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BJLord

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    Queen Mary 2 Sydney to New York, March 6 to April 25, 2020

    in Cunard Line

    Posted

    Listening to our evening news a short while ago it was a false positive result.  In fact little emphasis placed on this fact except to say that one individual was subsequently cleared. The QM2 has now been given the all clear, the six South Africans disembarked and they are now refuelling and re-provisioning for what may be a quick turnaround depending on the refuelling time. 

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    Queen Mary 2 Sydney to New York, March 6 to April 25, 2020

    in Cunard Line

    Posted

    QM2 is on the move again.

    Following extract appeared in www.africaports.co.za on Sunday.

     

    CRUISE AND SHIP PORT MOVEMENTS DUE TO COVID-19

    Durban on a previous visit. Picture: Trevor Jones, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPSQueen Mary 2 in Durban on a previous visit.   Picture: Trevor Jones

    DURBAN

    QUEEN MARY 2

    Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 arrived off Durban on Thursday 26 March and, in an unusual action for the Queen, went to anchor outside port at the anchorage opposite Umhlanga. By Friday midday the ship, which has always been welcomed by crowds of Durbanites even in the days when access to the North Pier was heavily restricted, remained in this position, not far from another anchored cruise ship visitor, MSC Orchestra.

    The liner was arriving from Fremantle, where most of her passengers were disembarked. Those that remain on board are understood to be passengers returning to the UK who are otherwise unable to fly and will return instead with the ship, whose destination remains Southampton. When she finally enters port to take bunkers and any necessary supplies, it will be a silent mostly ‘non-event’ save for those fortunate people living in apartments along the beachfront.

    Update Sunday 22h30:

    The NSRI reports that on Friday, 27 March, at 19h00 the NSRI Durban duty crew launched the sea rescue craft Alick Rennie, accompanied by a ShipMed doctor, to rendezvous at the Queen Mary 2 cruise liner at the outer anchorage off-shore of Umhlanga, Durban.

    The ShipMed doctor, under the authority of the Department of Health Port Health Unit and the Department of Transport, was tasked to carry out routine Covid-19 tests onboard.

    On arrival at Queen Mary 2 the doctor, wearing full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), was transferred onto the ship and following the sample tests that were collected the doctor was transferred back onto the sea rescue craft and brought back into the Port of Durban without incident.

    All precautions, PPE and protocols as outlined by the Department of Health were followed during the operation. As of 22h30 Sunday 29 March Queen Mary 2 remained at anchor outside, although earlier in the weekend the ship sailed a short distance along the coast to improve the conditions on board for the remaining passengers.

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    QM2 World tour, Rudeness of guests

    in Cunard Line

    Posted

    Quite a sad reflection on some of the types of people you encounter on World Cruises. Boorish behavior should never be tolerated. Martin, in his blog of the QM2 World cruise at https://martinandjansjourney.com/ refers in his final reflections of the cruise to witnessing unconscionable rudeness to one of the waiters in the MDR which prompted him to take it up with the Maitre'D. His entire blog, despite his position, reflects a down-to-earth perspective and respect of all people and places and was an absolute pleasure to read.

    When the Three Queens Meet - 11 August 2019

    in Cunard Line

    Posted

    The day before our arrival in Southampton on 10 May 2016 our Daily Program on the QV for the 9th advised that we would meet up with QM2 and QE in the Bay of Biscay and sail in formation all the way into Southampton. Despite great excitement and anticipation throughout the day the planned meet-up never occurred that day or even during the night and our first sighting of the other two Queens was in the port itself at about 5:00am. What went wrong we never found out but that daily program held us in anticipation for a disappointing 24 hours!

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    Bringing wine on board

    in Cunard Line

    Posted

    Cunard have always been quite relaxed about this. While they specify restrictions to two bottles per person they have not to my knowledge ever enforced this. We have purchased wine in the Canaries, Madeira and the Cape (a half case in the latter) and have never had a problem. Anything within reason you should not have a problem. In Martin and Jan's diary of their world cruise on QM2 at https://martinandjansjourney.com/ he often refers to purchasing wines and beers in various ports.

    Booking QM2 a mistake

    in Cunard Line

    Posted

    Please read the review thread by Jack E Dawson "Lessons Learned by a Newbie". Although it's nearly a year old its still spot-on about the timeless quality of the Cunard service. This should set your mind at rest! :)

    Lessons Learned by a Newbie

    in Cunard Line

    Posted

    My wife and I just completed the May 8th – 15thEast to West Crossing on the QM2. It was an amazing time. I thought it might be useful to share some of our experiencesand thoughts from this trip, especially for those who might be taking theirfirst ever cruise or their first ever voyage on the QM2. This was our firstever voyage on any cruise ship. We spent two years planning the trip incelebration of our 40th wedding anniversary.

     

    WHAT WE DID RIGHT

    Chose the QM2 – While we’ve never been on any other ship,the QM2 was exactly what we were looking for at this point in our lives andexactly the environment we wanted to celebrate this special occasion. The QM2felt brand new. The ship, its crew and the onboard experiences offered exceededall of our expectations.

    Cruise Critic Cunard Board – We spent the last two years reading postsand asking questions on the Cunard Board. It’s probably impossible not to havea great time on a QM2 voyage but the insights and advise we received from thosewho generously post on Cruise Critic allowed us to make the very most out ofour time on the ship. We were able to avoid a lot of rookie mistakes.

    Britannia Club – This was our hardest decision but for us itturned out to be the right decision. Having no set dining time made ourafternoon activities a lot more relaxing. The Britannia Club dining also had anadditional page of dishes that were available every night if the dailyBritannia menu failed to excite. I ate off of this page twice and also on two occasions I added the seared scallopsfrom the Club menu to the fish of the day on the Britannia menu. Club levelalso guarantees an unobstructed balcony view. Our room, 12022, was an excellentlocation. There are other minor benefits to Britannia Club. Because of a salegoing on at the time of our booking, it cost us about $800 more to be in theClub level, well worth it to us.

