Live from QV in Norway

[3rdGenCunarder]

I know people have had questions about this cruise. I'm on QV now and I'll try to answer any questions. I will do a day-by-day, but it's 10 minutes to cocktail time, so this will be a short entry about things people worry about.

 

CARPETS are in very good condition. I love some the aqua colors in the mail elevator lobby by the atrium. 

 

EMBARKATION was easy, but I'm diamond, so it didn't matter what time was on my boarding pass. I had 1:30. But I left my hotel at 11:55 and was at Mayflower in a few minutes. Dropped the luggage and walked toward the entrance. I could see a queue of people along the side of the building. Best guess around 200. I showed my boarding pass and diamond got me waved right through. No waiting to check in. Showed passport, had my picture taken (I guess they didn't like what I gave them) and was sent to wait in the priority area. There were maybe 150 people there already, and I sat down at 12:12. Fast and easy. The odd thing is that the desks for non-priority had staff doing nothing. So why make people wait outside???  After about 15-20 minutes, they called QG. A few minutes later PG. And then diamond. because we were called in stages, there was no backup at security. Fortunately, the people in front of me already had emptied pockets of change, phones, etc, so we all breezed through and onto the ship. I hope someone in the queue outside will chime in with their experience.

 

THE LIGHTS. Yes, we have seen them. Not like you see on the postcards, but they're up there. I did a "lights chase," and got some pretty good pictures. Later, on the ship, we saw them again. If you're doing the "chase," book the latest start you can get. I went out at 6:30. 45-60 minute drive got us to an area that had very little background light. It's fll moon or thereabouts, so we had light to see by. I don't think it affect seeing the lights. Close your eyes for a minute to adjust and then look north (not at the moon) and you might see a glimmer. Your camera will see more than you can, so use it as a "spotter."  For cell phones, find your night setting. If you have a "real camera" I recommend a tripod. I shot at 1600 or 3200 (didn't seem to make much difference), 1.6 sec, and around f4. (Ship's kphotog said he was using about the same)  The problem is, the lights don't get active until later. So we stood in the cold at 7:30-9:00, and then people started going back to the bus to get warm. We did get some pictures, but the lights were fading and it was COLD. Then around 10:00 it was EVERYONE OFF THE BUS! WE'VE GOT LIGHTS! Better than what we saw earlier. 

 

Later, after we got back to the ship, we had lights in Tromso. Not as easy to see/photograph because of the city lights. That's where a camera with manual settings is great. Mine could ignore that and concentrate on the lights.

 

Two more bits of advice if you're doing a "chase" tour. LAYERS. Thermal underwear is essential IMO. Boots. There's snow on the ground already. PRACTICE! If you want to get pictures of the lights, play around with your camera in low-light conditions and see what works. Cellsphones have some kind of night setting. Try it.  I did not get great shots with my cell, but it isn't an iphone with a great camera. I tried, but they were meh. I haven't looked at anything on my laptop to really see, and maybe juice up a bit. 

[Host Hattie]

Nice to hear from you, have a cocktail for me !

[tacticalbanjo]

I'm going on the 12th and your post has made me hopeful that we might see the lights too. I don't have a proper camera but I did get the latest iPhone Pro in hope and the night mode is pretty good. 

 

Do you thinking waterproof walking shoes will cut it (will probably want them just for strolling around) or am I best off trying to find room for my hiking boots too if I'm doing a lights chase?

 

Thanks for the tip about the cold! I'd forgotten to take a look at the weather forecast now we've got a bit closer and see it's much colder than I was expecting. I'd better take another look at layers for my toddler.

[Blazza]

I am on the same cruise and I was very happy with the performance of my iPhone 15 Pro Max in Tromso. It is all I am taking on tonight’s hunt from Narvik.

 

I would suggest taking boots. I have been wearing boots and two pairs of thick socks in all the ports so far. The footpaths in Tromso were very icy in places and even in boots I managed to slip in relatively spectacular fashion (no injuries luckily). 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Blazza

[techteach]

5 minutes ago, Blazza said:

I am on the same cruise and I was very happy with the performance of my iPhone 15 Pro Max in Tromso. It is all I am taking on tonight’s hunt from Narvik.

