Queen Victoria January 19-30 review

[bazzaw]

Sorry - I just automatically assumed :)

 

Barry

[Salacia]

Sorry - I just automatically assumed :)

 

Barry

 

No prob. I've live in NYC most of my life...someday I'm actually going to stay in a hotel in Manhattan. (When I lived in mid-town, there was neither any reason nor money to stay in a hotel.) BTW, the Plaza Hotel has recently undergone "renovations".

 

There is a little 'pocket park' right opposite the Plaza that is a lovely place to sit and watch the world go by. Grap a cuppa, have a seat on the bench and soak it all in. Then walk down Fifth Avenue to 42 Street and check out Grand Central Station. Anyway, that's one of my favourites :)

[bazzaw]

We are WAAAY off topic - but my most memorable memories of NYC are Central Park, the NY Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (I don't know why it is called that - it is not really an Art museum, more like the famous British Museum, but far better then the British Museum in my opinion)

 

Barry

[Jim Avery]

Hi Jen. Ref Todd English: Have read the menus and really dont find anything to our liking worth paying extra for. Our first TE experience was on QM2 at no cost. Had 3 visits. One good, one bad, one mediocre. We said at that time we were glad it was no charge as we would not pay for it. This trip, I received a coupon for a complimentary TE lunch as a Diamond WC member. That does not include Lois (Platinum WC) so I have not used the coupon. We have found the other venues, including room service to be perfectly adequate. I guess we are just easy to please.:eek: The night before last, we ate in the Alternative Dining which had changed over to Coriander, an Indian tasting menu. It again was very good. Many, many courses. At one time, the table was full of small serving dishes with just about every Indian specialty you could want. So, do not worry, we are not going without in any way.:D Yesterday was Grenada. Lois had been many years ago on the Carla C and was looking forward to it. I had never been. A lovely island to approach by sea. Unfortunately, when we went ashore, we were swarmed by the most aggressive cabbies and vendors we have encountered in any Caribbean island. We made it about 2 blocks to the spice market where the buzzing vendors changed to female hawking small plackets of spices. We gave up and went home to QV. That afternoon, we took the touristy but, as it turned out very much fun, Rhum Runner boat ride. This took us into the Careenage harbor area which is much prettier and less full of vendors than the cruise ship dock side. We had an informative boat tour then a stop over a reef to see the fishes and then on to a very nice private beach. Woops! forgot to mention that all this time we have a steel band on board playing and we are being fed unlimited amounts of rum punch.:eek: The beach and the sea water were very refreshing as we needed it for the trip back to the ship. Limbo contest on the way back. I did NOT win. Our merry band was last on board and we had a beautiful sailaway. After drinking rum in the sun, we felt right at home with room service for dinner. Early to bed and early to rise and all that rot. Today we get to our last island, Bonaire. Arriving about Noon and sailing 4:30pm. Short stop but it is a small island. Last stop for supplies as we are underway the rest of the trip. Off to find that bloody mary. Still having a great time.

[whatnot]

Jim,

Glad to see you are having a great trip. I was very interested to see what your impressions of Grenada were. I was there 29 years ago just before the US Invasion and it doesn't sound like the islanders trying to sell you something has changed a bit! I agree it was the worst then I have ever encountered. At that time it was children approaching you and so you paid one a dollar or 2 and he walked you around the town and kept the rest of them from bothering you. We will be visiting Grenada next week on our Sea Dream II cruise from Barbados to Barbados. I'll let you know how our visit goes. Hope we get a chance to do the Rum Runner trip. Sounded like fun! Thanks for your reports!

[jj6961]

Hey Jim,

Sounds like you are having a great time. I find it crazy that Cunard gave you a free TE lunch but didn't give one to Lois knowing that you are traveling together. I didn't know that it used to be available at no charge. My mom and I had one of the best dinners I've ever had at sea...and one really icky lunch. When our waiter noticed we were not eating the lunch he offered to bring us something else but we were heading to the afternoon movie(Midnight in Paris) so we didn't have time. The manager came over and informed us there would be no charge which I thought was a very nice gesture. We left the waiter a cash tip. There was one app at dinner that was AMAZING it was some kind of pasta called "pillows". You seem set with the lido alternative and room service. We went for Pan-Asian nite, and the sushi was great. My mom went alone one night for the Indian food, she said it was so spicy I would have never made it. I should say I'm not one for spicy food, so it's probably fine for a normal person lol.

