Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 215 days

 

One of the highlights of every Cunard World Voyage is the celebration that is held in honour of those guests enjoying the whole World Voyage. The event is usually months in the making and involves our on board management as well as the shore side team. This year a spectacular venue was found in Melbourne that was perfect for the night; the National Gallery of Victoria.

 

Since 1861, the National Gallery of Victoria on St. Kilda Road in Melbourne has been displaying art works for the enjoyment of the community and today’s building has recently undergone extensive refurbishment. During the day the gallery is dedicated to showing magnificent international artwork, and this proved to be an ideal backdrop to our international guest list on the night.

 

We have over 500 full World Voyage guests this year on Queen Victoria, and they began the evening with a wonderful cocktail party on board before they were whisked off on a short luxury coach ride to the venue which was specially lit for the evening.

 

 

 

At the entrance guests were greeted by a traditional welcome performance, by Australia’s Aboriginal dancers, enhanced by the sounds of the didgeridoo. Guests then walked up a specially laid red carpet, to be welcomed by Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, Captain Paul Wright and Hotel Manager Jacqui Hodgson.

 

Then as guests entered the magnificent Great Hall, members of the Australian Boys Choir lined the route adding to the sense of occasion. The venue, with its beautiful glazed ceiling, really did look stunning and quite a transformation from what we had seen earlier in the day.

 

 

 

Guests were guided to their seats and were, as is tradition, joined my numerous members of Queen Victoria’s Senior Officers. Every detail in the venues décor had been thoughtfully coordinated and the floral arrangements in particular looked wonderful We are often asked what happens to them after the event and I am happy to tell you that in keeping with tradition, all the flowers from all such events are donated and delivered to cancer units in the region wherever the event is being held. Amongst the arrangements for this year’s World Voyage Dinner, were over 4,000 roses and it was great to receive this message a couple of days later:

 

On behalf of the clients and staff of the Palliative Care Unit, Broadmeadows Health Service, Northern Health, I would like to thank you for the beautiful floral arrangements delivered to the unit. They have been a much admired and cherished addition to the unit, bringing colour and joy into the lives of our clients and their families. Regards, John Doran, Acting Unit Manager, Palliative Care Unit.

 

After welcome speeches from Captain Wright and Peter Shanks, I was delighted to introduce the Australian Boys Choir who performed familiar songs from Australia and around the world, from a balcony at the head of the Hall which was then projected on to big screens for everyone to enjoy.

 

 

The choir, which formed in 1939, is a performing and training choir, open to all boys with unchanged voices. Entry to the training groups is by selective audition, held three times each year. The Choir, based in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, presents an annual subscription series of formal concerts, as well as other engagements (television, radio and film) and frequent overseas tours. They have also sung before standing U.S Presidents, The Vatican, and Queen Elizabeth during her stay in Australia

 

As a really lovely touch, after Captain Wright said Grace, the choir boys mingled with very appreciative guests as they started to enjoy an excellent dinner.

 

Here is the menu for the night which was accompanied by some superb Australian wines chosen specifically to compliment the meal.

 

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

 

After dinner we all enjoyed dancing to a wonderful orchestra and many of the ships company showed off their dancing talents with our guests late into the night!

 

Then all too soon it was time to head back to Queen Victoria, but there was another surprise as a special White Star Service welcome home had been prepared for our returning guests. Then many headed up to the top decks and continue the party to the sounds of our international band Changez, as Queen Victoria set sail for her next port, Adelaide.

 

As we discover the Orient on the next stage of our 2010 World Voyage, Queen Mary 2 will soon be heading across the Indian Ocean for maiden calls to Mauritius and South Africa. She’ll be hosting her World Voyage Dinner in Cape Town so I’ll try and get some pictures from that event and post them for you.

 

I’ll be back for my regular post tomorrow which will feature some new pictures from Queen Elizabeth with a special Video Blog highlighting the Grills. Cheers for now, Alastair

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 237 days

 

A highlight of every World Voyage, is visiting Sydney for two days, and this year on Queen Victoria was no exception. In fact, as you saw on Thursday’s Blog, it included a world first with Queen Victoria being the first ever liner being bathed in pink light. I’ll let our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, take up the story in a special guest Blog.

