Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 214 days

 

Welcome to another Blog which marks yet more Cunard milestones. Firstly, this is our 80^th week of Blogging, and this is the 152^nd post, so thank you to everyone back in Southampton for all their help, but more importantly thank you for reading them, and for all your questions and comments. It’s been a busy week as both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria continue their World Voyages and we’ll of course keep you posted on their progress. Today Queen Mary 2 is on her way to Adelaide in South Australia and Queen Victoria will leave Hong Kong this afternoon after her overnight stay; I’ll post some pictures from there soon.

 

For this Blog, I’m pleased to post some new pictures of Queen Elizabeth in the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy where she is currently under construction in her outfitting dock. But before I share them with you, here’s this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 12 to 18 March:

 

12 March 1950	Caronia makes her maiden call to Naples, Italy
15 March 2007	Cunard announces Queen Victoria’s first summer voyages
16 March 2007	Queen Mary 2 makes her maiden transit of the Suez Canal
17 March 2009	A press release from Cunard reveals the first information about the new Queen Elizabeth due to be launched 18 months later
18 March 1839	Samuel Cunard agrees to a tentative contract with the British Admiralty to “Convey mail from a point in England to Halifax and back twice a month”
18 March 2008	Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Singapore

 

Tomorrow (12 March), will be exactly seven months before Queen Elizabeth begins her maiden voyage, so it’s perfect timing to show you some new pictures.  I asked Simona Capraro if she would take some pictures for us and she kindly sent these earlier this week. Firstly, this is how she looks at the moment in her outfitting dock. 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile inside our new Queen, one of the last sections of the ship’s infrastructure to be added was the Grills section, on deck 11 in the middle of our new liner. This is what I would describe as an enclave for guests who have booked the suites on board. As you may know there are two restaurants in this area; the Princess and Queen’s Grills. Although there is not much there at the moment here’s a picture of the Princess Grill, looking aft.

 

 

 

 

This, of course, is what the restaurant will look like when it is complete.

 

 

 

 

When I was at the float out ceremony in January, we filmed the Grills area, and to complete this Video Blog we have added an exclusive interview with Theresa Anderson, Cunard’s Vice President Interior Design, who has been responsible for the stunning Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth interior design.

 

 

Meanwhile around the rest of the ship, more areas are starting to become recognisable; well just. Here’s what the bar that will dispense delicious coffees throughout the day, looks like now, and a reminder of what it will look like in October; Café Carinthia.

 

 

 

 

 

Another recent addition to Queen Elizabeth was the elegant spiral staircase that will be the centre piece of her 6,000 book Art Deco styled library.

 

 

 

 

A favourite venue on board is Cunard’s signature bar, the Golden Lion Pub, which plays host to everything from Quizzes to Karaoke, Sing-along’s to Darts and much more including wonderful Pub Lunches! In these pictures you can see the progress the space is making along with what it will end up looking like.

 

 

 

That’s it for another week, but I’ll be back on Monday with a Blog featuring Queen Victoria’s latest “Star of the Month”, as well as a lot more posts to come. Please do keep those questions and comments coming, it’s always great to hear from readers. Cheers for now, Alastair

 Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 267 days

 

As Queen Mary 2 prepares to make her maiden southbound transit of the Suez Canal, Queen Victoria has also found the warmth of the Caribbean having made her maiden call to Grand Cayman yesterday. We anchored just off Georgetown, very close to a new pier:

 

 

We were lucky to be the only ship in, so we had the island to ourselves, where we could enjoy the delights of snorkeling, seven mile beach, Tortuga Rum Cake and an opportunity to go to Hell. No I am not being rude, there really is a place called Hell and it’s a group of short, black, limestone formations in the northwest of the island roughly the size of a football pitch. There are numerous explanations of how Hell received its name, but they are generally variations on what locals perceive Hell would look like. Whatever the origins of the name, many of our guests and crew go there, just so they have this claim to fame and post their cards from this spot with a special stamp.

 

Thank you again for all the comments about the previous Queen Elizabeth “Float Out Ceremony” Blogs. We will of course keep you updated with all the news as it happens. In this Blog and third video, we have a special interview with Queen Elizabeth’s Madrina, Dennie Farmer and also the ship yard director Paolo Capobianco.

