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

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

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

QUEEN MARY 2

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

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

QUEEN VICTORIA

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

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

QUEEN ELIZABETH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well that’s it for today but I’ll be back again soon with another Blog from Queen Mary 2’s recent Transatlantic Crossing. Cheers for now, Alastair

I’m very pleased to announce that Cunard’s longest-serving four-stripe officer, Hotel Manager John Duffy, has received the prestigious Seatrade Insider Cruise Award, ‘Seagoing Employee of the Year 2008’, in recognition of his long and distinguished service with the company and his service on board QE2. I know many of you will know John from his years on QE2, and I have had the pleasure of working with him when I was there and soon understood why he has become a Cunard legend in his own right. With this in mind I thought it was a perfect opportunity to ask John if I could interview him for this blog. But before we get to that, I thought I would share John’s background and amazing career so far.

John was educated at Liverpool’s Jesuit St. Francis Xavier’s College and at New York’s Cornell University for advanced studies in Hotel Management. In 1965, he joined Cunard, working in a junior capacity on vessels such as Queen Elizabeth, Carinthia, Carmania and Franconia. In December 1968, John joined the new QE2 in the Clyde and he remained with her while he gained experience in all aspects of hotel operation at sea. The maiden voyage of Cunard Adventurer spirited him away in 1971 and six months later he was transferred to the Cunard Ambassador for its maiden voyage. By 1976 the Cunard Princess was being completed and John was seconded to La Spezia, Italy for the final six months of the building. He moved to top echelons two years later, when in 1978 he was promoted to become Hotel Manager of Cunard Princess, and in April 1981 he was again promoted this time to the position of Hotel Manager aboard QE2, and is currently the longest serving four-stripe officer aboard any of our ships. During his time as Hotel Manager John has looked after many of the most famous names in show business and many heads of state, including Nelson Mandela. He has also met many of the immediate Royal Family, including Her Majesty The Queen, Prince Phillip, The Queen Mother on a couple of occasions, and the late Princess Diana. In the early 1970’s John married a local girl, Marie, who was at the time a presenter with BBC Radio Merseyside. They live in a small village just outside Liverpool with their son, Johnny, who is a Barrister.

On presenting the award, Chris Hayman, Publisher, Seatrade, said: “This award is given to special people who have performed magnificently over the years and I can think of no better person than Cunard’s John Duffy to have received this recognition during the final year of QE2 service.”

Pictured with Carol Marlow, Cunard’s President and Managing Director, she added: “This award is well deserved by John who has served Cunard with distinction since joining the company in 1965. He played a key role in making QE2 the best-loved ship in the world and we look forward to his joining our flagship Queen Mary 2 in March 2009.”

And now, here is my interview with John.

Firstly, congratulations on being honoured with such an award. How were you first informed, and what does it mean to you?

Thank you. I was first informed that I was on the shortlist for the award by Carol Marlow on the Bridge of the QE2 in Dubai! I felt greatly honoured to be considered for this Award, but declined to go to Venice for the possible presentation as it was to be held a few days after I had left QE2 in Dubai. Whilst at home some weeks later, Public Relations Manager Eric Flounders, telephoned me to say that indeed I had won the Award and it would be presented to me at a Luncheon in London. I was of course very proud to receive this Award but I must say that the Award just reflects on my wonderful staff on board QE2 and the support of my family at home.

You have had an incredible career at sea. What do you think kept you at sea all these years?

Having attained the position of Hotel Manager QE2, in l98l, which of course was the most prestigious liner in the world, where else would I go to better myself? I was of course, over the years, offered innumerable prestigious positions elsewhere, but my loyalties remained with QE2 and Cunard Line.

Could you tell us what it was like when you first went to sea and how it has changed?

