Guest Blog:

Freda Singleton, Social Hostess & Marc Wilkinson, Sports Director; Queen Elizabeth

Welcome to the latest news of Queen Elizabeth’s travels. From the warm shores of Italy we headed north for our maiden visit to the Norwegian fjords…. it was something of a shock to be surrounded by snow dusted mountains and near freezing waters!

Our first stop was Stavanger and as Norwegian ports go, one of the more populated.  A good chance to begin to acclimatise to the change in temperatures; as the locals walked around in shorts and t-shirts, crew and guests alike donned thermals and woolly hats!

Next call took us to the charming port of Flaam with a population of around 300, so Queen Elizabeth guests multiplied this almost 8 times over as they made their way to the steepest railway network in Europe for the morning tours – some of the more energetic taking bicycles with them for the magnificent ride down hill through the lush, verdant countryside.

Now – a little challenge for you – what do you think is the question most commonly asked of the Captain at cocktail parties?   Probably – ‘If you’re here, who is driving the ship…..?’

Amongst our Captains’ witty replies are often variations along the lines of:  ‘Some yoof….’ or alternatively ‘Microsoft’!  After our early morning meandering entrance between the waterfalls and the snow-capped mountains into the beautiful fjord of Geiranger, the ‘yoofs’ properly got to play with Microsoft!   Unusually for this area, the wind was too strong and gusty to drop anchor.  If there is a sudden gust, the process of retrieving the anchor and resetting position would be time consuming and risky in such a narrow bay, captured beautifully in this photograph.

‘Hmm, so how shall we handle this, boys?’ ….time to fire up the high tech ‘Dynamic Positioning’ system.  More often used for specialised operations such as offshore drilling or oceanographic research missions, the system works to enable the ship to maintain its position by using her thrusters and pods to counteract the effects of forces such as wind, current and wave action.  The computer programme contains a mathematical model of the vessel that includes information relating to the wind, current drag of the vessel and the location of the thrusters. Combining this with sensor information, allows the computer to calculate the required steering angle and thruster output for each thruster.  Dynamic positioning may either be absolute in that the position is locked to a fixed point over the bottom, or relative to a moving object like another ship or an underwater vehicle.  It can also position the ship at a favourable angle towards wind, waves and current, which is called weather-vaning.

Providing an ideal solution to the conditions, the Bridge team enjoyed a day monitoring the efficiency of the DP system and were delighted to report it held us beautifully within 17 metres of our initial position.  Meanwhile and blissfully unaware of the technology in play, our guests were ferried ashore on the tenders to experience this breath-taking scenery.

Moving on to the light-hearted side of crew life; here you can see our multi-talented senior officers swapping their stripes for aprons and getting hot in the galley, cooking for a thousand hungry crew.  Always up for a challenge, it was no surprise to find Captain Chris Wells in charge of flambéed strawberries under the watchful eye and careful pouring of Executive Chef, Nick Oldroyd, whilst Dr Dale Thorne undertakes the task of taster in the background:

Two other dodgy looking characters were spotted in charge of ice-cream……. Food and Beverage Manager, Stefan Engl and Hotel Manager, Robbie Howie.  Of course this is how all officers dress below decks – it helps other crew members pick them out when they are not wearing their stripes!  According to Robbie, it helps him relax at the end of a busy day, though we’re not sure what the squirty cream has to do with the outfit!

Finally, we are delighted to feature two of our guests following in their parents’ footsteps.  Back in November 2010, Miles and Lisa Wilshire featured in our blog as they joined us for their honeymoon, poignantly as Miles’ parents had done the same voyage on QE2 many years previously for their own honeymoon.  And now, 6 months later they were repeating the same pattern, Miles’ parents retuned to QE2 6 months after their honeymoon voyage, so Miles and Lisa followed in their footsteps this time back up our new Queen Elizabeth’s gangway. It was hardly a surprise then to hear we have a new generation of addicted Cunarders, now planning their next voyage, perhaps on Queen Mary 2.

Stay tuned for our next instalment.

Regards

Marc & Freda

Social Hostess

Queen Elizabeth

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It would be hard to imagine a more Royalist and inexorably devoted to Cunard individual than the legendary Thomas Quinones, so it will come as no surprise to anyone who knows him to hear how excited he was to be combing a wonderful Royal Wedding with a day on Cunard’s newest addition to the fleet, Queen Elizabeth. Talking to him the day before, he said he was as nervous as if he was getting married himself and had not been able to sleep in the anticipation. So, he took himself off to rest in the early evening of 28 April and set his alarm for just after midnight to get started on his big mission – to create Cunard’s own Royal Mile along deck 2 of Queen Elizabeth.