Can't wait to hear how Bonaire was, I have never visited. Are you looking forward to the next 4 sea days? I think that's my favorite part of cruising.

I'm sending you a virtual Bloody Mary...though you probably would have won the limbo contest.

[DisneyJen]

Wondering how you liked Bonaire. I spend a lot of time in that part of the Caribbean as my parents spend part of the winter in Aruba. You know I have to go and check on them!

 

Looking forward to your reports on the sea days as you know DJ's DH and me ... the ship (or in our case the "yacht") is the destination:cool:

[Jim Avery]

Wondering how you liked Bonaire. I spend a lot of time in that part of the Caribbean as my parents spend part of the winter in Aruba. You know I have to go and check on them!

 

Looking forward to your reports on the sea days as you know DJ's DH and me ... the ship (or in our case the "yacht") is the destination:cool:

 

Loved Bonaire. Pretty island and absolutely none of the typical Caribbean hassling of ship passengers. Us and a RCL Something of the Seas in port same time on a little island but not crazy crowded like Grenada. the prettiest water and fish I have ever seen in a port area too. A shame we were only there 4 hours.:eek: Internet is spotty as has been said. We brought 2 iPhones and an iPad. iPhones get better reception than the iPad. WiFi ok in public areas but almost non existent in the staterooms. You have to open the cabin door a little in order to get service forward on 7 deck. Usual ship problems of suddenly dropping service. For any real posting, I use the internet center. The Internet Center has completed renewing the terminals. All stations now have new flat screen monitors and seem to be working well. Currently 50 miles north of Colombia heading for 6am Panama Canal Pilot. Weather was perfect today. World Club cocktail party tonight and Senior Officers party saturday night along with another private box for the show. how would i fit in a rock climbing wall??:D Really looking forward to the Canal tomorrow. J.

[DisneyJen]

Can't wait to hear about the canal Jim!

 

Sounds like you have a very full schedule!

[Jim Avery]

Yesterday was the Panama Canal. What a feat of engineering. It was fascinating seeing how organized everything is. The day started at 6am. Still dark out but sailing through hundreds of anchored ships. So many lights it looked like we were in a city. There was ongoing narration over the deck speakers from one of the Panama Canal Pilots on board. Very interesting info. We also got to see where the new locks connecting to Gatun Lake are being constructed. The new locks will be 1,500' long by 180' wide. Current locks are 1,000' x 110'. We were locked through to Gatun Lake by 11am and immediately turned around and anchored waiting our slot in the Northbound convoy. We left anchor about 1:30pm and proceeded back down the locks. A very interesting day. Highly recommend it. Last night was at the Alternative dining again. Now it is set up as Prime. We both had perfectly done surf & turf with all the trimmings. Geez my clothes are getting tight.:eek: Yes, DJ, we seem to have a busy dance card. Today there is a Cruise Critic gathering in the Commodore Club at 11:30 followed by a group lunch in the Golden Lion Pub. At 2:30 we have a World Club wine tasting party. Tonight is the Senior Officers cocktail party followed by another private box for tonights musical extravaganza show. Have to fit in a bloody mary some where.:D I really had not thought about the distances but we are doing a full circumnavigation of the Caribbean Sea. We will have travelled over 5,000 miles when we are done. Like doing a Caribbean cruise and a Transatlantic all in one. Heard from a friend over on SeaDream last night saying it was very rough and most passengers were seasick. They were due in Barbados today. We have a bit of motion with a NE swell but not bad at all. Lucky us. They are passing out the disembarcation forms and tags this morning. I guess they plan on us getting off the ship.:eek: We have priority disembark so I guess we will rush off the ship early (carryons remember) so we can go sit in the airport. That will be a slap on the keester. More later but still continues to be a great cruise. All the best.

J & L.

[DisneyJen]

Thanks for reporting in Jim!

 

DJ's DH is a closet engineer so he would really love the canal. He would be logistics heaven!

 

Gant hasn't posted on the SD board ... I was wondering how that cruise was going.

