Where in the world ?

[Colin_Cameron]

And with the help of that not-so-subtle hint I finally got there. I hadn’t actually thought to check webcams for matching images.

 

Albany, WA.

[bluemarble]

Here's a link to one of the shark attack news articles from August 16, 2022 I referred to earlier.

 

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/sharks/albany-shark-attack-hero-friend-conner-shirley-recounts-nightmare-swim-to-safety-c-7910831

 

Very good, @sfred. I was hoping you might revive that "not in New York" hint from previous references in this game.

[sfred]

19 minutes ago, Colin_Cameron said:

And with the help of that not-so-subtle hint I finally got there. I hadn’t actually thought to check webcams for matching images.

 

Albany, WA.

 

That's the place!  The webcam photo was captured a few minutes after QE's departure this past Saturday 4 March.  The webcam is located at the surf life saving club on Middleton beach, around Point King from Albany, and hosted by the WA Department of Transport.  Here is the original image, with the location and time/date stamp restored.  QE is shown in the distance at the upper right of the photo, prior to its turn westward for the next port of Busselton

 

@bluemarble, did your capture of QE's arrival that morning have a better view of the ship? 

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by sfred

[sfred]

Forgot to mention, the Albany webcam image is copyright of the Western Australia government and shared here under the permitted uses of the Copyright Act 1968.

[bluemarble]

13 minutes ago, sfred said:

@bluemarble, did your capture of QE's arrival that morning have a better view of the ship? 

 

Here is the image I have from that same Government of Western Australia Department of Transport Albany webcam showing a slightly better view of QE during her arrival at Albany on Saturday.

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by bluemarble

[sogne]

well known port and Cunard ship  what was special according to captain concerning this port call?

[bluemarble]

4 hours ago, sogne said:

well known port and Cunard ship  what was special according to captain concerning this port call?

 

I think this one is Trondheim, Norway. That's QM2 and the AIDA ship is one of their three smaller Diva/Sphinx class ships (AIDAdiva, AIDAluna or AIDAbella). When I zoom in on the lettering, AIDAbella appears to be the best match.

 

We know you recently called at Trondheim on November 9, 2022 during QM2's Norway and Northern Lights cruise. And @sfred reported that AIDAbella was in port with you that day. So I'll hazard a guess that's the date of the photo.

 

Sorry, I don't know what would have been special about that particular port call. If I have the correct date, perhaps one of the others on that cruise might be able to enlighten us about that. I've been rereading the "Live from ..." thread for that cruise but I'm not finding any hints there.

[sfred]

I think @bluemarble is correct that the photo is Trondheim.  But I don't recall anything special about the port call from the captain.  (Unless you count that Trondheim ended up being our final port in Norway, with Alesund and Stavanger being replaced with Zeebrugge due to weather.)

[sfred]

Oh wait, wasn't there something about that being QM2's last call to Trondheim for several years?  Or maybe it was first call to Trondheim for several years?

Edited March 16, 2023 by sfred

[bluemarble]

31 minutes ago, sfred said:

Oh wait, wasn't there something about that being QM2's last call to Trondheim for several years?  Or maybe it was first call to Trondheim for several years?

 

Probably not the former since QM2 is scheduled to return to Trondheim in November 2024. The latter is plausible since prior to that November 2022 call, she hadn't called at Trondheim since August 2016.

[sogne]

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

 

Probably not the former since QM2 is scheduled to return to Trondheim in November 2024. The latter is plausible since prior to that November 2022 call, she hadn't called at Trondheim since August 2016.

Captain said 1st call 4 13 years as I recall.

[bluemarble]

23 minutes ago, sogne said:

Captain said 1st call 4 13 years as I recall.

 

That's very interesting. I wonder what the captain meant. Here's a link to a YouTube video showing QM2 at Trondheim as scheduled on 24 August 2016.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KcCCKEZ3sQ

[bluemarble]

Let's try this devious webcam capture. It shows a Cunard ship arriving at a port we've already seen. Since there's not much to go on, I've only blurred out the date this time. The caption at the lower right may not provide much help on it's own. But if you reverse the words as well as the direction that will give you the name of the beach where the camera is located. That's a start anyway.

 

[sfred]

This one is devious.  Following your clues, I tried reversing the words and searching for "webcam east beach".  Then, reversing the direction I tried "webcam west beach".  However, I couldn't find any certain matches.  The closest images that are vaguely similar are of Adelaide West Beach.  Both QE and QM2 were at this port recently, and QE visits frequently, so I'll use my guess for the day and try Adelaide SA Australia?

[bluemarble]

You've picked up on my clues, @sfred, but sorry, no, that isn't Adelaide. I realize those clues don't help all that much to narrow down the location. I'll add another clue tomorrow if necessary.

