WantedOnVoyage

True. Americans did not know where France was... until they landed there on 6 June 1944 and 4,414 of them died on its beaches. 

I might suggest ignorance of geography is not a national trait.  Even among those who presumed to rule over 1/5th of the earth's surface 80 years ago. 

And why they need to put the atlases back in Princess Grill cabins, too. 

I have TSA Pre-Check but no thanks to any government having anything more  on or about me, thanks very much.  

New ports for Cunard... the world is spinning on its axis already! They might have to put the atlases back in the PG cabins if they keep this up.

Ferrol is an interesting and definitively naval and shippy destination although I am not too sure about the potential delights of Dakar. We sailed off its coast in ST. HELENA and encountered a rather large and unpleasant bilious yellow effuent that did not tempt one to get much closer. 

Bluemarble...  you have me once again pencilling in calendar dates well in advance.  QUEEN VICTORIA round the world and what seems to be another repeat of my favourite long West Indies voyage direct from Southampton vie for my attention for early 2027.  We are off on QM2 on this in January 2025 and again on QV in January 2026.  If QM2 follows the same pattern in 2027, she ought to be home by early to mid February so one might imagine Dakar and Funchal, especially an overnight there, are part of an ensuing cruise. 

Thanks again for your splendid detective work and the tempting results thereof. 

It came from QA's christening... I believe it was the form of address her godmothers used in acknowledging the invited dignitaries, including the Mayor of Liverpool.  "Hey Guys..."

2 hours ago, rog747 said:

We all realise the Deck 11 walkaround possibility for all passengers is a glaring design issue, and that is that the private Grills Terrace is smack in the middle of it with 2 x Infinity hot pools on both sides, plus the B Lifts/stairs exit/entry doors on Deck 11 are only out to the Grills Terrace, Starboard side only.
Why this was never thought of as a potential 'issue' who knows... 

 

Well... it was thought of on these very pages as soon as the deck plans were released, so there's that.

But curious that the one big criticism against Cunard in that it is "class concious" is most glaringly introduced in the "Hey Guys" isn't Cunard Hip" flagship. Even QE2 did not have locked gates between classes when she was new.  

Not our problem... we'll stick with QV thanks very much. 

I think you might want to read up a bit more about the christening and name controversy....

It was a source of considerable embarassment to Cunard and caused some measure of offence in Scotland. I still remember seeing letter boxes in Scotland with the "II" defaced.  Indeed, during the back and forth over the proposed name for Q4 naming her QUEEN ELIZABETH II was rejected early on for not wishing to cause offense in Scotland where, of course, there was no Queen Elizabeth (I) as sovereign.   And why Cunard thereafer was happy to use "QE2" thereafter.  

I love Four Deck P2s... you get a deeper sunnier balcony. But... they can be noisy first thing in port days  as the gantry thingy for the gangway which extends out from the hull is right under Four Deck (especially if you have a cabin close to the midships stairtower).  It's not more than four mins. but you sure can hear (and feel) it being deployed.  

I'd rather listen to the crowd and the look on Sir Basil Smallpeice's ....

A ship named QUEEN ELIZABETH II launched on Clydebank... you bet it was a mistake!!  Her Majesty was provided with a card btw to read for the christening "QUEEN ELIZABETH TWO" and she never looked at it.  It must be worth a small fortune if it survives.

But no... the name was as written on the ship QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 referring to the second ship named in the Cunard fleet and not directly related to the sovereign. 

Thank you.  The fact that an article of clothing is even called by a sports name... "polo", "golf", "rugby"... means it is wholly inappropriate for evening wear. And yes, they all have collars and buttons, too. Big deal.  I cycle all the time and wear a black wool cycling jersey with a collar and buttons, too.  By the contorted, confusing nonsense that Cunard offers as "guidance" for dressing aboard their ships, I could indeed wear that to dinner on a "smart casual" evening.  But being able to do something, does not mean one should.  Don't.

"The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" called the merger "The Great Mistake of '98"

Even they regretted it....

Sorry, 12th Avenue Manhattan between 46th and 54th Street is the gateway to and from America... not Red Hook, Brooklyn.  

Sorry, but Brooklyn is not New York.  

The inability of Cunard to still use the North River piers, a mere 10-minute cab ride to the centre of Manhattan is a huge disincentive to sail QM2 trans-Atlantic.  Red Hook... it's Palookaville. Just is. In the old days, it's where the Mafia dumped the bodies off the Moore-McCormick piers.  

And even as a U.S. citizen, the stories of U.S. immigration at Brooklyn puts me off, too.   

When I buy Cunard Line, I'll put QM2 on a regular Liverpool-Halifax-Boston run. And QUEEN VICTORIA will do an annual Southampton-Greenland-Newfoundland-St. Lawrence roundtrip cruise.  Cunard would no longer just be associated historically with Canada, it would be integral to its operations as it was at the beginning. 

We wound up in it once in 2007 only because we were lost and have never set foot in it since....

I love the name.... the wonderful film "Donnie Brasco" (Al Pacino) features a sleazy strip mall casino in Florida and called "King's Court".  The film predates QM2 so maybe that's what inspired the name.  

