Cruachan

Capnpugwash, why is there a small bug next to your picture?nWe weren't sure if we had a virus when we saw it. Can anyone else see it?

I can't see anything next to his picture.

J

:D I repeat what I said: Just laugh about it as I do about the Warholian 15 minutes.

Who said I wasn't laughing about it - I am sitting here falling out of my chair and barfing coffee all over my keyboard even as we speak.

J

OMG, let this girl wear a mask if she feels safer, it does not do harm to anybody atll. Just laugh about it!

 

And when it's all over - and many good things are on their way - your shares will go up again!

Read the article - at no point does it say that the girl herself wants to wear the mask. It's her father who is insisting that she should wear it. And the masks he is shown wearing and carrying are not surgical masks - they are the type sold in DIY stores for people who are doing things such as drilling holes in walls that generate a lot of dust. Even were ebola an airborne virus, which it isn't, his stupid masks would be worthless. He is an attention seeker determined to have his Warholian 15 minutes of fame.

J

Hello everyone

 

Normally we book excursions in advance through the Voyage Personaliser. I was thinking about waiting and doing this on board next month. I heard however that prices are higher if you book onboard though, although I've never checked this myself. Does anyone know if this is the case? If so, approximately how much more?

 

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

 

Regards

Sarah

The main thing I like about booking in advance is that you pay upfront and fees are charged to your credit card. As shore excursions are always the largest single item on our on-board account this really help to keep the "post cruise debt" situation under control.

J

MBE? Is that a military decoration? Thanks, -S.

It's awarded to civilians and to military.

J

...And now I can say that this reluctant cruiser not only crossed the Atlantic, but crossed over to being a Cunardista...

Welcome to the legion of the lost ones!

:cool:

J

Hi Cruachan

Going by your Avatar it would suggest your former Regiment was the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Other than a short period in the TA with a unit affiliated to that Regiment I never served.I would suggest that any medals you have, awarded in action or for service be worn with pride. You have earned them with your service to your country. I know that we in the UK have a different view to the Military from that of the US but perhaps in that respect we can learn from them. We in the UK only appreciate those who serve/served when we need them.

Aye, you got it in one - The Agile and Suffering Highlanders it was, all 23 years of it :)

J

Pretty much up to standard J.

MM

Have you got a job as a cleaner?

J

Hello Cruachan - no, I would describe him as being an average height, and I believe he was from Serbia. He was quite intense :), and wasn't always happy with my wine selections (I don't like white wine very much, so I always ordered red or rose wine, even though I often had fish for dinner), but he was good-natured about it all (after all, I was paying!).

Thanks for that - definitely not the Dejan I know. He must be 6' 8" or 6' 9" at least.

:)

J

SeaCBear - you mentioned Dejan. Just out of interest, was he a really really tall guy from Croatia?

J

Was one of the many on this cruise. Four sea days after this to vigo.

Vigo in the rain.

I think I've seen enough of Vigo to last me for three lifetimes! :eek:

J

A few years ago, inspired by the traditional events around the time of Remembrance Sunday, I wrote a short piece of free verse in an attempt to sum up how I felt about such things in general and about medals in particular. I've never really gone public with this as, in truth, I don't like it much. But, given the theme of this thread and the fact that we aren't all that short of 11 November, here it is. Take it or leave it, just as you please.

J

We Who are Left

"They shall grow not old...."

Perhaps that's true of the dead.

But, be in no doubt, the living grow old

Wearily, remorselessly, inevitably. And I feel it,

More and more now with each day that passes.

So, what have we left - we who are left?

Our pensions? The begrudged pittance of our "grateful" masters!

Some medals? Discs of shiny metal decorating a drawer!

Yes both of those, but mostly memories. Memories born of our own brief stay,

Our few short hours, in the long continuum of the Regiment's life

And what are they worth, these memories?

More than pensions? More than medals?

Yes and Yes! For without them what are we?

Not old... but dead. And so, the memories sustain us,

Ne obliviscaris… ne obliviscaris.

You are absolutely correct. If we started the trend of "boobytrapping" our neighbors doorways....no telling where this will end. :D

I can think of some cases where a claymore mine might have been more appropriate than a towel :cool:

J

On none of my ten voyages to date have I ever seen more than a handful of people wearing military decorations.

I would never wear my own as I really don't feel it is appropriate to do so on an occasion that has no military connection whatsoever.

J

This sudden draft clears the small tables as well.

 

There are no sliding doors on Cunard ships. The doors if QV and QE stay open by themselves, for QM2 we always carry an elastic line with hooks. DW cannot sleep with closed doors, I can' t when they are open. Guess who wins....

I lost the better part of a cruise worth of daily programmes last time out - opened the balcony door at the same time as SWMBO opened the cabin door and off they went!

J

Thanks. Btw excuse my spelling in the subject line I did spell it correctly but somehow the I-pad must have changed it without me realising.

