Notes from Queen Anne to the Mediterranean

[MylesS]

5 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

He went to do badly in the Black Jack tournament

I wasn’t able to enter this one unfortunately, as if I had made it to the final it would have clashed with the Behind the Scenes tour. 
 

Given the casino enough this week as it is anyway! 🤣 I heard the winner had never played before, good on them if so. 

[Clewgarnet]

That sounds absolutely amazing, @MylesS I've got my fingers crossed it's offered on one of the cruises I've got coming up. Probably not the Victoria shortie in November, but maybe the TA next year?

 

The nearest I've got to anything like that was a walk through QM2's galley back in 2019.

[King Amo]

But did you see how they made the scones?😜

[Victoria2]

Teatime titbits

Every day across the fleet:

    2,000 Afternoon Teas are served.  
    6,000 cups of tea are poured.  
    4,000 finger sandwiches are made.  
    3,000 scones are handmade from scratch.  
    8,000 linen napkins are laundered and starched.   

Afternoon Tea is served daily at 3.30pm on all of our ships.

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/cunard-stories/time-for-tea

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 minute ago, Victoria2 said:

Teatime titbits

Every day across the fleet:

    2,000 Afternoon Teas are served.  
    6,000 cups of tea are poured.  
    4,000 finger sandwiches are made.  
    3,000 scones are handmade from scratch.  
    8,000 linen napkins are laundered and starched.   

Afternoon Tea is served daily at 3.30pm on all of our ships.

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/cunard-stories/time-for-tea

 

 

How many white gloves are worn? 😜

[Host Hattie]

Let's not turn this thread into Sconegate please!

 

Sunloungers were a more reasonable 12€ for 2 today, not as comfortable as Corsica but fine for a few hours. The sand was very soft and the lemonade and custard tarts were a perfect snack lunch.

[Host Hattie]

Just now, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

How many white gloves are worn? 😜

White gloves present on Queen Anne. 

[Victoria2]

2 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

How many white gloves are worn? 😜

Well this is a few years old now and was posted at the height of the Covid pandemic so maybe gloves AND masks were medical accessories for a while after.

[3rdGenCunarder]

@MylesS, the tour sounds like the one we did on QM2 in the "before days." I don't recall seeing the butcher (I would have started to hum the theme from Sweeney Todd!). An additional stop on our tour was where they sort the trash and explained about reycling and waste management. DH found that interesting as he was a founder of our local recycling volunteer group.

 

I remember being told no cameras. I don't recall if they took our phones. I probably just left mine in the cabin with my camera. 

 

I agree with you, the tour is absolutely worth the price. 

[DukeBeetle24]

49 minutes ago, MylesS said:

Behind the Scenes tour yesterday: just WOW! Worth the $120 and then some.

 

The following may contain “spoilers” so if you’re not into that, feel free to skip.

 

We started in the Bright Lights where we met, anyone with phones handed them in and we were given a quick security scan before being issued specific behind the scenes land-yards. Security stayed with us the entire tour.

 

We proceeded to the theatre where we were told about the lights, sounds, etc and all the technology they use before going back stage, seeing the large 4K screens up close as well as some of the props.

 

For those who have seen “Imagination” the light up suits at the end of the show cost $20,000 per-suit.

 

From there we went to the mooring deck to see the lines and the anchor, explained by the staff captain.

 

We then took the promenade deck Britannia, where we were shown the main Britannia galley. This galley spans two decks 2 & 3, deck 2 serves the Club restaurant as well. Grills and all speciality restaurants have their own galleys.

 

We were given some treats by the chef before going to the store room where they keep all food & drink items. This voyage is the most they’ve brought on Queen Anne so far, 270 tonnes of products. 
 

We were allowed to walk inside both the walk in fridge & freezer (-18c!) - these have emergency alarms should someone become trapped in there. 
 

We also had a quick visit to the butchers shop where they cut all the meat and fish.

 

From there we went to the Engine Control Room, where we were just in time to see them shut down 1 of the 4 engines as the ship had gone from 22 to 17 knots and the power wasn’t needed. We were given lots of technical details by the Chief Engineer.

 

We then were shown the fire fighting equipment, with a crew member dressed in the full gear. 
 

We then went to C deck, below the water line to see the laundry room. It was hot & noisy, and honestly very humbling. It was full of crew doing the laundry. 2 twelve hour shifts to ensure a 24 hour operation.

 

Then last but not least we went to the bridge and shown some of the most fascinating technology I’ve ever seen.

 

We had our photos taken and were then invited to a sectioned area of the Commodore Club for champagne and cakes. 
 

We got to keep our behind the scenes land-yard, and were told we’ll soon receive some items with more facts about the ship to our cabins. 
 

Land-lard:

 

I’ll share the person photos I had taken on the bridge once they come through. 
 

It was a total of 3 hours, and while I’ve tried to share as much as I can remember I’m definitely missing parts. 
 

We were told so much about how things worked, and at each area we were speaking to the head of that department, and were able to ask any questions we wanted. 
 

Would do it again in a heartbeat! 

Sounds like an absolutely amazing experience, I will have to keep eyes peeled to see if we can book this for ourselves! Thanks for sharing.

[exlondoner]

49 minutes ago, MylesS said:

Behind the Scenes tour yesterday: just WOW! Worth the $120 and then some.

