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

[rgaudet]

Wow that's scary. Really hope the steward is ok.

 

Rob

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Host Hattie]

That sounds nasty, hope the cuts heal quickly and the steward recovers.

[tartanexile81]

Sorry about the storm but hope you and the Room Service steward are fine. Have you any thought on the Speakers. The headline Insights act on crossing before yours were from the NY times and they were pretty dire in the main. Anybody can read from notes!

[capnpugwash]

Sorry about the storm but hope you and the Room Service steward are fine. Have you any thought on the Speakers. The headline Insights act on crossing before yours were from the NY times and they were pretty dire in the main. Anybody can read from notes!

 

They seem to repeats mostly, Untermeier was a Secretary of some department in DC apparently and there's a music historian. None of it overexcites me in truth.

[resistk]

Was on deck 10 when the shipped tilted. 4 large books including the Atlas fell off the shelves followed by a second lurch that knocked everything down in the closet. Captain's explanation was that this was caused by high winds up to 100 knots. However, crew talked about a big wave that caused the ship to temporarily take on water that had to be pumped out. At any rate visible damage visible was nonsexistent, although the ship was titled at least 5 degrees for a while.

 

I wonder if the remastering and addition of cabins on one side has unbalanced the vessel?

Edited August 6, 2016 by resistk

[capnpugwash]

We arrived as arranged in the Commodore Club because the string quartet were playing in the Chart Room, they are good musicians but get carried away when playing and forget that they are there to provide background music to the cocktail hour and not performing in Carnegie Hall. It is often hard to chat over the noise. We had a nice time and were enjoying ourselves so much that we forgot about the 10 minute walk to dinner and so arrived a little late, secretly I think the waiting staff like staggered entrances so they don’t have a massive rush at one time. We had a nice meal and once again were almost the last to leave. I still hadn’t caught up on sleep lost so we went up to bed and by 11.30 were fast asleep listening to the ocean. The next I knew it was 7.45am. Absolutely fabulous, to drop in the name of a fairly tedious film we recently saw.

 

For the last 4 days I have been suffering with a swollen left eyelid and the swelling has decided to move down into my left cheek, the result is that I look like I've done four rounds with Joe Frasier and come off worse. I bit the bullet and after breakfast I went to the Medical Centre. $100 later the doctor decided that I needed a course of antibiotics, she said that one glass of wine was fine with them and I confirmed that she meant one glass at a time. I’ll have to watch out for Sheldon tonight in the CWC cocktail party as he keeps me well stocked up with G&Ts.

 

Today’s quiz was on Mythology and we did well with 12/20, the winners scored 18 though and after applauding them they were seen departing clutching a large book of Greek and Roman myths. They probably need the bookmarks and pencils more than we do!

 

There were dolphins and Orcas playing around the ship today and whilst we didn’t see any of them broaching, their white markings were visible as they breathed. It was a lovely sunny day on board.

 

After lunch we went to the Terrace Bar to take advantage of the delightful weather, then we went down to the Godiva Bar which used to be Sir Samuel’s and had a cone and a sundae, I might have ordered the sundae! They were both delicious but so very rich that I'm not sure I would have another. Never say never though.

 

The ice cream induced a nap and although I was convinced that I hadn’t slept, 90 minutes had passed by. We showered and dressed and went for cocktails at 7pm, there was the CWC Cocktail Party at 7.45. the major award went to an English couple who have sailed about 1200 days together, that is just over 3 years. Too much for me but it includes 7 World cruises and they have booked for the next 2 years already.

 

Dinner was very nice and afterwards we went to the Chart Room for a couple of brandies and to listen to the Jazz trio.

 

By 11.15 we were ready to bid farewell and head to bed. It is a warm night and we have the door open listening to the waves washing down the side of the ship. My antibiotics are working and my eye seems to be on the mend.

[emileg]

Again, appreciate your updates. Glad you are beginning to feel better. We will board just after you get off on Tuesday. Thanks for keeping the QM2 in good shape for us.

[capnpugwash]

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 spoke to staff in PG and they said Caviar and Lobster are paid dishes in PG but no real changes.

[capnpugwash]

By the early morning it had become very humid and we had to close the door to keep cool, the sea was racing along and there was a fair wind blowing a few white horses. We weren’t up with the larks due to slight overindulgence but were in Britannia just before 9am for a healthy breakfast until the bacon and eggs appeared, I needed sustenance!

