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

 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

<<BR>>

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 – 224 days

Firstly thank you so much for all the messages of congratulations on my appointment to Queen Elizabeth. I really appreciate your kind words and I have to say I am very excited at the prospect of being part of something so special and to work with what I know will be a fabulous team. It’ll also be fantastic to meet so many of you during her maiden season; what amazing voyages they’re going to be.

With exactly thirty two weeks to her maiden voyage, Queen Elizabeth is making remarkable progress at the ship yard in Monfalcone, Italy, and I’ll have some new pictures of her later this week. In the meantime the huge task of manning our new Queen has begun, and now that the senior officers are in place, many other officers will soon be appointed.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be interviewing many of those officers, so you can get to know more about the team who’ll be leading Queen Elizabeth’s inaugural crew.

This week on board Queen Victoria, as she makes her way along the southern coast of Australia, we were able to welcome a very special guest, the master designate of Queen Elizabeth, Captain Chris Wells. I had never met him before, so it was a real pleasure to talk to him for a while about his appointment to his new ship. If you would like to read about Captain Wells’ career, you can click on this link to the Blog that first announced his appointment last September.

http://wearecunard.com/2009/09/breaking-news-the-master-is-appointed-for-queen-elizabeth/

I’ve done many interviews on this Blog, and although you may expect me to say it, this one with Captain Wells was not only easy and fun to do, but also gave me a great insight to why he’s such a popular Captain amongst our guests and crew.

Special Interview – Master Of Queen Elizabeth – Captain Chris Wells

Firstly, congratulations on being appointed Queen Elizabeth’s first Master. How did you feel when you were told?

I must admit I was very pleasantly surprised; I certainly wasn’t expecting it. Once the news sunk in I realised what an honour it was to be asked to be the first Master, and of course I was delighted as well as being proud.

Looking back at your career, could you ever have imagined you’d be the first master on a brand new Cunarder?

I never thought I would be on passenger ships, let alone being a Captain of such prestigious ships as the Cunard Queens. When I am on board and host a table for dinner, the most frequent question I’m asked is how I became Captain. The truth is I ran away to sea so I didn’t have to go to university! I always had wanderlust so a career at sea seemed perfect, but I always thought the height of my career would be a Captain of an oil tanker; it never crossed my mind I’d be the first Captain on a Cunard Liner.

What do you think will be the most exciting part about bringing Queen Elizabeth in to service?

That’s easy; it’ll be bringing her to Southampton for the first time and then to see her being named before welcoming her very first guests. With the maiden voyage being sold in just 29 minutes it’ll be great to see so many of our most loyal guests on board. Then of course it will be up to all of us to ensure we deliver the very best of White Star Service, so our guests have the most memorable voyage.

What do you think will be the most challenging aspect of being involved with a new ship?

Although most of the ship’s company will be coming from either Queen Victoria or Queen Mary 2, we will have some crew who will be new to Cunard, and our job will be to establish a sense of community. We won’t have that much time, but it’s very important to me that we get a great team spirit amongst the ship’s company as quickly as possible.

Do you know when you’ll be going out to join Queen Elizabeth in the ship yard?

It hasn’t been confirmed yet but I think it’ll be some time in August, although I may make a couple of visits in the meantime to see how she’s progressing.

Where would you like to go in the world where you haven’t been yet?

As far as being on a ship is concerned, I would like to go to the west coast of South America, the Chilean fjords are really appealing to me. I’m a real outdoor type so I would love to walk on top of the world, literally, by hiking in the Himalayas; a bit like Michael Palin but without the camera crew!

Please could you tell us something about your job that would surprise us?

I think many people, who don’t work on ships, don’t realise what a double life we lead. When I am on board I am the Captain of the ship for that time period, but then when I go on leave another Captain will come on while I’m away. I’ll then follow my other life of husband, daddy and gardener, though not necessarily in that order! I love my life at sea, but I am also a real family man. I love spending time with my wife Hedda and kids, Henry (10), Emily (8 this month) and William (6).

Doing the normal things at home is great and we are lucky to live in a lovely house just ten minutes from the beach and ten minutes from the Sussex downs. We are all great walkers and this time together is very precious, whether it’s at home, taking walks or just playing on the beach.

What does “We Are Cunard” mean to you?

Stepping back on a Cunard ship, having been away on our sister brands ships for a while, it was wonderful to feel like I was literally coming home. Already in the few days I have been on Queen Victoria I have met literally hundreds of familiar and friendly guests and crew. That’s what it means to me; the tight knit community and family spirit which are unique to Cunard.

