Live from QE's 2014 World Voyage

[alibabacruisers]

My first time to Hawaii was amazing. My must-do was to visit Pearl Harbor and I had a very good tour that visited it with plenty of time to look at the displays and pay respects to the Arizona.

 

The luau at Germaine's was tasty and fun and we had a beautiful sail-away.

 

Enjoyed the whale watching trip and walking around in the old town of Lahaina.

 

I definitely have to return to Hawaii!

 

Glad you are having a good time! Hope you are feeling better...did the Z-pack work?

[brigittetom]

That is one of the best webcam shots I've seen. :)

[Oahucruiser]

My first time to Hawaii was amazing. My must-do was to visit Pearl Harbor and I had a very good tour that visited it with plenty of time to look at the displays and pay respects to the Arizona.

 

The luau at Germaine's was tasty and fun and we had a beautiful sail-away.

 

Enjoyed the whale watching trip and walking around in the old town of Lahaina.

 

I definitely have to return to Hawaii!

 

Oh, do we who live in Hawaii love to hear that! Tourists welcome anytime you can come; it's wonderful year round.

[Scrapnana]

Glad you are having a good time! Hope you are feeling better...did the Z-pack work?

 

Thanks. The z-pack was like a miracle. I have never recovered from a sinus infection in three days. It was well worth the $118 to not have to miss out on our two ports in Hawaii.

 

We will cross the Equator tonight. I am looking forward to visiting Somoa and Tonga for the first time.

 

The only bad part of the trip is how fast the dys go by!

[maggiemou]

Hi from the Pacific Ocean where we cross the Equator in the early hours of tomorrow morning. There will be the usual crossing the line ceremony in the afternoon which is fun.

I have now hosted 4 four meet and greet meetings for Cruise Critic members and we have welcomed over 100 people so far.

The cruise is going well and I am having a great time. I post my review of all ports we have been to over on the forum on cruise .co. uk

So you can follow Maggiemou's adventures over on that site.

Lots of fun people on this ship as many younger for a world cruise. Many full world cruisers are in their 50's.

Only two young kids in the play zone this segment.

No laundry stories to report other than that most people are too busy reading their Kindles and I pads whilst the washer whirls around. This is the new thing I guess. Better than chatting and arguing.

Next port Pago Pago.

Captain Maggie at the Cruise Critic meet & Greet.

[Pushka]

Do they have an equator crossing event on QM2?

[rnplummer]

I can always go down and complain about having nothing to complain about. :)

 

Actually, I have just thought about something I can complain about. The ship's photo lab is adding a really soft focus to all the portrait pictures they take on the stairs etc. It's hilarious, everyone's skin has this weird glow about it and no one has any wrinkles. I couldn't purchase a couple of the pictures they'd taken as it really didn't look like me. I mentioned this on the Behind the Scenes tour when visiting the photo lab, but got a curt reply in the form of "well we have to try new things".

 

What do you reckon, the soft focus on the pictures has to be worth a couple of hundred dollars of extra OBC. ;)

 

Hi Whitemarsh

 

We left the ship at SF having thoroughly enjoyed the trip from So'ton and I have just read your post.

The pink wash to the faces is caused by a filter; you can ask for this to be removed, as we did; the photo is then fine. Goodness only knows why it was applied in the first place!!!!!

 

Thanks for your interesting posts; the only criticisms we had were that the seats in the MDR were simulated leather and therefore "sticky", but you probably didn't experience this, and the quality of service from customer relations was variable.

[alibabacruisers]

Kathi, when you listed the prices for the photo package, can you tell me if those prices were per segment of for the entire cruise? (You had listed unlimited CD + prints was $399.95 + $75 for example)

 

Also, do you know if anyone has a printed copy of the floor plan of Britannia Restaurant that lists the actual table numbers on it? Maybe the Maitr'd or Dining Room Manager? We had one for QM2 but would like to see QE one. I know they can change from cruise to cruise, but it would still be helpful to see how they have the room configured.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[alibabacruisers]

I have been wondering how Glojo and wife were doing...anyone heard from them? I hope they are having a great time!

[eatsallinsects]

I have been wondering how Glojo and wife were doing...anyone heard from them? I hope they are having a great time!

******************************

THANKS for asking that as I had been concerned also but did not want to invade their privacy.

John and I have been corresponding for about a year or so now and I had sent him pics of his same cabin number from our trip on the QV.

If anyone should get a chance to speak with him, please tell him that Edith in Texas says "hi".

[Scrapnana]

I have been wondering how Glojo and wife were doing...anyone heard from them? I hope they are having a great time!

 

I saw them last night at dinner and again this morning. I went on a whale watching tour with Mrs. Glojo in Lahaina.

 

He had trouble with a wheel on his chair but it has been fixed.

 

I will check on the price of the pictures next time I am in that area.

 

I have not seen any copies of the MDR layout other than the one the Maître 'd has.

[pengu]

Has anyone heard anything regarding our impending visit to Egypt? Is it likely we'll get to do excursions?

[burchan]

Has anyone heard anything regarding our impending visit to Egypt? Is it likely we'll get to do excursions?

