Hello all.      

A few things to catch up on and inform you of on today’s blog. Firstly, a few weeks ago we held a retirement dinner for the three Cunard Captains who retired during the year.       

We covered each of these retirements individually on the blog at the time, but as is tradition with Cunard Line we held a dinner in their honour. It was to honour Commodore Bernie Warner, Captain Nick Bates and Captain Paul Wright. We held the dinner at Lainston House Hotel near Winchester and we asked each of the Captains to invite four of their good friends in order that they could share the occasion with them. A number of us from the office also attended and it was a wonderful evening. I thought I would share a few photos of the event: 

   

Last Friday on the Bridge of Queen Mary 2, we witnessed the retirement of Captain Paul Wright from Cunard Line.  Paul has had a magnificent career at sea and 31 years with Cunard Line.  During that time he worked on a number of our ships and I have personally known him for the last 9 years.  Paul was Master of QE2, Master of Queen Victoria and Master of our flagship Queen Mary 2.  Throughout his career Paul has developed a fine reputation with the crew of every ship on which he has worked.  He has always had a very special way with his people and has shown tremendous leadership style and compassion for all of our valued crew members. 

I got to know Paul well during the build and launch of Queen Victoria.  Bringing a ship through the shipyard and into service is a very daunting task.  It requires a great deal of leadership and importantly a great deal of teamwork, both on board the ship and with all the shipyard workers.  We often talk of “We Are Cunard” – in fact that is the name of this blog.  We Are Cunard was born under Paul’s leadership during the building phase of Queen Victoria.  It was a spontaneous phrase that came from some of the ships’ company and culminated in that famous first “We Are Cunard” video fronted by Captain Paul Wright.  You can find it on our YouTube channel and not only was it a very emotional video, but it led to the “We are Cunard” mantra that we all have great pride in sharing today.

Paul was always intending to retire when he reached a certain age.  And I was sorry that he reached that certain age and we are all sorry to see him leave Cunard Line.  However, I was able to thank him on the Bridge last Friday on behalf of all of us at Cunard and of course those of our valued guests who will know Captain Paul Wright very well.  As you can see in the picture below I was able to present him with a specially signed limited edition print by Gordon Bauwens showing three of the fine ships that he led.  In the words at the top of the picture where he describes “a proud career – Captain Paul Wright”.

So Paul – all the best for a long, healthy and happy retirement and we hope to see you on board our Cunarders in the future. 

Now on to some questions – we have had quite a few recently, so I thought I would give some answers to those of you who have kindly raised them:

Judith Sayers:
Will the Queen Mary2 be using Brooklyn terminal, or does it vary? Looking forward to sailing in and out of New York in September 2012

Judith – Queen Mary 2 now uses the Brooklyn Terminal on a regular basis. I was there just last week and had a good look around the facilities. There is no doubt that sailing right up the river to Manhattan is somewhat more ‘romantic’ and reminiscent of the old days. On the other hand , boarding Queen Mary 2 in Brooklyn on a sunny day, going up on deck and seeing Manhattan and The Statue of Liberty as part of your panoramic view is awesome. It is also true to say that feedback on the terminal experience comes in favour of Brooklyn. There were some challenges early on where some yellow cab drivers would ask ‘Where is that?’ – but a few years on that is not a problem – and it’s a faster route to and from the airport. When Queen Elizabeth makes her call into New York for a couple of days in September – that will be as a visit rather than an embarkation call and so she will be close to the action of Manhattan. I hope that answers your question. Kind Regards. Peter

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Bill Bradbury:
Peter most interesting. New York is on our “radar” after 2 brief calls last year on our QM2 Quebec trip. Now tell us what were the results of the “feedback” and what you should be doing better plus the “interesting ideas” that came up.

Bill – Some of the ideas I heard as follows. Could we increase the number of Transatlantics and offer more opportunities for our North American guests to travel to and from Europe. Could we increase the capacity of our kennels on Queen Mary 2 – they sell out quickly. One hot topic at the moment is the high cost of air fares to Europe from North America – and could we see if we could help with more ‘air-inclusive’ offers. Could we increase the number of Canada/New England Voyages in the Fall (to which I said we would if somebody could get the  beautiful Fall leaves to stay on the trees a bit longer).
Feedback on the whole was very positive – notably as to how well Queen Victoria is doing. There is still a ‘buzz’ in New York as to Queen Elizabeth – and most of the agents present at the meeting had watched the Royal Wedding. It was a very useful event – our guests give their feedback to their agents and it is good to find ways of our agents passing that feedback on to ourselves. They enjoyed the tea and scones we gave them as well. Best Regards. Peter.

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Roger Waterfall:
Does anyone know of any Cunard connections to Baltic history? we will visit on Queen Elizabeth in August.

