Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 130 days

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

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

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

June 4 2008

Queen Victoria makes her maiden call at Helsinki.

June 5 1965

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

June 6 1973

QE2 makes her maiden call at Messina, Italy.

June 7 1906

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

June 7 1998

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

June 9 2005

John Cleese joins Queen Mary 2 for a Transatlantic Crossing

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

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

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

Before

 

After

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 137 days

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

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

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

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

                     Guest Blog

                     Dan Kirkby

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 145 days

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

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

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

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

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

      Guest Blog

      Cristina Muñoz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 147 days 

As I am still on leave, I am pleased to enclose a Blog from our WeAreCunard correspondent on Queen Mary 2, Gun Sukwanna, who is also the Social Hostess; that’s coming up. Meanwhile, Queen Victoria has settled in to her summer season, having just returned from the Canary Islands, and has now just started her 2010 TOGs voyage to the Mediterranean. Yes, legendary broadcaster, Sir Terry Wogan and his intrepid team are sailing on this voyage, joined by over 350 of his TOGs (Terry’s Old Geezers and Gals). This follows the hugely successful voyage in 2008, and you can find out more about the TOGs and what happened last time by clicking on this link to the first of five Blogs posted during that voyage. 

http://wearecunard.com/2008/11/ 

Unfortunately I am not able to join them this year as I am involved in some of the preparations for Queen Elizabeth at Cunard’s head office in Southampton. But fear not we’ll have lots of stories and pictures from the team on board throughout the voyage which calls to great cities including Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Civitavecchia for Rome. More of that soon, but now it’s time to go to our flagship for a guest Blog. 

               Guest Blog  

               Gun Sukwanna, Queen Mary 2 Social Hostess  

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In April, Queen Mary 2 began her transatlantic season, sailing from New York to Southampton, accompanied by a quintet from the Juilliard Jazz School. Cunard and Juilliard announced their partnership earlier this year, which includes performances and Cunard Insights enrichment programmes with jazz alumni, faculty and students on eastbound Crossings during 2010. 

Photo by Jason DeCrow

Pictured with Entertainment Director Ray Rouse (centre) are the featured performers on the first crossing (from left): saxophonist Tony Lustig, Artistic Director of Jazz Studies Carl Allen, trumpeter Brandon Lee, drummer Aaron Kimmel, Executive Director of Jazz Studies Laurie Carter, pianist Kris Bowers and bassist Phil Kuehn. 

The Juilliard School established America’s standard for education in the performing arts, beginning with music in 1905. In 1951, its Dance Division was established, with combined training in contemporary and ballet technique. Juilliard became part of Lincoln Center in 1968, and added a four-year drama program. A residence hall – the School’s first – was completed in 1990, and in 2001, Juilliard broke new ground with the addition of its jazz programme; a graduate programme in Historical Performance. The programme began late last year, the same year that Juilliard inaugurated its partnership with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Currently more than 800 young artists from 39 states (plus Washington, D.C.) and 46 foreign countries attend Juilliard. You can find out more on Juilliard’s web site: www.juilliard.edu 

During the crossing the quintet performed in the Chart Room as well as a special matinee performance in the Royal Court Theatre. They also delighted Queen Mary 2’s Officers with a performance in the Officers’ Wardroom.  

Recently Queen Mary 2 also made her first call of the year to Hamburg, Germany which coincided with the City’s celebrations marking over 800 years of Harbour Fest. Anyone who has sailed on Queen Mary 2 to Hamburg will know how much the city has taken Cunard’s flagship to their hearts, so it was great to be part of these wonderful celebrations as you can see from this picture of the flotilla of ships escorting her that night. 

It’s always a special occasion when Queen Mary 2 makes a maiden call, and that was certainly the case on her recent call to Elsinore in Denmark. The city is situated at the narrowest point of the Sound Strait, where Sweden almost meets Denmark, so understandably it has rich shipping traditions.  Elsinore is very proud of its history, with the most visited attraction being Kronborg Castle, made famous as the Elsinore Castle in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was quite a sight as Queen Mary 2 made her approaches to the historic city. 