 

The following may contain “spoilers” so if you’re not into that, feel free to skip.

 

We started in the Bright Lights where we met, anyone with phones handed them in and we were given a quick security scan before being issued specific behind the scenes land-yards. Security stayed with us the entire tour.

 

We proceeded to the theatre where we were told about the lights, sounds, etc and all the technology they use before going back stage, seeing the large 4K screens up close as well as some of the props.

 

For those who have seen “Imagination” the light up suits at the end of the show cost $20,000 per-suit.

 

From there we went to the mooring deck to see the lines and the anchor, explained by the staff captain.

 

We then took the promenade deck Britannia, where we were shown the main Britannia galley. This galley spans two decks 2 & 3, deck 2 serves the Club restaurant as well. Grills and all speciality restaurants have their own galleys.

 

We were given some treats by the chef before going to the store room where they keep all food & drink items. This voyage is the most they’ve brought on Queen Anne so far, 270 tonnes of products. 
 

We were allowed to walk inside both the walk in fridge & freezer (-18c!) - these have emergency alarms should someone become trapped in there. 
 

We also had a quick visit to the butchers shop where they cut all the meat and fish.

 

From there we went to the Engine Control Room, where we were just in time to see them shut down 1 of the 4 engines as the ship had gone from 22 to 17 knots and the power wasn’t needed. We were given lots of technical details by the Chief Engineer.

 

We then were shown the fire fighting equipment, with a crew member dressed in the full gear. 
 

We then went to C deck, below the water line to see the laundry room. It was hot & noisy, and honestly very humbling. It was full of crew doing the laundry. 2 twelve hour shifts to ensure a 24 hour operation.

 

Then last but not least we went to the bridge and shown some of the most fascinating technology I’ve ever seen.

 

We had our photos taken and were then invited to a sectioned area of the Commodore Club for champagne and cakes. 
 

We got to keep our behind the scenes land-yard, and were told we’ll soon receive some items with more facts about the ship to our cabins. 
 

Land-lard:

 

I’ll share the person photos I had taken on the bridge once they come through. 
 

It was a total of 3 hours, and while I’ve tried to share as much as I can remember I’m definitely missing parts. 
 

We were told so much about how things worked, and at each area we were speaking to the head of that department, and were able to ask any questions we wanted. 
 

Would do it again in a heartbeat! 

Absolutely worth the money. Did you get to see the printing place?

[exlondoner]

21 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Let's not turn this thread into Sconegate please!

 

Sunloungers were a more reasonable 12€ for 2 today, not as comfortable as Corsica but fine for a few hours. The sand was very soft and the lemonade and custard tarts were a perfect snack lunch.

Did you swim in the sea?

[3rdGenCunarder]

Thans for posting the pictures of the "brag wall," @Host Hattie. I love how it has grown since May!

[MylesS]

18 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

An additional stop on our tour was where they sort the trash and explained about reycling and waste management.

We walked past it and were allowed to look in, but not allowed in. I assume safety or work going on.

 

6 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Did you get to see the printing place?

Unfortunately not! 

 

31 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

8,000 linen napkins are laundered and starched.

Those same napkins have a high lead time, and are ordered 6 months in advance too! 
 

Also, the butter for dinner comes in that shape in bags. They used to do it onboard back on the QE2 but of course that’s all a thing of the past. 

[King Amo]

Patting butter was always a waiters' job during set up. One of those therapeutic things that chill you out before the customers all come along and spoil things! 

[exlondoner]

51 minutes ago, MylesS said:

We walked past it and were allowed to look in, but not allowed in. I assume safety or work going on.

 

Unfortunately not! 

 

Those same napkins have a high lead time, and are ordered 6 months in advance too! 
 

Also, the butter for dinner comes in that shape in bags. They used to do it onboard back on the QE2 but of course that’s all a thing of the past. 

Sorry, amnesia, what shape is the butter? I’m hoping for Cunard lions.

[Victoria2]

We were taken on a galley tour by our wonderful then  Head Waiter, Tomas [he's a M'd of QA's Britannia now] and these are some photos of our tour.

Interesting selection of teas.

Not sure if it's half that now.

[Host Hattie]

33 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Did you swim in the sea?

No, our guide warned us several times that it would be very cold and I wasn't feeling that brave. 

We only had 12 on our coach so I'm quite surprised it still ran. 

We're enjoying the 3D views of Lisbon from our balcony. 

[MylesS]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Sorry, amnesia, what shape is the butter? I’m hoping for Cunard lions.

I’m probably wrong (I haven’t actually seen them this trip as I haven’t eaten in Britannia) - but to me they look the same of sea shells. 

[TouchstoneFeste]

7 hours ago, Clewgarnet said:

That sounds absolutely amazing, @MylesS I've got my fingers crossed it's offered on one of the cruises I've got coming up. Probably not the Victoria shortie in November, but maybe the TA next year?

 

The nearest I've got to anything like that was a walk through QM2's galley back in 2019.

Almost certainly on the TA. Check immediately with the tours folk (or the concierge); ours was never advertised and sold out quickly.

 

By the way, ours hit a much different list of place than @MylesS's did.

[Planning to cruise]

Pre covid they did galley tours on all the ships.  No booking, just turn up.  Photography permitted.  

[Host Hattie]