Firstly I must thank you for the flurry of comments this week – it’s always great to hear your stories and click on the links you send in. I have to say I love the story from Marc Winchester, about receiving a certificate for the first confirmed pregnancy on board Queen Victoria. That’s a new one for me, so I would like to add my congratulations on the birth of your daughter Zsa Zsa. Meanwhile since last week Queen Victoria has visited Los Angeles and began her long voyage across the Pacific, but before I tell you about that, here’s “This week in Cunard’s History” for the week of the 6^th to the 12^th February.

February 6 1924

Aurania III is launched in Newcastle and enters service as the second set of triplets of the A Class liner

February 7 1925

Alaunia II (14,040 Tons) is launched at John Brown’s, Clydbank and enters service on the Canada route

February 11 1975

QE2 makes her maiden call at Bombay, India

February 11 2008

Queen Victoria makes maiden crossing of the international Dateline

Meanwhile back on Queen Victoria’s World Cruise; this is a part of the voyage for our guests to enjoy the eleven days at sea between the islands of Hawaii, Samoa and Tonga before reaching New Zealand. In fact one of the aspects many World Cruisers say they enjoy so much about this itinerary are the sea days, as they provide a great opportunity to not only to relax, but also to take advantage of all the activities and lectures on board. That of course means it’s very busy for us in the Entertainment Department, who do our best to ensure our guests have lots of events to choose from. We do a lot of extra activities which I’ll tell you about over the next couple of weeks including the legendary “Crossing the Line Ceremony”. This takes place when we cross the equator, and in one second move from winter to summer! I know those of you in freezing temperatures would love to be able to do that, and I’ll tell you more about that event next week. Although we have a lot on offer, there are always places around the ship to enjoy the quiet whilst overlooking the ocean. Mind you most guests seem to keep quite busy and one of the best compliments I heard the other day was from one of our guests who joined three weeks ago in Fort Lauderdale. She told me she had taken out three books from the library the day after she arrived on board, and still hasn’t had a chance to read any of them, so we must be doing something right!

After four days at sea it was great to dock at Honolulu on Sunday, as it’s such a great port with lots things to do. One of the main attractions, especially for our American guests, is of course Pearl Harbor, which is now a museum and memorial to the unforgettable events of the 7^th of December 1941. It has all been incredibly well done, and here’s a picture taken from a helicopter of what Pearl Harbor looks like today.

The white canopy covers the USS Arizona, whilst the battleship on the right of the picture is the USS Missouri, and for all the guests I spoke to who visited Pearl Harbor that day, said it was a very moving and memorable experience.

For other guests the opportunity to visit Waikiki Beach was not to be missed.

Although it’s a great beach, albeit surprisingly small, I personally prefer some of the less crowded and equally beautiful beaches around the island.

Meanwhile we were showing the Superbowl on board the ship, but some of our guests seem to enjoy joining some of the ships company, watching it in a nearby restaurant called Hooters. Some of you may know that restaurant and understand the attraction – it was certainly very popular!

Before a packed deck party that night, we enjoyed a beautiful Sailaway, with Hawaiian music and a fabulous sunset as we watched one of our sister company’s ships “Oriana” sail ahead of us.

As we blasted the ships whistles we said Aloha (which is a general greeting in Hawaiian as well as meaning “Love”), and set a course for our next port Apia in Western Samoa where we arrive on Friday morning.

On a slightly different subject, there are many aspects of life at sea we all get asked about when we come home, and one of them is what is the social life like on board for the crew. Well I don’t want to give away all our secrets, but we do have a thriving crew club who, with our Personnel and Training Manager, organise many events for the crew from movie nights to barbecues and other celebrations.

Speaking of celebrations it is very likely that crew members will spend a birthday on board and this last week was the turn of one of my Entertainment Staff Rebecca Clancy. Rebecca, or Bex to her friends, is new to Cunard having just started her second contract. Yesterday she turned 27 (I’ve been reliably informed it’s not impolite to talk about a lady’s age when she’s under 30!), and we held a small party for her in the Officers Wardroom which happened to be the same night as a Hawaiian party which explains the team’s outfits!.

Bex, who is from Poole in Dorset, (and whose parents are regular readers of this blog!), said she enjoyed all the attention she was given by fellow crew and guests alike. It did help that I mentioned it on the morning TV show, but even she was surprised by the amount of cards she received from friends she didn’t even know she had – well that’s ships for you. In fact she was also thrilled to receive many cards from guests including a hand-made one from Mrs. Jennifer Gamble who has been attending Bex’s Scrapbook Challenge group.

