Guest Blog – Lisa Page, New Media Executive

Photo credit - Martin Knight, FTF Worldwide

Photo credit - Martin Knight, FTF Worldwide

It was brilliant to watch our flagship and our newest Cunarder sail off together, and will be the last time we see any of the Cunard fleet in Southampton until the end of March when Queen Victoria returns to the UK. We’re very much looking forward to 5 June when all 3 of our Queens will be together in Southampton for the first time, in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, it’s sure to be a day to remember! 

Queen Mary 2 is now in Madeira as she heads down to Cape Town and Queen Elizabeth is crossing the Atlantic heading to New York. Queen Victoria continues her Americas season as she sails around Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Panama Canal until March this year. We were very pleased to hear this week that she was awarded Best Ship and Best Food in the cruise.co.uk Passenger Ratings 2011 – thank you to those of you who voted!  

On a separate note – have you seen our new look homepage on the Cunard website? Have a look and let us know what you think: www.cunard.com  

We’ll be updating you with photos and news from the fleet as they sail around the world over the next few months, with some maiden ports of call along the way – please keep logging on!  

I hope you all have a great weekend.  

Lisa

Hello all, I spent the day last Sunday in Hamburg on board Queen Elizabeth. We were hosting a press conference on board for the Hamburg Cruise Centre and it was pleasing to hear of the substantial growth of cruising in the German market and appropriate that Queen Elizabeth was hosting the event given our own growth in the number of German guests we now have sailing with Cunard Line.   

It struck me that as both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth leave Southampton today on their World Voyages, just how international Cunard Line is these days and how interesting it must be for our guests to be able to spend time with so many different people from different parts of the world.  

Queen Elizabeth was on a short five day voyage from Southampton calling at Le Havre in France and Hamburg, Germany. We partly designed this voyage so that we could offer our French and German guests the opportunity to sail right around the world from one of their home ports.  So we picked up a group of French guests in Le Havre on Saturday and on Sunday I was able to help welcome over 175 German guests who were joining in Hamburg to set off around the world.  At the end of the World Voyage, Queen Elizabeth will return to Hamburg and therefore what a great experience for those guests to be able to see the world from their own doorstep.  

When Queen Elizabeth sets off today her first port of call will be New York.  And of course there she will pick up many of our valued North American guests. 

Queen Mary 2 is off the other way around the world and will be heading down towards Cape Town.  And of course when Queen Mary 2 gets to Australia this time, she is undertaking her maiden Royal Circumnavigation of Australia with many of our valued Australian guests on board.  

The World Voyages are always a wonderful mix of those who are travelling right around the world and those who are joining the ship for either long or short sectors.  We also look forward to welcoming many of our Japanese guests on board. 

This is what leads to one of the most interesting differences for Cunard Line. Having so many people from different parts of the world just adds to the flavour and interest for everybody.  Often when sitting at dinner our guests can discuss world events, politics, and sport, and to have a table where British, American, Australian and Japanese guests can sit together and apply their different experiences and interests just makes it so much more interesting. 

Of course, when you add in our marvellous ship’s company to the mix then the international nature really comes to the fore.  We pride ourselves on working with our wonderful staff who come from many different parts of the world including the Philippines for example and Eastern Europe and they, along with our British Officers and other nationalities, gel on so well together to give the White Star experience for our guests.  So whilst we remain proudly British and offer that wonderful British experience, we are actually providing people with a very cosmopolitan and varied experience.  This is the case on many of our voyages, but it is mostly the case on our World Voyages. 

I bumped into one of our German guests on board Queen Elizabeth. In fact he is a keen reader of our blog and therefore well versed in everything Cunard Line.  He was returning for his second Round the World Voyage on Queen Elizabeth.  I thought what a marvellous feeling it must be to arrive on board one of our ships, be welcomed in White Star style, settle into your stateroom and then be invited up for a glass of champagne to meet the Senior Officers, prior to setting sail for three months or more right around the world. 