Roger – I can find out and let you know – I am sure there will be some Baltic History for Cunard. Back with an answer shortly. Best Regards. Peter

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Tony Mac:
Can i get some copys of the photos and the story in NewYork of the Carpathia arriving with the 705 survivors that fateful day,i only use the info to show the public the events of 1912, i have a R.M.S. Titanic exhibition which will be at Carnforth Station 18July 30 Aug free entry to all.

Tony – The photos I showed on the blog I took with my Blackberry – we could email those to you and will find out if you are able to source the pictures elsewhere.. I hear that our good friend and maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham (whom I had the pleasure of meeting on the Queen Mary 2 Bridge last week) is about to publish a book on Titanic and that will be worth a read.  Best Regards. Peter

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So I started the blog with Paul – what about Ringo?  Well also last Friday I was fortunate to attend a wonderful concert at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey.  We go every year to see a range of different artists and it is a fantastic historic menu and a great setting for concerts.  We went to see Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band.  This is nothing to do with Cunard or our blog, but I just thought I would tell you how much I enjoyed it.  It is rather special to see a real live Beatle and he did not disappoint. He had a wonderful band of talented musicians.  He had a chap called Rick Derringer – he sang his hit “Hang on Snoopy”.  He also had a rather crazy rock and roll star called Edgar Winter from the famous Edgar Winter Band.  He was amazing and played the saxophone, drums, keyboards and a rather energetic synthesizer.  But the star of the All Starr band was Ringo himself.  He is still full of energy and sang as well as playing the drums in his inimitable style.  Yes, he performed “We All Live in a Yellow Submarine”, along with some of his other hits.  It was interesting that he did not mention “The Beatles” once – instead he would say “You might recognise this song, I used to play it in my other band”.  I have always thought it sad that The Beatles did not get a chance to reunite like many other famous bands have, but nevertheless it was really rather special to see Ringo Starr in such fine form after all these years – this is how it looked:

So that is how I managed to start the blog with Paul and finish with Ringo…..

Best regards,
Peter Shanks.

Recently we had a very special reunion on board Queen Mary 2, during her first Eastbound Transatlantic Crossing of 2011. 15 World War 2 brides, along with their families sailed back to England to celebrate the 65th anniversary of when they sailed to the USA and Canada to be with their servicemen husbands. From 1939 – 1945 Cunard carried more than 2 million serviceman and their families on board our fleet and we were credited by Sir Winston Churchill as helping to shorten the war by a year. For many of the ladies it was the first time they had returned to the UK after making that life changing journey all those years ago.

During the Crossing, guests attended lectures from Bev Tosh, a Canadian war bride’s daughter and accomplished artist. Bev has interviewed hundreds of war brides in USA, Britain, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and these have evolved into a major touring exhibition called ‘one-way passage’

Ed Moffat from Queen Mary 2 met the group during the crossing, here he is with a guest blog and some great photos from the original crossings:

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Guest Blog

Edward Moffat

Assistant Entertainment Director

Queen Mary 2

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The commissioning of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary during World War 2 did not end at transporting brave troops to and from Europe as part of the war effort. They had an additional roll of the transportation of a very precious cargo; they were of course the ‘War Brides’, women who had married service men from either Canada or the US and later decided to settle down with their new loved ones.

A group of around fifty ladies (and a few sons) all originally born in the UK lead by Beverly Tosh relived their special journey on board Queen Mary 2 from New York to Southampton. After over 60 years making the return trip home by sea passage to share memories of the liners and of course visit families back in the UK.

Jean Fell, originally from Yorkshire, England sailed on board Queen Mary on 3 June 1946 to join her new husband in Canada where she still lives. Beforehand her husband had returned home to Canada on board Queen Elizabeth a few months before her arrival. The Queen Mary was of course still in Military refit and painted grey. Jean recalls “getting sea sick after 3 days into the journey and spending a few nights in the Hospital which was originally the First Class cocktail bar”.

“This was also the time when penicillin was first heard of and the doctor ask if I wanted a shot in my rear and thought he said ear to which I leaned forward to offer my ear for an injection to which young doctor whispered no, in your rear!”

When Jean was not in the hospital she remembers the room in which she slept ‘Having eight bunks in the one cabin.’ she also recalled that the particular crossing she was recorded as one of the fastest at that time.

Kitty Snyder also joined her new husband with their son on board Queen Mary in 1946 making the journey over to the US.

“The one thing I was curious about was seeing my husband in his Civvies, I, of course had only ever seen him in his army fatigues, both my son and I were invited to dine twice with the Captain, I guess he was intrigued to find such a young mother travelling only with her son”.

Whilst on board Kitty had received a cable from her dad wishing her a safe trip and hoping that everything was going well.

“The weather was so rough all I can remember was spending the whole trip in my bunk.” It was also common for the captain of the Queen Mary to wish all the new brides well in the new homes.

Kitty Flew back home October 1947 for 2 months and made the return trip to the US on board Queen Elizabeth. She also spent a year working for Cunard on 48/49 Broadway, New York as a typist.

Lillian Burgess sailed from Southampton to New York on board Queen Mary in June 1946 to join her new husband in Halifax Nova Scotia.  Also sailing on the same crossing was the Canadian Prime Minister McKenzie King “Mr. King personally welcomed all the ladies to Canada prior to our arrival there.

Joan James sailed on board Queen Mary from Southampton to New York in August 1946 with her 14^th month old son. “There were so many other children on the trip, six years later we took a return trip back to the UK on The Sydney the children were looked after so well by the staff on board they were even treated to a tea party in First Class.”

Captain Paul Wright met the group and said:

“It was an absolute pleasure to welcome this group of women and their families aboard Queen Mary 2, Cunard and these women share a unique and proud history of providing service and dedication during war time.”

Thank you for a great guest blog Ed, what a special crossing that must have been! We’ll be back with more blogs this week, including Queen Mary 2 in Hamburg and we will reveal ‘Who’ was sailing with us to New York…

Welcome to another busy week of blogging and more news from around the Cunard World. As Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 enjoy Asian ports on their World Voyages, Queen Victoria has returned to the Caribbean as she concludes her very successful Americas Season.

It’s been such a busy time blogging that I realised we haven’t told you about Cunard’s most recent Stars for a while. As a regular feature, we like to let you know about our Cunard’s Stars, where every month on each of our three Queens, one crew member per ship is awarded the title of Star of the Month. The award is a result of guest and crew feedback, and then consideration by our on board White Star Committees.

Following from last month, I’m delighted to introduce Cunard’s latest stars.

Queen Victoria

Attila Verdo – Lido Maitre D’hôtel

Being the Maitre D’hôtel of the Lido is a demanding job which involves looking after a very busy dining area that operates around the clock, so it was great to see that Attila was nominated for all his hard work and commitment to White Star Service. 

Attila was born in north east Hungary, where the famous Tokaji Aszu dessert wine comes from.  He is married and Attila and his wife are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first baby, which he hopes will be a boy!

Attila started working at sea in 1996 on the original Love Boat.  He joined Cunard in 2007 as part of the opening team for Queen Victoria, as a Senior Waiter.  Attila has since worked in the Princess and Queens Grills and as for the future; his dream is to become the Senior Maitre D’hôtel some day.

According to his colleagues, nothing is ever too much trouble for Attila and he always finds a positive way to overcome any challenges. They added that he has an excellent attitude towards our guests as well as his colleagues and is a true team player.

Attila  told me that his favorite part of his job is taking pride in delivering White Star Service to our guests, and he is also known for making the best crepes suzette on Queen Victoria!

Here he is accepting his award from Captain Inger Olsen, with Senior Maitre D’hôtel, Osman Pinaolglu, Hotel Manager, Jacqui Hodgson and Food & Beverage Manager, Stefan Engl.

Attila’s favorite hobby is football, but when he is at home on leave he spends as much of his time as possible with his wife and friends, particularly now as they prepare for their baby’s arrival.

Queen Mary 2

Jeffrey Calija – Spa Attendant

Jeffrey has been working as a Spa Attendant for seven years and is from Las Pinas City in the Philippines, which is known for its Bamboo Organ Festival. He has been married to Remy Matimtim for nine years and they now have two children, seven year old Christian and Christine, who is five.

Before joining Cunard he worked for Globe Telecom as a Sales Associate and Supervisor and started to work for Cunard in December 2001. His first position was on Caronia as a Galley Utility, before moving to the housekeeping department.

He told me that he really likes his current job because he is able to meet many interesting people, and he feels by just talking to our guests, he has learned a lot about his own personal life.

The Canyon Ranch Spa Manager Mandy Meth, told me; “The whole spa team felt that Jeffrey was very deserving of the Star of the Month award. The spa attendants are constantly busy throughout the day and the staff noticed that Jeffrey consistently goes above and beyond his usual duties. For example while collecting towels in the gym he always takes the time to show guests how to operate the equipment, which is not his responsibility. He also exceeds guests’ expectations by offering to take their swimwear to be dried” She added that Jeffrey is a very cheerful person and his excellent customer service is reflected in the amount of White Star comments he receives from our guests.

Here’s Jeffrey receiving his well deserved award from Captain Paul Wright, with Hotel Manager David Stephenson and Canyon Ranch Spa Manager Mandy Meth.

In his spare time on board Jeffrey likes to read magazines about history, national geography and computers. He also likes to play cards and he hopes that he may get promoted sometime to a higher position within the housekeeping department. He also wanted to add that he considers working with Cunard a privilege that he will cherish for the rest of his life. 

Queen Elizabeth

Jayadev Alapati (Jay) Assistant Printer.

As the Assistant Printer on board Jay works closely with the Chief printer and between them they are responsible for pretty much everything that gets printed on board, which includes the Daily Programme, Newspapers, Menus, etc.  Although he does most of the physical printing Jay sometimes gets the opportunity to design as well.

From a printing family in Hyderabad in India, Jay is still a student and he is currently on an Internship at Cunard. He told me that this is his first real job and Cunard is the first company he has ever worked for. He added that he has always loved travelling and when he found out about this job, where he could travel and do what he loves most, he couldn’t have been happier. Jay was part of the inaugural team on Queen Elizabeth, joining the ship in Monfalcone in September, and like most of us on board he loves that fact that he gets to wake up in a different city almost every day.

Jay was nominated for the award by his colleagues and guests, after he helped a lady to use her iPhone, so she could email and text her family while away. Jay has also been instrumental in simplifying some of the Print Shop processes and he constantly delivers high quality service by taking on any request and following it through ensuring guest satisfaction.  Here’s Jay receiving his award from Captain Julian Burgess with Hotel Manager, Robert Howie, Chief Purser, Tracy Riley and Chief Printer, Andrew Berghauser;

Afterwards Jay told me how excited he was at winning the award; “Every day when I went to work I walk by the board that has the picture of White Star of the Month on it along with all the nominees, and I always hoped that someday I would be up there too. When I found out that I had actually won, I was so surprised and happy”. He added; “This is my first real job and in my first five months I have won the Star of the Month, so I’m pretty excited.

Jay went on leave last week and returned to America to continue with his studies. But he told me that once he has graduated this summer, he’s looking forward to hopefully coming back and maybe even as Chief Printer. He said he would like to stay for a few years at sea, then go back to college and get an MBA, and eventually join his father’s printing business back home in India.

Congratulations to all of this month’s winners and of course I’ll bring you our next month’s winners in a few weeks time. Well that’s it for the moment but I’ll be back later in the week with some news from Queen Elizabeth as she continues her Maiden World Voyage in Asia.  Cheers for now, Alastair

As regular readers of this Blog know, we like to feature our Stars of the Month. This is the title awarded to just one crew member per ship each month following guest and crew feedback, and then consideration by our on board White Star Committees. A new initiative was introduced this year whereby all the Stars from the previous year would be considered for the title of Star of the Year. There was tremendous excitement as each ship put forward their candidate from the previous twelve months, and recently the company announced Cunard’s first Star of the Year, and I’ll tell you more about that after this week in Cunard’s history for the week of 10 to 16 March:

I’m delighted to announce that out of all the candidates from our three ships, Mary Ann Austria on Queen Mary 2, has been awarded the title of Star of the Year for 2010. Here she is proudly holding her certificate. 

Mary Ann is from the Philippines and joined Cunard in September 2008 as a Housekeeping Utility, but was soon promoted to the position of Housekeeping Clerk. Mary Anne clearly impressed the management of Queen Mary 2, because during her second contract she became a Receptionist in the Purser’s Office. 

Before joining Cunard, Mary Ann worked for a prestigious hotel in Manila, where she worked her way up through the ranks. She started as a 3^rd Cook before becoming a Switchboard Operator, and then eventually the Front Desk Supervisor. 

When the hotel closed she decided to join her husband, Joven, who had been working at sea since 2005. They have two sons, 13 year old Jomar and 7 year old Jan Benedict. 

Mary Ann was first nominated as Star of the Month, in August 2010, and this was her nomination by her colleagues in the Purser’s Office: 

Although Mary Ann has only worked with our team for a short while, she has already made a very positive impression. Her guest interaction is fabulous and she’s a committed, positive and energetic person. She’s eager to assist all guests and never hesitates to assist her colleagues. No task is ever too much for her, and she never says no to any guest request, and we feel she a valuable asset to Cunard. 

Here she is receiving her Star of the Month award last August, when Peter Shanks was also on board to present it with Captain Nick Bates, Chief Purser, Chantal Mooiman, and Executive Housekeeper, Colin Watson 

The Purser’s Desk is a very important part of the smooth running of a ship, and as you can probably imagine it requires a lot of hard work and patience. Mary Ann told me she normally starts at around 7:00am, and feels that the most important part of her job is greeting every guest with a smile, and then dealing with whatever query they have as best as she can. 

In her spare time, Mary Ann calls home as often as possible and said she loves going ashore and finding a Chinese Restaurant. When at home, time with her children is exceptionally valuable so she spends as much time with them as possible, and she also enjoys playing Badminton and Volleyball with them. 

I asked her how she found out about the award and she said: “My supervisor advised me that she had some good news for me. She informed me about the Star of the Year award and I couldn’t express my happiness. I hugged her and as soon as I had a break I called home to tell my family the good news. They were very proud of me and can’t wait to see me in March” 

She added that for her ‘We are Cunard’ means “That we are working as a team with the same goal to provide best service to our guests.” As for the future Mary Ann says she would like to continue to provide for her children and give them the best education possible for their future, and the cash reward she received as part of her prize, will help towards her new house for the family. 

David Stephenson, Queen Mary 2’s Hotel Manager, asked Mary Ann to join the White Star Meeting to present her with a bouquet of flowers from the Shipboard Committee, and to thank her on behalf of the Committee for all her hard work.  He takes up the story in this Guest Blog: 

 Guest Blog 

 David Stephenson 

 Hotel Manager 

 Queen Mary 2 

While Peter Shanks was onboard Queen Mary 2 for the World Voyage dinner, he used the occasion to make time to present Mary Ann Austria with her certificate as the Star of the Year.  

Since learning of her award Mary Ann has had a busy time. Firstly the shipboard White Star Committee informed her of the accolade and presented her with a bouquet of flowers at the Ship’s White Star meeting. Here she is with Captain Paul Wright, Ruud Jansen, Chief Purser and myself: 

Then a few days later Mary Anne received her cash award at the ship’s monthly presentation ceremony and now finally the icing on the cake, to receive a certificate from the President and Managing Director.  

Mary Ann was quick to impress Peter Shanks with her warm smile, and her obvious pride in being nominated by her colleagues. 

Mary Ann has worked on Queen Mary 2 for three years and has made good progress in that time progressing to her current position of Receptionist in the Purser’s Office. She impressed the Shipboard Committee who nominated her for her cheerful disposition and her genuine desire to give all the guests she serves the “Best Possible Experience” and judging by the numbers of White Star Cards she receives, she is not only meeting that objective but exceeding it!  

Oh and by the way – In case you are wondering?  The Picture in the background is the Franconia by Stephen Card. 

Thank you David for that great Guest Blog, and of course congratulations again to Mary Ann, for winning such a prestigious award.  I’ll be back tomorrow with another Blog from Queen Victoria and news from her America’s Season from Guest Bloggers,  and then on Monday more news from Queen Elizabeth’s Maiden World Voyage with pictures from her overnight in Hong Kong. Cheers for now, Alastair 

 As Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria head towards the Hawaiian Islands, Queen Mary 2 is on her way across the South Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa.

It’s always a pleasure to feature Cunard’s Stars of the Month, which as regular readers will know is the title awarded to just one crew member per ship each month. The award is a result of guest and crew feedback, and then consideration by our on board White Star Committees. To date we have alternated between Cunard’s three Queens, to feature their latest star. However we felt that it’s such an important programme to all of us on board that we really wanted to feature each ship’s star every month.

So in the first of a monthly feature Blog we are doing just that, and have asked each ship to tell us about their star.

QUEEN MARY 2

The latest star on Cunard’s flagship is Marco Alexis Payen, who is a Junior Waiter from the beautiful island of Mauritius:

Although Marco has experience at sea he is fairly new to Cunard, having joined Queen Mary 2 in August last year. During that time he has received numerous commendations for his hard work and dedication in looking after our guests. Recently when the French Hostess had to leave unexpectedly, Marco stepped in and assisted with the French Daily Programme and other duties normally carried out by the French Hostess. Everyone was so impressed with Marco’s true White Star spirit that he received many nominations to become Star of the Month. Here he is receiving his award from Captain Paul Wright with Hotel Manager, John Duffy and Senior Maitre D’Hotel, Osman Pinaolglu

QUEEN VICTORIA

The January Star of the Month on Queen Victoria is Senior Security Patrolman Am Chongbang Limbu. Hailing from Nepal, Am is married with two children and joined his first Cunard ship, Queen Mary 2 in 2006

Am spent 16 years in the Indian Army, of which two were spent as a private security guard in Baghdad. Queen Victoria’s Security Officer Glenn Cairns, told me that that although Am is a very quiet member of the security team, he doesn’t just go the extra mile, but more like an extra ten, to ensure the safety of the ship and all on board. After numerous compliments from guests and fellow crew, he was chosen as Queen Victoria’s latest Star. Here he is collecting his well deserved award from Captain Inger Olsen with Hotel Manager , David Hamilton, Deputy Captain, Andrew Hall and Security Officer, Glenn Cairns

QUEEN ELIZABETH

Our latest Cunarder’s third star is Benigno Pedroso, the ship’s Chief Carpenter. Known as Bennie, he is married to Cynthia and has three children, Vaughn, Harold & Kate.

Bennie and his family live in Baguio City, Philippines and his father is also a carpenter. Bennie followed in his footsteps first at home, then on a couple of ships before joining Queen Victoria in November 2007 as an Assistant Carpenter. He was then promoted to the position of Chief Carpenter and told me he was honoured to be selected as the Chief Carpenter for the inaugural season of Queen Elizabeth. Being involved from the very start of a new ship was a challenge, but one Bennie met with a wonderful spirit.

He has had numerous positive comments from guests and well as his colleagues who felt he should be recognised for his tremendous commitment to White Star Service. Here is Bennie receiving his award from Captain Julian Burgess, with Hotel Manager, Jacqui Hodgson and Ship’s Services Engineer Michael Robertshaw.

I’ll bring you next month’s stars in a few weeks time, following the various awards ceremonies coming up soon.

Meanwhile as Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 continue their World Voyages and Queen Victoria begins her season in American waters, I’ll have news from all three ships very soon starting on Thursday with another report from Queen Elizabeth. We’ll also return to the Panama Canal with some unique pictures taken by our on board professional photographers along with a very special video as well. Thank you again for logging on and all your great comments. Cheers for now, Alastair

Queen Mary 2 is just a day away from New York on her final westbound Transatlantic Crossing of the year, before heading to the Caribbean. Meanwhile Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth are not far apart from each other in the Mediterranean. In fact they were less than 100 miles away from each other on Saturday night as Queen Elizabeth left Malta heading to Venice while her sister was heading to Malta from Messina in Sicily. It was a shame the schedules didn’t allow for a meeting, but we’ll see each other soon enough on 1 December in Southampton.

All but one of the ports this voyage are maiden calls for Queen Elizabeth, and it’s always great to receive a special welcome; and that’s exactly what Cunard’s latest Queen received in Malta on Saturday.

Malta is a small and densely populated island nation comprising an archipelago of seven islands, three of which are inhabited. Throughout much of its history, Malta has been considered a crucial strategic location due mainly to its position in the Mediterranean Sea. It was held by several ancient cultures including Sicilians, Romans, Phoenicians and Byzantines. There is of course a very strong legacy from Malta’s period as a British colony and the links between the nations are as strong today as ever. It’s an impressive entrance to the harbour in the country’s capital, Valletta, with the fortifications dominating the city’s waterfront, and these could be seen even from a distance, as Queen Elizabeth made her approaches.

As usual the local pilot boarded the ship as we approached, but this time they were very generous in allowing our ship’s Chief Photographer Petar Pecanac to climb down the ladder and board the Pilot Boat.

The reason was so that Petar could capture the excitement of our first visit from the shore side, especially as Queen Elizabeth was to receive a welcome salute from the city’s cannons. There was a very impressive boom as each of the cannons was fired in succession as we made our final approaches.

Petar managed to get up the ramparts on time to be able to capture this magnificent picture of a cannon firing as Queen Elizabeth entered the harbour.

As I have mentioned in previous Blogs there is always a Plaque Exchange ceremony with local officials and dignitaries upon our arrival, and Valletta was no different. But there was added significance to our first visit as the Managing Director of Cunard’s Agents in Malta, Ivan Mifsud presented Captain Wells with the traditional Plaque, as well as this special limited edition print of QE2’s maiden call to the island in 1998.

The original was presented to the Master of QE2 at the time, Captain Roland Hassell, and it marked fifty years of service of the Mifsud family to Cunard Line. QE2 called to Malta just seven times, and almost ten years to the day after her maiden call she made her farewell call, which was also marked with a Gun Salute.

As we looked over the newly refurbished harbour Mr Mifsud told us about some of the history of the island and the city, and in particular the origins of the brightly painted doors in the buildings by the quayside which have now been converted from stores in to chic restaurants, bars and apartments.

We were told that the doors were different colours for a reason. Apparently back in 1745 the buildings were donated to the University of Malta, and they used the rental income from the buildings to finance the University. The buildings were used as stores for all sorts of imported goods, and because of the low literacy levels at the time; each colour door represented a type of product such as yellow for grain etc.
I managed to get ashore for a couple of hours to have a look around the city, which although has been refurbished and modernised in many ways, it still retains the character of Maltese culture such as this; one of Valletta’s main streets.

There are stunning buildings all over the old city, many of which have the traditional Maltese balconies.

Speaking of special events taking place on our maiden calls, I have just received these lovely pictures from our agent in Tenerife, who took them as we prepared to leave on 19 October, so I thought I would include them for you.

QE2 is never far from our thoughts on Queen Elizabeth, with the significance being marked at our plaque ceremony in Malta and of course the memorabilia around the ship paying tribute to our namesake. But I also heard a great story yesterday from a guest who told me about a remarkable QE2 coincidence.

Mrs Jeannie Haywood was enjoying a coffee in the Lido on the first day of the voyage and sitting next to a fellow guest, they started chatting about the voyage. Jeannie noticed the other lady’s Liverpool accent, remarking that her mother came from Liverpool, and funnily enough on one of her first voyages on QE2; her Stateroom Stewardess was also from the city. The lady asked which year that was, to which Mrs Haywood told her it was 1982, and she remembered the stewardess’s name was Lizzie. The lady then smiled saying that she was that very same Lizzie from nearly 30 years beforehand.

What a remarkable coincidence, so when I was told the story a couple of days ago, I had to sit down with them both to hear more, and here they are, Jeannie Haywood on the left and Lizzie Rich on the right.

Jeanie Haywood is from Rutland and can even see the country house that was the Cunard Family home for many years from the late 19th century, and the Cunard flag that still flies from the rooftop. The voyage where the ladies met was on a Transatlantic Crossing, in November 1982, not long after QE2’s service in the Falklands conflict. Jeannie told me she particularly remembered Lizzie because she was so welcoming and even brought her Cocoa every night to help her sleep. She then showed me what was the Guest ID Card of the time on that voyage; the Passport,

It’s amazing looking inside the document where you can see the Cunard Ships, Hotels and Resorts of the time.

