QM2 Behind the Scenes Tour

Thank you all, for welcoming me to Cruise Critic in the thread about QM2’s sailing speed. I figured since a lot of people here, might be interested in what I learned in my “Behind the Scenes Tour,” I would start a thread about my experience.

 

The QM2’s June 5th to June 13th Trans Atlantic crossing, was my first ever "cruise" and first time on a ship bigger than a ferry. From the first time I saw a documentary about the construction of QM2, many years back, I knew I had to sail on her someday. Working in technology myself and being the geek that I am, I just had to do the "Behind the Scenes Tour," to learn all I could, about the details of what makes QM2 run so wonderfully.

 

I strongly recommend the "Behind the Scenes Tour." You must show up at the tour desk about an hour before it opens, on the first day of the voyage to get in line, as they only allow about 16 people on the tour and there is only one tour per sailing. The cost is $120 US. Even though the tour is unadvertised, there were already five people in line when I showed up.

 

The tour started out taking us to the forward mooring deck. It was cool, standing inside the pointy tip of QM2's bow. From there we went to the anchor deck. Apparently most ships combine the mooring deck with the anchor deck, but QM2 has a separate anchor deck. QM2 uses the anchors very infrequently, with the next anchor port being in about six months.

 

We proceeded down to the ship's medical center on deck 1. The ship's Chief Medical Officer showed us the facilities and answered all of our questions. She said they can handle most situations, that a US or UK ER could handle, but cannot do surgeries. They can intubate patients and have a ventilator, in an intensive care room. They can only medevac people off the ship, when the ship is within 150 miles of a heliport.

 

From there we went down "Burma Road," which is what Cunard calls the main corridor on deck 1, on their ships. Apparently, Royal Caribbean calls this corridor I95 on their ships. We spoke to the ships logistics officer, who handles all the baggage and cargo as well as overseeing the ships kennel. We got to tour the ships “trash room,” which has a powerful extractor fan, which blows exhaust out a vent up on the promenade on deck 7. This explains some of the weird smells, on the starboard aft exterior part of deck 7 near the inflatable raft storage.

 

We then went to the engine control room, where the Chief Engineer showed us the systems there. They have a large LCD screen, at the back of the control room showing QM2’s six engines and their status, also showing a graphical representation of the ships main electrical bus. We could clearly see that gas turbine #1 was offline, gas turbine #2 was running, diesels 1-3 were running and diesel #4 was offline. The gas turbines and diesels power generators, which output 11,000 volts on to the ships main electrical bus. Various step down transformers are located in different zones of the ship, to supply power to hotel loads and the Rolls Royce Mermaid Pods. The Chief Engineer and the engine control operator answered a myriad of questions (please forgive me for repeating what I wrote in the other thread here). The Chief said the pods are now performing well and have been reliable. He said that most of the problems with the thrust bearings were due to ships crews doing “panic stops.” Apparently one “panic stop,” can reduce the life of the thrust bearings by around 30%. The Chief said, “If you have to do a panic stop, you have to do a panic stop. Unnecessary panic stops should be avoided.” The question of “rogue sea containers” bobbing around the world’s oceans, was asked and the Chief and engine operator had never seen rogue sea containers. The engine operator had served for 15 years, on container ships prior to joining Cunard and he said none of his ships ever lost a container. The Chief said one of the most dangerous things for ships, is half submerged logs floating near coastlines. He said the logs can do a lot of damage, to the pods and propellers. He showed us the ships emergency systems indication LCD board, which shows a side cutaway of the ship with all fire and flooding zones represented. If a single smoke detector or water sensor activates, it displays on this screen. The screen in the engine control room is a slave to an identical one on the bridge. All the engine controls have digital LCD screen computerized displays, as well as analogue backups, in case the computerized systems fail.

 

We then visited the ships chief safety officer, who had a crewmember wearing their fire gear. He demonstrated their fire gear and explained how the entire ship is protected by a high pressure fog sprinkler fire suppression system. They are required to practice crew fire drills once a week. He said that their budget for new and specialized safety equipment is basically unlimited.

 

We then went through the main food stores and Britannia kitchen led by the chef. The kitchen is by far the largest kitchen I have ever seen and is kept immaculately clean. We took an escalator up from the kitchen on deck 1 to the top level of the port side of the Britannia dining room. There they had cocktails, mixed drinks, snacks, sandwiches and other finger foods for the tour group. The tour spent 15 minutes snacking in Britannia. We were given chef’s hats and QM2 chefs aprons.

