Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 81 days

As Queen Victoria begins her Maiden round Britain voyage today and Queen Mary 2 heads back to Southampton, this week we turn our attention back to Italy and a key team member who will be joining the inaugural team on Queen Elizabeth. We’ll come to that after this week in Cunard’s history from 23 to 29 July:

July 24 1990

An estimated 1 million spectators greet QE2’s maiden arrival in Liverpool, marking Cunard’s 150th Anniversary

July 25 1921

Mauretania is severely damaged by fire at Southampton. The opportunity was taken to take her in hand for a major overhaul and conversion to oil fuel

 July 25 1943

Queen Mary carries 16,683 troops from New York to Gourock in Scotland, the greatest number of people to be ever conveyed on a single voyage – a record that remains to this day

July 25 1951

Caronia  makes her maiden call to Leith, Scotland

July 27 1990

Her Majesty the Queen visits QE2 as part of Cunard’s 150th celebrations and becomes the first reigning monarch to sail on a commercial liner with passengers

July 28 1938

Mauretania is launched at the Camel Laird Shipyard in Birkenhead

A few weeks ago we highlighted the new culinary concepts that will be offered on Queen Elizabeth, and with all those exciting new ideas it will take a very special team to make those concepts a reality. With Executive Chef Nicholas Oldroyd at the helm, and James Abilash as his Executive Sous Chef, Queen Elizabeth will have an exceptionally talented and very experienced culinary team to ensure our new Queen delivers the very best cuisine.

 

Born in the seaside town of Bridlington East Yorkshire, Nicholas was educated in Norton in North Yorkshire. He attended Scarborough Yorkshire Coast College, earning a Diploma in Catering and Hospitality. During his four years at college he also received Chef of the Year and the St. Emillion Award for outstanding food service. He also won many regional Salon Culinary events such as Bookers Cash and Carry Cook Competition as well as being a regional finalist in the British Gas Caterbilty Competition.

In 1998 Nicholas started work in France at two, one Star Michelin Restaurants, Les Cedres in Darome and La Table De Frere Ibarboure in Biarritz. Returning to Yorkshire, Nicholas was appointed Head Chef of the Cornucopia and Copper Horse Restaurants in Norton & Scarborough. After a year he joined forces with his twin brother Mark, and they were offered positions at the prestigious North Yorkshire Golf Club in Strensell, for 3 years.

In 1999 Nicholas and Mark decided to go to sea after a former employer told them about his time working on Franconia and Queen Mary. They joined QE2 in 1999, with Nicholas starting as Demi Chef De Partie rising through the ranks to Sous Chef and then Chef de Cuisine. Over seven years on QE2, Nicholas managed all six galleys, before joining Queen Mary 2 in preparation for the set up of Queen Victoria. Nicholas served as Chef de Cuisine of the Britannia Restaurant Galley during the maiden season of Queen Victoria, before being promoted to Executive Sous Chef. He was promoted again to Executive Chef on Queen Victoria where he was reunited with his twin brother Mark, as Executive Sous Chef. During that time they were interviewed by Sir Terry Wogan on the TOGs Voyage, and then invited Coronation Street Star Liz Dawn and her husband to enjoy their work on stage:

  

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Whilst not on board, both Nicholas and Mark love to spend time in Kissimmee Florida were they share a house together, relax in the pool and enjoy the Florida Sunshine State. They also have a love for cars, travel, and most of all eating and dining out discovering new innovations and concepts.

Recently I caught up with Nicholas Oldroyd who was kind enough to spend some time with me to chat about his career and future on Queen Elizabeth.

Congratulations. It must be quite an honour to be chosen to be Queen Elizabeth’s first Executive Chef.

After being with Cunard for ten exciting years working with amazing colleagues on board Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2 and also Queen Victoria, it has all been beneficial for my Cunard culinary adventure. To be part of such a iconic company is an honour and I’m truly proud that I have been selected to lead the culinary team on Queen Elizabeth and continue Cunard’s heritage of fine cuisine and ultimate luxury dinning. 