Life itself evolves and everything in the world evolves, likewise Ocean travel. In my early days at sea the ships I sailed on, such as the Queen Elizabeth, Carinthia, Carmania, Franconia etc., were transatlantic liners and our service was mainly confined to the North Atlantic, with some cruising in the winter months. The Carinthia for example used to spend the Spring Summer and autumn sailing from Liverpool to Montreal and in the winter months, when the St. Lawrence was frozen, we would sail from Liverpool to New York via Halifax Nova Scotia. In today’s world most Line voyages have ceased with the exception of course, of Queen Mary 2 and cruising is the main form of sea travel. This has been brought about of course, as we all know, by the advent of airline travel. In my lifetime the democratisation of cruising in my lifetime is a phenomenon

With so many memories and the numerous people you have met, could you highlight some of the most memorable moments in your career?

The 27.5 years as Hotel Manager of QE2 is indeed one long memory. The ship had the reputation of being the greatest ocean liner in the world, and to be involved in making her thus and maintaining thus, will be forever memorable……………….to categorise individual memories is most difficult there have been so many. However, to give a few examples, the visits of Her Majesty The Queen, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, and other Senior Members of the Royal Family including Diana the Princess of Wales; Nelson Mandela’s voyage on board and the beautiful personal letter he wrote to me after the trip; leaving Yokohama in the early eighties, and an estimated one million people watching our departure; the first visit to Liverpool in l990 when again one million people witnessed the sailing of the Great Lady, sail up the Mersey into my home port; Being the centrepiece in the Hudson River celebrating the Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty and the wonderful welcome in Sydney each year on the World Cruise…….These are but a few of the thousands and thousands of memorable occasions which I cherish.

I know it is hard but could you sum up your feelings towards QE2 and on leaving her for the last time?

QE2 was a large part of my life and I was always immensely proud of the wonderful vessel she was. Admired and extremely popular throughout the world; I had this tremendous pride in her throughout my 27.5 years I sailed in her as Hotel Manager. She was iconic, a true symbol of prestige and elegance. My emotions were running high during the final days of de-storing in Dubai. I felt great sadness and a heavy heart when I finally walked down the gangway at 05.00am on the 2nd December 2008. Somehow she looked forlorn – an empty vessel without a sound! The flight path of the aircraft flying from Dubai to Manchester, flew directly over Her, shortly after daybreak, it was as though the Pilot had purposely flown over her, to give me one last lingering gaze of this majestic Lady!

You will soon be joining Queen Mary 2. How do you feel about this new challenge after so many years on another ship?

As I mentioned earlier, life evolves, and Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria are two great liners following in the wake of their famous predecessors, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary and QE2……..They all uphold the Cunard traditions – therefore I am looking forward to joining Queen Mary 2, to help carry the baton forward in true Cunard fashion.

As a Hotel Manager what is the most frequent question you are asked and what is the answer?

Probably “How do you manage to keep the standards as high as they are on the QE2 for so many years?”, and the answer I give is that, the Crewmembers always take great pride in working on board QE2 and there has always been great teamwork in maintaining the high standards. I always added QE2 is a very happy ship affording ease of management. The management ashore has always worked closely with the on board team also

What does “We are Cunard” mean to you?

High standards through “White Star Service”, delivered with elegance and pride.

Is there anywhere in the world you have not been to yet and would love to go?

No, not really.

When you are on leave, what is your perfect night?

My perfect night – sitting on our verandah, on a warm summer’s evening, admiring our extensive gardens, in which we take great pride, and have been working in all day, with my wife, my son and our pet shih tzu Oscar, a “G & T” in hand – awaiting a wonderful dinner cooked by my wife and a glass or two of wine, till the sun goes down. Paradise!

Do you have any unfulfilled dreams?

Yes…….Over the years whenever Everton have won the Cup at Wembley, I have always been away! I have been there when they have lost in the Cup Final, so my unfulfilled dream is to be at Wembley Stadium when Everton win the FA Cup………hopefully this year!!!!

What is your favourite quote and who said it?

“Ask not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country.” John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech and can be applied also to the ship on which you sail.

Do you have any other stories we could include?

Well, one of many, I really felt part of the fixtures and fittings on QE2 when having met Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in l982, she made a return visit in l989 – upon greeting her at the Gangway, she said to me “My goodness, are you still here?” – I wonder what she would think if twenty years later, she were alive and able to see me aboard the Queen Mary 2!!!!