 

During our break, the hotel director spoke with us. We had 2400 passengers aboard, with 200 passengers doing the roundtrip from Hamburg or Southampton. The hotel director spoke very candidly with the group. He said that he cannot wait for the ship to go into dry dock for it’s next refit, in January, 2015. He said specifically, that big changes are coming on deck 7. He said that “The Kings Court Buffet lets the ship down and is a source of frustration for the food and beverage team. The Kings Court Buffet area will be gutted and reworked completely during the refit.” He also said that additional cabins will be added to “the top deck.” I’m not sure if he meant the current outdoor top deck, deck 13? He said that QM2 is starting to show her age in places and that the hotel staff is looking forward to the refit to, “Get her where she needs to be.”

 

We continued the tour in the Royal Court Theatre. The stage director explained how the sound and lighting systems worked and we got to tour back stage and in the dressing rooms. QM2 has one of the most technically advanced theaters at sea. The stage is complete with an orchestra pit, though they have rarely used it for that purpose.

 

We proceeded to finish our tour on the bridge. A deputy captain showed us the control console on the port bridge wing, which is functionally equivalent to the center console that is used by the captain. The console is very impressive as the officers can customize what is displayed on it very easily. They can show pod speed, pod angle, ships speed, electronic chart with radar layered over top. It is a very impressive control system. I really wish we had been allowed to take pictures but cameras were forbidden on the tour. Overhead they have analogue non computerized readouts, showing pod speeds and angles in case the computer system were to fail.

 

Captain Oprey spent about 45 minutes talking to us and answering our questions. Captain Oprey said that the QM2 almost seems to ride through the roughest seas smoother than it rides through moderate choppy seas. He said in his four years on QM2, he has never seen “green water” come over the top of the bow, the way he had experienced occasionally on other ships in heavy seas. (Sorry for repeating myself in this next part, if you read the other thread about QM2’s cruising speed) Captain Oprey told us of having to leave the Port of New York early, to avoid being in port when Hurricane Sandy struck. He said “The harbor pilot was almost taken with us to Southampton. I didn’t want to slow down to let him off.” He said they sailed through Hurricane Sandy, running all six engines at 22 knots. He said he did eventually slow down to 20 knots, “So I could say I did something.” He said all other ships in the area, had slowed down to around 5 knots. He said that QM2 rode out the storm so well, that later in the crossing passengers would stop him and ask how they had missed the storm. Captain Oprey was great to talk to and he was willing to answer as many questions as we had. He posed with the group for a picture on the bridge, which was delivered to the tour members cabins the following day, along with a signed certificate. Throughout my trip, I kept running into Captain Oprey around the ship and he always greeted me.

 

The whole “Behind the Scenes Tour” lasted about 4 hours and we were free to ask as many questions as we liked. I was amazed by the level of pride that the people we meet on the tour take in their jobs, Cunard, and QM2. You can tell that these people truly love their jobs and are committed to doing their best. In my first cruise ever and of course first time on Cunard, I was blown away by QM2, which did not surprise me. What did surprise me, was that QM2’s crew is equally impressive as QM2 herself. Captain Oprey, Cunard and their parent company Carnival Corp. should be very, very proud of the spectacular crew they have on board QM2. I travel frequently to large land based resorts and I have never seen such professionalism by staff, as I saw in QM2’s crew members.

 

Sorry for being so long winded. I figured some people may be interested in what I had learned from the tour and I am happy to share my experience. The tour was one of my favorite parts of my QM2 crossing, making an unforgettable experience even better. I cannot recommend the behind the scenes tour enough if you are even remotely interested in the technical side of the ships operation.

Thanks for another well written report, Roland787. I share your enthusiasm for the Behind-the-Scenes tour and join you in urging all to take it. My blog about our tour last July on QM2 starts here.

Thank you very much for that very interesting report! The information regarding QM2 refit was interesting as well. The Kings Court is always the part that lets QM2 down IMO and I will be glad to see that reworked. Additional rooms on the top deck? Wonder if those will be for solo cruisers like QE just "put in" during her refit a week or so ago? It is hard to believe that they will do a refit like that in January 2015 as she has a TA 3 Jan and does her WC 10 Jan thru April.

Edited June 17, 2014 by alibabacruisers

Based on https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/refit_schedule, it looks like the dry dock/refit period will be in November 2015.

 

Deck 13, present home to the basketball and sports courts, has been nominated to receive additional cabins. Not sure if these will be singles similar to QE's recent refurbishment or something different. It's not exactly an ideal location.

