Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 251 days

 

As Queen Mary 2 continues her 2010 World Voyage with visits to Dubai and Singapore, Queen Victoria has just crossed the Equator and the International Dateline – yes this year we didn’t have an 8 February! These were two important occasions which, as usual, Queen Victoria celebrated in style. If you would like to find out more about how we mark such events, you can look at the Blog posted on this subject last year, by clicking on this link:

 

http://wearecunard.com/2009/02/12/

 

In this Blog we are going to take you back to Queen Victoria’s maiden call to San Francisco on 27 January, with some great pictures and video of that wonderful day. There are some arrivals you just have to be up for, however early, and coming in to San Francisco, under the Golden Gate Bridge is one of those arrivals, especially when it’s the ship’s first call.

 

You can see it all on video courtesy of our cameramen who were on board to capture the moment:

 

 

 

 

As we had over 1,000 guests disembarking and embarking that day, we had to arrive early, so we picked up the pilot at about 6am and 30 minutes later Queen Victoria passed under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. It was a cold and dark morning but it was still a wonderful sight to see the bridge ahead of us, although there are not that many lights on it. The deck of the bridge is approximately 245 feet (75 m) above the water which gave Queen Victoria a clearance of about 32 feet or 9.8m. As we went under, Captain Wright sounded the ship’s whistles and the salute was returned by the Golden Gate Bridge as you’ll hear in the video.

 

The Golden Gate Bridge spans the Golden Gate which is the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. It was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1937, and has become an internationally recognised symbol of San Francisco and California, despite the fact that since its completion, the span length has been surpassed by eight other bridges.

 

As we sailed into the bay, with the haunting island of Alcatraz on our port side and the familiar sight of Fisherman’s Wharf on the starboard side, dawn started to break over the city.

 

 

 

 

San Francisco is a city that never fails to impress, and it has quite a history dating back to 1776 when the Spanish established a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Francis of Assisi on the site. The California Gold Rush in 1848 propelled the city into a period of rapid growth, increasing the population in one year from 1,000 to 25,000, transforming it into the largest city on the West Coast at the time. Despite much of the city being destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt. Today the city is a popular international tourist destination, renowned for its chilly summer fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture and its famous landmarks, including the cable cars (America’s only moving national monuments), and Chinatown. This scene typifies the streets of San Francisco with Alcatraz in the background:

 

 

 

By the time the sun came out, the familiar San Francisco mist had lifted and our guests enjoyed a fantastic day in the city exploring the sights. Suzie, one of our on board photographic team was able to take some great pictures, like this one showing her approach to Alcatraz Island.

 

 

1.5 miles offshore and often referred to as The Rock, the small island has served as a lighthouse, a military fortification and a military prison, before becoming a federal prison from 1934 until its closure in 1963. Today, the island is a historic site operated by the National Park Service and is open to tours, which guide visitors through all areas of the prison including the cell once occupied by the notorious Al Capone.

 

 

 

The Golden Gate Bridge must be one of the most photographed bridges in the world, and when you see pictures like this you can understand why.

 

 

 

While our guests were ashore, a special reception was held on board Queen Victoria where the honourable Mayor Gavin Newsom, officially welcomed Queen Victoria, her guests, officers and crew to the city. Among the guests were travel agents, media and local dignitaries - including the British Consul-General of San Francisco, Julian Evans. At the event, by official order of proclamation, Mayor Newsom declared the day as “Cunard Queen Victoria Day” in San Francisco.

 

 

It was a great day and on behalf of all of us on Queen Victoria we’d like to thank San Francisco for a great welcome as well as Eric and Kiefer for capturing it all on video. I’ll be back as usual on Thursday with more news from our World Voyages and more news of Queen Elizabeth coming soon. Cheers for now, Alastair

 

Also welcoming Queen Victoria to the City by the Bay was the CEO and President of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, Joe D’Alessandro; President of the San Francisco Port Commission, Rodney Fong; and the President and CEO of Nautilus International Holding Corporate (parent company of Metro Cruise Services), James Callahan.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 254 days

 

As Queen Mary 2 made her maiden call to Cochin in India and headed to Phuket in Thailand, her sister, Queen Victoria had crossed the Pacific to make her maiden call to the port of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. It was the ship’s first visit to the island and what a welcome we received, and certainly beyond our expectations. On the same day a couple from Toronto, Canada had decided to make this an extra special day as well. More of that after our regular feature, Cunard’s history, for the week 5 to 11 February:

 

5 February 1840	Samuel Cunard’s first ship, the 1,154-ton paddle steamer Britannia, is launched at Robert Duncan’s ship yard.
6 February 1924	Aurania III is launched in Newcastle and enters service as the second set of triplets of the A Class liner
6 February 1951	Caronia makes her maiden call to Auckland, New Zealand
7 February 1925	Alaunia II (14,040 Tons) is launched at John Brown’s, Clydbank and enters service on the Canada route
10 February 1977	QE2 makes her maiden call at Nagasaki, Japan
11 February 2008	Queen Victoria makes maiden crossing of the international Dateline

 

Queen Victoria anchored off the island of Maui at about 8am last Monday, and everyone soon flocked to the open decks to see the most incredible welcome from the marine life of the bay. There were North Pacific Humpback Whales everywhere around the ship with approximately twenty of them on view comprising families with their calves.

