Live from qv adrift in north sea!

[MARIANH]

We should have called into Zeebrugge an hour ago on our Gallic Getaway.

 

Unfortunately the captain aborted the attempt "due to bad weather". Actually its very sunny ( unlike yesterday in Rotterdam where it was wet cold and miserable) - but there is a bit of a breeze. I have certainly known worse - but I am no expert.

 

So we have a sea day instead and we are wandering aimlessly around the north sea before returning to Southampton tomorrow. There are worse things to do on a Sunday of course; but we were really looking forward to visiting Bruges.

 

The crew are being tight lipped about the decision not to dock at Zeebrugge. I sense this sort of thing has happened before - in fact I recall an earlier trip on QM2 not calling in Guernsey for the same excuse.

 

Has anyone else had the same experience ? Or are we ( and the rest of the passengers) just unlucky. I suppose it would be too much to expect Cunard will offer any compensation for the big disappointment of missing our trip to Bruges. They have at least beefed up the activities programme but frankly not being a friend of Bill W or Dorothy it does not look too interesting. When I asked who Bill and Dorothy were I got peculiar smiles ( oops something has happened to the text!). I guess i am missing something.

 

Anyhow back to the plot we are still sailing ( drifting?) slowly in the north sea and much to my wifes disappointment we are not going up and down much in the "bad weather".

 

So it looks like we will have to make do with Cunards famous fish and chips ( not forgetting mushy peas) and a bottle of wine instead of moules frite and belgian beer in Bruges. Not a bad trade really as I will also get an afternoon snooze. C'est la vie.

 

And just out of interest I dont expect anyone has experienced not being able to dock in Southampton due to bad weather so giving a free extra day or so on board. I could get used to sea days!

 

And finally this is a pleasant ship kept scrupulously clean by hard working personnel who still have time to smile - refreshing. And the food is good!

 

Adios

[capnpugwash]

Oh what a great shame, I have missed Guernsey before but I have never heard of Zeebrugge being cancelled. It is such a large and busy port. Can't understand it. It is especially annoying when you were making such few calls. If you see Mr MacNaught walking around, you might want to ask him why, especially if it isn't that rough.

[southwestie]

We should have called into Zeebrugge an hour ago on our Gallic Getaway.

 

Unfortunately the captain aborted the attempt "due to bad weather". Actually its very sunny ( unlike yesterday in Rotterdam where it was wet cold and miserable) - but there is a bit of a breeze. I have certainly known worse - but I am no expert.

 

So we have a sea day instead and we are wandering aimlessly around the north sea before returning to Southampton tomorrow. There are worse things to do on a Sunday of course; but we were really looking forward to visiting Bruges.

 

The crew are being tight lipped about the decision not to dock at Zeebrugge. I sense this sort of thing has happened before - in fact I recall an earlier trip on QM2 not calling in Guernsey for the same excuse.

 

Has anyone else had the same experience ? Or are we ( and the rest of the passengers) just unlucky. I suppose it would be too much to expect Cunard will offer any compensation for the big disappointment of missing our trip to Bruges. They have at least beefed up the activities programme but frankly not being a friend of Bill W or Dorothy it does not look too interesting. When I asked who Bill and Dorothy were I got peculiar smiles ( oops something has happened to the text!). I guess i am missing something.

 

Anyhow back to the plot we are still sailing ( drifting?) slowly in the north sea and much to my wifes disappointment we are not going up and down much in the "bad weather".

 

So it looks like we will have to make do with Cunards famous fish and chips ( not forgetting mushy peas) and a bottle of wine instead of moules frite and belgian beer in Bruges. Not a bad trade really as I will also get an afternoon snooze. C'est la vie.

 

And just out of interest I dont expect anyone has experienced not being able to dock in Southampton due to bad weather so giving a free extra day or so on board. I could get used to sea days!

 

And finally this is a pleasant ship kept scrupulously clean by hard working personnel who still have time to smile - refreshing. And the food is good!

