Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 228 days

 

It’s turning out to be a very busy week of blogging, which shows how just how much is going on in the Cunard world! Thanks as always for your feedback; I’m glad you are enjoying all the posts so please just keep those questions and comments coming.

 

We’ve covered all sorts of subjects on the blog in the sixteen months we have been on line, but this week we are covering one of the more unusual, but definitely inspiring, stories I’ve come across. Firstly though, here’s this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 26 February to 4 March:

 

 

26 February 2008	Queen Victoria makes her maiden call to Brisbane
28 February 2007	Queen Mary 2 makes her maiden call to Hong Kong
2 March 1950	Caronia  transits the Suez Canal for the first time
2 March 2010	Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Exmouth, Australia
3 March 1950	Caronia  makes her maiden call to Alexandria
3 March 2007	Queen Mary 2 makes her maiden call to Singapore

 

 

There’s an incredible story that has caught the attention of the world’s media, from the USA to Britain, from South Africa to Australia. It has also featured on numerous websites and blogs so now it’s our turn to pass on this wonderful story. It begins with Barbara and Dennis Gregory from Johannesburg, South Africa, when they were sailing on a very special voyage in October 2008 to celebrate their 25^th wedding anniversary. They were aboard Queen Mary 2 on the last tandem Transatlantic Crossing between the ship and QE2. 

 

Mrs Gregory takes up the story; “It was a dream holiday. We had a perfect week in New York and had taken many beautiful photos. On the journey from New York to England we continued our fantastic holiday and many great memories were captured on our camera.” These are just some of the photos Dennis and Barbara Gregory took while they were in New York:

 

 

The Transatlantic Crossing from New York to Southampton was going well, and they were enjoying taking lots more photos of their special trip, including this iconic shot of Mrs Gregory with QE2 in the background:

 

 

 

 

On the second to last day of the voyage, Dennis Gregory took this picture of his wife relaxing on deck.

 

 

 

Minutes later, they saw dolphins and that’s when disaster struck, because in the excitement, the camera was knocked overboard! At the time, both ships were off the south coast of Ireland over the Continental Shelf so the Gregorys understandably thought their Nikon P90 camera, and all their treasured holiday photos, were lost forever.

 

That was until Benito Estevez, a Spanish fisherman who was trawling the ocean, over sixteen months later, discovered the lost camera in his nets!  While the camera itself was damaged beyond repair, the photo memory card was amazingly intact.

 

The fisherman contacted both Cunard and the BBC to see if he could trace the owners and posted five pictures online which included this one of Mr Gregory wearing a woolly tourist hat from Oxford.

 

 

 

The story was picked up by the British media and Laura De Klein, a friend of the couple who lives in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, recognised the couple in the pictures and got in touch. The Gregorys have since been reunited with the camera and their photographs.

 

Mrs Gregory told reporters: “To think the Spanish fisherman has gone to such efforts on this – it’s very touching. It’s literally a dream come true. There’s no way we could ever have imagined that this thing would ever turn up again. It sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic. It’s incredible it survived 16 months submerged at that depth – I’m almost speechless.”

 

It’s a wonderful good news story which has amazed everyone. Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director of Cunard Line said: “In all my years in the travel industry I have never heard of such a heart-warming stroke of luck and we at Cunard are delighted that Mr and Mrs Gregory have been reunited with their photos. The images are even more poignant as they depict the last Transatlantic Crossing of the great QE2 and can never be taken again.”

 

I’ll be back next week with some more posts including, the first of the series of interviews with Queen Elizabeth’s newly appointed senior officers, I’ll also have more news from Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria on their 2010 World Voyages as well as some other amazing Cunard stories. Cheers Alastair

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 235 days

 

Following on from the appointment of Captain Christopher Wells as Master of the new Queen Elizabeth, I am pleased to let readers of this blog know, that this morning Cunard Line issued a press release which gave details of four Senior Officers, who have been appointed to join Queen Elizabeth when she enters service on 12 October this year, which is less than 34 weeks away.

 

These are the details of the newly appointed Officers, as given in yesterday’s press release:

 

Robert Howie, Hotel Manager

 

 

Fife-born Robert Howie brings almost 25 years of experience – on land and at sea – to his new post as Hotel Manager aboard Queen Elizabeth. He held the position of Food and Beverage Manager aboard Queen Mary 2 in the ocean liner’s inaugural year and was then promoted to the prestigious position of Hotel Manager on Cunard’s flagship in 2005. Robbie was also the first Hotel Manager on board Queen Victoria when she entered service in December 2007. As Hotel Manager, Robert is in charge of all on board operations including housekeeping, food and beverage, entertainment and human resources. Prior to joining Cunard, Howie had served in senior managerial food and beverage positions for Princess Cruises, both shoreside and on board, since 1990.