 

 

We found out that this was no coincidence, as the Whales choose the Maui area and specifically the bay around Lahaina as it is a perfect area for them to spend their winters. Hawaiian water temperatures average around 75 degrees, which is an ideal environment for the newborn calves. The islands shelter and protect the waters and form a shallow basin, as compared to the deep surrounding Pacific Ocean waters with depths of up to three miles. The average depth in the area off Lahaina is only about 300 feet which is perfect for the Humpback Whale. Another reason they come to Maui is that Hawaiian waters are virtually predator free for the Humpback Whales. Their only other predators, besides humans, are Orcas, the Killer Whale, but they are rarely seen in Hawaii as they prefer colder waters. The Humpbacks encounter Orcas on a regular basis when they migrate to the feeding grounds of Alaska in the summer, and as such, about a fifth of Humpback Whales bear scars from Orca attacks. The marine life remained visible throughout the day; it was almost like some of the calves wanted Queen Victoria to join in the fun! Our guests and crew were able to take some fantastic photos from the ship and the tenders which took them ashore; mind you it takes a professional like our Chief Photographer, Marius Botha to get a shot like this.

 

 

The name La haina means “cruel sun” in the Hawaiian language, describing the sunny dry climate enjoyed most of the year. It’s a small town compared with the very busy and cosmopolitan Honolulu, with the focus of activity along Front Street, which dates back to the 1820s and today is lined with stores and restaurants. Banyan Tree Square features an exceptionally large Banyan tree planted in 1873 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the missionaries. It has grown by dropping roots from its branches that then become additional trunks, allowing it to cover two-thirds of an acre.

 

 

 

It’s amazing to think that this is just one tree! It now has twelve major trunks and the symmetry of the tree is apparently maintained by volunteers.

 

While most of our guests were enjoying island tours, two guests from Toronto, Canada were preparing for a day they would never forget, because this was the day they had chosen for their Hawaiian wedding. Corey who recently retired from the Canadian Military, and Amy, who works in finance, met in a nightclub in Toronto just over a year ago. As Amy was already booked on part of Queen Victoria’s World Voyage, the idea of a Hawaiian wedding seemed perfect. Amy’s parents are staying on for the whole World Voyage so they also attended the ceremony on an exclusive beach within a short walk of Lahaina. Amy’s sister and her partner flew to the island for a week’s holiday, so they could also be part of the special day. The setting was idyllic with their honeymoon destination, (Queen Victoria) in the background.

 

 

 

They said that once they had decided on a Hawaiian wedding, the process was actually quite simple and not too complicated. They managed to arrange everything over the internet and all they had to do on the day was arrive at Amy’s sister’s hotel to change, and then walk down to the beach to meet the minister who had arranged their traditional Hawaiian wedding, which they told me involved lots of kissing throughout the ceremony along with exchanges of leis and vows.

 

 

After the ceremony they wanted to do something quite different so they hired a paddleboard before returning to the ship later that afternoon. They had a lot of fun on the tender back as they heard guests saying, “Did you see the wedding on the beach – how lovely”. “Little did they know, that it was us” said Amy. Back on board their room steward Rosie had made a special decoration of kissing swans made out of towels, so I am guessing the word was out!

 

While Amy’s parents continue with their World Voyage after Sydney, the now Amy and Corey McKee-Beglin, will be making plans to move in to their new condominium in September when it is finished. This was Corey’s first voyage and they hope their anniversaries will be back on board; what a great idea! Thanks Corey and Amy for sharing your story with us and we wish you every happiness in your married life.

 

The following day we were back in Honolulu and now Queen Victoria is heading towards the Southern Hemisphere. I’ll be back on Monday and I have a great Blog for you with video from our day in San Francisco. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 257 days

 

While Queen Mary 2 made her maiden call to the Venice of India, Cochin, Queen Victoria arrived for her first call to the Hawaiian Island of Maui and the port of La Haina. I’ll try and not make you too envious with some pictures next week! In this Blog we decided to highlight two very special occasions that were celebrated on Queen Victoria on her way to San Francisco last week.