 

Adios

 

We managed to dock there this year is slighty choppy waters, quite a bit of movement, I love the sea days, but Bruges is such a beautiful place on a sunday in the sunshine.

 

Quite agree about southampton, they always get in there dont they

[Aesculapius]

 

We should have called into Zeebrugge an hour ago on our Gallic Getaway.

 

Unfortunately the captain aborted the attempt "due to bad weather". Actually its very sunny ( unlike yesterday in Rotterdam where it was wet cold and miserable) - but there is a bit of a breeze. I have certainly known worse - but I am no expert.

 

The crew are being tight lipped about the decision not to dock at Zeebrugge. I sense this sort of thing has happened before - in fact I recall an earlier trip on QM2 not calling in Guernsey for the same excuse.

 

Has anyone else had the same experience ? Or are we ( and the rest of the passengers) just unlucky. I suppose it would be too much to expect Cunard will offer any compensation for the big disappointment of missing our trip to Bruges.

 

And finally this is a pleasant ship kept scrupulously clean by hard working personnel who still have time to smile - refreshing. And the food is good!

 

Adios

 

Sadly we missed two ports on our Autumn Colours Voyage in September, both due to bad weather.

 

The first port, Newport Rhode Island, was a tender port and the captain found some very choppy seas to sail through, so a ride in the tender would not have been fun. :eek:

 

The second port, St Johns Newfoundland, was abandoned due to high winds, but when we passed Newfoundland the weather was calm and the sun shone as we looked at the passing shore :(. Shame as it would have been the maiden visit of the QV into St Johns and we inderstand that the locals had put on a show for us.

 

St Johns being a small fishing port and very few fish nowadays, needs the tourist income so our failure to visit would have been a bad blow for the local economy.

 

Shame you missed Bruges all that wonderful chocolate :D

 

Was Captain 'noport' McNaught in charge?

[jax]

I thought a ship went to port when the weather was bad. Had that happen on Silverseas Whisper a couple of years back when a hurricane chased us into Halifax. It does seem that Cunard skips ports of call for this vague reason given. Am going on the "Autumn" QM2 cruise this coming Thursday. The same voyage, earlier in the month, had a port cancelled from its itinerary for the same bad weather excuse, and no internet weather forecast showed any bad weather. I wonder if we will have a simliar fate. Our voyage has already had ports reversed causing tour changes. Sounds like the captain is just lazy and/or doesn't want to be bothered. AND Cunard should compensate passengers for these missed ports. Had another cruise line years past to give a good shipboard or future cruise credit for such an occurence plus drinks on the house (Radisson.)

[cruisegal101]

 

Was Captain 'noport' McNaught in charge?

 

Yes.;)

[guernseyguy]

Here she is! Plodding down the Channel.....

[Lanky Lad]

When QM2 was in Zeebrugge in July she broke free and stall has a dent in her stern where she hit the dock. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Or maybe it's a crosswind on the harbour entrance. Or some other reason. But at least you get a sea day :)

[Host Sharon]

Oh what a great shame, I have missed Guernsey before but I have never heard of Zeebrugge being cancelled. It is such a large and busy port. Can't understand it. It is especially annoying when you were making such few calls. If you see Mr MacNaught walking around, you might want to ask him why, especially if it isn't that rough.

 

 

As someone on board the same voyage, the problem is not with the sea, but with the wind gusts of 40 knots! QV has a huge wind draught and Zeebrugge is very exposed. I can understand the potential issues of breaking a mooring line or not being able to leave the port, as well the harbour mouth not having a great deal of room for manouevre, especially since gusts are impossible to predict. It is indeed a lovely sunny day though and I am making the most of a day on board. :D

 

It happens, that's cruising !

[new to cuising]

The same voyage, earlier in the month, had a port cancelled from its itinerary for the same bad weather excuse, and no internet weather forecast showed any bad weather. I wonder if we will have a simliar fate.

