Capnpugwash is on the QM2 to New York, May 10 2011

[Lady Hudson]

Jim - do all the staterooms on QM2 now have flat screen tvs? I believe that I read that somewhere. Not the best weather coming into NY tomorrow -- are you getting off the ship? I will be in NYC on Wednesday taking 130 students to see the Lion King -- the weather is not supposed to be much better. I'd much rather be on QM2! I hope you continue to enjoy your trip. Katherine

[Cruise Liner Fan]

Ditto;)

I was in Times Square today wishing it was a day later, so I could walk over to the westside pier to see QM2. Unfortunately I can't get away from work tomorrow. BTW in case you didn't know the Statue of Liberty is having it's 125 th birthday this July 4.

 

Denise

I will travel to the Manhattan West Side Piers from New Jersey just to look at the QM2 :) Especially when the QM2 Manhattan dockings are rare. Regards,Jerry

[hwfiv]

Hi Cap'n! Welcome to New York! I'll be traveling the 3 blocks from my apartment to see the QM2 while you are docked in New York... Just to get my excitement up for my upcoming July 1st voyage on her!! Wish I could run into the maitre'd while there to put my bid in for an invite to the captain's table! I spoke with someone at Cunard corporate who told me that being a cast member for 2 years on the tv show Star Trek might make me a good candidate for an invite and they promised to pass along my name and credentials to the maitre'd... But of course you never quite know if there is true ship to shore communication. But I hope so!! Your stories have whet my appetite for a dinner with an officer or even the captain!!

 

If I see you at the pier and recognize you from your picture, I'll be sure to say hello!!

[brigittetom]

WELCOME TO THE USA Jim. . . Loved the reading as usual, have a wonderful day in NYC. Brigitte

[QM2 fan]

Ooh,Sheldon was "our" bartender in QG lounge last autumn-it's not a demotion for him is it??? Cap'n- my son wants to apply to Cunard for a cadetship-any top tips gleaned from Tom???

[capnpugwash]

We are here in NYC and I am heading to Central Park South for lunch later, can't help re logic behind invites to dine with the Captain. Tom the cadet is doing a 4 year course at Warsash in Southampton and was one of 12 successful candidates out of 150 applicants. Looking forward to spending some time in this great city.

[cruiserking]

Welcome to New York Cap'n!

 

I watched the QM2 pull into her berth from the living room this morning. What a sight to see the Prisendam silhouetted against the mighty Queen Mary 2 almost as if the HAL ship is an oversized tender by comparison.

 

Jonathan

[SeaMatesNYC]

Welcome to New York Cap'n!

 

I watched the QM2 pull into her berth from the living room this morning. What a sight to see the Prisendam silhouetted against the mighty Queen Mary 2 almost as if the HAL ship is an oversized tender by comparison.

 

Jonathan

 

Wow, you've got a huge living room! With all the rain we've been having, it's not surprising. Garden level unit, I presume?:D

 

Welcome to NYC Cap'n! Sorry about the crappy weather. Have a wonderful day in spite of it.

[mheslop]

Hey Cap'n - good to follow your TAs....and to know that you love the QM2. I posed a question about wifi on a thread, but I am not getting very satisfactory answers. When I was last on the QM2, they still had the dreadful interactive TV for e-mail. I use my own laptop in my cabin with wifi on the QE and QV and other ships. My question to you, since you are on the ship and a QM2 expert, is there, in fact wifi in the cabins. I know all about fees and speed. I believe you did, in fact, answer that question to someone a while back....but I want to be doubly sure before the next WC. Thanks so much.

[capnpugwash]

Jim - do all the staterooms on QM2 now have flat screen tvs? I believe that I read that somewhere. Not the best weather coming into NY tomorrow -- are you getting off the ship? I will be in NYC on Wednesday taking 130 students to see the Lion King -- the weather is not supposed to be much better. I'd much rather be on QM2! I hope you continue to enjoy your trip. Katherine

 

Katherine, I would guess yes, but it is a guess. If they haven't all got them by now, they will have some time soon.

[capnpugwash]

Hey Cap'n - good to follow your TAs....and to know that you love the QM2. I posed a question about wifi on a thread, but I am not getting very satisfactory answers. When I was last on the QM2, they still had the dreadful interactive TV for e-mail. I use my own laptop in my cabin with wifi on the QE and QV and other ships. My question to you, since you are on the ship and a QM2 expert, is there, in fact wifi in the cabins. I know all about fees and speed. I believe you did, in fact, answer that question to someone a while back....but I want to be doubly sure before the next WC. Thanks so much.

 

No problem. The wifi is fine, it is in all cabins and is not the fastest but in the middle of the Ocean what do you expect. Rates are between 40 and 75 cents per minute depending upon what plan you buy, the more minutes the cheaper.

[rafinmd]

Welcome to New York Cap'n!

 

I watched the QM2 pull into her berth from the living room this morning. What a sight to see the Prisendam silhouetted against the mighty Queen Mary 2 almost as if the HAL ship is an oversized tender by comparison.

 

Jonathan

 

If anyone can post a picture of that I'd love to see it. I'll be sailing Prisendam to the Arctic this summer and coming home on QM2 2 days later. It would be lovely to see the two together.

 

Roy

[Nyc2tropics]

Heres a link for a webcam of the port http://www.wirednewyork.com/webcam3/

[MrsNobby]

QM2 fan Ooh,Sheldon was "our" bartender in QG lounge last autumn-it's not a demotion for him is it??? Cap'n- my son wants to apply to Cunard for a cadetship-any top tips gleaned from Tom???

