roscoe39

awww shut Victoria...you flatter me. Hopefully some lucky passenger this year will blog? or at least post to the board, I might not be on board this time but I will be in spirit, have a good safe trip you lucky punters...

Sydney and auckland aside......the fireworks were great, I think that I had expected a bit more....and sigh....Elaine...wonder what she would make of the world now!

Lakesregion, the world has also changed substantially since it first was promoted and even then in my experiences the maiden world voyages of the QV and the QE of which I was on were almost disappointing for the recognition the maiden ports gave - save the odd fireworks. I think the celebration of the 100 years is more meaningful for those of us who a geeks about such things. Im not sure the world is ready for a full circumnavigation yet and will be watching it closely before continuing with my booking for 2024. They could be downplaying the promotion a little now. Sadly I think that we are deluded to think that the world will ever be the same and carefree that it was pre 2020...

thanks, that sounds a bit more reasonable and amounts to about $50 worth.

wow, knock me over and call me Mary, that's an offer I have never seen down here in our region, quite a benefit, if its unlimited it would negate booking Club, Thanks for the heads up....

complimentary specialist dining? Sounds like that is a benefit from your Travel agent, I have never heard of that from Cunard. Perhaps you are better to look for a statement from them if you are going through one. If I need to find what's left owing on a particular voyage I look for their Booking Email which states all particulars.

Hi Sugarcat,, the Bay of Islands is my home town before becoming a city slicker and I love cruising in and out of the Bay. There are two tender ports, one is Waitangi and the other is Paihia wharf. Not sure which your ship will call into, Cunard definitely calls into Waitangi. There will be tour operators at both Waitangi, and Paihia Wharf which has a tourist operator tour office in the wharf buildings and there are operators also across the road in the shops. They will be "Fullers" cruises around the Bay and also you can buy tickets for the ferry across to Russell which is a wonderful victorian town and also NZs first capital. (Kororareka) , you can wander around the town and see musket holes in buildings from the Maori wars. Most operators that are at Waitangi operate out of their vans and buses as there are not wharf buildings and will include a Waka canoe ride, (row yourself) and tours up to Kerikeri and the forest etc. It is a really pleasant walk along the beach into town- from Waitangi about 20 mins, but the town council usually puts on a free bus. The Bay is beautiful, I hope you enjoy your stop there. ps.... the reason you may not be able to find boat tours around noon is that if you are looking at Cape Brett for instance is that the seas become a bit rough to go through the hole and the Cream trip etc takes too long to start around lunch. Most of the longer trips leave earlier 8am till 10am. pps re your question about transit time on another thread,when you anchor, depending on where you drop - probably Tapeka, its about a 20 minute ride once you get onboard the tender.

sorry you missed Colombo lissie, its a great stop and I'm looking forward to visiting it again, I guess Cunard is over cautious sometimes but I would rather they were than weren't. Hopefully we will get in during the 2024 WC....maybe you should join up!

I havnt been on her since South America and covid in 2020 and it has been changed since then. I have never had problems with it in the past and it has usually served my needs. Of course, its all relative with what you are trying to do on it.

sorry can only comment on the QV in recent years..

hi, you can see from the enclosed image off the hull plan that it is a store room on one side ... I t will be a pantry holding towels and sheets and glassware and also the rolling shelf the stewards use during the day. and the other side is the ice machine. It shouldn't cause any problems and you have the bathroom to dampen any nose should there be any. I will have a photo of the layout of that style of stateroom if you want to see it ...Regards Roscoe

well....as it happens.... you might be interested in http://exitviathegiftshop.blogspot.com/ which if you flick right back to the beginning is the 2016 world cruise of the QV which was later edited and published (self) for family when I returned...

you think that was bad, there was always the time we got arrested in port said and spent some time in jail while we were on our own excursion! https://roscoesseafever.blogspot.com/2015/02/blanche-and-muriel-do-egypt-on-their-own.html travelling with me can be....interesting

If you or anyone else is interested, I have copied my diary entry over to my blog site from the tour you are looking at url here https://roscoesseafever.blogspot.com/2022/09/diary-entry-egypt-7-april-2008.html it was in 2008 but Im pretty sure not much will have changed...Egypt is a bit like that!

