Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 316 days

Welcome to another Blog and the last one for this month which has been another busy one with a record numbers of readers, so thank you for continuing to log on.

We have lots of great posts planned for December which I hope you also enjoy reading. I know I was going to post the second set of photos and video from the interior of Queen Elizabeth, but I’m afraid that’ll have to wait till Thursday.

Meanwhile though, I have received a guest Blog from Cunard’s celebrity Chef, Todd English.

In case you didn’t see it I interviewed him in a Blog posted 30 July this year, where you can read more about his remarkable career. http://wearecunard.com/2009/07/

On this occasion he came on just for the day as he hosted group for lunch in his restaurant on Queen Victoria, which was also attended by members of the press and Captain Ian McNaught.

I’ll let Todd English take up the story:

Guest Blog – Todd English – Cunard Celebrity Chef

At the end September, I had the opportunity to welcome Queen Victoria to Boston, my home for the past 20 years, for her maiden call to the city. Upon reaching the harbour, I could see her funnel and was excited that she was here, even if just for a day.

That afternoon, I had the distinct honour of hosting a small group for lunch at my namesake restaurant, Todd English, on board the liner. I loved being back on Queen Victoria, and even managed to sneak off for a pint at The Golden Lion pub – a favourite haunt of mine when aboard.

Being in the restaurant again reminded me of when I was first asked by Cunard to create a restaurant on board what was to be their newest ship, Queen Mary 2. I was given the opportunity to design an innovative and enticing culinary experience to add to the line’s renowned reputation of fine dining. I was so honoured that of all the chefs in the world, I would get to put my stamp on this iconic and prestigious brand.

The Todd English restaurants are found exclusively aboard Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2, and they are truly a reflection of who I am as a chef. First and foremost, the menus reflect my love for Mediterranean cuisine. I also try to find a balance between offering dishes that are familiar and comforting to those that are unique and different, bringing a bit of romance and fantasy into the guests’ dining experience. I want guests to feel like these restaurants are similar to out-of-the-way gems they discover when they travel to new cities – after all, the ships are really like cities themselves.

I hope that you have the opportunity to sail on what I truly believe are the most beautiful and majestic ships at sea and experience my restaurants. I look forward to hosting you soon.

I’d like to thank Todd English for this Guest Blog and as always it was a pleasure to see him on board. I’ll be back on Thursday with the promised pictures and video from my recent visit to Queen Elizabeth, and I’ll also have a report from another recent function, this time a special event with our friends at The Prince’s Trust. Cheers Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 320 days

As the countdown continues, Queen Mary 2 is now enjoying the Caribbean sunshine, and we’ll hear from her again soon. Meanwhile Queen Victoria is in the sunshine too; this time in the Canaries. As promised, I have more pictures and video from the Fincantieri Shipyard where Queen Elizabeth is currently under construction. In my last Blog we saw the outside and now in the first of two special Blogs, I can bring you the very first views of her interior. Firstly thank you again for all the great comments and questions, we love receiving them so keep them coming.

Here’s this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 27 November to 3 December:

27 November 1920 Samaria II is launched

27 November 2008 QE2 arrives in Dubai, Unite Arab Emirates, to begin her new life.

29 November 1968 QE2 Sails from fitting out berth under command Of Captain Bill Warwick

30 November 2007 Queen Victoria leaves the ship yard in Marghera, Italy flying the Cunard flag for the first time

1 December 2005 “A Moonlight Serenade” featuring Carly Simon, recorded in Queen Mary 2’s Queens Room airs on over 100 TV stations

3 December 2004 Cunard signs a contract with Fincantieri’s Marghera ship yard, to build hull number 6127 – Queen Victoria

Back in Italy and my visit to see the progress of our new Queen Elizabeth, it was great to go back on board just eight weeks after my last visit. I know I’ve said it many times before, but the rate of progress is just staggering and as I made my way up the metal staircase, that will become the A stairway, I must admit that at times, it was a struggle trying to work out where I was. With the help of Antonio from Fincantieri, we made our way up to the navigational Bridge, not that there was much to see!

This part of the ship had only been added about a week before, but remarkably this is where Captain Wells will be in less than 45 weeks, to take command of our new Queen. We then headed aft along long expanses of open decks, where guest staterooms will be added over the coming months (if fact the first ones had arrived just a few days before our visit), to get to another section that had just been added. We came to a grand staircase and then realised this would be the magnificent centerpiece of the Britannia Restaurant.