Going back to when you first started with Cunard, what were your first impressions of being a Chef at sea?

I still remember my first day in New York with Mark when we joined QE2 as Demi Chef de Parties. We both looked at each other and said; “What have we got our self’s into?” The first week was a challenge adjusting to life at sea and the movement of the ship as well as the clock changes on the transatlantic crossings. However working with outstanding colleagues made it all feel worthwhile because of the valuable experience we gained. The sheer size of the galleys and the amount of Chef’s was also an eye opener, but despite some moments of uncertainty, I soon loved the sheer buzz of QE2 and the life on board as well as the different culinary opportunities. The Cunard family feeling is amazing and it’s true that all of us are very close and it’s a something that’s unique to Cunard.

Your brother Mark is also a Chef with Cunard, what’s it like working together and are you competitive?

Mark and I worked together for 7 ½ years on QE2 and although I have always had promotion before him, we have never been jealous of each other because it’s an achievement for both of us. Mark always followed me closely when it came to promotion as we complement each other. This is because we work so well together sharing the work load which is important when cooking 12,000 meals a day and organizing the dinning outlets on board. We like to call it “Twin Power”. We don’t need to be competitive because we are a team and actually we share everything anyway – well within reason!!

How involved have you been in the exciting new dining concepts on Queen Elizabeth?

I was recently on Queen Victoria, working on Queen Elizabeth’s new alternative dinning concepts which will be served in the Lido, so you can imagine the amount of brainstorming that was required. It has been a lot of work but again teamwork has been the key as well as the vast knowledge of our Culinary Ambassador, “Jean Marie Zimmermann“. I have just completed the first voyage menu for Queen Elizabeth and have been heavily involved in the new Grills A La Carte Dinning concept, which has just been implemented on Queen Victoria. This month I am working on The Verandah with Chef Jean Marie on Queen Mary 2, which I think will offer the finest French cuisine at sea.

 

 

 

When will you be going out to the ship and what will be the first tasks you have to undertake when you get there?

I will be joining on 24 August and my first task will be making sure everything is been fitted in the right places in the galleys. I will then ensure the crew galley is operational, ready for the crew when they arrive in September.

What are the challenges with setting up a galley operation on a new ship?

Basically making sure that everything you have ordered to do the job arrives and works. Queen Victoria went very smoothly, and the layout of Queen Elizabeth’s galleys is very similar; so with careful planning and using our team to its full potential, I’m confident everything will go well.

It must be quite a decision to select the team you’ll be working with on Queen Elizabeth

We have taken experience from each ship in the planning for Queen Elizabeth making sure we trained Chef’s in all key departments so it would not affect the operations on Queen Victoria or Queen Mary 2. I am fortunate to be joined by James Abilash as my Executive Sous Chef who brings a tremendous amount of experience to the team. There will also be two Chef de Cuisines from Queen Victoria who were part of the Queen Victoria inaugural team. We will also have some chefs who are new to Cunard and they will bring their experience and talents to the team, and following training with the White Star Academy, we will nurture and train them further as they start their Cunard culinary careers.

What are you most looking forward to with Queen Elizabeth?

Seeing the ship for the first time and getting Queen Elizabeth’s culinary team together. The Naming Ceremony and the inaugural culinary events will be first test of our team work and organization, but it’s a challenge I am looking forward to. The most exciting part will be the opening of Queen Elizabeth’s dining experiences and restaurants which will make her a talking point in the industry.

What is the most frequent question you get asked – and what the answer?

It’s always: “How is your brother, and where is he now?” Also: “Will you be working together again because we loved the cooking show when you were both together it’s so funny you should be on TV?” When they ask me if I miss him; I tell them “Sometimes!”

If you opened your own restaurant what would it be called and what would the signature dish be?