The good thing about Q3's is that they are immune from corridor cabin snoopers.. even with the door open, you cannot see past the first cluster of desks and "stuff" to even get an impression of the delights within. Some of QE2's Five Deck cabins were like that... you walked into a confining "corridor" of wardrobes which led into a squarish area where the beds were... sort of a Bibby cabin in reverse. 

Ideally, the intrusive and needlessly dominate "islands" that PG and many QG cabins have on the Vistas could magically disappear and yes whose concept predates the wonder of flat screen televisions but that's never going to happen. 

Possible inspired by the Rubiks Cube!  

It really is unfathomable, no?  The separate toilet is at least vintage 1934.  Making for I think three doors within five sq. ft.

A Bibby Cabin (so-named after the great British line to Burma) that helped to invent it.  

It provided for all outside cabins by means of giving the inner cabins access to natural light (and most importantly, fresh air!) via a narrow port-hole corridor to the outside hull.  Just wide enough for maybe the washbasin and the main sleeping area was inboard. 

Here's an example from EMPRESS OF JAPAN:

So cabins 321 is a Bibby outside cabin and 325 and 323 are regular outside cabins

Well back in the day, cabins were not cluttered up with minibars, tea making impedimenta (the idea that First Class passengers would want to make their own drinks being quite ridiculous and too right) and all the other "stuff" that seems to be piled in a great lump in the middle of too many modern Cunard Grill cabins.  Most QE2 First Class staterooms (to use that now vanished expression) were just big squares or rectangles with fitted wardobes and cupboards that did not appear to be feature of the room.  If nothing else, it looked more spacious.  

But my... the old girl had an astonishing 38 different shapes and grades of cabins (HAMBURG the same year had: six) and I had a Wagon-Lits sized inside First Class cabin (every inch was panelled), a vast Tourist Class outside three-berth, a so-so min Caronia Restaurant grade outside (originally Tourist Class) and yes a proper huge Three Deck First Class double.  Some of her Bibby cabins on Five Deck were downright bizarre.  

I am happy to keep my memories of QE2 and her officers and crew over the years.  And grateful to have experienced her starting some 47 years ago.  There's more to an ocean liner than wifi, balconies and coffee machines.  

QE2's beautiful real wood veneers in First Class (all of the passageways and cabins) in 4-5 different varieties were wholly compliant with Method One fire resistant standards being very thin veneers bonded to fireproof Marinite core.  

And yes... her First Class cabins were superb, spacious and redolent of quality.  We had one in 1993 on our honeymoon with its trunk room.  Nothing on present Cunarders even approaches the workmanship and materials.  You can keep your balcony and USB ports (whatever they are), thanks very much. 

"Inch by inch, inside and out, the QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 is probably the most beautiful and efficient passenger ship of all time."

John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon

Q3's are ideally dead amidships on Decks 4, 5, 6, 8 whilst Q4's are forward and aft of amidships on Deck 7 so in my book, and pocket, that's an upgrade valued for free and worth paying for otherwise. 

We called at Reykjavik and Greenock aboard QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 and enjoyed the best weather we had on the whole cruise in both.   It was special to be aboard QE2 as she returned to the river of her birth and the scenery of the Clyde is so stunning it has even been confused with that of Geirangerfjord on this site! 

We sat next to the most wonderful Clydebank couple in the then "Princess Grill" which was, wonderfully quite original from its days as "The Grill" on QE2.  The gentlemen told us the most off colour and so Clydebank joke about Greenock (which I shall not repeat here as there are too many tender souls about I fear) that whenever we think of the place, we just smile and laugh.  Now that is a special memory of people and places that makes a lifetime of travel worthwhile. We went on a tour whilst at Greenock and you know, I don't remember much about it, either! But that joke... will stay with us forever.  

You should be grateful that you even have a sommelier on Cunard... Holland America has included them in the neverending cutbacks all cruise lines are trying to get away with. Frankly, our past (and 15 years ago past) experience with HAL ones, they probably won't be much missed,

Most Cunard ones are excellent but I speak from only Grills experience.

Still, I often pine to be teetotaler if only to avoid the need to "game" these duelling drink packages, have them "gamed" by stewards and sommeliers or indeed feel I am being "played" by a conglomorate that can and will always win the match in the end.  It's what they do best. And Carnival does it better than most.

Depending on the length of the cruise.  I think Cunard clears accounts every fortnight or did on our last three-week plus cruise so two bills went through on my card.  They certainly are not processing individual charges per bill. 

QV the last few times has been very efficient with all this especially with the confusing US grills drink package... what a difference from QM2 in 2022. At times I felt like I was back working in the purser's office trying to get it sorted out repeatedly. 

Here, I don't think the occasional meal in the Verandah is either a good introduction or even inducement to try the Grills. We have had mostly very good experiences (not aboard QM2 however) but the tendency is to try too hard and the service can be well meaning but frankly bordering on fawning and kow-towing.  It's embarassing frankly and can be offputting. Some of the "touches" like being presented with a box of knives that would be illegal on the streets of London to cut your steak are... cringeworthy.  The last steak I had in QV's Verandah, for lunch was a delicious and tender Australian cut that did not need, thankfully, a Lee-Enfield bayonet to cut, either. It's an atmosphere totally at odds with what we've enjoyed in Grills over the years, well since 1993.  The maite d' then had served as the head steward at Chequers... he did not have to fawn over anyone, especially us!