 

I would suggest taking boots. I have been wearing boots and two pairs of thick socks in all the ports so far. The footpaths in Tromso were very icy in places and even in boots I managed to slip in relatively spectacular fashion (no injuries luckily). 

 

 

Beautiful picture!

[3rdGenCunarder]

We have been lucky with weather. All port days have been sunny. 

 

The cruise starts with two sea days. Going up the Channel into the North Sea, we had rough weather. They drained the Pavillion pool and closed the thermal pool until the sea was calmer late in the day. Pavillion pool is still empty and netted. I think the aft pool is empty, too. The hot tubs at the Pavillion are open during the day. They give off a fair amount of steam. The grill at the pool is open, even on the cold days. I feel sorry for the cook, who has to be bundled up. 

 

First port was Alesund. The ship docks downtown, so it's easy to get out and walk around. Look up! Most of Alesund was destroyed by a fire in 1905. When they rebuilt, the style was art nouveau, so the houses have interesting decorations. There are turrets and spires on many of the houses. 

 

There's a part that overlooks the city. 481 steps to climb to the top. Several of the tours stop there, and there's a tram ride that goes around town and up there. And a HoHo bus, too. I did the tour that goes to Sunnmore, an open-air museum with buildings collected from around Norway and restored. The guide was good, just enough information and not so much you want to cover your ears. When we got to Sunmore, she said she would lead a tour or we could "go free." I took my camera ad enjoyed wandering on my own. The sun never gets very high this time of year, so for serious photographers, the "golden hour" lasts pretty much all day. 

 

There's a sea day between Alesund and Tromso, and some people saw the lights on deck on the night of the sea day. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

Entertainment, as always, is varied. They had to stop the show the first night ""Be Our Guest" because  of a "technical issue." Later, I heard that one of the four singers had fallen and injured her ankle. The second production show (One Way or Another) had only one female singer instead of two, and she had to handle all the songs for both. That meant some very fast costume changes. 

 

I had heard from a friend that shows are being produced cheaply. Music written for the show (and belonging to Cunard) to avoid royalties. I paid attention, and some of the longer songs in the second show that were danced to are old enough to be public domain.  One section of rock & roll used very short snippets of lots of different songs. There is a "fair use" rule where a small amount of published material may be used without royalties. This is generally meant to cover excerpts used in a review of something. But I wonder if Cunard is cutting corners that way? I didn't care for One Way or Another. It had a lot of dancing and seemed rushed. It felt like a cheap replacement for Apassionata. 

 

Guest performers have been good. A woman who has been in West End plays (including Mamma Mia! twice). I can't remember her first name. Last name is Tierney. Good strong voice. And brave--she opened with Goldfinger, a song so identified with Shirley Bassey that it's hard to imagine anyone else singing it. She did well with it. We also had Joe Stilgoe, who I gather is well-known in the UK. I didn't know who he is. Jazz pianist. He did a set with the orchestra and another the next night with just the piano. Two very different kinds of performance and both fantastic. 

 

The one place HAL has shone in recent years (until lately) was the classical "Lincoln Center Stage." They have ruined me for other classical groups. There's a trio on QV. I've only seen them play in the Commodore Club, and they seem tentative.  Perhaps the instruction for musicians there is to just be a background and not give a "real" performance?

 

One of the ladies at my dinner table reports that the dance hosts are excellent. 

 

I'm in Britannia, and the food is not inspiring. Nothing is bad, but it's rather bland. It's been a week and still waiting for duck or lamb chops (although there's been leg of lamb twice). There's been more pork than beef, a fair variety of fish. Nothing ethnic or exotic. For that you have to go to the buffet. So far there has been Chinese dinner, Indian dinner, Scandanavian dinner.

 

I go to the buffet for lunch. The salad bar is excellent. it's great on QE, too. Why QM2 can't put together a decent salad bar mystifies me. So I get a big salad and a little something else. Today my something else was lasagna with aubergine and spinach. Other days, I have pizza or a slice of what's being carved.