 

We always acknowledge important days on our ships, but when we found out that Burns Day was on Queen Victoria’s last formal evening of her second leg of the 2010 World Voyage, we decided to make it a gala event with a special Burn’s Night Ball.  For those of you not familiar with Scotland’s most famous poet, I’ll try and give you a very brief history!

 

Born near Ayr in Scotland on 25 January 1759, Robert Burns is also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland’s favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a “light” Scots dialect.

 

It was to his father, William Burns and to his own reading, that he owed the more important part of his education. In 1786 he published “Kilmarnock” a volume of the poems which he had been composing for some years. Following the volume’s success, he went to Edinburgh, and that winter became the chief literary celebrity of the season.

 

For many, the real national importance of Burns is his songs. From an early age he had been interested in collecting the fragments he had heard sung or found printed, and was committed to rescuing this almost lost national inheritance. In spite of the fact that he was constantly in severe financial straits, he refused to accept any recompense for much of his work, preferring to regard it as a patriotic service. As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) Auld Lang Syne is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and “Scots Wha Hae” served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Robert Burns became a cultural icon in Scotland during the 19th and 20th centuries and in 2009 he was voted by the Scottish public as being the Greatest Scot, through a vote run by Scottish television.

 

The celebrations on Queen Victoria started a few days before with Scottish dancing lessons and sash making classes, all of which paid off on the night itself. Burns Night began at dinner with a special dish created by our on board culinary team, led by Executive Chef, Nicholas Oldroyd. The dish featured traditional Scottish Haggis served with the equally traditional Tatties (mashed potato) and Neeps (mashed turnip), with a special Drambuie sauce. Our guests certainly got in to the spirit of the evening; Nick told me over half our guests enjoyed the specially prepared dish.

 

The Burns Night Ball began with some traditional Scottish music and the first of the dances, “The Gay Gordons”, and it was a fantastic sight to see so many guests dressed in kilts and many others in tartan. The highlight of the evening was when fellow guest Jim Gardiner was invited to “Address The Haggis”

 

 

Here Mr Gardiner is addressing the haggis as our Scottish Chef, Derek Wilson, presents the Haggis and cuts it open as part of the ceremony. This is an abbreviated section of the address, in Scottish and in English.

 

“To a Haggis” by Robert Burns

Fair fa; your honest, stonie face,

Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!

Aboon them a’ ye tak your place

Painch, trip, or thairm:

Weel are ye wordy of a grace

As lang’s my arm.

 

All hail your honest rounded face,

Great chieftain of the pudding race,

Above them all you take your place,

Beef, Tripe or Lamb:

You’re worthy of a grace,

As long as my arm.

 

 

 

The end of the ceremony is marked by a toast with, what else, but whisky, and here Derek and Jim are joined by (left to right), Ed Moffatt, Assistant Entertainment Director, Jim’s wife Muriel and Social Hostess, Jennifer Schaper.

 

 

After that Derek joined all the guests who had dressed in their Scottish Attire for the evening, for a group photo.

 

 

Then it was time for more traditional Scottish dances such as “Strip the Willow” and “Dashing White Seargent”. And yes I did join in though I’m not going to embarrass myself by showing you the pictures!

 

The following day was another important day for our guests and crew as many of our crew celebrated India Republic Day and our 49 Australian guests marked Australia day with a special party in the Winter Garden filled with green and yellow balloons and Australian Flags.

 

Previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day and ANA Day, Australia Day is the official national day and commemorates the arrival of the first fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia. Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with Governor Lachlan Macquarie having held the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales in 1818.

 

There are only seven Australian crew members on board, so Lisa Fanning (top right in the photo below), from Melbourne, and the Entertainment Department’s only Australian, led the singing of the Australian National Anthem, “Advance Australia Fair”, as well as songs like Peter Allen’s “I Still Call Australia Home” and the ever popular “Waltzing Matilda”. After that it was time for a group photo.

 

 

I’ll be back on Thursday with the regular weekly Blog and I have some great ones coming up, including a post featuring a special guest lecturer, Roger McGuinn, founding member of The Byrds. We also hope to post a video of our maiden call into San Francisco, with some fascinating statistics as Queen Victoria passes a key milestone in her career. There’ll also be some more news from Queen Elizabeth coming soon, so I look forward to keeping you fully updated with what’s going on in the Cunard World. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 261 days

 

As Queen Mary 2 reached Dubai for the next leg of her World Voyage, Queen Victoria arrived in San Francisco for her maiden call – and what a welcome she received. I’ll post a special Blog covering that day very soon. Before we introduce you to Queen Mary 2’s latest Star of The Month, here’s Cunard’s history, for the week 29 January to 4 February:

