So why the title of this blog? Well as many of you will know, I am going on leave today as Queen Elizabeth returns to Southampton, marking the end of her Maiden World Voyage. But as guests and crew on board are aware, I am actually moving on and beginning a new chapter in my career, so today also marks the end of my time with Cunard and at sea. It has not been an easy decision, but after a career of sixteen years, I felt it was time to do something different. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on ships and it is without doubt a great life. But in my years at sea, the last five years with Cunard have definitely been the most special, and I will always consider it a privilege to have served on all four Cunard Queens.

As I write this, Queen Elizabeth is crossing a remarkably smooth Bay of Biscay, and I’m feeling quite emotional leaving behind what has been a wonderful life at sea, as well as some incredible friendships with both guests and colleagues. I’ve worked with so many talented and truly professional people, and looking back over the years you start to appreciate what a fantastic industry we are in and yes -  you bet I’ll miss it.

What will I be doing? Well I’m certainly not in a position to retire quite yet! I came to sea from a background of acting and presenting and after a rest for a while; I am hoping to work in broadcasting.

Although I won’t be here, the blog will continue and on Thursday Cunard will post a new look blog, but to find out more you’ll have to wait until Thursday. It’s been an honour to host the blog for the last two and a half years and a pleasure to work with the team in Southampton. It’s been thrilling to see the following grow and now 300 blogs later it’s great to look back at all those stories and recount the wonderful people I’ve met along the way.

But before I leave, I have a final blog for you, celebrating some of the latest news from Queen Elizabeth’s World Voyage. Last week we held Queen Elizabeth’s first Country Fayre continuing the Cunard tradition. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, it is somewhat similar to an English Village Fete – but without the rain!

The Queens Room is converted in to a decorated room with stalls and people dress for the occasion; we even had our very own Pearly King and Queen. Harry Caldwell from the Isle of Man and Katie Ferro from Brisbane looked great as they helped us raise money for our World Voyage charities.

In fact it was Harry’s wife Irene who made the wonderful outfits, as well as the costumes for our Morris men, Geoff Care from Brentwood, Essex, Frank Hagland from North Mymms in Hertfordshire, and Brian Townsend from Weston Super Mare

The ship’s navigational simulator was also brought down and guests had the opportunity to be taught by First Officer Karl Shepherd and Third Officer Alastair Stamp, how to drive the ship, with varying degrees of success. Here they are teaching Queen Elizabeth’s Madrina, Dennie Farmer who told me later how she enjoyed being at the controls of the ship!

Amongst the attractions were the Human Fruit Machine, Chop the Carrot, Bottle Stall, Tombola, Guess the Weight of the Cake and many more including our very own Gypsy Rose, otherwise known as Helen Durkin!

What a great day it was and thanks to all the contributors, helpers and staff, lead by Freda Singleton and Thomas Quinones, the event raised nearly $5,000. It was one of the many events over the World Voyage and I’m pleased to announce that between all the charity events over the World Voyage our guests and crew raised nearly $40,000 which is fantastic. Yet again our thanks go to all those who have contributed money and time for some great causes.

Meanwhile there has been another World Voyage tradition that has been continued on Queen Elizabeth, and I’m delighted to introduce one of our Guests, who is on the World Voyage, to be a Guest Blogger:

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Guest Blog

Will Lee

Guest

Queen Elizabeth

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For just over 10 years many World Voyage guests have become Ducklings.  It all started on board QE2 in 2001 when Terry Waite and a few of his travelling companions decided that they should form an exclusive group that promotes having a good time, and from that day on many guests have been invited to become Ducklings.

Darwin, Australia was where it began when Terry was by himself ashore and met a fellow female passenger and enquired if she had seen any life in that part of the world, it turned out that she was an Australian and from that time on the Ducklings were born and became social friends. This social friendship has endured to this day as many of the first Ducklings have returned to be on the Maiden World Voyage on Queen Elizabeth today in 2011.

The name of the Ducklings came about by Terry and Valerie’s friends who had increased by that time were following Terry like little ducks, and a lady called Pam from Washington DC stated; “they are following Terry like little ducklings” when they were going ashore for another outing. The name stuck and since then the format of becoming a Ducklings has changed. Now the Ducklings have regular parties on World Voyages, some in staterooms on QE2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth and now mosty in public rooms such as on Queen Elizabeth’s Yacht Club and Hemispheres on Queen Victoria.  The party groups sometime exceed 200 and each one has had entertainment that is sourced from guests with some added extras from the Ship’s staff.

Assisting others has been the priority of all Ducklings, whether it was in a time of need or just to have a good time off the ship a simple Quack Quack is the call of friendship.

Terry now called the Commander in Chief is assisted by Wing Commanders including James, Brian and myself, Will. On the present Queen Elizabeth World Voyage, many more have passed the initiation, culminating with Captain Christopher Wells becoming the 1000^th Duckling in March 2011.

Captain Wells joins many other Captains including Captains Burgess, Wright, Bates, Wren, McNaught, and an Honourable Ducklings membership was recently bestowed to Commodore Warner on Queen Mary 2.  Others to mention are Carol Marlow former CEO, and Peter Shanks the current CEO as well as many Deputy Captains, Chief Engineers, Hotel Managers, Entertainment Directors and other members of the three ship’s Senior Staff.

At the most recent Duckling party Captain Wells, Entertainment Director, Alastair Greener, Chief Engineer Colin Black and Deputy Captain Hamish Sunter gave all a rousing rendition of We’ll Meet Again.

