Queen Mary 2 Drydock in Brest

[eroller]

56 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

QM2 has been out of terrestrial AIS tracking range since my last post, but she turned back heading east and has been doing some higher speed trials. I happened to spot her doing 27 knots about half an hour ago.

 

I like MarineTraffic for the level of detail but far too often the data is out of AIS range.  For this reason I use CruuseMapper as it provides satellite mapping data when AIS is out of range.  So I find it much more useful and there is no guessing game as to what ship you’re actually mapping.  
 

 

[techteach]

3 hours ago, bluemarble said:

QM2 has been out of terrestrial AIS tracking range since my last post, but she turned back heading east and has been doing some higher speed trials. I happened to spot her doing 27 knots about half an hour ago.

She’s getting ready for a race!

[Bigmike911]

She likes to strut her stuff. 27 is just a trot for her. That is where she leaves the hotel barge cruise ships in the dust, so to speak. The something that makes her very special. 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Bigmike911

[exlondoner]

I am pleased to see that, on our Mediterranean trip next year, she is going from Lisbon to Southampton with just one sea day, as QE2 frequently used to, and as the Vistas can't quite.

[bluemarble]

QM2 appears to be on her way home now. She's currently doing 17 knots off the coast of France not far from Saint-Nazaire. She's still reporting an 08:00 arrival on Sept 30th via AIS, but Southampton VTS has now updated their schedules to show her arriving at a very specific 19:45 on Sept 29th. At her current speed she will easily make that earlier arrival time.

Edited September 28, 2021 by bluemarble

[bluemarble]

Here are some interesting maneuvers QM2 was doing in the vicinity of La Rochelle this morning, presumably as part of her post-refit sea trials, as seen on the marinetraffic app.

 

[foodsvcmgr]

Nice to see her sailing trials at the higher speeds for which she was designed.

Even better if passengers will get the opportunity to experience that as she has been held to lower speeds in recent years.

[Bigmike911]

On one of her six day westbound crossings back in 2004 or 2005 Commodore Warwick advised us that she would be making a 180 turn and traveling east for a distance and they another 180 and speeding up to make up for the time she lost. It was a test they were running and when she turned west and picked up speed it was actually quite thrilling to experience. Of course the seven day crossings do give another day to experience QM2 and I don't mind that at all. 

[chengkp75]

22 hours ago, eroller said:

 

I like MarineTraffic for the level of detail but far too often the data is out of AIS range.  For this reason I use CruuseMapper as it provides satellite mapping data when AIS is out of range.  So I find it much more useful and there is no guessing game as to what ship you’re actually mapping.  
 

 

I've found that Cruisemapper does not use satellite AIS, just "dead reckoning" using the ship's itinerary, last location, speed and direction.  When ships have had deviations for one reason or another, Cruisemapper has reported them in the wrong port.

[eroller]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I've found that Cruisemapper does not use satellite AIS, just "dead reckoning" using the ship's itinerary, last location, speed and direction.  When ships have had deviations for one reason or another, Cruisemapper has reported them in the wrong port.

 

 

Could be, but sure beats a complete guessing game which is often the case with MarineTraffic unless you pay for a subscription.  For my amateur purposes CruiseMapper works just fine.  

[bluemarble]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I've found that Cruisemapper does not use satellite AIS, just "dead reckoning" using the ship's itinerary, last location, speed and direction.  When ships have had deviations for one reason or another, Cruisemapper has reported them in the wrong port.

 

I have to say I was skeptical about cruisemapper using satellite AIS, but while I've been watching cruisemapper track Queen Elizabeth in the Bay of Biscay, it sure has me puzzled.

 

Here is Queen Elizabeth's track from cruisemapper captured a short time ago. The areas I've enclosed in red are areas I know she was out of range of terrestrial AIS as far as marinetraffic was concerned. I'm not sure how we can account for all the details in the track shown within those areas by cruisemapper. Your thoughts about this are most welcome as always.

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by bluemarble

[chengkp75]

Each commercial AIS site, marinetraffic, vesselfinder, or cruisemapper, "enroll" (pay for access) their own list of AIS stations that they receive feed from.  So, when one site has a ship out of range, another may not.  Can't tell scale on the screen grab above, but remember that land based AIS is only good for about 20-25 miles, from the station, not just the shore.

 

As for tracking on marinetraffic, it is pretty easy with a "passenger" ship (blue arrow) there, if you followed the ship and know the last known position (which they give usually), the next port, and the last known speed, you can find the "shadow" blue arrow of a "ship's position by satellite" that is closest to where "dead reckoning" says the ship should be.

[turnip eater]

Saw QM2 this morning moving slowly off Torbay at Sharkham Point near Brixham, Devon.😍

Edited September 29, 2021 by turnip eater

[bluemarble]

16 minutes ago, turnip eater said:

Saw QM2 this morning moving slowly off Torbay at Sharkham Point near Brixham, Devon.😍

 

I noticed on marinetraffic that QM2 had been "idling" of Torquay from about 09:00 to 13:30. She's back underway now.

 

Southampton VTS now shows QM2 arriving at the City Terminal at 23:30. Spirit of Discovery is currently occupying that berth and is scheduled to depart at 20:30.

[bluemarble]

Welcome back to Southampton! Here's what QM2 looked like a few minutes ago on the Port Cam stream of the "Solent Ships" YouTube channel.

 

[Bigmike911]

2 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Welcome back to Southampton! Here's what QM2 looked like a few minutes ago on the Port Cam stream of the "Solent Ships" YouTube channel.

 

She looks great. There was a later shot from the "boxcam" whick was a close up and you can see the difference in the paint even in the dim light. 

[canoncruiser]

Do these old eyes deceive me or have Cunard painted QM2’s hull traditional black-instead of the dark gray she has had since she started sailing?

[Splice the mainbrace]

QM2 back in Southampton after it's refit and repaint in France.

 

[eroller]

13 hours ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

QM2 back in Southampton after it's refit and repaint in France.

 

 

 

Once again a proud lady!  Queen of the oceans!!

[Splice the mainbrace]

1 minute ago, eroller said:

 

 

Once again a proud lady!  Queen of the oceans!!

 

Yes she's scrubbed up well, from a distance anyway! We should be on her in January.

[SALAD MUNCHER]

 

[SALAD MUNCHER]

Just now, SALAD MUNCHER said:

 

View from our room at the Hilton today

[eroller]

37 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

 

Yes she's scrubbed up well, from a distance anyway! We should be on her in January.

 
Myself in March … fingers crossed.  I  don’t count on anything anymore when it comes to travel.  Especially cruise travel.  

[Mudhen]

She looks beautiful ! Someone, please remind me of her first passenger sailing......

[bluemarble]

5 minutes ago, Mudhen said:

She looks beautiful ! Someone, please remind me of her first passenger sailing......

 

QM2's first scheduled sailing with passengers is a three-night voyage to Cherbourg, Nov 28-Dec 1, 2021. This sailing is listed on the Cunard UK website but not on the Cunard US website.