    East to West Crossing - Without that extra night's sleep on five of the nights we never would have made it. AN East to West crossing is 10 hours longer than the reverse course. That's an extra half day on this wonderful ship.

    Cunard Coach – Staying in London at the Victoria DoubleTree by Hilton and taking Cunard bus to Southampton made for a relaxing way toget to Southampton. The hotel is two blocks (4-minute walk) from the busstation. Once there the service took control of our bags all the way to ourstate room. We also felt that if there was heavy traffic or a breakdown, theQM2 might grant us a little extra time before departing because we were using aCunard service. We probably could have saved a little money arranging our owntransportation but again, we were looking for a stress free holiday.

    Port Side – Booking a room on port (sunny) side of ship is a must, especiallywith an early May crossing. We were fortunate to have had nice weather all buttwo days and really enjoyed our balcony. A glass of wine on the balcony beforedinner became a regular part of our routine.

    Bring Wine – We brought 4 bottles of wine on board. We bought them at a winestore one block from the Double Tree in London. This saved us roughly $150. Wedrank the wine on our balcony and while sitting in the deck chairs on the PromenadeDeck.

    Table for 6 – We were lucky to have great tablemates. There was a couple fromAustralia, a single from London and a British single now living in Phoenix.With 6 people it was easy to carry on a table conversation and avoid awkward silencesthat might occur with a table of 4.

    Canyon Ranch Spa – We saved generally about 40% takingadvantage of the daily specials from the Canyon Ranch Spa. For example, my wifehad an 80-minute full body massage including hot stones for the Friday dailyspecial price of $149. The normal cost was $280.

     

    WHAT WE DID WRONG

    Bag Size – Because we were traveling through Spain the week before departingon the QM2, we choose to travel with 4 carry-on bags that we didn’t have tocheck with the airlines. Our fear was thatthe airlines might lose our bags and all of our evening/formal wear. Draggingthese four bags around and finding places for them in the overhead storage binswas a pain in the butt. Next time we will just pack two large bags and take ourchances with the airlines.

     

    WHAT WE DID RIGHT THAT WAS WRONG

    Power Strip – We brought along a power strip to give us extra 110V outlets onthe ship. Not necessary, there were 4 110V outlets in our cabin. More thanenough.

     

    WHAT WE DID WRONG THAT WAS RIGHT

    Changing Tables – Somehow we misunderstood and thought thatour Britannia Club table was only assigned to us for dinner. So each morning ataround 9:15AM we would mosey into the Britannia restaurant and ask the maitred' for a table for two by a window and each morning that is what we got.Because we are not morning people, a table for two worked out perfectly for us.

    Dress Code – The hot tubs on the Deck 8 Terrace (Stern) is a great place torelax. However, getting there can be a challenge. Cunard dress code says thatone should wear proper clothes over your bathing suit to and from the pool. Ifneeded there are changing rooms at the pools. However, we chose to only whereour bath robes over our swim suits. This was a lot easier and avoided dampclothes on the trip back to the cabin. We would then take the hallway on Deck11 (we were on Deck 12 which does not run the length of the ship) all the wayback to the D Elevators and drop down to Deck 7 as there is no direct access toDeck 8 Terrace from Deck 8 except through the Verandah Restaurant. On the portside of the ship near elevator bank D Deck 7 is a hidden stairway that leads upto Deck 8 Terrace.

     

    AVOID THE CUE

    I once had a boss tell me that what was wrong with me was that Ididn't like doing reports. To which I replied, "it gets worse, I don'tlike standing in lines either."

    Here is how to take the Q out of the QM2.

    Afternoon tea and the Planetarium – Wait till mid-cruise to startgoing.

    Lunch in the Golden Lion - Wait till 2'ish for lunch (try London Pridebeer)

    Breakfast in either the Britannia or King's Court - Get there after9:10AM

    Doing laps on the Promenade Deck - Noon till 1:30PM it is relativelyempty

    Evening Shows in the Royal Court Theater - Get there at 8:15PM.Upper level right side first row. Enjoy the relaxing room and have a drink fromtheir bar service.

    Laundry Room – Noon

    THINGS THAT SURPRISED US

    The crew works very very hard and represents more than 50 countries.They are very bright, well informed and genuinely friendly. They take greatpride in their work and were a huge part in making our crossing so special.

     

    The ship is alive with music from noon on.

     

    A lot of the passengers are great dancers. If you are not, still getout on the dance floor. We only had one couple criticize us. In their defense, we (actually me) are really bad.

     

    The Royal Theater singers are extremely talented.

     

    Despite the endless bashing on CC, we loved the complimentary bottleof Prosecco.

     

    SUGGESTIONS

    Have an assigned direction for passengers doing laps on the PromenadeDeck. About 95% went counter-clockwise but for some reason there were always afew going the opposite direction and making it difficult for the rest.

     

    There was no Irish music. Maybe offer that in the Golden Lion after10:00PM

     

     

    The hot tubs on Deck 8 Terrace (stern) are not hot, in fact they arejust warm. This is a great spot to relax and watch the world ocean goby.

    We will always treasure our crossing on the QM2. It was everything we had imagined and more. A special thanks to Miss Victoria Kiss. We look forward to our next adventure on this great ship.

    Harold Green

    aka Jack Dawson

     

    Now here is a positive attitude that will ensure anyone will enjoy their trip! Relative to "steilkurve's" thread

    "Booking QM2 a mistake" ;);)

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