And what a magnificent job he did of it too, with flags adorning the walkway all through from stern to stem, from the Britannia restaurant, past Café Carinthia, through the Queens Room and past the Golden Lion, leading guests on to the Royal Court Theatre.  There were Union Jack flags, hats and bunting everywhere:

 Not least, of course surrounding Her Majesty herself!

Early on the morning of 29^th, all that remained was to await the crowds’ arrival at both Westminster Abbey and deck 2…….

Knowing this was certainly the next best thing to being at Buckingham Palace for the occasion, Thomas was determined to uphold Cunard’s standards and dressed to befit the event.  This is how Queen Elizabeth’s guests were welcomed into the Royal Court Theatre boxes…… 

Eagerly anticipating the arrival of first the handsome princes and then the beautiful, elegant bride and her sister, the burning issue was the world’s best kept secret – ‘The Dress’:  Who had designed it?  What would it be like?  A collective gasp of delight could be heard around the ship as the beaming Kate Middleton emerged and the jaw-droppingly gorgeous dress was revealed, the audience was rapt, the atmosphere punctuated only by cheers and applause as first Prince William said ‘I will’ and then Kate. It was as if no-one dared to move for fear of missing the magic of the moment, or the much anticipated kiss – it was almost a relief to stand for the National Anthem!

The bonhomie continued through the rest of the day adding a touch of poignancy to the end of the voyage for the guests who were almost all disembarking in Southampton on 30^th, but who nevertheless managed to find time to fit in their last afternoon tea with the extra special touches for this very extra special day.

 After tea followed the last frenzied packing and putting out suitcases for collection, all valuable activities to ensure an appetite for the celebration Royal Wedding dinner, with congratulations sealed by Captain Chris Wells inviting all guests to toast the happy couple and take home the traditional piece of the spectacular wedding cake.  

Executive Pastry Chef, Romualdo Rebello poses here by his masterpiece which was displayed complete with a complementary bridal train!

And finally for those who still had some energy left, an elegant Royal Dance in the Queens Room with none other than the fabulous Thomas leading the way with the Gay Gordons (we could well imagine the Royal Family partying to Scottish music).  For the band break – what else could be more appropriate than the Catherine Waltz and Balmoral Blues!

In Thomas’ own words; “A truly legendary, elegant and magnificently memorable day!”

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Paul O’Loughlin

Entertainment Director

Queen Mary 2

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Preparations for the big day began in back in New York when bunting was delivered ready for decoration, provisions arrived ready to make a celebratory meal fit for royalty, and cases of champagne were stored in the ship’s hold ready to be put on ice for a toast to the happy couple.

In the early hours on the day itself, the Entertainment Staff were up at the crack of dawn to prepare the ship’s public areas for the day’s festivities. Festive bunting was hung around the Queens Room, and at the entrances to the Royal Court Theatre, Illuminations and Golden Lion Pub where guests could watch a live feed of the events taking place in London, around 1,500 nautical miles away. Queen Mary 2 was on her Eastbound Transatlantic crossing and two hours behind London time. Time and distance differences aside, the atmosphere on board was transformed and by the time Afternoon Tea was served talk was on little other than the dress, the carriage and of course the kiss.

The order of the day soon switched from observation to celebration, after eating their beautifully prepared Royal Wedding Dinner,  Guests in the Golden Lion pub tested their knowledge of all things Royal with a themed trivia, followed by a traditional British sing along that raised the rafters. The focus of the evening was in the Queens Room, where a Royal Wedding Reception was held. Resident International Band Vibz provided the party music

Social Hostess Gun provided the party spirit, culminating in a special red white and blue balloon drop over a packed dance floor.

Celebrations lasted into the night, but as a final touch, and in British wedding tradition, guests returning to their staterooms discovered that a piece of wedding cake had been delivered by Cunard Royal Mail in a commemorative box. A luxurious end to a lengthy day.

One Guest commented to me ” It was amazing, just as if we were at the Royal Wedding itself!”

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Keith Maynard

Entertainment Director

Queen Victoria

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Proud to be British! 29 April at 1pm Ships time saw 1400 of our guests all gathered in the Royal Court Theatre, Queens Room and Golden Lion Pub to watch the Royal Couple tie the knot. Many more chose to enjoy Room Service and relax in their Staterooms.

The champagne was flowing and the atmosphere a mixture of pride, excitement and anticipation!

As prince Harry cast a cheeky look down the aisle at Kate and reassured his big brother a ripple of laughter and applause erupted from the Theatre followed only moments later by the dabbing of many eyes as vow’s were exchanged and promises made. Several hymns later you could almost feel Queen Victoria roll slightly as 1400 people stood in unison for the National Anthem proud to share in this special moment with the 2 billion people worldwide.