Click on image to enlarge

It really will look stunning although of course there is a lot of work to do over the next ten months! From there we headed forward along deck 2 and could just about make out the preliminary work for the beautiful ceiling that will be a major feature of the new Britannia Club Restaurant.

Then we arrived in the Grand Lobby, such an amazing space on Queen Victoria, and you could see, with some imagination, how impressive this space will be in less than a year.

Click on image to enlarge

If you look carefully through the scaffolding you can make out the elegant staircase and the space where a specially commissioned piece of artwork will create a superb focal point to the centre of the ship.

You can see some more of this in the second of three videos we filmed that day:

As you will realise there is more to come, so I’ll be back next week with the third and final video clip and more pictures of the forward part of the ship including, one of the most talked about spaces; the Royal Court Theatre. Our thanks yet again, to Simona and Antonio in the yard for all their help, as well as Andrew and Martin, for their great pictures and video. Cheers, Alastair

Now it’s a great pleasure to introduce a special Guest Blogger. I’m sure many of you remember Maureen’s last Guest Blog when she talked about her days on Cunard ships (4 September 2009). I am pleased to say she’s been kind enough to write again and this time on a recent reunion. I’ll let Maureen pick up the story:

Guest Blog – Maureen Ryan – Retired Social Hostess

Over the first weekend of October a group gathered, some travelling from across the globe, in the beautiful New Forest at the Crown Hotel in Lyndhurst. They meet each year, coming together for a couple of days to keep in touch and to reminisce about the years, many decades ago, when they lived closely together for months at a time, working as Pursers for Cunard.

I hadn’t been to a meeting for a few years, but walking into the bar before dinner on the Saturday evening, I instantly recognised so many people; it was like stepping back into another age as we picked up where we’d left off, many moons ago!

After dinner several tables were chatting away with familiar conversations of; “what happened to so-and-so, do you remember when he”. It was so good to exchange news, and remember so many distinctive characters that one never forgets. Catching up in the bar with so many wonderful memories, kept us all up until the early hours; it really was like the old days!

In this photo are John and Cindy Rabley, I last saw them on the Maiden Voyage of Queen Mary 2.

John Firth, who organised the meeting, is in the centre and he spent 25 years in Australia. He now lives in the UK, but is returning to Australia soon for four months, and will be contacting several ex-Pursers staff like Pat Fison, Ted Finch, Ken Penfold and David Thomas. Next to John is Peter Quinn.

In this Mike Constant is on the left with John Butt between the two ladies, Winifred (Freddie) Bosworth (Hearn) and Hermione Dormer (Pantling) on his left

Mike sailed on QE2 as a Senior Purser, and retired in 1999. John Butt, who helped to organise the meeting with John, also sailed on QE2 as Entertainment Director until he retired.  Hermione Dormer (Pantling) is on the right. Her husband, Harry, was a Deck Officer with Cunard for some years. I must thank Hermione for supplying some of the photos for this account of the reunion.

In my first blog (on 4 September), there was a photo of 6 Lady Assistant Pursers, which was an advert for the Stenography Service offered to passengers on the two Queens. Well here we are again, well three of us anyway; myself, Jane Lucas (Leat) and Jill Jones (Williams) and Hermione (on the left) who was a Lady Assistant Purser, and we sailed together on the Queen Elizabeth.

This is a picture of Margaret Newcombe and Eddie Peregine.

Margaret’s first ship with Cunard was the Aquitania; she was also the Hostess par excellence on Queen Mary. In 1968 we joined QE2 together for the Maiden Voyage, and Margaret was the Senior Social Directress on the ship for some time.

This photo features Muriel Arnold, now a successful author, having published several books, including ‘Tiaras and T-Shirts’, a behind the scenes view of life on the great passenger liners.  Jane Lucas (Leat) is in the centre and on the right is Frances Milroy, who had a long career with Cunard and became the first female Hotel Manager. Harry Dormer is in the background.

Among the many others attending were Bill Loughnane, Ian Sumpner, George Read, Richard Ahl, Pam Webb, Jeff and Barbara Baggot (Sennitt), Dennis Randall, Marjorie Sharpe (Cassell), Rosalie McPherson (Fowler), Hew Dunn, Julia Lee (Barratt), Ted Finch, John Sargeant, David Ellison and John Palmer.

The following day we dispersed, back to our present-day lives. We’re scattered all over the world, but will always share in common the memories and experience of being part of the Pursers staff on the great Cunard ships. So, until next year………

Thank you Maureen for that great story; maybe in 20 years some of us from Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria will have a reunion and talk about today being the old days! We’ll have to wait and see.