 

Hamish Sunter, Staff Captain

 

 

Despite his Scottish forename, Hamish Sunter is proud to be a Yorkshireman. Halifax-born Captain Sunter joined Cunard in 1990 as an officer on Cunard Princess where he remained for three years. He also obtained his Master’s Certificate at this time. In 1993 he was transferred to QE2 as Junior First Officer and left that ship as Chief Officer in 1998. After two years Hamish was keen to go back to sea, which he did in 2000 with P&O Cruises and sailed as First Officer on several of their ships. He returned to Cunard as Chief Officer on Queen Mary 2 in October 2005. He rejoined QE2 as Staff Captain in December 2006 and has also served in that capacity on board Queen Victoria.

 

Colin Black, Chief Engineer

 

 

Colin Black, from East Lothian, joined P&O/Princess Cruises in 1990 as a CPO Mechanic on board Royal Princess. He subsequently moved up the ranks to First Engineer prior to being given the responsibility for the new build of Princess Cruises’ Dawn Princess, followed by Ocean Princess. In 2001 he was seconded to the Southampton Office working within the new build department. In 2002 he moved across to P&O Cruises serving on board Oriana, Aurora and then the new Arcadia. Colin’s first appointment as Chief Engineer was on board Tahitian Princess in 2006 and her sister ship Pacific Princess. In 2007 he was assigned as Technical Fleet Services Project Manager for Queen Victoria thereafter taking over as Chief Engineer.

 

Alastair Greener, Entertainment Director

 

 

Alastair Greener from near Marlborough – about as far from the sea as you can get in the UK – has a love of both the sea and stage, characteristics that will serve him well as he prepares to join Queen Elizabeth as Entertainment Director. Alastair has also served as Cruise Director on both Queen Mary 2 and QE2 and was the first Entertainment Director on board Queen Victoria.

 

Currently he is the face of the ‘We Are Cunard’ Blog, which is the site to visit for all the latest news on this new Cunarder. He was also asked to represent CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) as a media tour spokesperson. Alastair is a member of the British Actors’ Union and has appeared in a wide range of film, theatre and television productions. Prior to Cunard, Greener had joined Princess Cruises in 1997 and served on eight ships within the fleet. 

 

On confirming the appointments, Peter Shanks, Cunard President and Managing Director, said:

 “Our guests will be delighted to find so many ‘old friends’ aboard Cunard’s newest ship. One of our distinguishing characteristics is the number and frequency of our repeat guests and they will truly appreciate ‘coming home’ to these familiar faces.”

 

For me, it’s a real honour to be selected to head up the Entertainment department on Queen Elizabeth, and I look forward to the challenges the position will bring as well as being part of Cunard history. It does mean I’ll be very busy with the job in hand as well as continuing to host this Blog but I’m very excited about this year and of course bringing you all the news as it happens.

 

I’m also looking forward to working with a great team and over the coming weeks, I’ll be interviewing my colleagues, Robert Howie, Hamish Sunter and Colin Black so you can get to know the senior officers who will be heading up Queen Elizabeth’s ship’s company. I’ll start next week with an exclusive interview with Captain Chris Wells who is travelling on Queen Victoria at the moment. I’ll be back on Thursday with an amazing but true story from Queen Mary 2. Cheers Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 237 days

 

A highlight of every World Voyage, is visiting Sydney for two days, and this year on Queen Victoria was no exception. In fact, as you saw on Thursday’s Blog, it included a world first with Queen Victoria being the first ever liner being bathed in pink light. I’ll let our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, take up the story in a special guest Blog.

 

 

Guest Blog – Peter Shanks – President and Managing Director of Cunard Line:

 

Tickled Pink Down Under in Sydney…………………… and then I climbed the bridge

 

It was with a real sense of excitement that I set off from Heathrow for Australia last week. I was on my way to Sydney to see our ship Queen Victoria. Excitement changed to a sense of being rather knackered – it really is a very long way and you lose all sense of which day it is and where you are. I flew on the new Qantas Airbus A380 – it’s a terrific aircraft but any aircraft loses its appeal after 22 hours. Nonetheless I arrived safe and sound with two objectives in mind for the visit – to catch up with my friends and colleagues on board Queen Victoria and to give a well deserved shot in the arm for our colleagues in Carnival Australia who are doing so much to grow Cunard’s awareness in the Australian market.

