Live from the Queen Victoria world cruise (with a QM2 prelude)

[MERIDIAN]

Keith, you have my son's name :-). I can actually say that Carnival is not a bad line at all, however the experience can vary greatly depending on the ship and the length of the voyage. I've had very pleasant cruises on their Spirit class ships which have a rather generous passenger/space ratio and good flow, cuisine onboard is excellent and their steakhouses are second to none. I did hear Bill Miller discuss carnival at a lecture he'd given in Queens NY last year, be held a little Q&A session after the lecture and an audience member asked about Carnival, Bill pretty much stated the same.as mentioned above.

[rafinmd]

Great reading Roy thanks for posting. we are going on our first QM2 cruise in 7 weeks. What is the horn tradition that you have often referred to?

 

I am a little unsure of the tradition you are thinking of as there are 2.

 

There is a Cunard tradition that the ship’s horns are blown every day at noon to mark the hour. Cunard ships have a very distinctive variety of horns and the array of sounds they produce is very colorful.

 

There is also the tradition at Port Everglades, rarely visited by Cunard except on World Cruises. The port is entered through a canal about a mile long and there are a number of condiminiums on the North side of the canal near the outlet. The residents of the condos will blow air horns to salute passing ships on their way to sea and the ships usually will respond with several blasts of their own horns. I think this has been going on a long time but has gained prominence recently when a webcam http://portevergladeswebcam.com made the exchanges accessible to the public at large. One ship in particular, Holland America’s Westerdam, has really taken this tradition to heart with a lot of blasts, and become affectionately known as the “Queen of Horns” With their distinctive horns Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria have the potential to represent themselves very well in this tradition.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Crystal Symphony is in the Drake Passage. QM2 is at sea from New York to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

As Captain Philpott had suggested, the weather made itself known overnight. At 5AM there were 50-knot waves and all the outer decks were closed, although the ride was pretty smooth. I took my laptop up to the Chart Room for a while, and about 7:15 headed up to the deck 5 laundrette for what should be my last laundry aboard Queen Victoria. At 8 I moved my clothes to the dryer and went up to the lido for food and more internet. The back deck was open but the pool was sloshing so badly I would not take my computer there and worked from the Winter Garden. I washed most of my cold weather items and started my packing, putting them away to be used several days into my Crystal Symphony voyage.

 

Despite it being a sea day there were no Cunard Insights programs. The absence wasn’t directly mentioned although yesterday Sally Sagoe indicated we had both anew team of Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers and a brand new production show and the Royal Court Theater would be very busy with rehearsals.

 

The promenade deck was closed off virtually all morning and I accomplished a lot more packing than originally planned. I got in just 2 of my 15 laps before heading up to the lido for lunch. In his noon message Captain Philpott had good and bad news. The bad news was expected, that we would have to deal with immigration and everyone must get off the ship to “zero down” before anyone would be allowed back on board. The process may take 2 to 3 hours.

 

The good news was something I had been aware of since before boarding but sweetened a bit. The original itinerary showed us in Port Canaveral for the day on January 21. I had known from the port schedule and other sources that we would arrive January 20, but our arrival has been pushed up still further, from 1PM to now 11AM, giving us more time to spend in port. He also said that once we escape the current weather system conditions would improve, although improvement is slow coming.

 

For lunch I got a burger at the Lido Pool Grill. It was good but a little too much . I completed my 5-mile walk about 2. It was very windy and somewhat bouncy on deck. A couple of times walking across the bow I felt almost weightless. Instead of a classical concert at 2, the passenger talent show took place. It had the Queens Room packed. The normal pianist from the Chart Room played today at Afternoon Tea.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/talent.jpg

 

Mornings have been very cloudy and the outer decks often closed and I have seen few sunrises since Ponta Delgada. Sunset was about 5:45today and although it was cloudy the setting sun put on a nice display.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/dusk1118.jpg

 

The chop in the seas hasn’t abated and at dinner if we had been in an airplane the seat belt sign would have stayed on all night. I still enjoyed the spa duck selection.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/spaduck.jpg

 

It has not been a good day for Queen Victoria. There have been a number of air conditioning problems (my room is warmer than I like but others are far worse). We had smoking and sparking wires midday in one of the rest rooms, and a major water leak on deck 1 forward. I’m sure the engineering staff will want to forget this day.