Naturally I would open it with Mark and think I would name it

 

Grilled Prime Fillet of Castle Howard Beef, Ribblesdale Goats Cheese Onion Tart,

 Truffled Rosti Quenelle, Forest Mushroom Confit, Green Peppercorn Burgundy Jus

 Yorkshire Curd Tart, Lemon Curd Panna Cotta

 With Yorkshire Lavender Honey Ice Cream

 

  And finally; what is your favourite quote and who said it?

“Life is like a box of chocolate; you never know what you are going to get” Forest Gump “Tom Hanks”

Thank you so much Nicholas for a great interview, and I look forward to seeing you in Monfalcone in about two months. Meanwhile I’ll be back next week with some news from Queen Victoria’s Maiden Round Britain Voyage. Cheers Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 166 days

 

One of the landmark events on a World Voyage is when a Cunard Queen hosts the “Country Fair”. The event which goes back more years than I care to suggest, serves firstly as an opportunity for guests and the ships company to raise money for charity, but is also one that is enjoyed by everyone. Readers in Britain will be familiar with the annual Church Fete. Well this is very similar, with comparable events and that same wonderful atmosphere. The only differences are you don’t have to worry about the weather interrupting proceedings, the microphone system actually works and we don’t have to worry about a new roof!

 

In my last post we heard from Queen Mary 2 and the fabulous job they did at their Country Fair, so now it’s time to see what happened at Queen Victoria’s.

 

In keeping with Cunard’s World Voyage tradition, the charities being supported this year were chosen by the Officers and Crew on board Queen Victoria. This year the ship’s company chose Cancer Research UK ( The world’s leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research), Emasithandane Children’s Project (a home for orphaned and other vulnerable children in Nyanga which is one of the poorest townships in Cape Town), Gawad Kalinga  (A housing project in the Philippines which has helped several hundreds of poor families build small homes) and ShelterBox (an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide, most recently in Haiti and China).

 

On a World Voyage there are numerous events to raise money for the ship’s chosen charities and on Queen Victoria this year events included, Auctions, Sponsored Events, Collections and Donations. For the second year we have also been lucky enough to have Marie and Frank Sotille running a charity table which features everything from local craftwork to guest donations.

 

 

This is their second year on Queen Victoria continuing the tradition from QE2. They do such an amazing job in raising so much during the World Voyage sea days and we are incredibly grateful for all their work.

 

Queen Victoria’s Country Fair marked the beginning of an amazing day. In fact work had been taking place for many days before hand, carefully orchestrated by Lisa Fanning, Thomas Quinones, Mel Jones and Jennifer Schaper of the Entertainment team along with many other members of the Entertainment Staff and guests.

 

The morning was a hive of activity as guests and crew prepared the stalls and decorated the Queens Room with Captain Rynd poised at 2pm to cut the ribbon to let eager guests spend their money.

 

 

It didn’t take long for the Queens Room to be packed with bargain hunters at the Second Hand Rose stall, and others trying their luck at the computer simulator where they could drive the ship, with our Bridge Officers on hand to help.

 

 

There was, Guess the Weight of the Cake, Chop the Carrot and we even had a raffle for a lucky guest to become a member of the Entertainment Staff for a day! This was won by Joanne Brown and you can read more about that in a Blog next week. We also had Tina Poxon, Mary Tinson and Joan Burrel as the Human Fruit Machine!

 

 

When refreshment was required, we had guests who volunteered to serve tea and cakes, and here’s Patsy Wilson serving fellow guests Elizabeth Davidson and Sean Thomson.

 

 

This was one of the big events where crew are also invited to come along and join in the fun and this is Ariel, one of our accommodation team who, by the looks of him, did very well at the tombola stall!