 

 

All technical and deck officers are employed by Carnival UK and can work on any of the Cunard or P&O ships. If you want information re Cadetships go to http://www.oceanopportunites.com they have the current vacancies and how to apply.

[rafinmd]

Heres a link for a webcam of the port http://www.wirednewyork.com/webcam3/

 

Thank you.

 

Roy

[rgaudet]

Thank you.

 

Roy

 

Here's a shot while waiting for taxis.

 

It was my first cruise, first TA. Loved it. Will write some notes from a first timer shortly.

 

Jim, nice meeting you, safe travels.

[cruiserking]

If anyone can post a picture of that I'd love to see it. I'll be sailing Prisendam to the Arctic this summer and coming home on QM2 2 days later. It would be lovely to see the two together.

 

Roy

 

Here You Go Roy -

 

HAL Prisendam Silhouetted Against QM2 - Shot from my living Room 5/17/11

 

Jonathan

[moniquet]

What an amazing view you have. Fancy a house swop sometime;)

[cruiserking]

What an amazing view you have. Fancy a house swop sometime;)

 

Hi Moniquet,

 

It's Really amazing when QM2 is in port. Marbella, Spain would be a nice change house swop works for me. ;)

 

Jonathan

[cruisercon]

Went into the office early (I am at Times Square - 38th floor) to watch the QM2 dock. It was riveting to see her white prow peek from behind the building in the way, cutting through the mist. Then the bridge came into view, then the superstructure.

Got off the ship January 13th and ironically, the couple we dined with are leaving today on the Prisendam. Weather permitting we are going to stroll over to see them off. And bid adieu to the Queen.

Captain, hope you enjoyed your day in New York. Too bad the weather wasn't better. Have an enjoyable eastbound crossing. Always enjoy your posts.

Cruisercon

[cruiserking]

One More Shot of QM2 & Prisendam from Ground Level

 

Jonathan

[north east girl]

One More Shot of QM2 & Prisendam from Ground Level

 

Jonathan

Hi Jonathan, Thanks for the 2 photos of QM2 in New York, brilliant. The other ship looks very small next to QM2.

 

Catherine

[capnpugwash]

Update No 17

 

We had dinner and left fairly promptly to watch Mr Daltrey in the pub, he and his entourage arrived at around 10.30 and he started to sing at 11pm, he was marvellous and at 67 still has a great voice, he sang without stopping until gone midnight. My Generation, Pinball Wizard, Who Are You and a host of other songs, it was the absolute best last day that I have ever had on board. Normally they are flat and fairly dull, well not this trip. It gave a great finale to a great trip.

 

I got to bed around 1am and there was a total power outage throughout the ship, this only lasted 5 minutes but it made preparing for bed very interesting. I set my clock and was up at 4.30am. Because I am doing a few back to back transatlantic crossings this year Captain Wright graciously allowed my request to be on the bridge as we sailed into Manhattan, I was admitted at 5am as we were approaching the Verrazano Narrows bridge, we had to have some discussion with a tanker that had been moored by the bridge, in such a way that if she swung at anchor she could quite easily have seriously impeded our passage. We surmounted that little problem and cleared the underside of the bridge by about 3 metres. There was a pilot on the bridge and about 20 minutes later another pilot boarded and assisted our progress. The Captain remains in command and responsible for the vessel but is given advice by these very experienced men who are so very familiar with the subtleties and nuances of the Port.

 

It was pouring with rain but we had a great view of the harbour, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis and Governor’s Island and of course the magnificent skyline of Lower Manhattan with the tops of the skyscrapers invisible as they were shrouded in low cloud. We turned to starboard and made our way slowly up the Hudson River to pier 88, right next to USS Intrepid and a very old submarine, which may have been the Nautilus. QM2 is so very wide that we were assisted to turn the 90 degrees to enter the pier by 2 tugs. The area available seems so very small when this ship is sailing slowly into the berth. Lines went ashore at just after 7am and having thanked the Captain I went down for some coffee and a hard earned breakfast. How lucky am I? The memory of this entire voyage is indelibly etched on my brain and this morning is without doubt the icing on the cake.

 

With the Prinsendam also being in Manhattan the Immigration Hall was quite swamped and they were only letting passengers disembark in small batches to minimise the wait, of course all this achieved was to switch the wait from the hall to the ship. I got off at just before 11.30 and as a transit passenger I was fast tracked to the front of the extensive queue and within 5 minutes was walking to 9th Avenue to get a cab. The terminal was very poorly served with cabs and I think that Brooklyn does a better job. This may be contentious but I believe that it is true. I went over to Central Park South and waited the arrival of my friend. A few beers later he arrived and I discovered that this bar no longer does bowls of chilli, this was why we had gone there. Anyway we survived that and had a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich that was ok but not a satisfactory substitution.

 

Back in the cab, I dropped him at Penn Station and headed to W 48th Street where I got dropped, a short walk to the terminal and I am now safely back on board again. It rained a little but not on me so I had a successful day other than the Chilli incident.

 

More later

[heywood]

What a great post (for us to read),Cap'n and a fantastic time for you. You must be thrilled. :)

[conniedoug]

Update No 17

 

 

The Captain remains in command ...

 

Which one would that be???!!!

Really thrilled to hear of your visit to the Bridge, Jim. I'm certain that everyone who follows your log will agree that it was a well-deserved honour. It doesn't change the fact that we're all most probably hugely jealous. As always, your log is a pleasure to read - it has REALLY put me in the right frame of mind for my July crossing EB. Safe home,

Anamaria