Kronborg’s primary function was actually not as a royal’s residence, but rather as a grandiose tollhouse, collecting taxes from the ships passing through the narrow Sound for more than 400 years. The Maritime Museum, which pays tribute to the country’s maritime heritage, is also housed at Kronborg Castle and is Denmark’s national maritime museum featuring an outstanding collection of model ships and paintings. The Old Town has numerous timber-framed houses and restored cobbled by-ways, and the main street called Stengade, is one of Denmark’s oldest pedestrian and shopping streets. Another major attraction is the Karmeliterklosteret, a 15th Carmelite Monastery, which is one of the best preserved medieval monastic buildings in northern Europe. 

The maiden call was celebrated in style with a special welcome on the pier side by the Hot Jazz and Sweet Swing Band that performed traditional jazz. There were also actors portraying Hamlet and Ophelia on the Kings Quay giving guests the opportunity to take a photo with Hamlet and Ophelia with Kronborg Castle as the perfect backdrop. 

Later that evening, as Queen Mary 2 ended her maiden call to this wonderful Danish port, she passed Kronborg Castle, and was saluted with dansk løsen, which is a traditional three gunshot tribute. 

Thank you very much Gun for a great update; we look forward to hearing from you again soon. I’ll be back in a day or so with news from the TOGs voyage on Queen Victoria, and hopefully I’ll also have more news soon from Queen Elizabeth in Italy. Thank you as always for all your comments and questions; please keep them coming. Cheers for now Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 187 days

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Emily Goulborn, Princes Trust

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

Alan Dedicoat, BBC

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

Mary Rega, Travel Weekly

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

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

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

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 285 days

Although this Blog is being posted on New Year’s Eve, I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year for 2010. It’s going to be a very exciting year for us at Cunard, as we welcome Queen Elizabeth to the fleet in October, and we’ll follow her progress to that big day with regular Blogs including photos, videos, and announcements as they happen. In fact I’ll have some pictures to post on Monday, just before her float out ceremony on Tuesday. I’ll be there and will post plenty of pictures and video shortly afterwards. Before I get to this week’s post, thank you so much again for your continued support of this Blog; it’s fantastic that so many of you are logging on each week. Also thank you for all your comments as it’s always great to hear from you, so please keep them coming during 2010. Now it’s time to see how Cunard has marked the New Year in Cunard’s history, for the week 1 to 7 January:

1 January 1934 Cunard merges with rival White Star and Olympic, Majestic and Georgic all transfer to Cunard

2 January 1969 QE2 arrives in Southampton for the first time

4 January 1949 Known as the ‘Green Goddess’ due to the colour of her hull, Caronia embarks on her maiden voyage to New York

4 January 1975 QE2 sails from Southampton on her first World Cruise – a journey of 38,000 miles

6 January 2008 Queen Victoria begins her maiden World Cruise, crossing the Atlantic with QE2 as she begins her final World Cruise.

Interview with Cunard’s Culinary Ambassador – Jean-Marie Zimmermann

Many of you may have met Jean-Marie Zimmermann on either Queen Mary 2 or Queen Victoria as the Executive Chef. He is now Cunard’s Global Culinary Ambassador, since he was appointed Corporate Executive Chef for the Cunard fleet and his work has drawn international praise for his interpretive Classic Modern Cuisine. As well as his menus for the many restaurants on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, Chef Zimmermann has created sensational menus for distinguished guests including HM Queen Elizabeth II, HM Queen Noor of Jordan, President George H Bush, the President of Mexico, Ambassadors to the United Nations as well as stars of music, stage, TV and screen. He has cooked for many celebrity guests on Cunard ships including Sarah, Duchess of York, Terry Waite, Lenny Kravitz, Patrick Duffy, Terrence Howard and Bo Derek. The James Beard Foundation acknowledged Chef Zimmermann for outstanding contribution to the foundation in July 2009.

