QM2-What I learned Nov.20th to N.Y-Long!

[rabbit85]

I agree with Timoniers' comments on Nov.28th's post,so here are a few very

personal thoughts,feelings and experiences after these 6 days,a B3 passenger

now looking back to 53 years of TransAtl.when it used to be the only way to

cross,but in those days QM took only 5 days!

 

The Boat-- is monstrous,350 yards long- from the stern area to my cabin was a slow long walk,usually 2 stops to rest- one cannot see the opposite end without field glasses! 41 yards wide is almost too hard to imagine,but with 3-4 sets of anti-roll stabilizers there was NO roll on this max Force 6 voyage,in fact most of the time it was hard to detect the boat was even moving-so much so that I usually had to look out of a nearby window to decide which direction the boat was making-so then I could decide which side was Port or Starboard and then walk either to the sharp or blunt end- by the second day I learned that odd numbered cabins were on the Starboard side,but alighting off the fabulous staircase elevators I was never sure which way to turn to proceed Right/Left for fore or aft!

 

Events- 4th day or so,fog horn blowing as we met the usual Labrador/Gulf

current fogs the Captain announced at 5 pm- 'we shall be turning off the

engines to make an 'adjustment'- don't be concerned with the few shakes &

shudders for a few minutes-'Then on the cabin TV the GPS readout went to O

then -0.3 then -1.7kn- by now the propellors were not turning and the boat

was going eastward over ground with the Gulf Stream. Later the Captain

explained to me that the boat was 'never dead in the water' so he did not

hoist 2 vertical Red lights for 'not in command' - the Coast Guard lighting

rules when a boat is stationary at sea. Anyway the Chief Engineer later told

me they used the 'adjustment time' to check the Rolls Royce pod engines

which had just had new bearings in the re-fit last week in Hamburg dry dock.

Apparently one engine was fractionally running warmer and they used the time

with the props stationary to check the oil level in each of the electric motor

pod engines- as these cost several $m they don't want to damage then after

he refit etc. Fortunately there was no serious problem & we were underway

again after a short while- The boat never rolled,pitched or tossed mid Atlantic

even when stopped in fairly calm foggy conditions,but I have never been 'dead in the water' in any boat except my own 50' sailboat in mid- Atlantic!

 

Meals,entertainment,activities- there were 40-50 things to do and see on the

daily programs,I only completed 25 or so,only 'visited' the smaller restaurants

and still have not recovered from 'gourmet' over indulgence in Todd's Restnt!

Shows,dancing,movies,planetaria & Lectures were highlights & superb! The

Brittania was magnificent,well up to QE2 Caronia - though try to get a table #

77-83 Main Brittania 2nd sitting as mentioned on these Boards a while back!

 

Unusual 'SECURITY' issue! A senior lady dinner table friend with her daughter

returned to their Deck 6 cabin at 11pm to find a gentleman in a bed! They

called Security and the problem was Security was confused as they

thought/suspected this call might be the reporting lady in question trying to bid Adieu to say an earlier 'friend'! After a few scary minutes they convinced

Security this was an uninvited visitor,entering through an unlocked cabin door.The problem was then handled well,for the visitor was an elderly man

from a nearby cabin,with some type of Altzheimers confusion,making a

genuine mistake! Suggests to me that Security sees all types of 'relationship

problems' on a voyage where Alcohol and Fun/Games are freely enjoyed-

Makes the previous Board report from an ex-Policeman understandable,

& we recognise that 2500 enjoying 6 day 'Parties' are 'asking for problems'!

 

Kennels- We had only one beautiful British Gray female feline in the Deck 11

nice kennels,on a return journey after British Customs/Vets.refused her Oct. U.K.entry- one of her 99 documents was misdated by one day and they wanted to put her in Quarantine in dreadful filthy Salisbury Quar,compound for 6m.The Owners turned round straight away and returned,rightfully now determined to publicize this uncalled,unecessary bureaucratic nightmare.

British Vetinarians surely should be aware of this horrible experience and

correct the 'issues' as the Owners are now following up to prevent this ever

happening again to other visitors from N.America.

 

Lastly,the ONLY NEGATIVE comment- Thanks to these boards I was prepared

to use my Laptop with the Wireless D Link-for E Mails etc. and bought $29

for 60 minutes Net time-- 49 cents/min! The first few days I used 9-10 mins

as taught me by the expert Board posting a few weeks back--Thanks!

 

4th day I could not remember how to 'disconnect' from boat link and 45 mins

surfing consumed $25 in a flash! SURELY Cunard should let me be on line for

less than $29/hour- By and large,this was another example of being nickel

and dimed to death- one is charged for every small thing with ones passenger 'credit card' mine was almost worn out entering NY Nov 26th!

 

Lastly,I did fill in the Cr.Crit Log- last entry in October - the Librarian,a v.

cool English Lady running a superb Library needs encouragement! As for the

Board member who was to meet me in the Chart Room 6pm 2nd night out

I waited & waited,enjoying my 'free soft drink' stamp bought from the bar-

the only good bargain on the boat, other than the Hermes scarfs ( !!! ) -

my Wife told me on the 'weak,crackling phone' she stopped wearing scarves

2 years ago (Thank Goodness,I didn't buy these for presents!)

 

'Glad to be home' - interesting,but how long will it last??????

 

I wonder!

 

Rabbit

[guernseyguy]

Rabbit85 - thanks for posting - did you travel on the original QM? - What did you think of her?