 

Once the ceremony had been completed by the dry dock, which was now filling with water, we were treated to a wonderful reception and lunch in the Fincantieri offices at the Monfalcone ship yard. We were first given a very special souvenir programme of the day:

 

 

Inside the programme was a fitting tribute to our new Queen and Cunard’s proud and rich history, which included this great picture comparing Cunard’s latest liner with the very first ship, Britannia, which began Samuel Cunard’s company in 1840

 

 

There was some fantastic memorabilia around the room from the private collection of Maurizio Eliseo and Paolo Piccione, which celebrated many of the Cunard Liners of the past, including the previous ships bearing the name Elizabeth:

 

 

In this next Video Blog you’ll see that while we were at the reception I managed to have a chat with both Dennie Farmer and Paolo Capobianco, before heading back to Queen Elizabeth to have a look at the progress of the inside of the ship.

 

 

You’ll be able to see the next Video Blog in the series on Thursday, when I’ll be guiding you through the interior of Queen Elizabeth and there’ll also be an exclusive interview with Cunard’s President and Managing Director Peter Shanks. Thank you to both Dennie Farmer and Paolo Capobianco for their time and again to our cameraman Andrew, as well as everyone else at the Fincantieri ship yard for all their help on that day.

 

Meanwhile I’ll be back tomorrow with a special Blog from Queen Mary 2. Although the festive celebrations of Christmas and New Year may see a long time ago, we thought you’d still like to see how our flagship celebrated the season with a Guest Blog from Freda Singleton, Queen Mary 2’s Social Hostess.

 

Thank you again for logging on and please keep those comments and questions coming in. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 274 days

 

As I prepare to fly to New York to meet Queen Victoria on her 2010 World Voyage, I am delighted to say that the first Video Blog from Queen Elizabeth’s Float Out ceremony is now ready.  As I mentioned in my last post, this is the first part of four from the day. The ceremony began on the new Games Deck, where following tradition, our Madrina, Dennie Farmer was invited to weld the three coins to the bulk head, after which our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks added his welding skills to complete that part of the day’s celebrations.

 

 

 

And here, having completed their tasks, Peter and Dennie are photographed in front of the newly welded coins which Queen Elizabeth’s guests will be able to see whenever they visit the Games Deck.

 

 

 

Fincantieri Ship Yard Director, Paolo Capobianco then signed Dennie’s apron to commemorate the occasion.

 

 

 

So now, here’s the video which I hope you agree really captures the excitement of the first part of the day.

 

 

 

 

As I mention in the video, the ceremony then moved to the dock side, and the Video Blog which sees this bottle of Italian Prosecco break on Queen Elizabeth’s Hull, will be posted later this week.

 

 

 

We will then get to see the lock gates release water in to the massive dry dock, and Queen Elizabeth’s hull touches water for time. I also have some great interviews from the day on the way as well.

 

I’ll be back on Thursday with the weekly Blog when I’ll let you know how the World Voyages on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria are going, and of course more pictures and videos from Queen Elizabeth’s float out ceremony. Cheers, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 278 days

 

I have just returned from Monfalcone, Italy, where the Queen Elizabeth “Float Out” Ceremony took place at the Fincantieri shipyard, and what a day it was. I also enjoyed the opportunity to see the ship, and the staggering progress that has been made, since our last visit in November. It’s now just 10 months to go, and judging from your comments, the excitement is definitely building, so we’ll keep the pictures and reports coming. Despite the cold weather and a bit of rain, we were able to capture this important milestone with some great photos and we also recorded some more video Blogs which we will bring you over the next couple of weeks.

 

Before we get to those first pictures here’s Cunard’s history, for the week 8 to 14 January:

 

8 January 1971	QE2 joined in the rescue of some 500 passengers from the burning French Line ship, Antilles, off Mustique Island
8 January 2004	Queen Mary 2 is named by Her Majesty the Queen after 20,000 people had worked with 300,000 parts, 1,000 miles of welding in just 2 years of construction
8 January 2007	Cunard announces the new Commodore of the Cunard Fleet as Bernard Warner
9 January 1972	Several fires break out on Queen Elizabeth while she is in Hong Kong Harbour as a floating university. Arson was suspected but never proven. By the next morning she was on her side, where she stayed for 3 years before sinking.
11 January 1949	Caronia arrives in New York for the first time, via Cherbourg
13 January 2008	Queen Victoria makes her maiden call at New York for the first meeting of three Queens with Queen Mary 2 and QE2.