Our guests enjoyed a celebratory menu in the evening, complete with wedding cake baked on board by our wonderful chefs:

In the evening our signature show Victoriana had the packed auditorium calling for more as hundreds of Union Jacks swayed back and forth to Land of Hope and Glory!

In the Queens Room Jamie our Social Host added a touch of fairy tale magic into the Victoriana Ball with a special Cinderella Waltz and traditional Bridal Bouquet toss!

There were many lovely comments as guests headed back to their staterooms with their commemorative menu tucked under arms and the phrase uttered by almost all was that today was a day they were proud to be British and what better way than to spend it on board a Cunard Queen, launched by member of our Royal Family.

It was great to read all your comments from Peter Shanks’ blog on Monday, about the meeting of the Queen Elizabeths. I have to tell you it was a real moment in history, and I defy anyone not to be moved as Queen Elizabeth said goodbye to her predecessor, with another exchange of whistles as she sailed away.

In this blog we are actually going back to a few days before Queen Elizabeth arrived in Dubai, and her maiden call to Mumbai, which is always one of the most exciting ports on a World Voyage. Mumbai, formerly Bombay, has an estimated population of thirteen million making it the most populous city in India. The city is known for The Gateway of India built to commemorate the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary on 2 December 1911, (though it was not completed until 4 December, 1924). Since our visit last year the restoration on the monument has been completed and now looks superb.

Opposite The Gateway of India is the famous Taj Hotel, a magnificent building which was recently completely renovated and is still one of Mumbai’s most prestigious hotels.

Mumbai is a city of extreme contrasts, and across the city this is really evident when you visit the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat which is a massive open-air laundry. This is where thousands of Dhobi Wallahs clean clothes and linen. There are row upon row of open-air concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone. The clothes are soaked in soapy water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry.

Almost two hundred Dhobis and their families work together in what has always been a hereditary occupation where they collect your dirty linen from your doorstep, wash it, and return it neatly pressed back to your home. All this for a very low price and here are all the vans delivering and picking up laundry.

All the clothes are ironed and piled into neat bundles.

Despite how it may look, this is how the people across Mumbai get their laundry done, as well as many garments that will eventually be sold around the world, which are dyed, pre-washed and prepared here.

Dubbed the Queen’s Necklace as it lights up at night with its street lights resembling a string of pearls, the Marine Drive Boulevard in South Mumbai is 3-kilometre-long ‘C’ shaped road along the coast, which is a natural bay. It features a row of art deco buildings, which despite being apparently continually worked on, have some of the highest real estate prices in the world!

The day after we left Mumbai we held our traditional Night at the Raj Ball where we invited guests to dress up for the evening. Of course this is always a big night but for the ladies, buying a Sari is the easy part, learning how to put one on is something else! But fortunately our World Voyage Concierge, Sangeeta Nagar held a couple of classes in advance of the event ,and was on hand to help on the night, much to the relief of Heather Kempf, from Greenway, Australia;

And the guests weren’t the only ones to dress up; here, in their finery are Social Hostess, Freda Singleton with Amanda May, a guest from Exeter in Devon, along with Thomas Quinones of the Entertainment Staff.

It was wonderful to see so many people dressed up and the ladies all looked stunning in their Saris. Here joining Helen Eatough of the Entertainment Staff and Sangeeta are, from left to right, Josephine, Glenys, Margaret, Heather and Sue.

Meanwhile there were some guests who had chosen to take a trip of a lifetime on one of Cunard’s overland tours and I’ll let Amy McBay from the Tour Staff take up the story:

Guest Blog

Amy Mcbay

Queen Elizabeth

Tour Assistant

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On 28 March, whilst Queen Elizabeth was alongside Mumbai, I joined 28 guests on our journey overland to the Taj Mahal. We enjoyed a panoramic tour of the fast moving international city of Mumbai en route to the airport for our short flight to New Delhi. Once we arrived, we started our 4 ½ hour coach journey to Agra, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
New Delhi is India’s capital and second largest city, with over 15 million people. The city is in central – northern India and it is it’s own region called the National Capital Territory of Delhi, sharing its borders with Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana. Delhi is broken down into nine districts, 59 towns, 165 villages and many other small areas. Later that evening we were greeted at The Oberoi Amarvilas, a luxurious hotel, which overlooks the Taj Mahal.

After a 5.00am wake up call the next morning, we travelled five minutes from the door of the hotel to the gates of the Taj Mahal. Although it was early you could sense the excitement and anticipation within the group and I couldn’t help myself as I too got caught up in the buzz.

It is hard to describe the feeling as we witnessed the effect of the rising sun on this magnificent monument.
Emperor Shah Jehan was devoted to his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child. He resolved to build his wife a memorial surpassing anything the world had ever seen. Twenty thousand labourers and craftsman from Persia, Turkey, France and Italy constructed this unrivalled masterpiece.