What a finale to end the last Duckling party of the 2011 world cruise on Queen Elizabeth.

Thank you so much Will, for such a great blog and it was another great evening on the World Voyage showing the tremendous atmosphere on board. I hope you’ve started a trend and this will be the first of many blogs from our guests.

Now as promised some pictures from another Royal Rendezvous; this time when Queen Elizabeth met Queen Mary 2 in Civitavecchia, Italy and on this third meeting she got as close as she could, to her big sister;

What a lovely sight, but then I went as high as I could to get some views of our flagship from her new sister;

It’s funny but 103 days does fly by when you are enjoying yourself, and for our 780 guests who have completed the entire circumnavigation, it certainly has been a voyage of a lifetime. Memories are precious and I know we will all remember the experience for the rest of our lives; especially when it is a Maiden World Voyage. We gathered our Full World Voyage guests together for a special photo.

As I come to sign off on my final blog I am looking for the right words to express my feelings as I write my last paragraph. It’s a combination of sadness at leaving one life behind, and the fear, as well as the excitement of a new one around the corner. It’s difficult to describe our lives at sea because it is such a different lifestyle to anything else, but there is a unique camaraderie that I will definitely miss. I am often asked; “Which is your favourite ship?”, and that’s quite a question when you have worked on fifteen different ships. Although the Cunard Queens have definitely been the most special, I always tell people exactly what I feel; it’s the people on board that make a ship. This means the guests we have looked after over the years and the crew members who I now consider friends.

What makes Cunard so special is something you often hear people talking about on board, and that is the wonderful close knit family that exists between us and I know I have made many new lifelong friends. It’s impossible to mention everyone who has meant so much to me during my time with Cunard, but I would like to say thank you to the many who have inspired and supported me. One of those great friends is Amanda Reid and I wish her the very best as she takes over from me today.

I know that I will always be a Cunarder and maybe someday I’ll be back, but in the meantime thank you all for your kind comments and support since we started the blog. I am so grateful for all the wonderful support from Richard, Matt, Shelley, Lisa and Laura back in Southampton. They are now getting ready for a new look blog which is being launched on Thursday so make sure you log on then – I know I will!  For now all I can say is, I will always be proud to say We Are Cunard. Cheers, Alastair

In this special blog we have news from all three Queens starting with some more signature World Voyage events on Queen Elizabeth. The Annual Tug of War competition is always an exciting day and for Queen Elizabeth’s first, it was a fantastic contest. Traditionally the teams dress up in all sorts of costumes and the Kitchen Cannibals won the best dressed team award:

Sport Director Marc Wilkinson invited guests to draw at random which teams would go against each other, and it ended up with both teams from the Entertainment Department competing against each other. The Queen Elizabeth Theatre Company, complete with cheerleaders, narrowly beat the Production Staff to secure their place in the next round;

Of course it’s harder than it looks and it takes tremendous strength as the Purser’s Staff mixed team, the Front Line, found out. They were out matched by the Chateau Pull de Rope team of the Sommeliers who went on to win the mixed team contest;

The men’s final was between the Maitre D’s team and their staff from the Lido called the Lido Giants. In the end the winners of the overall competition were the Lido Giants, and here they are being congratulated by Captain Chris Wells;

That night it was time for another special event when we invited all our guests on the full World Voyage to a special cocktail party. This takes place each leg of the voyage and being the final one, our Executive Chef James Abhilash and his team had excelled themselves with a stunning display.

While we were enjoying our last few days of Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden World Voyage I received a great Guest Blog about a special reunion from Ed Moffat, who is currently the Assistant Entertainment Director on Queen Mary 2;

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Guest Blog

Ed Moffatt

Assistant Entertainment Director

Queen Mary 2

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Recently we held a very successful gathering of guests who were either former guests or crew of the original Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. Each of the attendees in the photo had very special memories of their time on board.

Dr John Carlyle, travelling with his wife Grace, spent their honeymoon on Queen Mary in November 1966 and in this photo they are being introduced to the Master, Captain Bil Warwick.

Mrs. Mabyn Nichols from Cornwall had travelled on Queen Mary In 1953 and still had some of the menus, Daily Bulletins and guest lists from her trip.

In October 1961, Derek Lamplough sailed on Queen Mary on an eastbound Transatlantic Crossing in Tourist Class as an exchange student. He especially remembers trying to get into the First Class areas, to take a look around. Simon Claxton also sailed Tourist Class in 1961 on Queen Elizabeth, and he told me he was interested in seeing “the pretty girls” in First Class. He recalls being escorted back to Tourist Class by an officer after several attempts. Another Student Exchange, Erik Pfister from Switzerland sailed on Queen Mary in October 1961 from New York to Le Havre and he had a similar idea to Mr. Caxton, but realised that if he dressed up in his best suit he would never get caught. His plan must have worked as he never did.

Mr. Godwin travelled First Class on board Queen Mary on a Transatlantic Crossing during 1962 and Mrs. Elizabeth Kelly sailed on Queen Elizabeth from Southampton to New York. Her British visa had just run out and she was emigrating to the United States. She recalls paying £75 for her fare which paid for her to share a bunk with a stranger in Tourist Class.  Mrs. Kelly recalls paying 30 bob (£15) for her train fare from Waterloo Station to the waterside (direct to the ship) in Southampton.