 

I thought I would share with you three remarkable things I got up to during my short visit.

 

Turning Queen Victoria Pink – We worked with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to host an event to launch their fund raising efforts for the year ahead. The champion of the foundation here in Australia is Sarah Murdoch, and what a delightful and famous Australian she is. Many of us find ourselves contributing to charities, but very few people are passionate enough to drive and champion a foundation as brilliant and well deserving as Breast Cancer – so hats off to Sarah and her colleagues. Our little bit to help was to offer Queen Victoria for a reception on the aft deck at sundown. It was an awesome setting; on the port side the Opera House and on the starboard side Sydney Harbour Bridge. But being a Cunard event we had to give a twist. So we thought; how about we turn the ship pink to support such a famous ‘Pink’ charity.

 

 

Well the pictures speak for themselves. Not only did we turn the ship pink; the resulting media pictures went right around the world.

 

 

That gives us so much pleasure – of course it helps to see a Cunard ship a part of such a fabulous event but to help the charity in a small way is jolly satisfying for all of us.

 

Climbing the Bridge -The next afternoon I had a few hours to spare prior to setting sail for Melbourne. I thought the only view to have of Queen Victoria would be from the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is something I have always wanted to do. Well, I can now recommend to everybody who visits Sydney to climb the bridge if they can. It is the most well organised I have ever seen. They are meticulous in preparation; medical checks, complete kit of overalls, harnesses, headgear, hats and radios. We were a group of 14 strangers from all over the world, but over the course of three hours became friends through the adventure. I tried not to remind myself that I don’t like heights. Once you get up the ladders onto the top structure – it’s a walk in the park and you climb up the beautiful curve of the bridge. It did not take long until we were right at the top, looking down on one of the most beautiful vistas in the world. But today that vista was even more special because below us was Queen Victoria.

 

 

OK, so I stand accused of going to any length to gain positive coverage for the Cunard brand, but I have to admit that having a picture of myself and Queen Victoria from the top of Sydney Harbor Bridge is pretty cool. In fact why don’t I lay down a challenge to see if any of our competitor cruise lines can better that? I very much doubt it.

 

To the real reason for my visit to Queen Victoria – Many of you will know just how special White Star Service is to Cunard Line, our staff and our valued guests. As we sailed from Sydney to Melbourne we launched the new and revitalised White Star Training Program to the ship’s company. Over three presentations during the day, I was able to share our plans face to face with every member of the ship’s company. We are investing in new training programs, new personal development opportunities, as well as awards for ‘Star of the Month’ and ‘Staff Suggestions’. At the end of the presentations we also gave every member of the ship’s company a small gift, to thank them for their incredible efforts in looking after our guests on the World Voyage. Later that day there was another highlight, as we launched the new Cunard Long Service Awards. Along with senior officers, we presented 33 awards to staff who have been with Cunard for more than 20 years. This included stewards, able seamen, waiters and many others. They each received a special White Star Pin, a certificate and an award commensurate with their length of service.  The longest serving officer was awarded for over 38 years and 7 months of dedicated service to Cunard Line – how special is that?

 

So we arrive in Melbourne today which presented another chance to share Queen Victoria with travel agents and media guests. Tonight we have our famous World Voyage Dinner in the National Gallery in Melbourne to those guests travelling right round the world with us. Then it’s back to London for me, suitably knackered (technical term), but immensely proud of the team we have on board.

 

What was the highlight of my visit? No question, it was seeing the pride and delight on the faces of our staff when they received recognition for their dedicated service to Cunard – good for them.

 

We will be back in Australia next year with both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth in Sydney on the same day. And to make it special, it will be the 70^th anniversary of when Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth met in Sydney in 1941 – I can’t wait…………..

 

Best Regards

Peter Shanks

 

Thank you Peter for this guest Blog and I can say that it’s been a busy, but very exciting time on board Queen Victoria. As we said goodbye to Peter we are now heading, for the very first time, along the southern coast of Australia to Adelaide and then Perth. I’ll post some more pictures and news as we go along. Peter mentioned Queen Victoria’s current longest serving officer, and I’ll be interviewing him in a week or so. He is the Crew Housekeeper. His name is John Davies and he has a fascinating story.

 

I’ll also be back later in the week with a special announcement about Queen Elizabeth along with some new pictures from her under construction in Italy. It’s going to be another busy week of Blogging! Cheers for now, Alastair

 

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 240 days 

It’s really great to hear that so many of you are watching us on our circumnavigations so thank you yet again for logging on. While all of us on Queen Victoria are enjoying two days in Sydney at the end of the third leg of her third World Voyage, I thought we would dedicate this Blog to those signature events that have become synonymous with a Cunard World Voyage.

