Queen Mary 2 Sydney to New York, March 6 to April 25, 2020

[bluemarble]

18 minutes ago, sogne said:

a good report here   much more involved than in my day

 

https://www.nsri.org.za/2020/04/patient-evacuation-off-the-queen-mary-2/?

fbclid=IwAR25lMehE4TUVcBzawSkAqnuZ__2SGMc2v495pR6pvDpvIutHuFM52MbQqE

 

Thanks for that. Apparently there was only one patient evacuated. I have no reason to doubt the facebook post about two separate medical incidents yesterday, but this report makes it pretty clear only one required a medical evacuation.

[rafinmd]

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 is just rounding Cape of Good at a nice 23kt (Does anyone know the maximum speed without the gas turbines, and how far the ship can go without refueling).  Soon she will be on a pretty straight forward course towards Southampton.

 

I have passed the point of 2 weeks since my last crowds (DFW International terminal, the domestic one was pretty deserted, and am just 7 hours short of 2 weeks since arrival at home.

 

Roy

[travelnap]

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 is just rounding Cape of Good at a nice 23kt (Does anyone know the maximum speed without the gas turbines, and how far the ship can go without refueling).  Soon she will be on a pretty straight forward course towards Southampton.

 

I have passed the point of 2 weeks since my last crowds (DFW International terminal, the domestic one was pretty deserted, and am just 7 hours short of 2 weeks since arrival at home.

 

Roy

Roy, Glad to hear that your self quarantine is almost over.  Of course though there is not much available for things to do, with the shelter at home orders around the country.  

[sfred]

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 is just rounding Cape of Good at a nice 23kt (Does anyone know the maximum speed without the gas turbines, and how far the ship can go without refueling).  Soon she will be on a pretty straight forward course towards Southampton.

 

Hi Roy -- some numbers I've seen...

 

1)  Max speed on diesel:  between 23 - 24 knots.  Diesel-only max speed might be slightly greater at present with the hotel load power requirement likely below the normal of 15-16MW, with various passenger decks closed and unoccupied cabin lights switched off. 

2)  Max speed during sea trials with both diesels and gas turbines and with a clean hull was 29.62 knots.

3)  Maximum range.  According to Stephen Payne's "Owners Workshop Manual" book, page 168, QM2's fuel tank capacity of heavy fuel oil is 1,412,977 US gallons, or about 4,587 metric tonnes.  Fuel consumption is approximately 261 metric tonnes per day, giving around 17 days of range.  Of course, you wouldn't want to run the tanks all the way to empty (I don't imagine that Cunard can ring AAA for a topup), and fuel consumption will vary with wind, sea state, speed, power loads, etc.  But that is perhaps a rough guide.

 

Does anyone have better numbers than these?

 

[bluemarble]

QM2's past track shows that she slowed to a near stop a few hours ago. All I can find about it on facebook is a vague reference to a technical issue that required her to pause for a couple hours to get it resolved. She's back on her way now doing 18 knots.

[rafinmd]

10 hours ago, bluemarble said:

QM2's past track shows that she slowed to a near stop a few hours ago. All I can find about it on facebook is a vague reference to a technical issue that required her to pause for a couple hours to get it resolved. She's back on her way now doing 18 knots.

Since then she seems to be doing well continuing now at 24 kt and well up the Namibia coast.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 is continuing her journey.  She is out of land AIS reach but her satellite position has her almost at the latitude of the border between Namibia and Angola.  She is far out to sea on a direct route to pass around the western tip of Africa.

 

According to a roll call member on board the new expected Southampton arrival is about April 14.

 

Roy

[Trevor33]

Is it correct that the remaining passengers on board are those that did not or were not able to get off in Freemantle to fly home? Have these passengers stayed non board as they have symptoms ?

[rafinmd]

There are no reported symptoms on the ship.  The remaining passengers certified to the medical center that they were unable to fly.  Not all are British and it will be interesting to see what happens to them when they get to the UK.

 

Roy

[Trevor33]

How will the American passengers get home. QM2 not sailing and did not think that American airports were receiving flights?

[BJLord]

You would never say so based on Flight Aware. These are flights going in and out of Heathrow today. You can see USA air traffic by dragging the image across.

https://flightaware.com/live/airport/EGLL

[Colin_Cameron]

21 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

The remaining passengers certified to the medical center that they were unable to fly.  Not all are British and it will be interesting to see what happens to them when they get to the UK.

