At Cunard we always love to hear stories from guests, as they recall their early voyages on our ships as well as former crew members who come on board for a trip down memory lane. I’ll tell you more about an amazing story I heard recently on Queen Victoria, in a moment but first, thank you again for all the comments, in fact October was a record breaking month for the Blog with more posts and comments than ever before. Queen Victoria is just finishing a Mediterranean voyage before heading back there again next week, including another call to Venice where I’ll head off to the Monfalcone ship yard to get some more pictures and video of Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile Queen Mary 2 will make her final call of the year to Southampton next Wednesday, before settling in to her Caribbean itineraries for the rest of the year. Now it’s time for this week in Cunard’s history, for the week 6 to 12 November

6 November 2000 Cunard signs the final contract for Queen Mary 2, and unveils her key design details. She will be the largest, longest, widest and tallest passenger ship in history and will enter service in 2004.

7 November 1970 QE2 makes her maiden call Durban, South Africa.

8 November 1999 Queen Mary 2 general plans are completed and the first images are released.

11 November 2008 QE2 begins her farewell voyage from Southampton to Dubai.

12 November 2007 Crew move on board Queen Victoria for the first time

We were delighted to hear that two guests, who recently sailed with us on Queen Victoria, were keen to meet us and tell us their amazing story. Thomas Quinones (Entertainment Staff) and I met up with Mr and Mrs McAllister one morning and what a fascinating meeting it was.

As they showed us their mementos, it transpired that Mr McAllister had quite remarkable parents.

His father, Hugh McAllister, was born in 1900 and when Britain was in the grips of the First World War, like so many of his age at the time, he ran away to sea to serve his country. However when the authorities discovered his true age, he was swiftly sent home again. But he was determined to go to sea, so in 1920 he applied to Cunard to become a Radio Officer.

Although he had no experience or training before going on board, he soon learned, as was so often the way in those days. One of the mementos the McAllister family still treasures is an engraved gold pen that was presented to him by Cunard. It carries the inscription;

“W.H.McAllister S.S.Carinthia. Commemorating consistent direct radio communication with New York during world cruise 1926-27. R.C.A.”.

After a distinguished career at sea he put his electronic engineering skills to use designing rockets.

In the meantime he had met an exceptional lady, with whom he was going to spend the rest of his life. He met Hilda James on the Carinthia on the 1926-27 World Cruise, and they married in 1930. Here she is during a transit of the Panama Canal on that voyage.

Hilda Marjorie James was from Liverpool, and at an early age she had shown an amazing swimming talent. At just 16 she was the middle swimmer in the British Relay Team that won the silver medal at the1920 Olympics. This is the badge that was sewn on to their costumes, which the family still has:

But this was just one of many impressive achievements. She was a true record holder, winning her first major competition in Manchester, when she swam the ASA 300 yards freestyle in just 4 minutes 20 seconds, setting a new world record. She went on to win over 36 competitions in England and Scotland, over the following 4 years, setting a staggering nine new world records. Each time she won a record she was able to add one of these badges to her growing collection:

Her record breaking career also took her to America and here’s a clip from a newspaper published on 5 August 1922 showing her swimming the 300 metres in 4 minutes 33.8 seconds.

By the time she turned professional at the age of 21, she had amassed a huge amount of awards and broken numerous records and here she is proudly showing off her achievements:

She was prevented from attending the 1924 Olympics in Paris, by her parents as the British Olympic association would not pay for her mother to accompany her as chaperone (aged 20!). As the star of British swimming and the current world record holder at several distances, she would have undoubtedly won medals. As a member of the Cunard swimming Club at Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel, she had already been offered a chance to join the line as a celebrity crew-member. Hilda was so bitter about the 1924 Olympics that she decided to turn professional and began her seafaring career, by running away from home to join the Carinthia which sailed from Liverpool in 1925. She didn’t tell her parents that she was going until the night before the voyage!

Shortly after she became engaged, she returned to England to set up the family home, because as Mrs McAllister told me “It wasn’t the done thing for a wife of a Merchant Seaman to stay on board with her husband in those days”.

Despite having a family, she kept on swimming throughout her life and often gave exhibitions right until the end of her life, even though she had a pacemaker fitted. Here she is in 1980 at an exhibition in Wallasey with another Olympic Champion, David Wilkie, (who amongst numerous awards, won the Gold Medal at the Montreal Olympics in 1976).

I’d like to thank Mr. and Mrs. McAllister for sharing this wonderful story with us, and taking the time to sit down and chat about another truly incredible Cunarder.