Do you have any unfulfilled dreams?

Not really. My career has already surpassed my expectations. Mind you I love music and enjoy playing the piano when I get a chance. We are a very musical family, with most Saturday mornings at home dedicated to music. Perhaps one dream would be to play the piano better, but that might have to wait until I retire. Another dream is to own an Aston Martin one day, but I’ll cope with the people carrier for now. Mind you, I’d also have to arrange for the humps to be taken out of the road as well, so I could get it in our driveway!

When you get home after a contract what’s the first thing you do?

The first and most important thing is to catch up with Hedda and the kids.

After the first weekend of relaxing, I’m then presented with a long list of DIY jobs to do. But that’s OK, I actually like doing all those jobs like painting and a bit of wood work; in fact I’ve just finished decorating our lounge. I’m quite a perfectionist so the jobs do take me a bit longer.

When you are on leave; what is a perfect evening?

We would have some friends round for dinner. Hedda is a great cook and she loves to entertain while preparing a fantastic meal, making it a lovely event.

We love social dinners and we’ve just built an extension with a large kitchen dining room, so we can all enjoy each other’s company, in great surroundings.

Thank you so much for your time Captain Wells; we look forward to seeing back on Queen Victoria at the end of April and then later in the year in Monfalcone. I’ll be back later in the week with pictures from the Fincantieri ship yard, as well as news from Queen Victoria’s 2010 World voyage dinner and lots more to come. Cheers Alastair

As promised I’m delighted to share some breaking news regarding Queen Elizabeth. It has just been announced that Captain Chris Wells is to assume command of Cunard’s newest Queen, which will enter service in just over a year’s time. I look forward to interviewing Captain Wells in the coming months but in the meantime for those of you who haven’t yet met him here’s a brief insight in to his career so far.

53-year-old Captain Wells, was born and brought up in Bournemouth, and educated at Poole Grammar School. He met his wife Hedda on board QE2 and they were married in 1997, in her home town of Husum in the North of Germany, and now live in Barnham, near Chichester, in West Sussex. They have three children, Henry, Emily, and William.

His love of the sea developed when he learned to sail in Poole Harbour, and resulted in his commencing a four-year cadetship with Shell Tankers at the Warsash School of Navigation at the University of Southampton. His early days at sea were mostly spent in the Far East, trading out of Singapore on a variety of tankers. He continued his career with Shell, qualifying as a second officer in 1978 and progressing to Chief Officer, serving on a variety of ship types. He obtained his Master’s certificate in 1985.

Captain Wells also found time in 1986 to join the Royal Naval Reserve. He still serves two weeks annually with Maritime Forces in the Amphibious Warfare specialisation and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in 1994.

After joining Cunard, as second officer on Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1992, Captain Wells was promoted through the ranks, serving as Chief Officer on QE2, as well as Cunard Countess and Royal Viking Sun, before being promoted to Staff Captain on board QE2 in 1999.

He later was seconded to the Queen Mary 2 New Build Team and spent 18 months at the shipyard of Chantiers de l’Atlantique at Saint Nazaire, France. He was the first Staff Captain of the new ship when she was handed over to Cunard on 22^nd December 2003, remaining with her until May 2005.Having seen the ship develop from the beginning and bringing her into service as Staff Captain, Captain Wells was extremely proud when appointed to the command of Queen Mary 2 last year.

Peter Shanks, our President and Managing Director said “It is a well deserved honour for Captain Wells to be appointed Master of Queen Elizabeth. He will be a fine leader for all of our colleagues working with him on Queen Elizabeth. His experience on both QE2 and Queen Mary 2 will ensure he continues the famous traditions of Cunard Line”.

Commenting on his appointment, Captain Wells said: “Bringing Queen Elizabeth up Southampton Water to her home port will be one of the proudest moments of my life, and I very much hope that the people of Southampton and beyond will take the ship to their hearts as they have all the Cunard Queens since Queen Mary was launched in 1934; Queen Elizabeth certainly follows in that great tradition’.

I’ll be back on Thursday with some news of some special guests who recently sailed on Queen Mary 2. Also on Thursday, while Queen Victoria makes her first visit to Venice this year, I’ll be visiting the Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone to see the progress of Queen Elizabeth. I’ll be taking pictures and video which I’ll post next week. Cheers for now Alastair.

