Posting Live(ish) from QE Q620 Canaries and Portugal

Thursday 17 November

We are now enroute back to Southampton. There are two full sea days ahead of us before we arrive back in Southampton on Saturday morning. The last 10 days have flown by, it doesn't seem reasonable that it is nearly time to disembark!

We went to a 'Virtual Bridge Tour' talk by Captain Aseem Hashmi MNM. We've seen a similar talk by Captain Hashmi previously, when he was in commmand of P&Os Arcadia on our first cruise in 2014 to the Norwegian Fijords. He's an excellent speaker, funny and engaging. He's on again tomorrow, in interview with the Entertainment Manager. That should be interesting, I'm looking forward to it.

It seemed that Cunard had realised the mistake of a few days ago (where passengers had been walking in finding seats, for Angela Rippon's celebrity talk, throughout an insights lecture - very rude and disrespectful. Shortly after Captain Hashmi's talk started, the doors were shut and were not opened again until it finished. There was also a longer gap between the two talks.

Angela Rippon's second talk was about health, based on two documentary films she made last year. Keep your brain active, keep your body active, was the overall message.

Cafe Carinthia is a favourite spot on the ship. Unfortunately a lot of other passengers agree and it can be full at busy times. Since the Chart Room was changed to the Britannia Club Restaurant, there is a lot less space for passengers to spread out. The Queen's room is an option but it is busy with events and isn't always a quiet space for reading, there is also no drinks service in there.

We had lunch in the Golden Lion Pub, fish and chips with a pint of strawberry cider.We were going to go in shortly after 12pm but we had to wait an hour for some spaces to become free. It is very popular on sea days.

It was the final formal night of our four formal nights. Fortunately the dress fits - everything is getting tight now, there will be some serious weight loss needed on return to home!

The menu is always a little more special on formal nights. I had escargot to start followed by fillet of beef wellington. We

The Baked Alaska was gorgeous.

The show was the amazing Virtuosity. What incredible voices these ladies have. Just a superb performance. They are on again tomorrow as part of a variety performance - can't wait to hear them again.

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Photos on https://11adventures.wordpress.com

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Boy, was it lively last night on the Bay of Biscay! I don't know where your stateroom is, but ours was swinging around like a fairground ride. In bed by 9:30pm and glad to be there.

The captain said at his talk this morning that waves had been 6 metres. I'm very grateful they changed course early morning to get us close to land a bit quicker and it's settled nicely. He said QM2 is having a hard time on the edge of the same system.

I stronlgly support your comments about closing the doors for lectures, there were so many very rude people coming in 20 minutes before Angela Rippon, I felt very sorry for the speaker on stage.

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We are on deck 1 so although we woke up several times from the rocking and rolling, our travelling companions on deck 8 described holding onto the edge of the bed for fear of falling off!

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We are on deck 8 too (mid-fwd) and found it bumpy, but friends at the back had a much rockier ride of it than we did.

We are on deck 8 too (mid-fwd) and found it bumpy, but friends at the back had a much rockier ride of it than we did.

Yep, we're at the blunt end too. DW was woken at 1am by one of those horrible bangs when the ship drops down into the hole where a big wave used to be. Alton towers doesn't have anything to compare.

Still well worth it though, it's been a terrific itinerary and we've been blessed with super weather in port, which as weather goes, is really all that matters.

Have a safe journey home tommorrow morning.

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Last day at sea, see the photos on the actual blog at: https://11adventures.wordpress.com/

A rough night as we cross the Bay of Biscay. I woke repeatedly as the ship rocked and rolled. Walking in a straight line to and from breakfast was near impossible and often quite amusing for us, how the elderly passengers with walking sticks and mobility problems manage, I don't know. The seas calmed down significantly after breakfast.

Last full day, so I decided to give the French toast a try for the first time. It was so naughty it was great! Very sugary and fatty but delicious. The days of treats will be finishing abruptly tomorrow and I will return to my usual low-sugar diet. I normally don't eat desserts so I make up for my usual abstinence when I'm on holiday.

We sat in Cafe Carinthia for a while until it was time for Martin Saunders final insights lecture. It is quiet after breakfast but gets very busy mid morning. Martin's third and final talk was very interesting and we all learnt something new about our closest relative, the pigmy chimp... They are definitely cheeky monkeys! (Google them to find out more...)

The next talk was an interview with the captain, Aseem Hashmi. He gave a virtual bridge tour yesterday and this interview was also very entertaining. The captain works 3 months on and 3 months off. Tomorrow he starts his three months at home. He has a young family so he is clearly looking forward to getting back to see them.