 

 

31 January 1951	Caronia  makes her first west bound crossing of the International Dateline
1 February 1971	QE2 makes her maiden call at Freeport, Bahamas
2 February 1870	The keel is laid for the new Parthia which was to be Cunard’s finest ship to date. She was the first Cunarder to have baths - one on the Port Side and one on the Starboard side
4 February 1945	The beginning of the Yalta Conference, where Churchill used Cunard’s Franconia as his base. The conference, which lasted one week, was held with Roosevelt and Stalin.
4 February 2007	Queen Mary 2 makes her maiden call to San Francisco

 

 As many of you will know, each month we feature a “Star of the Month” from either Queen Mary 2 or Queen Victoria. The title is awarded to just one crew member per ship each month, as a result of guest and crew feedback, and then consideration by our on board White Star Committees. The “Star of the Month”, also has their photo displayed prominently in the Grand Lobby for guests to see, and it’s now a great pleasure to talk to Queen Mary 2’s latest star; Noel Lomandas who is a Buffet Steward.

 

 

On 5 January 1995, Noel joined his first ship, the Vistafjord, which was renamed Caronia in 1999. He started his career as a member of the utility team and two years later, on his third contract with Cunard, he was promoted to Assistant Waiter and then Waiter. He remained on Caronia until she went out of service in 2004 when he joined Queen Mary 2 as a Buffet Steward

 

At home he is married to Olivia, and with their children, seven year old Camilla Jasmine and three year old Earl Grey, they live in San Fabian in the Philippines.

 

 

At the moment Noel is assigned to the Room Service department, and his day starts early at 6.00am when the ship is in port or 6.45am if the ship is at sea. Having reported to his supervisor, Noel spends most of his morning preparing coffee or making toast for the room service trays and reckons he makes over 500 slices of toast each morning!

 

In the afternoon he sets up the trolleys in preparation for the following morning and then helps the Room Service team deliver orders to guest staterooms. His true dedication to “White Star Service”, lead to his nomination for “Star of The Month”. He received numerous recommendations from the guests he served, who consistently said they appreciated his excellent service and tremendous positive attitude.

 

He is often asked how long he has worked for the company and he told me that he is very proud to tell guests “since 1995”, and he considers the best part of his job to be able to meet our guests.

 

When he gets a break on board, he likes to play chess, watch movies in his cabin and sometimes he goes to the crew gym. He also likes to call home regularly and when the ship is in port he enjoys going out with friends to have some Filipino food which he can find in many ports Queen Mary 2 visits.

 

Becoming the “Star of The Month” also brings a prize which Noel said he would use towards his children’s future. Here he is receiving his award with (from left to right), David Stephenson, Hotel Manager, Osman Pinaolglu, Senior Maitre D’Hotel, Commodore Bernard Warner and Jeff Morgan, Food and Beverage Manager

 

 

At home on leave Noel loves spending valuable time with his family and also enjoys singing and playing the guitar. As for the future Noel told me that he hopes he will be promoted, which would also help him support his family even more as he would like his children to attend a good school where they can study. Noel certainly seems to be a true Cunarder and when I asked what “We Are Cunard” meant to him he replied simply that, “We are a big family”. I couldn’t put it any better.

 

Thank you Noel for taking the time to chat to me and also a huge thank you to Jeanne Pohling, who is the Hotel Manager’s Personal Assistant, who helped put this Blog together. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s another great story where our fellow crew members have been recognised for their hard work and White Star Service.

 

I’ll be back soon with more news from around the Cunard World, including some recent celebrations on Queen Victoria. As always, keep those questions and comments coming in, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 259 days

 

As Queen Mary 2 continues her World Voyage with her maiden call to Muscat in Oman, Queen Victoria is coming to the end of her second leg of her World Voyage, arriving for the first time in San Francisco on Wednesday 27 January. If you want to watch her arrival on the bridge cam you can click on this link:

 

http://www.cunard.co.uk/bridgecam/qv_cam1.asp

  

We are not sure of the exact time that we will be passing under the Golden Gate Bridge but it will probably be between 6am and 7am local time (2pm to 3pm GMT).

 

A week earlier Queen Victoria was making her third transit of the Panama Canal. You can find out more about the Panama Canal and last year’s transit along with some great photos, facts and figures by clicking on this link:

 

http://wearecunard.com/2009/01/22/

 

Making the transit through one of the engineering marvels of the world is a real highlight of this voyage, and our guests were up very early to catch our approach to the first and probably most impressive of the three sets of locks. As I mentioned in the Blog last year; a good quiz question is “In which direction does the Panama Canal flow?” This map will give you the answer and also shows the location of the different locks.

