Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 165 days

 

Welcome to another Blog, as Queen Mary 2 arrives in New York after her first Westbound Crossing of the season and Queen Victoria returns to Southampton after her first voyage of the summer, which took her guests to the sunny and warm Iberian Peninsula. Queen Elizabeth is progressing well and I’ll have some more pictures from the shipyard in Monfalcone on Tuesday and Thursday next week.

 

Although her 2010 World Voyage finished a week ago, in this Blog we are looking at some of the great events over the last week of that wonderful circumnavigation. But first, here’s a busy week in Cunard’s History, from 30 April to 6 May

 

1 May 2004	QE2 and Queen Mary 2 arrive in Southampton – the first time two Cunard Queens have been in the company’s home port since 1967. QE2 relinquishes the title of flagship to RMS Queen Mary 2, having been Cunard’s longest serving flagship.
2 May 1969	QE2 began her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York which took 4 days, 16 Hours & 35 Minutes making her the only ship offering a scheduled transatlantic service.
2 May 2005	QE2 marked 36 years of service when she arrived in her homeport of Southampton. A special Birthday party was held on board to honour the ship. Special guests included nine former and current Captains as well as 80 year old John Whitworth OBE, who was the Managing Director of Cunard Line at the time of QE2’s introduction and was instrumental in the ship’s construction.
3 May 1982	Whilst en route to Southampton from Philadelphia, QE2 is requisitioned by the British Government for the Falkland Islands campaign. Cunard Countess is also chartered for use in the conflict. Also requisitioned were the England and Atlantic Conveyor which were both Cunard ships although they were not in passenger service.
4 May 1839	Samuel Cunard signs a seven year contract to carry mail with the British Admiralty

 

 

As regular readers will know, the interdepartmental Crew Tug Of War is a huge event on the World Voyage on both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. Following in the wake of many years of this traditional competition various departments trained for the big day. On the Maiden World Voyage the Musicians came out victorious, but were beaten last year by the Deck Department. So who was going to win in 2010? The defending champions were looking good in their fire fighting attire sailing through the first round.

 

 

 

 

 

Despite the tough competition, the event is all about having fun and raising money for the World Voyage Charities, as well as offering an opportunity to dress up, like the Galley department pictured here led by Chef de Cuisine Eric Yeung.

 

 

 

 

 

There were just two ladies teams and this year the Entertainment team chose a country and western theme.

 

 

 

 

Although they looked great they were beaten by the Bar Girls in the final pull. Meanwhile the male members of the Entertainment Department had put together a “Dream Team”, made up of Musicians, Production Staff and Nico from the Entertainment Staff. The strategy seemed to work as they made their way to the semi final to meet the Deck Team.

 

 

 

It was a close call but the Entertainment team managed to win through to the final against a team of contractors who were fitting new carpets around the ship and were joined by Trevor, one of our chefs. Despite a valiant fight by the Dream Team, the contractors and Trevor were victorious and here they are receiving their award from Captain Christopher Rynd.

 

 

 

The mixed team was won by our Purser’s Staff, and here’s our Cashier Darryn Mulford accepting the award on behalf of his team.

 

 

 

There was one more award to be given and that was for the best dressed. This was won by the Production Department for their “Muscle Men”, under the leadership of Senior Production Manager, Chris Knowles.

 

 

 

You may be wondering why the lady in the left hand corner of the photo was laughing so much; it was because Ben Salevante (Queen’s Room Production Manager), had just ripped his outfit as he bent down to pose for the awaiting paparazzi!

 

A couple of days later our guests were treated to another fabulous performance from our Guest Choir. After the success of the performance six weeks beforehand the group was restarted by Simon Maycock of the Entertainment Staff, joined by guests who embarked in Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai. Paul Ritchie led the rehearsals and conducted the concert, with Dustin Turner back on the piano. Here they are in action on the Royal Court Theatre stage.

 

 

What a great concert it was and congratulations to everyone who took part. Following their performance, which quite rightly received a full standing ovation, there was time to pose for a professional group photo in the Grand Lobby.  

 

 

 

It was coming to the end of the 2010 World Voyage and you could sense mixed feelings. Feelings of sadness that it was coming to an end, as well happiness as everyone looked back at an amazing adventure and all the new friends they had made. There was one more port to go and that was Civitavecchia in Italy. Many guests headed off to Rome for the day on tours offering an amazing taste of this wonderful city. However for those wanting a quieter day, a great meal and a walk along the beach, Civitavecchia is actually a great town with some really good restaurants.

 

 

 

Much as I love going around the world, and Asia is probably my favourite part of the World Voyage, I must admit tucking in to a fantastic pizza back in Italy was wonderful!

 

It was soon time for goodbyes and that was certainly done in style in the Golden Lion Pub on the last night and I promised I would mention some of the regulars who had managed to join the staff most nights. Firstly Tony and Peter (who you may remember were kind enough to give me those great pictures from the top of the Burj Khalifa), who were great regulars from Singapore.

 

 

 

Then of course there were the gentlemen I called the Three Wise Men. They had travelled the entire World Voyage and they had become great familiar faces each night and certainly the Pub felt quite different the night after they disembarked. Here they are, Gil, Brian and in the middle, the man behind the “Ducklings” – (that’s a whole story in itself!) – Terry Waite.

 

 

 

So there it was, the end of another year’s World Voyage and I hope you enjoyed following our Queens, their crews and guests as on their adventures around the world.

For those of you who were with us, I hope these Blogs have brought back some great memories and that you had an incredible time. We look forward to welcoming many of you again next year on Queen Elizabeth or Queen Mary 2 on their 2011 World Voyages or perhaps on Queen Victoria on her voyages in North American waters.