 

 

 

 

The “Float Out” ceremony marked the moment that Queen Elizabeth’s hull touched water for the first time. For the event, Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, was joined by 79-year old Florence (Dennie) Farmer who was guest of honour at the event. Dennie’s husband, Willie Farmer joined Cunard in September 1938 and served as Chief Engineer on both Queen Elizabeth and QE2 until retirement in October 1979. Since her husband’s death Dennie has sailed with Cunard many times and her link to the two previous Queen Elizabeth ships is unparalleled. In recognition of this, Cunard bestowed on Dennie the honour, in Italian tradition, of being ‘Madrina’ to the third Queen Elizabeth.

 

 

 

We arrived quite early so we could have a look at the ship before the VIPs, dignitaries and press arrived; so what is our new Queen looking like:

 

 

 

Yes, what a transformation from the last pictures. Her bow is looking stunning, and how wonderful to see her name on the traditional Cunard livery.

 

 

 

You may notice one key difference to her sister, Queen Victoria, and that’s the new Games Deck. As you may already know, this area will have a special canvas covering, and you can see the support work already in place. This is what the area will look like in October.

 

 

 

 

 

In fact you get a great view of the area in this picture and yes they did manage persuade me to go up on another crane to get this photo!

 

 

 

You will see there is a temporary structure on this part of the deck and that was because the first part of the ceremony took place here. It involved the welding of significant coins beneath the mast of Queen Elizabeth for good luck. Three coins were chosen; a half crown dated 1938 (the year the first Queen Elizabeth was launched); a sovereign dated 1967 (the year QE2 was launched) and a sovereign dated 2010 to acknowledge the fact that the new Queen Elizabeth is being floated out in 2010.

 

 

 

After the coin ceremony, the focus moved to the dockside where the ship was blessed, and a bottle of Italian Prosecco was smashed against the hull by our Madrina. The valves of the dry dock were then opened so the ship could meet the water for the first time. I’ll have more pictures and video of the whole event in the next Blog on Monday.

 

Meanwhile looking around the ship I was able to see some other spaces becoming more recognisable. Here you can see the magnificent vaulted roof of the Garden Lounge and just behind the roof structure you can see the Grills area which has just recently been added.

 

 

It may not be easy to imagine this at the moment but this is what it will look like:

 

 

 

 

One of the other recent additions is the Yacht Club which is where Hemispheres is located on Queen Victoria.

 

 

 

And this is what this will look like in ten months time.

 

 

We managed to get back on the quayside just before the other guests arrived. I couldn’t get the whole ship in one photo but this is a great shot showing all the ship’s superstructure now in place.

 

 

 

The large yellow equipment on the side of the ship is used to transport staterooms to the various decks along with other equipment and outfitting materials. Just below the Cunard name was where the second part of the ceremony took place, and a really keen eye may be able to spot the black speck which is the bottle of Prosecco ready to be released. Just one job was left before the event could begin and that was the all important clearing of the dry dock of numerous pieces of equipment including this crane used by the ship yard workers to paint the ship’s hull.

 

 

 

And now for a few words from our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, about his experience of the event:

 

Wow. All of us at Cunard have a growing sense of anticipation and pride in Queen Elizabeth – but to stand today beneath her famous black hull and for the first time to see the words ‘Queen Elizabeth’ on the bow was a wonderful moment for us all. The traditional Italian ‘Float-Out’ Ceremony is a lovely tradition. We had invited a long standing friend of Cunard – Dennie Farmer – to be our ‘Madrina’ for the event. We had quite a day and I thought I would share with you some of my personal highlights.

 

Bad Weather – The weather everywhere at the moment is a problem. Yesterday it snowed heavily in Trieste, but this morning the weather held off which was a good omen for the day. However, I did invest over the Christmas period in a very grown-up full length coat. Alongside Dennie – me in my new black coat and her in a very apt red coat, hat and gloves were all set. As I write this while flying back to Gatwick this evening – I hear we are expecting a foot of snow at home tomorrow – we have been lucky with our timing.

 

A warm welcome – The pride that all the workers and management of Fincantieri have in building Queen Elizabeth is marvellous. We were a small group from the office along with some of our key journalist partners. From the minute we arrived at the yard we were made to feel very special. During the ceremony I was asked to give a short speech. I had help in translating a few paragraphs into Italian and I was able to tell the many hundreds of yard workers present that they were as of now ‘Honorary Cunarders’ and to thank them personally for the progress they have made to date. They got the biggest round of applause of the day and deservedly so. In the same way that I often mention that it is the staff on board our ships who deliver our White Star Service – it is the dedication, enthusiasm and pride of the yard workers who build the magic for us to deliver to our guests.