 

I tried Nordlys, the Lido special restaurant. It was delicious. Reindeer, venison, but no elk. Cod, halibut, duck. The amuse bouche was a grilled sea scallop. I would have loved them for a main course. I had grilled langoustines for a starter, duck breast for a main, and a trio of Norwegian desserts. My only complaint is that the lighting could have been turned down more. They use tables by the windows, so you can ignore the cafeteria area, but softer lighting would have been nice. 

 

One more bit of photo advice. See what your camera's presets can do. We had good lights on the sea night between Tromso and Narvik. I was lucky because my balcony faced north at that point. I played with settings a bit. I tried "program" to see what my camera would do. It did beautifully. I geeked out over settings when all I had to do was trust the computer in my camera. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 11/2/2023 at 1:13 PM, Host Hattie said:

Nice to hear from you, have a cocktail for me !

 

Oh, I've had plenty! 😋🍸

[3rdGenCunarder]

22 hours ago, Blazza said:

I am on the same cruise and I was very happy with the performance of my iPhone 15 Pro Max in Tromso. It is all I am taking on tonight’s hunt from Narvik.

 

I would suggest taking boots. I have been wearing boots and two pairs of thick socks in all the ports so far. The footpaths in Tromso were very icy in places and even in boots I managed to slip in relatively spectacular fashion (no injuries luckily). 

 

 

 

That's great! How did you manage to get a picture without a bunch of people in front of you? Were you on the 7:30? That doesn't look like where they took us for the 6:30. How did you do in Narvik? I decided not to go out, it was too cold. We didn't get any lights from the ship that night. 

[Blazza]

In Tromso we went with a private tour in a Tesla X. They take a maximum of 5 people, but it ended up with just us and the driver/guide. He had a favourite spot that he took us to near the Tirpitz Memorial on Hakoy Island. The Aurora started showing as soon as we arrived and we stayed for 45 minutes or so until it stopped. He then kindly took us to the Arctic Cathedral on the way back to the boat.

 

We actually did an RIB harbour tour in the morning that stopped at the Tirpitz site, so it was interesting returning landside to the same place in the evening.  

 

The Narvik skies were perfect for viewing, but we gave up after about 4 hours of our private tour because of the cold. There were 8 on the tour and 5 of us called it quits when the driver offered an early return to the boat. He carried on to another viewing location with the remaining 3 after dropping us off, but I am unsure how successful they were. 

 

We did the late morning Narvik train trip you highlighted on the roll call and thoroughly enjoyed that. 

 

This is our first time with Cunard and it has been an extremely satisfying experience. We are very happy with all aspects of the cruise so far. The itinerary has been a very nice balance of sea and port days. Our next 3 cruises are with Princess and HAL, but we would definitely return to Cunard for the right itinerary. 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Blazza

[Host Hattie]

Great to hear from you both and thanks for all the great photos. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

A few things I've been forgetting.

 

Electrical outlets. Not many! The desk has 2 US, 1 UK and one European round pin. That's it. No USB. No outlets by the bed, just light switches. 

 

I'm in Britannia. A man I spoke to at tea said his only complaint about the ship was that there was only one USB. So maybe he's in a grills cabin? I went back and looked, and I definitely do not hae a USB. 

 

The other electrical problem is that there is a little shelf above the desk. It sticks out over the outlets. The shelf is about 4 inches above the desk. The outlets are centered in that space. The charger for my camera battery is a block that goes directly into the outlet. It's too big to fit. I have to go to the library and plug it in there and sit and read or use the iternet while it charges. If you have any doubts about your electrical needs, bring an extension cord (without surge protector) or a "squid." The ship won't lend you one unless it's for medical reasons. 

 

Gloves. I recommend a trip to Poundland when you're in Southampton. I bought these gloves for 3 pounds. They're heavy enough to keep my fingers mostly warm (Up to about 1.5 hours) and the silver tips really do work on a cell phone screen. The ones I've seen in the US are very thin. These are much better.