 

Although I am going on leave today, there’s a lot more to share with you over the coming weeks as both Queens settle in to their summer seasons, so I’ll be still Blogging regularly with help from friends on all three ships. Amanda Reid will be taking over from me until I return to Queen Victoria at the end of May. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 166 days

 

One of the landmark events on a World Voyage is when a Cunard Queen hosts the “Country Fair”. The event which goes back more years than I care to suggest, serves firstly as an opportunity for guests and the ships company to raise money for charity, but is also one that is enjoyed by everyone. Readers in Britain will be familiar with the annual Church Fete. Well this is very similar, with comparable events and that same wonderful atmosphere. The only differences are you don’t have to worry about the weather interrupting proceedings, the microphone system actually works and we don’t have to worry about a new roof!

 

In my last post we heard from Queen Mary 2 and the fabulous job they did at their Country Fair, so now it’s time to see what happened at Queen Victoria’s.

 

In keeping with Cunard’s World Voyage tradition, the charities being supported this year were chosen by the Officers and Crew on board Queen Victoria. This year the ship’s company chose Cancer Research UK ( The world’s leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research), Emasithandane Children’s Project (a home for orphaned and other vulnerable children in Nyanga which is one of the poorest townships in Cape Town), Gawad Kalinga  (A housing project in the Philippines which has helped several hundreds of poor families build small homes) and ShelterBox (an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide, most recently in Haiti and China).

 

On a World Voyage there are numerous events to raise money for the ship’s chosen charities and on Queen Victoria this year events included, Auctions, Sponsored Events, Collections and Donations. For the second year we have also been lucky enough to have Marie and Frank Sotille running a charity table which features everything from local craftwork to guest donations.

 

 

This is their second year on Queen Victoria continuing the tradition from QE2. They do such an amazing job in raising so much during the World Voyage sea days and we are incredibly grateful for all their work.

 

Queen Victoria’s Country Fair marked the beginning of an amazing day. In fact work had been taking place for many days before hand, carefully orchestrated by Lisa Fanning, Thomas Quinones, Mel Jones and Jennifer Schaper of the Entertainment team along with many other members of the Entertainment Staff and guests.

 

The morning was a hive of activity as guests and crew prepared the stalls and decorated the Queens Room with Captain Rynd poised at 2pm to cut the ribbon to let eager guests spend their money.

 

 

It didn’t take long for the Queens Room to be packed with bargain hunters at the Second Hand Rose stall, and others trying their luck at the computer simulator where they could drive the ship, with our Bridge Officers on hand to help.

 

 

There was, Guess the Weight of the Cake, Chop the Carrot and we even had a raffle for a lucky guest to become a member of the Entertainment Staff for a day! This was won by Joanne Brown and you can read more about that in a Blog next week. We also had Tina Poxon, Mary Tinson and Joan Burrel as the Human Fruit Machine!

 

 

When refreshment was required, we had guests who volunteered to serve tea and cakes, and here’s Patsy Wilson serving fellow guests Elizabeth Davidson and Sean Thomson.

 

 

This was one of the big events where crew are also invited to come along and join in the fun and this is Ariel, one of our accommodation team who, by the looks of him, did very well at the tombola stall!

 

 

We also showed off items which were to be sold a couple of days later at the Charity Auction which included the whole World Voyage Chart, Afternoon Tea with the Captain in his quarters as well as items from the Deck and Engine Department and some unique Cunard memorabilia donated by guests and crew. In fact by the end of the World Voyage Queen Victoria had raised over $35,000 including the proceeds of the Navigational Chart Auction from each leg of the World Voyage, (which goes to the Princes trust). It was an amazing achievement and our thanks go to the guests and crew of Queen Victoria for all their work and generosity.

 

That night we held our Full World Voyage party; the final one of the voyage for our guests who were enjoying the 2010 Full World Voyage. The Theme was our adventures around the world and the Culinary Team excelled themselves in some superb sculptures and decorations like this head table depicting some of the ports we had visited.

 

 

How about this magnificent ice sculpture? It is a stunning Chinese Dragon, which arrived in four sections.

 

 

These incredible displays weren’t only for show; here guests were invited to enjoy fresh sushi and seafood from one of our talented chefs. Yes that is a handmade Hong Kong Junk behind him.

 

 

Much of the beautiful artwork had been created by our on board ice and food carver, Catalino, and here he is with some of his handiwork like this camel which took him two days to make.

 

 

There was so much preparation involved for such an event and here are our Executive Chef Bernard Stumphel and Executive Sous Chef, Nicholas Oldroyd, looking very proud of their team’s work.

 

 

And here they are, just some of the creative talent behind the event.

 

 

Then it was time to let our guests enjoy the evening which was a huge success, receiving numerous compliments from guests saying it was a fantastic crescendo to the World Voyage, as you can see in this picture which captures just some of the atmosphere of the evening.

 

That night there was an Egyptian Ball and we were fortunate enough to have Amanda Reid on board. She had been on for the beginning of Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage and had been instrumental in the Sand Dance at their Egyptian Ball in January. When she suggested doing the same on Queen Victoria I agreed instantly before realising who she had cast in the roles……

 

 

Yes, take a close look and the cast are – on the left Social Hostess, Jenny Schaper, on the Right Assistant Entertainment Director Amanda Reid and yes in the middle it is yours truly! Oh Well it was the World Voyage!