There are lots more great stories on the way and I also have an interview with Queen Victoria’s new Chief Engineer, Ronnie Kierr coming up as well as my next visit to see Queen Elizabeth in about 10 days time. In the meantime thank you again for logging on and all your great comments – please keep them coming. Cheers, Alastair.

Countdown to Queen Elizabeth – 447 days

Many of you will remember the Heritage Trail on QE2 and its host Thomas Quinones, well as he comes to the end of his first contract on Queen Victoria we thought it would be a good idea to catch up with him on the newest Queen. I also have some answers to your questions and comments coming up, but firstly, here’s “This week in Cunard’s History” for the week of the 19th to the 25th June:

June 19 2008

Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Olden

June 20 1914

The Bismarck is launched at Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg. She becomes the Majestic after the war. When Cunard and White Star merge she flies the Cunard flag, but becomes the cadet training ship HMS Caledonia in 1936

June 20 1975

QE2 offers medical assistance to a sick seaman from the Russian fishing trawler “Luga”.

Before I get to Thomas I would like to answer some of your questions and comments. Firstly Jim and Margaret Egan were asking after David Pepper who is currently working for one of our sister companies, P&O Australia and although missing Cunard is apparently enjoying it. Sorry I missed you Paul (Weyhill), but hope you enjoyed your crossing on Queen Mary 2. The feature “This week in Cunard’s History” appears each Thursday and then sometimes I post an extra blog on a Monday.

I was delighted to read that Anthony Gaiani Jr is interested in a career at sea and is after Commodore Warner’s job! Ned Tutton is a newly qualified third Officer, (he posted a guest blog as Queen Victoria transited the Suez Canal), will be doing a special Blog in a few weeks time about the cadet programme on Cunard ships – so watch out for that, I’m sure you’ll find it interesting.

Shaun was asking about how the ships pick up pilots and indeed that is a great question which often comes up, so I’ll get a special blog together about that in a few weeks time.

I know many of you will know Thomas Quinones, who has become one of those great Cunard personalities, but just in case you haven’t here’s more about him.

Thomas was born in Mannheim, Germany where spent his childhood, before moving to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fluent in three languages and having gained a degree in Business Administration his career in the travel industry began not at sea, but in the air working as a flight attendant for German Airline, Lufthansa. It was whilst he was working there that he was offered a short term contract as a Spanish translator aboard Cunard Countess in the mid 80’s. He has remained with Cunard ever since and for more than 25 years has fulfilled a variety of social and public relations roles on various vessels in the fleet including Cunard Countess & Princess, Sagafjord, Vistafjord and Queen Elizabeth 2. This has enabled him to meet and engage with a number of the world’s leading and influential figures. Keenly interested in the history of the Cunard Line, he is probably best known for his passion in sharing the past with guests on QE2’s “Heritage Trail”. Home is now Birmingham, the big heart of England where he enjoys classical music, opera and spending time in the wonderful English countryside.

I first met Thomas when I joined QE2 in 2006 and his passion for Cunard is certainly contagious. He taught me a lot about Cunard’s incredible history and it was fascinating to hear first hand, how QE2 evolved over the years. Thomas is one of those great Cunard characters; no one will ever forget his Heritage Trail or for that matter his role in the annual Christmas Pantomime! Here’s a picture I found of us in Spitzbergen (The Norwegian Island in the Arctic Circle), watching out for Polar Bears!

I was delighted when he joined Queen Victoria in February this year. It was great to catch up and he told me that when he was working for Lufthansa he had no idea what it would be like to work on a ship. Joining Cunard Countess made him realise he had been missing something in his life. He said he was hungry for a big change in his career and has never looked back since deciding to leave the airline and commit his time to working for Cunard.

I asked Thomas what “We are Cunard” means to him. “It means a lot” he said, “looking back; it’s incredible that from just two weeks, I have now covered a quarter of a century. You go through different stages in life and being on a ship is the same. The secret is you have to find the heart and soul of it; that helps you to understand the product and what the company is looking for. It also helps you to understand the needs of our guests and what they are looking for to have a holiday of their life. It may be a short break or even a World Cruise, either way, you are Cunard for them and they have high expectation from you.”

QE2 has a very special place in Thomas’s heart. “My life on QE2 was my home away from home, meeting so many wonderful people over the years like President Mandela of South Africa, who I met on a World Cruise in 1998. When QE2 was involved in a rescue of a Spanish Fisherman in the mid Atlantic I was the translator. Meeting Her Majesty the Queen on her last visit on June 2^nd 2008 and also the Duke of Edinburgh, saying farewell to her from Southampton were real highlights. For me, QE2 was not only the last ocean liner of the 20^th century she was one of the great hotels on the high Sea.”

