D&N

I'd agree with Copenhagen. There is a 'dreamstime' watermarked photo online that shows the terminal building. Google satellite view and many other photos are older and don't show it.

Is it cheating to use a reverse search? Cropping in to this distinctive section gives me: Bird sanctuary Einevarden? I assume the port would be Måløy. Beaten! Taking too long to verify the port!

@bluemarble Update; Possibility we can work in Sept 21st. We'll have a visitor and plan a lunch at Geppetto https://www.facebook.com/geppettoalex/ in Nice one of the days. If we get on the move early enough we could visit Villefranche and get bus back to Nice, breaking journey at viewpoint. Let you know nearer time.

Sorry, don't think we'll manage back to Villefranche. We combined that with a picnic in Monaco that we sometimes do in summer. We might be able to get something at Cannes on one of the visits. We were planning to have a beach picnic at Île Sainte-Marguerite today, but I took one of our cats to the vets as she's not been eating well. We'll probably wait a few days to monitor her progress, which could mean that our trip could coincide with a Cannes visit. Although we swim and picnic on the south of the island, the ferry should pass QE in both directions and we'd get opportunities from the jetty on the island and from the port at Cannes.

Our two 80 litre cases fitted under one side with plenty of room to spare. They are 43.0 x 66.0 x 29.0 cm. In hindsight we might have been better to have 1 x 80 litre plus 1 x 119 litre at 50.0 x 77.0 x 31.0 cm. The smaller would have fitted inside the larger for storage. And saved storage space at home. As you'll see in the photo of the 29 cm cases, the 31 cm would have fitted under the bed easily.

We were disembarking on Sunday June 12th a Southampton. In the daily program of Thursday June 9th in a section headed "Preparing for your onward journey" requests were invited for "Fast Track disembarkation" and to phone the Pursers Office to arrange that. The slots were apparently 07:00 & 07:15, we were allocated the latter. Just before 07:00 we observed folk queuing to disembark as we returned from breakfast. By the time we got back down to deck 2 just before 07:15 that queue had dispersed and we walked straight off other than having our cards scanned. We were outside the terminal before 07:30. My sympathies are with you travelling by bus for that distance! It wouldn't be me. I would be on the 10:15 train changing at Birmingham.

Could it be Sitka?

On a Panama Transit at New Year 2005/6 from Acapulco to Barbados on P&O's Arcadia generally things were very good. I couldn't fault the service. Apart from Carnival's inability to make Kir Royale to my liking, the wine and drinks were good and reasonably priced. The sommelier jumped whenever we suddenly decided that a desert wine or liqueur was required with a particular desert. There was dancing in The Globe most nights. The shows were to a fairly high standard although I'd rather be dancing. The food was all well presented and cooked correctly. However for us the food was incredibly bland. It was as if they were catering exclusively for "British" tastes. Every single dinner was offered with potatoes and two vegetables, including curries and pasta dishes. When I asked for rice with a particular fish dish they were unable to provide any, even though they had an Asian/fusion restaurant on board. I suppose it was to be expected as the passengers were almost exclusively British, all having been flown out from various UK locations on charter flights to Acapulco and returned in same manner from Barbados. We had expected to find some local Caribbean produce but apparently everything is shipped from UK to a base in Barbados. We resolved not to travel with P&O again unless the itinerary offered was something we had to do and no one else was offering it. Since they don't offer day trips around The Baie des Anges on the Cote d'Azur or North Atlantic Crossings using an ocean liner that is never going to happen! In comparison Cunard's food offering is much more international and can closely match our regular diet.

I don't recall it looking quite so luxurious as the photo posted by @WestonOne in the other thread, but about 60 years ago my mother sometimes served baked eggs, which I think was a relatively cheap way of making a protein rich meal for 6 people with eggs and milk when meat, poultry and fish were expensive. It was placed in a pyrex oven dish and yolks were left intact. I recall it as being quite tasty.

No problem. They can go in the bin now that I have digital copies!

I've just got round to scanning and posting the menus we brought home, here:

I only asked for copies of menus in 2nd week of our crossings, having wrongly assumed they would automatically be presented on final night of trip as we had experienced on other lines. I've scanned the following as PDFs: QM2 Platinum Jubilee Gala Dinner Menu June 3 2022 QM2 Britannia & Club Dinner Menus June 6 to 11 2022 QM2 Britannia & Club Lunch Menus June 6 to 11 2022 I think they are in the order served. Red & Gold has that colour of border. We didn't get a copy of Britannia Club A la Carte, but had Duck, Lamb & Sole once each and Flambé Du Jour a few times (Suzette, Cherries, Pineapple). QM2 Platinum Jubilee Gala Dinner Menu June 3 2022.pdf QM2 Britannia & Club Dinner Menus June 6 to 11 2022.pdf QM2 Britannia & Club Lunch Menus June 6 to 11 2022.pdf

