Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 130 days

Welcome to another Blog which returns to Queen Victoria and the recent TOGs voyage, in the final post from what was clearly a very successful Mediterranean Voyage. More of that in a moment, but firstly thanks again for all the comments, it’s always great to hear from you, especially at the moment with the excitement building towards Queen Elizabeth, with more news coming soon.

I am settling back on board Queen Victoria as she heads north to the Baltic, visiting ports such as Copenhagen, Tallin and St. Petersburg where we will be docking at the brand new terminal. I’ll post a Blog on our visit. Meanwhile Queen Mary 2 is heading across to New York and as I mentioned in Tuesday’s Blog we’ll both be in Southampton on 14 June for one of those fantastic moments when our home port is able to welcome both Queens on the same day.

Before we get to the final post from the TOGs voyage here’s this week in Cunard’s history from 4 to 10 June.

June 4 2008

Queen Victoria makes her maiden call at Helsinki.

June 5 1965

QE2’s keel is laid at Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (John Brown), Clydebank. She is assigned job number 736 and is constructed on the same slip way as Queen Mary 30 years before.

June 6 1973

QE2 makes her maiden call at Messina, Italy.

June 7 1906

Lusitania is launched at 12.30pm and is named by Mary Burns, Lady Inverclyde who was the wife of Cunard’s late Chairman.

June 7 1998

Cunard announces ‘Project Queen Mary’ – a proposal to build the biggest ocean liner ever built.

June 9 2005

John Cleese joins Queen Mary 2 for a Transatlantic Crossing

After the success of the Weekend Wogan show and the live auction, Sir Terry Wogan and the TOGs continued to raise funds as well as creating more fun memories… Mr and Mrs Packham were the very first winners of the live auction. This piston ring donated by the Chief Engineer, raised £650! From left to right on the front row are Alan Dedicoat, Mr Packham, Janet and Mrs Packham and on the back row, Charles Nove, holding the piston ring, and John Marsh

Talking of Janet and John Marsh, they signed books on the Monday morning and told me later, that to their surprise, they got more than four people in the queue! The team held a ‘silent auction’ in the Grand Lobby with items such as an amazing collage of the three Queens that the kids on board had made for Children in Need and beautiful paperweights made by the Engineers on board from the piston ring. Alan Dedicoat donated his time to have afternoon tea with three people…. he couldn’t believe it when it exceeded £200!

In another fundraising idea to raise even more cash, Jean Savage decided to get her locks chopped off in front of everyone! Here she is with Simon Mathose, one of our Hair Stylists from the Cunard Royal Spa, and her new look.

Before

 

After

I’ve been told by the ship’s company that the atmosphere on board was fantastic; buzzing with energy, laughter and friendship, and as Queen Victoria approached Southampton and the end of the incredible voyage, everyone was exchanging email addresses, telephone numbers along with promises to keep in touch and come back again. For Sir Terry and his TOGs the only way to say good bye and thank everyone, was with a drink, so all the TOGs were invited to join Sir Terry and his intrepid team for a Farewell Cocktail Party in the Queens Room.

As you can see it was a star studded event, including from left to right are John Marsh, Amanda Reid, Alan Dedicoat, Janet Marsh and Charles Nove.

Then with the help of Pudsey at his side, Sir Terry then made a short speech thanking everyone who had made this incredible voyage possible.

Everyone was delighted when it was announced that the voyage had raised an amazing £83,000 which would help children in the UK.

I was there to meet Queen Victoria when she returned to Southampton and Sir Terry was kind enough to invite me to his suite to have a chat about the voyage and our cameras were there to capture the moment. I’m delighted to post this Video Blog featuring that interview and some other footage from the voyage including clips from the live Weekend Wogan show in the Royal Court Theatre.

Thank you to Sir Terry, and of course congratulations again to him, his team and the TOGs as well as the Queen Victoria Officers and Crew for this fantastic achievement, and for making it another truly memorable voyage. I’ll be back next week with some great stories from Queen Mary 2. Cheers for now Alastair.

 Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 137 days

Thanks for all your feedback from the Blog featuring the stunning artwork that will grace the Grand Lobby on Queen Elizabeth. I’m glad you agree it’ll look fantastic, and to answer Christian’s question, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait and see what artefacts there’ll be from both Queen Elizabeths, but rest assured I’ll let you know as soon as I can.