“The Heritage Trail was something that I conducted for a long time, showing guests the past, present and future of Cunard from 1840 up to 2008. It started as a 45 minute event, but soon became a real production when occasionally I dressed in period costumes, lasting up to 2 hrs!” If any of you have ever attended one of his incredibly popular Heritage Trails you’ll know what a unique and unforgettable event it was.

As for the future Thomas says “Yes I want to continue the tradition of the Cunard History; this time on Queen Victoria because I feel we have to let our guests know how important Cunard is for future generations.”

It was an emotional day for many when we arrived in Dubai and saw Queen Elizabeth 2 docked in front of us. This is the closest Thomas was able to get to a ship that held so many memories.

As we sailed that evening we chatted about fond memories; “The farewell voyage and leaving QE2 forever was something you cannot explain at the time, but now that time has passed and you realise that her new home in Dubai and it’s time to let her go. I started my new experience on Queen Victoria in February 2009 and she is my new home from now on. It was great to be a part of QE2’s history, but now my future is on the new Cunarders, and I would love to be part of the New Queen Elizabeth, with friends and family that I have met all these years. To all my friends we are Cunard for you.”

I couldn’t have put it better so thank you Thomas for this special Blog. As for a Heritage Trail on Queen Victoria – we’re working on it! Thank you all for logging on again. Until next week; cheers for now. Alastair

Firstly to answer a question regarding Warren Smith, who was most recently the Entertainment Director on board QE2, he has actually just joined Queen Mary 2. Meanwhile Chris I haven’t forgotten your question regarding the Staff Captain on the Cunard Princess – I am still working on it. Before we get to our next blog, here is this week in Cunard’s history for the 12th to the 19^th December.

December 12 1946

The Media is launched at John Brown Shipyard at Clydebank and will become the first new passenger ship on the Atlantic after the war. Although originally designed as a freighter she was converted to be part cargo part passenger.

December 13 1995

QE2 makes her maiden call at Amsterdam, Holland

December 14 1954

Ivernia II is launched and goes in to service on the Canadian emigrant run a year later

December 14 1955

Carinthia III is launched at John Brown Yard at Clydebank, and along with the Sylvania II they are the last liners to be built purely for the North Atlantic market. She becomes the last Canadian emigrant ship

December 18 2007

Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Hamburg

Queen Victoria has just crossed the Atlantic for just the second time to join her bigger sister in the Caribbean for the festive season. On next week’s blog I’ll be sharing some pictures from both ships in their seasonal décor and tell you a little bit of what happens on board for the guests and crew at Christmas time.

Meanwhile I heard that one of our favourite Cunard lecturers, Bill Miller had written an article about QE2’s farewell from New York for Ocean & Cruise News which is published monthly by the World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society. They and Bill were kind enough to let us reproduce the article for our blog. By the way you can find out more about them through these links.  www.wocls.org and www.oceancruisenews.com

I first met Bill when he joined Queen Mary 2 as she met Queen Mary in Long Beach for the first time in an emotional rendezvous. Bill is considered an international authority on the subject of the great ocean liners.  He has written some 65 books on ocean liners and cruise ships. Among his many other titles, he is the adjunct curator of the Ocean Liner Council at New York’s South Street Seaport Museum, the assistant editor of Ocean & Cruise News and created the ship database for the Ellis Island Museum. He received the National Maritime History Award in 1994 and the Silver Riband Award in 2005. I am also pleased to be welcoming Bill back on board Queen Victoria for the New York to Los Angeles leg of the 2009 World Cruise. I’ll be back next week with a festive blog but in the meantime here is Bill Miller’s article.

Dramatic Farewell:  The QE2

By Bill Miller

The elements played their part to absolute perfection. It was the great exit scene, the stirring piece in the glorious maritime operetta. Late on an autumn afternoon, battleship gray clouds were looming as otherwise rather milky sunlight cast a soft glow on the skyline of Manhattan. Other thickening clouds soon formed, the winds kicked up a bit and then there was mist and some drops of October rain. Soon, above the harbor were “Wizard of Oz” skies! Aboard a specially chartered harbor ferry several hundred of us had eyes and cameras mostly fixed, however, on the north berth of Pier 90. The iconic Queen Elizabeth 2 was in her final hour in port, soon to be undocked by two Moran tugs and then sent on her way.