 

 

We also showed off items which were to be sold a couple of days later at the Charity Auction which included the whole World Voyage Chart, Afternoon Tea with the Captain in his quarters as well as items from the Deck and Engine Department and some unique Cunard memorabilia donated by guests and crew. In fact by the end of the World Voyage Queen Victoria had raised over $35,000 including the proceeds of the Navigational Chart Auction from each leg of the World Voyage, (which goes to the Princes trust). It was an amazing achievement and our thanks go to the guests and crew of Queen Victoria for all their work and generosity.

 

That night we held our Full World Voyage party; the final one of the voyage for our guests who were enjoying the 2010 Full World Voyage. The Theme was our adventures around the world and the Culinary Team excelled themselves in some superb sculptures and decorations like this head table depicting some of the ports we had visited.

 

 

How about this magnificent ice sculpture? It is a stunning Chinese Dragon, which arrived in four sections.

 

 

These incredible displays weren’t only for show; here guests were invited to enjoy fresh sushi and seafood from one of our talented chefs. Yes that is a handmade Hong Kong Junk behind him.

 

 

Much of the beautiful artwork had been created by our on board ice and food carver, Catalino, and here he is with some of his handiwork like this camel which took him two days to make.

 

 

There was so much preparation involved for such an event and here are our Executive Chef Bernard Stumphel and Executive Sous Chef, Nicholas Oldroyd, looking very proud of their team’s work.

 

 

And here they are, just some of the creative talent behind the event.

 

 

Then it was time to let our guests enjoy the evening which was a huge success, receiving numerous compliments from guests saying it was a fantastic crescendo to the World Voyage, as you can see in this picture which captures just some of the atmosphere of the evening.

 

That night there was an Egyptian Ball and we were fortunate enough to have Amanda Reid on board. She had been on for the beginning of Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage and had been instrumental in the Sand Dance at their Egyptian Ball in January. When she suggested doing the same on Queen Victoria I agreed instantly before realising who she had cast in the roles……

 

 

Yes, take a close look and the cast are – on the left Social Hostess, Jenny Schaper, on the Right Assistant Entertainment Director Amanda Reid and yes in the middle it is yours truly! Oh Well it was the World Voyage!

 

 

That’s it for now, but I’ll be back tomorrow with some pictures and news of some of the events over the last couple of weeks. I know I said I would have more pictures of Queen Elizabeth, but I’m afraid they will have to wait for next Tuesday – but they’ll be worth it. Cheers for now, Alastair

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 240 days 

It’s really great to hear that so many of you are watching us on our circumnavigations so thank you yet again for logging on. While all of us on Queen Victoria are enjoying two days in Sydney at the end of the third leg of her third World Voyage, I thought we would dedicate this Blog to those signature events that have become synonymous with a Cunard World Voyage.

 

 

One of the highlights of every World Voyage is when the whole Queen Victoria Culinary Team are invited to show off their talents and skills to produce some outstanding and breathtaking culinary delights. On display this year were fruit and vegetable carvings, bread show pieces as well as plated entrées and desserts. It’s amazing how each year they seem to outdo themselves, and this year the event certainly produced that true wow factor. Out of the 125 Chefs on board 80 let their passion and skills run wild on some inspired masterpieces.

 

The event on 12 February, called “Chef’s Salon Culinaire”, was a highlight for the Culinary Team who really seemed to get a buzz out of the whole show. It also gave our guest’s and Chef’s the opportunity to interact and share experiences. Guests told me they enjoyed being able to praise the chefs all for all their talent and hard work, not only at this magnificent event, but throughout the voyage.

 

There were five categories and guests were invited to vote on their favourite display in each one. The amount of work that went in to each individual display was incredible, such as the winner of the Fruit and Vegetable Carving category by Chef de Partie, Bobby Cadiac,

 

 

 

There were many incredible pieces of artwork and you could hardly believe they were all edible. But they were, and very tempting, especially the winner of the Pastry Show Piece category by Chef de Partie Pastry, Antonio Cardozo.     