Born in Strasbourg in the Alsace region of France, Jean Marie discovered his love of cooking from his grandmother. He developed his skills working in the most respected gastronomic restaurant in his city and after this apprenticeship he headed for Cannes, Juan Les Pins, and Monte Carlo before settling in London. He was appointed Executive Chef at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, and the Britannia Intercontinental Hotel. He received Sheraton Hotels’ award for culinary excellence while also being their youngest Executive Chef in Europe and Africa.

He was proprietor of “The Warrener” restaurant in Berkshire, England; a restaurant recognised by Michelin and Egon Ronay for his classic modern cuisine. Diners included Diana, Princess of Wales, Michael Parkinson, Sir Terry Wogan and Ernie Wise. During that time he caught the culinary eye of one of the world’s most respected chefs, Michel Roux, owner of the Michelin 3 Star Waterside Inn at nearby Bray. They became both rivals in business and firm friends.

Now, after two years in the making and working with well-respected French publishers Glénat, Chef Jean-Marie Zimmermann has published his first 208 page recipe book. Entitled “Ocean Liner Cuisine”, it is now on sale in France and on board Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria.

The book was co-authored with noted radio presenter RTL/FRANCE, Food Critic and Author for the Restaurant guide Routar, Jean-Sebastian Petitdemange. All the recipes were prepared and stunningly photographed by Jean-Francois Mallet, on Queen Mary 2.

I was grateful that Jean Marie was recently able to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions:

It must be quite an honour to be Cunard’s Culinary Ambassador. Could you tell us a bit more about the role and what it involves?

I am responsible for the quality and style of the gastronomy in all Cunard restaurants and work on designing the operational side of all new restaurants, and am currently working hard on innovations for Queen Elizabeth. I am responsible for establishing the food specifications for our menus and work very closely with our purchasing department. I am involved in choosing all the suppliers for Cunard and will only work with the freshest and highest quality produce. I introduce menu changes when necessary throughout the year and ensure that we are keeping within our food budgets. Here I am in my favourite place – the galley at work:

I am also responsible for the safety of the food and public health in all the galleys on our ships. I work very closely with my team of over hundred chefs and act as their motivator and critic, always ensuring they are meeting the highest standards for our guests.

I have just seen the Queen Mary 2 Cookbook, which is superb. Could you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the book?

Whether in my kitchens in luxury hotels in London, my own restaurant in Berkshire, or on board luxury liners, my passion is the same; I love to produce dishes that excite the eye and the palate. Queen Mary 2 is the quintessential grand ocean liner, and like a grand hotel she carries certain traditions; elegance, style, superb restaurants and innovative cuisine. Whether it’s afternoon tea with white glove service in the Queens Room, traditional fish and chips for lunch in the Golden Lion Pub, or a five course supper in the Queens or Princess Grill; it all takes passion to create and present. This passion comes not just from me; but from the hundreds of chefs, waiters, and officers who are part of this creation. We spend so much time deciding what should be served, how it can be prepared, how it can be delivered in excellent condition, how we can make it more attractive to the eye therefore exciting the diners’ palates. How could we communicate this? The obvious answer was a book that would allow guests to take some of these experiences home with them.

How far in advance do you order food for our ships, especially considering the huge amount of planning that must go into a World Voyage?

I will not forget the first transatlantic voyage on Queen Mary 2 when we ran out of, of all things, turkey!  It isn’t always possible to just stop off somewhere and pick up what we need. We always have to think ahead, not only what food, but the logistics of getting the right food to the right port at the right time. We work several months in advance with the purchasing team, to ensure orders are in place in ample time, so that there is a timely delivery. As we attract a diverse clientele on all voyages, especially the World Voyage, we like to bring cuisine of the various regions we visit to our guests on board, by purchasing local specialities so we can offer those as specials on board.