 

 

That’s it for now, but I’ll be back tomorrow with some pictures and news of some of the events over the last couple of weeks. I know I said I would have more pictures of Queen Elizabeth, but I’m afraid they will have to wait for next Tuesday – but they’ll be worth it. Cheers for now, Alastair

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 168 days

 

Firstly I hope you like our new look and more interactive Blog. A big thank you to Richard, Matt, Shelley and Lisa back in Southampton, for managing to incorporate so many ideas in to the new look Blog as well as making it easier to read. I’d love to hear what you think, along with all your comments and questions as always.

 

Both our Queens have settled in to their summer seasons, with Queen Mary 2 making her first westbound Transatlantic Crossing and Queen Victoria on her first voyage to the Iberian Peninsula. However there are still a few stories from our World Voyages that I’ll be sharing with you over the next week or so, as well as what’s new on board and ashore.

 

Now it’s a great pleasure to hand over to Queen Mary 2’s Social Hostess who managed to send me a post about the last few days of Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage before she went on leave in Southampton, so it’s over to Freda.

 

Guest Blog – Freda Singleton, Queen Mary 2, Social Hostess

 

As Queen Mary 2 approached Southampton last Thursday, she came to the end of her 2010 World Voyage; we’d like to bring all our avid bloggers up to date with the latest.

 

We asked our guests to make the 2010 World Voyage Charity Country Fair the best ever and they jumped up to the challenge!  The atmosphere in the Queens Room was pure Country Fair, with the full range of typical stalls hosted by guests and crew alike from ‘Hook the fish’, the flower booth, the coconut shy, and the wonderful 5-minute massage run by the housekeeping team, the florist, the entertainment staff and the Canyon Ranch Spa respectively; to Numerology, the Human Fruit Machine, ‘Guess the weight of the cake’ and the ‘Book stall’ all hosted by our guests, to name just a few of the activities on offer. 

 

  

 

BR>

<BR>

 

The ‘Second Hand Rose’ stall could have easily filled the entire starboard section on the upper level and was all but empty by the end of the afternoon. All supported by the delicious offering from the Corner Cafe with cream teas, crepe suzettes, chocolate coated strawberries and the most tempting display of beautiful cakes, pastries and sandwiches. And what a fantastic result!  A phenomenal $18,426, made up of $11,776 from the fair and $6,650 from the auction of things that money can’t buy, such as dinner at the Captain’s Table, blowing the ship’s whistle, a Queen Mary 2 life ring, the full World Voyage navigational chart, Queen Mary 2’s Sunday ensign – enthusiastically bid for and taken by the on board Protestant Priest – and much more. 

         

R>

 

 

This picture shows just some of the nautical items that were available for our guests to bid for, while Captain Bates discusses raffle prizes with guests. As you can see from the next picture, there was even an authentic coconut shy!

 

 

Added to that were the superb contributions from the crew, who somehow managed their own midnight auctions and raised $2,340 (part of which went to the Crew Welfare charities). The total of Queen Mary 2’s charity donations for the whole World Voyage came to the magnificent total of $26,020.05, which has been split between this year’s four nominated charities:

 

The Haiti Emergency Relief Fund

The Prostheses Foundation of Thailand

The Seaman’s Institute of Brooklyn, New York

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution

 

 

 

Then it was – Time to Dance – Queen Mary 2 Style!

 

Queen Mary 2’s answer to Strictly Come Dancing, we gave our guests their moment in the spotlight on the largest dance floor at sea.  To the delight of the packed Queens Room we were entertained by ten superb dance performances from the traditional waltz to the Viennese waltz and from the quickstep, to the jive and the Argentinean tango! Ten nervous couples put themselves at the mercy of our tough panel of judges, led by Entertainment Director, Ray Rouse – a fellow of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance and two of the talented Royal Cunard Dancers, Kelly-Rhian Scott and Katie Woolnough, assessing their technique, timing, interpretation and performance.

 

 

R>

BR>

R>

BR>

R>

BR>

It was such a rewarding experience to see such polished and elegant routines that for many, was entirely the result of their time on board with us for our 2010 World Voyage. Heart-warming reinforcement indeed for those who select Cunard for the ballroom and dancing!  

 

 

Our runners-up – Jean Baker and Gentleman Dance Host, Dennis King who performed an outstanding quickstep.  Jean’s radiant smile lit up the entire ballroom and did not slip once! Meanwhile here are the well-deserved winners with their Argentinean Tango; Cecile Lanthier and Steve Groleau.

 

 

What better way to celebrate the end of a truly legendary, elegant and memorable World Voyage than to send us spinning us into the 2010 transatlantic season – the glamorous finale with Renato and Katy to whom so many of our guests wish to pay a special thank you for their dancing expertise and inspiration.

           

                                             

Thank you so much Freda for another great Blog and congratulations to everyone involved in those fantastic events; it’s great to see so much being raised for these very worthy charities.

 

I’ll be back on Wednesday with a blog about some of the events during the last week of Queen Victoria’s World Voyage and on Thursday I’m delighted to tell you that I will have brand new photos from Monfalcone in Italy where Queen Elizabeth is currently under construction. Cheers, Alastair

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 172 days

 

With both Queens back in Southampton today it marks the end of the 2010 World Voyages, and I hope you have enjoyed following both ships around the world. I have a few more Blogs coming up over the next week which will celebrate the success of this year’s voyages on both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. It’s always quite emotional for guests and crew as everyone says goodbye to guests who have been with us so long and I’d like to thank the many guests who have been telling me they are regular readers of this Blog. I hope you enjoy reliving some of your time on board with the stories we have been covering. As we now prepare for our summer season of sailings from Southampton this week’s Blog focuses on Queen Mary 2’s Star of the Month. Firstly here’s this week in Cunard’s history from 23 to 29 April

 

25 April 2004	QE2 completes her last westbound transatlantic crossing as Cunard’s flagship on an historic eastbound Transatlantic Crossing in tandem with Queen Mary 2. Both RMS Queen Mary 2 and QE2 meet in new York marking the first time that two Cunard Queens have been berthed in the port since March 1940.
28 April 1969	QE2 makes her maiden call at Lisbon, Portugal
28 April 2009	Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Palma
29 April 1987	Diana, Princess of Wales, makes her first and only visit to QE2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosalie or Rose to her friends was born in Manila, Philippines where she still lives with her family. She graduated from the La Consolacion College Mendiola in Manila, with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management.