The ship, of course, was busy preparing itself for the World Voyage.  Many, many meetings have taken place over recent months to make sure everything is in place on both of our ships.  You can imagine all the logistic planning that needs to take place from a storing perspective and to make sure we are able to pick up fresh produce, often in parts of the world that we only visit infrequently.  I had a brief chat with our Spa Director in the Royal Spa and she has been busy preparing the different packages that we offer for our World Voyage guests.  We pull together many opportunities for them to purchase a package that gives them an extended ability to use the Spa facilities.  I remember last year meeting a lady who congratulated me on the World Voyage as she had become a “New Woman”.  She had actually gone on a World Voyage to change her life from a health perspective.  By working with our chefs to make sure she ate carefully and by spending a lot of time with our fitness instructors on a programme over three months she was both successful and very emotional at the way in which she had managed to make such a change to her own personal health by being on a world voyage. So there you go – that puts an end to the myth that cruising can lead to putting on weight and being unhealthy and what a great way to set about making a life change by spending three months surrounded by everything you could possibly want to make you feel good and stay healthy. 

When our guests join today there will be speculation as to where we will hold our World Voyage Dinners.  These have become famous events over the years, where we take all of our full World Voyage guests off the ship one evening to a spectacular location for a Gala Dinner and this is our way of thanking them for choosing to sail around the world with Cunard Line.  Of course I know exactly where and when the dinners are going to be – but I am not going to tell you.  It is always a surprise and we always work hard to make sure the first to find out are those on board our ships. 

No doubt we will have fun in Australia, where our ships are always welcomed so well by our Australian friends.  We will see the maiden call of Queen Elizabeth into San Francisco sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge.  One can never tire of arriving into Cape Town on Queen Mary 2 – it is quite an awesome sight to see Table Mountain coming out of the clouds in the early morning sunrise as you approach the city.  Cunard will again visit Japan – another special welcome as we have enjoyed a very close relationship with our Japanese guests over many years.  The Far East, India, New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands and of course European ports on the way back – it all makes for a great experience and we look forward to treating our full World Voyagers in the way that they have quite rightly been accustomed to. 

In early 2013 we have all three ships on World or Exotic voyages.  Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria are doing full World Voyages.  Queen Elizabeth, as you may have seen, is doing something different.  We offer our UK guests the opportunity for a 91 day voyage from Southampton going right down to the Pacific, round New Zealand and back to Southampton.  That also allows our North American guests to take a 37 night voyage from Los Angeles through the best of the Pacific and round New Zealand back to Los Angeles.  So if for any reason you have not been able to join us on the World Voyages in 2012, or indeed if you’ve yet to sail with us at all on a World Voyage, then we are up and running and have some cracking offers available for the 2013 World Voyage options.  Do come and join us. 

To those guests who will be joined us today to set off around the World, or indeed joining us at any point during the World Voyages, then thank you so much for choosing to sail with us and I am sure you will be well looked after and do enjoy that international, cosmopolitan  experience. 

Lastly, I should wish all of our ship’s company the very best as they set off around the World.  They, too will be away from their friends and families and working extremely hard to look after our guests.  I have seen many of them over the last few days on Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 and nothing gives me more pleasure than to be able to chat with those incredible people who work so hard to make Cunard Line the success that it is. 

That’s all for now.  I hope you are keeping well. 

Best regards, 

Peter    

Hello all

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas – now it’s time to look forward to 2012. We have an exciting year ahead at Cunard Line and I thought I would share with you some of the highlights coming up next year. Of course we all hope that you will be sailing with us in 2012 and if you have not yet made up your mind – then perhaps this will trigger some ideas for you.

10 January – Off Around the World – Both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 will set off from Southampton and we will make sure it is a spectacular send off. Queen Elizabeth will be on her way across the Atlantic to New York and Queen Mary 2 on her way to South Africa.

