bluemarble

I believe this is another case where the terms and conditions vary between the US and UK. I'll quote a relevant portion for each country. Excerpt from the US Cunard Upgrade Terms and Conditions: "You must submit a valid credit card number when prompted by the offer site to make an upgrade offer. If your upgrade offer is accepted, we will immediately and automatically collect payment from you by charging the credit or debit card you provided, using the details submitted." Excerpt from the UK Cunard Upgrade Terms and Conditions: "You must submit a valid credit card number when prompted by the offer site to make an upgrade offer. These credit card details are required to validate your upgrade offer and will not be stored or retained by us once your upgrade offer is submitted. We will not automatically collect payment using these credit card details if your upgrade offer is accepted – you must still contact us to arrange payment in accordance with these terms."

@D&N, Sasebo, Japan is correct. As @sfred has indicated, the Sasebo port webcam doesn't usually zoom in so close, but they did for QE's visit the past couple days. I thought I'd throw in a shot showing that ferry to provide a little extra help just in case it was needed. Well done with that identification. Here's an earlier capture I took not long after her arrival at Sasebo showing a broader view but with QE less identifiable to the right of center.

Here's a webcam capture showing a Cunard ship at a port we haven't seen yet. It's also a port not listed on our unseen ports list.

Just saw a facebook post from a guest on the Queen Victoria May 13th cruise who says they are a bit disappointed after Cunard notified them on Tuesday they have been downgraded from a balcony to an obstructed oceanview (with compensation). Whatever's going on with that cruise has impacted at least one other guest it would appear.

Here are the passenger and crew counts for this Queen Anne cruise to the Canaries courtesy of the blue spanners on the Solent Ships YouTube channel. These are the figures reported by Queen Anne via radio to Southampton VTS upon departure this evening. The radio reception last week didn't allow for hearing the figures for the maiden voyage but better luck this week. Queen Anne - May 10, 2024: 2,596 passengers; 1,252 crew

Oddly enough, I think I've figured this one out by starting with the identification of one of the tugboats in this photo. I'm getting a match to a tug named Sheringa (ex Marrakai) for the tug closest to the camera. The current location for that tug is Adelaide, but this photo doesn't match up with that port. And the current livery for Sheringa isn't quite right either. However, a review of photo archives for that tug when she was Marrakai are a better match. And they provided a location which does match up with this photo quite nicely, using older photos of the area around the cruise terminal more so than current photos. It looks like this walkway to the terminal may be covered now based on recent images I'm finding. Anyway, it was a roundabout way to get there, but I think this one is Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Here's a transcription of a menu for the second Gala Evening on Queen Anne's maiden voyage. I believe this is from the Princess Grill which would explain some of the details such as caviar and flambé. I have been able to verify several of the entrées and desserts were also on the Britannia menu. Gala Dinner Appetisers Slow Cooked Pork Belly with Crayfish Candied apple and purée Scottish Smoked Salmon Served with classical garnish and brown bread Sweet Onion and Goat's Cheese Tart Piperade of vegetables Roasted Peppers Sumac yoghurt, charred courgette and toasted almond Salads Pea, Broad Bean Salad Pickled Vegetable Quinoa Salad Radish and coriander Soups Roasted Cauliflower Soup Lyburn cheese croûte Chicken Consommé Poached chicken and vegetables Entrées Fillet of Beef Wellington Roast potatoes, asparagus and glazed vegetables with sauce Perigourdine Duck à l'Orange Hazelnut croquette potatoes and garden vegetables Sea-Bass Fillet Buttered and roasted leeks, Lyonnaise potato, shellfish bisque with caviar Roasted Tomatoes Filled with Couscous Wild mushrooms and pine nuts with a goat's cheese soufflé and balsamic Miso Grilled Aubergines Sticky rice and pickled cucumber kimchi Desserts Baked Alaska Morello cherries flambé Carrot Cake Cheesecake Toffee sauce Dark Chocolate Mousse Mango, coconut and coriander Prune and Armagnac Sticky Toffee Pudding Caramelised apple purée and Earl Grey cream Choice of Ice Creams: Turkish delight and strawberry ice creams with mango sorbet and kiwi sauce Selection of Cheese and Biscuits Coffee and Petit Fours

Did you have Beef Wellington, Duck a l'Orange and Baked Alaska on the menu? I saw one posted elswhere with those items but wasn't sure if it was for Britannia. If so, I'll transcribe the menu and post it on the "Queen Anne Menus" thread.

Gala evenings do not always have themes. It is a bit unusual for 23 December to have no theme, but since they are following two days later with the Red & Gold theme for Christmas Day, that may have something to do with it. It has been typical the past few years for 31 December to have no theme. Prior to the shutdown, they typically scheduled 31 December with a "New Year's Eve Ball" theme. But since the restart of operations, they now only schedule the four standard themes Black and White, Red and Gold, Roaring Twenties and Masquerade (plus Ice White on QE Alaska itineraries). As a result, 31 December now ends up with no theme. It's always possible they will add themes at a later date (or even once on board the ship). Please keep checking the daily calendar for your booking in My Cunard and let me know if you see any changes. It's quite possible those dates will have no themes though.

I suggest going with "Beppu, Japan" since that's how it's listed on the Cunard itinerary.

Correct. That's from QE's recent call to Beppu on May 7th.

Here's a webcam capture of a Cunard ship arriving at a port we haven't seen yet on this thread and this port is not on our unseen ports list. This was a maiden call for this ship and perhaps the first time any Cunard ship has called there. As usual, I have blurred the webcam's captions at the upper left.

Right. The last price changes went into effect this past December. Before then, these were the prices. Beers, Wines and Spirits Option $70 for voyages of 5 nights or more in advance, $75 on board $85 for voyages of less than 5 nights in advance, $90 on board Premium Soft Drinks Option $30 in advance, $35 on board Speciality Hot Drinks Option $12.50 in advance, $15 on board Soft Drinks Option $10 in advance, $12 on board So yes indeed, this is the second price increase for the non-alcoholic drinks packages since last December. For the Beers, Wines and Spirits Option, the new (and current) pricing structure that went into effect last December represented a price increase for shorter voyages, but a price decrease for longer voyages.

I just noticed the prices for the non-alcoholic drinks packages have gone up recently. Not sure when these were increased. This might be effective as of the Queen Anne maiden voyage date, May 3rd. Also they've changed the name of the Premium package as noted below. Anyway, here are the details. All these prices are per person per day. Premium Soft Drinks Option (name changed to Premium Non-alcoholic Option) Increased from $36.00 to $40.50 if purchased in advance. Increased from $40.00 to $45.00 if purchased on board. Speciality Hot Drinks Option Increased from $13.50 to $15.75 if purchased in advance. Increased from $15.00 to $17.50 if purchased on board. Soft Drinks Option Increased from $10.80 to $13.50 if purchased in advance. Increased from $12.00 to $15.00 if purchased on board. I am not seeing any changes in the pricing for the Beers, Wines and Sprits Option where the prices depend on the length of the voyage.

No fireboat escort for Queen Anne as she departed Lisbon today, but here's a pretty good webcam capture from the Câmara VTS stream on the Porto de Lisboa YouTube channel. The Cristo Rei monument is at the upper left.