[NE John]

4 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

didn't care for One Way or Another.

Good pun…

[Blazza]

At about 6:15pm tonight the Officer of the Watch made an announcement that the northern lights were visible off the port side and were ‘quite impressive’. She wasn’t wrong.  The display was still going after 9pm, albeit at less intensity than the first half hour or so.

 

At the time of the first activity the ship was on a southerly heading, roughly abeam Froya. 

 

[Host Hattie]

Beautiful, they're being reported in the UK tonight as well but not as impressive as that.

[Winifred 22]

Beautiful 

[jrmende63]

4 hours ago, Blazza said:

At about 6:15pm tonight the Officer of the Watch made an announcement that the northern lights were visible off the port side and were ‘quite impressive’. She wasn’t wrong.  The display was still going after 9pm, albeit at less intensity than the first half hour or so.

 

At the time of the first activity the ship was on a southerly heading, roughly abeam Froya. 

 

Just Wow! I can only hope we see this kind of display on Queen Anne in October 2024.

[LargeNegroni]

Incredible photos. Thank you for sharing. Can i ask if you used your phone or a regular camera?

Also was this how it appeared to the naked eye, or does the camera lens make it clearer?

We are on the same cruise on Sunday, keeping everything crossed we get to see the too. 🤞🏻

10 hours ago, Blazza said:

At about 6:15pm tonight the Officer of the Watch made an announcement that the northern lights were visible off the port side and were ‘quite impressive’. She wasn’t wrong.  The display was still going after 9pm, albeit at less intensity than the first half hour or so.

 

At the time of the first activity the ship was on a southerly heading, roughly abeam Froya. 

 

 

[exlondoner]

14 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Beautiful, they're being reported in the UK tonight as well but not as impressive as that.

Last night they were visible in the IOW, and presumably here, if it had been dark enough and I’d been awake.

[Blazza]

6 hours ago, LargeNegroni said:

Incredible photos. Thank you for sharing. Can i ask if you used your phone or a regular camera?

Also was this how it appeared to the naked eye, or does the camera lens make it clearer?

We are on the same cruise on Sunday, keeping everything crossed we get to see the too. 🤞🏻

 

I used my iPhone 15 for all the photos. The camera definitely enhances the colour, however they were very impressive to the naked eye last night, especially during the first 30 mins or so. 

 

All the best for your trip.

[DaisyUK]

Absolutely stunning pics, thank you so much for sharing!

[MrsPeel55]

On 11/2/2023 at 5:13 PM, Host Hattie said:

Nice to hear from you, have a cocktail for me !

 

and one or two for me please!!! 🙂

 

On 11/4/2023 at 1:43 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I had heard from a friend that shows are being produced cheaply. Music written for the show (and belonging to Cunard) to avoid royalties. I paid attention, and some of the longer songs in the second show that were danced to are old enough to be public domain.  One section of rock & roll used very short snippets of lots of different songs. There is a "fair use" rule where a small amount of published material may be used without royalties. This is generally meant to cover excerpts used in a review of something. But I wonder if Cunard is cutting corners that way? I didn't care for One Way or Another. It had a lot of dancing and seemed rushed. It felt like a cheap replacement for Apassionata. 

 

Guest performers have been good. A woman who has been in West End plays (including Mamma Mia! twice). I can't remember her first name. Last name is Tierney. Good strong voice. And brave--she opened with Goldfinger, a song so identified with Shirley Bassey that it's hard to imagine anyone else singing it. She did well with it.

 

We heard similar from, friends who cruised last month.... they weren't as informative as you are here, but comparing to their pre pandemic experiences, they noticed the cuts...

 

Jennifer Tierney, we have not seen her, but know she was in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria (London) as Elphaba under study ages ago, friends of ours that went for Rachel Tucker and got Tierney were not very happy, but then again, musical people can get very intense, especially Wicked fans, who have been more than three or four times... 

 

@Blazza thank you so much for the amazing photos!!!!!