Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 137 days

Thanks for all your feedback from the Blog featuring the stunning artwork that will grace the Grand Lobby on Queen Elizabeth. I’m glad you agree it’ll look fantastic, and to answer Christian’s question, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait and see what artefacts there’ll be from both Queen Elizabeths, but rest assured I’ll let you know as soon as I can.

It’s been another busy week for our Queens with Queen Mary 2 on her way back to Southampton on another of her famed Transatlantic Crossings and Queen Victoria basking in the success of the fantastic TOGs voyage, which ended in Southampton yesterday. In fact I was there to meet some of the TOGs as they disembarked and chatted to Sir Terry Wogan, just before he left and that Video Blog will be posted next week.

In this Blog we have more stories of how the voyage went, after this week in Cunard’s History from 28 May to 3 June. 

Now it’s time to go to Queen Victoria to catch up on their TOGs voyage with a guest Blog from Dan Kirkby who spent the voyage with Sir Terry Wogan and his TOGs.

                     Guest Blog

                     Dan Kirkby

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As the TOGs eagerly awaited the TOGmeister, Sir Terry Wogan, there were many events to keep them busy and Pudsey was seen everywhere from the Victorian Sweet Shop to the Queens Room dancing with Reverend Ruth Scott and then playing the piano to her in the Commodore Club!

Then there was ‘TOGGyoke’ which gave everyone an opportunity to throw caution to the wind, with one of the highlights being Janet Marsh performing her ‘Togged’ version of Big Spender with husband John at the piano.

              
It wasn’t long after Sir Terry boarded Queen Victoria that he was at a book signing in the Grand Lobby with over two hundred TOGs, and here are Brenda and Robert Scott posing for a photo to mark the occasion.

Then it was the big night and they came in their hundreds, packing The Royal Court Theatre for a wonderful one off Weekend Wogan. Sir Terry and his ‘underlings’ conjured up a magical night of mirth, music – and much more cash for Children In Need.

The Togmeister’s new Sunday show on BBC Radio 2 is proving to a big hit in the ratings – and the guests on Queen Victoria found out just why – in no uncertain terms.

Captain Christopher Wells braved the stage to chat with Sir Terry, who praised him for his faultless skill in manoeuvring the vessel from a challenging berth in Gibraltar Harbour.

Cunard’s Culinary Ambassador Jean-Marie Zimmermann and the Queen Victoria Chefs ensured that the great man didn’t go undernourished – by supplying copious quantities of canapés and delicious morsels to keep him ship shape during the evening.

Newsreader Charles Nove gave Sir Terry a rather too insightful update on the nautical goings on that occurred before his arrival in Rome….leaving several people in the TOGs group rather red faced!

But the real star of the show was Pudsey Bear – who reminded us all of why we are here.

Alan Dedicoat acted as auctioneer as a dozen lots came under the hammer to raise much needed money for Children In Need. A Transatlantic Crossing on Queen Mary 2 for two people, a chance to meet Sir Terry and see his show following a luxury night at The Langham Hotel, a night at Chewton Glen Country House Hotel and some beautifully displayed piston rings from the vessel’s main engine, raised more than £10,000 on the night.

Other lots, such as lunch with Ken Bruce at The Ritz Hotel and tickets for the final night of Swan Lake at The Royal Albert Hall, were offered in a silent auction taking place on board over the last couple of days.

Sir Terry also gave his famous rendition of the Bandaged version of the Hippopotamus Song with John Marsh at the piano.

Then the long suffering Janet Marsh managed to chase her errant husband off the stage – following a tawdry (and side-splitting) tale of life in the Marsh household.

The Royal Court Theatre Orchestra, under the direction of the wonderful Fred Donolato, were on hand to provide the live music – including a toe tapping medley of seafaring songs, a country and western number or two – and the tear jerking finale with a singalong of ‘We Are Sailing’. (From left to right  Jean-Marie Zimmermann, Captain Chris Wells, Alan Dedicoat, John and Janet Marsh, Sir Terry Wogan, Pudsey and Norman Macintosh)

The running total for funds raised on the voyage so far is approaching £83,000 so Pudsey is rightfully delighted.