[Jim Avery]

Well, back at the salt mines.:eek: A quick wrap up and a few impressions for those who have asked. This was a very nice cruise. To a person, the staff on board that we met were great. Jerome, our cabin steward was one of the very best we have ever had. Saturday was a very busy day and a lot of fun. I found it interesting that, for the price of your passage, you receive a bottle of Pol Acker sparkly. For the price of renting a private box in the Royal Court, you get a bottle of Veuve Clicquot plus goodies. There has to be a message in there somewhere.:D For those that wish to rent a box, number 11 & 12 are good bets and the ones just below (sorry, lost my diagram) have slightly better sight lines. The bigger boxes are not fully private. Sunday was a layabout day and we, along with numerous others we spoke with, wished the trip ended the day after the Panama Canal grand finale. Most of the trip, we plodded along at around 17 knots. A real "ocean liner" could easily have done this itinerary in 8 days (or conversely added a port after the PC). In all a very nice cruise. I do want to say a few about the physical ship, Queen Victoria. The exterior ugly part has been talked to death here. Enough said. We loved the interior spaces and the flow of the ship interior made it feel as if fewer were on board than actual. The ship was nearly at capacity but the only day we felt any crowding was the first day when The Lido was the only open venue and none of us yet knew the "traffic patterns" to follow. The stateroom (A3 balcony 7013) is motel bland. Nice but no big deal. The bed is very comfy but the shower is smaller than we had on our 47' boat!. Smaller by far than even little SeaDream. It was our first balcony cabin in 40+ cruises/transatlantics so we were looking forward to it. It was very pleasant on certain mornings and evenings for coffee/cocktails. It was perfect for Panama Canal viewing. Downside? If you think a balcony is private, forget it. You hear every word your neighbor says and they hear you. When the lighting is right, you can clearly see your neighbor's reflection in the glass panels. Keep your clothes on.:eek:

Now, we did notice an issue with the ship itself. Please bear with me as it is my profession to critique vessels. QV is a Vista Class Fincantieri built cruise ship. The first part of the cruise was side sea or down sea in sea conditions described by the Captain as "slight". The last few days had us sailing into some head seas. She is not good at it. Even in slight seas, the chubby bows of this ship offer mainly flat surfaces to even small swells. This can produce a "boom" noise and a sensation of being on a bus and hitting a large pot hole. More concerning is that after the pothole, the ship continues to shake, shake, shake, for a few seconds. The picture that comes to mind is the way a bowl of Jello shakes. Very flexible. Add that to the creaks and groans of a flexing ship and I have to say, I would find it very uncomfortable in the North Atlantic. Not at all like QE2 slicing through large swells with a big "whoosh" and lots of vertical acceleration with the nice little weightless bit at the top before going down, down for the next swell. If you want to see the principal reason for this, look no farther than the starboard entrance to the Commodore Club. The beautiful hull form on the model of the QE2 clearly shows her famous bows tapering back a full 1/3 or more of the total hull length before fully blending with the flat hull sides. The QV model between the 3 deck entry to the Library and the Card Room clearly shows the difference in hull form. The short chubby bows of the QV quickly taper to the flat hull sides in about 15-20% or so of the hull length. Additionally, the shell plating steel edges that were visible were very thin gauge when compared to Queen Mary 2 or QE2. Neither of those ships produced the hitting a pothole and shaking experience felt here. The only other time in my career at sea that I felt such shaking and pounding was when I was Captain of a 1970's cheaply built oil field supply ship. When that little ship was riding near empty, it would pound and shake terribly. Not a fun sensation. I also saw some significant steel wastage in the places visible to me. In the Commodore Club men's loo, the steel door frames in places have rusted through. Not just rust, rusted right through. If this steel wastage is going on in more hidden locations on board, the repair costs will be mounting quickly around year 10. I very much doubt you will see QV have a 40 year service life like QE2 or like QM2 is reported to be planning. Would we sail QV again? Certainly. But with an eye to the itinerary and would pick an area with usually calm sea conditions. Not trying to start a war here or run down Cunard/Carnival. Just observations from a passenger. All the best.

J.

[CruiserTed]

Your comments on the QV/QE seakeeping abilities are absolutely precisely correct and reflect what DW and I have experienced on the same itinerary in 2009.