Well that’s about it for now, but before next week I’m going to chat to some of our guests on this World Cruise. We have some very interesting guests including Cunard’s most travelled guests (just wait until you hear how many days they’ve travelled on Cunard ships). I’ll also be talking to Mr. Philip Andrews who is the great nephew of Thomas Andrews whose name you may recognise as the Captain of Titanic.

Cheers for now, Alastair

Hello from a very busy Queen Victoria. This week we have been heading north visiting Guatemala and Mexico and on board we have been celebrating Burns Night and Australia Day. But before I tell you all about that, here’s “This week in Cunard’s History” for the week of the 30^th January to the 5^th February.

2008 January 30

Queen Victoria makes maiden call at Los Angeles

1945 February 4

The beginning of the Yalta Conference where Churchill used the Franconia as his base. The conference, which lasted 1 week, was held with Roosevelt and Stalin who looked at the post world  war 2 world

1975 February 5

Queen Elizabeth 2 makes her maiden call to Mombassa, Kenya

Our first port of call after our Panama Canal transit was Puerto Quetzal. Of course the first bit of fun was trying to find out exactly how to pronounce this port’s name and no-one I spoke to had been here before. Anyway it turns out to be “Ketzarl” so now you know! Many of our guests went to La Antigua which is a city in the central highlands famous for its well-preserved Spanish Mudeja influenced Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches. In 1965 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and according to our guests was very impressive. Unfortunately like many of us, I only had time to explore the port area itself which serves the nearby, and somewhat less developed town of San Jose. They had done a great job with stalls and cafes in the port area and it gave everyone their first opportunity to practice their bargaining skills with the locals. Some I might add were more successful than others, with wooden musical instruments being very popular, especially the small wooden flutes which I’m sure will become gifts for many at home. Neil, our Audio Engineer in the Royal Court Theatre was delighted with his purchase acquired for $15, until he discovered I had bought exactly the same one for just $5! Mind you he wasn’t alone – it appeared at the show that night that numerous guests had bought the very same instruments for prices varying from $5 to $20. It’s all part of the fun and knowing the upcoming ports it’s just the beginning.

After two days at sea we reached Mexican waters and the very popular resort of Puerto Vallarta situated on the Pacific Ocean’s Bahía de Banderas.  It’s a great place and I have to thank Shiva, the ship’s printer for this great photo taken from his parasailing trip.

It’s a large town named after Ignacio Vallarta, a former governor of Jalisco, and has a population of over 180,000. It’s proximity to the Bay of Banderas, the agricultural valley of the Ameca River, and the important mining centres in the Sierra have given the town a more interesting past than most Mexican tourist destinations. Puerto Vallarta was a thriving Mexican village long before it became an international tourist destination and the old town area has a lot of charm despite the modern hotels and beaches just a few hundred yards away. For us it was an opportunity to get back to negotiating for sombreros, ponchos and Mexican blankets. I might add this was so we could decorate the Winter Garden for the deck party that night, rather than for personal use!

Our second Mexican port was Cabo San Lucas which is one of my favourite ports of call. It’s a city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula with a population of over 60,000. Mind you it’s changed a lot since I first came here ten years ago, having expanded dramatically. It is quickly becoming a high-end holiday destination with a number of resorts and timeshare clubs appearing along the coast. It also has a claim to fame as the location used for the 2004 movie Troy which starred Brad Pitt and Diane Kruger. Despite its expansion the port is still too shallow for us to dock so we tendered in the bay but that provided this stunning shot taken by one of our on board photographers.

The stunning rock formation is adjacent to what is known as lover’s beach and is well worth a visit by water taxi from the harbor; mind you don’t go there for privacy, it’s a very popular spot!

Before we got to Los Angeles on Tuesday we had some celebrating to do. Firstly the evening of the 25^th marked Burns night, so after guests had the opportunity to try Haggis for dinner in the restaurants, we marked the occasion in the Queens Room with a Burns Night Ball. Guests had spent some of the previous days learning some Scottish dancing and it was fantastic to see them perform dances including ”Strip The Willow” for fellow guests. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of a large Haggis and the famous “Ode” which was read by one of our Third Engineers, Stewart Crawford, from Inverkeithing in Fife. He did a great job and his reward of course was the opportunity to propose the toast with a very nice malt whisky. Meanwhile many of our Indian crew members were celebrating India Republic day as we prepared for our next guest party.