Thanks Dan and Cristina and everyone on board for another great Blog; we’ll have the last part of the story and my interview with Sir Terry Wogan next week.

Meanwhile I’m returning to Queen Victoria on Monday and looking forward to meeting quite a few regular readers of this Blog, including Beryl who comments regularly. I’ll have a special Blog on Tuesday featuring another Cunard regular, Chris Frame who sailed on Queen Victoria during her World Voyage and will soon be publishing his new book; Queen Victoria; A Photographic Journey. Thanks again for logging on and for all your comments. Cheers Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 144 days  

As Queen Victoria’s guests and TOGs enjoy the Mediterranean and Queen Mary 2 continues her transatlantic season, last night the focus was all on our new Queen. I was fortunate enough to be invited to an event, not where Queen Elizabeth is currently under construction, in Italy, but at David Linley’s Gallery in London’s West End. I attended the special event with Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, the Cunard Marketing and Public Relations Team, David Linley and his staff as well as about thirty members of the press. I’ll continue the story after this week in Cunard’s history from 2 to 27 May: 

There was an air of anticipation and excitement last night as the gathered guests wondered what announcement was about to be made at the exclusive cocktail party. With less than 21 weeks before entering service more and more details of our new Queen are being revealed as The World Awaits her naming and maiden voyage in October.  

As we soon found out, the evening was to celebrate a major piece of artwork which will be the centrepiece of Queen Elizabeth’s Grand Lobby. The challenge for designers was deciding how to treat the significant central space on the sweeping staircase of the ship, which is the first area to greet embarking guests. In a short speech just before the unveiling, Peter Shanks said:  

 “We needed to fill that space with something which would not just be dramatic, a ‘wow’ factor in an area already full of ‘wow’, but which would also reflect our emphasis on traditional and sumptuous materials. After much thought and exploratory work, it was decided to commission a 5.6-metre (18 ft 6 in) high marquetry panel depicting the original Queen Elizabeth, an Art Deco icon, using a variety of natural woods from around the world. Once we had decided on the theme and the medium, it didn’t take us long to conclude that no-one was better qualified for this detailed but monumental work than the company of the exceptional craftsman David Linley, whose creative ability and mastery of wood is renowned”.  

Then commenting on the challenges faced by the bespoke commission, Linley’s Chairman, David Linley, who founded the company in 1985, said: “Though we have made fittings for luxury yachts in the past, this is the first sea-going work we have done on this scale – but it was a commission I was delighted to accept. I recall my father saying the interior design on Cunard’s QE2 made one proud to be British, so I am hoping our achievement on the new Queen Elizabeth will make him – and others – equally proud”.  

Then ribbons on either side of a blue silk cloth were cut simultaneously by Peter Shanks and David Linley to reveal the beautiful artist’s impression of the artwork that will be the centrepiece for Queen Elizabeth.  

Then it was time for some photos and here are Peter Shanks and David Linley next to the newly revealed piece, which shows the port bow of the original Queen Elizabeth seen dramatically from sea level, intricately executed using the technique of marquetry inlay in nine different types of wood veneers. Spanning 2½ decks, the marquetry panel features Madrona, Indian ebony, American walnut, grey ripple sycamore, burr ash, bird’s eye maple, satin walnut , ash, burr walnut and Macassar ebony – all used to depict the evocative image of Queen Elizabeth.  

I then chatted to Peter who told me about Linley, a company specialising in the design and manufacture of fine furniture and marquetry, and how the company was commissioned to design and make this stunning piece of artwork. He told me work is currently under way, and the completed panel will be shipped during the summer to the Fincantieri shipyard at Monfalcone, Italy, where it will be installed over a period of four days to take pride of place just before the ship enters service in October. Here’s an artist’s impression of the full piece.  

