QE2 - January 3, 2006 - Six Day Crossing

[PRINSENDAM]

Both lecturing or just Ted?

 

Either way, with you, Ted, and Peter all saying that JMG will be on board, I'm pretty convinced.

 

 

...

 

 

 

Doug,

 

Captain Rynd told me that John M-G will be aboard. Don't know if he is lecturing though.

 

Spoke to Ted Scull, he is definitely lecturing.

 

Stephen

[eroller]

It also ranks as the worst-designed piece of pre-cruise documentation I've ever seen; the cover is nice (matches Cunard brochures and advertising materials) but the contents are not well designed.

 

 

 

I agree the pre-cruise booklet needs to be redesigned. Princess does such a good job with documentation and I imagine Cunard will eventually switch over to the format they use. Doug, I think it's you that told me Cunard actually uses an outside company to print documentation? If this is the case, maybe they are still under contract for a certain amount of time? I can tell you this booklet format is what Cunard has used for at least three years, well before Princess took over.

 

The documents never come as quickly when air is involved (for whatever reason), which is probably why many have not received documents yet. Most people on this crossing have taken advantage of the free air. If the bookings were "cruise only", we would have our documents already.

 

I will say the actual ticket package is not bad. Cunard still uses a nice folder to hold the documents (QM2 gets it's very own - which I guess means QE2 has her own too!). Cunard used to have the best baggage tags you could ever imagine. They were practically collectors items. Each deck had a different painting of a past Cunard liner on it, and they were thick cardboard. Now they have gone to the peel-off style the airlines use. Not very exciting.

 

Ernie

[Transatlantic Tom]

Cunard used to have the best baggage tags you could ever imagine. They were practically collectors items. Each deck had a different painting of a past Cunard liner on it, and they were thick cardboard. Now they have gone to the peel-off style the airlines use. Not very exciting.

 

Ernie

 

Ernie:

 

I agree about the baggage tags. Back in the early 80s they had square "Cunard Orange" (if that's the right way to describe that color) tags which were not too bad, however the ones my wife and I got for our 2003 crossing were superb (and, of course, we still have them !). They were for Four Deck and have a painting of AQUITANNIA sailing out of NY harbor on them. Yes, that thick heavy stock, too. Nice items !!!

 

Tom

[Ken_W]

No docs here today, either of the first Mystery Set or the second Official Approved variety. Not worried about it, I just... want them. A lot. :)

 

Very glad to hear the Mr. Scull will be on board, his lectures are a delight. Maxtone-Graham's lectures are always intriguing (particularly when he talks on Violet Jessop, the stewardess who served on all three Olympic class ships, the Olympic, Titanic and Britannic; what an obscure piece of history to find and share). The thing that struck me is that if you've read any of his books, such as The Only Way to Cross or Liners to the Sun before hearing him in person, he sounds exactly the way you imagine he would from his writing. After I heard him the first time and re-read one of his books, I read the text with the "sound" of his voice in my head! I don't think the man has ever split an infinitive or dangled a participle, either when speaking or writing, in his life!

 

Also, there are usually a few other unadvertised lecturers/presenters on board, and I've never really run into a dud yet. For me, the lecture series are always a highlight of a crossing.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Captain Rynd told me that John M-G will be aboard. Don't know if he is lecturing though.

I'll try to find out.

 

Spoke to Ted Scull, he is definitely lecturing.

Well, looking forward to his lectures then!

 

I agree the pre-cruise booklet needs to be redesigned.

It's pretty terrible. It also says that it contains shore excursion information, which it doesn't... Not that there are any shore excursions on a crossing, of course, but the rest of the booklet seems to be for the full cruise (Chinese visa applications etc.)...

 

Doug, I think it's you that told me Cunard actually uses an outside company to print documentation?

This is what I was told. I agree with you, they probably have some sort of contract... Otherwise I can't see why they wouldn't just start using Princess' documentation format.

 

Haven't been on Princess in five years, so I don't know what their documentation looks like now, but it used to be pretty nice... Very similar to HAL's current documentation.

 

The documents never come as quickly when air is involved (for whatever reason)

Good point... We don't usually do cruise line air so I'd forgotten that.

 

Cunard used to have the best baggage tags you could ever imagine.

I've seen both the old and new - the old ones were really nice, but probably cost a fortune. The new ones look cheap and nasty, like the Royal Caribbean/Celebrity tags and all the other peel-off varieties. Oh well.

[tandemtourer]

We're preparing for our crossing by reading his books, enjoying them thoroughly and overjoyed by the possibility that he may be sailing with us in January. One thing puzzles me. In The Only Way to Cross he refers to both disembarkation and debarkation. I thought one was either in one camp or the other. I've never met anyone who uses both pronounciations of nuclear. It would seem that the d words would be the same.