 

After working at home in the Philippines, she worked for two years in Dubai, as a waitress, at the prestigious Emirates Golf Club. After a brief time at home with her family, Rose was encouraged by her mother and sister to apply for work on ships. As she had the relevant experience and background, she was accepted by Cunard in 2006 and joined Queen Mary 2

 

Rose began working in the Housekeeping department, but then applied to the Food and Beverage department and is now on her third contract an Assistant Buffet Steward in the Officers Mess.

Her day starts normally at 7:00am and she finishes around 9.30pm, with breaks after breakfast and lunch service. She told me the reason she enjoys her job, is because she gets to meet and work with many different members of the ships company, who have very different jobs. She said she is happy that she is able always learn new things and gain plenty of experience. She added that it’s a very busy job, and an important part of her work is to smile and greet the officers as they come in to the mess, and then be prepared to expect the unexpected!

 

When she does get some time off Rose enjoys watching movies on the Crew TV channel as well as keeping in touch with her family at home by Email and phone. On port days she likes to get ashore for some fresh air when she can, relaxing with friends and taking in what she calls; the ever changing scenery.

 

At home Rose enjoys tennis, shopping with friends as well as going to the gym and having relaxing massages. Spending valuable time with her family is naturally a very important part of her leave. Here she is enjoying her time at home with her family from left to right, her older sister Grace, youngest sister Cathy and her mother.

 

 

She is also very proud of her two sons who are twelve and eight years old, and they are looked after by her mother in the family home while she is away at sea. Here they are; Ghian and CJ as well as with her nephew Miguel.

 

Our Star of the Month winners never know they have won until they arrive at a very special presentation, where the nominees are read out by the Hotel Manager who is the on board White Star Committee Chairman. At the presentation Rose told me she was really surprised and speechless when she realised she had won. Here she is receiving her award, with from left to right, Hotel Manager David Stephenson, and Captain Nick Bates.

 

 

 

As well as a certificate, Rose receives some prize money which she told me would go straight to her mother back home in the Philippines. She also said that being the Star of the Month is very overwhelming with people still congratulating three weeks later, as she walks around the ship proudly displaying her Star of the Month name badge.

 

She said “It’s great that they are very happy for me. Some of them call my name and greet me with a big smile and so many more members of the crew now recognise me and it has shown me that it is worth it to work hard. It was my pleasure to become Star of the Month and to those who vote for me, and especially those who nominated me; a big thank you and god bless you all.”

 

As for the future Rose would like eventually to have her own house and car as well as helping her family and relatives.

 

Congratulations again Rose and thank you for sharing your story with us. I’ll be back on Monday with some more stories of our World Voyages, featuring some of the events that took place on both ships over the last couple of weeks. I also hope to have some more news from Queen Elizabeth in Italy very soon, so thanks again for logging on and please keep those questions and comments coming in. Cheers Alastair

 

 

 

 

 

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 173 days

 

Although Queen Victoria is approaching the end of her 2010 World voyage and preparing to meet her big sister in Southampton tomorrow, this Blog is going back to last week when she transited the Suez Canal for the third time. Just two days earlier we had visited the port city of Aqaba where over half the ship’s guests and many of her crew had been to the historic city of Petra. I was lucky enough to go there last year and you can read more about that, as well as our 2009 transit of the Suez Canal on this link:-

 

http://wearecunard.com/2009/04/icons-of-the-ancient-and-modern-world/

 

When we arrived at Port Suez, it was a very early start for many of our Officers and Crew as Queen Victoria made her approaches at about 3:30am. We had about 450 guests, who were taking a very special tour to Cairo and the iconic Pyramids, before rejoining the ship in Port Said later that day. That reminds me of the very old joke of a day when a guest asks a crew member where the bathrooms were; “Port Side” said the crew member. “Oh I don’t think I can wait that long” replied a perplexed guest!

 

Anyway, back on board our guests were taken ashore in the ships tenders to join a road convoy to Cairo, while Queen Victoria weighed anchor and headed to the entrance of the Canal at about 6.00am.

 

About 8% of the world shipping traffic goes through this canal, which unlike the Panama Canal has no locks. The terrain through which the canal passes is flat, and the minor difference in sea level at the ends is easily coped with through the length of the canal. There is just one shipping lane but it has several passing areas, so on a typical day, three convoys transit the canal, two southbound and one northbound. The first southbound convoy enters the canal in the early morning hours and proceeds to the Great Bitter Lake, where the ships anchor out of the fairway and await the passage of the northbound convoy. The northbound convoy, which we were a part of, starts shortly after 6:00am and then passes the second southbound convoy, which moors to the canal bank in a by-pass, in the vicinity of El Qantara.

 

Although there is not as much to see as there is on a Panama Canal Transit, it’s still a good day to be out on deck and watch the goings on along the canal bank, which often isn’t much more than a few fisherman looking for their daily catch.

 

 

 

You can get to see quite a few army bases along the way, although we seemed to be more interested in them than they were in us!