As well as Peter Shanks I was also able to chat to David Linley and the head of design at Linley, Mark Blanchard, and fortunately our film crew were they to capture the whole event in an exclusive We Are Cunard video blog.  What a great evening and we are all excited to see the finished work taking its place in Queen Elizabeth’s Grand Lobby, and here is an artist’s impression of how the lobby will look in October.  

What a great evening and we are all excited to see the finished work taking its place in Queen Elizabeth’s Grand Lobby, and here is an artist’s impression of how the lobby will look in October. What a great evening and we are all excited to see the finished work taking its place in Queen Elizabeth’s Grand Lobby, and here is an artist’s impression of how the lobby will look in October.  

 That’s it for another Blog as The World Awaits Queen Elizabeth, and I understand there are lots of announcements coming up revealing more details of our new Queen and I assure you that as soon as I know anything it’ll be posted on this Blog. 

I’ll be back on Monday with more news from the TOGs voyage on Queen Victoria as the team welcome Sir Terry Wogan on board. There’s also more news coming up from Queen Elizabeth in Italy as well news of what’s happening on Queen Mary 2; in the meantime thank you again for logging on. Cheers Alastair.    

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 145 days

Last Friday (14May), was an exciting day for Queen Victoria as she welcomed the TOGs aboard for a wonderful Mediterranean voyage, joined by many familiar voices and faces from BBC’s Radio 2. For those of you still unfamiliar with this great institution, TOGs stands for Terry’s Old Geezers and Gals. Sir Terry Wogan is probably Britain’s best loved radio broadcaster who has become a national institution in his own right.

Joining Sir Terry, some of his intrepid team and the TOGs is Pudsey, who is the mascot for the BBC annual charity event; Children In Need. In fact Cunard is proud to reveal that in the last three years it has helped raise more than $250,000 for Children In Need. Although I wasn’t able to join the voyage I was able to meet some of the team who were going to make this a very special voyage.

On the back row next to me from left to right are Charles Nove, John Marsh, Amanda Reid and Dan & Helen Kirkby. Then in the front row, again from left to right, are Janet Marsh, Reverend Ruth Scott, Cristina Muñoz, Norman Macintosh, Hellen Bach.

It wasn’t long before Entertainment Director; Amanda Reid personally welcomed Pudsey aboard, in Queen Victoria’s elegant Grand Lobby.

The festivities that night began at a special reception for the 353 TOGs, and I’m happy to say our on board correspondent was there; so over to Cristina for the first of her Guest Tog Blogs!

      Guest Blog

      Cristina Muñoz

The Radio 2 gang gathered in the Winter Gardens for a lavish champagne reception where they were regaled by guest speakers including Charles Nove (left) and Chief Tog Norman Macintosh (right)

Ash cloud permitting ‘Togmeister’ Sir Terry Wogan will be joining the 353 strong throng, when Queen Victoria reaches Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, at the end of the week. We look forward to him restoring order on board ship, but Pudsey and his pals have been quick to relax and enjoy Queen Victoria’s sumptuous facilities, as the ship sailed serenely toward her first port of call, Barcelona.

Having wined, dined and reclined, the shipmates ‘showed a leg’ on Saturday morning in The Royal Court Theatre to hear some hilarious news reading tales from Charles ‘Crasher’ Nove, who managed to find his way out of the Todd English restaurant from the night before!

Charles then turned the tables and enticed some brave TOGs to try their hand at news reading themselves – jingles, unpronounceable names and laughter inducing bulletins abounded.

Meanwhile it wasn’t long before Pudsey was seen enjoying many of the ship’s numerous activities including line dancing!

On Saturday night the team attended a performance of “A Stroke of Genius” featuring the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers, from the exclusive Royal Court Theatre Boxes. Here are Janet and John Marsh in the Royal Box.

On Sunday morning the group ‘Pawsed For Thought’ thanks to an intensely moving yet at times highly amusing lecture by Reverend Ruth Scott on her work in the field of reconciliation in some of the most troubled regions of conflict in the World; Northern Ireland, the Middle East and beyond.