[NE John]

This picture is from a tender port listed in the “not yet posted” list from this January. I took this with my Nikon, no cell phone here. Good luck! 

Edited March 18, 2023 by NE John

[sfred]

Thanks @NE John for the contribution!!  Unfortunately I'm 0 for 2 in port identification this Sunday morning.  I tried many different searches for stone buildings with red brick arches, and also tried to identify the type of tree to see if that narrowed down the geography.  I've looked at nearly as many arch shapes as I've seen cargo cranes, but have been unsuccessful.

[NE John]

5 minutes ago, sfred said:

Thanks @NE John for the contribution!!  Unfortunately I'm 0 for 2 in port identification this Sunday morning.  I tried many different searches for stone buildings with red brick arches, and also tried to identify the type of tree to see if that narrowed down the geography.  I've looked at nearly as many arch shapes as I've seen cargo cranes, but have been unsuccessful.

This one is dastardly!

Hint - picture taken from a maiden voyage of Cunard. 
Here’s another picture from that same voyage but of a different port  

Edited March 18, 2023 by NE John

[bluemarble]

5 hours ago, NE John said:

This picture is from a tender port listed in the “not yet posted” list from this January. I took this with my Nikon, no cell phone here. Good luck! 

 

Thank you for joining our game, @NE John. Welcome aboard!

 

I certainly wouldn't have been able to identify this one without your second photo and its hints. I'll leave the identification of that other photo for now. I imagine my guess for this photo will assist someone else to identify your other photo.

 

That second photo and its hints helped me figure out which cruise this photo is likely to be from and that in turn led me to the one port on that itinerary that's still on our unseen ports list. Further investigation of other images at this port show plenty of examples of architecture in the same general style as we see in this image. And it's is a tender port for larger ships so that matches as well.

 

My guess for this photo is Nessebar, Bulgaria.

Edited March 19, 2023 by bluemarble

[NE John]

9 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Thank you for joining our game, @NE John. Welcome aboard!

 

I certainly wouldn't have been able to identify this one without your second photo and its hints. I'll leave the identification of that other photo for now. I imagine my guess for this photo will assist someone else to identify your other photo.

 

That second photo and its hints helped me figure out which cruise this photo is likely to be from and that in turn led me to the one port on that itinerary that's still on our unseen ports list. Further investigation of other images at this port show plenty of examples of architecture in the same general style as we see in this image. And it's is a tender port for larger ships so that matches as well.

 

My guess for this photo is Nessebar, Bulgaria.

Glad I can add to this game. 

I’ll give it another day for any other guesses and confirm both photos. 
Final hint: I don’t believe any cruise ships are going anywhere near this area anytime soon. 

Edited March 19, 2023 by NE John

[exlondoner]

On the basis of the final hint, could it be somewhere like Yalta?

[Fifer]

More likely to be Odessa, if memory serves.  If so, then it was a pretty rare Black Sea voyage which included all three ports now mentioned in recent posts.  PS I was there!

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Fifer said:

More likely to be Odessa, if memory serves.  If so, then it was a pretty rare Black Sea voyage which included all three ports now mentioned in recent posts.  PS I was there!

Many thanks, but how unsporting to include no steps. I remember you saying that a lot of Yalta was closed, for the pleasing reason that they were having a conference.

[NE John]

4 hours ago, exlondoner said:

On the basis of the final hint, could it be somewhere like Yalta?

Correct in Yalta and Nessubur.  Two more ports checked off the January list!

These photos were taken on the 12 night October 2012 “Pearls of the Black Sea”  voyage. Odesa was also part of trip, along with Istanbul, Ephesus, and some Greek stops. 
 

When I saw that itinerary, I told my DW that I don’t like Putin’s rhetoric on Crimea and Ukraine and we should jump on this cruise. About 15 months later Crimea was annexed and we all know the rest of the story. 
 

As an added bonus photo, this one shows the Istanbul skyline from the QE. The Turkish authorities actually closed down the entire Bosphurus between Istanbul and the opening of the Black Sea for Cunard’s maiden voyage into to the Black Sea. I really appreciated the unique feeling to be the only ship in such a busy waterway. 

Edited March 19, 2023 by NE John

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, NE John said:

Correct in Yalta and Nessubur.

 

I think you meant Odessa rather than Yalta, right?. I found several photos of the Odessa cruise port that match your second photo extremely well. One of the best matches is found in this 2016 article from Ukraine Travel News showing QV there.

 

Odesa is waiting for the cruise boom

 

The "Port of Odesa" Wikipedia page also provides a pretty convincing match.