 

 

One of the highlights of every World Voyage is when the whole Queen Victoria Culinary Team are invited to show off their talents and skills to produce some outstanding and breathtaking culinary delights. On display this year were fruit and vegetable carvings, bread show pieces as well as plated entrées and desserts. It’s amazing how each year they seem to outdo themselves, and this year the event certainly produced that true wow factor. Out of the 125 Chefs on board 80 let their passion and skills run wild on some inspired masterpieces.

 

The event on 12 February, called “Chef’s Salon Culinaire”, was a highlight for the Culinary Team who really seemed to get a buzz out of the whole show. It also gave our guest’s and Chef’s the opportunity to interact and share experiences. Guests told me they enjoyed being able to praise the chefs all for all their talent and hard work, not only at this magnificent event, but throughout the voyage.

 

There were five categories and guests were invited to vote on their favourite display in each one. The amount of work that went in to each individual display was incredible, such as the winner of the Fruit and Vegetable Carving category by Chef de Partie, Bobby Cadiac,

 

 

 

There were many incredible pieces of artwork and you could hardly believe they were all edible. But they were, and very tempting, especially the winner of the Pastry Show Piece category by Chef de Partie Pastry, Antonio Cardozo.     

 

 

 

After all the votes were counted, a very proud Executive Chef, Nicholas Oldroyd, announced the winners and awarded the prizes which included a selection of base ball caps, Queen Victoria sweat shirts and teddy bears, photo frames and albums. Then it was time for a group photo of all the winners:

 

 

They are from left to right:

 

Roger Barerra, Chef De Cuisine, Lido Galley

Nicholas Oldroyd, Executive Chef

Isgani Prado, Sous Chef and winner of the Plated Entree Hot and Cold category

Romualdo Rebello, Executive Pastry Chef

Movillon Gaudioso, Chef De Partie and winner of the Cold Larder Display category

Eric Yoong, Chef De Cuisine, Grills Restaurant Galley

Catalino Pajie, Queen Victoria Food Artist

James Abilash, Executive Sous Chef

Bobby Cadiac, Chef De Partie and winner of the Fruit and Vegetable Carving category

Antonio Cardozo, Chef De Partie and Winner of the Pastry Show Piece and Plated Dessert categories

 

I asked Nick after the event what he thought of the day:

 

“I would like to congratulate all my Chef’s of the Queen Victoria Culinary Team for their inspiration, creativity, sheer determination and drive for making the magic come alive on their special day. It was certainly a memorable and legendary event and it was so rewarding to see that the guest appreciation was incredible with so many compliments and praise for the Chefs work. In my eyes all of my Chef’s are winners and I am so proud to be in charge of such a talented and amazing team.”

 

Thanks Nick for creating such a memorable day, I can’t think how they’ll top it next year, but I have a feeling they will!

 

Valentine’s Day is always very special as you can see from the celebrations on Queen Victoria last year, by clicking on this link:

 

 

http://wearecunard.com/2009/02/romance-on-the-high-seas/

 

 

We continued the tradition this year of guests’ Valentines messages on a special insert in the Daily Programme, with the guest donating the most to our World Voyage Charities, having their dedication on the front page of the Daily Programme.

 

 

 

This year a marvelous $423 was added to our fund raising efforts. Lots of other special Valentines activities took place during the day with the traditional Valentines Ball in the evening. Another tradition we continued, was that every lady was presented with a rose from our White Star Bellboys as they entered each restaurant and what an elegant sight they were:

 

 

 

Meanwhile, a new World Voyage tradition for Queen Victoria started soon after we left San Francisco. A guest approached me and asked if we could advertise an interest corner for Choral Singers. ‘Of course’, I said and asked Nick Wilkes of the Entertainment Staff and Vincent Wolfe, our Queens Room Vocalist, to go along and look after them. Nick takes up the story:

 

“When Vincent Wolfe and I were given the task of looking after a group of Choral enthusiasts, we weren’t quite expecting what turned out to be a fun activity. On the first day after putting together a selection of songs for the guests to sing, we arrived at Hemispheres with 25 song sheets, thinking they may appreciate some prepared music. As we arrived, so did the guests and they kept arriving until we had a room full of 76 enthusiastic singers. We quickly photocopied extra sheets and the guest choir was born. We were lucky to be graced with the wonderful talents of Dustin Turner on Piano who supported in true style. Five rehearsals were scheduled and then there was talk of a concert to be performed for fellow guests in the Grand Lobby. It was soon evident that the choir was far too popular to hold the concert in the Grand Lobby so the venue was moved to the Queens Room and eventually the Royal Court Theatre. Seven songs were performed which included favourites such as “Oh What a Beautiful Morning,” “Edelweiss,” You’ll Never Walk Alone,” and “Love Changes Everything.” The theatre was packed and the first Queen Victoria Guest Choir received a standing ovation with much applause. On a whole it was a great experiment which I would gladly undertake again!”