 

The featured entertainment was singer Jenny Williams. She was not my cup of tea.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/williams.jpg

 

As today’s parting shot I noted in the little news flyer the passing of Ted Marchibroda. I was not a football fan but know he was very respected for his contributions to Baltimore.

 

Roy

[Tara Jane]

Thank you for the explanation. I will make sure I am up on deck early in the cruise to hear the horns.

A wonderful live review much appreciated,

[cymru cruiser]

following and looking forward to reading more. I have a "forum friend" on a U.K cruise site that is live blogging from Q.V on there as we speak. Just happened to come across this, so it will be interesting to read different points of view of the same voyage.

[kahtrav]

following and looking forward to reading more. I have a "forum friend" on a U.K cruise site that is live blogging from Q.V on there as we speak. Just happened to come across this, so it will be interesting to read different points of view of the same voyage.

Could you give us a link for the UK site? I enjoy reading the b blogs.

[LadyL1]

An update of our segment to Fort Lauderdale, and sorry if any of this is repetitive.

It is Tuesday morning with wind speed over 35knots and the QV still making 20 knots for our early arrival in Port Canaveral. This has not been a comfortable journey for those suffering from "Mal de mer", and sadly one of these is a dining companion. Since leaving the Azores we saw about 5 whales " blowing" in the distance, 2 dolphins and a solitary sea bird!

Outside, the pools are netted for the second day running, so our approach to warmer waters and a fairer climate has disappointed many. However, we are crossing the Atlantic in winter, and many seem to forget this.

The lectures have been good. Mr Bill Miller is very swish and gives an entertaining talk: you can tell he is well practised. The forensic scientist is very interesting and believe this his first attempt a cruise lectures. I hope he continues, as some of the policeman/airline pilots are getting stale even though they give a great presentation: they are just contracted too often for a high percentage return clientele. An evening with Julian Lloyd Webber was wonderful, his wife a very accomplished cellist and the young pianist who accompanied her was a brilliant star for the future. His lecture/question and answer session this morning was excellent to a full theatre.

Yesterday, we heard of some emergency near the Commodore Club, that transpired to be an electrical fault. During the afternoon the ship was without Internet, information systems or air conditioning, and did it get hot! Rectified just before dinner thankfully.

We have enjoyed this crossing and are looking forward to calmer seas, but even the forecast for Fort Lauderdale is not promising! For those of you who are joining QV in Florida you have a lot to look forward to: the food has been excellent and the all round ambience is just what makes a perfect voyage.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

[Host Hattie]

Could you give us a link for the UK site? I enjoy reading the b blogs.

 

Unfortunately Cruise Critic does not allow links to rival sites.

 

Thank you for your understanding.

[cymru cruiser]

Unfortunately Cruise Critic does not allow links to rival sites.

 

Thank you for your understanding.

 

That's why I didn't post a link in my original message because I knew I wasn't allowed to x

[rafinmd]

Crystal Symphony is Cruising Antarctica. QM2 is at sea from New York to Ft. Lauderdale

 

My final sea day on Queen Victoria was a reminder that weather prediction is an inexact science. When I went on deck just after 5 I walked from the midship starboard doors most of the way around the ship to the entrance by Britannia and up to the lido for coffee. It was chilly and windy and I returned to my room to go online for a while. When I returned to the promenade deck I wore my rain jacket and walked 9 more laps until sunrise, about 7:35. It was still quite cloudy but the sun found a few cracks to allow some morning colors.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/dawn0119.jpg

 

I had an appointment for an 8am haircut and when I returned the promenade deck had been closed off and remained so for pretty much the rest of the morning.

