QE2 World Cruise 2005

[idtdavid]

Anyone back from the world cruise?

Would love to hear a report.

David

[Louise D]

I did not do the whole World Cruise, but only the three weeks from Honolulu to Melbourne. I had previously done the three weeks from Melbourne to Hong Kong, and next year I am doing the three weeks from Dubai to Southampton. I worked out that three weeks is about the right amount of time to be relaxing, but not to get bored.

 

The cruise was very enjoyable, even though the QE2 was full during the Honolulu to Sydney sector, so the crew were no doubt working to capacity. The airconditioning was not quite up to scratch, especially in the tropical seas around French Polynesia. We had to call the technicians to the stateroom but the problem was only slightly alleviated by their attentions.

 

I found the Captain to be rather cautious in his duties, as he refused to allow the tenders to be used in Kona or Phillip Island, due to rough seas, so those ports were missed. We also missed the day in Queen Charlotte Sound (NZ) as the Captain said that visibility was not good enough to enter the Sound.

 

The food in the Queen's Grill was very good, and the waiters very professional, although also very entertaining at the same time. In some respects I thought the food had improved over the previous trip. Of course, the menu to some extent reflects the countries being visited and the produce available. Being a fish lover, I tried a different type of fish for either lunch or dinner most days.

 

I am really looking forward to the Dubai to Southampton sector next year, although it is quite a long wait.

[blackbird71]

I have read reports on here about the HAL P'Dam by grumpy and one about the RSSC Voyager. The Voyager hit major wind and waves problems on it's way to Tasmia (sp) and Grumpy reported a couple missed ports because of tender problems getting shore.

 

Sounds pretty much the luck of the draw for WCs in general.