It’s been another busy week for our Queens with Queen Mary 2 on her way back to Southampton on another of her famed Transatlantic Crossings and Queen Victoria basking in the success of the fantastic TOGs voyage, which ended in Southampton yesterday. In fact I was there to meet some of the TOGs as they disembarked and chatted to Sir Terry Wogan, just before he left and that Video Blog will be posted next week.

In this Blog we have more stories of how the voyage went, after this week in Cunard’s History from 28 May to 3 June. 

Now it’s time to go to Queen Victoria to catch up on their TOGs voyage with a guest Blog from Dan Kirkby who spent the voyage with Sir Terry Wogan and his TOGs.

                     Guest Blog

                     Dan Kirkby

<<BR>>

As the TOGs eagerly awaited the TOGmeister, Sir Terry Wogan, there were many events to keep them busy and Pudsey was seen everywhere from the Victorian Sweet Shop to the Queens Room dancing with Reverend Ruth Scott and then playing the piano to her in the Commodore Club!

Then there was ‘TOGGyoke’ which gave everyone an opportunity to throw caution to the wind, with one of the highlights being Janet Marsh performing her ‘Togged’ version of Big Spender with husband John at the piano.

              
It wasn’t long after Sir Terry boarded Queen Victoria that he was at a book signing in the Grand Lobby with over two hundred TOGs, and here are Brenda and Robert Scott posing for a photo to mark the occasion.

Then it was the big night and they came in their hundreds, packing The Royal Court Theatre for a wonderful one off Weekend Wogan. Sir Terry and his ‘underlings’ conjured up a magical night of mirth, music – and much more cash for Children In Need.

The Togmeister’s new Sunday show on BBC Radio 2 is proving to a big hit in the ratings – and the guests on Queen Victoria found out just why – in no uncertain terms.

Captain Christopher Wells braved the stage to chat with Sir Terry, who praised him for his faultless skill in manoeuvring the vessel from a challenging berth in Gibraltar Harbour.

Cunard’s Culinary Ambassador Jean-Marie Zimmermann and the Queen Victoria Chefs ensured that the great man didn’t go undernourished – by supplying copious quantities of canapés and delicious morsels to keep him ship shape during the evening.

Newsreader Charles Nove gave Sir Terry a rather too insightful update on the nautical goings on that occurred before his arrival in Rome….leaving several people in the TOGs group rather red faced!

But the real star of the show was Pudsey Bear – who reminded us all of why we are here.

Alan Dedicoat acted as auctioneer as a dozen lots came under the hammer to raise much needed money for Children In Need. A Transatlantic Crossing on Queen Mary 2 for two people, a chance to meet Sir Terry and see his show following a luxury night at The Langham Hotel, a night at Chewton Glen Country House Hotel and some beautifully displayed piston rings from the vessel’s main engine, raised more than £10,000 on the night.

Other lots, such as lunch with Ken Bruce at The Ritz Hotel and tickets for the final night of Swan Lake at The Royal Albert Hall, were offered in a silent auction taking place on board over the last couple of days.

Sir Terry also gave his famous rendition of the Bandaged version of the Hippopotamus Song with John Marsh at the piano.

Then the long suffering Janet Marsh managed to chase her errant husband off the stage – following a tawdry (and side-splitting) tale of life in the Marsh household.

The Royal Court Theatre Orchestra, under the direction of the wonderful Fred Donolato, were on hand to provide the live music – including a toe tapping medley of seafaring songs, a country and western number or two – and the tear jerking finale with a singalong of ‘We Are Sailing’. (From left to right  Jean-Marie Zimmermann, Captain Chris Wells, Alan Dedicoat, John and Janet Marsh, Sir Terry Wogan, Pudsey and Norman Macintosh)

The running total for funds raised on the voyage so far is approaching £83,000 so Pudsey is rightfully delighted.

Thanks Dan and Cristina and everyone on board for another great Blog; we’ll have the last part of the story and my interview with Sir Terry Wogan next week.