4 February – Queen Elizabeth in San Francisco – Well I for one am not going to miss this one. When Queen Mary 2 first sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge it was a wonderful moment. We are hoping that this maiden arrival will be just as good – there is just something special about seeing the famous Cunard ships arriving in spectacular cities.

Let’s go around Australia – We worked out that all the best parts of Australia are on the outside. So for 2012 we decided to send Queen Mary 2 on a 23 night Royal Circumnavigation of Australia. There is some limited availability if you would like to join us. For me Sydney will be a highlight, I am hoping to be there when one of our ships is in town – and for the third year running I hope to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Honestly – if you have not done it yet it is a must whatever your age – on my first climb we had a gentleman from California who was 85 with us and he said ‘It was on my bucket list – so here I am’ (In 2013 – Queen Mary 2 will be going around New Zealand)

Three Queens for the Diamond Jubilee – it is quite remarkable that Her Majesty will have been on the throne for 60 years. On the very day that the country will celebrate this – 5 June – we will have our three Queens in Southampton for an event to pay our own tribute to Her Majesty. There are many ways for you to join us. If you book to travel on one of the voyages that end in Southampton that day (Queen Mary 2 New York-Southampton 29 May, Queen Elizabeth 13nts Mediterranean 23 May, Queen Victoria 14nts Fjords 22 May) – then you will enjoy a wonderful early morning three Queens arrival. If you book to travel on one of the voyages departing that day – then it will be a special day in Southampton. In the evening – after dinner – we will light up the sky over our three ships with our own tribute to Her Majesty. You can choose to sail that day on Queen Mary 2 5nts Getaway Break, Queen Elizabeth 14nts Baltic or Queen Victoria 17nts Adriatic Explorer. Please don’t miss being with us on the 5 June – a great day for Queen, country and Cunard Line.

The London Olympics – a great celebration of sport. Happily – as I play field hockey – my wife has managed to secure 4 tickets for the Mens Hockey final. And the Cycling Road Race (which I can assure you will be won by our own Mark Cavendish) goes past the end of the road where we live. So the Shanks Family are looking forward to the Olympics. For our friends in North America – why not spend a few weeks in the UK – you could travel over on Queen Mary 2 from New York on the 6-13 July, take in the Olympics and then travel back on Queen Mary 2 on the 21 August – perfect. Of course there may be those who say they just don’t want to be around for the Olympics – well what better way to escape than on a Cunard Voyage.

Queen Elizabeth Maiden Fly Mediterranean Season – Now if I was looking for something special then this is what I would choose. She will be sailing on 7 twelve night voyages in the Mediterranean from September to November– you can choose to join her in Rome, Athens or Venice. Last year I took an Eastern Med voyage on one of our sister lines and it was fabulous. The best way to do it is to fly out a couple of days before the voyage and explore Rome, Venice or Athens. That way, when you board Queen Elizabeth you will be completely relaxed and ready to enjoy the voyage. The itineraries are very rich – and the prices are very keen. I was in North America recently – and read of and heard a lot of concern about travelling to Europe. Well – it’s OK over here you know – we are all still here. I am hopeful that the ‘Arab Spring’ disruption will have calmed down – in fact much of it already has. And in terms of value for money – well the European resorts thrive on tourism and there has probably never been a better time to come. And if you do come over – then joining Queen Elizabeth on her maiden season down in the Mediterranean would be a great way to see all the best places in style.

So there is much to look forward to – and here are a few things that I recommend you think about – either if you are already planning to join us and can look forward to this year or your mind is not yet made up;

Relaxing – so important on holiday – reading a book in our libraries, chilling out in Canyon Ranch or our Royal Spas, dozing on a steamer chair in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – or sleeping on our most wonderful beds.

Eating – dining in Princess Grill or Queens Grill in my book is as good as any top restaurant in any top city in the world. The atmosphere in the main Britannia Dining Room on a formal night is a sight to behold and will make you feel very special indeed. A night out in our award winning Verandah Restaurant on Queen Elizabeth is stunning. And for lunch on all three ships you can now have one of our famous 7 minute fresh pizzas – always one of my favourites. Or if you want to be really British then join us for a pub lunch in The Golden Lion.