Noon navigational briefing: we took a slight detour to avoid some of the bad weather in the Bay of Biscay but we still had to travel through 6m waves and a night of rocking and rolling. We are now only about 20 miles of Lizard Point in Cornwall and have slowed conisderably as we are way ahead of where we need to be. We will still be in Southampton at our scheduled time tomorrow. Queen Mary 2 is also making her way through the Bay of Biscay and is sufffering some worse weather that we have managed to outrun. She will be following us into Southampton tomorrow.

We then went and checked out the lunch menu for the main dining room and decided that we would come back once it opened at 12:30pm and have lunch in there. We walked the half of the promenade deck that was open, the other half is shut for some sort of maintainence. We walked about inside for a bit too, arriving back at the dining room shortly after the doors opened. We got a table for 2 by the window and our evening waiter was serving us, which was really nice, he does look after us well.

After lunch we went to the pub for a drink - at least I had a drink, my husband decided to have fish and chips - I don't know where he puts it! I will put on at least 10 lbs over this holiday, he will put on about 5lbs and lose it all by next week. Anyway, apparently his lunch was small and it was a shame not to have the fish and chips as it was his last chance.

I decamped to the Queens Room with half of my drink still left (The Thistly Cross Strawberry Cider, a new favourite) and he went for a walk (working off some of that fish and chips). I read my book and wrote some of this blog post while glancing outside at the English Channel and some of its traffic. Lizard Point was in sight earlier on the port side but there was no land in sight any longer. It looked like it was raining on the horizon and sure enough it came over a little later on. It brightened up again shortly afterwards. The four of us had another afternoon tea, well it was our last chance!

We went back to the cabin, did a bit of packing and got ready for dinner. After dinner we had a cocktail in the Commodore Club. I had a Sydney Sour and my husband had a tropicana (a softail).

It was then onto the variety show in the Royal Court Theatre. It was a three-part show. A crooner (Vincent), the Cunard Singers and Dancers, and Virtuosity. An amazing show, just brilliant!

We are currently in the Lido having a cup of coffee, trying not to feel gutted that it's nearly all over. What a fabulous holiday, we've loved it.

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Safe journey back home everyone.

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Many thanks to you all for taking the trouble to post about your eventful cruise to the Canaries. The Canaries is on our bucket list and so is of interest.

Parts of the UK has had bad weather too and I think you're really going to feel the cold when you arrive back.

Queen Mary 2 is also making her way through the Bay of Biscay and is sufffering some worse weather that we have managed to outrun. She will be following us into Southampton tomorrow.

Just to point out that the QM2 has been crossing the Atlantic from New York, not the Bay. :)

Safe travels home.

Have docked safely. Just about to go for final breakfast and drive home. Need to cut down on food now :rolleyes:

Welcome home everyone, thanks for taking us along with you.

Disembarkation:

I always feel Southampton is a bit a of a let down for a Cunard port (sorry if you are from Southampton), and when you are already feeling glum about finishing a wonderful holiday then arriving in Southampton will cure any feelings of postivity!

I wish Cunard embarked and disembarked from Liverpool Waterfront and the Pier Head...

...now that's a location, and with the old Cunard Building in the middle too (partially obscured by the new Liverpool Ferry Terminal building). Anyway, Southampton is where we arrive this morning and it was so dreary, the windows so wet that I didn't even bother to take a photograph, or go out on deck. I will pretend that Liverpool Pier Head is where we docked.

Breakfast in the dining room was available from 6:30am, or in the Lido from 6:00am. We all met outside the dining room at 7am and got a very nice table for 4, not far from the rain streaked windows overloooking the glorious terminal building...

We'd read our disembarkation instructions carefully - top tip, read them carefully! Some passengers missed their call because they were so late arriving in the room and the rest of the passengers in their coach transfer were kept waiting. Anyway, we had to vacate our cabin at 8:30am and make our way to the Queens Room. I was pleased it was the Queens Room because, as we were on deck 1, our disembarkation time was scheduled to be at 10:30am - so 2 hours waiting. Last time we were on Cunard (Queen Victoria in January) we had to wait in the Royal Court Theatre. I was already glum so waiting in the cool theatre without any natural light did not help my mood!

Despite the time being listed as 10:30am we have always found that Cunard under promise and over deliver with their departure times and sure enough we (along with deck 2) were the last to be called but we only had to wait nearly an hour, being called to the gangway just before 9:30am. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that it was so early, as Southampton Central was our next stop - not the most pleasant of stations!