Ruth was one of the first females to be ordained as a priest in the UK and has been working tirelessly to bring peace where unrest and division rein. Long may she continue her extraordinary work.

Pudsey and the TOGs have got so much more to look forward to in the days to come including special versions of the Generation Game and Blankety Blank as well as the long-awaited arrival of ‘Voice Of The Balls’ Alan Dedicoat and Weekend Wogan, which will feature a fabulous fundraising night with Sir Terry and the team – so watch this space …….

Thank you very much Cristina for a great post; we look forward to hearing from you again soon. I’ll be back tomorrow for a very special post about an event I’ll be attending this evening which will feature the unveiling of something very special for Queen Elizabeth. More of that tomorrow; in the meantime thank you again for logging on. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 147 days 

As I am still on leave, I am pleased to enclose a Blog from our WeAreCunard correspondent on Queen Mary 2, Gun Sukwanna, who is also the Social Hostess; that’s coming up. Meanwhile, Queen Victoria has settled in to her summer season, having just returned from the Canary Islands, and has now just started her 2010 TOGs voyage to the Mediterranean. Yes, legendary broadcaster, Sir Terry Wogan and his intrepid team are sailing on this voyage, joined by over 350 of his TOGs (Terry’s Old Geezers and Gals). This follows the hugely successful voyage in 2008, and you can find out more about the TOGs and what happened last time by clicking on this link to the first of five Blogs posted during that voyage. 

http://wearecunard.com/2008/11/ 

Unfortunately I am not able to join them this year as I am involved in some of the preparations for Queen Elizabeth at Cunard’s head office in Southampton. But fear not we’ll have lots of stories and pictures from the team on board throughout the voyage which calls to great cities including Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Civitavecchia for Rome. More of that soon, but now it’s time to go to our flagship for a guest Blog. 

               Guest Blog  

               Gun Sukwanna, Queen Mary 2 Social Hostess  

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In April, Queen Mary 2 began her transatlantic season, sailing from New York to Southampton, accompanied by a quintet from the Juilliard Jazz School. Cunard and Juilliard announced their partnership earlier this year, which includes performances and Cunard Insights enrichment programmes with jazz alumni, faculty and students on eastbound Crossings during 2010. 

Photo by Jason DeCrow

Pictured with Entertainment Director Ray Rouse (centre) are the featured performers on the first crossing (from left): saxophonist Tony Lustig, Artistic Director of Jazz Studies Carl Allen, trumpeter Brandon Lee, drummer Aaron Kimmel, Executive Director of Jazz Studies Laurie Carter, pianist Kris Bowers and bassist Phil Kuehn. 

The Juilliard School established America’s standard for education in the performing arts, beginning with music in 1905. In 1951, its Dance Division was established, with combined training in contemporary and ballet technique. Juilliard became part of Lincoln Center in 1968, and added a four-year drama program. A residence hall – the School’s first – was completed in 1990, and in 2001, Juilliard broke new ground with the addition of its jazz programme; a graduate programme in Historical Performance. The programme began late last year, the same year that Juilliard inaugurated its partnership with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Currently more than 800 young artists from 39 states (plus Washington, D.C.) and 46 foreign countries attend Juilliard. You can find out more on Juilliard’s web site: www.juilliard.edu 

During the crossing the quintet performed in the Chart Room as well as a special matinee performance in the Royal Court Theatre. They also delighted Queen Mary 2’s Officers with a performance in the Officers’ Wardroom.  

Recently Queen Mary 2 also made her first call of the year to Hamburg, Germany which coincided with the City’s celebrations marking over 800 years of Harbour Fest. Anyone who has sailed on Queen Mary 2 to Hamburg will know how much the city has taken Cunard’s flagship to their hearts, so it was great to be part of these wonderful celebrations as you can see from this picture of the flotilla of ships escorting her that night. 

It’s always a special occasion when Queen Mary 2 makes a maiden call, and that was certainly the case on her recent call to Elsinore in Denmark. The city is situated at the narrowest point of the Sound Strait, where Sweden almost meets Denmark, so understandably it has rich shipping traditions.  Elsinore is very proud of its history, with the most visited attraction being Kronborg Castle, made famous as the Elsinore Castle in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was quite a sight as Queen Mary 2 made her approaches to the historic city. 