 

 

Nick did a great job and found a new talent; he turned out to be a great conductor! After the concert the newly formed Guest Choir gathered in the Grand Lobby for a group photograph, and couldn’t help breaking in to song again with an impromptu rendition of the very appropriate “We Are Sailing”!

 

 

 

There’ll be lots more news coming very soon, including some pictures on Monday from Queen Elizabeth in Italy, as well as other stories from the Cunard World. Cheers for now, Alastair

 

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 241 days

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 243 days

 

Thank you again for all your comments, it really is great to hear from readers of the Blog and then to also meet many of you when you come on board. Our crew members on board are also keen followers and in a conversation the other day someone was telling me how impressed they were with the photo of the whale breach in front of Queen Victoria in Maui a couple of weeks ago. However he implied a bit of trick photography might have been used, to which I immediately pointed out that it was a genuine photo taken by our Chief Photographer Marius Botha – so in case you were thinking the same thing – now you know! We are also getting a lot of great feedback from the various video Blogs, and if you missed any of them don’t worry, you can find them easily at You Tube/WeAreCunard or by following this link:

http://www.youtube.com/wearecunard

 

All the videos from the building of Queen Elizabeth to the James Taylor interviews to Queen Victoria’s maiden call to San Francisco are there.

 

Meanwhile this Blog is dedicated to featuring one of our exciting ports of call on Queen Victoria’s 2010 World Voyage. One of the many unique aspects of a World Voyage is that they offer such a wide variety of interesting ports of call as we circumnavigate the globe. Whether it’s a day in an exciting cosmopolitan city such as San Francisco or a day relaxing on a tropical beach, it’s great to be able to do so many different things. And when it comes to relaxing on beaches and enjoying the South Pacific sunshine, it doesn’t get much better than Fiji.

 

I appreciate you might not want to hear about how lovely it all was, when you’re in the colder climates of Europe or North America, but if you ever want to go to a true tropical paradise then Fiji has to be a consideration.

 

It’s not surprising to learn that Fiji, surrounded by cobalt blue sea, has also become the back drop for many films such as Blue Lagoon starring Brooke Shields, and more recently Castaway, which was filmed on the bigger island in the middle of this picture. As you can see this view sums up the countryside of this beautiful island.

 

 

Two of the 333 islands, called Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, make up more than 80% of the total land mass. Eventually the islands became known to Europeans as Fiji. The story goes that Captain Cook asked the Tongans what the name of the islands to their west was. He heard ‘Feegee’, the Tongan pronunciation of Viti: so the name ‘Fiji’ came from an Englishman’s mishearing of a Tongan’s mispronunciation!

 

Queen Victoria visited the port of Lautoka, which is the second biggest city, after the capital, Suva. Mind you it is still a small city of just a little over 50,000 inhabitants, which is also known as the Sugar City because of the many acres of sugar cane in the surrounding areas. Although sugar cane provides more employment than any other industry on the island, they also export a lot of timber and of course tourism is a growing part of their economy, with many hotel resorts around the island.

 

As we all disembarked we were greeted by a very friendly welcome or Bula, meaning hello, and this continued throughout the day wherever you went on the island. Many of our guests and crew took a fifteen minute taxi ride to the nearest beach resort called First Landing. So called, as legend has it, because a canoe called Kaunitoni landed here bringing the first Fijians centuries ago, hence the rather interesting manmade island off the beach!

 

 

On the island itself, and looking back at the resort, you can see it really was a true paradise.

 

 

And as for lunch, the menu was wonderful but the views – just fantastic.

 

 

The island is incredibly lush and everywhere we went we saw trees like this in full blossom.

 

 

Now that’s what I call an island home! The tree is called the Fire Tree and we were lucky to be here on one of the two times they blossom a year.

 

If you thought these pictures were impressive, the views most of us enjoyed were nothing compared to sixteen of our crew who had something a little more adventurous planned. Needless to say what they had arranged was not on our regular shore excursion programme, because they went skydiving!