When you are at home in France, who does the cooking?

Traditionally I used to do much of the cooking at home, but more recently my wife has decided to spend more time there and she enjoys it. With more frequent stays in hotels I don’t get such a chance to cook, although when I’m on the oceans I am cooking or watching others cook. When I’m at home we both get pleasure from making forays to local markets, farms, vineyards and producers to seek out the freshest and most natural ingredients, so that we can enjoy the kitchen between us. As for the actual cooking, we both enjoy watching the other cook, so we tend to go for our own specialities so we don’t create any conflict in the kitchen!

Are there any particular trends in on board cuisine at the moment?

Guests seem to be increasingly enjoying the opportunity to dine in alternative restaurants, as well as new International cuisine in a more familiar setting. Being on board ship guests have greater confidence in the source of the ingredients and know that the kitchens will be spotless and that the chefs are well-trained.

What and where would be your perfect restaurant?

It would be a bright, light restaurant on the coast; perhaps somewhere on the Riviera where it could take advantage of that light. It would use the freshest of ingredients from the sea; as well as organic produce from nearby farms and the breads and patisserie would be created in-house.

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

“What is your favourite cuisine?” I’d have to be very French and say “French of course.” That’s not really a truthful answer, because it’s probably International cuisine that I have demonstrated over the years. But most recently the question I hear most is; “When will there be another book?” Well, for that we shall just have to wait and see.

You’ve achieved so much already – are there any other dreams you have yet to fulfil?

I guess my dream would be to create that delightful restaurant in Paris or one by the sea and maybe retire there someday surrounded by family.

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

“It is not what we do; it is how much love we put in the doing”. (Mother Teresa)

I’d like to thank Jean-Marie for taking the time to chat to me, and if you would like to more information about Jean-Marie Zimmermann and his cuisine you can log on to his website at www.ChefZimmermann.com. I’m returning to Monfalcone on Tuesday for the float out ceremony of Queen Elizabeth and will do my best to get you the pictures as soon as possible. Before that, I’ll be posting some pictures, which have just come from the shipyard, on Monday. 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

Yes at last we have the Video Blog of my interview with Sir Terry Wogan, but I’ll come to that in a moment. As Queen Victoria returns from a wonderful voyage to the Canary Islands, Queen Mary 2 has been making history on her Around The British Isles Voyage with her first visit to  Glasgow, and of course the home of Cunard for so many years; Liverpool. As you know from the last posting on Tuesday, Peter Shanks (President and Managing Director of Cunard Line) is on board and hopes to post more news soon along with some pictures and maybe even video.

On Queen Victoria we are nearing the end of a great voyage to the Canaries and our guests were delighted to find the warmth of the islands. After a short voyage to Cherbourg, Zeebrugge and Rotterdam we’ll be heading back to the Mediterranean. Now before the interview here’s this week in Cunard’s history for the week 23^rd to the 30^th October.

October 27 1986

QE2 arrives in Bremerhaven for a six-month £110 million re-engining and refurbishment programme, the largest such refit in the history of the merchant marine, undertaken and successfully completed in 1987. Steam turbines replaced by diesel electric power plant and the funnel is widened to accommodate the new engine. HRH the Princess of Wales boards on the ship’s return to Southampton.

October 29 1970

QE2 offers medical assistance to the ‘Cerinthus’ in the Atlantic

October 30 1947

Cunard’s first cruise ship, the Caronia II, is launched at John Brown Shipyard, Clydebank. She becomes known as the ‘Green Goddess’ because of the colour of her hull.

Hopefully most readers of this Blog will be familiar with Sir Terry Wogan and his TOGs, but in case you don’t, he currently has the most popular breakfast radio show in the UK with over eight million listeners every morning. He has also become quite a British institution in his own right over the years, hosting numerous TV shows and of course the remarkable annual BBC “Children In Need” event. Although he announced his retirement from the breakfast show recently he will still be heard on the Radio 2 airwaves at weekends and yes, he will still be joining guests and TOGs on board Queen Victoria for the voyage departing on 14 May 2010.