Kronborg’s primary function was actually not as a royal’s residence, but rather as a grandiose tollhouse, collecting taxes from the ships passing through the narrow Sound for more than 400 years. The Maritime Museum, which pays tribute to the country’s maritime heritage, is also housed at Kronborg Castle and is Denmark’s national maritime museum featuring an outstanding collection of model ships and paintings. The Old Town has numerous timber-framed houses and restored cobbled by-ways, and the main street called Stengade, is one of Denmark’s oldest pedestrian and shopping streets. Another major attraction is the Karmeliterklosteret, a 15th Carmelite Monastery, which is one of the best preserved medieval monastic buildings in northern Europe. 

The maiden call was celebrated in style with a special welcome on the pier side by the Hot Jazz and Sweet Swing Band that performed traditional jazz. There were also actors portraying Hamlet and Ophelia on the Kings Quay giving guests the opportunity to take a photo with Hamlet and Ophelia with Kronborg Castle as the perfect backdrop. 

Later that evening, as Queen Mary 2 ended her maiden call to this wonderful Danish port, she passed Kronborg Castle, and was saluted with dansk løsen, which is a traditional three gunshot tribute. 

Thank you very much Gun for a great update; we look forward to hearing from you again soon. I’ll be back in a day or so with news from the TOGs voyage on Queen Victoria, and hopefully I’ll also have more news soon from Queen Elizabeth in Italy. Thank you as always for all your comments and questions; please keep them coming. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 151 days

Among the many reasons our guests choose to sail with Cunard is to celebrate something special, whether it’s an anniversary, birthday, retirement or another significant event. Recently on Queen Victoria we met an extraordinary gentleman who was born in Melbourne, Australia and was about to celebrate his 100^th birthday. It’s a great story which I’ll continue after this week in Cunard’s history 14 to 20 May:

Mr. Daniel Bowden, who now lives in Bateau Bay, near Sydney was travelling by himself but on discussing his forthcoming voyage with his neighbours, Brian and Kathy Barnes, he found out they too were remarkably booked on the same voyage! The day’s celebrations began when Captain Rynd invited Mr. Bowden to the Bridge to press the ship’s whistle to mark noon.

Captain Rynd asked Mr. Bowden what he felt his secret to his longevity was to which he replied “Keep on keeping on and remember only the good die young!”

Daniel Bowden, who likes to be called Dan, was one of six children. Sadly his father, a Tailor, dies when he was just three so the family moved in with his grandparents in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran. As soon as he could, he got a paper round and at the age of twelve began his first job as a Pastry Cook. Then at just fifteen he began a career at sea that was to last 25 years. As a Wireless Operator, he joined the HMAS Tingira Training ship, which he told me had the nickname of “The White Lady of Rose Bay”.

During his years he sailed on numerous ships in the Australian Navy including the second HMAS Australia in 1928. One of his most memorable experiences was on HMAS Sydney in 1936, when they were given permission to visit Gallipoli, the site of such tremendous loss of life in 1915/16. He told me everything from the cemeteries and trenches had been perfectly preserved and were exactly as it had been at the end of battle in 1916. President Ataturk later made this site the National Peace Park with memorials on the Gallipoli, which guests on Queen Victoria have seen when passing through the Dardenelles. In 1975 Daniel Bowden was one of 150 Australians and 50 New Zealanders to return to commemorate the 60^th anniversary.

He was brought back in to active service in the Second World War, beginning on a minesweeper in the Middle East. He became a Telegraphist Air Gunner, flying “Seagulls” and “War Horses” from HMAS Perth, and received one of only six MBE’s awarded to non commissioned officers. He was flying dawn and dusk patrols around Crete and later became what were known as the Navy Rats as they supplied ammunition and food from HMAS Stewart to the troops at Tobruk.