Meanwhile I’m returning to Queen Victoria on Monday and looking forward to meeting quite a few regular readers of this Blog, including Beryl who comments regularly. I’ll have a special Blog on Tuesday featuring another Cunard regular, Chris Frame who sailed on Queen Victoria during her World Voyage and will soon be publishing his new book; Queen Victoria; A Photographic Journey. Thanks again for logging on and for all your comments. Cheers Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 145 days

Last Friday (14May), was an exciting day for Queen Victoria as she welcomed the TOGs aboard for a wonderful Mediterranean voyage, joined by many familiar voices and faces from BBC’s Radio 2. For those of you still unfamiliar with this great institution, TOGs stands for Terry’s Old Geezers and Gals. Sir Terry Wogan is probably Britain’s best loved radio broadcaster who has become a national institution in his own right.

Joining Sir Terry, some of his intrepid team and the TOGs is Pudsey, who is the mascot for the BBC annual charity event; Children In Need. In fact Cunard is proud to reveal that in the last three years it has helped raise more than $250,000 for Children In Need. Although I wasn’t able to join the voyage I was able to meet some of the team who were going to make this a very special voyage.

On the back row next to me from left to right are Charles Nove, John Marsh, Amanda Reid and Dan & Helen Kirkby. Then in the front row, again from left to right, are Janet Marsh, Reverend Ruth Scott, Cristina Muñoz, Norman Macintosh, Hellen Bach.

It wasn’t long before Entertainment Director; Amanda Reid personally welcomed Pudsey aboard, in Queen Victoria’s elegant Grand Lobby.

The festivities that night began at a special reception for the 353 TOGs, and I’m happy to say our on board correspondent was there; so over to Cristina for the first of her Guest Tog Blogs!

      Guest Blog

      Cristina Muñoz

The Radio 2 gang gathered in the Winter Gardens for a lavish champagne reception where they were regaled by guest speakers including Charles Nove (left) and Chief Tog Norman Macintosh (right)

Ash cloud permitting ‘Togmeister’ Sir Terry Wogan will be joining the 353 strong throng, when Queen Victoria reaches Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, at the end of the week. We look forward to him restoring order on board ship, but Pudsey and his pals have been quick to relax and enjoy Queen Victoria’s sumptuous facilities, as the ship sailed serenely toward her first port of call, Barcelona.

Having wined, dined and reclined, the shipmates ‘showed a leg’ on Saturday morning in The Royal Court Theatre to hear some hilarious news reading tales from Charles ‘Crasher’ Nove, who managed to find his way out of the Todd English restaurant from the night before!

Charles then turned the tables and enticed some brave TOGs to try their hand at news reading themselves – jingles, unpronounceable names and laughter inducing bulletins abounded.

Meanwhile it wasn’t long before Pudsey was seen enjoying many of the ship’s numerous activities including line dancing!

On Saturday night the team attended a performance of “A Stroke of Genius” featuring the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers, from the exclusive Royal Court Theatre Boxes. Here are Janet and John Marsh in the Royal Box.

On Sunday morning the group ‘Pawsed For Thought’ thanks to an intensely moving yet at times highly amusing lecture by Reverend Ruth Scott on her work in the field of reconciliation in some of the most troubled regions of conflict in the World; Northern Ireland, the Middle East and beyond.

Ruth was one of the first females to be ordained as a priest in the UK and has been working tirelessly to bring peace where unrest and division rein. Long may she continue her extraordinary work.

Pudsey and the TOGs have got so much more to look forward to in the days to come including special versions of the Generation Game and Blankety Blank as well as the long-awaited arrival of ‘Voice Of The Balls’ Alan Dedicoat and Weekend Wogan, which will feature a fabulous fundraising night with Sir Terry and the team – so watch this space …….

Thank you very much Cristina for a great post; we look forward to hearing from you again soon. I’ll be back tomorrow for a very special post about an event I’ll be attending this evening which will feature the unveiling of something very special for Queen Elizabeth. More of that tomorrow; in the meantime thank you again for logging on. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 187 days

As both Cunard Queens enter the last few weeks of their 2010 World Voyages, Queen Victoria has left Dubai and is heading towards Aqaba, Jordan and Queen Mary 2 is about to reach the Caribbean island of Barbados. This Blog is going to focus more at home and a new partnership for Cunard. We’ll come to that in a moment, after this week in Cunard’s history, from 9 to 15 April.

Before news of our special partnership we are pleased to announce that Cunard has won another award. Queen Mary 2 has won the category “Best Luxury Cruise Ship (Large)” at the 2010 Luxury Travel Magazine Gold List Awards.