 

The ship was much warmer than usual and finally, just after the quiz, they adjusted the air conditioning and cooling blasts could be felt. I won’t dwell on the quiz but it will suffice to say that it was on classic movies and a working knowledge of directors, writers and release years were required to score more than 10/20. We scraped 12 by blind luck.

 

It remains humid as we approach the last day of our voyage, I have no real idea just where the last 6 days have gone, but gone they certainly have. We are just pleased that we’re on here for the return trip as well.

[ednria]

I spoke to staff in PG and they said Caviar and Lobster are paid dishes in PG but no real changes.

 

Thanks for that information, and I appreciate your taking the time to check on that.

[capnpugwash]

Tonight was the final of 4 formals on the westbound leg and I thought that the food choices at dinner were lacklustre. There were no snails, no beef wellington and no baked Alaska; there was surf and turf and other stuff but it seemed to me to be another example of change for the sake of changing. I know that some would call the other stuff old fashioned but I think that it is traditional and even though I don’t eat the baked Alaska I like to see it available because lots of people love it.

 

Nonetheless we had a great evening and the humidity died away overnight and the last day was perfect, the sunbeds were full and there were a few rather pink looking people walking around.

 

I must apologise for misleading you all, the carpet in the Britannia and the Commodore Club have been replaced but they used identical carpet when they relaid them. One interesting nugget that I heard was that the Internet packages are to switch from per minute pricing to per megabyte of data used pricing. No-one that I've spoken to knows how it will work in practice but it will start before September apparently.

 

The final quiz was slightly better/easier and we scored well on Song Introductions, not well enough unfortunately so we remain without a victory to our name.

 

We all had lunch in the Verandah Restaurant today to use our CWC Vouchers, it was ok but I really wasn’t too keen on the limited selections available. Sorry if I'm sounding like a miserable old foodie but there were only four starters, four main courses and four desserts including cheese, which came plated. There was nothing inherently wrong with the place or the quality of the food served and I suppose that it has to grow into its own identity which it hasn’t had time to do. The staff there seem quite ready to say no to passengers which is unusual on board this ship. I have a voucher for next week and I'm not sure that I want to go there again that soon.

[Highly Sociable]

We all had lunch in the Verandah Restaurant today to use our CWC Vouchers, it was ok but I really wasn’t too keen on the limited selections available. Sorry if I'm sounding like a miserable old foodie but there were only four starters, four main courses and four desserts including cheese, which came plated. There was nothing inherently wrong with the place or the quality of the food served and I suppose that it has to grow into its own identity which it hasn’t had time to do. The staff there seem quite ready to say no to passengers which is unusual on board this ship. I have a voucher for next week and I'm not sure that I want to go there again that soon.

 

We felt the same on the QV in June. We ate one evening, but the food was not good quality (which we did comment on) and the maitre'd was noticeable by her absence....until we left. The lunchtime menu was very uninspiring, even fewer choices than you mention on QM2, so we didn't bother. We've eaten many times on QE and had a much better experience.

 

Loving the blog by the way :)

[turquoise 6]

Hi Capt. I was also on board the August 1, sailing from Southampton

We never met.

I am commenting on the storm we hit. I also woke up at around 3:15 Am

The ship had quite a list on the port side. All glasses & ice bucket went

Flying off the the table. With that list, I could see directly to the white crests of waves in dark sea and the spray coming into the sheltered balcony

My first reaction was to run to deck 7. I put on the cabin TV station that gives

The nautical info. I didn't here any announcements. But I couldn't go back to

sleep .

I didn't here any announcements until the usual noon one, after the 12 Noon

Blasts of the horns .

Capt. I am sorry to hear about the injured crew:(

Member:(

[Pennbank]

Tonight was the final of 4 formals on the westbound leg and I thought that the food choices at dinner were lacklustre. There were no snails, no beef wellington and no baked Alaska; there was surf and turf and other stuff but it seemed to me to be another example of change for the sake of changing. I know that some would call the other stuff old fashioned but I think that it is traditional and even though I don’t eat the baked Alaska I like to see it available because lots of people love it.

 

Nonetheless we had a great evening and the humidity died away overnight and the last day was perfect, the sunbeds were full and there were a few rather pink looking people walking around.

 

I must apologise for misleading you all, the carpet in the Britannia and the Commodore Club have been replaced but they used identical carpet when they relaid them. One interesting nugget that I heard was that the Internet packages are to switch from per minute pricing to per megabyte of data used pricing. No-one that I've spoken to knows how it will work in practice but it will start before September apparently.