I’ll be back soon with more news of what’s happening now on our two Queens and of course more from the shipyard in Italy and our newest Queen. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 323 days

As Queen Mary 2 arrives in the Caribbean for her winter season, and Queen Victoria returns from her Mediterranean Voyage before heading off to the Canaries, Queen Elizabeth is literally growing by the day. In this Blog I’ve got the latest video, shot just last week in the Monfalcone shipyard.

During my trip to see Queen Elizabeth we managed to cover a lot in one day. We have filmed three clips especially for this Blog. Here’s a picture Martin Lilly (Cunard’s Director of Entertainment) took of me being filmed by our cameraman, Andrew.

You’ll probably notice the rather interesting footwear I am wearing. They are actually safety shoes which everyone has to wear, as they have steel toe caps to give protection whilst walking around the yard. Mind you, you can always rely on the Italians to make safety shoes that look relatively stylish – even if they don’t match the suit!

Behind me you can make out one of the last few blocks, that has yet to be added to the ship and the yellow machinery behind me is an incredible piece of equipment capable of lifting 120 ton blocks.

So here at last is the first of those three video clips:

I’ll be back tomorrow with a special guest Blog from Maureen Ryan, after her fascinating reunion a few weeks ago. On Thursday I’ll have another regular weekly Blog with the first interior pictures of our new Queen along with the second video. As I mentioned before I am very grateful to Simona and Antonio in the yard for all their assistance on that day, as well as Andrew and Martin, for their great pictures and video. Cheers, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 327 days

As promised I have some great pictures from my visit to the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy where Queen Elizabeth’s construction is progressing at a staggering rate.

Firstly though; it’s a pleasure to respond to some of your comments and questions from this week. Thanks for the lovely poem Ann, which was a fitting reminder of our much loved QE2 that is so much a part of our history. Also regarding your enquiry about Elaine McKay, Mark, Thomas Quinones introduced me to her when she came on board for the day when Queen Victoria called at New York in September. It was her first time on board and Elaine loved the ship, and she spent the day reminiscing with old friends. I hoping she’ll be able to write a guest Blog some time as well; it’s always great to keep up with fellow Cunarders. As for speculating who will name Queen Elizabeth, I’m afraid we’ll have to wait, as none of us will know until much nearer the time, probably in July.

I’ll have some more nostalgic stories on the way, as well as what is happening on board at the moment. Meanwhile here’s this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 20 to the 26 November:

November 21 1787

Samuel Cunard is born in Halifax, Nova Scotia

November 22 1955

Sylvania II is launched at John Brown Yard at Clydebank, and along with the Carinthia III they are the last liners to be built purely for the North Atlantic market. She becomes the last Canadian emigrant ship

November 24 1967

RMS Caronia, comes to Southampton for the last time after a distinguished career.

November 26 1968

QE2 leaves Greenock, Scotland for her first sea trials.

November 26 2007

Cunard accepts delivery of Queen Victoria

So as we celebrate Samuel Cunard’s 222^nd birthday and the anniversary of Queen Victoria joining the Cunard fleet, our attention is drawn to Italy, where in under eleven months, her new sister Queen Elizabeth will become the sixth Cunard Queen.

As you know I went to the ship yard in Monfalcone last Sunday while Queen Victoria was making a call to Venice. For the first time I could see Queen Elizabeth from a distance, as I approached the yard as she had grown so much. On this visit Cunard’s Director of Entertainment, Martin Lilly, joined me as well as Andrew, our cameraman, who took some great video footage that we will hopefully bring you on Monday. They had arrived the previous day as there was quite a bit more of the ship to film on this visit. They stayed in the yard until it got dark and Martin took this amazing shot of the ship, looking at a cross section of her bow.

You can make out the Bridge which was only added a few days ago. The section below the Bridge is where staterooms will be, and below that is the back stage area of the Royal Court Theatre where the scenic elements of the shows will be stored and, believe it or not, the dressing rooms.

Martin and Andrew were also able to get in to the dry dock and look at the hull of the ship, and here is a great picture of the port side Stabilizer Fin in its housing.

The next morning they arrived just before me, and were already busy filming as I came in to the yard. As it was a Sunday there were very few ship yard workers on the site, but there was some work taking place, including one very important job that was fantastic to be able to witness.

Yes these are metal letters that are being welded to the bow, so our new Queen can proudly bear the name of the two Elizabeth’s before her. What a great sight!

So what does she look like now? I think this gives you a pretty good idea of how much she has advanced since you saw the last pictures:

There are only a few blocks left to add, mainly to the aft section but still a few more on the bow as well. She has nearly reached her full height with the addition of the Grills area, and certainly she is looking very recognizable now.