 

We haven't received any docs either so I have to obsess about something.

[Ken_W]

I remember the topic of debark v. disembark as part of a discussion in a thread a long time ago, and if I remember correctly someone discovered that some (but not all) dictionaries draw a fine distinction between the two in that cargo (or any inaminate object) is debarked while people (or animals or living organisms) are disembarked. In real life the terms are used indiscriminately, and one generally gets the idea that no matter which is used, it is a sad thing as it means getting off the ship. Less sad, perhaps, if you're an object, but sad, nonetheless.

 

The ultimate arbitrator on this may well be the Oxford Engish Dictionary, so if anyone has an online subscription or is hanging about Cruise Critic via workstations in their local library, let the etymological hunt begin!

 

...alright, I admit it. i love words. i love obscure words and antiquated usages even more. someday i will insert into a conversation, "My, how the sea scintillates!" or "The ocean is certainly pullulating today... ." even tho it may cost me dear in casual acquantances...

[guernseyguy]

Dictionaries (of English, at least - the French have more ambitious delusions) can only report usage - and an online search suggests that the two are synonyms - although according to Merriam-Webster may have slightly different roots, both from the french, and as 'debark' can also refer to something nasty done to dogs, I much prefer 'disembark' ....any way, I 'embark' at the start of a crossing, so 'disembark' at the end of it.....and thats my usage.....:)

 

See:

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/disembark

 

 

Peter

[travel-to-go]

I remember the topic of debark v. disembark as part of a discussion in a thread a long time ago, and if I remember correctly someone discovered that some (but not all) dictionaries draw a fine distinction between the two in that cargo (or any inaminate object) is debarked while people (or animals or living organisms) are disembarked. In real life the terms are used indiscriminately, and one generally gets the idea that no matter which is used, it is a sad thing as it means getting off the ship. Less sad, perhaps, if you're an object, but sad, nonetheless.

 

The ultimate arbitrator on this may well be the Oxford Engish Dictionary, so if anyone has an online subscription or is hanging about Cruise Critic via workstations in their local library, let the etymological hunt begin!

 

...alright, I admit it. i love words. i love obscure words and antiquated usages even more. someday i will insert into a conversation, "My, how the sea scintillates!" or "The ocean is certainly pullulating today... ." even tho it may cost me dear in casual acquantances...

Mr. William F. Buckley Jr. is known as quite the wordsmith. He is considered the "last word" in correct usage to some. He is also a veteran sailor, both of his own sailboats (three Atlantic crossings, 1 Pacific) and commercial sailings, on which he is occasionally a lecturer.

 

Perhaps an email to him would suffice to calm the etymological storm. - or perhaps I should say the lexicological storm.

 

Ken, You need to subscribe to Anu Garg's "A Word A Day" http://wordsmith.org/awad/index.html

[dougnewmanatsea]

I thought one was either in one camp or the other.

As did I - personally I always use "disembark", which seems to be most common amongst ship enthusiasts.

 

The ultimate arbitrator on this may well be the Oxford Engish Dictionary, so if anyone has an online subscription ... let the etymological hunt begin!

According to the OED, the two are perfect synonyms. They don't even offer a definition for "debark", it simply says, "= DISEMBARK" (and then of course offers quotations, etymology, etc.).

 

Apparently there is also an obsolete form, "disbark".

[tandemtourer]

'debark' can also refer to something nasty done to dogs

In our neck of the woods It is something done to logs.

I thought it might be fun to pose this question to the "Verbivore". We might then have duelling experts.

 

And now we return you to our regularly scheduled program. One month from today!

[dougnewmanatsea]

Several friends of mine have been kind enough to send John Maxtone-Graham's e-mail address... I've sent him an e-mail asking which ship he'll be on, and if he'll be on QE2, whether he'll be lecturing.

 

I will let everyone know if and when I get a response.

[desirod]

Wow,

 

This is going to some crossing. I think the passengers will be the entertainment. Hope this voyage is video documented:)

 

Ernie, I think you have set a cruise-critic record with 11,000 views+ and

500 replies.

 

Wish I could go, but gotta work.

[dougnewmanatsea]

I've just had an e-mail from John Maxtone-Graham. He will be on board our crossing, and will be lecturing.

[sfo-john]

Good work! Thanks for checking that out. That's really exciting! I've already been excited about this crossing, but now.. He's got a built in audience, that's for sure.

[eroller]

I've just had an e-mail from John Maxtone-Graham. He will be on board our crossing, and will be lecturing.

 

 

This is very good news for those of us sailing on QE2 January 3rd. I do feel bad for passengers on QM2 also sailing January 3rd. Cunard has misrepresented that sailing by stating Maxtone-Graham will be lecturing onboard.