Tit No.1 when you go to the valley of the kings - skip the tomb of Tutankhamun and make for the other tombs. Most people will line up to see it and the waiting time will be at least an hour or two and you will not have time to do any of the others. There is little left inside the tomb anyway and by the time you get there even his mummy will be gone. The other tombs will have few tourists in them and if you strike it lucky you may be the only people inside making for a unique experience.

Hi lissie, I agree with what you say about the lunch, the last time we did it- lunch was at the Movenpic which unfortunately was a bit out of town along the conrishe and amongst the other 4 and 5 star hotels and there was little to do in the immediate vicinity. Although we did grab a carriage ride and have a harassing but hilarious drive around town. If memory serves me correctly the bus left without us but I knew where it was going next and we caught it up there .....much to the consternation of the Cunard rep who had not counted the numbers correctly and realised we were missing.....or maybe it was on purpose....I never really worked that out!! If you like I can look up my diaries and give you a run down of what and where the excursions went then if you give me the name of the excursion.

Hi , Ive done two excursions over the years to Luxor from Safaga, one was an overnight , the other was a day trip. The day trip was horrendously long from memory, about 15 hours, its quite a drive through the desert. The security issues are more to do with a money earner for the police rather than actual danger - I find the American media overflow issues in Egypt and the Middle East but I still would not attempt it on your own. Its the most amazing country and peoples on earth, you must go. I would book early to avoid missing out....(as the travel agents say)

silliness? Colombo is politically a dangerous mess at the moment. I think Cunard would have seriously considered whether they are putting their passengers at risk by going there....fabulous as it has been in previous calls. As for the other ports, Im sure they have not cancelled those ports without serious consideration as well.

I can't access the particular tour you are talking about so not sure of its details but hopefully it is an overnight tour and not just to the Valley but maybe Karnak as well. I have been to Egypt about 11 times since 1990, you will find that while the paths can be uneven in places a walking stick will be more than adequate. The valley although it will say uneven, the paths are pretty well walked smooth by the number of tourists who traverse the paths so if you stay on the paths you will be fine. The line to get into King Tuts tomb if that is your aim will be long and take up to a couple of hours to get through, if you are keen I would suggest trying the other tombs which are open on the day and you will often end up in them on your own. Thats quite an experience. Egypt is my favourite place on earth, I hope you enjoy it.

excellent suggestion Lissie, Florence is the most magical city - so much to see and do and the nightlife is spectacular. I vote do an overnight, you can go to Rome anyday....and its a bit sad at the moment with the fountains turned off!

If this helps, on the QE in 2012 we left Honolulu on 9 February 5.30pm and crossed the equator ceremony on 12 February at 2pm. Interesting enough, I noted in my diary the day before on the 11 that we were 784 miles from HNL, 1419 miles to apia and 400 north of equator and we had been averaging 350 miles per day, Whitney Houston had died and we were in the equatorial currents., which should give you some clue as to tracking our route on our way. We arrived in Apia at 7.45am.14 Feb. In 2019 on the QV we left HNL on 11 Feb at 6.30pm, missed 13 feb with int dateline and at 2.50pm on 14 Feb crossed the equator and were passing Samoas outer islands at 6.30am arrived apia docks at 7.30 on 17 Feb. The second officer told me that night that we had been averaging 19 knots My other trips down from HNL, stopped at other places after HNL or went to Tonga rather than Apia but at least you have some figures to work out. in 2000 on the QE2 we passed Kirabati close enough to have the atoll pointed out to us but unfortunately I didn't note the timings in my diary....I was too excited to be on the QE2!

good to hear Lissie!!! I had not seen that.

well the more people they can convince into travelling on that monstrosity, the more premium cabins left on the QV for us! fingers crossed we open our ports soon Lissie....this landlubber thing doesn't suit me.

thanks LIssie, purchase order came in so now does that mean I have a right to help with the design of Queen Anne??? I think they need a hand....