Live from QM2 - Norway and Northern Lights, M234A and M235

[TheOldBear]

Mrs Bear and I are all packed - with considerably 'too much stuff' (a hazard go being fairly local to the terminal) waiting for the proper time to leave for our 2:15 suggested boarding time.

 

I'll need to see how far the World Club 'gold' wifi benefit stretches - is it renewed on each segment like to old minute by minute benefit? For that and other reasons [too busy enjoying the ship] my updates may be sporadic. That should not stop other folks from contributing or commenting 🙂

 

[Host Hattie]

Bon Voyage 

[BklynBoy8]

Bon Voyage! Sorry for the Deep London Fog and Rain in NYC today.

 

Shouldn't delay departure unless it affects the Airlines.

 

The My Voyage can be challenging as we had on Sept 23rd. Lucky we landed at land often that gave us normal service.

 

You will love Norway. One of our memorable voyages we took in the past. Of course we took it in July.

 

The only thing we found challenging was the mixed music schedule in the Queens Room in the Evening. Changed from the past. You will love the Changes Band in G32. Will make you feel like you are in the Caribbean.

 

WOW, wish I could pack now and be on board with you this afternoon on board. Only 12 minutes away from my home. Miss the meals in Princess..

[TheOldBear]

Google Maps says almost two hours for 79 miles. We are out in central Suffolk county, so local just means no need to fly, and no bridges or tunnels between the house ant the terminal. Looks like about an hour to go....

[sfred]

Best wishes for your crossing segment, @TheOldBear!  We board in Southampton on the 1st.  When we booked (so long ago it seems), we considered adding either the east or west transatlantic, but it was easier at the time to arrange a London return flight from Australia. 

 

On the ventusky.com weather site, it looks like you'll have some waves in mid-Atlantic.  The North Sea and the coast off Norway are calm (for now).

[bluemarble]

@TheOldBear, I trust you've made it on board and have enjoyed/will be enjoying your first evening dinner and perhaps the welcome aboard show. All the best for a great voyage and looking forward to your reports.

 

I'm wondering why you are still at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal past 9:00pm New York time (over four hours late and counting)? Are you waiting for late arriving passengers?

 

Edit to add: Wouldn't you know, right after posting this, QM2 radioed to New York vessel traffic saying they are preparing to get underway.

Edited October 26, 2022 by bluemarble

[BklynBoy8]

5 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

@TheOldBear, I trust you've made it on board and have enjoyed/will be enjoying your first evening dinner and perhaps the welcome aboard show. All the best for a great voyage and looking forward to your reports.

 

I'm wondering why you are still at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal past 9:00pm New York time (over four hours late and counting)? Are you waiting for late arriving passengers?

 

In Brooklyn, we are wondering also the same why so late. We do have heavy fog that was suppose to have cleared mid day but still is hanging over the city and near the bridge where we live. I can't see the bridge from the house. Not sure status of the airports.

 

Looking to attempt to see her undering the bridge

[Tonopah]

We’ll be joining you in Southampton. 7 days and counting.

[BklynBoy8]

She is Underway at 10PM out of Redhook.

 

Still Heavy Dense Fog. Even the SI Ferry is under Modified Schedule due to the Harbor Conditions

[techteach]

@Tonopah Are you tracking her progress towards you?

[Tonopah]

58 minutes ago, techteach said:

@Tonopah Are you tracking her progress towards you?

I am not. I already feel like a little kid waiting for Santa. If I start tracking her she will NEVER arrive. These last few days are so loooooooong.

[ace2542]

Are masks required onboard? Who are the guest speakers?

[bbtablet]

On 10/25/2022 at 3:30 PM, TheOldBear said:

Google Maps says almost two hours for 79 miles. We are out in central Suffolk county, so local just means no need to fly, and no bridges or tunnels between the house ant the terminal. Looks like about an hour to go....

I had to check there for a moment. We too are in Suffolk - but U.K. Suffolk, and there is a bridge (Queen Elizabeth Bridge) for us to negotiate if travelling to Southampton.

 

Recently it was closed for a whole day because two protesters managed to climb up into the suspension cables and despite locals aiming fireworks at them they stuck it out until removed by police the following day.

 

On other random occasions other protesters super-glue themselves to the road, thus making it impassable, so our journey is always "will we/ won't we" and we have taken to staying overnight in Oxfordshire to be sure. This has worked well until they closed the main road from Oxfordshire to Southampton last time - we just made it!

 

Glad to see your journey was uneventful.

[photosg]

Bon voyage! 

[TheOldBear]

On 10/25/2022 at 10:09 PM, BklynBoy8 said:

She is Underway at 10PM out of Redhook.

 

Still Heavy Dense Fog. Even the SI Ferry is under Modified Schedule due to the Harbor Conditions

Well, I'm still composing my first 'live' post - will paste it somewhere down thread.

Apparently there were both flight and post arrival delays for folks on Cunard arranged flights - including the English National Symphony Orchestra players and instruments.

 

[TheOldBear]

On 10/26/2022 at 11:36 AM, ace2542 said:

Are masks required onboard? Who are the guest speakers?

Masks are 'encouraged' on the Queen's Room dance floor - but not required for passengers or crew.

[ace2542]

15 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

Well, I'm still composing my first 'live' post - will paste it somewhere down thread.

Apparently there were both flight and post arrival delays for folks on Cunard arranged flights - including the English National Symphony Orchestra players and instruments.

 

You are on the big bands cruise! That is brilliant my Father sung in the choir they assembled in 2016. Is there a choir being assembled this time round.

[TheOldBear]

Finally posting - bad internet connection at best

Well, apparently Mrs Bear and I made it on board, and have WiFi at least partially resolved. We will report if the World Club WiFi is renewed segment by segment - or is awarded once for the entire 26 night booking.

