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Almost live from a back to back Transatlantic voyage on QM2, August 1st 2016

capnpugwash

By capnpugwash,
in Cunard Line

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capnpugwash

capnpugwash

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Almost live from a back to back Transatlantic voyage on QM2, August 1st 2016

 

It’s been a while since I reported but this is the first time I've been on board since the remastering or refit as we non advertising types call it. The ship is lovely as I expected and I like all the changes that I've seen apart from the removal of the lifts in the Grand Lobby; of course this removal has meant that the Kings Court area or KFC as we fondly refer to it has been improved dramatically. The Winter Garden is unrecognisable and has been transformed into a great and pleasant space where people actually congregate.

 

I drove to Southampton on Monday, arriving about 11.30am. I'd been notified that the ship was to berth at QEII terminal so we drove in and unloaded the luggage to a kindly porter and left the car in the safe hands of a CPS staff member. We then joined the melee inside the building. The boarding registration has been contracted to G4S for some years, they are the company that transport prisoners to and from courts here and through their ineptitude have lost a few on the way. They were no better here and only 20% of the computers were working so the queues were long and slow, even for Priority guests, anyway 30 hot and sweaty minutes later we were walking onto deck 3 of the ship.

 

There are a lot of new crew members but still quite a few that I recognised and was greeted by. We’d been allocated a sheltered balcony on deck 4 which was in the throes of being re-carpeted so we were homeless until 3.30. being resourceful souls we repaired to the Golden Lion for the wait and took a few liquid refreshments. They weren’t serving food so having met some friends and renewed some acquaintances we headed to deck 7 and entered Kings Court. It looked very clean and spacious and apart from the bizarre absence of trays was a pleasant experience. We only wanted something to hold us over until our 8.30 dinner and this worked well.

Our cabin was ready before 3pm so we went and started to unpack. It seems that the whole of the ship has new carpets apart from the Britannia Restaurant. They all look fine but the cabins have a very light coloured fawn carpet which whilst making them airier will mark very easily. There is a new 2 seater sofa as well and that is a good match for the carpet. It looks great at the moment and that’s a good thing.

 

We changed and met for cocktails at 7.30 in the Chart Room which is still the nicest bar that I know at sea and after a few drinks went down for dinner. We are on a lovely table for 4 with our friends Iris and Steve and we had a very nice dinner of cod before heading to the Queens Room to listen to the music and a very good female singer. We were tired and after a glass of wine headed off to bed. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow and slept with the balcony door open sleeping soundly until 7am. We gained an hour at 2am, the first of 5.

 

Waking on the first morning to a cloudy sky, we dressed and went for breakfast in Britannia. I had muesli and strawberries with coffee and a toasted English muffin. It was great.

 

Afterwards we met up in the Golden Lion for a quiz at 10.30, it was a disaster! Some bright Carnival bod has decided that the future of quizzing must involve showing questions on TV screens linked to the quizmaster’s laptop. This was Famous People and I have to say that about 14 of them were the most obscure famous people that we had never heard of. Clearly we didn’t win! There was an Englishman wandering around on a Zimmer frame making a nuisance of himself talking very loudly about things of which he had no or little knowledge. Each table that he approached welcomed him but within minutes found that they had an urgent reason to relocate. Eventually he grabbed 2 Americans who were way too kind and allowed him to join them as they departed for lunch in Kings Court.

We lunched in Britannia where some wine was taken and then to provide some further solace we had a champagne frenzy in our cabin. We managed 3 bottles between the 4 of us and then drew stumps to enable hair to be washed and bodies to be dressed in our formal clothes in time for cocktails at 7.30. We’ve met some nice people on the bar in the Chart Room and they joined our company for the second time. It is a lovely and friendly ship and you should never worry about travelling on your own as there is always someone to chat to in a safe environment.

 

I must admit that dinner was a little hazy but very tasty, although I only had 2 starters as I was full with the champagne and gin. Afterwards we went to hear a very good jazz singer in the theatre. She performs at Ronnie Scott’s in London and had a great voice. She is on as part of the Blue Note Jazz Crossing which will feature Herbie Hancock later in the week.

It was time for bed although the clocks were going back a further hour at 2am.

 

Again we slept well with the fresh air and the sound of the ocean washing along the side of the ship which I'm sure would make an insomniac sleep.

 

Breakfast was again taken in Britannia and again it was very pleasant with more staff coming by to say hello, it is lovely to see them and it is nice that they make the effort to come by.