It was, of course hardly all ordinary departure. The 70,000 ton Cunarder was leaving New York, after 710 visits for the last time. Unquestionably the most beloved, famous and possibly popular passenger ship afloat, sentiments ran deep and often high ‑ saddened smiles, great hand waves of goodbye, some tears of course. Many onlookers had happy memories of the 963 ‑ foot long ship, from aboard her countless voyages (Altogether the 32 knot ship has the greatest records of any big ocean liner in history: 1,428 voyages clocking 5.9 million miles, carrying 2 million guests and making 25, 90 ‑ 100 day world cruises.)

Finally, the throaty whistles sounded, the Queen was undocked and then sent southward along the Hudson where she joined her successor of sorts, the far bigger and taller Queen Mary 2, which had departed from Cunard’s Brooklyn Terminal and which was wailing off the Battery. Then with roaring whistle exchanges the two great liners departed together ‑ QE2 in the lead, of course, and as both ships glowed much like diamonds against the deep purple skies of twilight. New York Harbor was at its most romantic, the two ships stunning and almost ethereal, the mood exciting, almost exhilarating and yet poetically sentimental, even quite sad. Earlier, I was a guest speaker aboard the Elizabeth’s Farewell Voyages – 10 days around the British Isles (touching in at some class liner – linked ports: Cobh, Liverpool, Belfast, Greenock, Edinburgh and Newcastle) and then connecting on a final 6 night westbound crossing to New York. All the ports gave rousing receptions and farewells – fireworks, spraying fireboats, escorts of tugs and small boats. The 39 year old Queen gleamed in her well deserved celebrity. Clearly no ship is more beloved. In November, after a final two week voyage from Southampton by way of the Mediterranean and Suez, she reaches her new home, out in Dubai, where she will become a permanently moored hotel, museum and entertainment center. Sold for $100 million, the 1,700 berth liner will undergo extensive rebuilding before opening on newly created Palm Island

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Captain Ian McNaught, her master and who has served aboard the ship for the past 23 years, will sign her over to Dubai officials. “It has been very, very touching to see everyone waiting around to wave us off on these final, farewell voyages. We always had a large flotilla of vessels to accompany us out of port. There have been some great sights. It is fitting in that on her last roundtrip crossing from Southampton to New York and back that we are sailing in tandem with our big sister Queen Mary 2. But it will be very, very sad, an almost tearful day when I say the final goodbye in Dubai. It is actually quite bittersweet. There are many mixed emotions for me. After we disembark for last time in Dubai, the 900 crew members will be spread around the other vessels in the Cunard fleet. The Queen Victoria will be my next command. She might not be QE2, but I am looking forward to it. I’ve been with QE2 since September 1987, but I am a “New Boy” compared to some of the other crew. We will have 4 people who have been with her since day one, through all of her working life. QE2 will always be special to all of us I suppose she stands for something great that we don’t have any more. Like Concorde, she is a symbol of the 60’s. But we don’t have to remember things that do move on.”

Eighty nine year old Bea Muller has been “living” aboard the 1969 built ship for the past nine years. I’m heartsick. I will miss her so.,” said over 4 o’clock tea in the liner’s fabled Queens Room. “After all, she’s been my “home” off and on for the past 14 years and for 9 years permanently. I’d visit up to as many as 48 ports a year on QE2. We will never see a ship like her again. I’m going to cry a lot, but now I must find it new “home”. Mostly I will miss the wonderful QE2 personnel. First, I’m going to Queen Victoria and try to live at 21 knots, and then to Queen Mary 2 for her World Cruise”

Others were equally as sentimental, “It is the passing of an era, a very great era.’” commented Thomas Quinones the ship’s social host for some 15 years. She is a ship of history, a great reminder of the golden age of travel and a ship of countless memories, distinctions, records and occasions.”

London based passenger Martin Grant added. The normal clichés apply ‑ it is indeed the end of an era! But it is a very personal loss too, I had my very first cruise on QE2 in 2002 and she is the ship I most traveled on. She is the Queen that introduced me to the joys and comforts of cruising. I simply fell in love with her!”

Carol Marlow, the president of Cunard, was sentimental but quite practical and in fact positive about the ship’s transition. “QE2 is a wonderful ship and will continue to be,” she said, “She will remain essentially a Cunarder in her new career in Dubai. She is after all, an icon, a maritime icon.’”

Captain McNaught offered some form of closure as the great ship neared New York for the very last time. “We now have but 24 hours until the final arrival into New York harbor. It is the end of many happy and successful crossings for the ship. It is also very sad that she is leaving active service, but she will be like the original Queen Mary is out in Los Angeles. QE2 will have a new life and a new career out in Dubai.”