 

 

Read Australian Government travel warning issued on 17th February: Do Not Travel

[Pushka]

Egypt has deteriorated significantly. Several killed on a tourist bus this week. Can't see a Cunard ship taking a risk like that.

[cunardaddict]

Egypt has deteriorated significantly. Several killed on a tourist bus this week. Can't see a Cunard ship taking a risk like that.

 

This happened on the Sinai side - an area almost out of government control. Target was a bus with Koreans coming straight from Israel.

 

This incident does not implicate the same risk to tourists on the pyramid's side, not even to tourist not crossing the bordr from Israel. But the risk is certainly there and we decided on last years WC not to go with the inland tours. But the stay at the Hurgada Beach Hilton instead was a desaster too - worst Hilton I have ever been to.

 

I do predict that Sharm-el-Sheikh will be cancelled in favor of Hurghada/Safarga. If the situation there remains as calm as it is now the tours to the antique place will be conducted. For those who will take the tour:

 

The bus will travel significantly longer than sheduled and will make no useful stop at all., yes, not even for essential needs. Meals announced will not happen. Take food and water for 8 hrs and beware any arguments with the aggressive traders and guides at the scenes. The police there does look away. If you need local assistance try to hire a decent local guy (20$) to protect you from the people there. Don't take any valuable or any religious symbol with you. If you buy anything pay 10 % of the requested price. Don't pick up anything at the ruins - jails in Egypt are no fun.

 

At Ein Sokhna exists no alternative to a tour to Cairo but to stay on the ship. It is a very noisy container terminal day and night except when prayers are performed. The views from the ship to the mountains and the changing of the landscape by the moving sun are quiet nice though.

 

Aquaba/Petra should not be problem.

[pengu]

Read Australian Government travel warning issued on 17th February: Do Not Travel

 

That's only for the north Sinai region which we are not going to.

For Egypt overall it says reconsider your need to travel.

[Salacia]

According to the BBC "Officials say they are taking seriously a reported ultimatum by Islamist militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis for tourists to leave the country..." Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi has said Islamist militants in the Sinai peninsula are becoming a threat to foreign tourists, state TV reports.

 

Officials say they are taking seriously a reported ultimatum by Islamist militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis for tourists to leave the country..." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248702

[bobby1119]

This discussion about conditions in Egypt prompted me to look at the website for Uniworld River Cruises, the tour operator I used for an amazing two week land/Nile tour of Egypt in April 2010.

 

There is a statement on the website advising that all tours to Egypt have been cancelled for 2014 and 2015.

 

I, too, pray that peace will return to Egypt, a beautiful country where I felt very welcomed and safe.

[pengu]

According to the BBC "Officials say they are taking seriously a reported ultimatum by Islamist militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis for tourists to leave the country..." Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi has said Islamist militants in the Sinai peninsula are becoming a threat to foreign tourists, state TV reports.

 

Officials say they are taking seriously a reported ultimatum by Islamist militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis for tourists to leave the country..." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248702

 

Thank you for sharing that article. It's making our visits to sharm el sheikh and sokhna look very unlikely. My husband is a nervous wreck. I wonder what Cunard are going to do.

[Pushka]

That's only for the north Sinai region which we are not going to.

 

For Egypt overall it says reconsider your need to travel.

 

 

There is no way Cunard will risk an international incident by going to Egypt at the moment.

[cruiseluvva]

They are still selling the excursions......

[pengu]

There is no way Cunard will risk an international incident by going to Egypt at the moment.

 

Time will tell. Hopefully if they change the itinerary we will get some interesting ports such as Dubrovnik, Greek Isles or Istanbul.

[Scrapnana]

One of my dinner companions asked Rachel, the World Voyage Concierge, about Egypt yesterday. She said she knew nothing about it. That may be what the company tells her to say, she may not be "in the loop", or there may be no decision yet. The six world voyagers at my table have already decided not to get off in Egypt. We have been making our wish list as to alternate ports!

 

We visited Pago Pago on the 18th, skipped the 19th (crossed the International Date Line) and today we are at sea on the way to Tonga tomorrow. I am pretty sure they will have to drag me off kicking and screaming on 9 May. I have become very comfortable in my new lifestyle!:D

Edited February 19, 2014 by Scrapnana

[pengu]

One of my dinner companions asked Rachel, the World Voyage Concierge, about Egypt yesterday. She said she knew nothing about it. That may be what the company tells her to say, she may not be "in the loop", or there may be no decision yet. The six world voyagers at my table have already decided not to get off in Egypt. We have been making our wish list as to alternate ports!

 

We visited Pago Pago on the 18th, skipped the 19th (crossed the International Date Line) and today we are at sea on the way to Tonga tomorrow. I am pretty sure they will have to drag me off kicking and screaming on 9 May. I have become very comfortable in my new lifestyle!:D

 

Thanks for an update from the ship Kathi. If you hear anything please let us know. Are you planning on getting off in Egypt?

 

Cheers,

Kerry.

[Scrapnana]

Kathi, when you listed the prices for the photo package, can you tell me if those prices were per segment of for the entire cruise? (You had listed unlimited CD + prints was $399.95 + $75 for example)

 

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

The $399.95 is per segment which means you need to have your picture taken at every port and just about every night to make it worthwhile.