Your I-pad did a great job and it's way too good to waste - I think that, from this day forth, the Voyage Personaliser should be known as the Voyage Personslider. :D:D

J

Nice video - thanks for posting.

J

Isn't that typical - you don't get a tipping thread for absolutely ages, and then two come along together :cool:

J

Jeans are definitely OK for lunch in the QG

I prefer fish and chips, but chacun a son gout as the Italians say :cool:

J

Can anyone point me towards somewhere that would tell me the intended departure time of QV from Venice in October?

 

I have looked on the list on Cunard faq but the itinerary changed some time ago and it has not been updated on there (the list of formal nights which also mentions docking times). I have also tried a Google search but have not found anything with times on it. I need to know a rough departure time from the port to try and make plans for our day there.

 

If anyone can help, that would be great. The itinerary says 'early evening'.

 

Thanks.

The Cruise TT site gives the departure time from Venice as 1800hrs. But I can't vouch for the reliability or accuracy of that site.

http://ships.cruisett.com/schedule/Cunard/Queen_Victoria/October_2014/

J

I must try that

Trust me - it's a process that even Heston would be proud of! And if you can't be bothered waiting for them to thaw you can always hurl them at joggers!

:cool:

J

Here's something else to add into the equation.

 

I have friends who really enjoy the experience and the taste of the jam and cream, so they carefully slice their scones into three, rather than two, pieces. That way they can get a higher jam/cream to scone ratio.

That's NOTHING!!! I start by freezing the scone using liquid nitrogen. I then employ an ultramicrotome to cut the scone into a series of ultra-thin slices each precisely 50nm thick. Alternating slices are then spread with monolayers of cream and jam. Finally, the reassembled scone is allowed to thaw out for 24 hours at room temperature. That's the only way to eat scones.

:D:D

J

Advice please !. We're off on the QV in early October and one of our ports of call is Catania, where I see on the Cunard web site that there are excursions to Mount Etna but a rider is included that "The tour does not visit the summit of Mount Etna". I understand that tourists cannot visit the actual summit, but my question is this.

 

We often hire a driver and car to take us on certain trips, does anybody think that by hiring our own car and driver for the trip, we would be able to get further up Mount Etna that we would by coach ?.

 

I really don't know anything of the geography or terrain involved so forgive me if I'm asking a dumb question, would just like any advice that is on offer.

 

Thanks for any advice.

The coach will take you to Rifugio Sapienza at 1,923m. this is basically a large car park surrounded by souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes etc. Beyond that there is a cable car that will get you up to about 2,500m. After that you are on your own but I understand it is possible to walk (about 4 hours round trip) to the "authorised crater area" at 2,920m. I think there may be some 4x4 tours that will take you up to near the summit without using the cable car but I can't confirm that for certain.

Personally I have only been as far as Rifugio Sapienza which is a bit like a shopping centre plonked down on the side of a really large coal mine spoil heap. But the views are nice.

J

:) Brilliant! HeHe.

 

Your story above (Cunard branded polo shirt) reminded me (thank you) of the only other time I've come across anything similar (sort of). This was in Barbados (QM2).

"Hideous of the Seas" or somesuch ship was also in port that day. I was wearing a polo shirt with a red circular "CUNARD LINE FIRST CLASS" embroidered badge on the chest. I stopped in the centre of Bridgetown and got chatting to three ladies (who told me they were on the other ship). One pointed at the badge and asked "Do they make you wear those on Cunard if you're in first class?" !!! :(

ROFL!!!

I sincerely hope you answered in the affirmative - no point in bursting their bubble!.

On a QE cruise down to the Canaries in 2011 I was wearing a sweat shirt with an enormous "Queen Mary 2" logo emblazoned across the front. I got in the lift (again burdened with my camera and sundry lenses), and a gentleman got in on the next deck, looked me over and said "I have bad news for you". I said, "Oh dear - what's the bad news?" to which he replied "You're on the wrong ship!"

M

I was also once mistaken for a member of the crew, on QM2...

 

On a formal night, mid-Atlantic, after a superb dinner, I was enjoying a great evening. I walked across the Commodore Club, feeling very pleased to be on board this great Cunard liner, I'm sure I was wearing the biggest smile. As I passed the bar (with that incredible illuminated model of the ship behind it) an extremely elderly male passenger slid off a bar-stool, turned to me and said "I'll have another scotch and soda, be quick about it, and go clear that table over there so I can sit down" :( .

Back in 2012 on QV, during our overnight stop in Istanbul, I was heading up to Nine Deck to take some night shots of the city. I was wearing a Cunard branded polo shirt and carrying my camera on its tripod. A lady got into the lift on deck 7 looked me over and said "My, you have such a wonderful job!". I thought "how does she know I'm a database administrator" but she went on and said "I would love to be a photographer on a cruise ship" !!!

J