So what about inside I hear you ask; well I’m afraid that will have to wait until next time, but I know you’ll be equally amazed when you see those pictures. I’ll be back on Monday with more pictures and hopefully some video for you, and there are lots of other Blogs on the way as well. Special thanks to Simona and Antonio in the yard for their patience and help and Martin for helping with these great pictures. Cheers or should I say Ciao, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 330 days

As I am writing this I have just got back from the Fincantieri Ship Yard in Monefalcone where Queen Elizabeth is currently under construction and what a transformation from when I was last there just over 2 months ago. I’ll hopefully get some pictures to you on Thursday and some video after that.

Meanwhile on Queen Victoria it was great to see a familiar face walk up the gangway a few weeks ago. While Queen Victoria’s Chief Engineer takes his holiday we welcomed Ronnie Keir for the first time on Queen Victoria. I last worked with Ronnie on Queen Mary 2 so it was good to catch up with him.

For those of you who don’t know Ronnie Keir, he was born and brought up in Clydebank, Scotland, within the sound of John Brown’s Shipyard, where most of the great Cunarders were built. He left school in 1964 and started a 5 year engineering apprenticeship in the shipyard. During his third and fourth year’s, work started on the new Cunard vessel Queen Elizabeth 2, where he was involved in the manufacture of the turbines and gearboxes for the new Cunard liner. Ronnie attended Clydebank Technical College during those years and was awarded a pass with credit in engineering craft practice by the City & Guilds Institute of London. 

After his apprenticeship was complete, and as a career at sea was the next step for most young shipyard engineers, Ronnie began working for J & J Denholms of Glasgow, and joined his first ship as junior engineer in May 1972 on a 36,000 ton bulk carrier running from the West coast of USA to Australia via Japan. Ronnie attended Glasgow College of Nautical Studies and over the years, in three month blocks, he gained his second and first class certificates of competency. In 2001 he was installed as a Fellow of the “Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology.”

Over the following 25 years Ronnie served on all types of ships with J & J Denholms, including tankers, container ships, roll on roll off ferries, diving support ships and passenger ships. Being appointed Chief Engineer of a high tech diving support vessel in the North Sea for the first time in 1987, was a moment of pride for Ronnie. However he feels the greatest highlight of his career was when he joined Cunard in January 2003, as Staff Chief Engineer, on Queen Elizabeth 2 in Los Angeles, a ship he last saw 35 years earlier, sailing down the River Clyde. This highlight was eclipsed in September of that year, when he was appointed to the new build team for Queen Mary 2, in St Nazaire, France, as the second Chief Engineer of Cunard’s latest and greatest liner.

Ronnie still lives in Scotland with his wife and two sons, within sight of where the great liners were built. Alas it is now a green field site again, but it seems fitting that a new Technical College has now been built on the very site of the slipways where the great liners were built, and the fitting out basin will now be transformed in to a small boat marina.

He was kind enough to offer to do an interview for the Blog, so here it is: -

Special Interview – Chief Engineer – Ronnie Keir

I know you have just joined Queen Victoria but how are you settling in.

Very well. I like the ship a lot, and it’s great to see lots of familiar faces amoungst the crew and technical dept.  I know most of the officers from QE2 and Queen Mary 2, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know some nice new faces as well.

Being involved with Queen Mary 2 from the beginning must have been an incredible experience – could you describe what it was like?

Being appointed to the yard as part of the new build team, and the second Chief Engineer after Brian Wattling, was a very proud moment for me. I helped build ships in John Brown’s ship yard, in Clydebank, in the sixties when I was an apprentice engineer and I watched them laying the keel of the QE2 when I was 17. I reached Staff Chief Engineer on QE2 and being chosen to go to Queen Mary 2 build, gave me the opportunity to say I was present and involved in the construction of Cunard’s two greatest modern day transatlantic liners. I think I am the only one in the world that can say that.

What has impressed you most about Queen Victoria and what was the biggest adjustment you had to make coming Queen Mary 2 and QE2?

My first impression was the beautiful décor, especially the Grand Lobby and the Royal Court Theatre. It was also easy to see the White Star Service Programme was working well, judging by the friendliness of the crew. My biggest adjustment was learning to stop looking for the fourth stairway. “D”! There weren’t any major adjustments required in the engine room as our company paperwork is the same on all ships, well nearly. The only thing I did have to do was familiarize myself with the engine control systems which are different on Queen Victoria.