Thanks for your wonderful, well written report. QM2 is a great ship and has a great crew. I'm so glad that others see it as well.

Based on https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/refit_schedule, it looks like the dry dock/refit period will be in November 2015.

 

Deck 13, present home to the basketball and sports courts, has been nominated to receive additional cabins. Not sure if these will be singles similar to QE's recent refurbishment or something different. It's not exactly an ideal location.

Q.M.2. & Q,V. Both having refits in November 2015 & it appears that both will have major work done, If each ship takes a minimum of 2 weeks for the work to be completed =1 month cruising lost that's a lot of lost profit. Edited June 17, 2014 by zider

The QM2’s June 5th to June 13th Trans Atlantic crossing, was my first ever "cruise" and first time on a ship bigger than a ferry. From the first time I saw a documentary about the construction of QM2, many years back, I knew I had to sail on her someday. Working in technology myself and being the geek that I am, I just had to do the "Behind the Scenes Tour," to learn all I could, about the details of what makes QM2 run so wonderfully.

 

I strongly recommend the "Behind the Scenes Tour." You must show up at the tour desk about an hour before it opens, on the first day of the voyage to get in line, as they only allow about 16 people on the tour and there is only one tour per sailing. The cost is $120 US. Even though the tour is unadvertised, there were already five people in line when I showed up.

We we also on the same June 5th Trans Atlantic Crossing, but our experience was not quite the same as yours. We checked with the Pursers Office and we told to get in line early at the tour office to get a place. We were in the same line and approximately the same position in line. Once we reached the tour office window, we were told that while there will be 16 people on the tour, the people lined up at the window are not guaranteed a place based on first come-first served basis. We were told that in addition to the deck 2 Tour Office, requests were also being taken "upstairs" for the QG passengers. The following day, we did receive a form letter from the Captain saying, in effect, that our request had be been rejected. It appears that positions in the "Behind the Scenes Tour" are more by lottery than position in line. This was our 3rd Crossing on the QM2.

 

Bob

Thank you for the detailed report. I always wondered why there was an unpleasant odour on the starboard side of Deck 7 aft.

 

The lack of an operating theatre on modern ships has surprised me. All older ships we sailed on - or at least all that I was aware of - had one for the most serious emergencies that could occur far from helicopter range. One has to wonder what happens to a person with appendicitis mid-ocean. Perhaps it's best not to think about it. One of the doctors on the QE2 about 30 years ago, Dr. Nigel Roberts, delivered a fascinating lecture and authored an equally interesting book. He said appendectomies were the most common life-saving surgery performed on ships.

Bob,

 

I had not realized that they were accepting requests upstairs, for the behind the scenes tour. It did seem that all the people in front of me, in the line at the tour office, were in the group of sixteen people on the tour, but the people immediately behind me were not in the tour group. There were people in the group of sixteen that I had never seen before, so they must have come from the upstairs requests. They really should only accept requests from one location for fairness, on a first come first served basis. I am sorry that you did not get to join us on the tour.

 

Were you on the bus from London via Stonehenge, with us? I was on the International Friends bus with driver Danny and guide Liam. I’m the first time cruiser guy from Virginia who has formerly been a “lurker” here on Cruise Critic.

 

How was your QM2 experience on this voyage, other than the behind the scenes tour?

David,

 

The ship’s medical officer fielded a question, about appendicitis occurring on board. Her answer was, “We are able to treat most cases with medication alone. Even many hospitals on land, now do not operate on appendicitis cases, but strictly use drugs for treatment.” She said the most common problems she sees, related to elderly passengers getting themselves run down prior to boarding, after touring Europe. She also said that the ship gets a large number of passengers, who cannot fly for medical reasons, which leads to the ship having a large population of persons with preexisting medical problems. As we toured sick bay, there was only one patient, a crewmember who was being kept in isolation. She said on the first two days of the cruise sick bay was full. The ship does have a morgue for those who pass at sea. Unfortunately from what I hear in another thread about our sailing, the “Code Alpha” we heard from the bridge at 12:30am on the last morning of our voyage, was for a passenger who passed away.

Thanks so much for your wonderfully comprehensive review - the tour sounds brilliant. Despite all of my efforts on previous sailings we haven't been able to get on the tour, but hope springs eternal. Maybe next year!

