Bon Voyage to those on Queen Victoria on her return to service

[Host Hattie]

Have a great time

[LouChamp]

Love the QV. Our best memories of her were a cruise in the Mediterranean when we sailed into Venice along the Grand Canal followed by a stay at the Cipriani. Priceless. Love Cunard for decades. All the best!

[puppycanducruise]

Bon Voyage!

[rafinmd]

Bon Voyage!

 

Roy

[tony s]

Best wishes. We are going on her 8/24. Let us know how things are.

[safarigal]

Thanks for the Bon Voyage messages.

 

All is well on Queen Victoria, except our luggage didn't make it's way on to the ship, and is still in  the Ocean Terminal in Southampton. It will be joining us in Barcelona.

 

We were treated to the Imperial Military Band giving us a recital by the Lido pool before sail away, so we all stood there in the drizzle with a glass of champagne in one hand, waving our little flags in the other, as they played good patriotic music. At the end we gave 3 cheers to Her Majesty. The Red Arrows had to cancel their planned fly over due to the weather, 

 

It's good to be back on board 🙂

[Host Hattie]

Nice to hear from you, so sorry to hear about your luggage. How did that happen ?

[safarigal]

2 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Nice to hear from you, so sorry to hear about your luggage. How did that happen ?

Cunard had been storing our suitcases  in Southampton after we disembarked from Queen Mary 2, and they should have been transferred to Queen Victoria yesterday. Unfortunately the suitcases only got as far as Ocean Terminal, and were not delivered to the ship. We hope to see them again when we get to Barcelona on June 10th!

[delondin]

3 hours ago, safarigal said:

Thanks for the Bon Voyage messages.

 

All is well on Queen Victoria, except our luggage didn't make it's way on to the ship, and is still in  the Ocean Terminal in Southampton. It will be joining us in Barcelona.

 

We were treated to the Imperial Military Band giving us a recital by the Lido pool before sail away, so we all stood there in the drizzle with a glass of champagne in one hand, waving our little flags in the other, as they played good patriotic music. At the end we gave 3 cheers to Her Majesty. The Red Arrows had to cancel their planned fly over due to the weather, 

 

It's good to be back on board 🙂

That’s my biggest fear. Did you see it go down the conveyor belt thing?  I’m on board if you want to borrow hair straighteners or anything let me know. I have a spare American pair 

[Host Hattie]

8 minutes ago, safarigal said:

Cunard had been storing our suitcases  in Southampton after we disembarked from Queen Mary 2, and they should have been transferred to Queen Victoria yesterday. Unfortunately the suitcases only got as far as Ocean Terminal, and were not delivered to the ship. We hope to see them again when we get to Barcelona on June 10th!

Oh dear, I hope you can manage until then. We had a similar mishap on QM2 when we sent all our formal clothes with White Star luggage.

[delondin]

We are on board. Embarkation could have been better. We had 12.15 check in. We arrived a bit earlier and no one was checking times. They allowed everyone inside to be seated until check in was open at 12 rather than making everyone stand outside. The cafe was open. 
 

however the captain was really strict about ship not boarding till 1pm which was surprising as it wasn’t like they had to wait for guests to disembark first. Had priority boarding but was a bit of a free for all once ship got clearance. I’m sure this could be better managed. 
 

once onboard all the ships chefs and officers were there to welcome us onboard which was a nice touch. 
 

we were sent to a set of lifts based on our cabin but when we exited them the fire doors were shut and we had a bit of a route March to our cabin. Apparently the doors were  shut due to isolation cabins. 
 

It was a shame the fly past didn’t happen due to weather but they still made an effort with the band and flags so that was nice in the rain. 
 

no Internet cafe computers as broken which was slightly irritating due to work commitments but they are working on that. 
 

 

[safarigal]

39 minutes ago, delondin said:

That’s my biggest fear. Did you see it go down the conveyor belt thing?  I’m on board if you want to borrow hair straighteners or anything let me know. I have a spare American pair 

Thanks - we are not sure what happened and why the suitcases aren't on board - but that's life I suppose. Luckily I have all of my hair equipment in my carry on bag - just in case of this kind of emergency!

 

[delondin]

2 minutes ago, safarigal said:

Thanks - we are not sure what happened and why the suitcases aren't on board - but that's life I suppose. Luckily I have all of my hair equipment in my carry on bag - just in case of this kind of emergency!

 

Great. I remember a few years ago we met on board and your straighteners broke so I know that was quite important to you!  If there’s anything else i can help with let me know. X

[ew101]

I am curious where the new QV crew (hotel department) came from.  So in 2020 many/most were sent home Cunard-wide.  In the ship by ship return to service process, was the individual re-hiring based on the ship they were last on, seniority, or some other criteria?   So were the 2020 QV assistant waiters the last to be hired back on out of the whole fleet? 

[LadyL1]

On our 3 post covid QE cruises, we saw many crew whom we knew from the QV. It seems they were not hired for their last contracted ship.

[Solent Richard]

19 hours ago, safarigal said:

Thanks for the Bon Voyage messages.

 

 

 

We were treated to the Imperial Military Band giving us a recital by the Lido pool before sail away, so we all stood there in the drizzle with a glass of champagne in one hand, waving our little flags in the other, as they played good patriotic music. 

 

It's good to be back on board 🙂

 

There are a number of CC members onboard and reporting that all is fine...

 

 

...though it would appear one particular Queen Victoria fan is missing. 