 

The final quiz was slightly better/easier and we scored well on Song Introductions, not well enough unfortunately so we remain without a victory to our name.

 

We all had lunch in the Verandah Restaurant today to use our CWC Vouchers, it was ok but I really wasn’t too keen on the limited selections available. Sorry if I'm sounding like a miserable old foodie but there were only four starters, four main courses and four desserts including cheese, which came plated. There was nothing inherently wrong with the place or the quality of the food served and I suppose that it has to grow into its own identity which it hasn’t had time to do. The staff there seem quite ready to say no to passengers which is unusual on board this ship. I have a voucher for next week and I'm not sure that I want to go there again that soon.

 

Perhaps use your Diamond complimentary meal for the Chinese or Indian in Kings Court!

Edited August 9, 2016 by Pennbank

[Salacia]

Was on deck 10 when the shipped tilted. 4 large books including the Atlas fell off the shelves followed by a second lurch that knocked everything down in the closet. Captain's explanation was that this was caused by high winds up to 100 knots. However, crew talked about a big wave that caused the ship to temporarily take on water that had to be pumped out. At any rate visible damage visible was nonsexistent, although the ship was titled at least 5 degrees for a while.

 

I wonder if the remastering and addition of cabins on one side has unbalanced the vessel?

 

resistk, was there any check on passengers in the Grills? No mention of checks on Britannia category passengers. Just wondering with all that flying class, etc, if there was an injury assessment.

 

I've found no accounts of this in the press, or on Cruise Critic News. Unsuprisingly.

[capnpugwash]

Perhaps use your Diamond complimentary meal for the Chinese or Indian in Kings Court!

 

That's probably the best option

[easyboy]

Nice reading your posts. Thanks

[capnpugwash]

One thing that was good was that the food offered wasn’t as rich as that of Todd English so we were able to get to dinner that evening which had proven difficult, if not impossible in the past. We weren’t late to bed as we were in New York the next day.

 

We sailed into Red Hook in beautiful weather, arriving by 6.30am. we had breakfast in the Britannia which was quite hectic as is usual on a turnaround day and then just after 10.30 we made our way off the ship into the terminal. The staff were welcoming and mostly smiling as we headed to Immigration, I explained to the ladies supervising the lines that we were in transit and she ushered us to the shorter queue, we had a 10 minute wait and then after fingerprints and a photo we were out into the heat of the day which had now built up to 28/82 degrees with a little humidity.

 

I phoned Arecibo cars and they arrived 5 minutes later with a nice clean limousine. We were going to Chavela’s at 736 Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, this is a Mexican restaurant and it took us 25 minutes to get there through quite heavy traffic but the journey was worthwhile. I needed to go to a Bank so we wandered around for a while, it’s an interesting area which I felt might have been one to avoid in the past but I felt it was ok during the day. The restaurant was excellent, we had a few margaritas, guacamole with home made crispy tortillas, crab empasadas and pork enchiladas. They are only licensed for tequila, beer and wine. The cab fare was only $15 plus tip each way and I think the whole thing was great. We were back at Red Hook by 2.30 and were able to bypass the thronging masses arriving at our cabin 10 minutes later. The temperature and humidity had increased significantly and it was well over 90/32 degrees so it was lovely to get into the coolness on board.

 

The sailaway was what it should have been with bright sunshine, warm weather and about a thousand people on the aft deck drinking champagne and dancing to Vibz, we left before they played Red Red Wine to shower and dress for cocktails and dinner.

 

It had been a long hot day so we were in bed just after 11pm and slept well until 7am.

 

After breakfast it was time for the quiz, we did well but only came second unfortunately. It was on Musicals and was shown on the TVs again. We put the clocks forward one hour at noon so there were 8 of us for lunch in the Britannia just after the noon announcement. During the morning and over lunch we were surrounded by whale spouts and dolphins chasing fish, it was wonderful! We had a nice lunch and went our separate ways meeting up for cocktails at 7.15 in the Chart Room, it is the first formal evening and we all looked pretty posh. We’ve been reassigned to table 45 as we are now 8 strong, this was the old Deputy Captain’s table but now isn’t hosted. We had a nice meal and then went into the Queens Room to the Black and White ball, the usual posers were there strutting their stuff and looking disparagingly should any mere mortal dare to get in their way. I always look at their faces and it seems that the only people smiling and having fun are the untalented horde who just dance here because they can’t at home. We couldn’t think of any drink that we wanted so we left and went to bed.

 

The ocean was racing by and the humidity was diminishing, lovely weather to sleep in.