[Underwatr]

Even in slight seas, the chubby bows of this ship offer mainly flat surfaces to even small swells. This can produce a "boom" noise and a sensation of being on a bus and hitting a large pot hole. More concerning is that after the pothole, the ship continues to shake, shake, shake, for a few seconds.

Very accurate observation; I noticed just this on the PC transit last year (more accurately, on the transits to and from the Canal).

 

Was your stateroom located forward on the ship (ahead of A Lifts, perhaps)?

 

In a couple of weeks I'll know how it is on the open Pacific...

[bazzaw]

Jim

 

We sailed on the P&O Arcadia (Fincantieri/Vista ship) across the Atlantic on the first leg of her 2011 World Cruise. We struck a Force 11 - gusting Force 12 storm 2 days out from Southampton. We were basically heading into it and the Captain had to slow the ship to 10 knots for 24 hours - consequently we missed a port stop in the Azores and had a 7 day passage to the Caribbean.

 

My biggest issue with this ship was how noisy she was in even moderate seas - mainly in the creaking and groaning department. I have never experienced a ship (cruise or Navy) that creaked so much. I subsequently spoke to a Queen Elizabeth passenger who said that she was the same. After this, I asked a question in the CC P&O UK forum as to what others experience was with Vista/Fincantieri ships. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1422930&highlight=fincantieri I basically got back replies that said all ships creak and groan - well , yes they do - but nothing like I heard on Arcadia. They often had classical music performances up in the Crows Nest (same place as Commodore Club in QE and QV) - and sometimes it was difficult to hear the performances because of the creaking and groaning :(

 

I was a bit down on the Vista class after this :) - but am now still looking forward to QE and QV in May

 

Barry

[imacruizer]

I have enjoyed all of your posts from the QV, Jim. Thanks so much for taking time from your cruise to share your experience.

[Jim Avery]

I have enjoyed all of your posts from the QV, Jim. Thanks so much for taking time from your cruise to share your experience.

 

Thanks Beth. Hope you will soon be sending back posts on board too.:D

[Jim Avery]

Hi Barry. I can only imagine the creaking & groaning would be that loud as it was very noticeable in slight seas. The cruise experience was very nice. The ship is, after all, built by Italians with Chinese steel for an American conglomerate. Really, how much love and special attention do you think went into her?:eek::D We all know Cunard is not a British company but part of an international one. Queen Victoria is not a British ship. She is an international ship with a British theme.:D

[DisneyJen]

Thanks Jim!

 

As always we appreciate your input on how a ship handles in seas since you have served at the helm as a master (but not of a cruise ship!).

 

Interesting observation about how she was built, with what material she was built and how she was themed. Never really thought about that before!

[Whitemarsh]

It probably boils down to that old adage 'you get what you pay for'.

 

If you compared the cost per berth (or whatever method they use to compare cruise-ship build costs) of the QM2 to the QE/QV there is probably a big difference.

 

A while back someone posted on here (CC) that a Cunard officer had observed that the QE/QV construction standards were questionable and nowhere near the standard of QM2.

 

I should clarify that (according to what I remember of the post in question) the officer wasn't indicating that the QE/QV sisters were not built properly, but rather that they did not have as high a build quality as the QM2. Sort of like comparing a Holden to a Merc.

[Jim Avery]

Whitemarsh, I think you are spot on. I do not mean to infer that any rules were broken in construction but it is very apparent that the absolute minimum (cheapest) ways were taken. That's big biz these days, it seems. Still, we had a good time and saw new things. Made it home with all the fingers and toes too so I guess that is a win.:D

[Toffeegirl68]

Thanks for the reports on your trip - it was nice to read about your thoughts.

 

I am off on a TA on QV in March - and it will complete my set of TAs on the 3 new Queens.

 

On QE last January we hit some big waves whilst we were at lunch in the Britannia - fantastic!

[safarigal]

Thanks for the reports on your trip - it was nice to read about your thoughts.

 

I am off on a TA on QV in March - and it will complete my set of TAs on the 3 new Queens.

 

On QE last January we hit some big waves whilst we were at lunch in the Britannia - fantastic!

 

Yes it was fun:

 

 

Enjoy your TA!:)

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Nice report.

[Jim Avery]

Thanks, Ragnar. If you don't watch out, we will both end up on the same ship some time. :eek::eek: