Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 298 days

As many of you will know, each month we feature a “Star of the Month” from either Queen Mary 2 or Queen Victoria. 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 Committee. The “Star of the Month”, also has their photo displayed prominently in the Grand Lobby for guests to see, so it’s now a great pleasure to talk to Queen Victoria’s latest star; Emiliano Sajol Jr. who is the Deck Storekeeper.

34 year old Emiliano is from Camp Phillips, Manolo, Fortich Bukidnon in the Philippines, where he was also educated. After school he headed to Nautical College for three years where he studied for his Associate in Marine Transportation. Emiliano has been married to Maryjane for four years and they live in his home town of Camp Philips. They don’t have any children yet, but they are hoping they may be able to start a family next year.

Emiliano’s career at sea began on QE2 in November 2004, when he joined the Housekeeping Department. However during his spare time he completed deck training and two years later changed department and became an O.S. (ordinary seaman). He worked as an O.S. for one and a half years before being promoted to the A.B. (able seaman) position. He told me that he always tries his best to learn everything about his job and is still enjoying learning today on Queen Victoria, his second ship with Cunard.

As Deck Storekeeper, he looks after the deck store inventory, doing weekly and monthly checks. He told me “If we need something I advise the Marine Supervisor and he orders it for us”. The external fabric of the ship is maintained by the Deck Department, so there is constant cleaning, painting and varnishing taking place around the ship to ensure she is not only protected from the elements, but also looks immaculate, as a Queen should. Part of Emiliano’s job is to issue the paint, cleaning chemicals and tools to the deck crew as well as the personal protective equipment they need for the job they are doing. An important aspect of his job is to make sure the Deck Department abides by all the very strict environmental regulations for using, storing and discarding of chemicals, paints and refuse that the department uses every day. Here he is at work:

Emiliano has an early start with his alarm going off at 4am. After his prayers, he showers and heads to work. His morning routine involves being part of the team that cleans, washes and dries all the open decks of the ship before our guests get up in the morning. The team then gets breakfast, and if the ship is at sea he will go to the deck stores and check everything is ready and prepared for the day. He will then get the materials the deck crew need for the jobs they are given that day by the Marine Supervisor.

During the day he will look after the stores and maintain inventories, keeping everything in order. Before his lunch he will take back the supplies from the morning’s work from the deck crew and then prepare everything for the afternoon tasks. In the afternoon he enjoys time to relax, he will often try and call his wife to catch up on things from home. Returning to the stores later in the afternoon he puts everything away again from the afternoon team’s work and gets the materials and supplies ready for the night crew.

The port days are very busy for Emiliano because whenever the ship arrives or leaves, Emiliano will go to the mooring deck and drive the winches for the mooring lines. If the ship is at anchor he will also be involved in that operation.

His dinner time will depend on the ships maneuvering schedules and his duties on the mooring deck, but after he has finished that, the evening gives him time to relax with friends or enjoy a movie in his cabin.

Although Emiliano says Queen Victoria is a great place to work, he does look forward to his holiday times at home where he is a keen sportsman, playing basketball every day and watching sports on television

I asked Emiliano how he felt about winning the “Star of the Month Award”; he said, “I would like to thank my Supervisor and everyone who was a part of my nomination and to Cunard for giving employees a chance to win such a prize.” Here he is accepting his award in the special presentation in Queen Victoria’s Hemisphere’s Lounge, with (from left to right) Captain Paul Wright, Emiliano Sajol Jr, Staff Captain Andrew Hall, Marine Supervisor Gerry Crant and Hotel Manager David Hamilton.

That evening he celebrated by buying his friends some drinks and is also looking for a special gift for his wife.

As for the future, Emiliano hopes to save up enough money so that he can invest in a business in the Philippines and spend more time at home with his wife.

Our Congratulations to Emiliano again for his well deserved award, and next month we’ll be learning about Queen Mary 2’s new star. I’ll be back on Tuesday with those stunning pictures of Queen Elizabeth’s progress in Italy that I have being promising you. There’ll also be a special festive post for next Thursday – Christmas Eve. Cheers Alastair

Firstly, thanks again for all the viewings and more postings.  It’s also great to hear from those of you I have sailed with, on our different ships, in the past. Judging from your feedback, it seems this is just the beginning, so I look forward to hearing more from you and inviting my colleagues around the fleet to Blog as well. We now have a few ideas for upcoming weeks, and thanks to Kazzie for asking about a lecture I did on Queen Victoria, about the building of the ship, which I presented on the World Cruise. I have a few subjects to get to first but will work on that including some fascinating pictures of her construction. Also I will make sure you are the first to hear about the progress on Queen Elizabeth, so as the cliché goes - watch this space.

I know as Cunarders we all share a love of the history of the company, and enjoy taking a nostalgic look back in time. With that in mind I thought we could try a new feature called “This week in Cunard’s History” which I will include in the Blog. So here’s the first one for the week of the 26^th September to the 2^nd October:

September 26 1934 
The 80,744-ton Queen Mary is launched at Clydebank and becomes the first merchant vessel to be launched by a member of the Royal family (Her Majesty Queen Mary). Because of her French arch rival (The Normandie), she was launched with a bottle of Australian wine

September 27 1938
The Queen Elizabeth 83, 673 tons becomes the largest liner ever built. She is launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

September 27 1967
Queen Mary sails in to New York for the last time completing her final transatlantic crossing, with 1,400 passengers on board including the designer John Brown incognito. Shortly afterwards she sails for Long Beach, California.

