bluemarble

My inventory of Christmas trees on QM2 as of December 2, 2022: Deck 2 1. Grand Lobby 2. ConneXions (port) 3. ConneXions (starboard) 4. Royal Court Theatre (port) 5. Royal Court Theatre (starboard) 6. Voyage Sales 7. Golden Lion Pub 8. Britannia Restaurant (lower level) 9. Britannia Club Restaurant (port) 10. Britannia Club Restaurant (starboard) Deck 3 11. Illuminations entrance (port only) 12. Champagne Bar 13. Sir Samuel's 14. Chart Room (forward) 15. Chart Room (aft) 16. Art Gallery 17. Britannia Restaurant (upper level) 18. Queens Room (port) 19. Queens Room (starboard) Deck 7 20. Mareel Spa 21. Carinthia Lounge (port) 22. Carinthia Lounge (starboard) 23. Carinthia Lounge entrance (port) 24. Carinthia Lounge entrance (starboard) 25. Grills Lounge 26. Queens Grill Restaurant 27. Princess Grill Restaurant Deck 8 28. Verandah Restaurant Bar 29. Verandah Restaurant Deck 9 30. Commodore Club (port) 31. Commodore Club (starboard) 32. Concierge Lounge

There was a group with luggage who I assumed were entertainers who appeared to be embarking in Barbados. We also had a medical evacuation off North Carolina that delayed our arrival in St Maarten. I expect we will know more about this Immigration and Customs procedure if it is also in place for the December 15 crossing from Southampton that will be arriving at Brooklyn on December 22.

I noticed this information in the QM2 Daily Programme delivered to our cabin this evening. This looks like it could be a welcome change to US Customs and Border Protection procedures in Brooklyn for guests who would prefer to remain on board before returning to Southampton (emphasis in red mine). "U.S. Immigration and Customs Formalities On the morning of our arrival at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, US Customs and Border Protection will be inspecting all guests disembarking Queen Mary 2, in-transit guests on organized shore experiences and guests who are planning to go ashore independently, regardless of nationality. The inspection will be carried out in the terminal building. Guests are kindly requested to follow the immigration instructions that were delivered to your stateroom. Disembarking Guests After you have disembarked Queen Mary 2, please collect your luggage from the baggage hall and then proceed through the immigration inspection and clear customs. Guests continuing their voyage with us to Southampton 1. Guests who do not wish to go ashore in New York are NOT required to attend the inspection in the Terminal. 2. Guests on organized shore experiences and guests who are planning to go ashore independently in New York are required to attend this Immigration and Customs inspection. Please ensure to proceed ashore before 10:30am."

Sunset this evening departing St Thomas, USVI.

I believe all the decorations throughout the ship are artificial. The tree in the Grand Lobby was assembled from several sections with the lights already strung. The decorations were meticulously applied by hand over several hours using tall ladders. Later yesterday afternoon or early evening the scene in the Grand Lobby was completed with the addition of the Wind in the Willows characters, packages under the tree and blue lighting from above.

Here's tonight's sunset from Basseterre, St Kitts as seen from QM2. Thanks. We are indeed enjoying our cruise very much.

Progress report. The Christmas tree was set up in the Grand Lobby today on QM2. No sign of the gingerbread village yet.

We sometimes get questions asking when the Christmas decorations start going up on the Cunard ships. Today is the day on QM2 this year. The large tree is yet to make an appearance in the Grand Lobby but quite a few trees and other holiday decorations have started going up today in various venues around the ship. Here is one of the elves decorating a tree in the Commodore Club this afternoon.

Sunset today departing Roseau, Dominica on QM2.

Not quite what you had in mind but I couldn't resist posting these photos of an item on offer at tea time today in the Carinthia Lounge on QM2. 🙂

QM2 is in Dominica today. Here's the quintessential shot overlooking Roseau showing the ship I've seen others post before. Now it's my turn on our first visit here.

Thank you! I am on board QM2 at the moment. Will be back home in early December and will be glad to start a 2023 dress code/theme schedule thread then. I've had the 2023 QV world cruise schedule for quite a while now and recently saw mention of the 2023 QM2 world cruise schedule being released so it looks like it will be a "go" for me to start compiling the 2023 schedules in earnest for all three ships soon.