During the Second World War Geoff Collier served in the Fleet Air Arm based at HMS Daedlus in Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire. What makes his story interesting is that he sailed twice on board Queen Elizabeth as a serviceman during the ‘Battle for the Atlantic’ in 1942, and remembers three torpedoes from enemy U-boats launched towards the liner.

Anne Chapman sailed on Queen Elizabeth approximately one year before the ship was retired, travelling around the Mediterranean. There were also some former Cunard Line crew members at the gathering, including Stanley Fitzgerald who worked as waiter on board Queen Mary from 1959 to 1961. He also worked on Saxonia, Franconia and Mauretania, serving 10 years in all with Cunard. John Wilkinson joined Cunard Line as a fireman greaser, working his way up through the ranks to Assistant Engineer Writer until the seaman’s strike. He served on Queen Mary for four tours of duty during 1966 as well as the final refit of Queen Elizabeth.

Roger Jones, from Fareham in Hampshire, served on Queen Mary from 1963 to 1967 joining as an Assistant Engineer Junior 7^th working his way up to Engineer Senior 5^th. He was also on Queen Mary for her final journey to her current home in Long Beach. Here’s Mr. Jones on the forward deck of Queen Mary;

Here he is again by the funnel of Queen Mary with Cape Horn in the background

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I also received a wonderful Blog from Queen Victoria’s Deputy Captain, Simon Love who told me all about a special visitor they recently had on board Queen Victoria as she was sailing from Bermuda to Ponta Delgada in the Azores.

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Guest Blog

Simon Love

Deputy Captain

Queen Victoria

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Albert was first sighted on Queen Victoria by guests on deck 8 around 8pm on the second evening after leaving Bermuda and it’s believed that two adult Ospreys where seen earlier that evening circling the ship.

Albert was found at about 6.00 am the next morning, tucked under a life-raft for shelter from the wind. The ship’s Bosun, Auxi Abanador, and Marine Supervisor Shaun Buist, then prepared to catch the bird in a net. As they approached him, Albert walked out from its shelter and settled at their feet and allowed himself to be picked up.

If Albert hadn’t been picked up he would probably have perished at sea, as he would have had to fly back over 1400 nautical miles to Florida or 500 nautical miles from Bermuda. We carried him for the remainder of our voyage a distance of 1470 nautical miles

Albert was taken to our forward mooring area, a sheltered area in the bows of the ship, where he was initially placed on one of our spare mooring ropes, which he could dig into with his very large talons. He was tired and possibly in shock, as he didn’t move much until four hours later when he took off and did a circuit of the forward mooring deck which he did several times afterwards.

The deck seamen fed Albert raw white fish from the galley. He was offered tuna but he didn’t seem too keen on that. In fact, Albert devoured large amounts of fish along with fresh water. The sailors worked quietly on one side of the mooring deck whilst the Albert watched on. Our seamen were proud of their “bird” as they called him, and conscientiously kept guard on the mooring deck, keeping away any unofficial visitors.

Albert appeared as an interest item on the ship’s morning television programme “Catch up with Keith”, in which our Entertainment Director Keith Maynard interviewed me, and we showed video clips of Albert in action. The idea of a naming came up at this show and a competition to select a name was launched. I banned Oscar from the start and the name ‘Albert’ won for its connection with our vessel’s name Queen Victoria.

I am pleased to say that having talked with our agent in Ponta Delgada, who checked with the relevant authorities, he confirmed that they were happy for the bird to be released on the island. He also mentioned that there would be other Ospreys on the island, so Albert wouldn’t be lonely.

When our Ponta Delgada agent saw the bird he told us that he thought we had what they call the “Milhafre”. He told us an interesting fact that when the Portuguese discovered the Azores, they found lots of these birds and wrongly called this Archipelago the Azores because they thought these birds were northern Goshawks, (Azores) when they were, in fact “Milhafre’s”!

When we arrived at Ponta Delgada pilot station the deck crew prepared the ship for mooring whilst Albert watched on with interest. When the main doors were opened he flew towards the entrance, initially flying into the steel wall. He landed on the deck near the door. Shaun, the Marine Supervisor, offered him the brush end of a deck broom. He jumped onto the broom which was then taken to the open door; he spread his wings and took off, flying silently along the starboard side of Queen Victoria before sweeping up and away.

Thank you, Simon for telling that lovely story and it’s great to hear that it all ended well. I’ll be back tomorrow with the pictures I promises of Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth in Civitavecchia and some news from the last few days of Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden World Voyage. Cheers for now, Alastair

Today is a big day as Queen Victoria is our first Queen to return to her homeport of Southampton after spending the last few months in United States waters.  Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 met up in Civitavecchia, Italy, yesterday and will meet up again in Southampton next Tuesday. It will mark the completion of Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden World Voyage, and where some of our American guests will join Queen Mary 2 to cross the Atlantic to complete her fourth World Voyage.

I always enjoy writing blogs about Cunard’s latest Stars of the Month. This is where every month on each of our three Queens, one crew member per ship is awarded the title. Nominations for the Star on each ship, is a result of guest and crew feedback, and then consideration by our on board White Star Committees. I’ll be introducing you to our latest stars after this week in Cunard’s History for the for 14 to 20 April

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Now it’s a great pleasure to introduce Cunard’s three new Stars, and this month they come from the Technical and Housekeeping departments.

Queen Mary 2

Ronald Pascual, Crew Housekeeper

Ronald Pascual is from the Philippines and is one of the Crew Housekeepers on Queen Mary 2.  Ronald is part of the team that ensures the crew areas of Queen Mary 2 are kept immaculate at all times. There is a lot to do and this keeps the team very busy, but Ronald still finds time to help his colleagues in other departments.