Thank you so much John for taking the time to talk to me and for some great answers. I love the fact there is nowhere really left in the world that you haven’t visited and you would love to go to – now there aren’t many people who can say that – myself invluded!

Thank you again for logging on and I look forward to filing another report from our World Cruise on Thursday including some great pictures from Queen Victoria’s Hong Kong Sailaway.

Cheers – Alastair

Firstly, thanks so much for all the viewings and postings – what a great start to the Blog and fantastic to see there is so much interest from guests past, present and hopefully future. Please keep the comments coming in and of course ideas for future subjects. As Graham Lake quite rightly said in his posting (thanks Graham), this Blog is for the whole Cunard family stretching beyond Queen Victoria to our sisters, Queen Mary 2, QE2 and to our new Queen Elizabeth as well as our shore side team in Southampton and you our readers at home.

I know I was going to chat to David Hamilton (Queen Victoria’s Hotel Manager) this week, but realizing it was Queen Victoria’s maiden sailing to the Black Sea, Queen Elizabeth 2’s birthday on the 20^th, and Queen Mary 2’s 100^th Transatlantic crossing on the 21st, I hope you don’t mind if we leave David until next week. Sorry David!

So, yes this has been an historic week for all three Cunard Queens and as you will probably know, at Cunard we love celebrating milestones.

Thank you to QE2’s Entertainment Director, Warren Smith who told me about the nostalgic atmosphere on QE2 as she celebrated her final Cunard birthday. Warren told me: “It was a wondrous day on the ship’s Autumn Colours Voyage, and on this day 41 years ago a ship slipped down her slipway at 2.28pm on the Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland… A legend was born.”  This was celebrated with a special cover of the Daily Programme.

Click to enlarge

Also thank you to QE2’s Hotel Manager John Duffy who added:

“It was appropriate that QE2 was in St. John, New Brunswick on the 20 September 2008, the 41st Anniversary of the launching, as this section of Canada is where Samuel Cunard came from. Even more appropriate, the following day, QE2 visited the actual birthplace of Samuel Cunard, Halifax, Nova Scotia. He would have been a proud man knowing this icon, QE2, was part of his Cunard Fleet. During the evening we had an excellent turnout for the Anniversary Ball in the Queen’s Room.  Of course the ship was the main feature of novelty dances, and prizes included the Programme Covers from her 40th Anniversary, 20 September 2007, signed by Senior Officers. At each show in the Grand Lounge, the Entertainment Director gave a short message to the audience about the launching 41 years earlier and how QE2, became a legend and the most famous and loved ship of all time.  The reaction of the audience at both shows was tremendous applause and obvious appreciation of the Entertainment Director’s words.”

Warren went on to say that the party continued late into the night with a “Launching Party” in the Yacht Club and it was widely agreed it was a fitting celebration for QE2’s last Cunard birthday, as she will leave the fleet in November for a new life in Dubai.

Meanwhile, 21 September marked another important milestone for Queen Mary 2, as she set sail on her 100^th Transatlantic Crossing. Thank you to Commodore Warner for describing the scene as Queen Mary 2 set sail on this historic crossing:-  

“It was a warm autumn afternoon as Queen Mary 2, flagship of the Cunard line, slipped her moorings at the Queen Elizabeth II terminal in Southampton. I was on the Bridge and Chief Engineer Officer Ronnie Keir below in the engine room, she turned short round to port just south of the pier. Crowds had gathered off dock head to wave her farewell and they were saluted by her deep typhoon whistles – one being the original from Queen Mary herself. She sailed serenely down Southampton Water, crowds waved from vantage points ashore close to the River Hamble and the Warsash School of Navigation where Commodore Warner had trained over 40 years ago. Within the hour she had passed the excited crowds gathered off Calshot Castle and saluted Cowes on the Isle of Wight – the yachting capital of the world. Being Sunday evening flotillas of small craft paid tribute to her as she built up speed, taking her 2471 guests and 1270 crew down the Solent and out into the English Channel. Most guests were from the UK (1520) but many were from the USA (600). By 7pm she was up to 24 knots and heading WSW down the English Channel towards the setting sun which had left a spectacular pink horizon and inspiring hopes of fair weather ahead. The Hotel Manager David Stephenson toured the galleys in preparation for the evening dinner and Entertainment Director David Pepper prepared the first nights glittering entertainment. There was an expectant air and tangible ting of excitement vibrating throughout the great liner. By 7am she would be south of Bishop’s Rock off the Scilly Isles and heading out into the North Atlantic at the start of her 100th crossing……………”