Exercise – as hard or as soft as you like. Our famous promenading (three times round deck 7 on Queen Mary 2 is a mile), our many pools and Jacuzzis – our excellent state of the art gyms with personal trainers – with Cunard you can relax as hard as you like.

Unique Experiences – the arrival into New York as the sun glints off the Statue of Liberty beats them all. But whichever port you arrive into – it’s not like being on any other white ship – the fact that you are on a Cunard Liner will make you feel rightly special.

Things to do – Julliard School of Music, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art plays and workshops, 3D cinema, Planetarium, fencing lessons, dancing, internet and iPad master classes, fascinating Insight lectures, art classes, awesome theatres (with private boxes) – there is so much to do and so little time.

And everything you do and experience with us in the year ahead will be supported and made possible by our wonderful ship’s company. You will hear us talking more of our famed White Star Service – it is what sets us apart and we are fortunate to have such wonderful people working with us to look after your every need.

So there is a lot to look forward to in the year ahead. And recognising that the economic outlook remains challenging – we have made sure that we offer the best possible value for our guests.

I do hope you are able to sail with us in the year ahead. If you have already booked – thank you so much and we look forward to taking great care of you. If you have yet to book – then I hope my outlook for the year ahead has nudged you in the right direction.

All of us at Cunard Line wish you and your friends and families a very Happy New Year!

Best Regards

Peter

Guest Blog: Rachael Fish, Assistant Entertainment Director, Queen Victoria

In the 1960’s British Industry was still on the slow road to recovery and so many people including my Grandfather decided to look elsewhere for work, in my grandfather’s case this was Canada. Shortly after arriving his bravery was rewarded when he landed a manufacturing position with Rolls Royce and during his many years of loyal service, he relied upon Cunard Line and ships such as ‘Saxonia’, ‘Carinthia’, ‘Sylvania’ to transport him back to Liverpool where my father, his brothers and sister and my Grandmother were waiting patiently on the pier, for his return.

On these occasions, the siblings would yearn to be taken onboard the ships and shown around, but there was never the time nor the opportunity. But it was those emotional re-unions where a seed was sown which over the years would grow into a passion to one day see the inside of a luxury liner.

The dream was first realised in 1970 when my Uncle Anthony, worked on board QE2 as a waiter and continued service with Cunard Line for years.

During that time, he was even able to meet with Her Majesty the Queen and was on board during the 1970 bomb scare in the Mid Atlantic.

Anthony’s twin brother Vincent also went to work at sea for P&O Cruises as a cabin attendant.

Years later after so many years of researching the ships his father used to travel on, my father could wait no more, he booked a voyage for us on board the QE2 and on 3 May 1991, we set sail from Southampton for New York. This was to be my very first time on the ocean and unbeknown to me the start of my own love affair with the Oceans.

Over the years, I sailed many times aboard Cunard liners such as ‘Cunard Princess’, ‘QE2’, ‘Vistafjord’ and ‘Caronia’, but it was on that first voyage that I knew I had to work at sea. The Cruise Director at the time was a charming chap called Lyndsay who was married to Kerry-Ann, the youth counsellor who catered for my age group. Every night I would sit and watch the show wondering at the way the dancers gracefully moved and the lights sparkled as they lit up this new world of Glitz and glamour. I still remember turning to my Dad one night and declaring that one day, I would do the same job as Lyndsay…  Dad laughed, patted my head and said ‘course you will sweetheart’!

So it was that seven years ago, I applied to Cunard to become part of their Entertainment Staff, and my dream nearly imploded before it had even begun as I was informed that there were no positions available! Not to be beaten I went to work for another cruise line until finally, last September, I came home to Cunard as the Assistant Entertainment Director aboard Queen Victoria.