He was nominated by Provision Master Ryan Wardhaugh, because Ronald always volunteers to drive the big fork-lifts to move provisions on the big storing days. He does so all day, sacrificing his valuable time off and he was recognised by the Provisions Team for doing such a superb job.

Part of the White Star Credo that all of us at Cunard learn in the White Star Academy, is that we should always support and assist our colleagues, and it’s great to see Ronald being recognised for this.

Here is Ronald accepting his award from Commodore Bernard Warner, with Executive Housekeeper Colin Watson and Provision Master Ryan Wardhaugh.

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Queen Victoria

Dennes Sy, Housekeeping Utility

Dennes comes from Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines and is the second oldest in his family. Although he has only been with Cunard since last year this is already the second time he has been nominated for Star of the Month, when he was the 2^nd runner up last August.

Dennes works in the Housekeeping Department as a General Utility which means he is part of a big team keeping the guest areas spotlessly clean on Queen Victoria.

He told us that he really enjoys his work as well as meeting and greeting guests when he is cleaning around the ship. He added that for him We Are Cunard means serving guests with pride, and he says he is very proud to be part of the Cunard family.

As for the future, Dennes hopes that he will be able to become a bar waiter or a waiter in the Britannia Restaurant. In this photo he is receiving his well deserved award from Captain Christopher Rynd, with Andrea Kaiser, Executive Housekeeper and Jacqueline Hodgson, Hotel Manager.

After the ceremony he said that he wanted to say thank you to the people who had faith in him, his colleagues in the Housekeeping Team and the Pursers Team for nominating him.

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Queen Elizabeth

Fermin Dela Luna Jr, Plumber

Fermin Dela Luna JR was part of the opening team of Queen Elizabeth, working as a night Plumber.  Fermin is from Rosario Cavite, Philippines and is married to Imelda R. Ela Luna. They have one daughter Franchesca Ira Dela Luna

He began his career at sea as a wiper, motorman, plumber with Cunard’s sister brand P&O, before joining Cunard in September last year. Fermin has recently moved to the day shift, and he was nominated for Star of the Month because he consistently goes above and beyond what is expected of him in his duties.

Being a plumber is a very busy job and often means he is called out at a moment’s notice to fix something. His supervisor told us that if Fermin has finished work or is just about to finish, he will still go and fix something however big or small the task. This sometimes means he works beyond his time and he does it with a smile and guests and colleagues have said how friendly and helpful he is.

His department felt his amazingly positive White Star attitude should be rewarded and they were delighted when he became Queen Elizabeth’s Star of the Month.

Fermin told me he was very grateful to be part of the Cunard Family, saying proudly We are Cunard! Here he is receiving his award from Captain Chris Wells with Colin Black, Chief Engineer. Robert Howie, Hotel Manager and Michael Robertshaw, Ships Services Engineer.

Congratulations to all the winners for last month and we look forward to revealing this month’s winners in a few weeks time. I’ll be back soon with a special Blog with the latest news from all three Cunard Queens, as well as some great pictures of Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth in Civitavecchia yesterday. Cheers for now, Alastair

Welcome to part two of our special Blog from Queen Elizabeth, on her Maiden Voyage to the Canaries. Thank you again for all your comments; it’s great to hear from you as always. Many of you have mentioned the Bridge Cam, so we have passed this on to our IT team who are working hard to get the location details up on the screen as soon as they can.

Today we will be in Madeira which is always a favourite port, but is particularly special this time, as we are very excited about welcoming Lulu to Queen Elizabeth to perform in the Royal Court Theatre tonight. I’ll tell you what else has been happening over the last few days after our regular feature; this week in Cunard’s History for the week of 15 to 21 October:

Back on board Queen Elizabeth, there was a tremendous response to Sir David Frost’s lecture, and he was kind enough to do a follow up interview with me on the Morning TV show, where he shared some more fantastic stories. He is such an engaging speaker; I could have chatted to him for hours and it was certainly an honour to interview a man who has interviewed over 4,000 people.

On the evening before Sir David and Lady Carina Frost disembarked, Captain Wells invited them to join him on the bridge for the sail away. While there Captain Wells invited Sir David to be the second person to sign the visitor’s book, after Her Majesty the Queen.

Every port we have visited, on this Maiden Voyage, has given us a tremendous welcome such as fire tugs guiding Queen Elizabeth to her berth with huge sprays of water. There has been a lot of excitement from the various region’s press and media as well as locals.

Each time a ship visits a port for the first time, it is traditional to invite the local Port Authorities and Dignitaries to a Plaque Exchange ceremony. The press are also invited so it’s quite an occasion.

The ceremony begins with me inviting the Captain to say a few words of formal welcome to the guests. Then the various associations, agencies and VIP’s from the port present their plaques to the Captain, which will eventually be placed in a special area outside the Commodore Club for guests to see.

The Captain then responds with a specially designed plaque from Queen Elizabeth, to commemorate the ship’s maiden call.

Then in each port we have visited, the press and media have conducted interviews with Queen Elizabeth’s first Master, whose secretary, Eli Iniesta was fortunately on hand to translate into Spanish.

There has also been a special send off from each port as well, with many fascinated locals and tourists watching the proceedings from the shore side. This is the view from Queen Elizabeth looking across the harbour and Santa Cruz in Tenerife.

We were treated to a wonderful parade of classic cars in Gran Canaria, and in Santa Cruz, there was a special display from soldiers in traditional uniform presenting arms to our guests looking from the decks and stateroom balconies.