 

 

 

The convoy sails at a set speed of around 8 knots and this low speed helps prevent erosion of the canal banks by ship’s wakes. Historically there has been quite a bit of conflict in the area, and some of the scars remain in the form of metal strewn along sections of the canal bank.

 

 

 

By 8:00am we were through the Little Bitter Lake and heading to the Great Bitter Lake, and then by 11:30am we were just over half way through our transit as we passed Ismailia on the west side. On the East Bank of the Canal is the memorial of 6 October, 1973 which was inaugurated on 5 October, 1992 and was modeled after a Bayonet.

 

 

 

There are only a few crossing places on the canal, most of which are simply small ferries connecting roads on one side to the other, such as this one where the ferry slips in between the convoy where it can.

 

 

 

 

The Ahmed Hamdi tunnel south of the Great Bitter Lake was built in 1983, but because of leakage problems, a new watertight tunnel has now been fitted inside the old one. The El Derdan Railway Bridge twenty miles north of Ismailia was completed in 2001 and is the longest swing span bridge in the world, with a span of 340 metres (1100 feet). It’s certainly an impressive feat of engineering.

 

 

The Suez Canal Bridge which is also called the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge is a high-level road bridge at El Qantra. In Arabic, al qantara means “the bridge”.

 

 

 

It’s a very impressive structure with its 70-metre (230 ft) clearance over the canal, which left about 14 metres for Queen Victoria to pass beneath it.  

 

 

 

Two hours later Queen Victoria took the western route of the canal rather than the eastern bypass channel, which is used by most of the traffic heading to the Mediterranean Sea. But we were heading to Port Said, so our guests on tour could rejoin the ship. When we arrived, guests had enough time to look along the quayside for some souvenirs just before our other guests returned. It was getting a little chilly (certainly not as warm as we were used to), so along with the welcoming team of Hotel and Entertainment Staff, there was some hot Chocolate waiting for them.

 

Later that evening, I met up with Elaine Reed, who told me that she had taken an overland trip from Sharm El Sheikh to Cairo. On the way she had managed to follow Queen Victoria along a road parallel to the Suez Canal, and took some pictures from their car.

 

 

 

What a great sight Queen Victoria is, although certainly very different pictures than we would normally see. Here’s another great photo from Elaine, this time of Queen Victoria passing under the El Qantra Bridge.

 

 

 

Thank you again to Elaine for these stunning and unusual pictures. That’s it for today but I’ll be back tomorrow with news of Queen Mary 2’s recent star of the month and then next week with some final pictures of both our Queens Celebrating the last days of their 2010 World Voyages. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 176 days

 

As Queen Victoria heads home to Southampton completing her 2010 World voyage, she’ll be meeting up with her sister once more in her home port. Before I get to this post about some of Queen Victoria’s Crew members, you may be interested in an article I saw in a newspaper this week, especially if you are able to make a visit to Southampton on Thursday.

 

People in port city are apparently invited to a free, grandstand view of our two Queens and a special waterfront tea party in the port. The Mayor of Southampton, Elizabeth Mizon, together with Associated British Ports (ABP), owners and operators of the city’s docks, will host the charity event on Thursday. A limited number of free tickets are available from Southampton’s Tourist Information Centre opposite the Civic Centre and from ABP’s reception at Ocean Gate in the Eastern Docks. If you can’t make it personally you can always keep an eye on our bridge cams on these links.

 

Queen Mary 2 http://www.cunard.co.uk/bridgecam/qm2_cam1.asp

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

 

They say a life a sea is in the blood, well that’s certainly true for one family that I see every day here on Queen Victoria. Luz Torres, from the Philippines, is one of our very hard working Bedroom Stewardesses and she told me about her family.

 

 

Before coming to sea Luz ran a successful slimming salon in Manila when one of her clients, who ran a recruitment company, asked if she would like to get paid to see the world. That was in 1988 and Luz told me that it seemed a great proposition and not long afterwards she found herself on the Royal Viking Sun. She worked on different ships before becoming part of the inaugural team on Queen Mary 2 in 2004.

 

Meanwhile her daughter Rochelle Padpad, (which ironically in English means “Flying”!), works in the Officers Mess where she is part of the team serving Queen Victoria’s officers breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

 

Rochelle is the eldest of three girls and having completed a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management, she joined Queen Mary 2. While she was on Queen Mary 2 Rochelle met her future husband Tito Padpad, who also joined Queen Mary 2 for the set up of the ship.

 

 

Tito works as an Assistant Butler and he says that his marriage to Rochelle just shows that love can blossom on the high seas. Although married life on a ship has its challenges, Rochelle told me Cunard do their best to keep them together on the same ship. Mind you they also have Luz in the next door cabin to keep an eye on them! They now have a beautiful two year old daughter Almira Thea, who is looked after by Rochelle’s youngest sister Trachelle at home in the Philippines.

 

 

Luz also has another daughter, Maricel who also worked for Royal Viking Line, and while there met her husband and they currently work for another cruise line. As you can imagine family reunions are rather infrequent, but Luz told me she is incredibly proud of her three daughters and is very happy that she is at least able to see one of them regularly. Here are Rochelle and Luz together at work and play.

           

 

Rochelle and Luz were very excited recently when Trachelle, Maricel, her husband Patrick and their three year old daughter Chelsea Mariez were able to sail on Queen Victoria between Hong Kong and Singapore. They brought Rochelle and Tito’s daughter with them as well so it was a very special time for them all, as it was the first time in five years that Luz, Maricel and Rochelle had been together.

