D&N

Is it just me, or does anyone else find that when viewing MarineTraffic (without subscription) after a ship has departed from a tendering port, it often appears that some of the tenders have been left behind? I find the thought that they might have forgotten about them mildly amusing. 😂

With kind permission of shinshu-a.com, I can post an image of Queen Elizabeth shortly before departure from Villefranche-sur-Mer this evening.

I think you're more than entitled to allow yourselves some latitude. A 'dark suit' (probably sans bow tie), and a longish dress that travels well could probably be re-cycled for one or more dinners in Germany. Although it will be early autumn the evenings should be cool enough at that time of year.

I went back to bed and missed that! It's high over the trees now.

I didn't know this was a Cunard port of call. I've not been there but did take the photo. It's cropped from a wide angle photo. The angle and centre of focus may have distorted perspective as I find it hard to believe it's in shot, but can't be anywhere else.

Not the best photo. I don't have a camera that deals very well with low light at a distance. The low cloud on the horizon doesn't help either. Dawn breaking on the Cote d'Azur at 06:08 this morning as Queen Elizabeth heads into Villefranche-sur-Mer

I'd agree with Copenhagen. There is a 'dreamstime' watermarked photo online that shows the terminal building. Google satellite view and many other photos are older and don't show it.

Is it cheating to use a reverse search? Cropping in to this distinctive section gives me: Bird sanctuary Einevarden? I assume the port would be Måløy. Beaten! Taking too long to verify the port!

@bluemarble Update; Possibility we can work in Sept 21st. We'll have a visitor and plan a lunch at Geppetto https://www.facebook.com/geppettoalex/ in Nice one of the days. If we get on the move early enough we could visit Villefranche and get bus back to Nice, breaking journey at viewpoint. Let you know nearer time.

Sorry, don't think we'll manage back to Villefranche. We combined that with a picnic in Monaco that we sometimes do in summer. We might be able to get something at Cannes on one of the visits. We were planning to have a beach picnic at Île Sainte-Marguerite today, but I took one of our cats to the vets as she's not been eating well. We'll probably wait a few days to monitor her progress, which could mean that our trip could coincide with a Cannes visit. Although we swim and picnic on the south of the island, the ferry should pass QE in both directions and we'd get opportunities from the jetty on the island and from the port at Cannes.

Our two 80 litre cases fitted under one side with plenty of room to spare. They are 43.0 x 66.0 x 29.0 cm. In hindsight we might have been better to have 1 x 80 litre plus 1 x 119 litre at 50.0 x 77.0 x 31.0 cm. The smaller would have fitted inside the larger for storage. And saved storage space at home. As you'll see in the photo of the 29 cm cases, the 31 cm would have fitted under the bed easily.

We were disembarking on Sunday June 12th a Southampton. In the daily program of Thursday June 9th in a section headed "Preparing for your onward journey" requests were invited for "Fast Track disembarkation" and to phone the Pursers Office to arrange that. The slots were apparently 07:00 & 07:15, we were allocated the latter. Just before 07:00 we observed folk queuing to disembark as we returned from breakfast. By the time we got back down to deck 2 just before 07:15 that queue had dispersed and we walked straight off other than having our cards scanned. We were outside the terminal before 07:30. My sympathies are with you travelling by bus for that distance! It wouldn't be me. I would be on the 10:15 train changing at Birmingham.

Could it be Sitka?

On a Panama Transit at New Year 2005/6 from Acapulco to Barbados on P&O's Arcadia generally things were very good. I couldn't fault the service. Apart from Carnival's inability to make Kir Royale to my liking, the wine and drinks were good and reasonably priced. The sommelier jumped whenever we suddenly decided that a desert wine or liqueur was required with a particular desert. There was dancing in The Globe most nights. The shows were to a fairly high standard although I'd rather be dancing. The food was all well presented and cooked correctly. However for us the food was incredibly bland. It was as if they were catering exclusively for "British" tastes. Every single dinner was offered with potatoes and two vegetables, including curries and pasta dishes. When I asked for rice with a particular fish dish they were unable to provide any, even though they had an Asian/fusion restaurant on board. I suppose it was to be expected as the passengers were almost exclusively British, all having been flown out from various UK locations on charter flights to Acapulco and returned in same manner from Barbados. We had expected to find some local Caribbean produce but apparently everything is shipped from UK to a base in Barbados. We resolved not to travel with P&O again unless the itinerary offered was something we had to do and no one else was offering it. Since they don't offer day trips around The Baie des Anges on the Cote d'Azur or North Atlantic Crossings using an ocean liner that is never going to happen! In comparison Cunard's food offering is much more international and can closely match our regular diet.