 

Yes, you are probably thinking the same as me, but as Helen Eatough, one of our Entertainment Staff told me, it was a day she’ll never forget and I have to say this is a very impressive backdrop, if you are prepared to jump out of a plane at 14,000 feet!

 

 

I asked Helen about the day: –

 

“When one of the Cunard Royal Spa’s fitness instructors, Chrissy, told me they were planning a Skydive, I didn’t have to think about it for long, because I thought this would be the best way to see Fiji – literally! We arrived at the aerodrome and I must admit the butterflies started while I waited for my turn, but the excitement grew as I got in the plane. As the plane climbed higher and higher, and thinking we were almost there, I asked the pilot, “How high are we?” to which she said “4,000 feet – you’ve got another 10,000 to go!” This did make me a little nervous, but ten minutes later I was sat in the doorway of the plane with my legs dangling out, whilst strapped to my instructor Steve. He pulled my head back to his shoulders and counted down from three to one and then pushed me out of the plane! You can’t think of anything or even see that much for a while because you are literally plummeting to the ground for the first full minute. I only really started to enjoy the scenery when the parachute opened and I thought how gorgeous everything looked over all the islands. This took about five minutes before we landed on the beach – smoothly I might add and standing up. You probably want to know if I would do it all again – I would say without hesitation, absolutely”

 

I must admit I’m still not convinced, but they all came back from what they described as a thrilling day. As Queen Victoria prepared to sail that evening our guests and crew were entertained by a fantastic Police Band on the quayside which was a truly wonderful send off.

 

 

From there it was on to the city of sails, Auckland, New Zealand. That’s where we leave it for this post but on Thursday we’ll be looking at some of the exciting events that have recently been celebrated on board Queen Victoria. Coming soon will be some more news about Queen Elizabeth, with less than eight months to go before she enters service as well as an update from Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 244 days

 

One of the best aspects of a world voyage is the tremendous variety of entertainment and activities we are able to offer our guests. Recently on Queen Victoria’s second leg of this World Voyage, our guests were delighted to find that one of the musical legends of the 1960’s was not only on board, but was also going to present two lectures about his life and amazing career. It was great to spend a bit of time with Roger and his wife Camilla, and chat about his work. He told me that one of the most common misconceptions from many of us in the UK is that the Byrds are not in fact a British band! So for those of you like me who maybe know his music more than the man himself, here’s a potted history.

 

Jim McGuinn, later known as Roger, was already a veteran of the New York and Los Angeles music scene when he co-founded the group that would become The Byrds with Gene Clark and David Crosby in 1964.

 

 

 

Prior to forming the Byrds, Roger toured and performed folk music with the Limeliters, Chad Mitchell Trio and Bobby Darin as a guitarist and banjo player. Originally from Chicago, Roger studied at the Old Town School of Folk Music and was active on Chicago’s folk scene, where he was strongly influenced as a teenager by Bob Gibson.  Within a few weeks of finishing high school, Roger was working with the Limeliters in California, where he played guitar and banjo on their album “Tonight: In Person.”

 

After touring for a while with Bobby Darin, Roger moved to New York at Darin’s request, to work for his publishing company. He and Frank Gari co-wrote the song, “Beach Ball,” and performed it with Darin, as the City Surfers, on a very rare single released in July 1963. After hearing the Beatles for the first time, Roger began playing folk songs to a rock beat in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village. His experiments in merging folk and rock took him to Los Angeles and the Troubadour, where he met Gene Clark and then David Crosby who added his unique concepts of harmony to the duo, thereby completing the beginning of one of the most influential bands of the ’60s.

 

In January 1965 Columbia Records signed the Byrds and they recorded their first number one hit, “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Three years later McGuinn and Chris Hillman hired Gram Parsons and headed for Nashville where they recorded the now critically acclaimed “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.”

 

Roger McGuinn disbanded the Byrds in 1973 to pursue his dream of a solo career and made five solo albums with Columbia Records. Roger’s latest release in 2006 was a 4 CD 100 song Box Set of Rock, Electrified Blues and Folk, rich in Rickenbacker “Jingle Jangle” – called “The Folk Den Project”.

 

This was Roger’s first time, lecturing on board so I asked him how he found the experience; he was kind enough to write this Guest Blog:

 

Guest Blog – Roger McGuinn – Founder Member Of The Byrds

 

 

My wife Camilla and I just completed a leg of the Queen Victoria World Voyage from New York to San Francisco through the Panama Canal. I was invited to give two lectures on board entitled “How Folk Music took me to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”  We joined in the excitement with the other guests to experience one of the Seven Wonders of the World!