Later in the day the group and I travelled to the Agra fort, built by Emperor Akbar between 1565 and 1573. This incredible fort, with its imposing gates and walls of red sandstone, dominates the city.

We stood in the room where Emperor Shah Jehan was imprisoned by his own son, and looked out to the final resting place of his wife through the windows. Emperor Shah Jehan spent the last eight years of his life with this view of his dedication and admiration of his wife. It was hard not to feel saddened by his story; you can only imagine his heartache and loneliness.

As evening approached, we travelled back to the Taj Mahal to watch the sun set upon her. The most unusual story about the Taj is that there might have been two of them. The emperor had intended to build a second tomb in black marble, a negative image of the white Taj. This was before he was tragically imprisoned by his son.

As I sat around the dinner table that evening I soaked up the atmosphere of my surroundings. It gave me great pleasure to see that the group’s smiles had broadened and their laughter had got considerably louder since the beginning of our tour. It was clear to see how much they were enjoying the experience and the friendships that had just begun.

The following day we headed back to New Delhi, taking in the culture of India as we drove through the local communities.
New Delhi was built as an administrative district of the city during the British rule and was declared the capital after India gained independence from the British in 1947. New Delhi houses important offices of the federal government, including the Parliament of India. It has been capital of several Indian empires plus the Mughals who built the section of the city now known as Old city or Old Delhi.

After a buffet Lunch at The Oberoi New Delhi we headed to Emperor Humayun’s Tomb. It is built in red sandstone by Haji Begum, Humayun’s first wife who designed and supervised the entire construction.

On our third and last day, we flew to Dubai to join Queen Elizabeth, after a short panoramic tour of the city.
Not only was this trip an unforgettable experience for all of us, I have to say it was my immense pleasure to escort such a fantastic group of guests on this great tour. I know they will be telling their families about this for years; the time they travelled to one of the Seven Wonders of the World. So a huge thank you to them and also to you for reading about our adventure.

Thank you Amy for a fantastic guest blog; what an amazing journey you all had. I’ll be back on tomorrow with some news from all three of our Queens and on Monday a special interview with Entertainment Director Amanda Reid. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 168 days

Firstly I hope you like our new look and more interactive Blog. A big thank you to Richard, Matt, Shelley and Lisa back in Southampton, for managing to incorporate so many ideas in to the new look Blog as well as making it easier to read. I’d love to hear what you think, along with all your comments and questions as always.

Both our Queens have settled in to their summer seasons, with Queen Mary 2 making her first westbound Transatlantic Crossing and Queen Victoria on her first voyage to the Iberian Peninsula. However there are still a few stories from our World Voyages that I’ll be sharing with you over the next week or so, as well as what’s new on board and ashore.

Now it’s a great pleasure to hand over to Queen Mary 2’s Social Hostess who managed to send me a post about the last few days of Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage before she went on leave in Southampton, so it’s over to Freda.

Guest Blog – Freda Singleton, Queen Mary 2, Social Hostess

As Queen Mary 2 approached Southampton last Thursday, she came to the end of her 2010 World Voyage; we’d like to bring all our avid bloggers up to date with the latest.

We asked our guests to make the 2010 World Voyage Charity Country Fair the best ever and they jumped up to the challenge!  The atmosphere in the Queens Room was pure Country Fair, with the full range of typical stalls hosted by guests and crew alike from ‘Hook the fish’, the flower booth, the coconut shy, and the wonderful 5-minute massage run by the housekeeping team, the florist, the entertainment staff and the Canyon Ranch Spa respectively; to Numerology, the Human Fruit Machine, ‘Guess the weight of the cake’ and the ‘Book stall’ all hosted by our guests, to name just a few of the activities on offer. 

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The ‘Second Hand Rose’ stall could have easily filled the entire starboard section on the upper level and was all but empty by the end of the afternoon. All supported by the delicious offering from the Corner Cafe with cream teas, crepe suzettes, chocolate coated strawberries and the most tempting display of beautiful cakes, pastries and sandwiches. And what a fantastic result!  A phenomenal $18,426, made up of $11,776 from the fair and $6,650 from the auction of things that money can’t buy, such as dinner at the Captain’s Table, blowing the ship’s whistle, a Queen Mary 2 life ring, the full World Voyage navigational chart, Queen Mary 2’s Sunday ensign – enthusiastically bid for and taken by the on board Protestant Priest – and much more. 

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This picture shows just some of the nautical items that were available for our guests to bid for, while Captain Bates discusses raffle prizes with guests. As you can see from the next picture, there was even an authentic coconut shy!