What is the most frequent question you get asked – and how do you answer it?

“Can I see the engine room?” If I had a pound for every time I was asked that I would be retired by now! Unfortunately, due to modern health and safety regulations, we are not allowed to have visits to the engine room. I know in the old days they had it as part of the tours, but this isn’t possible any more so I explain this to our guests, and arrange to meet with them and talk engineering things.

Please could you tell us something about being a Chief Engineer that would surprise us?

When Chief Engineers go home on leave all their powers go away as well, as another Chief Engineer takes over. When at home I am tasked with all the “honeydoo’s” that have built up while I’ve been away, though that might not be too big a surprise to most.

I used to be a bus driver in Glasgow for 2 years, after my apprenticeship was completed and before I went to sea. Being a bus driver in Glasgow, can be challenging, especially at the weekends, when both teams are playing at home. On these routes all the drivers knew the words to all the team songs and sang along.  This proved to be the best way to avoid trouble!

I was also a member of the 15^th Battalion of The Parachute Regiment in the Territorial Army and have done over 30 aircraft jumps, including 2 from a hovering Wessex helicopter from 1000ft. I think that was an experiment as we were told we were the first to do it; but it went OK.  After the first 200 ft the canopy collapses inward with the downdraft of the rotor blades, and you fall another 200 ft before it opens completely again. Believe it or not this is me in action!

After your many years at sea, what are the most significant changes as an engineer that you have seen over the years?

I went to sea at 23 in May 1972, and joined my first ship in Japan: a bulk carrier. The ship had no Control Room; you stood on the middle plates and drove the engine, like the engineer on the footplate of a steam locomotive. Now we all have air conditioned Control Rooms, and since the 90’s the big change has been the introduction of computer controlled systems. But, as I am always quick to point out, the computer can’t fix everything. When the engine or a pump breaks down you still got to get the spanners out, and get dirty. So nothing’s changed there.

What does “We Are Cunard” mean to you?

I have great feeling of pride in working for the most famous shipping company in the world. Cunard is a prestigious company full of wonderful history, especially in my home town of Clydebank, where the name Cunard means workmanship and quality. In fact here are two street signs which act as a reminder to our heritage, just around the corner from my home:

“We are Cunard” also means delivering White Star service. Since the merger of “White Star” and Cunard, we have used this name which was famous for its service, and today I believe White Star Service is the top of all service programs.

Where is your perfect holiday destination?

I would have to say Polynesia, Moorea and Bora Bora. It’s warm but not humid and although I sailed out there for a few years, I have never holidayed there. My wife and I also love Cornwall and we have good friends there in Freathy near Torpoint. This is the family on a recent holiday there:

We are also hoping to have a holiday in Tuscany soon, as I love Italy and my wife, being a vegetarian, loves pasta and we both love the wine.

Do you have any unfulfilled dreams?

I am quite content with my life so far, although I had a small yacht when I was single and I always liked the idea of getting another boat, perhaps a motor cruiser about 30 to 40 ft long. 

When you are on leave; what would be your perfect day?

We have a quite a large garden, and summer days in the garden followed by an evening BBQ with friends is always good. I also have a fully restored 1955 Triumph Tiger T110, 650 cc, so I like a nice day riding my motorcycle through our local country roads, up around Loch Lomond and the country side around Stirling and the Trossachs.

What is your favourite quote and who said it?

“If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours”.  I don’t know who said it. But it would make the world a happier and safer place.

Thank you so much Ronnie for taking the time to chat and give an insight in to your fascinating career. As promised I’ll be back on Thursday with those new pictures of Queen Elizabeth as well as lots of other ideas in the pipeline including another Guest Blog from legendary Social Hostess Maureen Ryan. Cheers for now – Alastair

Breaking News – The Latest Pictures Of Queen Elizabeth

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 334 days

With just eleven months before our new Queen joins the Cunard fleet and begins her maiden voyage, the countdown to her arrival is gathering pace. Although I’ll be returning to Monfalcone this weekend, Simona has sent me some new pictures, which mark quite a milestone in the construction process. I was going to wait until my visit to ship yard on Sunday before posting any more pictures of Queen Elizabeth’s progress, but then these arrived, so I thought I had to share them.

Before that though, I have had some interesting news today regarding another Blog, readers may be interested in. As we mentioned yesterday, Cunard recently won a prestigious Conde Nast award and the Condé Nast Traveler magazine interviewed our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks. You may be interested to see the interview that Wendy Perrin posted on her “The Perrin Post” Blog on the magazine’s Web site. You can view her story at: http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/perrinpost .