We have our next cruise already booked and we are thinking of doing the "self-help disembarkation" next time. If you are capable of carrying ALL of your luggage in a single trip (no going backwards and forwards) then you can apply for self-help disembarkation at the Pursers Desk. On this trip you would have had to be in the Queens Room at 7am with disembarkation commencing at about 7:15am.

We are also wondering about driving. The train experience can be very busy and sorting heavy luggage can be annoying. We will see.

For now we will be reminiscing about our wonderful holiday and dreaming about our next voyage.

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Many thanks to you all for taking the trouble to post about your eventful cruise to the Canaries. The Canaries is on our bucket list and so is of interest.

 

 

 

Parts of the UK has had bad weather too and I think you're really going to feel the cold when you arrive back.

 

 

 

Just to point out that the QM2 has been crossing the Atlantic from New York, not the Bay. :)

 

 

 

Safe travels home.

Thanks Ray, I've misinterpreted what Capt. Hashmi said so I'll correct that.

Yes, it is a bit chilly but with a glass of red wine on our train, we are coping ;)

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A week later:

A week later and we are back into the swing of work and back into the swing of wrapping up for the winter weather and rain!

Some reflections and thoughts now that we are back:

The ship

Internet - it is extortionately priced but the complimentary 120 minutes that Gold Cunard World Club Members get is just about enough, if used judiciously, to last 12 nights and write a blog. It does result in a number of typographical errors.... or was the the cocktails and red wine? Cunard seem to lag behind other cruise lines with their value-for-money for internet access.

Drinks are expensive (compared to bar prices at home) made more so by the poor exchange rate that we have at the moment due to the weakness of Sterling. Most of our account was spent on drinks and the 15% gratuity. We've travelled with P&O in the past and their prices (and lack of 15% gratuity) makes for prices that are much more comparable with usual bar prices.

Wine package - the wine was fine (I'm not a connoisseur - it either tastes good or it doesn't for me), but the bottles on offer to select didn't correspond to the information I'd got from Cunard's website before the trip. Not sure what was happening there.

Inside Deluxe Cabins - this is the first time we 've been in an inside deluxe, last time we went in a balcony but didn't use it that much so we decided to go for the more cost effective inside deluxe so we could spend more of our holiday money on overly expensive drinks! We were on deck 1 - the location was really good but I ended up wearing earplugs because the engine hum was irritating me a bit, my husband didn't notice it and so I suspect it's just me! The extra space was brilliant, it's the biggest cabin we've been in.

We didn't bother going into most of the shops and the ones that we did go in we only visited once. They just aren't shops I would go in at home. They never seemed that popular either. However, we are not wealthy so maybe these shops do well from the better off Cunard customers in the grills.

I noticed the absence of The Chart Room compared to Queen Victoria. On Queen Elizabeth there is no Chart Room, the Britannia Club Restaurant takes that place. It was my favourite spot on Queen Victoria and it will be a real shame when QV is remodelled and a Britannia Club Restaurant takes it's place next year. The other public bar areas were often full and extremely busy as a result of the reduced public space.

Photographers - I thought the photographers were less pushy that previous experiences. They took no for an answer which is good, we never buy the photos.

Packing

I took a hair dryer, it wasn't necessary, the one in the cabin wasn't as powerful but it was more than adequate. I won't be taking a hair dryer with me again.

I took a change of clothes for every daytime, 4 formal dresses, and 4 informal outfits. The formal dresses were worn once each and the informal outfits were worn twice each with different accessories so they made for 8 different 'looks'.

I took a wide selection of jewellery and make-up.

I brought just-in-case medications and other practical items.

All of this stuff meant that my case was about 23kg and I had a backpack of 12kg. It was a pain carting all that down on the train so for next time I'm already thinking about how I pack lighter. We're flying to the Caribbean for a cruise in the not too distant future and the luggage limits will be a strict 23kg hold and 5kg cabin, unless we upgrade to premium. So I'm already planning to take much less daytime clothing and wear things more than once, using accessories (I love wearing scarves etc.).

We used the laundry room a couple of times and found the washers and dyers (the dryers in particular) very useful. So doing a load of laundry part way through won't be an issue and I'd rather do that than take all the heavy luggage. There is a laundry service if you didn't want to do your own. One day, when I'm a rich Diamond Member in the Queens Grills, I'll take all the stuff I want and pay for the White Star Luggage Service...

On Shore

We did a mix of pre-booked independent tours (3 of a 5 ports) and unplanned 'mooching' (2 ports). I think it was the right mix and we got to see all sorts of things, have new experiences, and relax too.

It's worth doing plenty of research and working out what you want to do even for unplanned mooching. The time goes so quickly!