 

The camaraderie of the voyage began the first day at our restaurant table with the three other couples who sat with us; one from New York, one from Scotland, and another from Australia. By the end of the voyage neighboring tables were sharing stories of their daily adventures with our gregarious group. The restaurant quickly became a gathering of friends.

 

The “Victorian London” motif of the ship and dressing for dinner each evening set the stage for the feel of an elegant by-gone period of time.  We had a breathtaking view from a fantastic balcony. It was too nice to keep to ourselves, so we hosted two “sail away” parties during our voyage; one from Cartagena and the other from Acapulco.

 

After we traversed the Panama Canal, I gave my first lecture about my early influences in music in the beautiful Royal Court Theatre. I began with singing a bit of “Heartbreak Hotel,” the song that inspired to make music my life’s ambition. Throughout the lecture I spoke of the career opportunities that came serendipitously along the way throughout my 50 years in the entertainment business, beginning with being hired for my first professional job when I was 17 by the Limeliters. My keynote presentation included clips from those early years and the people I worked with including the Chad Mitchell Trio, Ertha Kit, Bobby Darin, Judy Collins and Paul Simon. Then I recounted the story of the formation of the Byrds.

 

My second lecture began with the story on how Miles Davis was responsible for the Byrds being signed to a recording contract on Columbia Records. The 45 minutes seemed to fly by as I told the stories of the songs, the musicians, the movie sound tracks and my current projects. There was little time for questions, but I met with the folks after the lecture and heard about how my music affected their lives. Queen Victoria created a small town feeling for all the guests. There were no strangers on board.

 

In the mornings we always enjoyed the televised shows of Alastair Greener, the Entertainment Director. He kept us informed of the daily lectures, shows and adventures available. There was so much to do, but there were days where we just sat on the balcony and enjoyed the changing colors of the ocean and sky.

 

After a long leisurely dinner with our table mates, we often went to the various dance venues. I have never considered myself a dancer but the elegance of the evenings prompted us to dance the night away to the sounds of some wonderful bands.

 

Queen Victoria captures the grand days of ocean voyages! We are looking forward to our next trip! All the best, Roger McGuinn

 

I’d like to thank Roger again for his wonderful lectures and for taking the time to talk to us on the Blog. Not only is he a legend in the music business but a fascinating person to talk to. Roger was also kind enough to coming on the morning TV show that our guests watch and we thought you may like to see a clip from that:

 

 

 

You can find out more about Roger at his website by clicking on this link. www.mcguinn.com

 

I’ll be back again on Thursday with my regular weekly post and more news from the World Voyages on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. Cheers Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 248 days

 

Both World Voyages on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria are progressing well and it’s exciting to hear that so many readers are following us on the ships’ Webcams. As I write this, Queen Victoria is in the southern hemisphere heading towards New Zealand and Queen Mary 2 is enjoying the stunning city of Hong Kong. We will of course keep you posted on both voyages, and thanks again for all your feedback and comments on what you’ve seen so far. In this Blog we decided to feature something a little different; Cunard’s “Pets At Sea” programme, but that’s after Cunard’s history, for the week 12 to 18 February:

 

12 February 1949	Caronia begins her first Caribbean voyage
14 February 1978	QE2 makes her maiden call at Auckland, New Zealand
15 February 2007	Queen Mary 2 crosses the International Dateline for the first time
16 February 2006	Cunard announces the first details of Queen Victoria including her maiden voyage
17 February 1954	Saxonia II is launched by Lady Churchill at John Brown Shipyard, Clydebank and goes in to service on the Canadian emigrant run
17 February 2007	Queen Mary 2 makes her maiden call to Auckland, New Zealand
17 February 2009	Queen Victoria makes her maiden call at Hobart, Tasmania

 

There are many traditions that Cunard likes to maintain and some things are unique to Cunard like offering a regular transatlantic service. However did you know that you can even travel with your cat or dog when you take a Transatlantic Crossing on Queen Mary 2? It’s a unique service that has been enjoyed by numerous guests for many years on QE2 and now Queen Mary 2. In fact by the time Queen Mary 2 had completed her 100th Transatlantic Crossing in 2008, over 450 pets had crossed the North Atlantic on the liner.

 

Queen Mary 2’s Kennel Programme is available on all crossings between New York and Southampton in either direction, and is overseen by a full-time Kennel Master, whose responsibilities include feeding and walking guests’ pets as well as cleaning the 12 kennels. Travelling dogs and cats also receive a complimentary gift pack and other animal amenities. The kennels and adjacent indoor and outdoor walking areas are open throughout the day, enabling guests to spend significant time with their pet. Reservations for the kennels may be made at the time of booking, and are based on space availability. Food is provided for all of the animals, but if a guest has a special request for a particular brand, or would prefer to bring their own, they only have to ask.