Mind you I think we were all slightly taken aback when they actually fired their muskets which let out a huge bang!

Back on board in the evenings we have been presenting a new show in the Royal Court Theatre each night and it’s been great to try a few new ideas such as jazz nights in the Garden Lounge which have worked out really well.

We have also held our first Cunard World Club party, but as we have nearly 1,400 Gold, Platinum and Diamond members, we will be hosting three parties! Our Cunard World Club representatives on board, Rebecca de Reus and Wendi Hardy added up all the years our members have sailed, and if you put them all together it would add up to over ten thousand voyages totalling 365 years. That’s a lot of experience and as Captain Wells said in his speech, it also represents tremendous loyalty, for which all of us at Cunard are extremely grateful.

During his speech Captain Wells also showed the guests something rather special. He told them that the gentleman responsible for the logistics at the Naming Ceremony, had given him a special gift; the button pressed by her Majesty to release the jeroboam of Cunard Graves, Baron Philippe de Rothchild 2009 against Queen Elizabeth’s hull.

He then passed the mounted wooden button around the Queens Room for guests to look at. It was a perfect photo opportunity for guests like Mrs Patricia Pavaro from Cheshire, who was on the Farewell Voyage of QE2, the Maiden Voyage of Queen Mary 2 and the Maiden World Voyage of Queen Victoria.

Then it was time to announce the most travelled guest on board this Maiden Voyage. As I think I mentioned last week, that accolade was awarded to one of the very first guests to board Queen Elizabeth, Dr Doris Lorz from Springfield, Missouri in the United States. By the end of this voyage Dr Lorz will have completed a staggering 2,786 days (120 voyages) with Cunard, and here she is receiving her award from Captain Wells with Rebecca and Wendi.

96 year old, Dr Lorz is originally from New York and is a Doctor of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry as well as a Professor Emeritus of Missouri State University. She told me that her first voyage with Cunard was on the Cunard Princess in 1979, and the picture of that ship is amongst the many Cunard ships of the past, on Queen Elizabeth’s A Staircase:

Dr Lorz said her first time on QE2 was in 1985 when she was celebrating her 50th Wedding Anniversary. She told me she was married just before her 21st birthday, and in those days she had to have permission from her father as she was under 21 years old!

On board QE2 in 1998 she took up dancing, and says she hasn’t stopped since, adding “It’s what I live for”. Every night she dances in her favourite venue, the Queens Room, and here she is with Thomas Quinones on the dance floor.

There’s so much more to tell you about Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage, that I’ll be back with the third and final part next week. In the meantime I’ll be back tomorrow with a great Guest Blog from our flagship, Queen Mary 2.  Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – Today!! 

Queen Elizabeth has been docked alongside Southampton’s new Ocean Terminal, since her arrival last Friday and already, an estimated 3,500 visitors comprising the world’s press, past guests, travel agents, and shore side staff, have had a glimpse of the latest Cunarder. It was great to walk around over the last couple of days and meet so many of our regular guests, many of whom have been following this Blog. And before her Maiden Voyage today, yesterday was a phenomenal day when Her Majesty officially named Queen Elizabeth. 

Before we look at the last few days, I thought you might like to watch a special video that was made for the Inaugural Ship’s Company to celebrate the introduction of Queen Elizabeth to the Cunard fleet. The film, which shows the crew at work in the shipyard back in Italy, has special messages from Officers and Crew Members on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, as well as our shore side staff in Southampton. 

Thanks to Eric Allen and his team for putting together this great video and all the film crews who brought together this great footage. Everyone on board really enjoyed watching it a couple of days before we left Monfalcone and a special celebratory crew event. 

That all seems a long time ago, as Queen Elizabeth prepares to begin her Maiden Voyage. The celebrations in Southampton began early last Friday, as Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks escorted a group of press on a special launch to come and meet us at 6am. 

It was such a stunning morning to watch Southampton appear on the horizon, and it was exciting to see all the various boats, ships and helicopters that had come to welcome us to Queen Elizabeth’s home port. 

This boat was one of the first to greet us and stayed close by right up until we docked. 

We were also joined by tugs who gave us their traditional welcome, as the sun started to rise on a beautiful autumn day. 

I was lucky enough to be on the bridge for part of the sail in, where I was able to watch Captain Wells and his Officers bring Cunard’s new Queen to Southampton docks for the first time. 

Meanwhile many crew came out on to the open decks to join in the excitement, and wave to the numerous helicopters that were carrying photographers and news crews to capture the day. 

And what stunning pictures those photographers took from the helicopters, like this one looking down on Queen Elizabeth’s the upper decks 

What a magnificent sight she was sailing up the Solent. 

And here’s another great view showing the tugs in the morning light. 

And again the tugs leading the way. 

Captain Wells showed off Queen Elizabeth’s superb manoeuvrability, as he made a turn, to bring Queen Elizabeth to the  new Ocean Terminal, where she was named. 

Here she is having just been tied up alongside the Ocean Terminal, where work had already begun on constructing a stage and grandstand for the naming ceremony. 

I took this photo the day before yesterday, where you can see the grandstand and performance area along the dockside where the naming ceremony began yesterday afternoon. 

The canopy in this next picture is where Her Majesty officially named Queen Elizabeth during the ceremony. 