 

 

I guess this was St John New Brunswick - A friend of mine who lives in this town had gone down to the harbour in the Bay of Fundy to see QM2 dock earlier this month but apparently the wind was unpredictably gusty and from variable directions - needless to say he was most disappointed. Apparently there had been hardly a breath of wind through September. Hope October is better next year when I'm aboard!:rolleyes:

[luv2krooze1791]

The second port, St Johns Newfoundland, was abandoned due to high winds, but when we passed Newfoundland the weather was calm and the sun shone as we looked at the passing shore :(. Shame as it would have been the maiden visit of the QV into St Johns and we inderstand that the locals had put on a show for us.

 

Indeed they would have done. I was on the Maiden call of QE2 which was great, with the most enthusiastic welcome. Lovely port, but a wet foggy day. It was a tender port for QE2. In 2008 we missed our Final Call at the same port - which was a real shame.

 

If you have ever tendered in nasty weather you'll understand why the operation can be cancelled at the least weather. I called at Honnigsvag in 2006 with QE2, and we had to cancel the tender operation half way through the day. Fortunately we were on the last tender, but there could have been people stranded. They managed to get the last few back, but it was made quite clear at about mid-day (or a little later) that no-one would be allowed to leave the ship and that the tenders were recovering only.

 

A member of the deck crew fell in at one point with the pontoon being bouncy. Not a joke in the Arctic sea - he had a short dunk and was then taken down to the hospital with potential or actual hypothermia.

 

If you go on a cruise to agree to these things. It is part of the conditions of carriage. Isn't safety first the rule? Plenty of ships, before and after Titanic (including others captained by Smith) had incidents or worse, sometimes far worse, because of Captains being gung-ho. Miss-a-port McNaught may have a nice ring to it, but he wouldn't have that moniker if it didn't slip off the tongue so well!!!

 

I've lost ports when he wasn't in charge, and I've had him do his utmost to make up for lost ports too. Including a wonderful overnight in Naples following a missed call at Palermo.

 

We also had an interesting trip to Guernsey on QE2. The weather appeared lovely - we spent a lot of the afternoon on the balcony - but no tenders. Then the pilot came out - we'd be rock steady all afternoon, but his boat was all over the shop. It was completely obvious that it would have been very dangerous to attempt tendering. Of course, there were still those that moaned......

[southwestie]

As someone on board the same voyage, the problem is not with the sea, but with the wind gusts of 40 knots! QV has a huge wind draught and Zeebrugge is very exposed. I can understand the potential issues of breaking a mooring line or not being able to leave the port, as well the harbour mouth not having a great deal of room for manouevre, especially since gusts are impossible to predict. It is indeed a lovely sunny day though and I am making the most of a day on board. :D

 

It happens, that's cruising !

 

So pleased your having agreat time on QV, a beautiful ship , It has been quite windy here in Beautiful Somerset too,

[VirginCruiser II]

I guess this was St John New Brunswick - A friend of mine who lives in this town had gone down to the harbour in the Bay of Fundy to see QM2 dock earlier this month but apparently the wind was unpredictably gusty and from variable directions - needless to say he was most disappointed. Apparently there had been hardly a breath of wind through September. Hope October is better next year when I'm aboard!:rolleyes:

 

Rob and I will be on with you next October. A roll call has already been started!

Keep in touch.:)

[KingoftheQueens]

They have at least beefed up the activities programme but frankly not being a friend of Bill W or Dorothy it does not look too interesting. When I asked who Bill and Dorothy were I got peculiar smiles ( oops something has happened to the text!). I guess i am missing something.

 

Adios

 

Well, Bill W co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous. "Friends of Bill W" is a discreet way of announcing an AA meeting, basically!

 

And Dorothy is, of course, the spangly shoe clad girl in The Wizard of Oz, played by Judy Garland who became a gay icon...

 

Thus, a meeting of the friends of Dorothy should be pretty clear to you now!