 

 

Guest Blog – Peter Shanks – President and Managing Director of Cunard Line:

 

Tickled Pink Down Under in Sydney…………………… and then I climbed the bridge

 

It was with a real sense of excitement that I set off from Heathrow for Australia last week. I was on my way to Sydney to see our ship Queen Victoria. Excitement changed to a sense of being rather knackered – it really is a very long way and you lose all sense of which day it is and where you are. I flew on the new Qantas Airbus A380 – it’s a terrific aircraft but any aircraft loses its appeal after 22 hours. Nonetheless I arrived safe and sound with two objectives in mind for the visit – to catch up with my friends and colleagues on board Queen Victoria and to give a well deserved shot in the arm for our colleagues in Carnival Australia who are doing so much to grow Cunard’s awareness in the Australian market.

 

I thought I would share with you three remarkable things I got up to during my short visit.

 

Turning Queen Victoria Pink – We worked with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to host an event to launch their fund raising efforts for the year ahead. The champion of the foundation here in Australia is Sarah Murdoch, and what a delightful and famous Australian she is. Many of us find ourselves contributing to charities, but very few people are passionate enough to drive and champion a foundation as brilliant and well deserving as Breast Cancer – so hats off to Sarah and her colleagues. Our little bit to help was to offer Queen Victoria for a reception on the aft deck at sundown. It was an awesome setting; on the port side the Opera House and on the starboard side Sydney Harbour Bridge. But being a Cunard event we had to give a twist. So we thought; how about we turn the ship pink to support such a famous ‘Pink’ charity.

 

 

Well the pictures speak for themselves. Not only did we turn the ship pink; the resulting media pictures went right around the world.

 

 

That gives us so much pleasure – of course it helps to see a Cunard ship a part of such a fabulous event but to help the charity in a small way is jolly satisfying for all of us.

 

Climbing the Bridge -The next afternoon I had a few hours to spare prior to setting sail for Melbourne. I thought the only view to have of Queen Victoria would be from the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is something I have always wanted to do. Well, I can now recommend to everybody who visits Sydney to climb the bridge if they can. It is the most well organised I have ever seen. They are meticulous in preparation; medical checks, complete kit of overalls, harnesses, headgear, hats and radios. We were a group of 14 strangers from all over the world, but over the course of three hours became friends through the adventure. I tried not to remind myself that I don’t like heights. Once you get up the ladders onto the top structure – it’s a walk in the park and you climb up the beautiful curve of the bridge. It did not take long until we were right at the top, looking down on one of the most beautiful vistas in the world. But today that vista was even more special because below us was Queen Victoria.

 

 

OK, so I stand accused of going to any length to gain positive coverage for the Cunard brand, but I have to admit that having a picture of myself and Queen Victoria from the top of Sydney Harbor Bridge is pretty cool. In fact why don’t I lay down a challenge to see if any of our competitor cruise lines can better that? I very much doubt it.

 

To the real reason for my visit to Queen Victoria – Many of you will know just how special White Star Service is to Cunard Line, our staff and our valued guests. As we sailed from Sydney to Melbourne we launched the new and revitalised White Star Training Program to the ship’s company. Over three presentations during the day, I was able to share our plans face to face with every member of the ship’s company. We are investing in new training programs, new personal development opportunities, as well as awards for ‘Star of the Month’ and ‘Staff Suggestions’. At the end of the presentations we also gave every member of the ship’s company a small gift, to thank them for their incredible efforts in looking after our guests on the World Voyage. Later that day there was another highlight, as we launched the new Cunard Long Service Awards. Along with senior officers, we presented 33 awards to staff who have been with Cunard for more than 20 years. This included stewards, able seamen, waiters and many others. They each received a special White Star Pin, a certificate and an award commensurate with their length of service.  The longest serving officer was awarded for over 38 years and 7 months of dedicated service to Cunard Line – how special is that?

 

So we arrive in Melbourne today which presented another chance to share Queen Victoria with travel agents and media guests. Tonight we have our famous World Voyage Dinner in the National Gallery in Melbourne to those guests travelling right round the world with us. Then it’s back to London for me, suitably knackered (technical term), but immensely proud of the team we have on board.

