No More TV SeaTrac

[Calliope]

The East-bound Tenth Anniversary Crossing was truly spectacular. The food and service in The Britannia Restaurant was for the most part superb. Although one aspect of the crossing was a bit disappointing. There is no longer the real time information on sea conditions, the ship's course and speed, plus times around the world, etc. that use to be played on the stateroom's TV. I would tune to the Sea Trac channel several times a day, if nothing else, just to check on the ship's speed. I guess in an effort to save money this service is no longer provided onboard. The current information is not nearly as detailed and is now only updated three or four times a day. Also the pertinent info is shown in a loop along with photos of the ship that are really only interesting the first nine or ten times viewed. And, yes, I did make mention of this on my comment card.

[safarigal]

Gosh - I hope enough people complain about the loss of the Sea Trac channel. I too used to tune in many times a day to check on the conditions, and add them to my blog. Especially on a crossing it's good to know what's happening.

 

I'm glad that your crossing was otherwise good - only 410 days until our next crossing :)

[Underwatr]

At Christmas I noticed that the weather info wasn't being updated as often as I had remembered in other cruises, and as we sailed north into the snowstorm in NYC it was downright false.

[Salacia]

The East-bound Tenth Anniversary Crossing was truly spectacular. The food and service in The Britannia Restaurant was for the most part superb. Although one aspect of the crossing was a bit disappointing. There is no longer the real time information on sea conditions, the ship's course and speed, plus times around the world, etc. that use to be played on the stateroom's TV. I would tune to the Sea Trac channel several times a day, if nothing else, just to check on the ship's speed. I guess in an effort to save money this service is no longer provided onboard. The current information is not nearly as detailed and is now only updated three or four times a day. Also the pertinent info is shown in a loop along with photos of the ship that are really only interesting the first nine or ten times viewed. And, yes, I did make mention of this on my comment card.

 

Hi Calliope. Very glad to read that you enjoyed your voyage.

 

But I'm sorry to read that Sea Trac is no longer available. Although the information given was not always correct, at least it gave me some idea of the ship's location and at what speed, sea conditions, and which way the wind was blowing. Simple things, perhaps, but I really do like knowing that sort of information.

 

Why was this service discontinued, I wonder? Yet another cost saving measure, perhaps. No worries, I suppose; there will be new passengers who won't notice the difference.

 

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, and once again I'm very happy that you enjoyed your voyage.

 

Regards,

Salacia

[busmech]

I did Sydney to SF leg on the QV and the info was not working for most of it. Technical problems they said. And that was for 28 days so it just might be a temporary failure.

[cunardaddict]

This is indeed sad news. I used to watch it first thing in the morning. Last year on QM2 it was often showing wrong date and wrong positions - 10.000 miles off our course.

 

Now will have to use our smartphones and tablet computers for this. Less comfortable and less informative but we can still obtain the ships position.

 

The bow camera will hopefully still be in function.

[pepperrn]

I thought the QM2 EB 10th Anniversary Crossing was currently heading for Southampton :confused: ... At least friends of mine are under the impression they are on it. I'll have to let them know it's all in the past.

 

But yes, on the West-Bound QM2 10th Anniversary Crossing I noted the lack of full ships position, sea conditions, weather, time, wind direction etc. information on the TV. It was usually the ONLY channel I ever looked at. So the TV stayed turned off, a black screen in the corner of the cabin.

 

I asked the steward to remove the contents of the fridge for me (I never touch the supplied drinks) so there was room for my own bottles. As the (now useless) TV will also be simply unwanted clutter in my cabin next time, I may ask him to remove that as well :rolleyes: ;) :D

Edited May 20, 2014 by pepperrn

[Underwatr]

I'll need to pack my Garmin in a corner of my electronics kit. I like knowing speed & location when I get up.

 

Not all smartphones can get a GPS fix without a data connection because they use cheaper Assisted GPS chips, even if they have a stored map of that location. (I was frustrated when I took my Galaxy S-2 to Europe).

[3rdGenCunarder]

I asked at the Purser's desk and was told that this is a temporary problem caused by a computer issue. He made it sound as if it had just happened recently, and would be fixed soon. (Not saying this is true, just passing along what I was told)

 

I do hope they reinstate this. Like other posters, I love to see where we are--guess we're a bunch of back-seat captains!

[Dcoy]

I did Sydney to SF leg on the QV and the info was not working for most of it. Technical problems they said. And that was for 28 days so it just might be a temporary failure.

 

I was on the QV WV and it seemed we started having problems after we crossed the international dateline. One excuse was that because we were one day ahead of Greenwich, the system couldn't make the correct calculations. Several weeks later when we crossed back that excuse went out the window as it still was not working.

 

There were several other excuses but it never really got back to normal for the rest of the trip.

 

Don

[jimmybean]

We also noticed the absence of the tracking/weather/sea conditions on channel 41 and missed this information in the previous format (which was familiar and greatly enjoyed on earlier voyages).

 

Also, I just hate having to lean over the side of the ship and measure wave height with my ruler : )

 

Hopefully, as 3rdGenCunarder heard from the purser, this will be reinstated in the near future...

[lannp]

Please define "near future" Aren't we still waiting for the love-seats in the cabins to be replaced? Seems to me we heard that several "years ago".

[Calliope]

I thought the QM2 EB 10th Anniversary Crossing was currently heading for Southampton :confused: ... At least friends of mine are under the impression they are on it. I'll have to let them know it's all in the past.

 

 

Opps, my bad. We were headed towards the setting sun each evening, weren't we!

[Shallwe123]

We also noticed the absence of the tracking/weather/sea conditions on channel 41 and missed this information in the previous format (which was familiar and greatly enjoyed on earlier voyages).