Welcome to this week’s blog and thank you again for continuing to read and comment. I’ll do my best to answer all your questions and if I don’t know I’ll try and ask someone who may. One of the advantages of Cunard family is that there are so many on sea and land that have worked with the company for a considerable amount of time and seem to remember everything! So with that in mind thanks Chris for your question about the Staff Captain on the Cunard Princess – I am trying to find out for you and will let you know if I can! In the meantime here is this week in Cunard’s history for the 4th to the 11^th December.

December 4 1975

QE2 completes the first million miles of steaming.

December 10 1999

The Caronia is renamed at a ceremony in Liverpool.

December 10 2007

Her Royal Highness The Duchess Of Cornwall Names Queen Victoria as she enters service as Cunard’s 147th ship to sail under the Cunard Flag.

December 11 1931

Work was called off on the building of Hull number 534 due to the great depression. The partially built ship was left for 30 months before work resumed.

December 11 2007

Queen Victoria begins her Maiden 10 day voyage to the Germany and Norway Christmas Markets.

Quite a week in history and for all of us involved with Queen Victoria beginning her Cunard career, a very memorable week. Was it just a year ago that we came to Southampton for the first time? What an amazing year it’s been, as there are not many who at their first birthday, can say that in their short life they have already been around the world (literally) having visited 6 continents and over 40 countries and so the list goes on. She has travelled 111,828 miles, made 222 port of calls and looked after 54,827 guests. This year, like last year (though both Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2 are gearing up for the festive season) Queen Victoria is coming back to Southampton for the first time since July, and as soon as she docks a whole team of decorators will transform the ship for her 22 day Caribbean Celebration voyage. We’ll get you some pictures of the decorated ships in the next blog.

It’s certainly turning out to be a crisp and cold winter here in England so it’s nice to turn our thoughts to sunnier climbs. Queen Mary 2 has started her season in the Caribbean so it’s a pleasure to hear from Freda Singleton, who is the Social Hostess on board Queen Mary 2. Social Hostesses are one of the many traditional roles we maintain on Cunard ships and they do an amazing job. They have a high profile with our guests, from introducing the Captain at the cocktail parties to hosting singles events and lots more, including the traditional activities such as scarf tying and hosting culinary demonstrations, all of which remain as popular as ever So I’ll pass over to Freda and see you again next week….

FREDA SINGLETON, SOCIAL HOSTESS ON QUEEN MARY 2:

Queen Mary 2 is fresh out of her latest re-fit and looking magnificent!  Freshly painted with a super, new, go-faster finish, all in the interests of improving fuel economy, she is impressing guests and locals alike in the beautiful Caribbean islands.

Having repositioned from Hamburg and now operating out of Fort Lauderdale for December and early January, prior to the start of her second World Cruise in 2009, Queen Mary 2 is basking in her newly refurbished glory in the islands of Curacao, Grenada, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts, Grenada, Bonaire, Cristobal, St Thomas, Tortola and Dominica.  You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from the hard working transatlantic crew as they slowly start to lose their un-sunned pallor and begin to find time for an hour or so of sun, sea and fun!

All aboard are sad to see Captain Chris Wells come to the end of his contract and to leave the ship for the time being, but are very much looking forward to welcoming Captain Nick Bates for his first time at the helm, until Commodore Bernard Warner returns from his break.  They are also delighted to have many old friends from the now splendidly retired QE2 come to join the happy family.  As always the crew have worked hard but know how to enjoy themselves and in addition to the many crew activities planned by our Personnel & Training Manager, there have also been several red-hot fun runs in Caribbean sunshine, promoted and energetically supported by the ever enthusiastic and fitness-mad Entertainment Director, David Pepper.  Dancing Dave (as some affectionately call him), now takes his hard earned break from the ship as Ray Rouse returns to head up the Entertainment team.

On the upper decks, love is truly in the air with a very romantic and public marriage proposal at the height of the Royal Ascot Ball in the elegant Queens Room.  To the delight of all the guests in the audience, his lovely intended managed a stunned acceptance before bursting into tears.  With several other proposals, engagements and wedding vow renewals, the ship is in danger of becoming the new ‘Love Boat’!

As the Christmas season fast approaches and the ship’s beauty is enhanced by elegant festive decorations, everyone is totally focused on the forthcoming celebrations whilst keeping a keen eye on planning for the next epic 85-day World Cruise, re-visiting some of the glorious ports from the ship’s maiden world cruise and making maiden stops at Yokohama, Japan; Laem Chabang, Thailand and Salalah, Oman. Exciting times on Queen Mary 2!