 

There were 2 Cunard insights offerings in the morning. At 10 Tristram Elmhirst presented Digging for the Truth”, the intersection of anthropology, archeology, and forensic science in solving crimes. Julian Lloyd Weber followed with primarily a series of videos of his performing life, people he has performed, and recollections from the life of a touring musician, followed by a Q&A session.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/jlw.jpg

 

In his noon update Captain Philpott acknowledged the imprecise nature of weather forecasting. We have been slowed by about 35-knot headwinds but should be at the dock quite close to 11AM. My GPS showed us 470 miles from Monday’s noon position and 460 miles from Port Canaveral.

 

After lunch I was able to get back out on the promenade deck and complete the final 5 laps of my walk despite stiff winds. I finished just before 1:30 and the Navigation Chart auction. It raised what I consider a disappointing $150 for the Prince’s Trust.

 

The auction was followed at 2 by the performance of the guest choir, probably about 60 members strong. The Queens Room was jammed for a very nice performance. I rounded out my final afternoon aboard Queen Victoria with a scone at afternoon tea. Music was provided by Lara Szabo at the harp.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/chorus.jpg

 

The final formal night of the segment was marked with the parade of chefs, along with Baked Alaska. My tablemates all went for lobster while I chose the Beef Wellington. The Senior Officers Party was held between seatings for Platinum and Diamond World Club members. This is one of the nicer events where there are just a lot of officers on the floor mingling with the guests and no set program.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/chefs.jpg

 

The featured entertainment was the world premier of “One Way or Another” by the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers. I seem to be unable to accept the change in show time from 8:45 on Queen Mary 2 to 8:30 on Queen Victoria. I arrived at the very last minute and all that was left was front row center, a very intense experience. I left feeling I had experienced only what was on the center of the stage and missed a lot of the big picture. I also felt like I was constantly staring at the performers feet. The show used only canned music. The Royal Court Orchestra joined forces with the Queens Room Orchestra for a Big Band Ball in the Queens Room. We were treated to an extra hour tonight as we go back to US Eastern time.

 

I’ll go to the Promenade Deck’s Quote Quest series for tonight’s parting shot, a variation on the “chicken or the egg” question. It is by Earl Mountbatten. “In my experience, I have always found than you cannot have an efficient ship unless you have a happy ship, and you cannot have a happy ship unless you have an efficient ship”. I must say, those words ring true to me.

 

Roy

[Salacia]

Roy, thank you for your posts. I have very much enjoyed reading about your journey - not just on this voyage, but also in times past.

 

My parting shot: a kind heart is the surest wisdom - and you certainly seem to have a kind heart.

 

Regards,

Salacia

[rafinmd]

Thank you Salacia.

 

Crystal Symphony is Cruising Antarctica. QM2 is in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

I woke about 4:30 and organized a few things for packing until the alarm went off at 5. Walking up to the top deck I found we were closer to Port Canaveral than expected and traveling at 22kt instead of the expected 19. I returned to my cabin for a while, going to the promenade deck just before 7. Official sunrise was 7:09 but the nicest color came before sunrise at the first sign of light. There was nothing at sunrise but 15 minutes later there was an appearance through a break in the clouds. I walked 2 miles (6 laps) in this morning’s walk.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/dawn0120.jpg

 

My first land sighting was a bit before 9 and we soon picked up our pilot.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/landview.jpg

 

It was quite chilly outside and I went into Commodore Club until we neared the breakwater and continued past Jetty Park. We pulled alongside Terminal 1,a virtually new building, and our first lines went out at 9:55.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/linesout.jpg

 

Terminal 1 is usually used by Royal Caribbean and is designed to handle the 5,000 passenger Oasis and Allure of the Seas and is a BIG terminal. Immigration was being done by deck, and decks 1-4 were in the first wave. We had been told to go to the Queens Room to get a number to be sent off in subgroups, but the first call came about 10:55 and I arrived at the Queens Room 5 minutes later they were already calling deck 5. We were immediately escorted to the gangway and into the terminal. The lines were initially short but moved quite slowly, despite having 16 of the 18 stations occupied, and the lines were getting longer behind me.