Yesterday was a remarkable and historic day for both Cunard and Southampton, and the excitement in the city was evident with numerous film crew, press and local residents all awaiting the big moment. It’s impossible to miss the huge banners throughout the city, and the big screens in the parks will mean our homeport will feel very much a part of the celebrations. 

And here she was just before the ceremony yesterday; Cunard’s gracious new Queen now ready and waiting to be named. 

I’ll of course keep you posted with pictures, news and stories from the naming day and throughout Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden Voyage. I will also keep the news coming over the next few weeks and months of her Maiden Season as well as our regular features and news. In the meantime thank you again for all the kind comments you have posted and all the good wishes for the ships company as they bring the latest Cunarder in to service. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 6 days

Firstly thank you so much for all of the continued feedback about the recent Blogs; it’s always great to read your comments and questions. I know many of you are interested in seeing other areas of our new Queen including the guest staterooms, so I’ll have some for you in a special post tomorrow.

There is tremendous excitement in Southampton about the arrival of Queen Elizabeth on Friday morning. Cunard’s new Queen will be docking at around 9.00am at the new Ocean Terminal. For full details you can click on this link for more of the timings of our arrival:

http://www.cunard.co.uk/viewingpoints

And again to view the Queen Elizabeth webcam click on this link:

http://www.cunard.com/Ships/Queen-Elizabeth/Bridge-Web-Cam/

The ship will remain at her berth in Southampton until her Maiden Voyage on 12 October when she will leave at approximately 5.00pm.

One of the great things about the Cunard family is the amount of support and good wishes we are receiving from our sister ships, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria as well as our shore side offices in Southampton. I also received a wonderful message from our Flagship to pay tribute to Captain Bates, pictured here on the bridge of Queen Mary 2.

There was a fantastic response to the President’s Blog last week, so I thought I would add this special Guest Blog, which comes from Dragana Prodanovic, who is one of our Voyage Sales Specialists.                                                                   

           Dragana Prodanovic             

           Voyage Sales Specialist

           Queen Mary 2

Captain Nick Bates recently retired after 44 years at sea with Cunard Line. But where did all these years go? Captain Bates was born and raised in Northern Ireland and inherited love for the sea from his father and grandfather. He is pictured here with his family; he is the one to the right with his chin up, looking regal.

At the age of eleven he bought his first boat that had oars and all, and here he is on one of his earlier craft.

He later on went to navy schools and moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he has been residing ever since.

Captain Bates served on number of Cunard ships throughout his career and after obtaining his “Master’s Ticket” in 1975 he was offered a position on board the luxury liner, QE2. He joined Queen Mary 2 in 2008, where he spent his last days before retiring on Aug 28th, 2010.

Captain Bates will be missed by thousands, including guests and crew members. He has left a lasting impression on everyone who came in to contact with him with his unique charm, friendliness, and great sense of humour.

Captain Bates was a great ambassador for Cunard and is well known the world over, for his alter ego, Patrick O’Shaughnessy, and Patrick’s whimsical sayings. Captain Bates loves collecting old sea stories and sayings and even published a book called “With a Pinch of Salt”, which he would share with guests daily.

Captain Bates is a great sailor, Captain and Master, but best of all, he is caring, considerate, friendly, and to sum it up, a great man.

President and Managing Director of Cunard Line, Peter Shanks, came on board during Captain Bates’ last voyage to wish him farewell, and to thank him for many years of service with Cunard. As you may have seen in the President’s blog last week, the presentation took place during the Cunard World Club Party, where all Diamond, Platinum and Gold members were present, as well as the ship’s Officers.

Hundreds of crew members also presented Captain Bates with gifts at the Crew Mess on his last day. He was so moved that he let his emotions take over, and was speechless and teary eyed for few minutes.

The last evening before departing, Queen Mary 2’s Officers arranged a farewell party for Captain Bates and the Food & Beverage team arranged some beautifully presented and tasty hors d’oeuvres.

The Captain was presented with many gifts along with speeches from officers such as Entertainment Director Paul O’Loughlin.

Throughout the evening Captain Bates’ beautiful wife Kefah was at his side. They were married last year, and one of the reasons for retiring is to be at home with his wife and their 2 children, as they call them, their dog Woody and cat Twiggy.

There were a number of guests who had sailed with Captain Bates for many years, who were also invited, including the designer of Queen Mary 2, Mr Stephen Payne, who gave a speech and presented the Captain with a gift.

Captain also received beautiful handmade gifts including ones from the Carpenters from the Technical Department.

He was also presented with gifts from the deck department

Deputy Captain Robert Camby delivered best wishes from Commodore Bernard Warner, Captain Paul Wright, Captain Chris Wells, Captain Christopher Rynd and Commodore Warwick.

Here Captain Bates is joined by his secretary Christel Hansen and Chief Officer James Griffiths. They both have worked under Captain Bates’ command for a number of years with James having worked on QE2 and Caronia, and Christel on Caronia.

Later in the evening, Christel presented the Captain with a gift on behalf of all the officers;

As part of the celebrations the Royal Cunard Singers performed a special Irish song………

Captain and his wife Kefah became quite teary eyed listening to the performance.

Back at home Captain Bates is signed up for art classes, so I enjoyed presenting him with an easle, water colours, brushes, sketch pad, and a French beret. Picasso, watch out, a new Master is coming!

On August the 28^th, Commodore Warner, Chief Engineer Brian Watling, Deputy Captain Robert Camby, Security Officer Grant Williams, and the Entertainment Director Ray Rouse were on the gangway as Captain and Mrs Bates left the ship.