 

What was the highlight of my visit? No question, it was seeing the pride and delight on the faces of our staff when they received recognition for their dedicated service to Cunard - good for them.

 

We will be back in Australia next year with both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth in Sydney on the same day. And to make it special, it will be the 70^th anniversary of when Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth met in Sydney in 1941 – I can’t wait…………..

 

Best Regards

Peter Shanks

 

Thank you Peter for this guest Blog and I can say that it’s been a busy, but very exciting time on board Queen Victoria. As we said goodbye to Peter we are now heading, for the very first time, along the southern coast of Australia to Adelaide and then Perth. I’ll post some more pictures and news as we go along. Peter mentioned Queen Victoria’s current longest serving officer, and I’ll be interviewing him in a week or so. He is the Crew Housekeeper. His name is John Davies and he has a fascinating story.

 

I’ll also be back later in the week with a special announcement about Queen Elizabeth along with some new pictures from her under construction in Italy. It’s going to be another busy week of Blogging! Cheers for now, Alastair

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 264 days

 

As I am writing this post, Queen Victoria has just made her third transit of the Panama Canal, and is now heading north to Acapulco. I’ll have a special Blog next week with some great pictures of this highlight of Queen Victoria’s World Voyage. Meanwhile Queen Mary 2 has just made her maiden call to Safaga in Egypt where her guests will have enjoyed tours to Luxor and the “Valley of The Kings”. 

 

Before we show you pictures and video of Queen Elizabeth’s interior, here’s Cunard’s history, for the week 22 to 28 January:

 

23 January 1951	Caronia makes her maiden call to Honolulu, Hawaii
26 January 1856	The Persia begins her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York, as Cunard’s last but one paddle steamer.
26 January 1986	QE2 makes her maiden call at Callao, Peru
26 January 2008	Queen Victoria makes her maiden call at Acapulco

 

Queen Elizabeth’s Float Out ceremony was an amazing occasion, as it gave us the opportunity to witness a milestone in her construction process as well as being able to have a sneak look inside our new Queen, to see how she was progressing. Although it will be less than ten months before her maiden voyage, the interior of the ship at this stage is literally just metal.

 

To date the main focus of attention has been on the superstructure of the ship, but now that she has moved in to her first outfitting dock the attention turns to the inside. I took quite a few photographs, but frankly it would be hard to work out which area is which, so I took some pictures on board Queen Victoria this week, to give you an idea of what these areas may look like in 37 weeks time, although of course the décor will be different.

 

Most of the ship still looks very much like a shell and as you’ll see in this first photo of the upper level of the Britannia Restaurant, the outfitting process makes a dramatic difference.

 

Click image to enlarge

 

 

 

 

One thing we noticed in many areas of the ship, such as the Grand Lobby, Royal Arcade, Queens Room and Royal Court Theatre was the huge amount of scaffolding, which would enable work to take place on the very high bulkheads. You’ll see what I mean in this next shot, which is a view looking aft from the B Staircase towards the Grand lobby.

 

Click image to enlarge

 

 

You can see the lift shafts to the left, and the red panels are the fire screen doors which will eventually be concealed. One subject that I talked about on an earlier Video Blog was the outfitting of the bars, and how the tiling in those areas had already been started, and you can see this on the left hand side of this view of the Golden Lion Pub.

 

Click image to enlarge

 

 

This was our first opportunity to look at the upper areas of the ship towards the aft, which had only recently been added. This is the view of the Lido Buffet area looking aft, and you can see that the windows still haven’t been installed yet.

 

Click image to enlarge

 

 

While we looked at Queen Elizabeth’s interiors, I was grateful to Peter Shanks, Cunard’s President and Managing Director, for taking the time to chat to me about the day and the progress of Cunard’s latest Queen. So here is the next in the series of Video Blogs from that special day:-

 

 

 

I’d like to thank everyone again for all their assistance on that cold day, which enabled me bring you these pictures and Video. Please keep your comments and questions coming in, and I look forward to posting another Blog at the beginning of next week with pictures of Queen Victoria’s transit of the Panama Canal. Cheers for now, Alastair

 Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 267 days

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 271 days

 

It was lovely to see Queen Victoria in New York’s Manhattan, as I arrived to join the ship on a very cold but sunny Tuesday Morning. In fact it was so cold; there was ice in the harbour!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was great to meet many readers of this Blog, as well as so many familiar faces amongst our guests who were either joining Queen Victoria on that day, or had joined in Southampton. After a brief hand-over with Amanda Reid, she left that evening on a flight to Lisbon to join Queen Mary 2.