 

I was outside the terminal and on a shuttle bus by 11:30. The bus ran a long square route, making 2 stops on the mainland before dropping me off at Cocoa Beach and it was 12:30 when I disembarked the shuttle. My first order of business was actually making a summer reservation with the Alaska Marine Highway system. They just released their summer schedule and were busy so I was on the phone with them for almost 45 minutes.

 

I spent about an hour on lunch and wifi, then visited a grocery store. I was ready for the shuttle bus back to the ship just before 4. There was a significant line for the shuttle that moved slowly. There were supposed to be about 6 buses, roughly 1 every 10 minutes apart. They made the same stops I did at noon, and by the time they got to my stop they were full, with perhaps 2-4 passengers getting off. In the 50 minutes I waited about a dozen of the 20 people ahead of me were served, and he line grew from 20 people to 70. When the dispatcher finally got approval to send is a dedicated bus the line had grown beyond the bus’ capacity. It was well past 5 when I got back to my room.

 

This may have been our final dinner together at table 586 as all of us have long tours Thursday. The featured entertainment was a double bill return of magician Philip Hitchcock and vocal group Troubadour.

 

Today’s parting shot will be a bit of a ramble. Most of my Cunard Voyages have something of a transportation component. I am usually going to or returning from Europe to mesh with some other plans. It’s not that I don’t like being on Cunard, but those annual crossings pretty much satisfied my cravings. 2016 was to be the year that didn’t have a crossing to fit other plans. I found the QM2/QV combination that fit my schedule. Not really much of a transportation purpose but I did rationalize it that my winter flight to Buenos Aires would start in Florida rather than in Maryland. Not really much of a transportation purpose but I seized on it. Well, the latest forecast is in for 12-30 inches of snow about the time my flight will be starting. Can you believe I’m thankful I chose these voyages?

 

Roy

[Scrapnana]

Well, the latest forecast is in for 12-30 inches of snow about the time my flight will be starting. Can you believe I’m thankful I chose these voyages?

 

Roy

 

You definitely would not want to be setting out on a journey from home this weekend, Roy! Heard there might be some bad weather in Florida but hopefully, that will be far away from the FLL-MIA area.

[rgaudet]

Curious Roy, how many times have you sailed across the Atlantic?

 

Rob

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rafinmd]

Thank you scrapnana and rob (and I'll get back to you).

 

Crystal Symphony is in the Drake Passage. QM2 is at sea from Ft, Lauderdale to Amber Cove.

 

With the promenade deck blocked off for use as a gangway, I walked a half hour on Queen Victoria’s inner corridors. I did find, stepping out on the back deck as I got coffee that it was a chilly morning for Florida, and started the day off wearing a golf shirt and my rain jacket. Sunrise was at 7:15 and while it was cloudy the sun put on a respectable showing over the aft lido deck and the port entrance channel.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/dawn0121.jpg

 

My tour today was the Kennedy Space Center. Tours met in the Royal Court Theater and mine was called to depart just after 8. There was a row of about a dozen Space Center buses waiting at the terminal and we were off on about a half hour drive, arriving just a bit before the center’s 9AM opening. After the playing of the Star Spangled Banner the gates opened and we passed through security into the complex. Our first official stop would be the IMAX theater for a show at 10, and we spent the initial time looking at a mock-up Orion capsule (to be used in missions to Mars) and checking out the Journey to Mars exhibit.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/orion.jpg

 

The IMAX movie started with a number of trailers sponsored by the firms using the space center, primarily Spacex while the feature film covered the history of the Apollo and Shuttle programs and progress on journeying to Mars. After the movie we boarded our bus to tour the working areas of the center. One former launch pad was set up for visitor access. It was sadly the pad where the first launching was the sad final launch of the Challenger. We passed other launch pads, some of which will be used in the coming months. We passed one of the giant launch platforms sitting on the crawler vehicle which transports the rockets to the launch site.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/padandcrawler.jpg

 