Added to that were the superb contributions from the crew, who somehow managed their own midnight auctions and raised $2,340 (part of which went to the Crew Welfare charities). The total of Queen Mary 2’s charity donations for the whole World Voyage came to the magnificent total of $26,020.05, which has been split between this year’s four nominated charities:

The Haiti Emergency Relief Fund

The Prostheses Foundation of Thailand

The Seaman’s Institute of Brooklyn, New York

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Then it was – Time to Dance – Queen Mary 2 Style!

Queen Mary 2’s answer to Strictly Come Dancing, we gave our guests their moment in the spotlight on the largest dance floor at sea.  To the delight of the packed Queens Room we were entertained by ten superb dance performances from the traditional waltz to the Viennese waltz and from the quickstep, to the jive and the Argentinean tango! Ten nervous couples put themselves at the mercy of our tough panel of judges, led by Entertainment Director, Ray Rouse – a fellow of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance and two of the talented Royal Cunard Dancers, Kelly-Rhian Scott and Katie Woolnough, assessing their technique, timing, interpretation and performance.

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It was such a rewarding experience to see such polished and elegant routines that for many, was entirely the result of their time on board with us for our 2010 World Voyage. Heart-warming reinforcement indeed for those who select Cunard for the ballroom and dancing!  

Our runners-up – Jean Baker and Gentleman Dance Host, Dennis King who performed an outstanding quickstep.  Jean’s radiant smile lit up the entire ballroom and did not slip once! Meanwhile here are the well-deserved winners with their Argentinean Tango; Cecile Lanthier and Steve Groleau.

What better way to celebrate the end of a truly legendary, elegant and memorable World Voyage than to send us spinning us into the 2010 transatlantic season – the glamorous finale with Renato and Katy to whom so many of our guests wish to pay a special thank you for their dancing expertise and inspiration.

Thank you so much Freda for another great Blog and congratulations to everyone involved in those fantastic events; it’s great to see so much being raised for these very worthy charities.

I’ll be back on Wednesday with a blog about some of the events during the last week of Queen Victoria’s World Voyage and on Thursday I’m delighted to tell you that I will have brand new photos from Monfalcone in Italy where Queen Elizabeth is currently under construction. Cheers, Alastair

 Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 188 days

For this Blog, it’s a great pleasure to go back to Queen Mary 2 and their 2010 World Voyage. Although Cunard’s flagship is now heading up towards the Caribbean from Rio De Janiero, this post looks back over the last few weeks as she left Australia across the Indian Ocean for maiden calls to Mauritius and South Africa. Freda Singleton takes up the story.

Guest Blog – Freda Singleton – Queen Mary 2 Social Hostess

As Queen Mary 2 comes to the last segment of her 2010 World Voyage, the excitement has continued with more fabulous maiden ports of call. With the announcement that in 2012, the ship would be making a circumnavigation of Australia, it was particularly heart-warming to receive such a rapturous welcome to and send off from our first visit to Fremantle. The weather was perfect and it seemed that anything and everything that would float had come out onto the water, and anyone without a floatation device was on the shore-line to see us in and then to wave us farewell.

From there we made a leisurely sail over to the beautiful island of Mauritius, another maiden visit and what a stunning island of natural beauty, with warm welcoming local people! This is a view of the contrasting textures of Mauritius looking towards its almost completely surrounding reef.

And so on to South Africa, for many guests the highlight of the World Voyage, and to our first stop in Durban – a great opportunity for several guests to head north to take a safari and to then rejoin us in Cape Town, the venue for our full World Voyage gala dinner.

A picturesque drive through country plantations, farms and rolling hills took us to the spectacular Vergelegen Wine Estate, built in the early 1700s and listed on South Africa’s National Historic register. As the coaches arrived at the entrance, all the senses were engaged, the sounds of an untamed Africa with a throbbing drum beat, tribal singing and the non-intrusive under-lying calmness of a classical pianist, the perfume of the jasmine flowers, the warmth of an African autumn evening, the sights of native dancing and traditionally dressed warriors – all lined up in greeting. 

Through the octangular Rose Garden and on to the historic Manor House, guests were lead by ladies in period costumes to the red carpet walkway on the grand lawns surrounded by prodigious 300-year old, 200 feet tall camphor trees with canopies that spread over 100 feet in diameter, all lit to provide a real sense of being ‘Out of Africa’. 

At the entrance to the grand marquee, typical safari style tents equipped with antique lanterns, luggage, tables, chairs and zebra rugs hosted small groups gathering to soak up the mood of the evening and sip on the opulent (and very powerful!) wines.

We were then escorted into the huge, white colonial marquee, stunningly decorated with fabulous hanging chandeliers, elegant damask table linen, fine crystal glasses, cascading wisteria and enormous hydrangea and many more opportunities to savour the sumptuous wines.