 

Maricel and Patrick had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the ship. Here they are on a formal night going to a show in the Royal Court theatre with Chelsea Mariez and Almira Thea

 

 

In their spare time they managed to spend some family time ashore in ports and to share a family meal. Here they are in Hong Kong from left to right, Tito, Rochelle, Trachelle, Almira Thea, Maricel, Chelsea Mariez and Luz

 

 

Trachelle looks after the family three bedroomed bungalow style house, which is in an area with many seafarers, so they have good company and lots of support. Luz said that it may not be a big house, but is large enough considering that the whole family are rarely there at the same time so it actually works really well. As well as the children, Trachelle also lives with Luz’s 84 year old mother, and they have a live in maid who helps around the house.

 

Luz told me that when they get home after a long contract they will have about six weeks holiday, and the first thing they do is to leave the alarm clock in the suitcase! The next day they’ll go for a massage and of course church on Sunday. She said they are very fortunate to have a maid at home, as she takes care of all the cooking when they are on holiday so the family can really relax. She told me they like to do as little as possible when spending time with the family, simply eating, sleeping, going to the beach and of course shopping.

 

As for the future Rochelle would like her daughter to become a Pediatrician. Well we wish the whole family good luck in their futures, and of course a big thank you for sharing their story.

 

I’ll be back on Wednesday with some great pictures of Queen Victoria’s third transit through the Suez Canal and on Thursday when both ships arrive in Southampton for the day, we’ll celebrate Queen Mary 2’s latest star of the month. In the meantime please do keep your comments coming in. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 179 days

 

I know it’s a bit of a cliché to say how time flies, but it always feels the same towards the end of a World Voyage. Queen Victoria has just made her third transit through the Suez Canal and will be arriving in Piraeus for Athens today, before heading off to Civitavecchia for Rome on Saturday. Then it will be the final four day crossing back to Southampton. Meanwhile Queen Mary 2 is back in New York having now completed her 101 day, third World Voyage. This evening she will be crossing the Atlantic back to Southampton and both ships will be there together on 22 April, which is the first time they have been there together since last year, so it will be cause for celebration. And with less than six months to go before our new Queen joins the fleet, Queen Elizabeth is making great progress and hopefully I’ll have some more pictures for you soon. 

 

Before we find out about the culinary celebrations on Queen Mary 2 here’s this week in Cunard’s history from 16 to 22 April.

 

16 April 1982	QE2 makes her maiden call at Arrecife, Lanzarote
16 April 2004	Queen Mary 2 departs Southampton on her first transatlantic crossing to New York.
17 April 1920	The Albania is launched as the first new build for Cunard after the First World War, although her keel was laid in 1914
18 April 1912	The Carpathia docked at Pier 54, in New York with the 700+ survivors of Titanic. She was greeted by thousands of people.
18 April 1969	Cunard formally accepts delivery of QE2

 

You may remember in February this year, we highlighted a Cunard World Voyage tradition, with the Chef’s Salon Culinaire on Queen Victoria. If you didn’t get to read it you can click on this link to find out more.

 

http://wearecunard.com/2010/02/19/

 

I was delighted the other day when Mark Oldroyd, Queen Mary 2’s Executive Sous Chef, sent me pictures of their event, which they held recently. The competition took place in our flagship’s magnificent Queens Room, and Mark takes up the story:

 

 “Queen Mary 2’s 2010 Chefs Culinary Cooking Competition was a huge success. The chefs really went all out and produced masterpieces and signature dishes that even Escoffier would be proud of. The team really wowed our guests with the event being the talk of the ship for days. We were so proud of the chefs; the commitment and sheer dedication the team projected was electric, it was a chance for them to let go and cook their favourite signature dishes and culinary visions. They all definitely exceeded all our expectations.”

 

 He told me that they had five categories in this year’s event including an award for the Pastry and Bakery Show Piece.

 

This was won by Richard Serran who is Demi Chef de Partie Baker. Here he is with his award winning entry and from (left to right) Executive Chef Karl Winkler, Executive Sous Chef Mark Oldroyd, Hotel Manager David Stephenson and Food & Beverage Manager Bernhard Fischer.

 

The next winner was for the Hot or Cold Plated Entree category

               

 

This was won by Noli Salimbagat who is a Chef De Cuisine and like so many of the entries managed to make his work look too delicious to ever eat.  

 

Many of our guests have an opportunity to see a fruit and vegetable carving demonstration while they are on board and this competition looked for the most artistic creation.

 

 

The Fruit and Vegetable Carving award went to Rizalde Gagaring who is a Chef De Partie, Food Artist.

 

One of the most popular categories amongst our guests, is the dessert section, which always produces some of the most inventive pieces.

 

 

The Plated Dessert winner was Franz Joseph Ballelos who is a Demi Chef De Partie, Pastry.

 

Some of the biggest creations are in the Cold Larder Buffet Display category.

 

 

This was won by Panchoo Arvin Kumar who is a Chef de Partie

 

Back in the Britannia Restaurant Galley, all the winners came together with their Certificates for a group photograph.

 

 

From left to right they are, Panchoo Arvin Kumar, Richard Serran, Franz Joseph Ballelos, Noli Salimbagat and Rizalde Gagaring.

 

Karl Winkler and Mark Oldroyd told me they would like to thank all departments and the ships on board services for their generosity as they donated some excellent prizes which were really appreciated by all the winners.

 

Thank you Mark for sharing this great success story and congratulations to you and all your chefs for what sounds like an amazing event, showing yet again the incredible skills of our on board culinary teams.

 

That’s it for this week, I’ll be back on Monday with more news from around the fleet, including a very special story from Queen Victoria as we come to the last few days of our 2010 World Voyage. We’ll also have some other great stories so thanks again for logging on. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 183 days

 

Welcome to another Blog, this time celebrating our World Voyages on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. Thank you all for all your comments and questions as well; it’s great to hear so many of you are following our Queens’ progress around the globe.