We had a stop outside the Vehicle Assembly Building, the world’s largest single story building. I was fortunate to be able to get inside the VAB on a family visit to KSC 2 or 3 years ago but it is now hosting assembly work towards the Orion project and no longer open to the public. At the stop we saw some exhibits including a vehicle used by fire personnel to protect launch crews and a replica of a portion of the flag showing the scale of the flag painted on the VAB. We also saw a few alligators, including one near this stop.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/vab.jpg

 

Our final tour stop was the Apollo exhibit. The original launch control center building has been enlarged with an auditorium looking into the control center and a huge extension with an Apollo rocket suspended from the ceiling and many exhibits. Our time there started with a recreation of the countdown to an Apollo mission with the various original consoles being lighted up as their functions were employed in the launch. After the demonstration we toured the displays and also had out lunch stop.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/appololaunch.jpg

 

Our final stop was at the Atlantis exhibit which I do not believe was open the last time I visited KSC. Essentially the retired space shuttle was put on a pedestal with a new building constructed around it. The shuttle was placed at an angle with the cargo door wide open and the mechanical arm extended. A mockup of the cockpit and other displays were nearby and you could easily see the discoloration of the heat shield tiles that protected the shuttle on re-entry.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/atlantis1.jpg

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/atlantis2.jpg

 

We had a little bit of free time after the Atlantis exhibit and I spent some of it wandering the Rocket Garden, a collection o f rockets from a number of programs. The rockets on display were spares, built to be used if needed. The similar rockets actually used were all discarded at the end of their missions, falling into the ocean. We returned to the ship about 4.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/rktgarden.jpg

 

At our final dinner one of my tablemates reported on her visit to Disney World as something she was glad she tried but had no desire to repeat. I left after the entree as we sailed about 6:45. When I got out on deck we had completed our turn in the turning basin and had just passed the cargo ship that was sitting behind us. It was then dark but I could see camera flashes and hear cheers from Jetty Park as we passed out to sea.

 

There was a variety show in the Royal Court Theater but I skipped it to finish my packing with the last of my bags going out to the hallway about 10:30. It was gone when I checked at 11.

 

Today’s parting shot will be a note of tribute to the brave astronauts who led the way to explorations of beyond our world, some making the ultimate sacrifice, and to the thousands of dedicated support personnel at Cape Canaveral and in Houston.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

OK, we are now docked, raining at the moment. All aboard for those continuing is 17:30

 

Curious Roy, how many times have you sailed across the Atlantic?

 

Rob

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I hope you don’t mind if I give you a list instead of a count. I’ll also add Pacific and booked crossings. The 2011 Pacific crossing may be too short to count:.

 

Atlantic:

 

1. 2003:Canmar Courage (freighter) Montreal-Antwerp

2. 2006:Crystal Symphony Dover-New York

3: 2007 QM2 Southampton-Brooklyn

4: 2008 QM2 Southampton-Brooklyn

5: 2008 QE2 New York-Southampton

6: 2008 Crystal Serenity Lisbon-Miami

7: 2009 QM2 Brooklyn-Southampton

8: 2009 Wind Surf Lisbon-Barbados

9: 2010 QM2 Southampton-Cherbourg-Southampton-Brooklyn

10: 2011 Rotterdam New York-Rotterdam

11: 2011 QM2 Southampton-Brooklyn

12: 2012 Celebrity Solstice FTL-Barcelona

13: 2012 QM2 Brooklyn-Southampton

14: 2012 Crystal Symphony Dover-New York

15: 2013 Queen Elizabeth New York-Southampton

16: 2014 Amsterdam Cape Town-FTL

17: 2014 QM2 Brooklyn-Hamburg

18: 2014 Wind Star Lisbon-Barbados

19: 2015 Crystal Serenity Miami-Lisbon

20: 2015

21: 2015 Allure of the Seas Rome-FTL

22: 2016

23: 2016 Queen Victoria Southampton-FTL

 

Booked:

 

24: 2016

25: 2016 Seabourn Odyssey Lisbon-FTL

26: 2017 Prinsendam Rome-FTL

 

Pacific:

 

1: 2004 Crystal Harmony Beijing-San Francisco

2: 2010 Crystal Symphony Los Angeles-Sydney

3: 2011 Crystal Serenity Papeete-Auckland

4: 2015 Crystal Symphony Kobe-Vancouver

 

Booked:

5: 2017 Amsterdam Seattle-Far East

 

My 2017 bookings are now tentative. I’m reserved for the first half of the Amsterdam’s Grand Pacific voyage but details are not out yet. The final itinerary may be inconsistent with my Prinsendam crossing.