 

For a more detailed explanation you could try here:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friend_of_Dorothy

 

Pip-Pip!

[MARIANH]

Further to my previous report - We have had a lovely day on board sunning ourselves on the balcony, sipping lattes and munching macademia cookies. So there are compensations for missing a port. To those of you who thought I was moaning ( well actually only one of the respondents) - I was not. Just trying to throw a little light on the captains decision . It would appear from these postings that he may "have previous", however I bow to the superior knowledge of the other respondent from the ship who clearly knows about issues nautical - unlike me.

 

The view this evening from a running machine in the gym was spectacular as we sailed into the setting sun. But hang on the sun sets in the west - have we missed the turn to Southampton? Only joking, i guess the captain knows where he is going. And i suppose he is trying to waste time as we are many hours ahead of schedule having had our port visit aborted. Certainly we are moving at a very slow pace

 

Dinner this evening was superb - caviar, mussels, new york strip and crepe suzette ( not as one course!) The chef really pulled out the stops. Off to pack now and toast and beans tomorrow - ugh.

 

Next cruise December on the new Seabourn Odyssey. It will be interesting to compare it with QV queens grill which is a great product. Hopefully Odyysey being a lot smaller will be better at accessing problematic ports.

 

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read and respond to my earlier posting. Interesting and informative responses as seems usual on this site. And finally , I wasn't moaning - honest!

[wripro]

Let's not forget that Cunard saves port charges by not docking, charges which you have already paid.

[Buddy604]

Let's not forget that Cunard saves port charges by not docking, charges which you have already paid.

Don't they refund them? Princess always does when you miss a port - they're refunded back to your room folio.

 

I've never missed a port on Cunard, but then I've only ever done transatlantics with Captain McNaught. My cruising has been with other masters.

[Host Sharon]

Don't they refund them? Princess always does when you miss a port - they're refunded back to your room folio.

 

I've never missed a port on Cunard, but then I've only ever done transatlantics with Captain McNaught. My cruising has been with other masters.

 

 

No - they don't, but surely they still have to pay for even a missed port since the dockers etc will have been ready and waiting? Bakc home now after a day spent zig zagging down the English Channel - we got as far as Weymouth at one point !! As OP says - beans on toast tonight :(

[Buddy604]

No - they don't, but surely they still have to pay for even a missed port since the dockers etc will have been ready and waiting? Bakc home now after a day spent zig zagging down the English Channel - we got as far as Weymouth at one point !! As OP says - beans on toast tonight :(

Hmmm, I don't know about European ports, but when I've missed a port over hear, there is usually a small refund which is I believe the passenger tax for that port.

 

I don't know if the ship has to pay berthing fees if the can't enter the port safely - especially if the harbor master is the one calling the shots.

 

Any way you could slip it into polite conversation and find out? :D

[MARIANH]

Hmmm, I don't know about European ports, but when I've missed a port over hear, there is usually a small refund which is I believe the passenger tax for that port.

 

I don't know if the ship has to pay berthing fees if the can't enter the port safely - especially if the harbor master is the one calling the shots.

 

Any way you could slip it into polite conversation and find out? :D

 

Before leaving the ship I tried the polite conversation thing with a senior officer and compounded my mistake by jokingly referring to compensation. Bad move. To say the guy was peeved would be a gross understatement. How foolish of me not to have known that "safety is Cunards primary concern" and that the fact that the ship got bent last year in no way informs their thinking and decision making. And as for any suggestion that cost saving ( from not having to pay port fees etc) comes into the equation - heresy! So that was me well and truly told off.

 

Anyhow we are back at home now after the best disembarkation I have ever experienced from any ship. An extremeley smooth and professional operation had us off the ship before 8.30am and we were home an hour ago ( 50 miles from Southampton). Well done Cunard.