 

There are many events that only take place on longer voyages which makes them very special. One activity that we first tried out on Queen Victoria’s maiden voyage was Float Your Boat. Guests are invited to form teams of would be Mariners, and construct a ship that will carry a cargo from one end of the Pavilion Pool to another. There aren’t many rules apart from the fact the vessel cannot be touched whilst in the water and cannot have any form of motorised propulsion. The rest we leave to our guests’ imagination.

 

The activity was first staged on the way to New Zealand, but guests asked for another chance to win the accolade, so we announced a Re-Float Your Boat after we left Hong Kong, with the defending champion Ace with its American Team ready to fend off a new set of competitors.

 

The first job was for the teams to show off their craft, and some even dressed for the occasion like the crew of the SS UKAUSTUS.

 

 

The more astute will realise the name is made up of the nationalities of the team members, Dianne Jones from Australia, Jaques Baillargeon from USA and Jack Conn from the UK. Then it was time to see how well the ships would perform in their Sea Trials which took place in the whirlpool!

 

 

This was a chance for the owners to try out their handiwork, however it didn’t always go as the teams would have liked, such as this interesting vessel Captained by Henry Strange from Britain.

 

 

Then it was time for the actual heats and it was quite a sight to see the various craft in the water especially the French ship under the command of Gilbert Cheve whose ingenious design used rice crackers as floatation devices!

 

 

But there do have to be winners, and unfortunately Ace didn’t manage to retain the title. Instead the Ribband was shared by two teams and here they are receiving their awards from Nico Lansdell of the Entertainment Staff, who did a great job in organising yet another very successful World Voyage event.

 

 

Easter is always a big occasion on board Cunard ships, starting with Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday. It’s a great opportunity for our Pastry Chefs to show off their amazing talents with Chocolate displays around the ship. Queen Mary 2 had quite a few different displays on the Purser’s desk and in the various restaurants.

 

 

Meanwhile here on Queen Victoria guests woke up on Easter Sunday to a magnificent festive display in the Grand Lobby.

 

 

And finally…………..

 

You may have been as surprised as many of our guests were on Queen Victoria recently, when they saw an article in the ship’s Daily Programme suggesting that Cunard was about to change the colours of the ships’ funnels. Well see for yourself:

 

 

You may be interested to know that the date on the front cover of the Daily Programme was April 1st!!

 

Oh yes we had some fun with that, watching numerous guests getting their cameras out and taking their final pictures of the old colour as they disembarked on their tours that morning. In fact we even received a complaint at the Purser’s Desk later that day, saying they didn’t like the new colour!

 

We would also like to thank the three guests (who will remain anonymous) who came along to our advertised activity at 11.00am………

 

 

The time was duly observed with the three rather confused guests, who when the realised the date, pleaded with us not to say who they were!

 

That’s it for today, but I’ll be back on Wednesday with a feature about our recent overnight stay in Dubai which includes some spectacular pictures taken from the top of the World’s tallest building. Then on Thursday we’ll have a special story from Queen Mary 2 and a recent Culinary Event held on their 2010 World Voyage. Cheers for now Alastair.

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 186 days

 

With just over six months before her maiden voyage, I have received some new pictures from the Fincantieri shipyard where Queen Elizabeth is currently under construction. This stage of the new build process is a very interesting one, but not the most visual as it involves a lot of metal work, cabling and ducting. However the outside of our Queen has changed, with her familiar Federal Grey hull, white superstructure and iconic red funnel showing she really is a Cunarder.

 

 

Inside the ship, things have moved along a lot. The initial stages of the outfitting involve more metal work such as constructing the inner non supporting bulkheads, which often cover main support pillars such as the ones in this view of Cafe Carinthia looking forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see from the above pictures, I am also including virtually the same view from Queen Victoria to give you an idea of what the end view will look like. Having said that, as regular followers of this Blog will know, that although architecturally she will be very similar, the decor will be unique to Queen Elizabeth. This next shot is of the Golden Lion Pub where you can see the beginnings of the dividing walls and the windows into the Royal Arcade on the left hand side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next picture is somewhat more difficult to decipher. This is the Royal Court Theatre on Deck 2 from the back, showing the balcony above and the stage at the far end. As with a lot of the ship there is a huge amount of scaffolding in place at the moment as the various craftsmen work on the deck heads.

 

 

In all venues there is a tremendous amount of wiring for the lights, power, telephones, digital sound system, alarms etc. It always amazes me how they manage to get all that incredibly complex cabling right. For the next shot we are moving to the Lido on deck 9 and the pizzeria section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then staying in the Lido you can see the specialised stainless steel work that is taking place for the main buffet area, which is at the aft section of the Lido.

 

 

<BR>

Moving up to deck 10 forward is the signature Commodore Club which began on Queen Mary 2, and has been such a great success as a larger venue on Queen Victoria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the same deck is the venue that will pay homage to its namesake on QE2; The Yacht Club. Although it will occupy the same space as Hemispheres on Queen Victoria, the nautical decor will give it a very different feel.

 

 

<BR>

Moving outside to the Pavilion Pool area on deck 9 midships, the metal work that will be covered in teak is nearly complete as you can see from this view of the steps and the two whirlpools.

 

 

The area is covered at the moment by a temporary shelter while the special paint treatment is applied. The view looking aft from this point will actually be different as well, because of the vaulted roof of the Garden Room, which as you can see from this picture has now been glazed.