And thanks to Queen Mary 2’s Entertainment Director, David Pepper who added “Today, Queen Mary 2 is celebrating her 100th Transatlantic crossing, but our first crossing was in April 2004 and we had the world media waiting in New York with all the major television networks waiting to board as we went alongside in our dock in Manhattan. Ninety nine crossings later we, as a ships company have grown in character and now have a loyal following of regular guests with our Cunard World Club parties growing larger on every crossing. We have maintained the Cunard traditions ensuring we are indeed legendary, elegant and of course memorable. So many ports have taken us to their hearts with literally thousands witnessing our arrivals and departures, and I know we all feel a sense of pride being part of this exceptional crew of the flagship of the Cunard Fleet; Queen Mary 2”

Here are some fascinating statistics for Queen Mary 2’s first 100 crossings which I’m sure you’ll find interesting:

• More than 229,000 guests crossing the North Atlantic
• 450 pets crossing the North Atlantic
• 97,000 pounds of lobster serverd
• 2,700 pounds of caviar served
• 206,200 bottles of champagne served
• Enough tea to fill nearly five Olympic-sized swimming pools

Queen Mary 2 has welcomed many notable guests, including HM Queen Elizabeth II, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Noor, Former President George Bush, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Hillary Clinton, Uma Thurman, John Cleese, Richard Dreyfuss, Carly Simon, Rod Stewart, Tina Brown and Harold Evans, Donald Trump, and Dame Shirley Bassey.

For us on Queen Victoria, we send greetings from the Black Sea, where Queen Victoria is sailing for the first time. Having been through the Dardanelles (North West Turkey), a site of so much history, we spent a night in Istanbul (more about the interesting belly dancer next time……but needless to say the front row of the Royal Court Theatre was completely full!) We then transited the Bosphorus straits with just 10 meters clearance under the Bosphorus Bridge, connecting Europe and Asia. Odessa is our first port of call in the Ukraine and it’s always great to make a maiden call at a port, as we all (guests and crew); feel that sense of anticipation in discovering somewhere new. At the Captain’s Cocktail parties, Captain Wright tasked me to find out why it is called the Black Sea. There are a few likely reasons but the most popular, is that apparently it can be pretty stormy in winter, (hopefully not in October!) and it’s thought that the name was given to it by sailors and pirates who were struck by its dark appearance when the sky turned leaden with storm clouds. The ancient Greeks called it as the Scythian Sea, after the tribes who held its shores at the time. It’s said that shipwrecked sailors could generally expect no mercy from the Scythians, who plundered the wrecks and made wine goblets out of sailors’ skulls. I’m hoping our welcome will be somewhat warmer! The Greeks also called it Pontos Axenos – the inhospitable sea – until they settled in Crimea, after which they apparently changed their minds and called it Pontos Euxenos: the hospitable sea. An interesting idea when according to holiday brochures you can even find naturist beaches along its coastline. Mind you I won’t be heading there, as beaches like these are usually occupied by the exact people who shouldn’t be baring all. Anyway I’ll tell you more about Odessa and Yalta next week when yes I will be chatting to Hotel Manager David Hamilton who recently joined Queen Victoria from QE2.

Meanwhile thank you again for reading what turned out to be quite a long blog this time, and thanks of course to the contributors from our sister ships to the Blog this week, I’ll be back next Thursday, so thanks again for logging on and I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers for now- Alastair