 

Roy

[Cats2010]

Many thanks for the well-described report of your visit to the Kennedy Space Center, Roy from Maryland! I found it very interesting and informative to read, the more so as I have not been there for years.

 

Bon voyage while you continue. I hope that the severe weather conditions that have been announced for the East Coast, I'm not sure about Florida, keep out of your way.

 

:)

[rgaudet]

OK, we are now docked, raining at the moment. All aboard for those continuing is 17:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you don’t mind if I give you a list instead of a count. I’ll also add Pacific and booked crossings. The 2011 Pacific crossing may be too short to count:.

 

 

 

Atlantic:

 

 

 

1. 2003:Canmar Courage (freighter) Montreal-Antwerp

 

2. 2006:Crystal Symphony Dover-New York

 

3: 2007 QM2 Southampton-Brooklyn

 

4: 2008 QM2 Southampton-Brooklyn

 

5: 2008 QE2 New York-Southampton

 

6: 2008 Crystal Serenity Lisbon-Miami

 

7: 2009 QM2 Brooklyn-Southampton

 

8: 2009 Wind Surf Lisbon-Barbados

 

9: 2010 QM2 Southampton-Cherbourg-Southampton-Brooklyn

 

10: 2011 Rotterdam New York-Rotterdam

 

11: 2011 QM2 Southampton-Brooklyn

 

12: 2012 Celebrity Solstice FTL-Barcelona

 

13: 2012 QM2 Brooklyn-Southampton

 

14: 2012 Crystal Symphony Dover-New York

 

15: 2013 Queen Elizabeth New York-Southampton

 

16: 2014 Amsterdam Cape Town-FTL

 

17: 2014 QM2 Brooklyn-Hamburg

 

18: 2014 Wind Star Lisbon-Barbados

 

19: 2015 Crystal Serenity Miami-Lisbon

 

20: 2015

 

21: 2015 Allure of the Seas Rome-FTL

 

22: 2016

 

23: 2016 Queen Victoria Southampton-FTL

 

 

 

Booked:

 

 

 

24: 2016

 

25: 2016 Seabourn Odyssey Lisbon-FTL

 

26: 2017 Prinsendam Rome-FTL

 

 

 

Pacific:

 

 

 

1: 2004 Crystal Harmony Beijing-San Francisco

 

2: 2010 Crystal Symphony Los Angeles-Sydney

 

3: 2011 Crystal Serenity Papeete-Auckland

 

4: 2015 Crystal Symphony Kobe-Vancouver

 

 

 

Booked:

 

5: 2017 Amsterdam Seattle-Far East

 

 

 

My 2017 bookings are now tentative. I’m reserved for the first half of the Amsterdam’s Grand Pacific voyage but details are not out yet. The final itinerary may be inconsistent with my Prinsendam crossing.

 

 

 

Roy

 

 

Roy

 

That is amazing(and I love the detail).

 

You set a bar to which I strive! I have done 5 Atlantic crossings and would love to do as many as you on the variety of ships as you have sailed.

 

Don't stop!

 

Rob

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Halfmoonfan]

A poster on the Crystal forum writes:

 

 

 

Thanks, Keith. Bill did not make that point about Carnival in today’s talk it certainly rings true to me. I often hear people on the mainstream cruise lines complaining about how Carnival cheapened their favorite lines but I am convinced that without Carnival there would be no Holland America or Cunard, probably no Princess, and very possibly no Seabourn. To me it comes down to the “Old Ann Landers Question”, “Are you better off with or without ...” and I am solidly in the camp of better off with Carnival. While I now only sail with them under special circumstances my first ever conventional cruise was on the Carnival Fantasy, and when the circumstances are right I have enjoyed the experience.