 

Peter

[Paul NH]

Thanks for the review Rabbit and glad you enjoyed the trip.

 

You definitely have to watch yourself using the internet on board. I ended up spending much more than I thought I would for the service. The time flies by, just like the trip itself.

 

Paul

[rabbit85]

Rabbit85 - thanks for posting - did you travel on the original QM? - What did you think of her?

 

Comment-------

 

Chalk and cheese! Gone are the gracious days,the Veranda Grill,the 'horse

racing'after dinner,the steward laying out ones tuxedo, all part of yesteryear!

 

But its a new industry,mass travel,and something for everyone?

 

We had a 'reunion' one noontime & about 20 or so ex QM passengers shared

their memories-ranging from 1941 an ex Air Force en route to UK,to several

relocating,Brides and honeymooners- No one present to remember the

tragic cruiser collision and other wartime scares,but most commented on the

'style & grace' of crossing- as for the crew,one crew person an Able Seaman

on the Bridge talked about how the boat was run,long before GPS & even how

they steered into Pier 91 using 3 nails on a board to line things up!!

 

In a philosophical mood,accepting change is inevitable & necessary,so

this new technological marvel is to be welcomed- thank goodness for the

747 era's- and now 2900 can enjoy a new way to cruise-travel,in High style!

 

I wonder how long the trans-Atlantic service will survive? On this trip I did

not meet anyone who was there just 'to get from England to N.Y.- all were

there to see this new marvel,enjoy the resort luxury and quite a few doing

round trips as a vacation with stopover in Europe for a week or two.

 

Finally interesting to see that this Winters projected 'round the Horn' trips

are being offered at greatly discounted prices- so I reserve judgement on

how next years TransAtl schedule will fare?

 

Anyone else, with comments ?

[Liv4cruzin]

Good review. Only thing is; I cringe whenever anyone calls her a "boat". She is a ship, an ocean liner, a grand dame of the sea. Respectfully....

[rabbit85]

Quite right,QM2 is a ship,liner etc etc. but perhaps 'in vernacular' of

the 'industry' is a 'cruise boat' now not common usage?

 

An important point to me was the way she sails,with all the newest

'pods' electric motors (Elec.stepped down from 20,000 volts generated to

2000 to the pod motors) and now even no rudders! As for heaving to mid

Atlantic this was remarkable!.

 

A final new comment on the 4 spare stainless steel prop blades carried forward on the open fore-deck--the Engineers originally tried to get these $ several hundred thousand, 10 ton 'works of art' added to the 'decorating budget' rather than as part of engineering equipment,to thus 'free up' one or two millions for other engineering needs--- this was NOT sanctioned by Mr Carnival!

 

As to how to change blades when NOT near a dry dock (say after hitting a

sunken container when cruising) presents a fascinating challenge,

for every day lost with thousands aboard would be an expensive 'delay'-

They did have an answer- PERHAPS SOME LEARNED CR.CRIT'S WOULD

SUGGEST OR HAZARD HOW THEY PLAN TO USE THESE BLADES,as Dry Docks

in the Carib/South America are rare,and probably Norfolk.Va. would need

Mr Blair calling GWB for a favour?

 

Most of these comments etc. were from meeting the v.v.friendly Deck &

Engineering crew- made the voyage one of discovery to say the least!

 

As ever,I enjoy all the comments and posts- makes this board a real

'daily'pleasure!!! Thanks everyone -- Rabbit!

[Liv4cruzin]

You are entitled to call her anything you like, I suppose. But being retired from the cruise industry, I can assure you that 99% refer to them as ships. There may be some who use the term "boat" as a holdover of the days of the "Love Boat". But I believe even on the "Love Boat", the "crew" referred to her as a ship.

 

Again, respectfully so.

[guernseyguy]

Dictionaries tend to differentiate between boat as 'a small vessel for travel on water' - hence lifeboat and boat deck, while a ship is a 'large seagoing vessel'. See here:

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

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

 

One way to remember it is that there are boats on a ship - life boats - but you would be hard pressed to put ships on a boat! If a vessel has a 'boat deck' - its a ship!

 

Peter

[eatsallinsects]

Unusual 'SECURITY' issue! A senior lady dinner table friend with her daughter

returned to their Deck 6 cabin at 11pm to find a gentleman in a bed! They

called Security and the problem was Security was confused as they

thought/suspected this call might be the reporting lady in question trying to bid Adieu to say an earlier 'friend'! After a few scary minutes they convinced

Security this was an uninvited visitor,entering through an unlocked cabin door.The problem was then handled well,for the visitor was an elderly man

from a nearby cabin,with some type of Altzheimers confusion,making a

genuine mistake!

----------------------------------------------------

How did the man even get in the wrong cabin? Our ID card is our "room key".

[rabbit85]

Unusual 'SECURITY' issue! A senior lady dinner table friend with her daughter

returned to their Deck 6 cabin at 11pm to find a gentleman in a bed! They

called Security and the problem was Security was confused as they

thought/suspected this call might be the reporting lady in question trying to bid Adieu to say an earlier 'friend'! After a few scary minutes they convinced

Security this was an uninvited visitor,entering through an unlocked cabin door.The problem was then handled well,for the visitor was an elderly man

from a nearby cabin,with some type of Altzheimers confusion,making a

genuine mistake!

----------------------------------------------------

How did the man even get in the wrong cabin? Our ID card is our "room key".

 

The ladies door was left unlocked,but seemingly closed- somehow the 'visitor' rambled into their room unknowingly. -this was their explanation-