Sydney met his wife when he was thirty years old in what was a real whirlwind romance. She had come across from Wellington, New Zealand for a three week holiday and as he said “She never went back!” This was because they were married a week later and went on to have a son. Sadly Daniel’s wife died in 1985, but he cherishes the moments with her and enjoys spending time with his son, two grand children and his great grand children aged six and three.

After a distinguished career he left the Navy and joined the State Electricity Commission in Victoria, up to his retirement in 1970.  Although Daniel is a seasoned traveller having sailed on many Cruise Ships, this was his first voyage on Cunard and as he told me on his birthday night “I’m really impressed with this ship and with Cunard”

Hotel Manager, Jacqui Hodgson had invited Mr. Bowden to a special dinner table that night in the Britannia Restaurant, where he was presented with a cake and a photo of the evening.

He told me later that the whole celebration had been beyond his expectations, and the evening was made even more special when Jacqui passed on a message of congratulations from his friend Commander Ken Burnett, which had been sent to the ship. You may have heard our waiters sing “Happy Birthday” at the table but on this occasion Patu Kerai, the Britannia Restaurant Maitre D’Hotel had arranged a special rendition of “Happy Birthday”, followed by “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and “Waltzing Matilda”!

I later sat down with Mr. Bowden and asked him about his life and if he had any words of wisdom for me. He quoted some lines from Desiderata by Max Erhman, which I recommend you look up as a very inspirational piece. He then said, make sure you take frequent deep breaths, keep moving, don’t worry and chew your food.

What great words of advice. Thank you so much Mr. Bowden for sitting down with me a sharing your remarkable story. I’d also like to thank Marius and his team of on board photographers for being on hand to capture the occasion. Meanwhile I’ll be back on Monday with more news from Queen Elizabeth in Italy and the first pictures from the 2010 TOGs voyage which begins tomorrow.  Cheers Alastair

Guest Blogger – Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director

Back in March I shared my experiences of being on board Queen Mary 2 in Cape Town with Archbishop Tutu – it was indeed a special time. I was on board Queen Mary 2 over the weekend travelling to Hamburg and I noticed that the plaque we presented to Archbishop Tutu has taken pride of place in the Grand Lobby. It brought back memories of what a marvellous man he is,. Now we stand accused from time to time of telling our loyal and potential guests just how good the Cunard experience is. In fact just this lunchtime we were were awarded ‘Best Cruise Line’ at the Daily Telegraph Ultras in London (see picture below). But it means so much more if we leave it to our guests to do the talking. The attached short video clip does that – please take a few minutes to watch it – I promise it will bring a smile to your face ……………

Head of Cunard Marketing, Richard Curtis receiving Ultra Travel Award for 'Best Cruise Line'

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 154 days

Many guests who have sailed on board our ships and enjoyed seeing familiar faces amongst our crew, may have wondered what life is like for them in their daily jobs. For one guest recently on Queen Victoria, this curiosity became a reality.

At the Country Fair event which takes place every year on our Queens’ World Voyages, there are numerous activities aiming to raise money for the charities chosen by the ship’s company. One of those events is where guests are invited to buy raffle tickets to become a member of the Entertainment Staff for the day. Believe it or not this proved to be very popular, and the lucky winner was Joanne Brown, a retired schoolteacher from Vero Beach, Florida. After her day, I had a chat with her to see how she got on.

Firstly we chatted about life before becoming a member of the Entertainment Staff. For many years Joanne taught children with special needs, and has three children of her own along with six grand children. Although she is an experienced cruiser, this was her first voyage with Cunard, joining the World Voyage in Fort Lauderdale in January. She told me that her longest voyage before this was just 14 days, so she wasn’t sure how she would enjoy being on board for over a hundred days, but she says she loved every minute and is now a complete convert to Cunard.