 

 

 

After all the votes were counted, a very proud Executive Chef, Nicholas Oldroyd, announced the winners and awarded the prizes which included a selection of base ball caps, Queen Victoria sweat shirts and teddy bears, photo frames and albums. Then it was time for a group photo of all the winners:

 

 

They are from left to right:

 

Roger Barerra, Chef De Cuisine, Lido Galley

Nicholas Oldroyd, Executive Chef

Isgani Prado, Sous Chef and winner of the Plated Entree Hot and Cold category

Romualdo Rebello, Executive Pastry Chef

Movillon Gaudioso, Chef De Partie and winner of the Cold Larder Display category

Eric Yoong, Chef De Cuisine, Grills Restaurant Galley

Catalino Pajie, Queen Victoria Food Artist

James Abilash, Executive Sous Chef

Bobby Cadiac, Chef De Partie and winner of the Fruit and Vegetable Carving category

Antonio Cardozo, Chef De Partie and Winner of the Pastry Show Piece and Plated Dessert categories

 

I asked Nick after the event what he thought of the day:

 

“I would like to congratulate all my Chef’s of the Queen Victoria Culinary Team for their inspiration, creativity, sheer determination and drive for making the magic come alive on their special day. It was certainly a memorable and legendary event and it was so rewarding to see that the guest appreciation was incredible with so many compliments and praise for the Chefs work. In my eyes all of my Chef’s are winners and I am so proud to be in charge of such a talented and amazing team.”

 

Thanks Nick for creating such a memorable day, I can’t think how they’ll top it next year, but I have a feeling they will!

 

Valentine’s Day is always very special as you can see from the celebrations on Queen Victoria last year, by clicking on this link:

 

 

http://wearecunard.com/2009/02/romance-on-the-high-seas/

 

 

We continued the tradition this year of guests’ Valentines messages on a special insert in the Daily Programme, with the guest donating the most to our World Voyage Charities, having their dedication on the front page of the Daily Programme.

 

 

 

This year a marvelous $423 was added to our fund raising efforts. Lots of other special Valentines activities took place during the day with the traditional Valentines Ball in the evening. Another tradition we continued, was that every lady was presented with a rose from our White Star Bellboys as they entered each restaurant and what an elegant sight they were:

 

 

 

Meanwhile, a new World Voyage tradition for Queen Victoria started soon after we left San Francisco. A guest approached me and asked if we could advertise an interest corner for Choral Singers. ‘Of course’, I said and asked Nick Wilkes of the Entertainment Staff and Vincent Wolfe, our Queens Room Vocalist, to go along and look after them. Nick takes up the story:

 

“When Vincent Wolfe and I were given the task of looking after a group of Choral enthusiasts, we weren’t quite expecting what turned out to be a fun activity. On the first day after putting together a selection of songs for the guests to sing, we arrived at Hemispheres with 25 song sheets, thinking they may appreciate some prepared music. As we arrived, so did the guests and they kept arriving until we had a room full of 76 enthusiastic singers. We quickly photocopied extra sheets and the guest choir was born. We were lucky to be graced with the wonderful talents of Dustin Turner on Piano who supported in true style. Five rehearsals were scheduled and then there was talk of a concert to be performed for fellow guests in the Grand Lobby. It was soon evident that the choir was far too popular to hold the concert in the Grand Lobby so the venue was moved to the Queens Room and eventually the Royal Court Theatre. Seven songs were performed which included favourites such as “Oh What a Beautiful Morning,” “Edelweiss,” You’ll Never Walk Alone,” and “Love Changes Everything.” The theatre was packed and the first Queen Victoria Guest Choir received a standing ovation with much applause. On a whole it was a great experiment which I would gladly undertake again!”

 

 

Nick did a great job and found a new talent; he turned out to be a great conductor! After the concert the newly formed Guest Choir gathered in the Grand Lobby for a group photograph, and couldn’t help breaking in to song again with an impromptu rendition of the very appropriate “We Are Sailing”!