The 26^th of January is Australia day, and with about 100 Australian guests it was the perfect excuse for yet another celebration. This time we invited guests to join us in the Winter Garden, decorated with Australian Flags and yellow and green balloons, for a celebration including Aussie “Tucker” and music to mark the occasion. We knew from last year that it was going to be a great evening and I’d like to thank Neville and Judy King (draped in the Australian flag!), from Lismore, New South Wales for giving me this photo.

That’s about it for this week but thank you again for logging on and your comments – keep them coming. I’ll be back next week with news of our Pacific Crossing to Hawaii (I know what you’re thinking – tough for some!). Meanwhile I’m hoping to get some news from Queen Mary 2 as she progressing with her World Cruise and watch this space for updates on the new Queen Elizabeth. Cheers for now, Alastair

Thank you again for your continued feedback. It’s great to hear from you and of course this helps me look at different topics to discuss on future blogs. It’s another eventful week for Cunard Queens as they embark on their World Cruises, and for both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, it will be their second time to circumnavigate the globe. Before we get on to that story here’s: “This week in Cunard’s History” for the week of the 9^th to the 15^th January.

1972 January 9

Several fires break out on Queen Elizabeth, while she is in Hong Kong Harbour as a floating university. Arson was suspected but never proven. By the next morning she was on her side where she stayed for 3 years before eventually sinking.

2004 January 12

Queen Mary 2 sails on her 14 day Maiden Voyage to Fort Lauderdale.

2007 January 15

Queen Victoria Floats Out Of Her Dry Dock for the first time.

Regarding the “This week in Cunard’s History”, I have to apologise and make a correction for last week’s typo and thank you to Peter Stevens, the Caronia II Timeline Webmaster, for putting me right in that January 4th 2009 was the 60th Anniversary of Caronia’s Maiden Voyage from Southampton to New York, arriving there on 11 January 1949. Interestingly he also added that RMS Caronia was named the Green Goddess by the people of Liverpool, her home port, because her livery resembled that of the local trams at that time.

Meanwhile I returned to Queen Victoria on Monday after my holiday, (yes I know many may suggest that being on board is so great so why would you need a holiday?), and it was lovely to see so many familiar faces amongst the crew and guests. In fact this started on the plane when I happened to find myself sitting next to guests who were joining Queen Mary 2 and recognised me from a previous voyage. Oh yes fame at last!

Queen Victoria was in Fort Lauderdale on the 12^th day of her World Cruise and her guests and crew were delighted to be greeted by the warmth of 80 degree temperatures after the cold and even snow of New York just two days earlier. She was docked right next her big sister, Queen Mary 2, on the adjacent pier, so it was lovely to see the sisters reunited again. This provided a great news story for the press and TV who were taking photos of the ships from helicopters hovering above the port.

It’s always great when our ships are in port together – an event that doesn’t happen that frequently. Not only is it a great photo opportunity it also gives colleagues an opportunity to spend some time together and catch up. Having said that it was a very busy day for both ships, especially for Queen Mary 2 who had a big crew change and of course all her guests joining for the first leg of her World Cruise. As we left our berth there was the traditional exchange of the ship’s whistles with each attempting to out do each other with the last blast – I’m not sure who won that one! The occasion was also almost reminiscent of the grand farewells of days gone by, with guests leaning over their balcony and promenade deck hand rails, waving and shouting “Bon Voyage“ messages to each other as their different sea adventures began. After a call at one of my favourite Caribbean islands, Grenada, Queen Mary 2 was of course heading south to circumnavigate Cape Horn, whilst the Queen Victoria set a course for the Panama Canal once she had visited the Dutch Antilles island of Curacao.

That night around the ship it was almost like coming to your second home meeting up with old friends amongst the guests and crew, catching up on all the news and looking forward to the voyage ahead. Sometimes for us working at sea, we feel as though we lead a bit of a double life with our time with friends and family at home and then our friends on board. Walking in to the Golden Lion Pub was also a bit like walking in to your local at home, with so many guests that I recognised. In fact in just the couple of days since I have returned, I have already bumped in to at least 30 guests from last year’s maiden World Cruise on Queen Victoria, and countless more who I have met during my time with Cunard so it feels like a grand reunion about the ship already.

There’s not much more to tell you at this stage, and I’m afraid no pictures, but I will have lots for you over the coming weeks as we progress around the world starting next week with our second transit through the incredible Panama Canal. I’ll also be in touch with my counterpart, Warren Smith on Queen Mary 2 and try and get some pictures of Cape Horn and her travels.

Also, many of you have been asking about Queen Elizabeth, whose launch is now just over 18months away so I can assure you there’ll be some news about her coming to you quite soon, along with some construction pictures in due course. In the meantime I’ll be back next week with more Cunard news.