Following the great success of the TOGs voyage last year, (you can read all about it in the Blogs posted between the 20^th November and 11^th December 2008), we decided to do it all again! Next May we’ll be visiting exciting cities such as Barcelona and Cannes as well as the port of Livorno where guests can visit Pisa and Florence. With Rome and Gibraltar also on the itinerary it’ll be a fantastic voyage.

We are looking forward to welcoming back the TOGmeister himself, Sir Terry Wogan, along with his intrepid team who’ll be getting involved with all sorts of fun and games including the Deadly Quiz and Loose Cannon Karaoke as well as a brand new Janet and John.

As you may know I went to meet Sir Terry again, when I was last at home (see Blog from 6 August 2009), and our friends Helen and Norman (at http://togscalendar.org/) filmed the interview in London at BBC Radio 2’s studio. And if you are still wondering what a ‘TOG’ is, don’t worry Sir Terry explains it all. So here’s the interview:

We hope you’ll join us and remember it’s all about fun and raising money for Children in Need. You don’t need to be a TOG to join in the fun so to find out how you can be a part of this exciting voyage and how you can support BBC’s “Children in Need” click http://www.cunard.co.uk/togs/

In the meantime we wish everyone taking part in this year’s events, all the best with their fundraising activities. Of course the crescendo of the occasion will be the night of Friday 20 November on BBC 1 hosted by a galaxy of stars including Sir Terry himself.

Thanks for logging on again, we’ll have more news from the fleet soon including more posts from Queen Mary 2’s Around The British Isles Voyage. Cheers for now – Alastair

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 397days

Yes less than four hundred days to go before we are joined by our new Queen, and I’m happy to tell you that I’ll be going back to the shipyard in Italy later this month to bring you some of the latest pictures, and hopefully video, of her construction. Meanwhile as the announcements come in about her progress and some of the finer details, I’ll of course keep you posted.

Meanwhile I attended an exciting meeting this week in London, to talk to Sir Terry Wogan about the next eagerly awaited TOG’s voyage sailing from Southampton on 14 May 2010. Intrigued? Well I’ll tell you more after “This week in Cunard’s History” for the week, 7^th to the 13^th August:

August 8 1922

The Doric is launched at Harland & Wolf, Belfast and becomes part of the Cunard White Star fleet in 1934

August 8 2005

Cunard announces that Queen Mary 2 will make her first World Cruise on January 10th 2007

August 9 1990

QE2 completes her 500th Atlantic crossing

August 9 2007

Cunard introduces its new lecture series called “Cunard Insights”

August 12 2008

Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Venice

The TOGs voyage will be a fantastic follow up to the first voyage last year and just in case you haven’t read about that amazing voyage yet; you can look back to the five Blogs which followed the whole trip, with the first posting on the 20^th November 2008. Also for those of you less familiar with the term “TOG”; don’t worry that first Blog will explain it all!

As you know I am on leave at the moment, which gave me the opportunity to attend a special meeting at the BBC’s Broadcasting House in London. Leaving Wiltshire on a lovely morning (so much better than the Saturday before when my carefully prepared barbecue was typically rained off and held inside!), I made it to Radio 2’s studios in London just as Sir Terry was finishing his morning broadcast on his birthday. We were therefore especially delighted that he was able to spend some time with us chatting about next year’s voyage.  So over birthday cake (thanks to Edna Cloud), we looked at some of the exciting events awaiting those who join Sir Terry and his team in the Mediterranean. Joining Sir Terry and our group from Cunard were Alan “Deadly” Dedicoat and even Lynn Bowles managed to pop in between traffic reports! Sir Terry himself is incredibly proud of the work the TOGs do to raise money for “Children in Need” and was very excited about the prospect of raising even more on this voyage.