In September of this year, my father travelled with me for the Queen Mary 2 Round Britain Voyage. You can imagine how proud I was as we sailed into Liverpool together. Sharing the moment by phone with my Uncles Anthony and Vincent, where 58 years earlier my Grandfather’s love affair with Cunard had began.

Guest Blog – Robert Powell – The Prince’s Trust Ambassador 

In 2007 my wife Babs and I, as Ambassadors of The Prince’s Trust, were invited to Southampton to the Naming Ceremony of Queen Victoria, staying overnight in one of the staterooms, so when 4 years later I was invited to give a couple of talks on board, as far as I was concerned it was only a question of which voyage.

It turned out that ‘Pearls of the Black Sea’ was the voyage mutually convenient for both Cunard and ourselves. We had the most fabulous trip!

From Venice to the ancient site of Olympia, the temple of Poseidon in Athens, a cruise down the Bosporus in Istanbul, visits to palaces and cathedrals in Yalta, climbing the Potemkin Steps and discovering the ‘Champagne’ making techniques of Odessa (don’t ask), the extraordinary archaeological site of Ephesus and the glories of the Amalfi coast.

All that in just 12 days and still managing to eat some spectacular cuisine on board, a couple of times as the guests of the completely charming Captain Ian Hutley and Chief Engineer Ronnie Keir, not to mention the delightful Entertainment Director Sally Sagoe. I could go on and on, the crew were all charming. The only problem was finding time to sleep as every evening the Royal Court Theatre put on shows that would grace any West End theatre. The young dancers and singers were particularly brilliant.

I’ve just read back what I’ve written so far and it reads like something from out of a Cunard brochure! Well, I promise you I’ve not been paid to write this blog. I sailed with Cunard for the first time in 2000 on QE2 when Jasper Carrott and I did a couple of talks as a double act. Mayhem ensued, enormous fun. It’s taken 11 years to be invited back for my second voyage. All I can say is, I hope I don’t have to wait so long for the next.

On behalf of the Prince’s Trust Charity – Entertainment Director Sally auctioned off the Navigational Chart depicting the route taken during this voyage including Dardanelles and Bosporus.The auction involved  “giving away kisses”  all of which helped raise $840. This very well attended auction was a joyful and humorous event helping an excellent cause.

Guest Blog – Mike Perkin – Guest on board Queen Victoria’s Pearls of the Black Sea Voyage

This was our seventh cruise with Cunard, taking us to nine historic cities in five countries, across four famous seas (the Adriatic, Aegean, Ionian and Black Sea), and two Continents.  If that sounds daunting, cruising provided the answer, waking up each morning to find our 5-star hotel having re-located itself overnight! After a short flight from Heathrow to Venice, we transferred to Queen Victoria and quickly found ourselves at home.  Our stateroom had the customary welcome pack and additional “goodies” to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  After a splendid dinner, the day ended with the sailaway party and a welcome show in the Royal Court Theatre. 

A day and a half later, we anchored off Katakolon in an idyllic bay at the Southern tip of Greece, and visited Olympia to see the historic beginnings of the Olympic Games.

Sailing overnight through the Dardanelles, we arrived in Istanbul – a huge, bustling city with hundreds of mosques, ornate palaces, a famous bazaar and two modern suspension bridges across the Bosphorus.  For us though, the “main event” was to visit the Crimea, recalled from history lessons years ago. In Yalta our shore trip was to Sevastopol’s Panorama building, where we saw a 3D recreation of the defence of the city.  Outside the city, looking down from Sapoune Heights, where Lord Raglan had observed the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade, our guide Olga recited the whole of Tennyson’s famous poem of the battle – a stunningly poignant moment.  By complete contrast, we then drove to Balaklava for lunch and a tour of tunnels that housed nuclear submarines of the Soviet Black Sea fleet during the Cold War – amazing!