 

Also, I just hate having to lean over the side of the ship and measure wave height with my ruler : )

 

Hopefully, as 3rdGenCunarder heard from the purser, this will be reinstated in the near future...

 

Jimmybean - your paragraph regarding leaning over with your ruler made my hubby laugh so much, he nearly spilt his gin !!!!

 

Why would they removed the sea tack info - stupid in our opinion. As yachties , ourselves, we always like to have this info.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Jimmybean - your paragraph regarding leaning over with your ruler made my hubby laugh so much, he nearly spilt his gin !!!!

 

Why would they removed the sea tack info - stupid in our opinion. As yachties , ourselves, we always like to have this info.

 

I don't think they removed it. There's some kind of computer issue that made it stop working. I hope they'll be able to fix it. The info that replaced it was much less detailed (just 2 pages of info), and it was difficult to know when it had been updated.

[RJChatsworth]

I don't think they removed it. There's some kind of computer issue that made it stop working. I hope they'll be able to fix it. The info that replaced it was much less detailed (just 2 pages of info), and it was difficult to know when it had been updated.

 

I missed the map ship position information on the 19th May EB crossing very much. I now wish I'd questioned it.

 

I assumed it was no longer anymore because the software was different on the screen. There seems to be less information and it seems not to be updated very often. I thought this was what we should expect in the future and it seemed to be endorsed by a statement about those wishing to know the daily lat and long co-ordinates could get them from the library and enter them on a chart you could purchase.

 

I am more encouraged if passengers got the message that there was a computer glitch, but one lasting 7 days!!!

 

On a side issue, when are they going to change those awful television sets in the cabins? I haven't measured the screen size, but at a guess it is barely 20".

[3rdGenCunarder]

I missed the map ship position information on the 19th May EB crossing very much. I now wish I'd questioned it.

 

I assumed it was no longer anymore because the software was different on the screen. There seems to be less information and it seems not to be updated very often. I thought this was what we should expect in the future and it seemed to be endorsed by a statement about those wishing to know the daily lat and long co-ordinates could get them from the library and enter them on a chart you could purchase.

 

I am more encouraged if passengers got the message that there was a computer glitch, but one lasting 7 days!!!

 

On a side issue, when are they going to change those awful television sets in the cabins? I haven't measured the screen size, but at a guess it is barely 20".

 

I think the glitch has been going on for longer than a week, so who knows how long until it is fixed...

 

Yes, the TVs are small, but larger ones won't fit in the space they have, at least not in the Britannia balcony cabins. Anything much larger won't fit on the space above the fridge.

[nfcu]

I remember when QM2's library had printed daily copies of various newspapers. When they disappeared, we were told it was because the printer was broken and would return when the printer was repaired. This story was told for weeks, until people got used to not having newspapers, and then stopped asking about them.

 

Moral of the story - we never see the old navigation info screens again. I hope I'm wrong.

[RJChatsworth]

I think the glitch has been going on for longer than a week, so who knows how long until it is fixed...

 

Yes, the TVs are small, but larger ones won't fit in the space they have, at least not in the Britannia balcony cabins. Anything much larger won't fit on the space above the fridge.

 

Hi Kathy. We were lucky enough to be in a PG cabin last week and there was plenty of room for a larger set in those. As for Britannia I have always thought they would have to be wall mounted. Perhaps they'll do something during the next re-fit and these days they should be HD.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Hi Kathy. We were lucky enough to be in a PG cabin last week and there was plenty of room for a larger set in those. As for Britannia I have always thought they would have to be wall mounted. Perhaps they'll do something during the next re-fit and these days they should be HD.

 

I could do without HD, but I would love to see them be interactive, the way they were when QM2 was new. Does anyone else remember that?

[jimmybean]

I could do without HD, but I would love to see them be interactive, the way they were when QM2 was new. Does anyone else remember that?

 

I sure do, Kathy, and it was a pleasure. We could check all sorts of things from our stateroom on the interactive TV (including, but not limited to, the nightly menu in the MDR)… DH thought it was removed because people could track their onboard spending and might budget more wisely. Just his conjecture, nothing fact based…

 

I also remember the choice of reprinted daily newspapers in the library---as well as some computer terminals in there--which was handy.

 

Little changes, but loss of things that I believe brought pleasure to the Cunard experience...

[3rdGenCunarder]

I sure do, Kathy, and it was a pleasure. We could check all sorts of things from our stateroom on the interactive TV (including, but not limited to, the nightly menu in the MDR)… DH thought it was removed because people could track their onboard spending and might budget more wisely. Just his conjecture, nothing fact based…

 

I also remember the choice of reprinted daily newspapers in the library---as well as some computer terminals in there--which was handy.

 

Little changes, but loss of things that I believe brought pleasure to the Cunard experience...

 

Ah, yes, checking the menu. I'm a need-to-know type (which is why I miss the sea trak), so I like to check the menu in advance. Our traveling companions used to make fun of me for that, as they were all happy to learn what was on offer when we got to the table.

[LadyL1]

In the very early days of QM2 voyages, you were also given your own on board email address, when you received your documents and printed luggage labels.

[pmb1]

What I miss most is http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=GBQM

Queen Mary 2 used to provide twice daily updates of position, speed, air and water temperatures, etc., but no more for a few years now. Commodore Rynd told us during the behind-the-scenes tour last year that Cunard no longer participates in this ship tracker service because Cunard doesn't need or use it. Sailwx used to a great way for the rest of us to track the ship. Entering the updates was one of the duties of a cadet officer; that task could be automated easily at trivial cost to Cunard; pity it won't be.

[cunardaddict]

In the very early days of QM2 voyages, you were also given your own on board email address, when you received your documents and printed luggage labels.

 

This service is still available at extra costs. However I suppose that almost everyone who expects to receive e-mail has his personal mail account and the demand for this service is rather low.