Commodore Warner, Deputy Captain Robert Camby, and Captain’s Secretary Christel Hansen were the last to bid them farewell.

Captain Bates, thank you for your services to Cunard Line, thank you for making guests welcome and appreciated, and thank you for your humour and Patrick O’Shaughnessy. Thank you for your support to the crew, your leadership, your friendship, and for your incredible energy and your smile. You will be missed as you are missed already.

As mentioned in the story in your book about Toasts at Sea: “Toasts originated in Nelson’s day; to toast to someone or something every day of the week”, so Captain Bates, every Sunday we will toast to an Absent Friend!

We wish you all the best in your future endeavours and in your life at home with your family from the ship’s company of Queen Mary 2 and Cunard Line

Thank you Dragana for such a fabulous tribute to Captain Bates; it’s clear how highly he is thought of from this Blog, the President’s Blog and comments our readers have posted and that he will be very much missed.

That’s it for the moment but I’ll be back tomorrow, with some of the latest pictures from Queen Elizabeth, a new Vlog and news of her Inaugural stay in Southampton – see you there. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 8 days

With just a week to go before her maiden voyage, it’s now official; Cunard Line has taken delivery of Queen Elizabeth; the second largest Cunarder ever built and the third new liner the company has built in six years.

The Handover Ceremony took place last Thursday on board the new 92,400-ton vessel at the Fincantieri Monfalcone shipyard. The event included a speech by Cunard President and Managing Director Peter Shanks.

The signing of the final documents between the Monfalcone Fincantieri Shipyard Director, Mr Cesare De Marco, and the CEO of Carnival UK (Cunard’s parent company), David Dingle, was witnessed by Peter Shanks and the first master of Queen Elizabeth, Captain Chris Wells. 

The four Gentlemen then turned their eyes to the ship’s main mast for the official flag changing ceremony:

The Italian flag was ceremonially lowered and the Red Ensign, (the flag of the British Merchant Navy), was raised by Third officer Matthew Wilson, from Troon in Scotland.

What a great sight it is, to see the Cunard House Flag and the Red Ensign flying ship’s mast with the Italian flag flying from the starboard yardarm, as the ship was in and Italian port.

Peter Shanks, proudly holding a Queen Elizabeth key ring, commented after the ceremony:

“This ceremony to mark the completion of the ship, and our acceptance of delivery, is just the first of a number of significant events over the next few weeks – including the ship’s official naming by Her Majesty The Queen in Southampton on Monday 11 October. I’m certain the British will take this truly magnificent ship to their hearts, as they have all the Cunard Queens”.

 Following the ceremony Captain Wells went to the bridge to announce to the ship’s company that Queen Elizabeth now belonged to Cunard.

It was quite a moment for all the crew, and you could hear a huge cheer of excitement throughout the ship when the announcement was made. This was also the first time that Cunard’s Engineers and Deck Officers took control of Queen Elizabeth. Preparations were then made by all departments to prepare the ship for departure and here Captain Wells leads the navigation brief with the Deck Officers and Monfalcone Pilot.

As the departure time approached, Captain Wells invited the crew to gather on the open decks to witness the historic moment when the last of the lines were let go for the sail away. Then at just after 3.30pm the Captain manoeuvred Cunard’s new Queen out of her berth, towards the open seas. 

I was fortunate enough to be on the bridge for departure as the crew gave a huge cheer for the Fincantieri Shipyard workers gathered on the dock side, followed by the familiar, “We Are Cunard”. We played some great music on the open decks as the crew took a little time out from their busy schedules to be part of the celebration. It was soon time to return to work, and I managed to get some photos of the ship so I could post them today. This is the view from the forward mast looking aft towards the Garden Lounge.

Heading forward the outfitters had just finished laying the Astroturf on the Games Deck and this is the view of the first Bowls Green at sea underneath the canopy.

Heading inside the ship, all areas are very close to completion with just small detailing to be finished, such as linen, plants and stocking the bars etc. The Grand Lobby, with the Linley Artwork as its centrepiece, is looking truly magnificent:

Our Queen Elizabeth Theatre Company, Musicians and Stage Crew have been incredibly busy preparing the shows. At the moment the Royal Court Theatre is being used 24 hours a day, balancing the jobs of staging, lighting and rehearsing the brand new shows. This is how it now looks; how about this for a Theatre:

Now that the protective covering has been removed, you are able to really appreciate all the craftwork and fine detailing all over the ship, such as this stunning entrance to the Grills Lounge on deck 11.

During our eight days over to Southampton our teams will be busy setting up all the dining venues, and we will be fortunate enough to try them out, to ensure everything is ready for our first guests who will be embarking in just a week’s time. One of those venues is the Lido:

All areas of the ship are looking stunning and it’s particularly interesting to see some of the newly created spaces receiving their final touches, such as the elegant Garden Lounge.

A popular venue on both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria is the Commodore Club and the one on Cunard’s latest Queen is also looking wonderful. The decor is warm and inviting with some beautiful artwork of the Cunard Queens.

And finally in this Blog, the nautically themed Yacht Club, named after the popular venue on QE2. This space has come together incredibly fast over the last few days and is now looking fantastic.