 

 

 

 

 

We entered the Gatun Locks at about 8.30am on a beautiful day which although hot, was just right. As I went out on deck it was very busy with guests taking lots of photographs, and this year, as we progressed from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific, there were ships passing us in the locks going in the opposite direction, which is possible as the locks work independently of one another.

 

 

Meanwhile our on board photographers had been granted permission to go ashore and took some fantastic pictures of Queen Victoria in the locks, it’s great to have the professionals aboard to get shots like this which shows what a tight squeeze it is.

 

 

 

As many of you will know Queen Victoria is a Panamax ship, which means she is the maximum size of ship that can pass through the canal locks, which also means that the chamber walls are literally inches away from the ship’s hull. As I passed Café Carinthia, which is located on deck 2, the ship was just entering one of the locks and I managed to get this intriguing picture through the window. You can see the lock wall with a marker that indicates how far in to the chamber the ship was at the time.

 

Just over an hour and a quarter later and with the help of three lock chambers, Queen Victoria had been lifted 85 feet, and was now sailing through the beautiful Gatun Lake which is a protected area, so everyone was able to enjoy some stunning scenery.

 

During our transit of the lake, Ed Paulk, who had been giving us an excellent commentary from the bridge, gave guests a fascinating lecture in the Royal Court Theatre. He told us about the day’s transit as well as some details about the history of the Canal.

 

He also told us about the current construction works that were taking place along the Canal. In 2007 work began on widening the canal and installing new locks that would be able to accommodate much larger ships. The $5.5billion US dollar project will be completed by 2014, marking the Canal’s 100 year anniversary. The new chambers will be 1,600 feet long, 60 feet deep and 180 feet wide which means ships like Queen Mary 2 will be able to go through the canal from 2014. In fact the largest cargo ship that will be able to go through could carry a staggering 13,000 containers. The authorities are using the latest in technology in this massive project, which will see 60% of the water in the new locks being recycled in to holding basins. Although we could see the widening works from the ship, the new locks weren’t visible, but will eventually look like this:

 

 

After his lecture Ed then continued with his commentary from the Bridge, as we passed under the magnificent Century Road Bridge which was designed and built by a German team of architects and engineers about 5 years ago.

 

 

 

 

By 3.00pm we were approaching the second set of locks, Pedro Miguel, where the lowering process would begin. Here is another great shot from our on board photographers from the lock gate as Queen Victoria approached.

 

 

 

By about 5.30pm we had been through all the sets of locks and sailed under the Bridge of the Americas, which is seen by many as a formal welcome to the Pacific Ocean. As we turned north to Acapulco we reflected on what an amazing day it had been. No matter how many times you go through the Panama Canal, it never fails to impress.

 

Now we have something very different which I hope you enjoy. Our on board Videographer, Suzie Long, made this remarkable video taken from Queen Victoria’s bridge. The video is a clip from the Souvenir Voyage DVD, which is available for our guests at the end of each voyage, and shows us going through the locks – though somewhat speeded up!

 

 

I’d like to thank the on board photographers for all their help with these pictures and video and hope to bring you more in the future.

 

I’ll be back on Thursday with another regular post which will also celebrate Queen Mary 2’s latest star of the month. We’ll post some exclusive pictures of Queen Victoria’s maiden call to San Francisco as soon as we can, along with more news about Queen Elizabeth’s progress in Italy.  Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 264 days

 

As I am writing this post, Queen Victoria has just made her third transit of the Panama Canal, and is now heading north to Acapulco. I’ll have a special Blog next week with some great pictures of this highlight of Queen Victoria’s World Voyage. Meanwhile Queen Mary 2 has just made her maiden call to Safaga in Egypt where her guests will have enjoyed tours to Luxor and the “Valley of The Kings”. 

 

Before we show you pictures and video of Queen Elizabeth’s interior, here’s Cunard’s history, for the week 22 to 28 January:

 

23 January 1951	Caronia makes her maiden call to Honolulu, Hawaii
26 January 1856	The Persia begins her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York, as Cunard’s last but one paddle steamer.
26 January 1986	QE2 makes her maiden call at Callao, Peru
26 January 2008	Queen Victoria makes her maiden call at Acapulco

 

Queen Elizabeth’s Float Out ceremony was an amazing occasion, as it gave us the opportunity to witness a milestone in her construction process as well as being able to have a sneak look inside our new Queen, to see how she was progressing. Although it will be less than ten months before her maiden voyage, the interior of the ship at this stage is literally just metal.

 

To date the main focus of attention has been on the superstructure of the ship, but now that she has moved in to her first outfitting dock the attention turns to the inside. I took quite a few photographs, but frankly it would be hard to work out which area is which, so I took some pictures on board Queen Victoria this week, to give you an idea of what these areas may look like in 37 weeks time, although of course the décor will be different.