 

Thank you for the amazing feedback from the first Queen Elizabeth Float Out video. I am pleased you enjoyed it and am delighted to enclose the video from the second part of the day, along with some great photos, but first here’s Cunard’s history, for the week 15 to 21 January:

 

15 January 1972

QE2 makes her maiden call at Norfolk, Virginia, USA

 

15 January 2007

Queen Victoria floats out of her dry dock

 

16 January 2002

The first steel is cut to mark the formal start of construction of Queen Mary 2

 

20 January 1950

Caronia crosses the equator for the first time travelling south to Brazil

 

21 January 2008

Queen Victoria makes her maiden transit of the Panama Canal

 

 

Looking at our history, it’s incredible to think that less than three years after Queen Victoria was floated out of her dry dock for the first time, we were celebrating her sister, Queen Elizabeth, also floating out.

 

After the coins were welded to the ship’s bulkhead, our Madrina, VIP’s, officials and guests moved to the dock side for the next stage of the ceremony. After speeches from the Shipyard Director, Paolo Capobianco, and Cunard’s President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, the Fincantieri Chaplain, Padre Gildo, was invited to bless the ship for the next stage of her construction.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Our Madrina, Dennie Farmer, was then given a special small axe to cut the wire, releasing the bottle of Prosecco.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bottle then smashed against Queen Elizabeth’s hull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the signal for one of the shipyard’s staff to open the valves on the massive dry dock gates to let the water in, so that Queen Elizabeth could float for the very first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite moving realising the significance of the event, when the water came rushing in to the dock towards Queen Elizabeth’s hull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here is the video which captures the event perfectly:

 

 

 

 

 

The whole process takes some time, so we were grateful to receive these pictures of the latter stages of the filling of the dry dock with this first picture showing the aft section;

 

 

 

 

This is a fabulous shot of the bulbous bow in an almost full dock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll notice there is still a lot of paintwork to be completed on Queen Elizabeth’s hull which will be taking place soon. She will also go in to a dry dock one more time, after her first set of sea trials which are expected to be in about 18 weeks time. During that dry dock Queen Elizabeth’s hull will be completely repainted and treated ready for delivery a few months later.

 

We still have more videos from the day including some special interviews and we’ll post them over the next week or two. In the meantime I’d like to thank our cameraman Andrew for this stunning footage, as well as Simona and everyone at the Fincantieri shipyard for all their help and patience during the filming.

 

Also coming up is some news of the World Voyages from Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. I’ll be back on Monday with the first of the interviews filmed at the Float Out Ceremony. Cheers for now, Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 274 days

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 278 days

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

Best Regards

 

Peter Shanks

President and Managing Director – Cunard Line

 

 

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

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 292 days

 

As Queen Victoria spends her Christmas in the Canaries and Queen Mary 2 celebrates in the Caribbean, we’ve already had snow falls here in Britain. Who knows whether it will stay or not for Christmas, but it has certainly made things very festive as we think of our colleagues in warmer climes. Thank you again for all your comments and to answer the big question regarding Queen Elizabeth and when she will float out; well read on as Peter Shanks mentions it in his message. Before we get to that here’s this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 25 to 31 December:

 

25 December 1981 QE2 makes her maiden call at Kralendijk, Bonaire

26 December 1949 Caronia makes her maiden call to Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo)

26 December 2003 Queen Mary 2 arrives in Southampton for the first time

27 December 1930 John Brown Yard Manager, Donald Skifflington, hammers first rivet on Queen Mary

28 December 2007 Queen Victoria makes her maiden call at Madeira

30 December 1964 Contract to build QE2 is signed between Cunard and John Brown Shipyard.

 

As we reflect on this remarkable year for Cunard, it’s a great pleasure to hand over to Peter Shanks for his thoughts on this last year and a look at the one ahead.