 

Today is Thursday August 11 and the sun is shining, we won the quiz by 4 clear points and all is well with the world. Their technology broke down so we had an old fashioned oral general knowledge, just up our street!

 

We didn’t lose an hour today but most of our party completed the UK Immigration on deck 3, it’s not a bad job but the officer has to examine 2600 passports in 3 or 4 days and deal with some quite moronic people among the passengers. I have great sympathy for him.

 

After lunch, we took coffee in the Carinthia Lounge and commented how great an improvement it has been, it is actually used now by passengers rather than the Canyon Ranch staff trying to sell snake oil.

 

Tonight is the second formal evening and is the Captain’s cocktail party, we are meeting at 7 for drinks before drinks before dinner.

[BlueRiband]

What is your impression of the Carinthia Lounge? When I was on the first post-refit sailing the reaction seemed mixed. Lively in the day, kind of dead in the evening. One person described it as looking very nice but "the atmosphere sucks" to use his quote. Since it was new it had not yet become part of anybody's onboard routine.

[capnpugwash]

What is your impression of the Carinthia Lounge? When I was on the first post-refit sailing the reaction seemed mixed. Lively in the day, kind of dead in the evening. One person described it as looking very nice but "the atmosphere sucks" to use his quote. Since it was new it had not yet become part of anybody's onboard routine.

 

I've only experienced it during the day and I like it. There was a concert there the other evening with a jazz singer and it was packed and everyone had a ball. I would say the reaction is positive overall

[Aussieflyer]

Thank you for the ongoing report Cap'n. I am really enjoying reading and can't wait till I can sail on her again, sadly not till April :(

 

Well done on winning the trivia!

Edited August 12, 2016 by Aussieflyer

[brigittetom]

Wonderful read.......thank you so much.

[IDB37]

"Zimmer Frame" is seemingly unique to the UK, and translates to "Walker" on the North American side of the pond.

 

As an aside, the world's oldest 'rock band' derived their name therefrom ! Makes for interesting viewing:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY

[capnpugwash]

The party was jam packed with over 1000 people attending, it only lasts 45 minutes but it was quite hot and uncomfortable. Chris Wells was his usual witty self and his speech was well received.

 

Dinner was excellent with fillet steak and excellent red wine, a perfect meal in my view. Afterwards we went to the pub for Karaoke and stayed there until nearly 1am, it was great fun and while we didn’t venture onto the stage we sang along with all of the contestants. As expected some were better than others but that’s the charm of that type of entertainment. We all drank way too much but the Espresso Martinis were just too tempting.

 

We slept well unsurprisingly and woke somewhat jaded at 8.30. We tried breakfast in the Carinthia Lounge and whilst there is quite a selection of foods, there was little that grabbed our attention which meant trekking back and forth to the Kings Court where we probably should have been in the first place.

 

An American man sat next to us at an adjacent table and was eating a single egg benedict, he cut it up with his knife and fork and then changed hands and used his fork like a shovel to put it in his mouth. I realise that this is quite normal in the USA but it just struck me as particularly odd today and wondered why he wouldn’t just use a knife and fork in the normal way to eat. He’s obviously been taught this way but I can’t see the logic behind it.

 

We were victorious in the quiz which did bear some resemblance to the movie quiz that we had last week, in our defence there were 2 questions that were different. We scored 18/20.

 

The clocks advanced at noon once more and we went to the Carinthia Lounge to listen to some music and have a drink. We didn’t fancy lunch up there and Kings Court was busy so we went back to the pub for fish and chips, it was disappointing with cold peas and flabby fish. They may have changed the recipe for the batter during the remastering for some reason, it isn’t a patch on how it used to be.

 

Then it was time for a nap and to dress for this evening. We met as usual in the Chart Room for cocktails and had a pleasant dinner. We were tired from last night so left just before 11pm and headed to the cabin. The ocean is smooth and there is a bit of wind blowing so we shall keep the balcony door shut tonight.

[Salacia]

pARTIAL QUOTE...[quote name=capnpugwash;50749747

...An American man sat next to us at an adjacent table and was eating a single egg benedict' date=' he cut it up with his knife and fork and then changed hands and used his fork like a shovel to put it in his mouth. I realise that this is quite normal in the USA but it just struck me as particularly odd today and wondered why he wouldn’t just use a knife and fork in the normal way to eat.. .[/quote] -

 

Thanks, I needed that laugh :D

Edited August 13, 2016 by Salacia