 

Never saw myself as a welder – Part of the tradition is to weld a coin below the mast of the ship. Well we chose three coins – why not, this ship is at least three times as exciting as any other ship that will launch this year. Dennie went first and was aided by two yard workers in welding the coins into place. I was next – you know it is incredible to play such a part in the history of Cunard Line. Over the next 20-30 years many hundreds of thousands of guests will stop, look and read about the coins – today Dennie and I welded them into place – and welded ourselves into the history of Cunard Line. (I should be honest here and say that I think Dennie made a better welder than I did).

 

 

 

Now that is what I call a bottle smash – I know I should not have worried – after all here we were in a ship yard. But I could not help wondering if the bottle would smash, as Dennie cut the string with a very smart little axe. Words like ‘obliteration’ and ‘smithereens’ come to mind – as one of the pictures show, these Fincantieri boys really know their stuff.

 

 

 

Very Special Atmosphere – Let’s be honest – we were in reality just standing in front of a huge amount of steel. We have all witnessed many of these events. But as the Padre blessed the ship, as the national anthems were played, as the bottle smashed, as the yard workers cheered it was very clear to all of us that this was no simple lump of steel. This was special – this was Cunard, this was Queen Elizabeth and we were all playing a part in a special moment in the life of Queen Elizabeth.

 

Thank you Dennie – The yard treated Dennie so well during the day. She received a lovely memento of the occasion, a dozen beautiful roses and as we left she was handed an album already full of the photos of the day. I really hope she enjoyed her special day. In fact I know that she did – full of thoughts as to how proud her late husband Willie would have been of her continuing their long association with Cunard Elizabeth’s.

 

 

 

Well I hope that gives you a flavour of the day. Back to work in the morning and back down to earth. We have an awful lot to do to prepare for the introduction of the ship – and her Maiden Voyage on 12 October, a very special day for all of us, not least because it happens to be Columbus day – how cool is that?

 

Best Regards

 

Peter Shanks

President and Managing Director – Cunard Line

 

 

That’s it I’m afraid for this Blog, but we’ll post some great videos soon, and these will cover the ceremony itself along with interviews with Peter Shanks, our Madrina Dennie Farmer and the Fincantieri Yard Director, Paolo Capobianco along with more interior shots. The first video blog of this event will be posted at the beginning of next week along with more photos. In the meantime I have to start packing as I will be joining Queen Victoria on her 2010 World Voyage in New York on Tuesday. Cheers Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 313 days

 

Welcome to another special Queen Elizabeth update, and the last of the videos and pictures from my visit to the shipyard a couple of weeks ago. Thank you for all the great comments, especially about these updates; we’ll certainly keep them coming and will try and get some more pictures posted before Christmas. The next key date everyone is waiting for is when Queen Elizabeth will be floated out from her dry dock and move to her first outfitting dock. I’m afraid I don’t have a firm date on that yet but we understand it will be at the beginning of January. I’ll of course let you know and we’ll hopefully get some pictures and video of that to you very soon after the event.

 

I also have some more news about recent awards Cunard Line has won. In the recently announced annual Porthole Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards, Cunard was awarded ‘Best Onboard Educational Programs’, ‘Best World Itineraries’ and ‘Best Transatlantic Itineraries’. With that great news here’s this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 4 to 10 December:

 

4 December 1975 QE2 completes her first million miles of steaming

6 December 2008 Queen Victoria makes maiden call at La Goulette

10 December 1999 The Caronia is renamed at a ceremony in Liverpool

10 December 2007 Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall names Queen Victoria, Cunard’s 147th ship.

 

 

So now back to Queen Elizabeth and the third and final installment with pictures and video from my visit to the shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. As we walked forward through the ship, I had to really think hard about which space we were in. Passing through the Queens Room and Royal Arcade, I was excited to see how the Royal Court Theatre was looking. Walking in on deck 2, I was greeted by this incredible view of what will be the stunning auditorium.

 

 

 

 

With a bit of imagination you can see where the seating will be, with the stage area directly ahead in the middle. Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Court Theatre will have the same amazingly clear sightlines, so don’t worry, the big steel girders are just there temporarily while the shipyard strengthen the structure around the theatre. The big white panel on the stage is the biggest fire screen door that will be on the ship. This leads from the stage to the scenery dock area where the scenic elements of shows will be kept. Just before you ask, I’m afraid I don’t have any details on the shows yet, but I do know they will be brand new shows, designed exclusively for Queen Elizabeth. Of course, as with all the breaking news items on our new Queen, I’ll let you know as soon as I can. Meanwhile it was time to try out one of the theatre boxes.