After a moving grace by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, reminding us all of how privileged we were to be there, we were treated to a typically African styled meal of Cape and Franschhoeik salmon, Biltong spiced African beef filet and a trio of delicious desserts.

Our featured entertainment for the evening was the outstanding operatic voices of The Gugulethu Tenors, four young lads, not long out of high school with the purest of voices.

And finally, a chance to dance off the evening’s excesses with the fabulous Big Band music of the Johnny Cooper Orchestra, the only group outside of America appointed and licensed to use the music and play under the Glen Miller name. A night to be remembered for a very long time!

Before leaving South Africa, what better way to send us off than with a complete contrast to the typical African style jungle drums, dancing and rhythms of the previous evening, provided by the powerful, soulful drummers and pipers of the Cape Town Highlanders in a concert commemorating their 125^th anniversary? 

A truly magnificent end to our brief stay in South Africa.

Thank you Freda for another great post; it certainly sounds like you all had an amazing time in South Africa. Before we leave Queen Mary 2 and Cape Town, I received a very interesting message from Captain Bates with a rather unusual event. I’ll let him take up the story:

Guest Blog – Captain Nick Bates – Queen Mary 2

At approximately 0830 hrs on 25 March, shortly after the Queen Mary 2 had berthed alongside in Cape Town, Queen Mary 2’s Chief Security Officer, Grant Williams conducted a security inspection of the berth and immediate facility area. When walking towards the bow with the First Officer Navigator, Simon Westall, from a distance, he noticed an unidentified individual sat nonchalantly on the bulbous bow. There were no US Navy Warships in the port at the time so the idea if him being a lost US Navy “Seal” was discounted although he was similarly attired for clandestine operations, albeit unarmed. His identity was later discovered to be a Mr C Lion, a well known character in the port. Initial attempts to remove him from the bulb by the Navigator shouting “Ssscchhhoooooo!” jumping up and down and waving his arms about, were fruitless and he eventually left of his own accord. The bulb was checked for any suspicious items and other than the remains of a fish carcass, was reported as clear at 0845 hrs.   ….all in a day’s work on the Queen of the Seas!!

Thank you Captain Bates, what a great story and picture. We look forward to getting some more news from our big sister soon, but in the meantime I’ll be back tomorrow with a report about a recent special event in London, and on Friday as promised some new pictures from Queen Elizabeth in Italy. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 222 days

Thank you again for all your feedback, it’s always great to hear from you. I know from reading your comments you have been enjoying watching Queen Victoria going around the world, well I’m delighted to introduce a guest Blogger to share Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage with you; and what a great Blog it is, so over to Freda who takes up the story.

Guest Blog – Freda Singleton – Queen Mary 2 – Social Hostess

Queen Mary 2’s 2010 World Voyage is well under way with some fabulous new ports of call as well as some much loved familiar places, a whirl of parties, celebrations, themed balls, charity events, superb speakers and very variable weather!

Our first stop in beautiful Lisbon marked a very wet start.  Grey clouds and torrential rain deterred many from venturing ashore, so it was with some relief to move quite quickly from Civitavecchia (for Rome) through the Suez Canal and on to the desert lands. No pause by the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings would be complete without an Egyptian Ball. The Queens Room was inspirationally decorated to remind us of the magnificence and history of the land we had just visited and guests were delighted by the surprise appearance of Freddie Fahrouk, Achamanda and Hot Chick Soup performing the hilarious Sand Dance, much to the amazement of the guest who earlier in the evening had commented that no-one would remember that far back! And here they are supported by Antony and Cleopatra.

With a proudly Scottish Chief Engineer on board, celebrating Burns night in style was not negotiable!  Thanks to Ronnie Keir’s enthusiastic dissection of the haggis and Carol Summers’ (Royal Cunard Dance Captain) stunning sword dance, the famous Baird was toasted in style with a packed dance floor of energetic Gay Gordons, Dashing White Sergeants and an officers’ display of Strip the Willow! Here’s Carol dancing above the carefully crafted swords, the handiwork of Ronnie’s team of engineers, as he watches on.

As we moved on to India, the Queens Room hosted the Night of the Raj Ball, with guests displaying their newly honed skills of sari tying with their newly purchased jewel coloured saris. They then enjoyed watching the Royal Cunard Dancers perform their sensual, exotic interpretation of the dance of the Gods, depicting the God of destruction and the God of creation.

Bringing us to the end of the 3^rd leg of our World Voyage, all the sensations of the east were brought together at the Oriental Ball with the Sun and the Moon duet sung by our fabulous singers Kris Harding and Hannah Bloch and dramatically illustrated by the beautiful Vasilica Lungu as the love nymph in ‘The Sun and the Moon’.