 

 

Guest Blog – Peter Shanks - President and Managing Director Cunard Line

 

Happy Christmas

 

As we look forward to Christmas and the dawn of a new year, it’s good to reflect a little on the past year and what we have to look ahead to in 2010.  The past year has certainly been a tough one for all of us, whether in business or in our personal lives, given the very challenging economic conditions we have seen around the world. First and foremost, all of us at Cunard Line would like to thank our valued guests for travelling with us over the past year. We are fortunate to have a wonderful sense of loyalty amongst our guests. We have also seen a growing number of guests sailing with Cunard Line for the first time in 2009. Almost every sailing has been full during the year and we really appreciate that support.

 

As you know, we very carefully measure our guest satisfaction on each and every voyage. Through the year our guests have scored their satisfaction at record levels on both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. Over 98% said they would recommend Cunard to a friend and over 97% said they would return to sail with Cunard again in the future. That is terrific and the credit for that must go to the ship’s company. We pride ourselves on our White Star Service – it’s the most special thing we have.  In a Christmas message to all of our staff who work so hard on board our ships I was able to thank each and every one of them for the marvelous “White Star Service” they deliver to our guests, so rest assured their efforts in looking after all of our guests have been, and will continue to be, well recognised.

 

I hope you have enjoyed reading our Blog during 2009, it’s really starting to take on a life of its own. From my perspective there have been a number of highlights during the year, many of which have been shared on the blog, but in particular I will remember the year for:

 

·         Queen Mary 2 Around the British Isles Voyage – this was a wonderful way to celebrate the 5^th birthday of Queen Mary 2 – without doubt the most famous ship in the world. The welcome we received in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cobh and Cherbourg was amazing. It reminded all of us of the proud tradition of Cunard Line.  To be on Queen Mary 2, on the Mersey River, alongside the historic Cunard building, in the Royal Court Theatre, with the 73 piece Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performing “You’ll never walk alone” was very Cunard. Queen Victoria will go round Britain in July 2010 on her inaugural lap of honour and I certainly won’t miss that one!

 

·         My lapel pin – I never thought a lapel pin could mean so much. All of us at Cunard Line wear the White Star Service lapel pin. It is a small piece of metal, but it represents something which is incredibly special both to all of us at Cunard Line and I trust to our guests as well.  Each time I go on the ship, it acts as a point of reference – all of our staff have their pin and wear it proudly, they also recognise the fact that I have my pin on as well. So even to those staff who I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting, there is instant recognition that we are all part of something special.

 

·         So many awards – it’s fine for all of us at Cunard to be proud of the service we deliver to our guests.  However to receive third party recognition is much more powerful as it salutes the holiday experience and service we offer to our guests.  2009 has been a great year for awards including:

 

-       “Cruise Line of the Year” – British Travel Awards

-       “Best Cruise Line in four out of five categories” – the first ever Zagat awards in North America

-       “Top two ships in the world” – Berlitz Cruise Guide

-       “Top Cruise Line” – Cruise.co.uk guest reviews

-       “Conde Naste Readers’ Travel Award”

 

Those are only a few but it was terrific in each case to be able to send a very positive message to our ships’ company for what they have achieved.

 

 

·         Meeting our Guests – in my first six months as President and Managing Director of Cunard Line I have really enjoyed meeting so many of our guests whilst on board our ships.  That has been a real highlight for me personally as it is always useful to hear just how our guests feel about their experience as well as ideas for future itineraries and areas where we could further innovate and improve in everything that we do.  So thank you for taking the time to share those ideas and I look forward to meeting many more of our guests during 2010, including when I join Queen Mary 2 in New York in June eastbound Transatlantic Crossing.

 

 

Looking forward to 2010, it’s going to be a very special year indeed. The highlight of course will be the introduction of Queen Elizabeth in October. There is a real sense of anticipation and excitement building now and we have much to do and much to announce as we go through 2010. Our Blog has become a really useful way of us communicating how the ship is developing and Alastair has been terrific in terms of the photos and video blogs he has been posting.  We will continue with that starting with the Float Out ceremony on 5 January in Trieste. Rest assured we will share all of our exciting news as we go through each month of 2010.  The one for everyone to watch out for will be the launch of the Queen Elizabeth inaugural Summer Season for 2011 which will go on sale in April. We are currently working on her itineraries to ensure they are the best we have ever had, with a range to suit everybody in all of our international markets. 