We've only taken 1 x QM2 cruise, May/June 2022 (18 years 4 months old). Only the 3rd proper cruise in our lifetime, after Sun Princess 1998 (2 years 8 months old). P&O Arcadia 2005/6 (9 months old). We've sailed on many ships in the Med, Baltic, North Sea, Channel, Biscay and West Coast Scotland. So this is not simply a defence of Cunard. I just don't see the point of those photos. If you don't expect to see rust and stains on outer decks of a ship you really should be choosing a holiday at a luxury resort hundreds of miles from the sea. The door; Yes folk really should use the handle provided to open the door, keep their hands away from their face and wash them as soon as possible, but if you don't want to touch where others have then it's quite clear from the photo where you should hold. 😂 I don't really see the practical use of silver candlesticks or vases, so get rid of them and the polished wood won't get so marked. (You don't honestly think that those symmetrical marks were caused by a variety of different glasses?). I wouldn't pick that mauve shade for my lounge, but I don't see anything wrong with that chair. Personally I would tidy that afternoon tea table a bit more before leaving it, but then I know I have OCD. We found everything we used to be spotlessly clean. The only marks on our clothing were where we splashed them with sauces etc. This isn't the 1st post of this kind I've read. I find most of them laughable. I think folks expectations of various forms of public transport need to be more realistic. Of course everyone has the right to their opinions and to choose where they spend their money, so some may not agree with anything I've typed and are welcome to do so.

I hadn't been familiar with Vlaardingen & Maassluis, but we sailed frequently between Harwich and The Hook in the 1990s when my brother in law was based in Germany. Interesting to see all the cameras.

https://webcam-vlaardingen.nl/pages/cameras/oost.php QM2 is currently heading towards the camera at Vlaardingen that points East. On the West pointing camera folk can be seen gathering on a small jetty on the North Bank to watch her sail past. And the operator is following her too.

https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/14-PreCruiseRequirement-All-US_CAN_UK_AU_NZ.pdf Assuming it is correct, this Viking document was updated on August 12th. The info for Spain doesn't seem to matter what you do after arrival, and is quite clear. The only difference I've seen elsewhere was transit passengers not leaving the airport were exempt, which obviously doesn't apply if you travel from airport to docks.

I keep forgetting about this. Delta serve quarter bottles of this stuff. It was better than the Californian red & white that they served by the cup from big bottles. Anyone tasting this would never complain about Pol Acker again.

Not sailing. Moored in Rotterdam, not that far from where QM2 is today. Shows on MarineTraffic. [actually that position is from June 2nd, so it could have been moved] Wikipedia: "The new owners intend to use the Astoria for conversion to a hotelship....... The plans were abandoned and the ship was again made available for sale, never having left port in Rotterdam.

In service at least. I think there's a few more moored around the world. But are they afloat or resting on the bottom? 😂

The main engines fitted to QM2 are 4 x Wärtsilä Vasa 46C. I found what appears to be a rather large manual for that engine online. It includes manufacturers data on emissions and a diagram that shows a NOx Analyser built into the exhaust system, so they probably know what is being spewed out most of the time. Like many cars, it probably complied with all standards when built but as they change it might be difficult to modify. The auxiliary engines are GE LM2500s and probably emit less as I think they run on LNG rather than heavy oil.

I wasn't clear as to whether the QE itineraries covered it properly. Do they actually sail through the Strait of Georgia, between Vancouver Island and the mainland? For us It's immaterial anyway. We were thinking of doing Banff-Vancouver on Rocky Mountaineer, then QE round trip including Victoria in 2025. We didn't do Rockies or Victoria when on Princess in 1998. However I've decided I can see all of those things on YouTube videos without doing the long haul flights, and we'll probably just do a round trip on QM2 again. I've since seen a video of Gold Leaf service and it looks like I would turn my nose up at the wine the waiter was serving!

It's actually fine here. The coastal Alpes-Maritimes are surrounded by the sea, the Southern Alpes, hills of The Mercantour and The Esterel. Other than the unusual situation of a red hot wind coming from the west over the plains of the Var, the temperatures are reasonably moderate. As long as you have air conditioning to fall back on when it gets too hot it's not a problem. I would never live in Scotland again. I couldn't face a mild winter, let alone one with snow and ice. The problem in New York was not the weather. It was how busy the tourist areas were with idiots trying to outdo each other in posing for the most outrageous selfies. Plus the difficulty in finding palatable wine, and surprisingly the dearth of decent coffee. For me there's no place that's a good swap for where we live at any time of year. We think I might just about be ready for another 2 weeks on Queen Mary 2 in 2025, but even there after 2 weeks I'm just desperate to get home.

Direct flights Nice to JFK are usually only with Delta who use Terminal 4. Although JFK info suggests "Returning ESTA" is a class that can use the faster gates, I saw no sign of that on the list. Other Nationalities, VISAs, ESTA were all signed to keep to right of 3 lanes and channelled into the main queuing area. Perhaps going to New York early July wasn't the best time. Times Square was like Blackpool on steroids, and stinking of all the junk food trucks. I absolutely hated it. Although our hotel was a couple of blocks away, we needed to pass through the area to get to many restaurants that interested us. We did enjoy all the sight-seeing though.

If he had just boarded in Hamburg; That is common in Germany. Some sauna/spa suites prohibit any clothing beyond the entrance area where they provide lockers.

Can't say I'm that much of a purist. The size in relation to number of dancers is the important thing for me. After all a rectangular floor ceases to be such when you scatter 20 couples around it. You just have to go in a direction that permits you to dance and if no clear line exists, select other steps. The corners of the Queens Room floor either side of the orchestra are perfect for checks and spin turns etc. We won't be on Queen Anne anyway. I'd rather not leave our home vicinity in first place and it would take an ocean liner to tempt me!