We didn't book any Cunard tours. They are overpriced (often at least x3 the independent price) and there is a focus on large group coach tours rather than small group. There are expections to this of course. The only benefit we can see is that you get the guarantee that the ship won't leave without you. We went on shared tours where the arrival time back to the boat was enough time to give leeway. I would be mortified to nearly miss or miss the ship so I'm cautious about how we plan trips. Use TripAdvisor (or similar) to check out the reliability of potential independent tours.

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Thanks very much for your trip report Allie, I loved reading it as the wife and I are going on our first Cunard cruise to the Canaries on QV next month.

We are keeping our eyes out on the GBP-USD exchange rate, but I cannot see it improving in the next few weeks.

Whilst I do not 'drink like a fish' :) I do like a drink or two or three and I do not like to think that Carnival are taking advantage, so it will be a case of some drinks in the stateroom (Balcony) and some in the bars.

We have decided that we are not going to 'spoil the ship for a happeth of tar' and I won't be taking our own wine to the Britannia restaurant, we will be just looking at ways to overcome the double whammy of Carnival and Brexit.:D

Hi Golfito, thank you for your comments :) You will love QV, we had a fabulous time on her earlier this year. The Canaries are lovely and warm too :) Enjoy!

We don't tend to drink much at home but we really enjoy the cocktails on board. It's a planned cost of the holiday but I do get disgruntled when I think the value is poor. The cocktails are very good, and the bar stewards, particularly in the Commodore Club, serve them with panache! Some of the special cocktails in the CC involve quite a performance :)

We had a 6 bottle package of wine, bought one additional bottle and I brought one bottle to the restaurant and paid corkage ($15 + $5 gratuity). I'm not sure what my plan is for our next cruise, possibly a mixed approach again. I really enjoy the conversations with the sommelier about making choices and learning a bit more about the wines. My nose and palate is not improving through!

Enjoy your holiday and make sure you tell us all about it :)

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I noticed in your excellent post tour write up you mention the Cunard tours are well overpriced ( I assume these are booked by the Voyage Personaliser nearer the time or on ship) .

How do you go about looking at/booking the cheaper independent tours ?

Many Thanks

Thank you for your comments.

Yes, the tours can be booked via the voyage personaliser in advance, or when you get on board.

For one of our tours we did a search on the internet for tours around Funchal and then looked at ratings in Trip Advisor. I chose a highly rated one that had lots of reviews from happy customers. I exchanged emails with the tour company, they would run a tour for our ship (to match the arrival and departure times) if there was at least 4 people interested - there was so we reserved two places on the tour, there ended up being 6 of us in total. The other two tours we went on we arranged via the roll-call thread on this forum. Another couple had booked those tours and were looking for others to share the cost. We exchanged emails etc.

For our next cruise we are looking at options on the internet and are checking reviews on trip advisor.

Some companies do specific tours for cruise ships, I.e. Like this one: http://www.wehatetourismtours.com/lisbon-tours/pirates-of-the-cruise-ships/ others are happy to arrange something bespoke.

Hope this helps :)

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Many thanks just what I needed :)

Thank you for your comments.

 

Yes, the tours can be booked via the voyage personaliser in advance, or when you get on board.

 

For one of our tours we did a search on the internet for tours around Funchal and then looked at ratings in Trip Advisor. I chose a highly rated one that had lots of reviews from happy customers. I exchanged emails with the tour company, they would run a tour for our ship (to match the arrival and departure times) if there was at least 4 people interested - there was so we reserved two places on the tour, there ended up being 6 of us in total. The other two tours we went on we arranged via the roll-call thread on this forum. Another couple had booked those tours and were looking for others to share the cost. We exchanged emails etc.

 

For our next cruise we are looking at options on the internet and are checking reviews on trip advisor.

 

Some companies do specific tours for cruise ships, I.e. Like this one: http://www.wehatetourismtours.com/lisbon-tours/pirates-of-the-cruise-ships/ others are happy to arrange something bespoke.

 

Hope this helps :)

 

Can you please email the name of the tour company you used in

Funchel?

Email: eventschair@aol.com Subject: Funchel

 

Thank you

Lorraine:)

Note: We have used WeHateTourismTours in Lisbon, three times and each time was better than the one before, they have several itineraries.

We must have had an off day as we were not pleased with our We Hate Tourism tour of Lisbon and some surrounding areas. Our guide didn't manage the time so we missed several of the planned things which was disappointing. Seemed odd given the positive reviews they normally get.

We used Up Mountain Madeira for one of their half-day jeep tours :)

http://www.upmountainmadeira.com/hd

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That doesn't sound good Carnevale. We really enjoyed our tour.

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