sfred

Oh no.... Cargo cranes. I think I lost about half my eyesight before trying to match cargo crane photos. 😎 Thankfully @ExArkie and @D&N may have saved my remaining sight. Much appreciated!

Thanks! I got lucky with a general google search for webcam beach promenades, and Valencia came up as one of the candidates. Google maps confirmed the cruise ship pier configuration seen from the webcam, and then street view confirmed some of the other details like the beach wall and public notice signboards. If I had "walked" just a little further north to the Plaja de Patacona I would have matched the other clues also. Now, which ship? https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/valencia-port-678 has schedules going back to December 2021, but there have been no Cunard ship arrivals listed between December '21 and now. So it must have been before December. If I recall, QE did some Med itineraries after the UK-only voyages at the beginning of the restart. So I'll say QE? Also wasn't QV off on quarantine duty in the Caribbean around that time? So unlikely to have been QV in the webcam. One unfortunate outcome of the QV refit is that it is much tougher to distinguish QV and QE from a long distance away.

Could this be Valencia Spain on the Malvarrosa Beach promenade? There's some clue matches in Google streetview to the rows of palm trees, the public notice signboard with the wooden roof, and the shape of the low wall along the beachfront. Valencia also has a cruise ship pier roughly where the webcam photo shows the ships. However, google street view shows different types of street lamps from the webcam, and also a different textured footpath surface, so perhaps I have this wrong. I've "walked" along the promenade in street view but cannot find the precise location shown in the webcam. I also hoped to get a clue from the street sign on the lamppost, perhaps from the language or wording, but the resolution isn't enough to make out any words.

Thanks - it was really your success. I spent far too much time earlier today looking at likely places in left-drive countries, and then looking at roads and towns near Akureyri. Hopefully the Iceland ministry of transport never finds out that I initially thought the webcam image indicated left-driving. They'd justifiably never allow me to to hire a car there! 😃

Well spotted, @Host Hattie. I see now how I missed that one. Google street view doesn't cover the highway north of Isafjordur on the west side of the fjord, only route 61 on the east side. So I stopped looking. I should have been able to tell from the map outlines of land and sea, however. D'oh! It is always a lot clearer once you know what to look for.

I may have gone down the wrong rabbit hole with the idea of left-driving. I can't find a match. If @Host Hattieis correct about Iceland, then Akureyri and route 82 on the west side of the Eyjafjordur would be a likely candidate. The terrain is a rough match, but I can't find a specific location for the webcam.

I think it may be a country that drives on the left? The road is approaching a curve, and the centre markings are solid on the left (no overtaking) and dashed on the right (overtaking), so perhaps the road straightens out behind the camera. Also the overhead sign at the bend looks to be over the left side lane. I have a meeting to run to this morning, but will come back for further investigation later today.

I'm far from sure, but I'll try a guess of Isle of Mull, Scotland? There's some google maps photos of rocky beaches that might be a rough match to your photo.

Correct in all respects, well done @bluemarble.! Congratulations also to @Essiesmomand others who similarly connected the webcam photo from the Mekjarvik ferry car park to the posting by @2BACRUISERabout QV's port change. Although Mekjarvik is close to Stavanger, it is around 10km away and we do have precedent in the game for counting nearby distinct ports as separate entries. Some examples are Bayonne, Brooklyn, and Manhattan in NY/NJ, and also Hamilton, Royal Navy Dockyard, and St. George's in Bermuda. Of the 571 total ports identified so far in the game, 33 are in Norway, the third highest country behind only the US at 53 (of which 19 are in Alaska) and the UK at 44. Hopefully we will soon have port 572 from @Host Hattie's contribution.

At long last, we may have a new unseen port for our "Where in the World?" game. Here is a webcam briefly capturing a Cunard ship arriving this morning. I tried to get a bridgecam capture from the Cunard web site, but all three ships' bridgecams appear to be unavailable at the moment. It may be debateable whether this precisely qualifies as an unseen port. The port is nearby (although separate by around 10km) from an already seen Cunard port in the game. I'll welcome a ruling from our participants. I will provide the attribution source for the webcam once the port is successfully identified.

In Australia there's an email address you can write to with Worldclub account queries. loyalty@cunardline.com.au I've written to them before to verify our status and they've replied back the same day. I would think there would be a US equivalent. The Australia email address is found at the bottom of the Australia Worldclub benefit page: https://www.cunard.com/en-au/cunard-world-club The bottom of thie equivalent US page may have the US email address.

Thaks @bluemarble. The photos are great. Last week, Cunard's "Big Balcony Event" sale enticed us to book next year's 2023 QE canal voyage, starting in San Francisco. The canal has been on our bucket list of voyages for a while now.

FYI, the Australia flexible booking terms remain more flexible. Unlimited number of changes, to any voyage on sale (not only within 12 months), on any fare type.