 

Most of the ship still looks very much like a shell and as you’ll see in this first photo of the upper level of the Britannia Restaurant, the outfitting process makes a dramatic difference.

 

Click image to enlarge

 

 

 

 

One thing we noticed in many areas of the ship, such as the Grand Lobby, Royal Arcade, Queens Room and Royal Court Theatre was the huge amount of scaffolding, which would enable work to take place on the very high bulkheads. You’ll see what I mean in this next shot, which is a view looking aft from the B Staircase towards the Grand lobby.

 

Click image to enlarge

 

 

You can see the lift shafts to the left, and the red panels are the fire screen doors which will eventually be concealed. One subject that I talked about on an earlier Video Blog was the outfitting of the bars, and how the tiling in those areas had already been started, and you can see this on the left hand side of this view of the Golden Lion Pub.

 

Click image to enlarge

 

 

This was our first opportunity to look at the upper areas of the ship towards the aft, which had only recently been added. This is the view of the Lido Buffet area looking aft, and you can see that the windows still haven’t been installed yet.

 

Click image to enlarge

 

 

While we looked at Queen Elizabeth’s interiors, I was grateful to Peter Shanks, Cunard’s President and Managing Director, for taking the time to chat to me about the day and the progress of Cunard’s latest Queen. So here is the next in the series of Video Blogs from that special day:-

 

 

 

I’d like to thank everyone again for all their assistance on that cold day, which enabled me bring you these pictures and Video. Please keep your comments and questions coming in, and I look forward to posting another Blog at the beginning of next week with pictures of Queen Victoria’s transit of the Panama Canal. Cheers for now, Alastair

Amongst all the excitement of looking forward to our new Queen joining the fleet in October, our two other Queens had a busy and exciting festive season, before preparing for their 2010 World Voyages. So in this Blog I’d like to take you back a few weeks as celebrating the festive season on a Cunard ship is always very special for guests and crew alike. While I was at home, I was very grateful to Queen Mary 2 for sending me a special Blog, capturing the festive atmosphere of the season.

 

Guest Blog, Freda Singleton – Queen Mary 2

20 December saw an interesting start to Queen Mary 2’s festive celebrations with Cunard’s flagship docking in New York shortly after 6.30am. Commodore Bernard Warner arrived shortly afterwards to take the helm and to his surprise, found the pride of Cunard’s fleet, the greatest ocean liner of our time, coated in white as her decks were covered in several inches of snow!  Had the newly installed snow-making machine gone into over-drive?!  No!  New York was fully into its Christmas cheer with a snow storm worthy of the North Pole! 

 

 

Some hours after the Commodore’s arrival, the snow was still piled up alongside the ship, so it was no surprise that our 2,400 guests were anxious to escape to the warmth of the Caribbean!  We were all very grateful to the Commodore as he headed south towards our first port of call, Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, to thaw out.  Meanwhile, the glamour and elegance of Cunard travel began on the first formal evening of the voyage with our fabulous, traditional, Black and White Ball. The Ball opened with the extra sparkle of the Royal Cunard Dancers in all their brilliant white finery, setting the scene for a glittering voyage.

 

It wasn’t long before we could all enjoy the sunshine of the Caribbean. The islands of Tortola and St Maarten are known for their beauty, friendliness and typical Caribbean hospitality, not to mention the odd rum punch or two which had everyone in the mood to party.  Christmas Eve saw a transformation from the wonderful rhythm of the steel drums to the gentle and festive sounds of Christmas carols as guest, officers and crew gathered in Queen Mary 2’s elegant Grand Lobby for the traditional start of the festivities.

 

 

Children and adults alike went to sleep that night anticipating the fun that was to follow on Christmas Day.  We were awoken of course, to the sound of sleigh bells…….coming down the chimney?  Well, the funnel is certainly big enough - and there indeed was Santa himself making his way through the ship from the Grand Lobby to the Queens Room!

 

 

Father Christmas was delighted to have caught up with Queen Mary 2 and to have been able to give so many presents to the fantastic young travellers on board. So much so, he even found time to reward the Commodore for being such a marvellous host, master of the ship, leader of such a tremendous team and fine example of White Star Service! Here he is being congratulated by Santa with Entertainment Director, Paul O’Loughlin.

 

 

Merriness continued throughout the day with sumptuous food and a specially written Christmas Show performed in the Royal Court Theatre that night and here’s a photo capturing Edwina Currie and her husband John Jones relating the story of ‘The Night Before Christmas’,

 

 

Of course the whole evening would not be complete without a spectacular Grand Lobby buffet prepared by our incredibly talented Chefs.