 

 

 

There’ll be lots more news coming very soon, including some pictures on Monday from Queen Elizabeth in Italy, as well as other stories from the Cunard World. Cheers for now, Alastair

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 257 days

 

While Queen Mary 2 made her maiden call to the Venice of India, Cochin, Queen Victoria arrived for her first call to the Hawaiian Island of Maui and the port of La Haina. I’ll try and not make you too envious with some pictures next week! In this Blog we decided to highlight two very special occasions that were celebrated on Queen Victoria on her way to San Francisco last week.

 

We always acknowledge important days on our ships, but when we found out that Burns Day was on Queen Victoria’s last formal evening of her second leg of the 2010 World Voyage, we decided to make it a gala event with a special Burn’s Night Ball.  For those of you not familiar with Scotland’s most famous poet, I’ll try and give you a very brief history!

 

Born near Ayr in Scotland on 25 January 1759, Robert Burns is also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland’s favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a “light” Scots dialect.

 

It was to his father, William Burns and to his own reading, that he owed the more important part of his education. In 1786 he published “Kilmarnock” a volume of the poems which he had been composing for some years. Following the volume’s success, he went to Edinburgh, and that winter became the chief literary celebrity of the season.

 

For many, the real national importance of Burns is his songs. From an early age he had been interested in collecting the fragments he had heard sung or found printed, and was committed to rescuing this almost lost national inheritance. In spite of the fact that he was constantly in severe financial straits, he refused to accept any recompense for much of his work, preferring to regard it as a patriotic service. As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) Auld Lang Syne is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and “Scots Wha Hae” served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Robert Burns became a cultural icon in Scotland during the 19th and 20th centuries and in 2009 he was voted by the Scottish public as being the Greatest Scot, through a vote run by Scottish television.

 

The celebrations on Queen Victoria started a few days before with Scottish dancing lessons and sash making classes, all of which paid off on the night itself. Burns Night began at dinner with a special dish created by our on board culinary team, led by Executive Chef, Nicholas Oldroyd. The dish featured traditional Scottish Haggis served with the equally traditional Tatties (mashed potato) and Neeps (mashed turnip), with a special Drambuie sauce. Our guests certainly got in to the spirit of the evening; Nick told me over half our guests enjoyed the specially prepared dish.

 

The Burns Night Ball began with some traditional Scottish music and the first of the dances, “The Gay Gordons”, and it was a fantastic sight to see so many guests dressed in kilts and many others in tartan. The highlight of the evening was when fellow guest Jim Gardiner was invited to “Address The Haggis”

 

 

Here Mr Gardiner is addressing the haggis as our Scottish Chef, Derek Wilson, presents the Haggis and cuts it open as part of the ceremony. This is an abbreviated section of the address, in Scottish and in English.

 

“To a Haggis” by Robert Burns

Fair fa; your honest, stonie face,

Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!

Aboon them a’ ye tak your place

Painch, trip, or thairm:

Weel are ye wordy of a grace

As lang’s my arm.

 

All hail your honest rounded face,

Great chieftain of the pudding race,

Above them all you take your place,

Beef, Tripe or Lamb:

You’re worthy of a grace,

As long as my arm.

 

 

 

The end of the ceremony is marked by a toast with, what else, but whisky, and here Derek and Jim are joined by (left to right), Ed Moffatt, Assistant Entertainment Director, Jim’s wife Muriel and Social Hostess, Jennifer Schaper.

 

 

After that Derek joined all the guests who had dressed in their Scottish Attire for the evening, for a group photo.

 

 

Then it was time for more traditional Scottish dances such as “Strip the Willow” and “Dashing White Seargent”. And yes I did join in though I’m not going to embarrass myself by showing you the pictures!

 

The following day was another important day for our guests and crew as many of our crew celebrated India Republic Day and our 49 Australian guests marked Australia day with a special party in the Winter Garden filled with green and yellow balloons and Australian Flags.