Her friend for 60 years, Jane Upchurch had travelled on QE2, and travelling with four other friends she invited Joanne to join them. At the Country Fair she was helping the team sell raffle tickets for the Grand Prize Draw and next to her; Queens Room Vocalist Paul Ritchie was selling raffle tickets to become Entertainment Staff for the day. She told me; “Having been a tour guide conducting orientations, I thought I could do this and as you see I’m not that shy, so I thought it was a great idea. I would get to go behind the scenes and have a chance to do something really different. In the last few years I have been working through my bucket list, and so far I’ve sky dived, zip lined across a gorge, but this was probably the most fun I have had so far and I’ve made so many new friends”

Joanne’s day began receiving her schedule from Assistant Entertainment Director, Amanda Reid.

Finding your way around the guest areas of Queen Victoria is a big enough challenge, but Joanne’s first task was to explore the crew areas of the ship. She told me she found this really fascinating and here she is in one of the galleys with her guide, Entertainment Staff Nico Lansdell and Executive Chef, Bernhard Stumpfel.

Then it was time for Joanne’s first activity and a quiz in the Winter Garden. In preparation for her big day, she had researched her questions before taking on our World Voyage guests, who said that they had really enjoyed the activity with the twist of a fellow guest as Quizmaster.

Having given out prizes to the winners, Joanne headed to the Queens Room and her debut as a Bingo Caller. Under Nico’s guidance she operated the machine and called the numbers.

As prize money was involved she told me she was relieved that it all went smoothly and once the winners had been paid, and the event completed, it was time for lunch. The Entertainment Staff eat in the Officers Mess Room, so Joanne joined some of the team and chatted about her morning over her meal. From left to right, around the table with Joanne is, Simon Maycock, Melonie Jones, Chris Thomas, Amanda Reid and Nico Lansdell.

She said she was very impressed by the welcome she received from the Staff and Officers in the Mess. After lunch Joanne met up with resident DJ, Gary King to find out about her next activity; Darts in the Golden Lion Pub. This was her first experience of the game and as she told me later, it all went very well as you can see from this photo of her in action.

Joanne’s daughter is an anchor for Channel 10 in Miami, so we thought it would be fun to invite her as a guest on the Queen Victoria Live daily TV show with yours truly.

She told me all about her day so far and how delighted she was that everyone amongst the ships company and her fellow guests had accepted her so well in her temporary role. After the filming she told me how much she enjoyed her moment of fame and couldn’t wait to get home and tell her friends about the experience.

During the evening she worked with the Entertainment Staff in welcoming guests to the Royal Court Theatre Box Programme, and then later joined them in the Golden Lion Pub for the evening game show to wrap up her night.

Chatting to her the next day, Joanne told me how much she had enjoyed her day with the highlight being the morning Trivia. She was still being recognised around the ship, with guests asking her about her day. Joanne said; “While I was having my haircut in the salon another guest turned to me and asked “Where do you work on the ship?” I had to explain!”

She was still enjoying her new found fame by the time Queen Victoria reached Southampton, and then Joanne joined Queen Mary 2 to take her back to New York.

I’d like to thank Joanne for being such a great member of the team on the day, and for chatting to me afterwards so I could post this story.

I’ll be back on Thursday with a Blog featuring an amazing celebration for a guest who celebrated his 100^th birthday recently on Queen Victoria. Hopefully I’ll also have more news soon from Queen Elizabeth in Italy as well as posts from both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. Thank you again for all your comments and questions. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 158 days    

Welcome to the second part of the special Blog showing the latest pictures of Queen Elizabeth in the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. This time we are looking at the interior of our new Queen which is changing every day with completion just over five months away. Before I show you those pictures – here’s our regular feature of this week in Cunard’s History from 7 to 13 May 

In the last Blog we showed you the latest pictures from Italy which featured the outside areas of Queen Elizabeth. Now it’s time to look inside, and one of my favourite venues on Queen Victoria is Café Carinthia, which will be expanded to become a larger space on Queen Elizabeth. As you can see from this first picture a tremendous amount of work is taking place in the deck head area with cabling.      

      

Another area that’s starting to take shape is the outside of the Golden Lion Pub and this is becoming quite recognisable now with the windows looking into the Pub from the Casino area of the Royal Arcade.    

