Starstruckharper

Welcome back to this side of the Atlantic, QM2

According to Marine Traffic, the QM2 is now ten or so nautical miles out of Le Havre, and picking up speed as she sails for New York.

I encountered a similar issue on my upcoming TA - my vacation planner told me that I could add a second person to the booking at any time up to six days before the ship sailed, and that the only additional charge would be that person's port taxes, gratuities, etc. Definitely check with yours if you have one, though.

It's a pretty busy port -- you could always watch the comings and goings of ships (The Marine Traffic app is good at giving you information about where any given ship is coming from/going to).

There is a specific exemption in the "No extension cords" policy for extension cords connected to CPAP machines.

Is it a) possible b) rude or c) against the rules to tip any musicians you happen to be especially appreciative of on a transatlantic crossing?

According to Marine Traffic, QM2 has slipped her last moorings and is gliding down Southampton Water towards Liverpool - Bon Voyage!

35 knots is SS United States fast... she's probably got a current behind her if she's going at that speed.

Is there any indication the port stop in Liverpool is also a repair stop? I know Cammel Laird is up there in Birkenhead - anyone know if QM2 is due in?

Update: right on schedule, QM2 has moved berths at the Southampton Ocean Terminal.

Possibly the special occasion nature of the voyage would add a bit to the formality? Yes, it's cheap and short, but it's the *coronation*, so maybe folks will be more willing than usual to dress up?

All the advice I have read suggests going with a third party insurer. The link below is a good place to compare plans, a good number of which have cruise coverage included. Not sure if it's geared for travellers outside of the United States, however. https://www.squaremouth.com

I was watching QM2 on Vessel Finder as she made her way back from Australia on her world cruise. As she was sailing up the West Coast of Africa, she was still managing 16 or 17 knots on only three engines. What a magnificent machine she is. (Sidenote: Is the proper grammer "*The* Queen Mary 2" or just "Queen Mary 2?")

Okay for the record the band continuing to play (if that's not an apocryphal story) was not frivolous or pointless - keeping everyone as calm as possible was and is absolutely vital in emergencies and doing so saves lives.

I called Cunard about the issues, and received word that in the process of fixing one fault, they found another more serious one - possibly in fixing an exhaust fault they found a bigger engine issue. (Again, this is wild speculation).

This is definitely a question for your cruise vacation planner (if you have one) I think. I am almost certain it would not.

Hello, I'm in your pretty much exact same situation - I checked with my cruise vacation planner and she said I can add a guest to my booking at any time up to six days before departure. The new passenger still has to pay port taxes/gratuities/etc., but that's it.

I've been following the QM2 on Vessel Finder as she's finished up the second half of her world cruise. Every day she's closer to home!

I had a conversation with my cruise vacation planner about literally this exact thing and she said that there is storage space at the port of Southampton if you're going round-trip (and said storage is extremely secure FYI).

I believe on her sea trials QM2 managed a hair over 30 knots. By comparison, the original Queen Mary touched 32 knots on her trials - and the difference in service speeds between the two ships is also about two knots (26 vs 28 knots average speed). 26 knots is still mind-meltingly fast for a modern ship - Queen Victoria only does 18 knots in service, for instance! For a sense of how fast that is, here's a video of the QM2 effortlessly overhauling a racing catamaran in Mid-Atlantic.

QM2 is slower than QE2, which was slower than the original Queen Elizabeth/Queen Mary. Going flat-out, QM2 could probably match the four-night crossings that the original QM used to do in the 1950s - but with far less reserve power available to her than was available to her ancestor, keeping to such a schedule would be far more difficult for the modern ship.

I'd prefer prefer to have the option of getting off the ship once it docks in NY and I hope that they keep letting passengers do that. However, were I not from the East Coast of the United States, an "extra" day to explore New York wouldn't be really an inconvenience at all. A good chunk of the passengers probably already spend the day/night after the ship docks in NY already - why not save them the time and expense of finding a hotel? This method also seems like it would allow for a more relaxed turnaround that's less hard on the crew (since I'm guessing the minute the ship docks, the crew will get to work on maintenance, restocking, etc). It would be a shame though - QM2 would have even fewer opportunities on a longer crossing to showcase her speed. What a shame that magnificent machine gets so few chances to really take the bit in her teeth.

As someone with experience working in the boat-based hospitality industry, this limit is a legitimate safety precaution. An extremely intoxicated person, especially if that person is a problem drinker, is a risk to themselves and others, especially when that person is on a boat that's rocking from side to side, etc. The crew has to be able to enforce a drink limit of some kind, and that becomes extremely difficult if a passenger has six bottles of scotch secreted away in their cabin.

Thank you - after all the doom and gloom about atrium views on Deck 6 it's nice to hear that no, they won't necessarily ruin your vacation.

To be fair to the young man, he probably paid $300 for those custom-ripped, acid-washed, pre-stretched monstrosities.