Despite some very chilly weather as we approached Shanghai, the temperature rose in the Queens Room. Cupid paid us a timely visit as we celebrated Valentine’s Day with love, romance and some steamy passion with the jaw-dropping tango, seen here with Carol and Nazarly.

Amongst the fifteen or so maiden ports of call for Queen Mary 2 in this year’s World Voyage, one that will certainly stay in guests’ minds for a very long time is Nagasaki. As is customary, the ship exchanged plaques with the local officials, but this time the ceremony was extra special. The Mayor of Nagasaki came with his prefecture governors and made individual presentations to Captain Nick Bates, Staff Captain, Robert Camby, Chief Engineer, Ronnie Keir , Hotel Manager, David Stephenson and Entertainment Director, Paul O’Loughlin. The officers, dignitaries and audience were entirely humbled by the tear-jerking graciousness of the exquisite Japanese children who seared their place into everyone’s hearts. The 3 to 6 year olds of Oura Nursery School presented such enormous bouquets of flowers that they could hardly see or be seen; Captain Bates had to brush a tear from his eye. We heard later that they had rehearsed for over a month for their word perfect performance in English of ‘Head, shoulders, knees and toes’, followed by 2 traditional Japanese dances. No-one could think of more deserving recipients of our Cunard fluffy lions.

Of course, Cunard and Queen Mary 2 have excelled with an array of Insight speakers.  Amongst the celebrity speakers so far, we have been educated by John Humphries who hosted a special Queen Mary 2 version of ‘Masterbrain’, as well as a very thought provoking ‘Time for Questions’ with our panel of resident experts comprising Commodore Warner, Hotel Manager, David Stephenson and pianist, Campbell Simpson.  We were enlightened by Michael Nicholson and enthralled by Dr George McGavin.

Throughout all of the partying and celebrations the crew have been busy raising money for the four nominated World Voyage Charities: The Royal National Lifeboat Institute, The Haiti Emergency relief Fund, The Prostheses Foundation in Thailand and the Seaman’s Church Institute of New York.

The first event was the Tug of War, with competing teams from the Medical, Deck and Technical departments, the Spa, the Purser’s Office, the Engineers and Entertainment. The medical department under the appropriate title of ‘The Walking Dead’ won the best dressed team:

However, the Entertainment department wiped the floor with the remaining awards winning the ladies, the men and the mixed competitions. No wonder Paul O’Loughlin and Amanda Reid, (Entertainment Director and Assistant Entertainment Director), have such big smiles on their faces! 

By way of a complete contrast, the second charity event moved away from raw crew strength to musical expertise and seven superb examples of hidden talent put on two magnificent shows of ‘Stars in the Crew’ to allow fellow crew members and guests alike to judge their skills. The show featured:

·   Renier – Purser’s Staff as Gareth Gates with ‘Spirit in the Sky’

·   Marion Woolley – Zone Manager as Charlotte Church with ‘To dream a dream’

·   Jeffrey Canono –  Bedroom Steward  as Michael Ball from Miss Saigon with ‘Why God’

·   Alex Laxton – Stage Crew as Frank Sinatra with ‘Come fly with me’

·   Napoleon Mana – Laundry Man as Bill Medley with ‘Unchained Melody’

·   Big Dave Griffiss – Bar Steward as Paul McCartney with ‘I saw her standing there’ (eat your heart out Karl Lornie of the Beatles Celebration, who were also performing with us at that time and were, of course, completely brilliant!)

·   Cela Wasserman – Sound Engineer as Linda Perry with ‘What’s up?’

The voting was very close with outstanding performances from all seven stars and many congratulations due to final winner, Jeffery Canono who won himself dinner for 2 in Todd English.

And finally, we say a special thank you to the Masons on board who have done a wonderful job of raising money for our charities through cocktail events and raffles, with a magnificent total of $1745.57.

How do we top all that in the second half??

Thank you so much Freda for such a great Blog, it has given us a wonderful overview of your World Voyage so far. It was also really good to see and hear about our colleagues over on our big sister as well. We look forward to hearing about your next segment.

Meanwhile I’ll be back on Thursday with the regular weekly Blog and some new pictures of Queen Elizabeth under construction in Italy.

Amongst all the excitement of looking forward to our new Queen joining the fleet in October, our two other Queens had a busy and exciting festive season, before preparing for their 2010 World Voyages. So in this Blog I’d like to take you back a few weeks as celebrating the festive season on a Cunard ship is always very special for guests and crew alike. While I was at home, I was very grateful to Queen Mary 2 for sending me a special Blog, capturing the festive atmosphere of the season.