 

In the year ahead Queen Victoria also has some exciting new itineraries as she settles down to fly/cruising in the second half of the summer in the Mediterranean and of course her exciting new programme for Winter 10/11 which includes the Caribbean, Panama Canal, West Coast of USA and Hawaii. And with Queen Mary 2 and her historic Transatlantic crossings we really have an awful lot more to offer our guests than ever before.

 

So thank you for being one of our “bloggers”. We will be launching a new website in the first part of 2010 and we will continue to make sure that our “We are Cunard” blog plays a prominent part.

 

It gives Alastair, myself and many other colleagues the ability to tell the many exciting and varied stories that come to us on a daily basis at Cunard Line. It is really very special to have a brand with 170 years of heritage and the youngest fleet in the world.

 

So a very happy Christmas to each and every one of our bloggers and guests and thank you so much for your interest and support of Cunard Line during 2009.

 

Best wishes too for the year ahead in everything that you do. We hope that one of the highlights of your own year ahead will be a voyage, or two, with Cunard Line – we would love to welcome you back.

 

Best regards,

Peter Shanks

 

Thank you Peter, and when you look back, it’s certainly been an amazing year. It just leaves me to add my personal best wishes to everyone for a wonderful Christmas season wherever you are in the world. I’ll be back next Thursday with the 125^th and final post of 2009. Cheers Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 299 days

 

It’s all in a day’s work for the Deck Department keeping Queen Mary 2 pristine, but if you have ever wondered how they paint those hard to reach areas of Cunard’s flagship read on for a guest Blog from Peter Shanks. In the meantime I was hoping to have posted more than one Blog this week but upon returning home, my computer decided to give up on me, so while it is being nursed back to life I am grateful to my neighbour Roger, who has kindly lent me his laptop to post this one!

 

It’s an exciting time on board as both ships prepare for the festive period with Queen Mary 2 celebrating in the Caribbean and Queen Victoria heading back to the Canaries. I’ll be posting some pictures of their festivities over the next couple of weeks.  Also with the countdown to Queen Elizabeth under 300 days I am pleased to tell you we have just received some amazing pictures from the ship yard in Italy, and I’ll be posting them on Tuesday. 

 

Thank you again for all the comments especially from St Agatha’s School, it was great to hear how much everyone at the school and on board enjoyed the day and the follow up Blog.

 

Here’s this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 18 to 24 December:

 

 

18 December 1948 Caronia is commissioned and leaves Glasgow for her run to Southampton

18 December 2007 Queen Victoria makes her maiden call at Hamburg

21 December 1918 Carmania becomes one of the first ships to be released by the government and makes her peace time sailing

21 December 1971 QE2 makes her maiden call at Port Everglades, USA

22 December 2003 Queen Mary 2 is handed over to Cunard

23 December 1923 Ascania II is launched at the Armstrong Whitworth yard in Newcastle

23 December 1968 QE2 completes her sea trials in the Irish Sea

 

 

Just before I get to the title of this Blog, I couldn’t let tomorrow go by without mentioning something here. Many of you in the UK will be aware that tomorrow (Friday 18 December) will be Sir Terry Wogan’s last broadcast of what has become the most popular breakfast radio show in Britain with over eight million listeners every morning. To read more about Sir Terry you can follow this link to an interview I did in the summer before he announced he was retiring from the show. Sir Terry Wogan’s interview.

 

He will be returning to the airwaves in February in his new Sunday show, and he will still be joining guests and TOGs on board Queen Victoria on 14 May 2010. I had the privilege of meeting him on the TOGs Voyage last November and on behalf of us all at Cunard, would like to wish him a well earned rest from the early mornings and of course look forward to seeing him in May.

 

Under the leadership of the Staff Captain and Marine Supervisor, the Deck Department have the huge task of keeping the outside of our ships in an immaculate condition. This may not seem too complicated until you think about all the areas that includes, from the waterline to the highest point of the funnel and masts. The highest point of Queen Mary 2 is the top of the funnel and at nearly 204 feet above the waterline, painting it is quite a logistical operation.

 

 

 

 

Here’s Peters Blog:

 

Guest Blog – Peter Shanks (President and Managing Director of Cunard Line).