Now back to Queen Elizabeth and as readers of this Blog will know, the ship is being built in blocks and sections which are then added to the vessel literally on a daily basis. This process is so quick that Queen Elizabeth will only spend 6 months in the dry dock before moving to her outfitting berth. A very important block was added this week and here it is being lowered on to the rest of the ship in the dry dock.

Yes it’s the bridge, where in just over 10 month’s time Captain Wells will assume command, and a couple weeks after that, Queen Elizabeth will begin her maiden voyage. This massive crane carefully lifts this whole bridge section, and slowly lowers it into place.

Whether it was by coincidence or not I don’t know, but as the bridge was being lowered in to place, a name with over 170 years of history was also being added to the hull.

You can see the iconic letters have been welded on to the ship’s side very recently, and once our new Queen is fully painted and ready to enter service, the Cunard name will look very similar to the lettering seen here on her sister, Queen Victoria:

Well that‘s it for the moment – but I’ll have lots more including video in about 10 days time and I have a feeling there will be a lot of progress to show you, so I must admit I’m getting very excited about seeing her again. I’ll post something as soon as I can so you can get the very latest news from the visit on this Blog.

Meanwhile I’ll be back on Monday with the interview with Queen Victoria’s new Chief Engineer, Ronnie Kier. Thank you again for logging on and please keep those comments and questions coming. Cheers, Alastair.

It’s been a great week for Cunard, as the company has received more accolades, which is always a boost for those of us on board as well as those who support the ships from the shore side. Before I pass over to Richard Curtis (Cunard’s Head of Marketing) for his guest Blog, here’s what’s happening on board. Queen Victoria is currently enjoying the Mediterranean sunshine, with the highlight of this voyage, for many, being the return to Venice, the second of just two visits this year. (We will be arriving at about 0730 GMT, if you would like to watch the arrival on the Bridge Cam). Queen Mary 2 is also heading for the sun and once she arrives in New York on the 17th, after the final westbound crossing of the year, she’ll be heading down to the Caribbean for the next couple of months before beginning her 2010 World Voyage in January. Thank you again for all your comments especially on last week’s post which celebrated the careers of two great Cunarders. I have some more nostalgic stories on the way, as well as what is happening on board at the moment. Meanwhile here’s this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 13^th to the 19^th November

14 November 1949 Caronia arrives in Liverpool for her first annual overhaul which takes 3 weeks

15 November 1997 QE2 makes her maiden call at Miami, USA

15 November 2008 Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Dikili, Turkey

16 November 1950 Caronia arrives in Liverpool for her annual “Overhaul”

19 November 1968 QE2 moves to the dry-dock in Greenock, before beginning sea trials. HRH Prince Charles becomes the   first civilian to board the ship.

To tell you about the great news this week, it’s a pleasure to introduce Richard Curtis for this special celebratory guest Blog: –

Through the decades Cunard has always been proud to receive good feedback from our travelling guests and we are fortunate in the amount we receive. The fact that so many regular guests continue to return year after year, and that so many recommend us to others is always very encouraging. In fact the number of guests saying they would like to travel with us again and that they would recommend us to a friend is consistently over 95%. In addition to the feedback we receive directly from our guests, feedback and recognition also comes through the various awards we win and this year has been a vintage year in that respect.

Already this year we have been recognised as being the very best by the readers of both The Daily Telegraph and Conde Nast Traveller in the U.K. and have been recognised by Travel Weekly and Travel & Leisure in the U.S.

To add to the collection, last week Cunard was awarded Best Cruise Line 2009 at the annual British Travel Awards in London. These prestigious awards recognise the very best in the UK travel industry and are voted for by both consumers and travel agents.

Below is a picture of a very proud Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director of Cunard, collecting the award.

Peter commented; “It’s the big one! The best thing is that I can go and tell all my staff on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria the news that they have been recognised by guests as the best cruise line. It’s a great achievement!”

I could not agree more, our teams on board do a fantastic job in delivering that quintessential and very special Cunard experience. In addition to our wonderful people we are also fortunate in boasting the youngest fleet on the oceans, even before the arrival of Queen Elizabeth next year.

The day following the British Travel Awards I was lucky enough to attend the annual Hotel Catey Awards in London, which reward the very best people in the hotel business. As someone who has spent many years working for international hotel groups prior to joining Cunard, I know just how prestigious the Catey Awards really are; they are acknowledged in the U.K. as the ultimate accolade anyone can receive during their career, and this year two Cunard team members were recognised and shortlisted as amongst the very top 3 or 4 people in the hospitality business.