Chatting to Lizzie and her husband Andy, I found out that as youngsters they both lived in the same town but never met. Lizzie began her career at sea working on the Cunard Adventurer in the Laundry, and then met Andy on the Cunard Princess, who was Security Petty Officer at the time. They were engaged on QE2 in 1980 by which time she had been promoted by John Duffy to a bedroom stewardess. She particularly remembered Paul Wright who was Third Officer at the time, as he was very kind to them both. They eventually married in 1987and although Lizzie had left the company by that stage, Andy had been promoted to Security Officer and they spent their honeymoon on the Cunard Countess. Here they both are enjoying this voyage on Queen Elizabeth.

What a great story; it’s just incredible how many of these I hear all the time and it’s so much fun to share them with readers of this Blog, as it shows what an amazing family Cunard really is.

Well that’s it for today but I’ll be back again soon with another Blog from Queen Mary 2’s recent Transatlantic Crossing. 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 – 210 days

As the World Voyages for 2010 continue, Queen Victoria is now heading for Vietnam and Queen Mary 2 is crossing the Indian Ocean for her maiden call to Mauritius. In addition to the many extra events and activities we do that mark the special nature of a World Voyage, we also maintain the very important elements of our White Star Service programme like celebrating our Star of the Month.

As many of you will know, the title is awarded to just one crew member per ship each month, as a result of guest and crew feedback, and then consideration by our on board White Star Committees. On this Blog we alternate ships, for which “Star of the Month” we feature, and this month it’s the turn of Queen Victoria. Each star has their photo displayed prominently in the Grand Lobby for guests to see, so here’s the one currently on Queen Victoria; Laundry Master Tito Rosales.

As Laundry Master, Tito oversees the whole laundry operation on board Queen Victoria. He has the huge responsibility of maintaining the highest possible standard in an essential part of the ship’s operation. Reporting to the Executive Housekeeper, he manages nineteen members of staff and liaises with the ships engineers to ensure all the machines that wash, dry and iron clothes and linen, are able to keep working around the clock.  It’s quite a job when you look at the statistics. On linen change day Tito and his team wash, dry and iron over 2,800 sheets. Also on a daily basis the laundry washes and dries a staggering:

·         2,200 bath towels

·         700 bath mats

·         2,800 hand towels

·         5,000 face cloths

Here’s the main laundry on Queen Victoria with linen coming in and out throughout the day.

Tito and his team look after guests’ personal laundry as well as being responsible for the cleaning and tailoring of the uniforms for all 1,000 of Queen Victoria’s crew. For example to keep our chefs looking immaculate they clean over 360 pieces of uniform a day, and over 600 articles for the Bar and Restaurant Staff. Here you can see uniforms ready for our crew to put on fresh each day:

Tito was born in Cebu, Philippines, which he describes as a lovely island, surrounded with white sandy beaches, located in the northern part of Malapascua Island. Because of its natural beauty, it is one of the Philippines’ top tourist destinations. He met his wife, Rose in Manila and then he built their house in Caloocan City.

They now have three children Mariz 19, Louie 15, and Mae 10.

Tito started working as Laundry Man in Teves Dry cleaning and Steam laundry in Makati City in the Philippines in 1986, and then worked in Saudi Arabia for three different laundry establishments for almost five years during which time he gained his first supervisory position. But then the sea beckoned, as he decided to apply to an agency in the Philippines to work as Laundry Man on board passenger ships.

In 1998 Tito began his career at sea on one our sister company’s ships; P&O’s Oriana. He stayed there for ten years during which time he was promoted to Assistant Linen Keeper and consequently, Linen Keeper. In 2008, he joined Cunard as Laundry Man and after just one year was promoted to Laundry Master.

Tito starts work at 7:30am and begins his day by checking all areas of his responsibility such as the machines and linen stocks as well as looking over the area to ensure everything is in order. After mustering his day staff, he assesses the work load and organises the day’s work, which is always very busy.

During his time off he enjoys relaxing in his cabin either watching TV or a movie and likes to call his family at home regularly. During port days, he likes to go ashore whenever possible to go sightseeing or to the beach or even better a good Chinese restaurant, when he can find one.

I asked him what “We are Cunard” meant to him and he told me; “It means that we are all part of legendary service in our industry with the White Star Service principles applied in every aspect of the job we perform on board whether we are directly or indirectly looking after our guests. As we work behind the scenes I think it’s important to support our colleagues who do look after our guests”.

Our White Star winners never know they have won until they arrive at a very special presentation, where the nominees are read out by the on board White Star Committee Chairman, Hotel Manager, Jacqui Hodgson. When Tito heard the runners up and he finally realised he must be the winner as he was the only person left to be announced. Here’s Tito receiving his award, with (from left to right), Captain Paul Wright, Tito, Hotel Manager, Jacqui Hodgson, and Executive Housekeeper, Thelma Rojas.