I enjoyed the tour on the QV Sydney to SF this year. It was fun being served by the head Chef. Everyone we met was great. Also the doctor told us that the morgue is were they keep their cpr dummie which startles people when they go in as I think they also use it for storage. I signed up on boarding in Sydney but the tour was not till after Hawaii, though they did tell you that you were selected to go before that. They did advertise in the program for a few days for the tour.

Roland, I really enjoyed reading about your behind the scenes tour. Interesting news as well. I look forward to seeing a replaced King's Court. It has always been a poor design imho. They stacked pre fabricated "suites" on top of QE2 as well. Not once but twice. The two appendages didn't even match. Hope it looks more planned on QM2. There goes all that nice open acreage. I suspect the motion will be felt quite well that high up.:eek: Again, thanks for all the interesting information.:D

Hi,

 

Thanks for your detailed report on the QM2 Behind the Scenes Tour. I have greatly enjoyed similar tours on the Queen Elizabeth, Caribbean Princess and Allure of the Seas. I certainly will try to take this tour on the QM2 during my crossing this November.

 

Chuck

Thank you for your wonderful report; the tour is on my list of things to do.:)

 

Regarding the medical center, does anyone know if they are able to handle dental emergencies? With so many passengers aboard, surely they must deal with the occasional chipped or cracked tooth and broken crown.:eek:

...

Regarding the medical center, does anyone know if they are able to handle dental emergencies? With so many passengers aboard, surely they must deal with the occasional chipped or cracked tooth and broken crown.:eek:

Cunard's online FAQ provides this interesting juxtaposition:

 

Dental & Other Services

 

We do not offer dental services.

We can also supply the 'morning after pill.

Cunard's online FAQ provides this interesting juxtaposition:

 

Dental & Other Services

 

We do not offer dental services.

We can also supply the 'morning after pill.

 

Interesting juxtaposition indeed!:rolleyes:

Interesting to read your ships tour log. Very similar to they of what I have done on Princess lines.did you get any gifts whilst on the tour?

I suspect the motion will be felt quite well that high up.:eek:

A passenger on this particular crossing made the comment, "The more you pay, the more you sway."

 

Well written and accurate report. I enjoyed taking the tour with you.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Classiccruiser777

Interesting to read your ships tour log. Very similar to they of what I have done on Princess lines.did you get any gifts whilst on the tour?

Group photo taken on the bridge, a "behind the scenes" pin, a chef's hat and a Cunard embroidered apron.

Interesting to read your ships tour log. Very similar to they of what I have done on Princess lines.did you get any gifts whilst on the tour?

Group photo taken on the bridge, a "behind the scenes" pin, a chef's hat and a Cunard embroidered apron.

We were photographed individually with the Commodore (the group passed on the group photo) and received a commemorative certificate too.

Cunard's online FAQ provides this interesting juxtaposition:

 

Dental & Other Services

 

We do not offer dental services.

We can also supply the 'morning after pill.

 

 

I would think that on a Cunard trip.....emergency dental services would be far more practical than the morning after pill. :)

I would think that on a Cunard trip.....emergency dental services would be far more practical than the morning after pill. :)

And others would think that the relative strengths of their dentition and their won't power might cause them to disagree; then again, it may be an entirely male/female divide.

Pmb1.....well, I guess it would be the individuals circumstance that would let them decide which they thought would be more practical. :)

Thank you for your wonderful report; the tour is on my list of things to do.:)

 

Regarding the medical center, does anyone know if they are able to handle dental emergencies? With so many passengers aboard, surely they must deal with the occasional chipped or cracked tooth and broken crown.:eek:

 

Actually, we met a very nice couple on board QM2 a few years ago. We ran into each other on several occasions. One night, the husband explained that his wife was having a horrible time, and was resting in bed, in great pain because of a dental problem.

 

The ship was due to dock in NYC in a few days, so I asked if he wanted me to call my dentist in Manhattan to see if he could see her while they were in port. No, he said, they had a flight arranged back to the UK, and she would be treated there. I urged him to take his wife to the medical center on board - if nothing else, the doctor could evaluate, and anti-biotic could be prescribed if signs of infection was present. He was having none of that.

I've often wondered how she fared during the flight: high altitudes and a serious dental problem don't mix well.

 

I related this incident to my dentist weeks later, and he suggested that the medical center on board QM2 could deal with a dental emergency on board. (Why he was so certain of that, I don't know) Anyway, I visit the dentist for a checkup before taking a cruise (not that is any guarantee no problems will occur - ship happens, and teeth chip !)

Edited June 22, 2014 by Salacia