Stefan Engl, Food and Beverage Manager on board Queen Mary 2, was shortlisted as Food and Beverage Manager of the Year. Stefan was born in Innsbruck Austria, but now lives in Thailand. He joined Cunard in 2003 and has sailed on Caronia, Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Victoria, and Queen Mary 2. The second person to be recognised was Mandy Meth, from the Canyon Ranch Spa on Queen Mary 2, who was shortlisted as the Spa Professional of the Year. Mandy is South African and currently lives in Durban. She first joined Queen Mary 2 in December 2003, has remained on board since then. Here is a picture of Stefan and Mandy at the awards ceremony.

Many of you will have met Stefan and Mandy and I am sure you will agree that their recognition is very well deserved. They are just two examples of the many wonderful crew who work on board and whom make me feel so proud whenever I am lucky enough to sail on one of our beautiful liners. We are nearly at the end of this year’s award season and I look forward to another vintage year in 2010!    

Thank you very much Richard, great news indeed. Well I’ll be back tomorrow – yes that soon – with a Breaking News story with some new pictures of Queen Elizabeth in Italy. On Monday I’ll be posting a special interview with Ronnie Kier, Chief Engineer on Queen Victoria. Cheers for now, Alastair

As Queen Mary 2 headed back to Southampton on her last eastbound transatlantic crossing of the year, there was a special celebration for one of her guests. Most people from the United Kingdom will be familiar with the famous Soap Opera, Coronation Street, and will remember one of its most beloved couples, Jack and Vera Duckworth. Liz Dawn who played the role of Vera Duckworth for an impressive 34 years has sailed on QE2 and Queen Mary 2 many times.  Here she is with Commodore Warner in 2007:

Born in Leeds as Sylvia Butterfield, Liz Dawn was the daughter of a skilled engineer and his wife, the third of five children. At the age of 16 she left school and started working in a local tailoring factory and then took various jobs including a cinema usherette, shoe salesgirl and a light bulb seller in Woolworths.

Liz then sang in clubs and posed for publicity photographs with a guitar but when bookings came in for a guitarist she claimed she had hurt her finger and told jokes instead as she was unable to play the guitar. When Liz auditioned for a Cadbury’s cookie commercial, directed by Alan Parker in the late sixties, she was soon inundated with offers. She appeared in the James Herriott movie Who’d Be A Vet and played Larry Grayson’s neighbour Dot in a long running sitcom before landing a role in Colin Welland’s play Leeds United. One of her lesser known roles was as one of the alien voices in the Cadbury’s Smash advertisements in the 1970s!

She began her career on Coronation Street in 1974, in a recurring role as a factory worker until her husband Jack, (played by William Tarney) first appeared in 1979. By 1983 her role had become concrete and the rest as they say is history, as the nation watched the ups and downs of the Duckworth family life; who could ever forget those flying ducks!

During her time on the soap Liz found time to publish her autobiography “Vera Duckworth – My Story in 1993” and in 2000, she was chosen as the Lady Mayoress of Leeds.  In October of that year she was awarded an MBE for her services to charity, having helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for hospitals in the Manchester and Leeds area. She is married to husband Donald Ibbertson and has four children.

By her own request, because of ill health, on 22 July 2007, the producers of Coronation Street announced that Liz was to be written out and her final appearance would come in January 2008, when Vera Duckworth died in her sleep, thus ending 34 years of the popular, iconic character. Liz stated that the hardest thing about leaving Corrie was saying goodbye to Bill Tarmey (who played her on screen husband Jack), with whom she is best friends. Liz won the Special Achievement Award at the 2008 British Soap Awards for her 34-year long portrayal of her iconic character.

Liz Dawn’s last visit to Queen Mary 2 was particularly special, as she was celebrating her 70^th birthday. So at a special dinner on board, the chefs prepared a special surprise, by presenting her with a birthday cake. But this wasn’t just any cake as the pastry team had created a replica of the “Rovers Return”; the pub where Vera Duckworth not only worked but will have enjoyed a fair few drinks over the years.