 

Roy

Keith and Roy,

 

 

I agree with Mr. Miller about what Carnival was like 30 years ago and how it made the world of cruising what is today. I sailed on the early Carnival ships in the mid-1980’s (Carnivale, Festivale and Mardi Gras). In my opinion, the people on these boards who look down their noses at Carnival while opining about the good old days on another mainline, have no idea what Carnival was like then. All guests had their assigned table and wait staff in the MDR for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food was first class with table side service and Baked Alaska on parade on the last night, and midnight buffets in the dining complete with ice carvings, the likes one does not see anymore, every night of the cruise.

 

 

 

Roy, thanks for the wonderful trip report. I am enjoying this very much.

[KirkNC]

A poster on the Crystal forum writes:

 

 

 

Thanks, Keith. Bill did not make that point about Carnival in today’s talk it certainly rings true to me. I often hear people on the mainstream cruise lines complaining about how Carnival cheapened their favorite lines but I am convinced that without Carnival there would be no Holland America or Cunard, probably no Princess, and very possibly no Seabourn. To me it comes down to the “Old Ann Landers Question”, “Are you better off with or without ...” and I am solidly in the camp of better off with Carnival. While I now only sail with them under special circumstances my first ever conventional cruise was on the Carnival Fantasy, and when the circumstances are right I have enjoyed the experience.

 

Roy

Keith and Roy,

 

 

I agree with Mr. Miller about what Carnival was like 30 years ago and how it made the world of cruising what is today. I sailed on the early Carnival ships in the mid-1980’s (Carnivale, Festivale and Mardi Gras). In my opinion, the people on these boards who look down their noses at Carnival while opining about the good old days on another mainline, have no idea what Carnival was like then. All guests had their assigned table and wait staff in the MDR for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food was first class with table side service and Baked Alaska on parade on the last night, and midnight buffets in the dining complete with ice carvings, the likes one does not see anymore, every night of the cruise.

 

 

 

Roy, thanks for the wonderful trip report. I am enjoying this very much.

 

Ah the Festivale, that was our first cruise ship!

[rafinmd]

Thank you Cats2010, Halfmoonfan, Rob, and Kirk

 

Crystal Symphony is in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. QM2 is in Amber Cove, Dominican Republic

 

I woke about 3:45 and couldn’t get back to sleep and decided to work on my Port Canaveral post.

When I went up to the lido for coffee at 5 we were a lot closer to the port than expected. I also picked up skim milk to take back to my cabin and found my bill waiting with an error. It was just a transposed digit in the room number but getting it fixed took a while. When I returned to the promenade deck we had already entered the channel for the port. I only had time to walk 3 laps before it started raining. The first lines went out about 6:20.

 

I had booked an 8:45 private transfer with Cunard and left the ship about 8:15. My luggage was waiting in a very small group of bags. I thought I could handle the bags myself but gave up and called for a porter about 1/3 of the way out of the terminal. A rep was standing outside with my name on a sign and directed me to a corner of the walk while the car pulled up. The drive to Miami was somewhat delayed by rain and accidents but I was at the Sheraton Miami Airport a little after 10. A bellman took my luggage and reception was unclear about the availability of a room and I was asked to check back in 10 minutes. I took a few things out of my bag to go into town and soon thereafter the reception clerk approached me with my key.

 

The Sheraton is directly across the street from Miami’s new Multimodal Transportation Center with the airport car rental desks, Tri-Rail, Metrorail, Metrobus, and Greyhound all connected to the airport by a people mover. There’s even a room with an Amtrak logo but political wrangling has kept that part closed. The sign says “opening soon” but I think that means another 10 months or so.

 

Other than that transportation hub there’s not much close by. I went into Panera for lunch. It was a somewhat easy walk from Douglas Road Metro Station but the rain had now gotten stronger. I also wanted to stop at a Publix which I thought was relatively close North of the station but had no luck with that. When I gave up looking I saw I was on a bus line that served the Multimodal Hub but the bus was a long time coming. Most Miami bus stops are equipped with benches, but almost none have shelters and the rain was getting quite strong. I was totally soaked when I got back to the hotel.