Up on deck three in the Grand Lobby is the entrance to the Card Room, with the Alcove on the right hand side. This shows how much cladding work takes place around the ship, where decorative panels and moulds are added; often covering structural supports.        

Staying in the Grand Lobby but moving to deck 1, is what is often called the hub of the ship; the Purser’s Desk, which, at the moment takes a lot of imagination to see what it will look like in a few months time.        

Another favourite venue on both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria is the Commodore Club on deck 10. The raised area around the bar to the left has been completed and there’s a lot of work taking place on the decorative elements of the deck head.        

Just below the Commodore Club is the Royal Cunard Spa featuring the huge gym with amazing views out of the panoramic windows. This view shows the main part of the venue where all the exercise machines will be located.         

Finally, towards the middle of the ship up on deck 11 is the Grills Area which is also coming on well. Some of the decorative deck heads are being worked on by the various craftsmen and this picture shows the Queens Grill with the entrance to the courtyard on the left hand side.          

Well that’s it for another Blog, but with less than 24 weeks to go I hope to have a lot more coverage from our new Queen over the coming months, with hopefully some more announcements about some of the unique features you’ll find on Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile I’ll be back on Monday with a post featuring Joanne Brown, who recently won a draw to become an Entertainment Staff Member for a day. I’ll also have more news from Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria as they settle in to their summer seasons. In the meantime please do keep your comments and questions coming in as it’s always great to hear from you. Cheers for now Alastair.

 Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 160 days

Although I’m at home enjoying some leave I’ll still be keeping you up to date with what’s going on both at sea and ashore. Thanks for all your great feedback, especially about our new look Blog, please keep it coming.

Just before I left Queen Victoria, I received some photos of Queen Elizabeth in the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone Italy. While Queen Mary 2 heads back across the Atlantic to her homeport of Southampton and Queen Victoria heads south to the Canaries for her first voyage there of the summer season, Queen Elizabeth is only just over five months from her Maiden Voyage. In this Blog I’ll show you some of the newest exterior pictures and then on Thursday we’ll have the interior updates.

Currently in her outfitting dock you can see some of the external progress of our new Queen with the balcony doors in place and many of the glass panels on the balconies themselves.

Her hull is receiving another coat of the traditional Cunard Federal Gray paint, and the big white metal supports on deck 4 will be for the life boats which have just arrived with one already being lifted in to place.

If you look carefully you’ll also be able to see one of the ship’s tenders which are used in ports where Queen Elizabeth won’t be able to dock. Moving on to the top decks on the ship this view is looking up from the deck ten Quoits Court, to the Sports Deck.

As you can see from the same view on the right on Queen Victoria, the big difference between the Queens will be the canvas canopy over the court which will cover the whole area on deck eleven forward. The canvas will be fitted later, but the support structure looks like it’s nearly complete. From the forward part of deck eleven looking aft you can see the main mast.

The scaffolding is in place so the various pieces of navigation and satellite equipment can be installed, and then it will end up looking like the one on her sister that you can see through the Paddle Tennis Court net.

Moving aft and down to deck ten is an external view of the Yacht Club with the windows still covered with protective plastic.

The right hand picture of the same space on Queen Victoria shows the work left to be done such as the railings and lighting and woodwork finishes. The next two photos show a very different view on the two ships, with the Pavilion and the Garden Lounge on the new Queen Elizabeth.

The stunning vaulted roof is nearly complete and the supports behind it are ready for the satellite domes to be installed for television and communications. Inside the Garden Lounge the venue is taking shape with the glass panels in place with the lighting fixtures yet to be installed.

On Thursday I’ll post the latest pictures of how the inside of our new Queen is progressing, again with comparisons to her sister. I’ve also got some great posts to come including a feature with Joanne Brown who became an Entertainment Staff Member for a day, an interview with Daniel Bowden who recently celebrated his 100^th Birthday on board Queen Victoria, as well as a profile of the Queen Victoria Chef who was recently named Barcardi Chef of the year. Cheers for now Alastair.