[Solent Richard]

Out of interest I feel members may be interested in this quick update I received from a friend currently onboard Queen Victoria, they were in Cadiz yesterday...

 

'Arrived in Cadiz this morning after a very smooth crossing of the Bay of Biscay. The cruise so far has been outstanding. There is a relaxed atmosphere on this voyage compared to the two previous QE trips (post pandemic) A good demographic of guests onboard mainly the old school Cunarders and many familiar faces from previous Cunard cruises who respect the evening dress code . The onboard product is returning slowly to some sense of normality , the Highlight for me ....Guests can now sit at the Bar Top , Dancing ( both ballroom & Sequence) has returned to the Queens Room every evening .

 

The Verandah restaurant is open , however, for this voyage the Lido Alternative ( Indian/ Asian) is not operating up in the Lido but it is available on ‘certain evenings’ in the Verandah restaurant along side the usual Steakhouse menu.

 

Neil Kelly the Entertainment director is on Top Form , one of the best , so enthusiastic and passionate about the Queen Victoria , the lovely Laura sunshine is busy around the ship interacting with all guests. The guest capacity for this voyage is 1,100, however , for the return after our stop in Italy it will be further reduced as a group of about 40/50 guests will disembark as part of a further itinerary of [TA name deleted]  apparently they return back to the UK on the Orient Express 

 

For this cruise I have chosen Club dining , this venue on the Queen Victoria is vastly superior to the venue on QM2 .however ,the food and service is as equally outstanding , to be honest I have found Club dining experience almost on par with Princess Grill which I chose last August. It’s been lovely to meet up with several members of the Fanzine'.

 

All looking pretty good in my opinion.

 

[safarigal]

I can second that - it is all looking pretty good. Everyone - staff and guests alike -seem to be very happy to be back on board again 🙂

My thoughts are at whereissafarigal.com

[Victoria2]

2 hours ago, safarigal said:

I can second that - it is all looking pretty good. Everyone - staff and guests alike -seem to be very happy to be back on board again 🙂

My thoughts are at whereissafarigal.com

Only one phrase will do for your blogs, which I always follow, and that's 'a superb read'.

[carlmm]

3 hours ago, Solent Richard said:

Out of interest I feel members may be interested in this quick update I received from a friend currently onboard Queen Victoria, they were in Cadiz yesterday...

 

'Arrived in Cadiz this morning after a very smooth crossing of the Bay of Biscay. The cruise so far has been outstanding. There is a relaxed atmosphere on this voyage compared to the two previous QE trips (post pandemic) A good demographic of guests onboard mainly the old school Cunarders and many familiar faces from previous Cunard cruises who respect the evening dress code . The onboard product is returning slowly to some sense of normality , the Highlight for me ....Guests can now sit at the Bar Top , Dancing ( both ballroom & Sequence) has returned to the Queens Room every evening .

 

The Verandah restaurant is open , however, for this voyage the Lido Alternative ( Indian/ Asian) is not operating up in the Lido but it is available on ‘certain evenings’ in the Verandah restaurant along side the usual Steakhouse menu.

 

Neil Kelly the Entertainment director is on Top Form , one of the best , so enthusiastic and passionate about the Queen Victoria , the lovely Laura sunshine is busy around the ship interacting with all guests. The guest capacity for this voyage is 1,100, however , for the return after our stop in Italy it will be further reduced as a group of about 40/50 guests will disembark as part of a further itinerary of [TA name deleted]  apparently they return back to the UK on the Orient Express 

 

For this cruise I have chosen Club dining , this venue on the Queen Victoria is vastly superior to the venue on QM2 .however ,the food and service is as equally outstanding , to be honest I have found Club dining experience almost on par with Princess Grill which I chose last August. It’s been lovely to meet up with several members of the Fanzine'.

 

All looking pretty good in my opinion.

 

 

 

Thank you very much for posting. It is so good to read about the Queen Victoria full of life again.

[carlmm]

6 hours ago, Solent Richard said:

, the lovely Laura sunshine is busy around the ship interacting with all guests.

 

 

Do you or does anybody else know if there are other "well known" staff members on board who were also there on the last days of the Queen Victoria in March of 2020?

Eg, is Leslie there?

Who is the pianist in the Commodore Club?

[safarigal]

30 minutes ago, carlmm said:

 

Do you or does anybody else know if there are other "well known" staff members on board who were also there on the last days of the Queen Victoria in March of 2020?

Eg, is Leslie there?

Who is the pianist in the Commodore Club?

Clarolyn is the pianist in the Commodore Club in the evenings. Dragana and Chris are in the future voyages sales office.

[Solent Richard]

7 hours ago, safarigal said:

I can second that - it is all looking pretty good. Everyone - staff and guests alike -seem to be very happy to be back on board again 🙂

My thoughts are at whereissafarigal.com

There, I've gone and joined your subscription list and left you a comment.

 

[carlmm]

1 hour ago, safarigal said:

Clarolyn is the pianist in the Commodore Club in the evenings. Dragana and Chris are in the future voyages sales office.

 

Thank you, @safarigal! So same new people.

 

Thank you also for your blog. Very enjoyable.

[Solent Richard]

On 6/9/2022 at 3:38 PM, Solent Richard said:

There, I've gone and joined your subscription list and left you a comment.

 

So very sorry to read about your luggage.

 

I would have thought Cunard have little choice but to eventually replace your cases like for like.