 

 

Enormous credit has to be given to the team who created this beautiful gingerbread display .

 

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The special voyage gave our guests to enjoy visits to the stunning islands of Curacao, Grenada, Barbados, St Lucia, Dominica and St Kitts before the countdown to 2010. After a tremendous amount of preparation from the ships staff the countdown for the big night was soon underway in all parts of the ship.  From Campbell Simpson at the Piano in the Commodore Club, to our resident DJ Freddie in the G32 nightclub, through the Grand Lobby with our international band Vibz, the Chart Room with the Mark Hodgson Jazz Trio and not forgetting the Golden Lion pub with Gun of the Entertainment Staff where a rousing refrain of the British National Anthem and the ever emotional Pomp and Circumstance had seen in the British New Year at 8pm, and so on to the Queens Room and the elegance of the Queens Room Orchestra.  Here there was a very Scottish flavour to the Hogmanay styled celebration with many guests in kilts enjoying the traditional dances such as the Gay Gordons. Meanwhile the clock was ticking on the big screen behind the orchestra.

 

 

The ballroom was packed, the excitement was tangible as Evgeny Gnezdilov, tenor sax player from the Royal Court Theatre Orchestra, crouched down to ring 8 bells to mark the passing of 2009, under the watchful eye of vocalist Michel Chartier, poised to begin his rendition of Auld Lang Syne. This was swiftly followed by Alex Laxton, Queen Mary 2’s youngest crew member at just 19 years old, ringing in 2010.

 

 

And the beautiful gold and silver balloons fell, hooters squealed, streamers filled the air, everyone cheered, hugged and kissed.

 

 

As always Queen Mary 2 celebrated in style that night, with all her fabulous guests joining the ship’s company to mark the beginning of a new decade!

 

I’d like to thank the Queen Mary 2 for their help in this Blog and to Freda Singleton for sending it to me as it really shows yet again that Cunard certainly knows how to put on an unforgettable party.

 

Also thank you again for logging on and for all your questions and comments. I’ll be back on Thursday with a Video Blog featuring some interior shots of Queen Elizabeth as well as an interview with Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks. Cheers for now, Alastair

 Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 267 days

 

As Queen Mary 2 prepares to make her maiden southbound transit of the Suez Canal, Queen Victoria has also found the warmth of the Caribbean having made her maiden call to Grand Cayman yesterday. We anchored just off Georgetown, very close to a new pier:

 

 

We were lucky to be the only ship in, so we had the island to ourselves, where we could enjoy the delights of snorkeling, seven mile beach, Tortuga Rum Cake and an opportunity to go to Hell. No I am not being rude, there really is a place called Hell and it’s a group of short, black, limestone formations in the northwest of the island roughly the size of a football pitch. There are numerous explanations of how Hell received its name, but they are generally variations on what locals perceive Hell would look like. Whatever the origins of the name, many of our guests and crew go there, just so they have this claim to fame and post their cards from this spot with a special stamp.

 

Thank you again for all the comments about the previous Queen Elizabeth “Float Out Ceremony” Blogs. We will of course keep you updated with all the news as it happens. In this Blog and third video, we have a special interview with Queen Elizabeth’s Madrina, Dennie Farmer and also the ship yard director Paolo Capobianco.

 

Once the ceremony had been completed by the dry dock, which was now filling with water, we were treated to a wonderful reception and lunch in the Fincantieri offices at the Monfalcone ship yard. We were first given a very special souvenir programme of the day:

 

 

Inside the programme was a fitting tribute to our new Queen and Cunard’s proud and rich history, which included this great picture comparing Cunard’s latest liner with the very first ship, Britannia, which began Samuel Cunard’s company in 1840

 

 

There was some fantastic memorabilia around the room from the private collection of Maurizio Eliseo and Paolo Piccione, which celebrated many of the Cunard Liners of the past, including the previous ships bearing the name Elizabeth:

 

 

In this next Video Blog you’ll see that while we were at the reception I managed to have a chat with both Dennie Farmer and Paolo Capobianco, before heading back to Queen Elizabeth to have a look at the progress of the inside of the ship.

 

 

You’ll be able to see the next Video Blog in the series on Thursday, when I’ll be guiding you through the interior of Queen Elizabeth and there’ll also be an exclusive interview with Cunard’s President and Managing Director Peter Shanks. Thank you to both Dennie Farmer and Paolo Capobianco for their time and again to our cameraman Andrew, as well as everyone else at the Fincantieri ship yard for all their help on that day.