Sorry for the typo/faulty memory of mine in my last reply. Of course we are now indeed at 600 Cunard ports/cruise-by locations seen on this thread. Congratulations to everyone who has helped us reach that milestone. Not likely we will reach 700, but never say never I suppose. I never imagined until recently we would reach 600. To add to the list, I do have a webcam image saved on my desktop back home showing a Cunard ship at a cruise-by location we haven't seen yet and which is not on our unseen ports list. I'll have to leave that as a tease for now until we get back from the current QM2 Caribbean cruise.

That works for me. I was trying to keep track myself without the benefit of my spreadsheets at home and was thinking we had reached 700 with @sogne's latest contribution. Well done everyone for all the contributions that allowed us to reach that milestone.

I haven't noticed Dulce de Leche yet in Britannia. So far there's been the usual good variety of three different flavors of regular ice cream on the menu each eveving.

One observation I'll add from the current QM2 cruise regards ice cream. Thankfully they still offer a good variety of delicious ice creams for dessert in Britannia. And thankfully the self-serve soft-serve ice cream machines are still available in Kings Court. However, those self-serve machines are only dispensing vanilla. Gone are the chocolate and vanilla/chocolate twist flavors we enjoyed on past cruises. Also, Sir Samuels is no longer serving any Godiva ice cream treats on QM2. We were always good for a couple visits there for their decadent Godiva ice cream sundaes. Real first-world problems, of course! 🤣

I haven't found this specific webcam, but based on the clues, and finding other views which include similar blue and white beach umbrellas, I think this might be Port Douglas, Queensland. QE was there yesterday.

I'm on the way to New York to join QM2 on Sunday for a Caribbean cruise. But that won't stop me from trying to identify a new “Where in the World?” photo from my hotel room. I think this one is the Bosporus (Bosphorus). Turkey. I'm getting a pretty good match to Hidiv Kasri (aka Khedive's Palace) for that tower on the hill.

I think @Host Hattie beat you to that one by a couple years. 😉 That's the very first photo I contributed to this remarkable thread. Thanks for the memories.

That's correct. It happens to be Havila Capella although it could just as well have been her sister ship Havila Castor based on the evidence in the image. They both operate Bergen-Kirkenes itineraries.

That is indeed a webcam capture from your recent visit to Trondheim on 9 November. That's a good guess the other ship is a Hurtigruten ship. That's what I thought at first too but the livery doesn't quite match Hurtigruten. I hadn't bothered to record the name of that other ship at the time so it took some detective work of my own yesterday to figure it out. It's a ship for a relatively new cruise line also operating Norwegian coastal itineraries similar to Hurtigruten.

As far as I know, the dress code and theme schedules aren't out yet for QV past the 2023 world voyage. If they have been released for your cruises, they will be posted in the daily calendar section of My Cunard. Here's an example to show where to look for them in the daily calendar for your cruises after you log in to My Cunard, just in case they are there. If you haven't seen this already in the "Dress Code and Theme Schedules for 2021-22" sticky, take a look at this document I put together with the help of many contributors here who let me know what My Cunard was showing for this year's QV dress code and theme schedules. QV 2022 Dress Code and Theme Schedule One consistent pattern for all ships is that the first Gala Evening for departures from Southampton is almost always Black and White. The one exception this year for QV is on the Christmas cruise where the first Gala Evening (on Christmas Day) is Red and Gold instead of Black and White. In general, additional Gala Evenings could be any of the other three usual themes (Red and Gold, Masquerade or Roaring Twenties). You are correct though that for this year's QV cruises, the pattern is for the final Gala Evening to be Roaring Twenties. The themes for all of this year's 7-night QV cruises were indeed Black and White followed by Roaring Twenties.

That's correct, it is Trondheim. Well done. Now would anyone like to identify the ship on the far right of the image? Hint: this is a very recent webcam capture and that ship on the far right is a relatively new ship.

Sorry, no, that's not San Francisco, but I do see the resemblance.

Let's try this one. This is another webcam capture showing a port we've already seen with a small portion of a Cunard ship visible at the far left.