You can find out more information about what promises to be an amazing and unforgettable voyage on the following Cunard link:  -

www.cunard.co.uk/togs

There was also time for a quick photo opportunity to mark the occasion:-

From left to right are Norman and Helen (who look after Charity Goods – more details later), eating the cup cake is Alan “Voice of the Balls” Dedicoat, Sir Terry Wogan, Lynn Bowles, Alan “Barrowlands” Boyd (Sir Terry’s morning show producer) and yours truly. They will all be on the voyage with a host of other “Wake Up To Wogan” personalities.  Sir Terry was then kind enough to do a quick interview on video which we hope to bring you next week where he reminisces about last year’s trip and looks forward to next year’s offerings.

Not only will this voyage be a huge amount of fun but it will also raise more money for BBC’s “Children In Need Charity”, and you can find out more on the following web site: –  

http://www.charitygoods.co.uk/25.html

I look forward to sharing more stories next week and of course answering more of your comments and questions. I’ve also got some great features coming up over the next few weeks including an interview with Cunard’s new President and Managing Director, Peter Shanks, as well as a guest Blog from Maureen Ryan who many of you will know as Cunard’s longest serving Social Hostess. There’ll be more “A Day in The Life” features and the promised reports from the shipyard where Queen Elizabeth is currently under construction. Cheers for now and thanks again for logging on. Alastair

Thank you for your comments as usual and it’s great to hear all your thoughts and sentiments as QE2 arrived in Dubai. I will do my best to keep you informed with her progress as she is transformed in to her new life.

Meanwhile welcome to the final part of the TOGS voyage story. Although the voyage ended a week ago it has left all those who took part with some amazing memories, and hopefully, has set the tone for an annual event.

Straight after Sir Terry’s first broadcast of BBC Radio 2’s “Wake Up To Wogan”, with stunning views of the Straits of Messina, from the Commodore Club on board Queen Victoria, he spent some time chatting to TOGS before he had an opportunity to discover Messina for himself, including what I heard was an extremely good lunch!

That evening he hosted the Captain’s table with Captain Christopher Rynd, the Captain’s wife Julie Rynd, Alan, “Barrowlands” Boyd, Janet and John “Boggy” Marsh, as well as four winners of the “Children In Need Auction” from the previous night. It’s a great tradition on formal nights and was made extra special by Sir Terry’s attendance.

The following morning started with Sir Terry entering the Commodore Club to a huge cheer from the TOGS, clad in dressing gowns (and thankfully clothes underneath!) As he prepared for his second broadcast he was fortified by the proud presentation of a curry, (freshly made buy the on board chefs who we met later), by Edina Cloud.

For those of you unfamiliar with the “Wake up to Wogan Show”, this was continuing the tradition of sending food in to the show on a daily basis. And yes he did eat it and seemed to genuinely enjoy curry at 8am! During the broadcast he interviewed the Executive Chef Nicholas Ollroyd, and his twin brother Executive Sous Chef, Mark Ollroyd. He had met them at the traditional Chef’s Parade in the Britannia Restaurant the night before, and loved the idea of twin brothers from Yorkshire working on the same ship. He had a lot of fun interviewing them but wasn’t sure if he was seeing double or not.

Since I have been home one of the questions I have been asked most about the voyage apart from; “What was Sir Terry really like” and to that I answer – exactly as he seems; he is very much his charming self. The other question was; “Were the chefs really twins and are they identical?” Well I’ll let you judge that for yourselves:-

Sir Terry’s programme always ends with a “Pause for Thought” and as we overlooked the bay of Naples, Canon Roger Royle used the historic city of Pompeii as his inspiration. It was great to see the team working together and the real fun they seem to have as well as genuine friendship. Somehow having seen the broadcast live, you listen to them at home with a stronger understanding of what is involved, and of course a greater respect for the craft, which they all make look so easy.