 

The quiz was no better but it seems that this is the new format that has been adopted, shame really but we must make progress.

Afterwards we were playing cards when the nuisance from yesterday approached us and standing quite close to my back demanded to know what game we were playing, had he asked nicely and not been such a boor we might have told him but he failed on both counts. He was told that it was a secret and if we told him, he would have to be killed. He wasn’t happy and said that gambling on board was illegal and he would have to confiscate the cards and all our money. Clearly he thought he was being amusing but sadly we didn’t share that view so we ignored him and he disappeared cursing loudly almost under his breath. I heard him later telling some unfortunates that he was going to appear in the passenger talent show, I don’t know where his talents lie but clearly it isn’t humour.

We went to the Terrace Bar before lunch as it was such a pleasant day and then went off to lunch in Britannia and then it was time for a well-earned nap. It is now 6pm and the sun continues to shine, we are up to date now and I'm getting changed for the second of 4 formal evening. Tonight is the Captain’s cocktail party so we are meeting at 7 to have a drink before we have a drink. Makes sense to me, I think!

Edited by capnpugwash
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olegna

olegna

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Happy to see that you are cruising and posting again on the QM2. Have missed your commentary. We enjoyed our brief voyage in July. We are looking forward on hearing your thoughts about the remaster. Wishing you a bon voyage.

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

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Ray66

Ray66

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Good to see you back posting again on here capnpugwash.

 

The boarding registration has been contracted to G4S for some years, they are the company that transport prisoners to and from courts here and through their ineptitude have lost a few on the way. They were no better here and only 20% of the computers were working so the queues were long and slow, even for Priority guests, anyway 30 hot and sweaty minutes later we were walking onto deck 3 of the ship.

 

Now being run by a firm called Profile according to this article:

 

A SECURITY firm is to open a regional office in Southampton after winning a contract to keep watch over the city’s docks.

Profile Security Services is to establish a regional base after landing the lucrative deal with Associated British Ports (ABP).

The four-year contract was won in the face of stiff competition and will transfer staff from the port’s existing security supplier, G4S, to Profile on January 1.

The firm will manage security for all the port’s cargo installations, as well as overseeing cruise passenger movements for prestigious operators such as Cunard, P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruise Line, Saga and Fred Olsen.

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/10904406.Profile___s_port_security_deal_brings_new_office/

 

http://www.profilesecurity.co.uk/news/archive/assoc-british-ports-choose-profile.php

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jimmybean

jimmybean

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Good to see your posting, Captain! Your name comes up periodically in the context of how much your messages are missed on this board. Lovely to hear from you on-board the QM2 :)

 

Thank you for sharing your impressions, experiences, and insights! Have a wonderful crossing (and good luck with those quizzes)!

 

Jimmybean

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Bell Boy

Bell Boy

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Good to see you back onboard. I was on the Jazz cruise last year and we encountered a few problems . I'll be very interested to hear what arrangements if any this year) have been made for the Jazz performances and also how many formal evenings ( on the west bound) are planned. ;)

 

Thanks.

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capnpugwash

capnpugwash

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There are over 2600 passengers on board from 45 nations, this includes 200 children. The largest contingent is from the USA which is fairly standard on a westbound crossing. The Captain, Christopher Wells was quite amusing during his address at the party and spoke briefly about Brexit and how pleased he and Cunard are that the Americans continue to celebrate the first voyage of Britannia from Liverpool to Halifax and Boston on July 4th.

 

Dinner was very pleasant again and we were joined by a couple of friends from the crew. We all had too much fun as usual and were the last to leave the restaurant.

 

Afterwards we headed to the Commodore Club for a nightcap and I was pleased to see that there were still a few souls out and about after 11pm. We were in our cabin by midnight and slept well to the sounds of the ocean. We gained our 3rd hour at 2am.

 

Today is Thursday August 4th and it is beautiful day. The sea is like rippled oil and the sun is shining brightly. We breakfasted for the first time in the new style Kings Court and were impressed by the layout and the staff, it was excellent and a vast improvement on the original design.

 

I have been asked for photos of the ship and quite frankly can do no better than share this link to a review and photos compiled by Gazroberts80 and posted by him on this forum. They are excellent pictures and he should have the credit. Please see https://cruisecritique.net/2016/07/19/queen-mary-2-remastered-and-revisited/.