 

In the room, my computer is showing full signal strength, but the internet.cunard.com page does not load - posting this will be delayed a bit.

 

Tuesday 25 October

 

Boarding in Brooklyn was both quick and confusing - baggage drop off and security screening were repositioned. Mrs Bear was pushing her ‘rollator’  so we were shown to the expedited boarding line.

The only paperwork that was examined were passports and the printed out boarding pass. A printout is preferred as the pass acquires  stickers and stamps before its final scan at the ship’s entrance portal.

 

We made our way to our room [5194 for those folks seeing score at home] and it was a sauna. Mrs Bear started the day with a lovely perky hairdo - that flattened  and uncurled into a “wilted sweaty mess” by dinner time.

 

We are booked for late seating dinner, and Cunard shoreside was contacted months ago linking our bookings to another couple (with special diet requirements). The folks on the ship has no record of the linkage, or the other couple’s special requirements.

 

There is no polite term to describe the open seating fiasco (is ‘cattle call’ a polite term?). For our party, Mrs Bear was able to apply some pressure for at least a partial resolution. Dining staff _must_ be _cheerful_ about open seating as an ‘improvement’ no matter how may passengers in a row express a desire for a late seating reserved table.

 

With the linked booking and invocation of ‘special needs’ we currently have a reserved table for the late seating.

 

Put the room service door hanger out about midnight, and set the alarm for half an hour earlier than expected delivery.

 

Wednesday 26 October

 

The ball ‘formerly known as the Royal Cunard’ ball was scheduled for our first formal^H^H^H^HGala evening.

 

Anthony Inglas filled the Royal Court theatre for his presentation on music and ocean liners - including details of the 8 players on RMS Titanic playing to the end.

 

A spot of good news is Friday at 0945 guests interested in the passenger chorus should go to the Royal Court for auditions. This cheered up Mrs Bear no end.

 

Mrs Bear and I decided to book spa ‘thermal suite’ passes - 7 visits each over the full length of the cruise.

 

At dinner time, we had the same table *and* our wine found us - a nice dinner.

There was a glass of some bubbly ‘from Captain Hall’ in lieu of a formal night reception.

 

We decided to turn in early - but not set a pre-breakfast alarm.

 

Thursday 27 October

 

One of the short - 23 hour - days a reasonable excuse for a previous early night.

 

Slept a bit late,  but still in time for breakfast. We previously had located where american style bacon was available - but the  Chiefs Gallery section of KC only had some rather liquid looking scrambled eggs to go with them. Better eggs in the main area.

 

Went to an enrichment lecture on ‘400 years of observational astronomy’. Afterwards realized things will soon be an hour later, and went back to the cabin to ditch hearing aids and grab swim suits. This was followed by a light lunch in Carthinia.

 

The spa thermal suite looked quite familiar despite the ‘Mareel’ rebranding. A number of lockers on the gents side were non functional, but my usual locker was fine.  I noticed that the spa no longer provides combs, twin blade razors or shaving cream. One of the shower stalls was marked as out of order (same as 2019).

 

Mrs Bear reports a similar state of affairs on the Ladies side.

 

The pool area was missing one feature - the ‘waterfall’ that normally is between the two vigorous jets. We had a relaxing time, then rested up from our spa in the Kings Court for self service afternoon tea.

 

When we checked in on Tuesday, both the ‘welcome aboard’ bubbly and the Champagne purchased with the celebration package were sitting warm on the table - no ice bucket in sight. A minor surprise as there was no ‘Pol Acker’ - instead it was ‘DUC De Valmer Brut’. We have not sampled it yet.

 

Its a ‘Smart Attire’ night - I’ll exceed minimums with jacket and QM2 necktie.

[TheOldBear]

6 hours ago, ace2542 said:

You are on the big bands cruise! That is brilliant my Father sung in the choir they assembled in 2016. Is there a choir being assembled this time round.

It's not the big band cruise - its the English National Symphony Orchestra cruise. We got our sheet music and had the first rehearsal for backing up the orchestra on Monday evening - we'll be in the late show at 10 pm.

[TheOldBear]

Internet is working (for the moment) while laundry is in progress.

[Host Hattie]

Nice to hear from you, hope you're having a good time 

[TheOldBear]

6 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Nice to hear from you, hope you're having a good time 

Mrs Bear is up in Carthinia listening to 'Amethyst' perform after a light lunch. I have 10 minutes to go before I need to check the deck 5 washing machine.

We needed to change our spa booking so it did not conflict with the Chorus rehearsal on Monday. The rehearsals with Anthony Inglis are always both fun and require concentration.

Last nights concert was excellent, including some stunningly good piano playing for 'Rhapsody in Blue'. There is a daytime concert scheduled for tomorrow, featuring Ravel's Bolero  

[WestonOne]

On 10/28/2022 at 7:24 PM, TheOldBear said:

It's not the big band cruise - its the English National Symphony Orchestra cruise. We got our sheet music and had the first rehearsal for backing up the orchestra on Monday evening - we'll be in the late show at 10 pm.

I am in the choir as well (8:00pm group)  Seems to be going fairly well.

 

Tonight is the "Twenties" gala and I am sure I heard refrrences to it being the big bands but I can quite believe that is a separate cruise.entirely.

[TheOldBear]

For todays afternoon performance [Ravel's Bolero ] the NSO will be joined by the members of both the Queen's room and Royal Court orchestras.

Mrs Bear and I need to reschedule our spa 'thermal suite' booking - already moved it once due to rehearsal conflict on the 31st

[Host Hattie]

That sounds wonderful, enjoy