 

Meanwhile I’ll be back tomorrow with a special Blog from Queen Mary 2. Although the festive celebrations of Christmas and New Year may see a long time ago, we thought you’d still like to see how our flagship celebrated the season with a Guest Blog from Freda Singleton, Queen Mary 2’s Social Hostess.

 

Thank you again for logging on and please keep those comments and questions coming in. Cheers for now, Alastair

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 271 days

 

It was lovely to see Queen Victoria in New York’s Manhattan, as I arrived to join the ship on a very cold but sunny Tuesday Morning. In fact it was so cold; there was ice in the harbour!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was great to meet many readers of this Blog, as well as so many familiar faces amongst our guests who were either joining Queen Victoria on that day, or had joined in Southampton. After a brief hand-over with Amanda Reid, she left that evening on a flight to Lisbon to join Queen Mary 2.

 

Thank you for the amazing feedback from the first Queen Elizabeth Float Out video. I am pleased you enjoyed it and am delighted to enclose the video from the second part of the day, along with some great photos, but first here’s Cunard’s history, for the week 15 to 21 January:

 

15 January 1972

QE2 makes her maiden call at Norfolk, Virginia, USA

 

15 January 2007

Queen Victoria floats out of her dry dock

 

16 January 2002

The first steel is cut to mark the formal start of construction of Queen Mary 2

 

20 January 1950

Caronia crosses the equator for the first time travelling south to Brazil

 

21 January 2008

Queen Victoria makes her maiden transit of the Panama Canal

 

 

Looking at our history, it’s incredible to think that less than three years after Queen Victoria was floated out of her dry dock for the first time, we were celebrating her sister, Queen Elizabeth, also floating out.

 

After the coins were welded to the ship’s bulkhead, our Madrina, VIP’s, officials and guests moved to the dock side for the next stage of the ceremony. After speeches from the Shipyard Director, Paolo Capobianco, and Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, the Fincantieri Chaplain, Padre Gildo, was invited to bless the ship for the next stage of her construction.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Our Madrina, Dennie Farmer, was then given a special small axe to cut the wire, releasing the bottle of Prosecco.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bottle then smashed against Queen Elizabeth’s hull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the signal for one of the shipyard’s staff to open the valves on the massive dry dock gates to let the water in, so that Queen Elizabeth could float for the very first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite moving realising the significance of the event, when the water came rushing in to the dock towards Queen Elizabeth’s hull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here is the video which captures the event perfectly:

 

 

 

 

 

The whole process takes some time, so we were grateful to receive these pictures of the latter stages of the filling of the dry dock with this first picture showing the aft section;

 

 

 

 

This is a fabulous shot of the bulbous bow in an almost full dock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll notice there is still a lot of paintwork to be completed on Queen Elizabeth’s hull which will be taking place soon. She will also go in to a dry dock one more time, after her first set of sea trials which are expected to be in about 18 weeks time. During that dry dock Queen Elizabeth’s hull will be completely repainted and treated ready for delivery a few months later.

 

We still have more videos from the day including some special interviews and we’ll post them over the next week or two. In the meantime I’d like to thank our cameraman Andrew for this stunning footage, as well as Simona and everyone at the Fincantieri shipyard for all their help and patience during the filming.

 

Also coming up is some news of the World Voyages from Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. I’ll be back on Monday with the first of the interviews filmed at the Float Out Ceremony. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 274 days

 

As I prepare to fly to New York to meet Queen Victoria on her 2010 World Voyage, I am delighted to say that the first Video Blog from Queen Elizabeth’s Float Out ceremony is now ready.  As I mentioned in my last post, this is the first part of four from the day. The ceremony began on the new Games Deck, where following tradition, our Madrina, Dennie Farmer was invited to weld the three coins to the bulk head, after which our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks added his welding skills to complete that part of the day’s celebrations.

 

 

 

And here, having completed their tasks, Peter and Dennie are photographed in front of the newly welded coins which Queen Elizabeth’s guests will be able to see whenever they visit the Games Deck.

 

 

 

Fincantieri Ship Yard Director, Paolo Capobianco then signed Dennie’s apron to commemorate the occasion.

 

 

 

So now, here’s the video which I hope you agree really captures the excitement of the first part of the day.

 

 

 

 

As I mention in the video, the ceremony then moved to the dock side, and the Video Blog which sees this bottle of Italian Prosecco break on Queen Elizabeth’s Hull, will be posted later this week.

 

 

 

We will then get to see the lock gates release water in to the massive dry dock, and Queen Elizabeth’s hull touches water for time. I also have some great interviews from the day on the way as well.

 

I’ll be back on Thursday with the weekly Blog when I’ll let you know how the World Voyages on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria are going, and of course more pictures and videos from Queen Elizabeth’s float out ceremony. Cheers, Alastair