I don't recall it looking quite so luxurious as the photo posted by @WestonOne in the other thread, but about 60 years ago my mother sometimes served baked eggs, which I think was a relatively cheap way of making a protein rich meal for 6 people with eggs and milk when meat, poultry and fish were expensive. It was placed in a pyrex oven dish and yolks were left intact. I recall it as being quite tasty.

No problem. They can go in the bin now that I have digital copies!

I've just got round to scanning and posting the menus we brought home, here:

I only asked for copies of menus in 2nd week of our crossings, having wrongly assumed they would automatically be presented on final night of trip as we had experienced on other lines. I've scanned the following as PDFs: QM2 Platinum Jubilee Gala Dinner Menu June 3 2022 QM2 Britannia & Club Dinner Menus June 6 to 11 2022 QM2 Britannia & Club Lunch Menus June 6 to 11 2022 I think they are in the order served. Red & Gold has that colour of border. We didn't get a copy of Britannia Club A la Carte, but had Duck, Lamb & Sole once each and Flambé Du Jour a few times (Suzette, Cherries, Pineapple). QM2 Platinum Jubilee Gala Dinner Menu June 3 2022.pdf QM2 Britannia & Club Dinner Menus June 6 to 11 2022.pdf QM2 Britannia & Club Lunch Menus June 6 to 11 2022.pdf

We've only taken 1 x QM2 cruise, May/June 2022 (18 years 4 months old). Only the 3rd proper cruise in our lifetime, after Sun Princess 1998 (2 years 8 months old). P&O Arcadia 2005/6 (9 months old). We've sailed on many ships in the Med, Baltic, North Sea, Channel, Biscay and West Coast Scotland. So this is not simply a defence of Cunard. I just don't see the point of those photos. If you don't expect to see rust and stains on outer decks of a ship you really should be choosing a holiday at a luxury resort hundreds of miles from the sea. The door; Yes folk really should use the handle provided to open the door, keep their hands away from their face and wash them as soon as possible, but if you don't want to touch where others have then it's quite clear from the photo where you should hold. 😂 I don't really see the practical use of silver candlesticks or vases, so get rid of them and the polished wood won't get so marked. (You don't honestly think that those symmetrical marks were caused by a variety of different glasses?). I wouldn't pick that mauve shade for my lounge, but I don't see anything wrong with that chair. Personally I would tidy that afternoon tea table a bit more before leaving it, but then I know I have OCD. We found everything we used to be spotlessly clean. The only marks on our clothing were where we splashed them with sauces etc. This isn't the 1st post of this kind I've read. I find most of them laughable. I think folks expectations of various forms of public transport need to be more realistic. Of course everyone has the right to their opinions and to choose where they spend their money, so some may not agree with anything I've typed and are welcome to do so.

I hadn't been familiar with Vlaardingen & Maassluis, but we sailed frequently between Harwich and The Hook in the 1990s when my brother in law was based in Germany. Interesting to see all the cameras.

https://webcam-vlaardingen.nl/pages/cameras/oost.php QM2 is currently heading towards the camera at Vlaardingen that points East. On the West pointing camera folk can be seen gathering on a small jetty on the North Bank to watch her sail past. And the operator is following her too.

https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/14-PreCruiseRequirement-All-US_CAN_UK_AU_NZ.pdf Assuming it is correct, this Viking document was updated on August 12th. The info for Spain doesn't seem to matter what you do after arrival, and is quite clear. The only difference I've seen elsewhere was transit passengers not leaving the airport were exempt, which obviously doesn't apply if you travel from airport to docks.

I keep forgetting about this. Delta serve quarter bottles of this stuff. It was better than the Californian red & white that they served by the cup from big bottles. Anyone tasting this would never complain about Pol Acker again.

Not sailing. Moored in Rotterdam, not that far from where QM2 is today. Shows on MarineTraffic. [actually that position is from June 2nd, so it could have been moved] Wikipedia: "The new owners intend to use the Astoria for conversion to a hotelship....... The plans were abandoned and the ship was again made available for sale, never having left port in Rotterdam.

In service at least. I think there's a few more moored around the world. But are they afloat or resting on the bottom? 😂