Sir Terry had to be whisked off straight after the show as he had a flight leaving less than 2 hours later, and his driver had to negotiate the Naples traffic. That in itself is no mean feat but as we saw the car drive away with both Sir Terry and Canon Roger Royle, we were slightly disturbed to see one of the windscreen wipers held together with cellotape! Anyway they reached the airport safely and in plenty of time despite the driver having to lean over to the passenger side to see through the windscreen. Being forever positive, it did at least provide more material for Sir Terry on his Monday morning show.

With the broadcast over and Sir Terry on his way back to London, we went to lunch in Naples and the home of the Margherita pizza; yes genuinely where this pizza was created for the then Queen of Italy, (this was June 1889 by the way), by Raffaele Esposito in a restaurant called “Brandi”. Although I had been there a couple of times before I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I could remember exactly where it was, but a combination of bluffing and good fortune,  we found it and had a fantastic lunch – I can thoroughly recommend it if you ever go there. On the way back Alan “Deadly – Voice of the Balls” Dedicoat, discovered the Italian Lottery – but I am not sure if “Droppa Those Bigga Money Balls” would translate too well to the residents of Naples!

We rushed back to open the TOGS hospitality desk for the last time, and were delighted to be selling more Bears, CD’s and pins, all in aid of “Children in Need”, to not only TOGS but also other guests who have the delights of “Janet and John” to look forward to when they get home – though I’m not sure what they’ll all make of it! That night was a real treat as we got to enjoy a special show featuring the stunning Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers, with a special performance by Clare Teal. Clare is well known to BBC Radio 2 listeners as a presenter of the Big Band Special series. She has released 6 albums and in 2006 she was awarded “BBC Jazz Vocalist of the year” and then “Jazz Vocalist of the Year 2007”, at the British Jazz Awards. She has a superb voice and I would recommend seeing her if you get the opportunity. 

The last night of any voyage is always one of mixed emotions and is usually spent with new found friends in a favourite bar on the ship. For many of the TOGS and the remaining members of the BBC Radio 2 team it  meant an evening with my good friend Barrington “Barty” Brown, in the Commodore Club, whose quintessentially English style is always tremendously popular. Amongst his extensive repertoire is the Hippopotamus song originally created by Flanders and Swan, but most recently revived by Sir Terry on the Bandaged album. Somehow it became a bit of a theme tune for the voyage. Not satisfied with having performed two shows, Clare Teal also joined Barty and a good night was definitely had by all!

After a smooth disembarkation the following day in Civitavecchia, we kept bumping in to TOGS and guests alike, at Rome airport and even back at Heathrow, with that knowing look of shared experiences!

So there it was, hopefully just the first of an annual tradition of the TOGS voyage, and I’m glad to report that it was a tremendous success, not only for raising so much money for “Children in Need”, but also for being a lot of fun for those who took part. It was great to welcome new guests to the joys of taking a Cunard Voyage and also to introduce the uninitiated to the world of Sir Terry Wogan – your lives will never be the same!

I’ll be back on Thursday with my regular blog hopefully introducing a new guest blogger, but in the meantime I would like to thank again all those who made the TOGS voyage such a huge success. Firstly to Sir Terry and the whole “Wake Up To Wogan” team without whom this wouldn’t have been the voyage it was. Also to Norm, Helen, Kel and all those who work so hard at raising money not forgetting Matt for all his hard work with logistics and so much behind the scenes, things which took up so much of his time. Thanks go to Captain Rynd and his officers staff and crew, (especially Gustavo, Jacqui, Colin, Jim and the Technical Team, and Amanda and her Entertainment Staff), for all they did to contribute to the smooth running of the voyage. Mostly thanks to all the guests on the voyage – TOGS or otherwise – for being there and being fun to be with. I’d better go now before this starts sounding like an Oscar acceptance speech – in my dreams! Cheers for Now – Alastair