What an amazing career and of course we all wish her Many Happy Returns. I’ll be back tomorrow with my regular post with some pictures of Queen Elizabeth that have just arrived from the ship yard in Italy. Cheers for now, Alastair

At Cunard we always love to hear stories from guests, as they recall their early voyages on our ships as well as former crew members who come on board for a trip down memory lane. I’ll tell you more about an amazing story I heard recently on Queen Victoria, in a moment but first, thank you again for all the comments, in fact October was a record breaking month for the Blog with more posts and comments than ever before. Queen Victoria is just finishing a Mediterranean voyage before heading back there again next week, including another call to Venice where I’ll head off to the Monfalcone ship yard to get some more pictures and video of Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile Queen Mary 2 will make her final call of the year to Southampton next Wednesday, before settling in to her Caribbean itineraries for the rest of the year. Now it’s time for this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 6 to 12 November

6 November 2000 Cunard signs the final contract for Queen Mary 2, and unveils her key design details. She will be the largest, longest, widest and tallest passenger ship in history and will enter service in 2004.

7 November 1970 QE2 makes her maiden call Durban, South Africa.

8 November 1999 Queen Mary 2 general plans are completed and the first images are released.

11 November 2008 QE2 begins her farewell voyage from Southampton to Dubai.

12 November 2007 Crew move on board Queen Victoria for the first time

We were delighted to hear that two guests, who recently sailed with us on Queen Victoria, were keen to meet us and tell us their amazing story. Thomas Quinones (Entertainment Staff) and I met up with Mr and Mrs McAllister one morning and what a fascinating meeting it was.

As they showed us their mementos, it transpired that Mr McAllister had quite remarkable parents.

His father, Hugh McAllister, was born in 1900 and when Britain was in the grips of the First World War, like so many of his age at the time, he ran away to sea to serve his country. However when the authorities discovered his true age, he was swiftly sent home again. But he was determined to go to sea, so in 1920 he applied to Cunard to become a Radio Officer.

Although he had no experience or training before going on board, he soon learned, as was so often the way in those days. One of the mementos the McAllister family still treasures is an engraved gold pen that was presented to him by Cunard. It carries the inscription;

“W.H.McAllister S.S.Carinthia. Commemorating consistent direct radio communication with New York during world cruise 1926-27. R.C.A.”.

After a distinguished career at sea he put his electronic engineering skills to use designing rockets.

In the meantime he had met an exceptional lady, with whom he was going to spend the rest of his life. He met Hilda James on the Carinthia on the 1926-27 World Cruise, and they married in 1930. Here she is during a transit of the Panama Canal on that voyage.

Hilda Marjorie James was from Liverpool, and at an early age she had shown an amazing swimming talent. At just 16 she was the middle swimmer in the British Relay Team that won the silver medal at the1920 Olympics. This is the badge that was sewn on to their costumes, which the family still has:

But this was just one of many impressive achievements. She was a true record holder, winning her first major competition in Manchester, when she swam the ASA 300 yards freestyle in just 4 minutes 20 seconds, setting a new world record. She went on to win over 36 competitions in England and Scotland, over the following 4 years, setting a staggering nine new world records. Each time she won a record she was able to add one of these badges to her growing collection:

Her record breaking career also took her to America and here’s a clip from a newspaper published on 5 August 1922 showing her swimming the 300 metres in 4 minutes 33.8 seconds.

By the time she turned professional at the age of 21, she had amassed a huge amount of awards and broken numerous records and here she is proudly showing off her achievements:

She was prevented from attending the 1924 Olympics in Paris, by her parents as the British Olympic association would not pay for her mother to accompany her as chaperone (aged 20!). As the star of British swimming and the current world record holder at several distances, she would have undoubtedly won medals. As a member of the Cunard swimming Club at Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel, she had already been offered a chance to join the line as a celebrity crew-member. Hilda was so bitter about the 1924 Olympics that she decided to turn professional and began her seafaring career, by running away from home to join the Carinthia which sailed from Liverpool in 1925. She didn’t tell her parents that she was going until the night before the voyage!

Shortly after she became engaged, she returned to England to set up the family home, because as Mrs McAllister told me “It wasn’t the done thing for a wife of a Merchant Seaman to stay on board with her husband in those days”.

Despite having a family, she kept on swimming throughout her life and often gave exhibitions right until the end of her life, even though she had a pacemaker fitted. Here she is in 1980 at an exhibition in Wallasey with another Olympic Champion, David Wilkie, (who amongst numerous awards, won the Gold Medal at the Montreal Olympics in 1976).

I’d like to thank Mr. and Mrs. McAllister for sharing this wonderful story with us, and taking the time to sit down and chat about another truly incredible Cunarder.

There are lots more great stories on the way and I also have an interview with Queen Victoria’s new Chief Engineer, Ronnie Kierr coming up as well as my next visit to see Queen Elizabeth in about 10 days time. In the meantime thank you again for logging on and all your great comments – please keep them coming. Cheers, Alastair.