January. Like you, we've never met Mr. Howie. I assume that he'll be aboard for our trip. Do you have any word on who'll be in command after the refit? The Cunard US website just updated the November officers list today, but it's silent about post-refit staffing.

 

Thanks for the posts.

 

I believe that Commodore Rynd is returning during December so should be on board for your trip, but I can't confirm that he will be sailing her from the refit, sorry.