Captain Wells

[sogne]

according to some Cunard FB groups Captain Wells retires today at noon change over

[rafinmd]

Which ship is he on?

 

Roy

[BlueRiband]

If true we're not likely to see the Blue Ensign fly from a Cunard ship anytime soon.

[Mudhen]

I'm not familiar with what that means. Could you please explain...?

[sogne]

1 hour ago, Mudhen said:

I'm not familiar with what that means. Could you please explain...?

he was in the Royal Nay Reserve which entitled him to fly the Blue Ensign when he was in command of QM2

[LifeonMars]

1 hour ago, Mudhen said:

I'm not familiar with what that means. Could you please explain...?

 

As Captain Christopher Wells was in the Royal Naval Reserve, he is entitled to Fly the Blue Ensign on ships under his command.  Usually The Red ensign is flown on most ships in the UK

Probably easier to just give you the link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ensign

 

 

[Colin_Cameron]

1 hour ago, sogne said:

... when he was in command of QM2

Not just QM2.

[Colin_Cameron]

I'm curious. Does anyone know why Captain Warwick used the Blue Ensign when Master of QE2, but not as Commodore Warwick when master of QM2?

[Lady Hudson]

Captain Wells will be greatly missed.  His sense of humor and kindness to all was unique.  I wish him the very best.  Katherine

[North West Newbie]

43 minutes ago, Lady Hudson said:

Captain Wells will be greatly missed.  His sense of humor and kindness to all was unique.  I wish him the very best.  Katherine

 

I second that. I always found him engaging and more than happy to stop and chat to guests as he passed through the ship. He was also well liked by the crew.

 

Mrs NWN and I had the great pleasure to be invited to dine with him on QE in 2013 and again more recently on QM2.

[showingdiva]

I also echo the above comments.  A lovely man who was more than happy to chat to passengers around the ship.  My favourite memory of him on Queen Mary 2 was his attempt at a Welsh accent as we rounded Anglesey on the way to Liverpool.

 

Such a shame his career ended with a lot of floating around Dorset.

 

Wishing him a long and happy retirement.   

 

 

[Cruise NH]

At least his last cruise, (transatlantic) was an adventure!  We were on it at the start of the 2020 world cruise.  We had multiple emergency evacuations including one during an intense blizzard where we had to meet up with a Canadian coast guard helicopter around 1am.

 

 I always enjoyed his dry wit, he will be missed.

[LifeonMars]

3 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said:

I'm curious. Does anyone know why Captain Warwick used the Blue Ensign when Master of QE2, but not as Commodore Warwick when master of QM2?

Perhaps Just no Blue ensign to hand, or he did not want anyone to know he was in Command. 😆 

Edited April 12, 2021 by LifeonMars

[MarkBearSF]

I saw a report that Cunard named him Commodore upon his retirement. Well-deserved! (But why didn't they do it sooner?)

I wonder what his drink will be in the Commodore Club menu?

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by MarkBearSF

[david,Mississauga]

3 hours ago, North West Newbie said:

 

I second that. I always found him engaging and more than happy to stop and chat to guests as he passed through the ship. He was also well liked by the crew.

...

 

 

It is a good sign when both passengers and crew  are fond of the captain. We boarded the QM2 in Québec in 2017 and whilst waiting for the  muster drill we heard that Captain Wells had flown in from the UK to take over command. As word spread throughout Kings Court there were smiles and positive comments from the crew. Having been on the QE when Capt. Wells was in command we were not surprised by the reaction.

 

As others have said, he will be missed.

 

 

[Thaxted]

We shall never forget his noonday announcements whether he was describing sea cucumbers or charting the ship's course from the porcupine abyssal plain to the mid-Atlantic ridge. We shall greatly miss him, but at least there are recordings like this to treasure in these landlocked Covid days. Like all of you, we wish him a long and happy retirement.

 

[sfred]

8 hours ago, North West Newbie said:

 

I second that. I always found him engaging and more than happy to stop and chat to guests as he passed through the ship. He was also well liked by the crew.

 

We shall greatly miss him also.  My favourite Captain Wells story involves crickets.  While aboard QM2 on an Australia segment of the world voyage in February 2018, we were anchored off Kangaroo Island and encountered a swarm of crickets which infested the ship.  They will still everywhere when we disembarked several days later in Sydney.  Later that year in July, we were on QM2 again for a transatlantic, and the crickets were gone.  At one of the Cunard receptions I asked him how he managed to rid the ship of all the crickets.  His reply, with a wink and grin, was "we fed them to the crew!"

 

Best wishes for your retirement, Captain!

[BigMac1953]

Official retirement photo:

 

[Colin_Cameron]

Our last meeting with him was last year in Fremantle when, like everyone else, he was turned away at the gangway.

[luckymal]

He was a person with a great sense of humour.

Made people smile when introducing his mid day speech.

This is the Captain speakinginging in his own dialect.

We always thought of him being a passengers Captain not a company Captain,

in the same mould of Capt. McNaught  and Comm. Warner.

When a Captain is liked by both crew and passengers it speaks volumes.

Enjoy your retirement.

[Fairgarth]

Game for anything.  On a crossing with Anthony Inglis and the National Symphony Orchestra, Capt. Wells took the baton.  He has no future as an orchestra conductor.  Better stick to steering the ship.  Splendid chap!

[Lanky Lad]

I am sorry that Capt Wells missed out on the send off that he deserved. When ever the sky and sea are the same colour, it will always be Capt Wells weather to me.

[BklynBoy8]

I would like to thank Captain Wells for attending our Roll Call in 2017 and meeting each Cruise Critic personally and staying about an hour to answer all their questions. And sharing information about the new items in the works. He was a truly professional that will not be forgotten. Always a Hello in the hallway each time we came upon him. Bon Voyage to A Well Deserved Retirement.....

 

Will also miss his daily noon reports....

Edited April 13, 2021 by BklynBoy8

[Lady Hudson]

I see me and my friend Karen.  I am behind the Captain's left shoulder and Karen is behind his right.  Wonderful memory.  Thank you.

[Liberal_Baggie]

Brilliant Captain so lucky to have met him as others say always happy to talk about the ship and life at Sea. Not real life on QM2 of course. Lets hope he can come back as a speaker if he would?