This is great news for our flag ship, so congratulations to everyone who made this possible.

Meanwhile back in London, Cunard has launched a very special partnership with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s brand new West End adventure Love Never Dies, which opened at London’s Adelphi Theatre last month. The show which is a sequel to the multi award winning The Phantom of the Opera, takes place ten years after the mysterious disappearance of “The Phantom” from the Paris Opera House. Christine Daaé accepts an offer to come to America and perform at New York’s fabulous new playground of the world of Coney Island. Arriving in New York with her husband Raoul and their son Gustave, Christine soon discovers the identity of the anonymous impresario who has lured her from France to sing. The show is a roller coaster ride of obsession and intrigue, in which music and memory can play cruel tricks, and “The Phantom” sets out to prove that, indeed, Love Never Dies.

After just one month after its opening night, Cristina Muñoz from Cunard’s marketing department takes up the story of Cunard’s involvement with this exciting new show.

Guest Blog Cristina Muñoz – Cunard Senior Relationship Marketing & Partnership Executive

Cunard has launched a partnership that will transport us back to the beginning of the 20^th century, to the days when the only way to cross the Atlantic was by sea. That’s exactly what many people did, even the principal characters of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new West-End adventure Love Never Dies did….

Cunard has been chosen as one of the corporate partners to work with this phenomenal show, that’s already promising to be a great success.

When “The Really Useful Group” approached us in August 2009 to ask if Cunard would like to be involved with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production, we were ready to jump out of our seats and sign… (at least some of our marketing colleagues were!), and that was before we even saw or heard the music!

The show premiered on 9 March, at the Adelphi Theatre in The Strand in London. Many celebrities were invited to the event, amongst them Sir Terry Wogan who will be travelling on Queen Victoria on 21 May with some of his BBC Radio 2 team and many of his beloved TOGs.

We were lucky to be part of the very fortunate few that were invited to attend two preview shows on 1 and 4 March, and were even happier to be able to share the experience with a close group of Cunard partners, journalists and colleagues.

The evening started with drinks at Simpsons- in-the-Strand where we were given our tickets for the show, a programme (Cunard feature included!) and a drink voucher for the interval. The ‘Knights Bar’ was buzzing with anticipation and excitement. Our friends seemed to be enjoying themselves, we certainly did!  Amongst them, Alan Dedicoat, Charles Nove, John and Janet Marsh, Alan Boyd to name a few; journalists from Travel Weekly ,TTG, ITV news, Daily Echo, Daily Mail, The Prince’s Trust, the Royal Albert Hall, Cruise Critic, Belinda King Productions  and more…

The question on everyone’s lips was… ‘Why are we here? What’s Cunard’s involvement with Love Never Dies?  We didn’t answer… we let the following scene speak for itself:

Click Image To Enlarge

What a fabulous evening, enjoyed by all. Here’s what some of our guests had to say after the show:

“What a wonderful evening! Champagne and canapes at Simpson on The Strand followed by the best thing I have seen in years, I came out ready to watch it all over again. The evening was made topped off perfectly by seeing Andrew Lloyd Webber in the audience. Thank you Cunard.”

Emily Goulborn, Princes Trust

“What a fabulous night out.  The pre-theatre morsels were tasty; the drinks divine.  And as for the show, well, I didn’t know what to expect … but I have to say I was not disappointed!”

Alan Dedicoat, BBC

“I thoroughly enjoyed the show and all the stage effects.  It was particularly amazing to see Cunard’s ship on stage – it truly showed the heritage of the brand”

Mary Rega, Travel Weekly

Love Never Dies is scheduled to open on Broadway (in November 2010), followed by Sydney in 2011.  We wish Andrew Lloyd Webber, the cast of Love Never Dies and The Really Useful Group every success with the show.

Thank you Cristina for the great report, which marks another important partnership for Cunard. I’m looking forward to seeing the show when I am next on leave.

With just over six months to go, I know you are keen to hear about the progress of our new Queen Elizabeth in Monfalcone, Italy and I’m pleased to say that I’ll be posting some new photos tomorrow in a special update. Please do keep your comments and questions coming in; we really enjoy hearing from our readers. Cheers for now Alastair.