 

Would we sail Cunard again? - a resounding yes. QV again? ( this is our second time) - well maybe if "the price is right". But we think QM2 just has the edge in a few areas. My only criticism of Cunard is they seem to go into denial if you raise issues with them. Not docking on this occasion and other issues on previous cruises - it must be a corporate thing! A bit more openess and sharing would help their image - at least in my opinion.

 

So back to beans on toast and doing things for ourselves - its good to be home ( NOT!)

 

Hasta la Vista

[Host Sharon]

Hi MarianH. Yes I agree it was the best disembarkation ever. I was off by 8.30am too. Maybe you got the officer on a bad morning, or perhaps he had already had his ear bent by others. I have been here before with P&O, when on an 18 night cruise we missed 3 ports and only had ½ a day in another, all due to poor weather. We did in fact get a little compensation on that occasion but that was the exception. I agree QM2 also has the edge, but that is mainly because I prefer her decor. The service was far better on QV IMO. It will be interesting to comapre her with QE next year.

 

Now, where are those beans?

[Jimsgirl]

MARIANH

 

Relise you were the Grill dining room, but how were the crepes? When I was on QV in the Britannia dining room, there were a disaster. Thick, cold, served on a soup plate, swimming in what looked like Mrs Butterworths sauce, and topped with vanilla ice cream and almonds.

 

My complaint was met with "This is the French way " Never in a Million years. but as you said, any complaint immediately send the staff into "denial of any wrong doing" mode.

 

I cruise often with Cunard, but I also think more openess and acceptance of error with a sincere apology is needed, No not compensation jus that they accept they made a mistake.

[luv2krooze1791]

I cruise often with Cunard, but I also think more openess and acceptance of error with a sincere apology is needed, No not compensation jus that they accept they made a mistake.

 

I have had no problems with hotel staff on those rare occasions I have had to complain. Mistakes have been admitted, and action taken.

 

Equally, discussing whether things should be done in a particular way or not with senior hotel staff has always resulted in the impression that the ideas are being considered - sometimes that they were being considered actively.

[MARIANH]

MARIANH

 

Relise you were the Grill dining room, but how were the crepes? When I was on QV in the Britannia dining room, there were a disaster. Thick, cold, served on a soup plate, swimming in what looked like Mrs Butterworths sauce, and topped with vanilla ice cream and almonds.

 

My complaint was met with "This is the French way " Never in a Million years. but as you said, any complaint immediately send the staff into "denial of any wrong doing" mode.

 

I cruise often with Cunard, but I also think more openess and acceptance of error with a sincere apology is needed, No not compensation jus that they accept they made a mistake.

 

Hi Jimsgirl

Sadly, my previous experience of crepes in Britannia mirrors yours. However on this occasion in Queens Grill I hit paydirt ( so to speak).

The crepe suzettes were outstanding. The Maitre D's assistant, a delightful Hungarian lady, flambeed them beside the table using just the right amount of orange zest and finished off spectacularly with a large slug of grand marnier which lit up the Queens Grill - almost literally!

All a bit posey , I know, but neverless done with great style and it certainly caught the attention of the other diners. A dollop ( culinary term?) of vanilla icecream finished off the dish which I had to devour quickly as my wife was threatening to help me eat it! In fact the dining experience this time on QV was generally excellent with plenty of encouragement to eat "off menu". A facility available in other restaurants on Cunard ;but you need to pre order the day before. Not surprisingly Cunard do not seem to advertise this widely. And you have cultivate your waiter!

 

Regards

[Ray66]

I was also on this cruise and was really looking forward to going to Bruges. I couldn't believe it when I opened the curtains in the morning and were still at sea.

 

Still, it gave us more time to explore the ship and extra eating time.

 

Disembarkation went smoothly and we were off the ship by 9.15am. However, embarkation was (again) a nightmare. Turned up right on time at 1.00pm but didn't get on board until after 3 o'clock. We didn't get our photos taken at the check-in desk, but instead had it taken by looking down at a camera on the ship. You can imagine what everyone's picture looked like! :)