Day 8 brought us to Odessa and a tour of the Soviet Partisan Catacombs and several of the architectural highlights of the city viewed en route from the coach.  That evening, sailing south across the Black Sea, we were blessed with another glorious sunset. The following day we were again able to see Queen Victoria’s funnel creep under Istanbul’s two suspension bridges and, as the day ended, see the monuments on the Dardanelles that commemorate the many lives lost in the Gallipoli campaign of the Great War.

Our next port was Kusadasi, on the Asian side of Turkey, to visit the archaeological sites at Ephesus, Miletus and Didyma. Our amusing guide Oz gave a great account of these ancient places.

Having sailed overnight to Naples, we took a hydrofoil trip to the nearby island of Capri. “In Capri we don’t need driving lessons, we need imagination”, said our comical guide as we sped away, threading our mini coach through the eye of several needles up the hilly landscape.  Here were great views, a pleasant lunch, if a bit hot indoors, but another fine destination to tick off the list.

Throughout the voyage, we had faultless service from our Princess Grill waiters and superb food.  We relaxed while at sea, in between talks by newsreader Nicholas Owen, readings from Charles Dickens and Jane Austen by Robert Powell, listening to some of the musicians around the ship, and occasional retail therapy.  We always go to the evening shows, they may not all be to everyone’s tastes but with great costumes and backing music, the performers clearly enjoy what they do and work so hard that we are rarely disappointed. On other days we saw fine musicianship from Kenny Martyn but best of all were the comedy juggler, Pete Matthews, with his great skill and hilarious interaction with the audience, and comedian Allan Stewart who had us in stitches!

Finally, they say the sign of a good company is how it responds when things go wrong.  After another super cruise with Cunard we faced chaos and confusion when checking in at Rome’s Fiumicino airport for our flight home.  But sensing the mood as we boarded, BA’s cabin services director gave an immediate, comprehensive and heartfelt apology that received spontaneous applause from all on board; “If you’re going on a business trip I hope it’s a successful one, if you’re in transit I hope it’s a smooth one, if you’re going on another cruise may it be a Cunard one and if you’re flying I hope you’ll fly with BA”.  As Cunard’s preferred flying partner it was good to see them striving to maintain the high standards that both companies are known for, so many thanks to Cunard and BA for a wonderful holiday.

Guest Blog

Dr Seth Gopin

Art Historian

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Cunard speakers are a privileged lot.  We have a “captive” audience, a wonderful lecture hall, and subjects that run the gamut from astrophysics to my subject of art and architectural history. 

My journey as a speaker with Cunard started a decade ago on the Queen Elizabeth 2.  As an art historian, a seasoned Rutgers University lecturer, and frustrated actor, I had all the right ingredients.  My range of topics cover New York City skyscrapers to Egyptian art and architecture, and this allows me to sign up for Transatlantic crossings as well as segments of the World Cruise.

Generally planning begins six to nine months earlier when we decide on a ship, locale, and topic.  The excitement starts when I fly to meet the ship. It is always fun to walk on board and see familiar faces and comfortable surroundings. 

The morning show is always fun to tape.  Whether it is Wake Up With Ray (or Amanda or Paul), I talk about my lectures and books.  En route to New York, I enjoy giving tips about what to see and experience in my vibrant city.  I don’t mind admitting that it was lots of fun on board Queen Victoria to be a taster for the Cocktail of the Day and am volunteering gladly to do this again. 

As a historian of French Art, I love giving extra talks to the Francophone passengers.  Sometimes there are only 10 in the audience but at other times my talk will draw 80 and fill one of the small spaces in Connexions.  I have discovered that there are lots of nooks and crannies on the ships where we can gather to look at art or buildings and talk. The French guests are so appreciative of having these special lectures and I am sure they are amused by my American-accented French. 

I want to put in a plug for the great technical staff on the ship.  The good people in Illuminations, the Royal Court Theatre, and the TV studio work very, very long hours and really go the extra mile (or kilometre) to make sure our lectures run as trouble-free as possible.