 

Keeping The Most Famous Funnel In The World Clean

 

After a very busy transatlantic season and some challenging Autumn weather, Queen Mary 2 is now in the Caribbean. I asked our Captain how the weather had impacted our ability to keep the ship looking at her best. He told me not to worry as he had a plan in place with the deck team and he would keep me up to date.

Yesterday he sent me these pictures of our team working hard to clean the most famous funnel in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I would share the fabulous pictures with our bloggers. We often talk of our White Star Service and everything our ship’s company do to look after our guests. Often it is the hotel team who are seen to be delivering the service. However, as these pictures show, it’s every member of the ship’s company that makes the difference. Of course it also means that we will have a beautiful clean Chimney just in time for Father Christmas!

 

Thank you Peter for your Guest Blog and to Queen Mary 2’s Deck team for these fantastic pictures. If you are wondering how the crew get there, well they actually climb up ladders located on the inside of the funnel itself. They then lower themselves on ropes secured to special points on the inside of the funnel. The ladders to the ships horns are a permanent fixture so that engineers can service them. As many of you will know one of the horns (or Typhons as they are officially known), is on permanent loan from the original Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. It was put aboard QE2 on a Transatlantic crossing from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton where it was taken to St. Nazaire in France to join its new twin. To give you an idea of how big they are; each one is 7 feet long, 3 feet high and weigh in at 1,400 pounds. However you don’t want to be too close to them when they are sounded as they generate a shattering basso profundo blast keyed to low bass A, two octaves below middle C!

 

 

Peter will return soon with a special end of year message and speaking of the Deck Department, Queen Victoria recently named their latest Star of the Month as their Deck Storekeeper and you can read more about him tomorrow. Meanwhile I’ll be back on Tuesday with some stunning pictures of Queen Elizabeth’s progress in Italy and a special festive post for next Thursday – Christmas Eve. Cheers Alastair

Breaking News – The Latest Pictures Of Queen Elizabeth

 

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth - 334 days

 

With just eleven months before our new Queen joins the Cunard fleet and begins her maiden voyage, the countdown to her arrival is gathering pace. Although I’ll be returning to Monfalcone this weekend, Simona has sent me some new pictures, which mark quite a milestone in the construction process. I was going to wait until my visit to ship yard on Sunday before posting any more pictures of Queen Elizabeth’s progress, but then these arrived, so I thought I had to share them.

 

Before that though, I have had some interesting news today regarding another Blog, readers may be interested in. As we mentioned yesterday, Cunard recently won a prestigious Conde Nast award and the Condé Nast Traveler magazine interviewed our President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks. You may be interested to see the interview that Wendy Perrin posted on her “The Perrin Post” Blog on the magazine’s Web site. You can view her story at: http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/perrinpost .

 

Now back to Queen Elizabeth and as readers of this Blog will know, the ship is being built in blocks and sections which are then added to the vessel literally on a daily basis. This process is so quick that Queen Elizabeth will only spend 6 months in the dry dock before moving to her outfitting berth. A very important block was added this week and here it is being lowered on to the rest of the ship in the dry dock.

 

 

Yes it’s the bridge, where in just over 10 month’s time Captain Wells will assume command, and a couple weeks after that, Queen Elizabeth will begin her maiden voyage. This massive crane carefully lifts this whole bridge section, and slowly lowers it into place.

 

 

Whether it was by coincidence or not I don’t know, but as the bridge was being lowered in to place, a name with over 170 years of history was also being added to the hull.

 

 

 

You can see the iconic letters have been welded on to the ship’s side very recently, and once our new Queen is fully painted and ready to enter service, the Cunard name will look very similar to the lettering seen here on her sister, Queen Victoria:

 

 

Well that‘s it for the moment – but I’ll have lots more including video in about 10 days time and I have a feeling there will be a lot of progress to show you, so I must admit I’m getting very excited about seeing her again. I’ll post something as soon as I can so you can get the very latest news from the visit on this Blog.

 

Meanwhile I’ll be back on Monday with the interview with Queen Victoria’s new Chief Engineer, Ronnie Kier. Thank you again for logging on and please keep those comments and questions coming. Cheers, Alastair.