Reading the World Cruise roll-call it seems at least one has already made a miraculous recovery from whatever it was that made them 'medically unfit to fly'. I always knew an ocean voyage was good for you.

 

I'd be quite happy to see Carnival Corp & PLC place those who subsequently fly after disembarking QM2 on the No-Sail list for needlessly endangering the lives of other passengers and crew. I don't believe it's possible for any of them not to have been ashore in the two weeks prior to leaving Fremantle, or not to have interacted in some way with someone who was.

[rafinmd]

1 hour ago, Colin_Cameron said:

Reading the World Cruise roll-call it seems at least one has already made a miraculous recovery from whatever it was that made them 'medically unfit to fly'. I always knew an ocean voyage was good for you.

 

I'd be quite happy to see Carnival Corp & PLC place those who subsequently fly after disembarking QM2 on the No-Sail list for needlessly endangering the lives of other passengers and crew. I don't believe it's possible for any of them not to have been ashore in the two weeks prior to leaving Fremantle, or not to have interacted in some way with someone who was.

Captain was quite clear that the transportation would be only as far as Southampton.  I wonder what onward arrangements will be like after that.  I think that most of the flights currently running are repatriation flights and that process may be nearing completion.

 

Roy

[Jack E Dawson]

BJLord is correct. There are numerous flights daily between the US and UK. Just as one example, on April 16th (QM2 should arrive SH on the 14th) there United flights scheduled from London to all 3 NYC airports starting at U$500 oneway. Also, the State Dept. is allowing US citizens to return from UK. Below is a screenshot from their web site today.

 

Jack

 

[rafinmd]

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 is several hundred miles off the coast of northern Angola.  At this point she should be crossing the equator in about 2 days but I doubt there will be a celebration.

 

I submitted a request for reimbursement to guest relations Friday evening.  I got a call this evening almost exactly 72 hours after it was submitted.  I almost didn't answer because caller ID was Princess Cruises.  I had requested about $185 in reimbursement but there were a few things which didn't have actual receipts and I was told the check would take about 60 days.  I really can't complain about getting halfway around the world with even $185 outlays let alone an out of pocket expense of $30.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 is continuing her northwestern journey towards the western bulge of Africa, currently at a latitude just inside 5 degrees south.  She should be crossing the equator on Wednesday.

 

I don't normally do parting shots since leaving Australia but will add one in video.  My regular readers are aware of my obsession with a certain musical.   Of course virtually all theaters are closed now worldwide but I was inspired by this one.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 crossed the equator approximately 3PM London.  By her longitude she would normally have been one hour earlier than London but with no coming stops I see little sense in moving the clocks back beyond London time and then having to give up an hour before Southampton.  I'm convinced the passing would have occurred with very little fanfare. 

 

The ship has not been picked up by land base AIS for over 3 days but we should get a definitive fix in the next day or 2 as she passes between Dakar and the Canaries.

 

Roy

[bluemarble]

QM2 is now back in range of land-based AIS. Currently off the coast of Africa about even with the border between Sierra Leone and Guinea, sailing at about 24 knots.

[rafinmd]

Queen Mary 2 is currently passing the Gambia, still at 24 knots.  Wishing everybody a happy Passover and Easter.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Repatriation Merchant Ship Queen Mary 2 is approaching the demarcation line between Mauritania and Western Sahara and the Tropic of Cancer.  I am a bit curious about what might be happening on board.  When I was last on Cunard over the holidays (QV, 10 years ago) they brought a protestant chaplain on board for Palm Sunday to Easter.  I'm sure that isn't happening now (not just the way the ship is running now but the person would have needed to board before Perth) but I wonder if Captain Hashmi is doing services, most likely over the television to protect from any possible contamination.

 

Roy

[longton]

Captain Hashmi won't be conducting a Christian service since he's Moslem.

[longton]

From Cunard website:

 

A Catholic Priest sails permanently on Queen Mary 2

[exlondoner]

48 minutes ago, longton said:

Captain Hashmi won't be conducting a Christian service since he's Moslem.

 

Well, he has certainly conducted the Sunday non-denominational service when I've been aboard, with the usual hymns and prayers.

[IB2]

6 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

Well, he has certainly conducted the Sunday non-denominational service when I've been aboard, with the usual hymns and prayers.

What a waste of his time.

[Host Hattie]

6 minutes ago, IB2 said:

What a waste of his time.

It's a ship board tradition and appreciated by those who attend.