 

 

 

 

 

Queen Elizabeth will be just the second ship in the world to have private theatre boxes, following their huge success on Queen Victoria. I had to clamber up scaffolding to get there, but it was so good to see it all coming together. So here it is, the final video clip of our visit:

 

 

Our thanks again to Simona and Antonio in the Fincantieri ship yard for all their help over that weekend. They were so accommodating with their time and I think the results of their patience speak for themselves. We’ll try and get some more pictures soon but in the meantime I’ll be back on Monday with a very different Blog which tells a moving story from one of our crew members. Cheers, Alastair

 

  

Two months after my last visit we have some more pictures of Queen Elizabeth under construction in the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. Last Thursday Queen Victoria made her first call to Venice this year and our guests enjoyed what I believe to be one of the most incredible cities in the world. I will do a full blog on our day there very soon and this will include some great pictures of the city, from the ship, as well as some stunning video footage of her arrival taken by our cameraman who watched Queen Victoria’s dramatic arrival from the shore side.

 

As we made our final approaches we could just see in the background, the Fincantieri ship yard in Marghera where just over 21 months ago Queen Victoria was completed.

 

As soon as we arrived, our guests set off to explore this beautiful city, while I started the ninety minute drive down the coast to the small town of Monefalcone to see how our new Queen was taking shape. So donned with a hard hat, I was taken around the yard and was amazed at the amount of ship sections and machinery, literally everywhere, all ready to be assembled and create our new liner. This is one of the boilers that will be in the technical spaces of Queen Elizabeth.

 

 

The numerous sections that will comprise the ship are made in to different blocks in various sheds around the yard and then put together to make bigger ones which become so large they are often worked on outside. It is sometimes a challenge to work out which piece is which, but I am fairly confident this block is the aft section of what will be deck 2 of the Britannia Restaurant.

 

 

Then as we turned the corner, it was the moment I had been waiting for, since seeing the keel being laid on the 2^nd of July. (If you haven’t seen those pictures or video you’ll find them on the 6^th, 9^th and 13^th of July postings.)

 

To be able to see into the dry dock, where in just a few months Queen Elizabeth will take to the water for the first time, was probably the most exciting part of the day. The progress was staggering as you can see from this photo which is looking aft with the ship’s bow in the foreground.

 

 

It gives you a great cross sectional view of her hull before the forward section, including the bulbous bow, is added. The height of the front section here is “A” deck which houses mainly crew areas including crew cabins which arrive in “Pods”, and you can see them covered in white plastic. If you look carefully you can also see the section of the hull which has been painted white, and where this starts is promenade deck 3. I think the open section that goes from “A” deck to deck 2 will eventually be the forward “A” staircase.

 

Moving along the port side of the ship you could see there are still many sections of the ship’s keel still waiting to be placed. The section on the right hand side of this photo is in its final position ready to be attached to more sections in the middle.

 

 

 

 

You can see the wire cables holding the last block in place (on the left of the picture), and these will remain there until the welding is complete. And if you look carefully you’ll see on this next photo the narrow gap of a few millimetres, waiting to be welded.

 

 

This next picture shows the aft section of the keel where the massive “Azipod” motors and propellers will be attached to underside of the missing section of hull. Also, as you can see, there is still one more small section to add to the very aft of the keel.

 

 

Then I was in for a real treat, yes I was actually going to be allowed to board the ship – well what there was of her anyway! I don’t know but my claim to fame may be that I was the first Cunard Employee to do so – who knows!

 

 

It was quite a strange feeling walking up the gangway knowing there was only a small part of here, yet realizing that crew will be boarding the ship for the first time in about a year’s time ready to take up their positions to prepare her for the maiden voyage. I entered on the “A” deck gangway and although it was very dark, with just a few lights powered by shore side generators, as I looked aft, I could just about make out to what I think will be the guest entrance to the Medical Centre. (The white doors on the left hand side)

 

 

It was an amazing day and I’d like to thank Simona Capraro who looked after us so well in the yard, along with Luca Fornasiero and Carlo Fucile from Fincantieri who were kind enough to give up their valuable time to show us around. The exciting news is that this is just part one of the pictures from this visit; I’ll post part two soon and these will be ones taken from a position I wasn’t sure was going to be possible. I was also accompanied by our cameraman, Andrew, who is currently preparing a video of the visit for this Blog which will also be posted soon.

 

So please keep logging on, as I have lots more to share with you and of course I’ll try and answer your questions too. I’ll be back on Thursday, if not before, with more news around the fleet. Cheers - Alastair