roscoe39

also pg

aw shux Myles not quite sure what you mean....

Cartagena is a great port, the old walled city is fascinating options have changed here so hopefully will be joining you for the first half of 2025.

Dr Fred Blanchard is currently living permanently onboard the Queen Victoria. He moved over from the Queen Elizabeth a couple of years ago and intends on staying onboard "until the money runs out or they take him off in a box" as quoted to me a couple of years ago. He's a very interesting guy, ex-engineer who moved onboard when his wife died and he didn't want to give up travelling. He's very approachable and always good for a laugh over a drink. Mary was a treat, she used to sing at the passengers talent contests dressed in an old worn wedding dress and at the end of the aria she would have crew throw plastic red flowers at her from the floor. Her talent at singing was .....questionable. Mary traded very much on her title of "the Qe2 Diva" and wrote several books under the pseudonym. They used to carry them in the bookshop but not more recently which is a shame as they were a real "Hoot". Bea was another old character, and everyone seemed to have a different experience with her. I interviewed them both and wrote an article for a magazine about them a couple of years ago, https://roscoesseafever.blogspot.com/2014/08/around-world-with-diva.html

doesn't the Queen Ann have self closing doors???

I do hope that the lifeboats will be loaded according to class........

hi the free transit visa is easy to apply for, there was a reminder on the ship just before we hit Colombo during the World Cruise this year that it was needed so was glad I had organised it in advance and saved the scrabble on board to apply online for it. Sri Lanca was remarkably cleaner and better organised this year than previous years, the Chinese have been pouring money into the country and building motorways and roads and a big new container port. I hope that Sri Lance doesn't regret letting them do it.

well so the event filled days of the laundry continue, thats comforting to know although curious to know how the deck 8 inhabitter was identified??? was it the sloppy joes or the red loyalty pin proudly displayed on her "my granddaughter went to Disneyland and all they bought me was this tee shirt" that gave away her away? did the laundry basket have the "stolen from deck 8" tag still attached? curious minds want to know......really they need to attach trackers to those things. Lucky she didn't push it as I wouldn't want to cross a New Yorker anyway otherwise they could end up with concrete boots and a swim in the Hudson. I loved the latest story going around the ship on this years WC, after our call to Australia it was rumoured that 4 Australians had gotten into the laundrette early and locked the doors and people lined up outside just thinking that the steward had just not unlocked them. It wasn't till the Ozzie's emerged undisturbed and triumphant with their clean and dry laundry that their rouse was discovered. Another myth to add to the chocolate bar in the dryer, the husbands fighting over the iron and being ejected at the next port, and the story of the stolen cocktail dress.......or was it? It actually sounds like a good idea.......although you didn't hear it from me. keep the stories coming to us - the landlocked

in case you miss it........

uprising in the laundry???? how unusual.....please elaborate...don;t spare any details.... she is a great ship, its a pity they cancelled her dry dock this year in favour of putting their efforts into the enigma that is the QA, poor ole Vicky is sure in need of a touch of paint on her hull particularly towards her stern. I see that you are halfway to Valletta, absolutely stunning port you will enjoy it.

hey NowVoyager! you lucky thing, boarding the best ship afloat! I don't know where you are onboard but wherever it is Im sure you will have a great time. You may be a virgin now but it won't take you long to be broken in and seduced by our favourite queen, give her hull a tap as you enter her portal for me (and also my plaque on the companion way into the commodore club. Have a great trip and how about a few lines to keep us up to date whilst you are supping a cocktail. If Tomas is currently master you could remind him he owes me a blast on the whistle. best regards

think you are right, when I was first issued a number the Aust/NZ market wasn't as big and the regions were not as divided as they seem to be now. That having said, a couple of times over the years when I have booked through a US agent and once through a UK agent the US number wa different and had to be amalgamated with my original number and the UK booking didn't.

just to confuse it blue marble, my number is Australia/New Zealand with 9 letters and a letter at the end and was issued in the 90s

I think that you will find everyone has a different answer. On my recent 64 days of the QV World Voyage I bought the essentials package for the duration and after the discounts from Diamond level and the discount they offered for buying the package I had to top the amount up by about $200 which for the service and accessibility being able to play Spotify etc I thought was well worth while. Most people will have differing amounts that they would have topped it up depending on the days and the loyalty level etc that they are on.

I have just returned from the QV world cruise and BA managed to lose my bags in as much as they had not been loaded onto the flight to SFO. Fortunately I was staying in SFO and the luggage caught up with me the next day, before I boarded the flight to NZ. I must say BA could not have been more helpful and professional about getting the bags to me and the best advantage was that I didn't have to shlep the bags all around SFO which was worth quite a bit!