 

Previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day and ANA Day, Australia Day is the official national day and commemorates the arrival of the first fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia. Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with Governor Lachlan Macquarie having held the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales in 1818.

 

There are only seven Australian crew members on board, so Lisa Fanning (top right in the photo below), from Melbourne, and the Entertainment Department’s only Australian, led the singing of the Australian National Anthem, “Advance Australia Fair”, as well as songs like Peter Allen’s “I Still Call Australia Home” and the ever popular “Waltzing Matilda”. After that it was time for a group photo.

 

 

I’ll be back on Thursday with the regular weekly Blog and I have some great ones coming up, including a post featuring a special guest lecturer, Roger McGuinn, founding member of The Byrds. We also hope to post a video of our maiden call into San Francisco, with some fascinating statistics as Queen Victoria passes a key milestone in her career. There’ll also be some more news from Queen Elizabeth coming soon, so I look forward to keeping you fully updated with what’s going on in the Cunard World. Cheers for now, Alastair

Those of you, who know us, are well aware that at Cunard we are always looking for a reason to have a party and Halloween is one of those events on board that seems to get bigger and bigger each year.  Guests woke up last Saturday morning on Queen Victoria to a magnificent display in the Grand Lobby. Our galley team under the expert guidance of Bernhard Stumpfel (Executive Chef) and Nicholas Oldroyd (Executive Sous Chef) had excelled themselves in creating this wonderful tableau.

 

 

 

Fruit and vegetable carving demonstrations have been a long standing tradition on Cunard ships, as our talented chefs show our guests how to create wonderful garnishes and even more elaborate table decorations for dinner parties; all out of fresh fruit and vegetables. An added twist to this year’s display was an opportunity for our culinary team to show off their creative talents, as they competed for the most artistically carved pumpkin. Guests were then invited to vote for their favourite; so after counting the votes, here firstly are the runners up. In third place is this scary pumpkin by Movillon Gaudioso, Chef De Partie (Buffet Preparation)

 

 

 

 

In second place with a rather gruesome entry was Christopher Ang Demi, Chef De Partie (Vegetable Preparation)

 

 

 

 

But the winner was this incredibly elaborate carving by Fadul Virgilo who is a Demi Chef De Partie (Buffet Preparation):

 

 

 

 

Our congratulations go to Fadul for creating such an amazing piece of artistry and here are all the guys being congratulated by Nicholas Oldroyd, (from left to right Nicholas Oldroyd, Fadul Virgilo, Movillon Gaudioso, and Christopher Ang).

 

 

 

 

While our guests were out enjoying the stunning port of Ajaccio (Corsica), the Entertainment Staff had been busy throughout the day decorating the ship ready for a night of spooky celebrations

 

The Halloween Party in the Queens Room that night was a huge success and the Entertainment Staff were all dressed in some fantastic outfits. They were so good they could hardly be recognized; I suspect that was on purpose!

 

 

 

 

 

The highlight of the evening was when they literally thrilled the guests with a special dance routine which involved a lucky thirteen members of the department. Under the guidance and choreography of Alain Rihnvis and Melloney DeBeer (our Dance Instructors), the team danced to the music of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.

 

 

 

 

 

Well done guys – it was brilliant and our guests clearly loved it. Speaking of our guests, they then had their opportunity to show off their creations in the Halloween Costume Parade. This is always an impressive part of the evening and the amount of ingenuity our guests of all ages have never ceases to amaze me. The party continued till late, up in Hemispheres nightclub, so I think there was quite a bit of snoozing taking place on the coaches that left for Rome early the next day.

 

Congratulations to everyone for making it such a superb Halloween this year and to Ben and Marius from the on board photography team for capturing the event with these excellent pictures. I’ll be back on Thursday with a very special Blog and of course more news from the fleet as well as more answers to your questions and comments. Thanks again for logging on. Cheers for now – Alastair