Guest Blog, Freda Singleton – Queen Mary 2

20 December saw an interesting start to Queen Mary 2’s festive celebrations with Cunard’s flagship docking in New York shortly after 6.30am. Commodore Bernard Warner arrived shortly afterwards to take the helm and to his surprise, found the pride of Cunard’s fleet, the greatest ocean liner of our time, coated in white as her decks were covered in several inches of snow!  Had the newly installed snow-making machine gone into over-drive?!  No!  New York was fully into its Christmas cheer with a snow storm worthy of the North Pole! 

Some hours after the Commodore’s arrival, the snow was still piled up alongside the ship, so it was no surprise that our 2,400 guests were anxious to escape to the warmth of the Caribbean!  We were all very grateful to the Commodore as he headed south towards our first port of call, Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, to thaw out.  Meanwhile, the glamour and elegance of Cunard travel began on the first formal evening of the voyage with our fabulous, traditional, Black and White Ball. The Ball opened with the extra sparkle of the Royal Cunard Dancers in all their brilliant white finery, setting the scene for a glittering voyage.

It wasn’t long before we could all enjoy the sunshine of the Caribbean. The islands of Tortola and St Maarten are known for their beauty, friendliness and typical Caribbean hospitality, not to mention the odd rum punch or two which had everyone in the mood to party.  Christmas Eve saw a transformation from the wonderful rhythm of the steel drums to the gentle and festive sounds of Christmas carols as guest, officers and crew gathered in Queen Mary 2’s elegant Grand Lobby for the traditional start of the festivities.

Children and adults alike went to sleep that night anticipating the fun that was to follow on Christmas Day.  We were awoken of course, to the sound of sleigh bells…….coming down the chimney?  Well, the funnel is certainly big enough – and there indeed was Santa himself making his way through the ship from the Grand Lobby to the Queens Room!

Father Christmas was delighted to have caught up with Queen Mary 2 and to have been able to give so many presents to the fantastic young travellers on board. So much so, he even found time to reward the Commodore for being such a marvellous host, master of the ship, leader of such a tremendous team and fine example of White Star Service! Here he is being congratulated by Santa with Entertainment Director, Paul O’Loughlin.

Merriness continued throughout the day with sumptuous food and a specially written Christmas Show performed in the Royal Court Theatre that night and here’s a photo capturing Edwina Currie and her husband John Jones relating the story of ‘The Night Before Christmas’,

Of course the whole evening would not be complete without a spectacular Grand Lobby buffet prepared by our incredibly talented Chefs.

Enormous credit has to be given to the team who created this beautiful gingerbread display .

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The special voyage gave our guests to enjoy visits to the stunning islands of Curacao, Grenada, Barbados, St Lucia, Dominica and St Kitts before the countdown to 2010. After a tremendous amount of preparation from the ships staff the countdown for the big night was soon underway in all parts of the ship.  From Campbell Simpson at the Piano in the Commodore Club, to our resident DJ Freddie in the G32 nightclub, through the Grand Lobby with our international band Vibz, the Chart Room with the Mark Hodgson Jazz Trio and not forgetting the Golden Lion pub with Gun of the Entertainment Staff where a rousing refrain of the British National Anthem and the ever emotional Pomp and Circumstance had seen in the British New Year at 8pm, and so on to the Queens Room and the elegance of the Queens Room Orchestra.  Here there was a very Scottish flavour to the Hogmanay styled celebration with many guests in kilts enjoying the traditional dances such as the Gay Gordons. Meanwhile the clock was ticking on the big screen behind the orchestra.

The ballroom was packed, the excitement was tangible as Evgeny Gnezdilov, tenor sax player from the Royal Court Theatre Orchestra, crouched down to ring 8 bells to mark the passing of 2009, under the watchful eye of vocalist Michel Chartier, poised to begin his rendition of Auld Lang Syne. This was swiftly followed by Alex Laxton, Queen Mary 2’s youngest crew member at just 19 years old, ringing in 2010.

And the beautiful gold and silver balloons fell, hooters squealed, streamers filled the air, everyone cheered, hugged and kissed.

As always Queen Mary 2 celebrated in style that night, with all her fabulous guests joining the ship’s company to mark the beginning of a new decade!

I’d like to thank the Queen Mary 2 for their help in this Blog and to Freda Singleton for sending it to me as it really shows yet again that Cunard certainly knows how to put on an unforgettable party.

Also thank you again for logging on and for all your questions and comments. I’ll be back on Thursday with a Video Blog featuring some interior shots of Queen Elizabeth as well as an interview with Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks. 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

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

December 4 1975

QE2 completes the first million miles of steaming.

December 10 1999

The Caronia is renamed at a ceremony in Liverpool.

December 10 2007

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

December 11 1931

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

December 11 2007

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

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

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

FREDA SINGLETON, SOCIAL HOSTESS ON QUEEN MARY 2:

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

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

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

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

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