 

 

I hope to be back soon with more pictures but again my thanks to Simona Capraro in the Monfalcone ship yard for all her help in getting me these fantastic pictures.  Also thanks to Marius and the on board photo team who recommended a really good new digital camera, so I could get these great interior shots of Queen Victoria.

 

I’ll be back next week with more news from the World Voyages on both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria and I’ll keep you posted on any further announcements or developments with Queen Elizabeth. Cheers for now Alastair.

 

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 187 days

 

As both Cunard Queens enter the last few weeks of their 2010 World Voyages, Queen Victoria has left Dubai and is heading towards Aqaba, Jordan and Queen Mary 2 is about to reach the Caribbean island of Barbados. This Blog is going to focus more at home and a new partnership for Cunard. We’ll come to that in a moment, after this week in Cunard’s history, from 9 to 15 April.

 

9 April 1921	Laconia is launched and enters service the next year
11 April 2008	Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Athens
12 April 1976	QE2 makes her maiden call at Odessa, Ukraine (USSR)
15 April 1912	The Carpathia rescues all of the 706 survivors from White Star’s Titanic.
15 April 2006	Queen Mary 2 docks at the Brooklyn Terminal in New York for the first time, marking the opening of the new terminal.

 

Before news of our special partnership we are pleased to announce that Cunard has won another award. Queen Mary 2 has won the category “Best Luxury Cruise Ship (Large)” at the 2010 Luxury Travel Magazine Gold List Awards.

 

 

 

This is great news for our flag ship, so congratulations to everyone who made this possible.

 

Meanwhile back in London, Cunard has launched a very special partnership with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s brand new West End adventure Love Never Dies, which opened at London’s Adelphi Theatre last month. The show which is a sequel to the multi award winning The Phantom of the Opera, takes place ten years after the mysterious disappearance of “The Phantom” from the Paris Opera House. Christine Daaé accepts an offer to come to America and perform at New York’s fabulous new playground of the world of Coney Island. Arriving in New York with her husband Raoul and their son Gustave, Christine soon discovers the identity of the anonymous impresario who has lured her from France to sing. The show is a roller coaster ride of obsession and intrigue, in which music and memory can play cruel tricks, and “The Phantom” sets out to prove that, indeed, Love Never Dies.

 

After just one month after its opening night, Cristina Muñoz from Cunard’s marketing department takes up the story of Cunard’s involvement with this exciting new show.

 

Guest Blog Cristina Muñoz – Cunard Senior Relationship Marketing & Partnership Executive

 

Cunard has launched a partnership that will transport us back to the beginning of the 20^th century, to the days when the only way to cross the Atlantic was by sea. That’s exactly what many people did, even the principal characters of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new West-End adventure Love Never Dies did….

 

 

 

Cunard has been chosen as one of the corporate partners to work with this phenomenal show, that’s already promising to be a great success.

 

When “The Really Useful Group” approached us in August 2009 to ask if Cunard would like to be involved with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production, we were ready to jump out of our seats and sign… (at least some of our marketing colleagues were!), and that was before we even saw or heard the music!

 

The show premiered on 9 March, at the Adelphi Theatre in The Strand in London. Many celebrities were invited to the event, amongst them Sir Terry Wogan who will be travelling on Queen Victoria on 21 May with some of his BBC Radio 2 team and many of his beloved TOGs.

 

We were lucky to be part of the very fortunate few that were invited to attend two preview shows on 1 and 4 March, and were even happier to be able to share the experience with a close group of Cunard partners, journalists and colleagues.

 

The evening started with drinks at Simpsons- in-the-Strand where we were given our tickets for the show, a programme (Cunard feature included!) and a drink voucher for the interval. The ‘Knights Bar’ was buzzing with anticipation and excitement. Our friends seemed to be enjoying themselves, we certainly did!  Amongst them, Alan Dedicoat, Charles Nove, John and Janet Marsh, Alan Boyd to name a few; journalists from Travel Weekly ,TTG, ITV news, Daily Echo, Daily Mail, The Prince’s Trust, the Royal Albert Hall, Cruise Critic, Belinda King Productions  and more…

 

The question on everyone’s lips was… ‘Why are we here? What’s Cunard’s involvement with Love Never Dies?  We didn’t answer… we let the following scene speak for itself:

 

 

 

What a fabulous evening, enjoyed by all. Here’s what some of our guests had to say after the show:

 

“What a wonderful evening! Champagne and canapes at Simpson on The Strand followed by the best thing I have seen in years, I came out ready to watch it all over again. The evening was made topped off perfectly by seeing Andrew Lloyd Webber in the audience. Thank you Cunard.”

Emily Goulborn, Princes Trust

“What a fabulous night out.  The pre-theatre morsels were tasty; the drinks divine.  And as for the show, well, I didn’t know what to expect … but I have to say I was not disappointed!”

Alan Dedicoat, BBC

 

“I thoroughly enjoyed the show and all the stage effects.  It was particularly amazing to see Cunard’s ship on stage – it truly showed the heritage of the brand”

Mary Rega, Travel Weekly

 

 

Love Never Dies is scheduled to open on Broadway (in November 2010), followed by Sydney in 2011.  We wish Andrew Lloyd Webber, the cast of Love Never Dies and The Really Useful Group every success with the show.

 

 

Thank you Cristina for the great report, which marks another important partnership for Cunard. I’m looking forward to seeing the show when I am next on leave.

 

With just over six months to go, I know you are keen to hear about the progress of our new Queen Elizabeth in Monfalcone, Italy and I’m pleased to say that I’ll be posting some new photos tomorrow in a special update. Please do keep your comments and questions coming in; we really enjoy hearing from our readers. Cheers for now Alastair.