For me, the best part of the experience and the reason why I keep coming back are the guests.  Whether in my post-lecture “office hours” in the Commodore Club or in the corridors of the ships, I find that the Cunard travellers are engaged, lively, and articulate.  I loved meeting the teens who came to chat about architecture, the retired medical doctor who wanted to look at Michelangelo’s David with me from an anatomical viewpoint, and a retired architect who wanted to talk about his total dislike of 1960s modernism.  They and my many tablemates have been not only entertaining but also intellectually stimulating. Some have become good friends.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating (and on board Cunard Line we certainly eat wonderfully), and the proof of how much I enjoy lecturing is that I have already started planning my 2012 voyages.

We thought we would share this little blog with you from David Stephenson, Hotel Manager on board Queen Victoria.

On Queen Victoria’s recent overnight call in St Petersburg, the Hotel Team on Queen Victoria received a request from Hans Dernision Hotel Manager and Agnello D’ Souza Executive Housekeeper of Holland America Line, ms Rotterdam for assistance with their laundry  following a temporary failure of one of their main laundry washing machines.

Always happy to assist the Queen Victoria team arranged to wash and dry 720 kilos of pool towels and stateroom towels while processing the linen change for their own guests.

The Deputy Captain arranged the necessary Gangway clearances so that the transfer of the dirty linen could be expedited quickly and efficiently between the two vessels. The whole process went seamlessly and the clean linen was transferred back to the ms Rotterdam with ample time to spare before Queen Victoria’s departure for Tallinn. It was perhaps ironic that the most complicated part of the process was arranging the customs authorisation to make the transfer possible.

Pictures below show ms Rotterdam’s Laundry Staff working alongside Queen Victoria’s onboard Laundry Team

During a Cunard voyage you’ll scan the Daily Programme for the day’s activities and entertaiment, peruse the menus for your favourite dishes and glance at ‘Britain Today’, our syndicated newspaper. These are all printed daily on board by a small team of printers, who do a great job in producing this literature for every voyage. Meet Kelly Scalise, Queen Victoria’s Chief Printer in today’s guest blog:

I became involved in various aspects of printing while attending my local community college. I always enjoy looking at the final product that I had a part in creating. I became aware of a programme at the Rochester Institute of Technology that provided an internship for six months as Assistant Printer on a Cunard ship.

I vacationed as a child in California and stayed overnight on the original Queen Mary in Long Beach. Perhaps my destiny was unknowingly decided at that point. Would it be possible for me to actually partake in this opportunity on a Cunard ship? I did my best to make this a reality, and my dream actually came true! I did my internship on Queen Mary 2 starting in February 2010, stopping at ports around the world that I previously only read about or saw on television. Once I completed that internship, I applied for a Chief Printer position with Cunard. I am currently in that position on Queen Victoria. I consider myself fortunate to be able to have a job I love, and at the same time travel the world. Working on a ship is very different than a typical land job. There are so many new things to adapt to, such as living quarters, foods, people and cultures. The people I have met on board are absolutely incredible and it’s fun to learn about where they are from and how they came to be at sea.

It has been an amazing year and half for me and I wouldn’t change it for anything. It is always nice when I go home on holiday and hear people say how lucky I am that I can do this while I am so young. Most of my family and friends are envious when they see where I have been. Growing up in Central New York State I enjoy the change of seasons, except for winter, which is too cold and snowy for me. My hometown is close to the Adirondack Mountains, with many lakes and plenty of places to explore. Not many people leave the area to do something as drastic as working at sea and traveling the world. Every day I wake up someplace different. It is something you get used to, but it is still a very exciting feeling. There are days I think to myself, I can’t believe this is my life. It is very surreal. This truly is my opportunity of a lifetime!

Thank you for a great guest blog Kelly! If any of our readers are interested in working on board the Cunard fleet, you can find out more here: http://www.cunard.com/About-Cunard/Employment/