 

I hoped that Cunard's efficiency and reliability would be improved upon under Princess management .... but they still seem to be plagued with the same blunders. Cunard .... GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! You only have two ships, how difficult can it be???

 

Ernie

[juliecat]

I've just had an e-mail from John Maxtone-Graham. He will be on board our crossing, and will be lecturing.

 

Any chance of finding out which day he'll be lecturing? I'd hate to book my spa appointments for the same time!

 

Julia

[guernseyguy]

I've just had an e-mail from John Maxtone-Graham. He will be on board our crossing, and will be lecturing.

 

Excellent news! I hope he tells the story about the Mauretania in fog off the Grand Banks that he told at the OLS in London.....

 

Peter, Sydney

[confetti]

Greetings!

I keep reading all your postings and just become overwhelmed! Calliope keeps me posted daily, by phone, too. I have too much to learn. I think I'd rather find Juliacat and test out the Champagne Theory!!!! I'm already thinking about packing too.. Can't wait much longer to meet all of you folks in person!

 

Confetti (Cheryl from Cincinnati)

[Post Captain]

That's excellent news about John Maxtone-Graham being aboard on our crossing; the QM2's loss is the QE2's gain. We had the pleasure of hearing him lecture at the Hoboken Historical Museum a few years ago, and are delighted to have the opportunity to hear him again at sea.

 

As for disembarkation: It's not a word I like to use (because I prefer embarkation--the act of embarkation, that is), but years ago it was always disembarkation and never (at least as far as I can recall) debarkation. The latter may be linguistically acceptable, but to my ear it sounds like some corporate coinage. (Along those lines, I cringe when I read the word customers instead of passengers. Attention Cunard executives: "Customers" we may be, in strictly financial terms; but having bought passage on your ship, we are the ship's passengers!)

 

But I digress... As I suspected, the "bark"in (dis)embarkation derives from barca (i.e., bark), which once upon a time was a term for any three-masted sailing ship. (In Patrick O'Brien's novels, Killick often refers to HMS Surprise as "the barky.") In any case, happily our embarkation is not that far off, our disembarkation more distant.

 

~John

[guernseyguy]

Ernie, I think you have set a cruise-critic record with 11,000 views+ and 500 replies.

 

Easily for Cunard, but not for Cruise Critic as a whole. One of the more popular lines has 33,631 replies and 274,626 views for a 'CC Group Cruise The Saints and Sinners Part Deux, Conquering the Conquest 10/15/06', a little light reading at 638 pages.....I suspect I prefer ours.....

 

Peter

[tandemtourer]

Kudos to you, Host Doug! Our money was on you the entire time. Let us be the first to buy you the beverage of your choice. We hope that anyone who speaks with J. M.-G. regarding the d word in question will post back to the group. tandemtourer and captaintandem

[eroller]

Wow,

 

This is going to some crossing. I think the passengers will be the entertainment. Hope this voyage is video documented:)

 

Ernie, I think you have set a cruise-critic record with 11,000 views+ and

500 replies.

 

Wish I could go, but gotta work.

 

 

Hi David,

I wish you could go too! What fun that would be. :) Another time I hope.

 

As Peter pointed out, this thread is hardly a record for Cruise Critic, but not bad for the Cunard board. I'm quite pleased with the response.

 

In October 2004 Christopffre and I took a cruise on VOYAGER OF THE SEAS. It was a repositioning cruise from NY and eventually ended in Miami. A thread was started and we chatted with many nice people beforehand. We all got along great on the cruise as well. That thread is still going strong, over one year later! 4,209 replies and 19,689 views.

 

Ernie

[eroller]

There is a new feature on Cruise Critic called "Roll Call Tool". Some other boards have had this for years, but CC finally got around to it.

 

Anyway, you can register your user name for any upcoming sailings you have booked. It's a nice way to see all the other CC members that will be sailing with you. Of course it's not nearly as good as the list Tom has put together, but it's fun none the less. ;)

 

Go to the main CC message board at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/

In the "Roll Calls" section there is a new drop down menu that lists all the ships. Pick yours and go from there. You can see who is sailing and also add your name to the sailing date.

 

According to the Roll Call Tool, we are 29 days from sailing!

 

Ernie

[NewtoQE2]

Transatlantic Tom and others,

Thanks for the nice welcome to the board. I've been away for awhile and haven't checked the posts in about a week. I hope you didn't think I was being rude.

 

I haven't received any docs either. My brother said the travel agent mentioned that we would probably be upgraded, but I'm not sure how that works or why they would do that. Anyway, anxious to get the docs, tickets, etc.

 

Both my brother and I have birthdays in late December so will be celebrating on board. You're all invited!! :D

 

--Christy