October 1 1971
QE2 makes her Maiden Call Boston, USA

October 1 1972
Completion of the Queens Grill Penthouses addition to QE2

October 1 1979
QE2 makes her maiden call to Boston, Massachusetts

Before I get to the David Hamilton interview, here’s what’s being going on around the fleet after last week’s milestones.

QE2 has bid farewell to Canada and New England (she returns to New York, just one more time on her final westbound transatlantic crossing beginning on the 10^th October), and on Tuesday started her “Farewell to the British Isles Voyage”. We are hoping to have QE2’s Entertainment Director, Warren Smith as a guest Blogger next week, to tell us all about the voyage.

As you know from last week’s Blog Queen Mary 2 completed her 100^th crossing marking another key date in her history and is now enjoying her “Autumn Sojourn” visiting New England as well as the birth place of Samuel Cunard – Halifax Nova Scotia.

Meanwhile here on Queen Victoria we have being enjoying new ports of call with our maiden visit to Odessa and Yalta. To get to there the ship had to go through the Bosporus (or Bosphorus) Strait. It is the world’s narrowest strait used for international navigation and connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara (which is connected by the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea, and thereby to the Mediterranean Sea). It is approximately 18 miles long so leaving Istanbul at lunchtime gave us some spectacular viewing and an opportunity to see Queen Victoria going under the two bridges that connect Europe (Rumelia) and Asia (Anatolia). It’s funny how we all instinctively hold our breaths, and may be even duck, as we go under but of course the Captain and Bridge team had planned everything in advance, to ensure there is enough of a gap to squeeze through, and in this case it was just 9 metres!

Going Under The Bosphorous Bridge

When we arrived at our berth in Odessa, we had a prime spot, where we could walk straight off the ship and within a short walk were in the centre of the City. This is a fascinating port and although quite a few ships do visit each year, you get the feeling that tourism hasn’t affected the city that much. You certainly felt a little bit more like a fly on the wall watching the locals going about their daily business and routines. Certainly fashion seems to be in a bit of a time warp, so if you want to see mullet haircuts and drain pipe jeans; Odessa is the place for you. It seems they also like their beer rather a lot as I can’t remember visiting a port where so many beers are on offer and in so many places including news agents! Clearly I had to try one or two for research purposes and yes they were very good. The city is undergoing a huge transformation with a lot of construction taking place and clearly they are investing a lot in their city, so I have a feeling it will be very different when we next visit. They have recently completed the magnificent Opera House and I was amazed to see you could go and see “La Traviata” for just £5 ($9), and for the very best seat in the house £20 - what incredible value.

Odessa Opera House

This is the view from the aft lido deck of the ship, of the 142 metre long Potemkin Stairs constructed between 1837 and 1841, which was made famous by the 1925 film “Battleship Potemkin” by Sergei Eistenstein. It’s a very impressive way to enter the city and you can of course walk up or take the small funicular along the side. 

Potemkin Stairs

The Sailaway was one of the most impressive I have seen since some of the ports on the World Cruise. It seemed the whole city was out to wave us off and as one guest told me as we watched the crowds “I suppose it would have been like this in the old days of the transatlantic crossings”. It was also lovely to see our 37 Ukranian crew being able to proudly show their families around their place of work and show off the ship (this was once we had resolved some rather interesting immigration issues – they do things very differently in this part of the world!). It was great to see families reunited and of course it was an emotional send off for them waving good bye to loved ones as we set sail.    

Odessa Sailaway

But what a send off, the atmosphere was amazing as a spontaneous exchange of gifts took place from guest balconies and those on the pier. I think our guests were donating their turn down chocolates in return for – well I don’t know what was thrown back but the thought was there and I am sure we will all remember that Sailaway for years to come.

Now it’s time to chat to Queen Victoria’s Hotel Manager, David Hamilton and before I get to the interview this is his story so far:-

David, Hamilton, Hotel Manager

Brought up in Salisbury, Wilts, where he still lives, David attended a prep school on the Somerset coast of the Bristol Channel, and later Allhallows School on the Devon Coast. His first seagoing employment was with Union Castle Line, for whom he had worked on shore for some four years before “taking the plunge” and joining Pendennis Castle as Assistant Purser in January 1974. In 1976 he transferred to the Windsor Castle and remained with that ship until 1977 when Union Castle ceased operating and David joined Cunard, being appointed to the Cunard Countess, where he spent many happy years sailing the Caribbean gaining experience and promotion. In 1990 he was appointed relief Purser of Cunard Countess/Cunard Princess, and spent the next three years sailing the Caribbean on the Countess and the Mediterranean on the Princess. In 1994 David was appointed Purser of QE2 although he sailed aboard Vistafjord, Sagafjord and Dynasty around this time, later progressing in 1997 to relief Hotel Manager of QE2. In 2002 he was promoted to Hotel Manager and assigned to the Caronia (formerly the Vistafjord). In 2004 he returned permanently to QE2 and remained with her until August of 2008 when he joined Queen Victoria. His hobbies include cycling, backgammon and looking for his golf balls in the more remote parts of golf courses. Although he still has an apartment in Salisbury, David spends much of his leave time with his partner Kelly who lives in Australia and whom he met aboard QE2.

Firstly please could you describe your role on board?
As Hotel Manager I have overall responsibility for the smooth running of hotel operation of the ship. With over 650 members the hotel department is the largest department and in simple terms, with the support of our colleagues in the marine and technical departments, delivers the guest service, entertainment and experience both on board and on land. Victualling, entertaining and providing the creature comforts for 2000 guests and 1000 ship’s company whilst moving them from port to port, safely and on time is no small achievement and I am proud to be a part of the team who accomplish this every day.