He also won a cash prize, and Tito told me he will be saving some of his winnings, but will also spend a small amount on something special that will become a valuable memory to him so that in the future he can be reminded of his achievement.

As for the future Tito told me; “I dream that one day all my three children will be able to finish their college degrees. That is one of my greatest wishes for them, and the reason why I have chosen to work so hard. Once I have fulfilled these dreams I will feel relieved and relaxed.”

When I was chatting to Tito he asked me to help him pass on his thanks: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who believed in my knowledge and ability to perform my duty: Jaime Masing, Rosa Christiner, Andrea Keiser, Thelma Rojas, Mornay the Shop Manager, my Laundry Staff, Linen Keeper and of course the White Star Committee headed by the Captain and Hotel Manager. My sincere thanks to everyone; after all, “WE ARE CUNARD”.

Thank you Tito for a great interview. What a great way to end the Blog for today. In fact Tito has just gone home on a well deserved leave, so he’ll be able to read this at home and celebrate with his family who I am sure will be very proud of his achievement. I’ll be back on Wednesday with some great pictures of Queen Mary 2 as well as news of a special visitor to our flagship recently in Sydney. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 215 days

One of the highlights of every Cunard World Voyage is the celebration that is held in honour of those guests enjoying the whole World Voyage. The event is usually months in the making and involves our on board management as well as the shore side team. This year a spectacular venue was found in Melbourne that was perfect for the night; the National Gallery of Victoria.

Since 1861, the National Gallery of Victoria on St. Kilda Road in Melbourne has been displaying art works for the enjoyment of the community and today’s building has recently undergone extensive refurbishment. During the day the gallery is dedicated to showing magnificent international artwork, and this proved to be an ideal backdrop to our international guest list on the night.

We have over 500 full World Voyage guests this year on Queen Victoria, and they began the evening with a wonderful cocktail party on board before they were whisked off on a short luxury coach ride to the venue which was specially lit for the evening.

At the entrance guests were greeted by a traditional welcome performance, by Australia’s Aboriginal dancers, enhanced by the sounds of the didgeridoo. Guests then walked up a specially laid red carpet, to be welcomed by Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, Captain Paul Wright and Hotel Manager Jacqui Hodgson.

Then as guests entered the magnificent Great Hall, members of the Australian Boys Choir lined the route adding to the sense of occasion. The venue, with its beautiful glazed ceiling, really did look stunning and quite a transformation from what we had seen earlier in the day.

Guests were guided to their seats and were, as is tradition, joined my numerous members of Queen Victoria’s Senior Officers. Every detail in the venues décor had been thoughtfully coordinated and the floral arrangements in particular looked wonderful We are often asked what happens to them after the event and I am happy to tell you that in keeping with tradition, all the flowers from all such events are donated and delivered to cancer units in the region wherever the event is being held. Amongst the arrangements for this year’s World Voyage Dinner, were over 4,000 roses and it was great to receive this message a couple of days later:

On behalf of the clients and staff of the Palliative Care Unit, Broadmeadows Health Service, Northern Health, I would like to thank you for the beautiful floral arrangements delivered to the unit. They have been a much admired and cherished addition to the unit, bringing colour and joy into the lives of our clients and their families. Regards, John Doran, Acting Unit Manager, Palliative Care Unit.

After welcome speeches from Captain Wright and Peter Shanks, I was delighted to introduce the Australian Boys Choir who performed familiar songs from Australia and around the world, from a balcony at the head of the Hall which was then projected on to big screens for everyone to enjoy.

The choir, which formed in 1939, is a performing and training choir, open to all boys with unchanged voices. Entry to the training groups is by selective audition, held three times each year. The Choir, based in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, presents an annual subscription series of formal concerts, as well as other engagements (television, radio and film) and frequent overseas tours. They have also sung before standing U.S Presidents, The Vatican, and Queen Elizabeth during her stay in Australia

As a really lovely touch, after Captain Wright said Grace, the choir boys mingled with very appreciative guests as they started to enjoy an excellent dinner.

Here is the menu for the night which was accompanied by some superb Australian wines chosen specifically to compliment the meal.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

After dinner we all enjoyed dancing to a wonderful orchestra and many of the ships company showed off their dancing talents with our guests late into the night!

Then all too soon it was time to head back to Queen Victoria, but there was another surprise as a special White Star Service welcome home had been prepared for our returning guests. Then many headed up to the top decks and continue the party to the sounds of our international band Changez, as Queen Victoria set sail for her next port, Adelaide.

As we discover the Orient on the next stage of our 2010 World Voyage, Queen Mary 2 will soon be heading across the Indian Ocean for maiden calls to Mauritius and South Africa. She’ll be hosting her World Voyage Dinner in Cape Town so I’ll try and get some pictures from that event and post them for you.

I’ll be back for my regular post tomorrow which will feature some new pictures from Queen Elizabeth with a special Video Blog highlighting the Grills. Cheers for now, Alastair