 

A group of people on the Holland America Forum of Cruise Critic are pretty addicted to watching their ships sail from Ft. Lauderdale on the webcam there and usually also watch the rare appearance of Cunard ships. Queen Victoria’s departure was quite delayed by tour buses returning late with weather and traffic delays but when Queen Victoria finally did leave she put on a lovely display of her horns as she passed the camera.

 

I had planned to go into Miami for dinner but metro service to the airport was getting pretty infrequent so I went to the airport. The lines for “Main Customer Assistance” were overflowing. Have I said how glad I am to not be flying from the Northeast this weekend.

 

I guess fatigue really got to me as I dozed off for about 3 hours in my computer chair before finally waking and going to bed about 1AM.

 

When I was on QE in 2010 I used a number of the Quote Quest signs in my parting shots. I looked back at those reports and how many of them I have used both then and this trip. My final one is not a surprise. I knew the first time I rounded the stern of the Promenade deck I had used that as my final one then and will again. It is originally by William Gladstone: "We look forward to the time when the power of love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace".

 

Roy

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for the wonderful updates Roy, I will miss them.

Safe onward journey and I look forward to seeing you back on the Cunard board soon.

[rafinmd]

Thank you, Host Hattie.

 

My Queen Mary 2 review has been published:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/v-1/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=523161

 

I will not be doing a member review on Queen Victoria this time. I did do one in 2010 and would not change much from that review:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/v-1/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=65831

 

As to my own Cunard plans they are kind of typical for me. I have a December 7 Seabourn Odyssey Transatlantic from Lisbon. I have just booked Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic for November 12-19 and have also booked Queen Elizabeth for November 22. QE's final port call is Lisbon on December 1 and I may disembark there or may return to Southampton and take the train through Paris. I'm actually hoping it will be possible for me to drop some of my luggage at my Lisbon hotel and go Lisbon-Southampton-Lisbon lightly loaded. I'm not sure if Portugese Customs will allow that but it would be nice.

 

I guess I'll rarely if ever post on this thread again with the torch fully passed on to those now on board or joining later. I have a subscription to the thread and will enjoy email summaries of what happens on the rest of QV's World Cruise.

 

Roy

Edited January 24, 2016 by rafinmd

[kahtrav]

Thank you, Host Hattie.

 

My Queen Mary 2 review has been published:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/v-1/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=523161

 

I will not be doing a member review on Queen Victoria this time. I did do one in 2010 and would not change much from that review:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/v-1/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=65831

 

As to my own Cunard plans they are kind of typical for me. I have a December 7 Seabourn Odyssey Transatlantic from Lisbon. I have just booked Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic for November 12-19 and have also booked Queen Elizabeth for November 22. QE's final port call is Lisbon on December 1 and I may disembark there or may return to Southampton and take the train through Paris. I'm actually hoping it will be possible for me to drop some of my luggage at my Lisbon hotel and go Lisbon-Southampton-Lisbon lightly loaded. I'm not sure if Portugese Customs will allow that but it would be nice.

 

I guess I'll rarely if ever post on this thread again with the torch fully passed on to those now on board or joining later. I have a subscription to the thread and will enjoy email summaries of what happens on the rest of QV's World Cruise.

 

Roy

I have very much enjoyed your "live from" reports and will continue to follow your blog as you continue your journey. I do hope someone will pick up this thread so those of us at home can continue to follow the QV around the world.

[Hobie]

Thank you Roy, Roscoe and everybody else who has been posting reports from the Queen Victoria. Great reading.

 

I will be boarding the ship in San Francisco two weeks from today on Feb. 7! Yeah, getting real excited.

 

I will try to update this board with my experiences. Although I kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland this year (which gives the gift of eloquence), I doubt that I can match the eloquent and descriptive narrations of Roy and everybody else! I'll try to share my experiences though!

 

See everybody in two weeks in San Francisco!

 

Glenn