Colin_Cameron

That's sort of what I was thinking. If they're flying why do they need to move their legs. Makes my job much easier😁

On 11/5/2023 at 4:16 PM, Colin_Cameron said:

So my first attempt at making gingerbread reindeer for the cakes didn't go to plan. If anyone has a use for gingerbread hippos let me know.😄

OK. I've given up on the gingerbread reindeer. My biscuit skills are clearly not up to the task. I've decided to model them in icing instead and have been googling how reindeer move, but all the results are for running on the ground. Does anyone know how they move when they're flying?

6 hours ago, frankp01 said:

It doesn't appear to be on Cunard's YouTube channel. It appears to only be embedded in the tweet. 

It's not Cunard's video. I think it's the shipyard's.

I too like the vloggers mentioned. We even cruised with Emma earlier this year. But their content is different. It’s aimed at a different audience for a start. At least different from my videos. Mine are made for me. Yes they’re on YouTube but that’s just a place to store them. They are unlisted, if you try searching you won’t find them. They won’t pop up on anyone’s suggestion list.

Most of the videos posted in this thread seem to be the same. Made for the person that made them rather than an ad revenue generating machine, and I think that makes them special.

QE2 had a Baggage Master. The current fleet do not.

9 hours ago, Lanky Lad said:

How about this one? 

I'm struggling to work out your viewpoint, but that looks an awful lot like Malaga.

16 hours ago, safarigal said:

There are some glimpses of QM2 from this video I took of the final westbound crossing. 

My, there are some "weel ken't faces", both passengers and crew, in that video. Thanks for posting.

So my first attempt at making gingerbread reindeer for the cakes didn't go to plan. If anyone has a use for gingerbread hippos let me know.😄

17 hours ago, techteach said:

What type of cake?

A rich fruit cake. I posted the recipe a few years ago, back in post #1328.

Oh dear, today is not going well. I had no problems yesterday but having measured out the ingredients today, the mixer refuses to do anything. So it's back to the old standby 1hp mixer (1 human power). My right arm and shoulder now ache. Guess what I'll be asking Santa for this year?

I realised it's been a while since anyone posted any videos. Since the last one was Vistafjord, here's Sagafjord in 1995. Doesn't seem like over 28 years ago.

We had a trip to visit relatives in San Diego then to Disneyland but I've chopped that out. So there's a short bit (90s) of LA then off to Cabo San Lucas, Accapulco, Puerto Quetzal, through the Panama Canal, Aruba, and finishing at Fort Lauderdale.

It's that time of year again. Today I baked the first six of eighteen cakes, to be assembled into three Christmas cakes.

I have to thank @Kynance for the suggestion, albeit three years ago, of Santa in his sleigh full of gifts being pulled by reindeer.

22 minutes ago, sogne said:

correct I noticed the ship waiting to cross the road

Why? Was it wanting to get to the other side?

I was wondering if there was something major wrong with just one cabin and all the others between it and the loading point have to be shuffled out to replace the broken one?

“how to communicate with friends“

Passengers on Cunard ships have been successfully communicating with each other for over 180 years. Why has it suddenly become so difficult?😕

This is not specifically aimed at the OP. There have been others asking the same question recently.

4 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I'm afraid I still can't get my head around such minute detail 

How about - the blue formal is followed by the blue casual, and the silver sparkly formal is followed by the white casual so that the blue, or silver sparkly, nail polish doesn't have to be changed every day. I swear I'm not making this up!

20 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

You'll be telling me you have a what to wear and when spreadsheet  next! 🙂

Our last Cunard trip was two weeks on QE plus a 1/2 World Cruise on QM2. We had an Excell spreadsheet (nothing to do with me) that not only detailed what outfits, shoes, etc. were for each night, but also which case they were to be packed in. So that we could, if the worst happened, cope with the loss of one suitcase.

23 minutes ago, maggielou362 said:

I just KNOW I will lose my husband

I'm trying to work out if you're looking at this as a positive, or a negative? I know which side my wife would come down on.

13 hours ago, LadyL1 said:

QM2 did actually arrive at her berth on the Hudson River a little late.

We were on time at the Verazano Bridge, and for the wreath laying off the WTC site, so I don't think that was the ship's fault. I'm fairly sure it was timed to suit the TV schedules. If you remember there were at least two TV stations broadcasting live from the ship. 

6 hours ago, Jack E Dawson said:

I believe the cursing speed is around 26 knots and flank speed is close to 30 knots.

There is a photo somewhere around the internet of Captain Warwick at the helm with the speed readout showing in excess of 30 knots, I forget the exact figure, taken during QM2's sea trials.

During her maiden crossing, having been held up due to the weather for a couple of days, we were told around day four that we had "touched" 30 knots during the night. Maybe that's a technical term for 29.9, but it was fast.

But the problem may be that that's what the TA has booked (or something similar), without telling you. The "rate code" that they used will tell those in the know what type of fare they booked and therefor whether it should be eligible for the shareholder OBC.

3 hours ago, exlondoner said:

But do Cunard even have any actual employees in NYC?

Exactly what I was thinking.

Ray Rouse was the Cruise Director on QM2’s maiden crossing (I think the title was still Cruise Director at that time). I know because I made a deliberate effort to find out.

On our eighth Cunard ship and who knows how many cruises, he was the first Cruise Director that I was completely unaware of, and also the first that didn’t know my wife and I on sight. On a ship that size, the latter can’t be held against him. On the former, the ball was clearly in his court.

3 hours ago, ExArkie said:

My wife got the attention of a food-sniffing dog ...

I once got the attention of a drug dog.

Getting back onto the ferry in Stornoway after one of my regular work trips the dog sat at my feet and tilted its head to the left. Before I even had a chance to panic the handler asked, "Black pudding?" I looked at the carrier bag in my hand then nodded. "You only need to worry if she tilts her head to the right. But she loves black pudding." For those who don't know, Stornoway is famous for it's black pudding and I always brought two or three home with me.

Twice, in our 30+ year cruising history, we've had waiters test their trainee/assistant by allowing them to take the dessert order then, once they have headed to the galley, asked everyone to change seats. I have to say with the greatest respect and admiration, that both those trainees/assistants passed with flying colours, and delivered the correct dish to the correct passenger. But the look on their faces as they walked towards the table when they realised what was happening ...😱

I once asked a ships doctor, many years ago, long before covid, what use an anti-bacterial sanitizer was against a virus? His reply was that its main effect was that people got so fed up with having sticky fingers that THEY WENT AND WASHED THEIR HANDS! 😁