 

The Kennel Master currently on Queen Mary 2 is 32 year old Dayle Mercado. From Pampanga in the Philippines, Dayle is married with one son, Kenneth. I recently chatted to him and asked him about his special role on board. He told me; “Since I love pets, my supervisor asked me if I wanted to be a Kennel Master. I was really excited to be given the opportunity so I accepted and spent two months training in kennels, where I learned about how to care for the animals and how to understand their behaviours.”  Here he is at work:

 

 

 

 

 

I asked him what the job was like. “Taking care of the animals is not easy, especially during the first and second day of the crossing”, he said. “During this time the animals are still adjusting to being at sea, much in the same way that guests do.  However the animals become settled very quickly and are happy for the remainder of their crossing”.

 

Dayle said that every day for him is fun but nothing beats the moment when he opens the kennel door first thing in the morning, and all the animals are excited to go out and play. During his time as Kennel Master, Dayle has looked after a wide range of different breeds of dog including, Chihuahuas, Westies, Poodles, German Shepherds, Cocker Spaniels, Terriers and many more. 

 

After a recent crossing, a guest enjoyed the whole experience so much she wrote a Blog about it. Nikki Moustaki, MA, MFA, is a well-known dog trainer, TV and radio personality, and animal expert who splits her time between New York City and Miami Beach with her two rescued Schnauzers, Pepper and Ozzie, her rescued Schnoodle, Pearl, and three parrots. She is the author of 9 books on dogs and 24 books on birds as well as books on topics other than pets. She writes for Dog Fancy Magazine as well as for many national pet websites. Nikki has also been featured on national television and radio shows including the BBC.

 

Nikki said taking the Transatlantic Crossing on Queen Mary 2 was the voyage of a lifetime especially as neither she nor Pepper were keen to fly. After her initial enquiry, Cunard sent her all the paperwork she needed including details of the international rules of pet travel, as every dog and cat on board must have all of the paperwork for the Pet Passport Travel Scheme.

 

When Nikki and Pepper arrived at the terminal building at Brooklyn, New York, Chantal Mooiman, Queen Mary 2’s Chief Purser, met them and checked Pepper’s paperwork, and Nikki said they felt like VIP’s as they were escorted onto the ship. As this is the only time the pets are in the guest areas, apart from the Kennels, it was the perfect time for a photo opportunity.

 

 

 

At the kennel on Deck 12 they met Dayle for the first time. “Dayle, was the sweetest guy. He clearly loved the dogs and cats on board and I immediately trusted him. And I don’t trust a lot of people with Pepper”, said Nikki.

 

 

 

She was intrigued to find out that each pet has a life jacket and a staff member assigned to him or her in case of an emergency

 

Nikki added that; “One night on each of my voyages, Cunard put a “Dog Lovers Meeting” in the Daily Programme. All of the dog lovers on board got together to talk about their dogs on board and their dogs at home. It was very nice.”

 

Nikki said that she and Pepper enjoyed the photo session for people with their pets. One of the ship’s photographers takes photos of guests with their pets wearing the complimentary Queen Mary 2 coat which she said looked “very cute”.

 

She offered some advice to guests thinking of travelling with their pets; “The kennel is a great place to spend part of the day if your pet is on board. The view is spectacular. We saw whales one day! Only people who have pets are allowed inside the deck run or the kennel, so your pet is safe, and the kennel is locked tight when the kennel master isn’t there. The kennel is quite a curiosity on board, so be prepared to answer some questions from people stopping by to say hello to the dogs.”

 

 

 

In wrapping up Nikki said; “All in all, we had a spectacular time and I would take this voyage again in a heartbeat. Pepper thinks so too”

 

If you would like to read Nikki’s full story with more pictures you can use this link to get to her account of the voyage:  http://betterwords.typepad.com/pepperinparis/taking-a-dog-on-the-queen-mary-2.html. She also made a great video which you can see by clicking on this link: –

 

 

 

 

Thank you Nikki for sharing your story with us and thanks to Harald Franzen for the wonderful pictures of Pepper enjoying his Transatlantic Crossing. I would also like to thank Dayle for taking the time to chat to us.

 

That’s it for this post but I’ll be back again on Monday with more news from around the Cunard World! Thank you as always for logging on and please do keep those comments and questions coming. Cheers for now, Alastair

 

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