 

The quiz was a little better and the TV was still used to show a picture but it had little or no bearing on the question and it wasn’t necessary to view it to give the answer. It seems like change for change sake to us. We didn’t win but came close this time at least. Afterwards we played cards where some of us had slightly more success.

 

Britannia’s lunch menu had so many of our favourite dishes on today that it was hard to choose. Lasagne or Fish Pie or Liver and Bacon; liver won for me followed by a lovely rice pudding. It was so good as was the Viognier that we chose to accompany it. The ocean air is tiring so a little nap followed and then I had to do some work, but not too much and now it is time to clean up ready for cocktails, dinner and Herbie Hancock’s performance in the theatre at 10.30. We’re looking forward to that.

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ednria

ednria

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Hello again, Capn, as others have said, we have missed your excellent reviews/commentaries.

 

As you are currently on board, perhaps you can address the matter of the updated PG/QG off menu options. I know from your post that you are not in a grilles suite, but perhaps one of your many contacts can enlighten us?

 

Thanks, and do enjoy your time on board.

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MeredithFairfax

MeredithFairfax

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Posted
Hello again, Capn, as others have said, we have missed your excellent reviews/commentaries.

 

As you are currently on board, perhaps you can address the matter of the updated PG/QG off menu options. I know from your post that you are not in a grilles suite, but perhaps one of your many contacts can enlighten us?

 

Thanks, and do enjoy your time on board.

 

I think this may have been resolved on another thread, as cruiseluvva reported that they had it in writing from Cunard that ordering off menu in PG was permitted but not encouraged too often. Sorry I can't provide a link to the correct thread.

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capnpugwash

capnpugwash

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We met for cocktails as usual or perhaps a little earlier and had a quick dinner of just 2 courses. I suppose that we were anticipating long queues to see the show. We arrived at the theatre 30 minutes early and there were 20 people waiting as the doors had yet to be opened. When they finally opened we were able to select prime seats wherever we wished and now I realise why!

 

Herbie plays the piano and a keyboard, he has 4 others with him on stage. One is the drummer who’s drum set was the size of New Hampshire with more cymbals than you see at a Salvation Army Christmas party; another is the bass guitarist; the third is the regular guitarist and finally the alto saxophonist who also plays two other keyboards. The music could be described as jazz but it would be a stretch, I'd prefer to more accurately describe it as self indulgent drivel. It was interesting that just when I thought the tune was over, they would find a new lease of life and play on for another 5 or 10 minutes. They were on stage for 90 minutes and only played 4 tunes, people were streaming from the theatre within 5 minutes of them starting. It was such a shame as individually they are talented musicians but together they were just playing for themselves, none of his old standards were at all recognisable as they had been tweaked and remixed to death. If you wondered why a legend of his stature would be playing on QM2, I think we now know.

 

We had intended to go to the Chart Room afterwards to catch the tail end of the Jazz Trio but I was so over jazz that we went instead to the Commodore Club to lament the loss of 90 minutes of each of our lives.

 

We were in bed shortly after 1am and were loudly awoken at 3.15 as the ship suddenly lurched 5 degrees off vertical and all the bottles and glasses on the desk shelf exploded like a grenade. I had a couple of very fine shards of glass in my leg and I discovered that the floor was littered with similar debris as I stood on it and pushed a chunk into my heel. We were on the southern edge of a major force 12 to 13 storm and had been battered from the starboard side by a gust of wind of about 100mph which caused this damage. Everything on the ship was shaken and one poor steward in the Room Service area had a large metal item fall on his head, he is seriously ill in the Medical Centre and remains unconscious. We tidied up as best we could and I felt very badly about christening the new carpet with my blood. We went back to sleep by about 4am and got up 4 hours later.

 

The room stewards have all been extra busy today deeply vacuuming all the cabins to remove all traces of the damage.

 

Breakfast was taken in Kings Court again and then later we attempted the quiz, this one was shown on the TV and featured greatly magnified pictures of some item or part thereof. It was hopeless and we sadly miss the old ones. We had a fish and chip lunch in the Golden Lion and the waves were washing over the windows, it was fantastic. Then it was time to catch up with our lost sleep from last night.

 

It is now 5.30 and time to get ready for the frolics tonight.

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iramack

iramack

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So sorry to hear of your trouble. Wonder what it must have been like on the upper decks like 11 or 12......???

 

I am on the 9th August Eastbound sailing and am hoping for a smooth ride up there on deck 11.

 

Meantime have been enjoying your posts. Quite informative and entertaining as well.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

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