That’s it for the moment, but I’ll have more pictures of the other areas of the ship in a few days time along with some guest blogs from Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2.  It’s as busy as ever on board with the whole ship’s company working extremely hard to make sure our new Queen is not only looking beautiful when she arrives in Southampton, but that we are all ready to deliver White Star Service to our guests on the Maiden Voyage. I’ll give you more details of our arrival next week and of course you can monitor our progress by watching the Bridge Cam. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 33 days

Welcome to another week of Blogging which sees Queen Mary 2 completing her Canada and New England voyage in New York this weekend, before coming across to the Mediterranean. Queen Victoria is already in the Mediterranean where she will stay for the autumn, ending her current voyage in Venice this weekend. I’m sure you’ll get some great views from her Bridgecam. Meanwhile just up the coast in Monfalcone, Queen Elizabeth has just returned from her successful second set of sea trials and in just over a month’s time will be arriving in her homeport of Southampton.

Thank you again for all your comments and questions, its been great to be so inundated and as usual I’ll try and cover as much as I can in this Blog about Queen Elizabeth’s second set of sea trials after this week in Cunard’s history for the week of the 3^rd to the 9^th of September

Firstly Paul, I’m afraid Queen Elizabeth has now left Trieste and won’t be returning as she was there in between sea trials to use the dry dock for her final painting. Her second set of sea trials presented the first opportunity for the Master Designate, Captain Chris Wells, to see his new command and I’m delighted that he has taken some time out of his very hectic schedule to tell us a bit about it:

Guest Blog

Captain Chris Wells

Master Designate – Queen Elizabeth

I was delighted to be welcomed aboard Cunard’s latest Queen, by the Deputy Director of Monfalcone shipyard, Giorgio Gomiero, as I was invited to be present and witness the ship being put through her paces.

Queen Elizabeth had been in dry dock in Trieste from 17th to 26th August, where her final hull coating, antifouling and boot topping were applied and I have to say she was already resplendent in her new paint.

 She departed the dry dock in the morning of 27th August for her second sea trials.

Sporting her shiny new paint, the opportunity was taken for a photo shoot just outside Trieste harbour, and off Castello Miramare, with two helicopters shadowing the ship as she maneuvered, and was swung for compass adjustment.

Over the following hours and days Queen Elizabeth was put through a series of tests, to confirm operation of propulsion, electrical, ventilation and other systems. She conducted manoeuvring trials, tests of joystick control, and speed trials.

With the final tests of her second sea trials completed successfully, it was time for Queen Elizabeth to head back to Monfalcone.

She returned alongside during the evening of 30th August, where outfitting will continue for the final few weeks before delivery.

My thanks again to Captain Wells for keeping us fully informed, and I look forward to seeing him and other colleagues who are already in Monfalcone, on Monday when I’ll arrive and join the set up team.

Following the successful completion of all the sea trials, Peter Shanks, Cunard’s President and Managing Director, told me:

“Queen Elizabeth performed extremely well during her recent sea trials and exceeded all the required tests comfortably. She is shaping up to be a magnificent ship and will be a very worthy sister to our flagship Queen Mary 2 and to Queen Victoria. Together they will comprise the youngest fleet on the oceans.”

Well that’s it for this post but I’ll be back as usual on Monday with news from the Cunard world and on Thursday I’ll post some new pictures from Queen Elizabeth’s interior as the World awaits our new Queen.

Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 56 days

In today’s Blog we are going back to Monfalcone in Italy to catch up on the progress of our new Queen, this time focussing on the restaurants with more pictures and another Vlog.

With less than two month’s to go some of our crew have started to arrive in the yard to begin the set up process and oversee the finishing touches. Although some of the deck department are already there such as Deputy Captain, Hamish Sunter, Captain Chris Wells will be arriving later in the month.

As you know Queen Elizabeth’s Hotel Manager has also arrived and joining him recently, was Food and Beverage Manager Glenn Milway. Some of you will know Glenn, as he was also Food and Beverage Manager for the set up team of Queen Victoria, and he is very busy at the moment looking at all the galleys, bars and restaurant areas.

These areas along with the rest of the ship are looking great, and now probably for the first time, you don’t need too much of an imagination to see how our gracious new liner will look in October when she arrives in Southampton. One of my favourite areas of Queen Elizabeth is this magnificent staircase at the entrance of the Britannia Restaurant.

On the upper level there’s very little left to do before the furniture arrives with the specially designed carpet having already been laid and immediately covered to protect it.

Just behind this reception area, where the Captain’s table will be, you can see the space ready for a dramatic and brand new piece of artwork which will be arriving soon.

There was a lot of excitement from all of us including the press, to see the new Britannia Club Restaurant, which will offer open seating dining to guests in Britannia Club Staterooms. The special glazed panels on one side of the restaurant were covered while we were there, and they were just about to install the leaded glass ceiling lights, which will make the area look stunning.

Meanwhile up on deck 9 the Lido had also made tremendous progress with many of the final touches now being added, but it is certainly quite recognizable.

The Grills area of Queen Elizabeth may have been the last part of the superstructure to be added but the Restaurants, Lounge and Courtyard have been dramatically transformed. You can see the tremendous progress in this picture, which shows with the rich wooden veneers being finished in the Queen’s Grill Restaurant.

I know there’s a huge amount of interest in the Dining venues on Queen Elizabeth, so for those who haven’t seen it yet, you can find out more from our post, which includes details of the exclusive Verandah Restaurant, on this link to our Blog in June.

http://wearecunard.com/2010/06/07/

I’ll be back on Thursday with the final in our series of Blogs and Vlogs from Italy for the moment, with a focus on the Entertainment venues and some pictures we have just received from the shipyard over the weekend. We’ll have some news soon from the Sea Trials, as well as updates from both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria.

Cheers for now, Alastair