Hope you enjoy Sydney at the end of your Caribbean voyage, @bluemarble! Please give a call if you get to Brisbane along the way. I tried the site for our upcoming M235 voyage from Southampton to Norway in November. This voyage apparently ends in Fremantle, so I will call Qantas later on today to cancel our flights home to Australia. . Using Firefox, I have a working (although narrow) scroll bar to the right of the ports listing. A screen shot is below. The mouse scroll wheel also works. In MS Edge, no scroll bar but again the mouse wheel works.

A voyage to the heart of darkness... The horror, the horror! Thanks for starting off my day with a good chuckle. 🙂

Thanks @exlondonerfor the more recent update. Sounds like a significant downgrade from previous. There used to be the tea menu listing many different tea choices (around eight or ten types as I recall), a range of finger sandwiches served by the lounge waiters, and lots of different cakes and sweets.

Yes, no worries on shorts at breakfast or lunch. Unfortunately QM2 doesn't have the outside grills courtyard dining area, like QE/QV. And yes in the Lounge you'll get a tea menu with the range of tea choices. All teas are served loose-leaf in a pot with a strainer for the cup.

Congratulations @BklynBoy8! One person we always looked forward to in PG on QM2 was the maitre d', Atilla. Unfortunately I think I remember reading that he has retired from Cunard. A few years back, the Grills Lounge also did an after-dinner string concert. (This was in 2018 on an eastbound TA). It was quite enjoyable, especially with an accompanying cognac, port, or Irish coffee. Not sure if the concert still happens, but you could still enjoy the drinks. As others have mentioned, afternoon tea is also very nice in the Lounge. Best wishes for your voyage!

Thank you @ronpes for the compliments! 🙂 Mrs sfred and I also like the scottish accent, and generally have no problem understanding. Years ago in the 1990s we lived in London for several years, working with British Telecom. One of our work colleagues (a wonderful fellow) was from Glasgow, and we couild understand him easily from Monday to Friday afternoon, but after several pints at the usual Friday evening pub drinks, he became absolutely Indecipherable. I wonder how much was due to the accent, and how much was beer.

I've not needed this myself, but from other discussions on this board, my understanding is that you have to bring your own extension lead for medical devices (a lead only, not one with a surge-protected power strip which is incompatible with the ship electricial system). On embarkation, you get the equipment and lead checked out by Cunard enginnering staff. @bluemarblehas indicated that a 14foot (4.3meter) lead is adequate to reach the bed from the desk. (see post number 8 on this thread:

Unfortunately I don't think there are bedside power points available. The bedside lamps are hardwired into the ships electrical system. In other Cunard discussions on this topic, people needing bedside power for medical devices used an extension lead to bring power across the cabin from the desk. When I've needed power elsewhere on QV/QE (like the library) for my Australia devices, a US adaptor got me connected. If there are Europe plugs in the public rooms, I've not seen them.

On QV/QE, Britannia cabins have two US, one Europe, and one UK power points along the back of the desk. Photo shown below. There are two more US power points at the corner stand, used by the kettle for coffee/tea. You can unplug the kettle if you need additional power beyond the desk outlets. As @lissieindicated, we Aussies and Kiwis need adaptors for everything - no AU/NZ power. Apologies, I don't know whether the shaver socket in the bath switches off with the light. Around the QVQE ships in the public rooms, I've only ever seen US power points, unlike QM2 where I've only ever seen UK.

FWIW, the Australia T&Cs (as of 6 June 2022) are similar to the US. (Bolding added by me). 12. Hotel and Dining Charges (Gratuities) During the cruise, guests will experience excellent service from members of Our crew in a variety of locations. In addition, many more crew behind the scenes support those who serve guests directly. For Our guest’s convenience, a Hotel and Dining charge will be automatically added to their shipboard account on a daily basis. Grill categories will be charged US$13.50 per guest per day and Britannia categories US$11.50 per guest per day. These amounts are subject to change and guests may choose to alter or remove these amounts at their discretion. A 15% charge is automatically added to a guest’s onboard account for Bar, Wine & Salon/Spa services for each purchase.

That's unfortunate. As you say, QM2 usually departs towards the Angus Macdonald bridge, does a turn, and then back along the Halifax waterfront. We've done this twice on QM2, and both times we've had a water salute from a harbour fireboat and QM2 gave the city a long horn blast. It makes for a very enjoyable sailaway. Two photos attached below from 11 July 2015. Best wishes to @rafinmd and others aboard for the remainder of your voyage.

With QE anchored in the Queensland industrial port of Gladstone to wait out the virus, and QV and QM2 about to lay up in the UK, I'm curious about the composition of the remaining caretaker crew aboard, and what sort of activities still get done. My guess would be that most hotel crew (restaurant, entertainment, housekeeping) have disembarked and the passenger areas closed off. Remaining crew might be a minimal number of engineering and deck crew for maintenance and security. Perhaps a bridge watch for security, ongoing painting, rotating operation of the diesels for electrical generation, routine maintenance, etc. Is this right? Anyone have any insights?