Shuffleboard Dude

The proper way to eat a scone is in the manner one finds most enjoyable.

I just imagine you saying that to a five year old kid. :D:D:D

Happy vacuuming!

Thanks for that correction. I obviously haven't kept up. Calling it a planetarium on QM2 has always seemed to be a bit of a misnomer to me anyway. More like an IMAX style theater that shows astronomy-related films rather than what I would consider a traditional planetarium. But perhaps I'm just nitpicking.

This may be a sad truth but the mechanical projection in planetariums is largely gone by now. The digital projection used on QM2 is the new normal. In some planetariums they will run more traditional shows, but I know some planetariums who do exactly what Cunard does.

Not always, we've shared with people from Switzerland, Mexico and America as well as the UK.

I may be wrong in general as I had a table with my own nationals exactly once - on my first night aboard QM2.

The dinner conversation was a ghastly experience. Since then I visit the Maître D' after every embarkation to make sure it won't happen again.

Yes Cunard does cluster nationalities together, an awful practice in my opinion.

Cunard isn't Disney - generally there are few children.

Are daily programmes for Oriana available somewhere?

Our posters onboard suggest that they were used for some of the time

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2682814

I may add: I saw them in use when leaving Southampton in January, there was a considerable cloud (of steam) ab deck 13 and the captain explained via PA that this was due to the gas turbines running.

Of course I cannot tell you whether the electrical energy was needed for propulsion or just to keep the power system stable while 1000 in-stateroom kettles were put on simultaneously.

EDIT: The Chief Engineer once stated that 90% of the ship's energy consumption goes into propulsion.

Our (Mr Branson's) motto was Virgin Atlantic, ''4 engines for Long Haul''

Nowadays the motto is ETOPS. Engines turn or passengers swim.

The A330 made its first flight in 1992 - I think Mr. Branson was comparing 4 engine aircraft with 3 engine aircraft such as DC-10 or Tristar.

Every form of transport has an optimum speed in terms of fuel and cost efficiency. For jet aircraft this speed is around 850 km/h. For cars it's around 80-100 km/h and for trains at about 200 km/h.

For passenger ships this speed is around 15 kts, although this varies greatly depending on the shape of the hull (block coefficient, etc.).

So, yes of course I would like the new ship to be slightly faster than the SS UNITED STATES, in fact I would love to see this ship to be the refurbished UNITED STATES. But then, I wouldn't like to pay the bill.

1. Yes, they do, right on your writing desk.

2. The outside pool has been swimmable on QM2 in January, but there are rumors that they have lowered the temperatures of the whirlpools. I think you should be fine as soon as you pass Cape Finisterre, on Day 2.

3. I never attempted to bring flowers, they don't do bag searches for food. Anyhow, bringing food to a cruise ship is a lot like dragging a fridge to the South Pole.

4. You will be very much encouraged by the port lecturer to buy a bottle of Madeira and bring it on board. In general Cunard does not enforce any limitations on alcohol. Nevertheless you use common sense, otherwise they will.

Roscoe39,please where can i get these plans?

Just for my own reference. Non specific, just intrigued.

I would be interested to get these plans too, thanks.

QUEEN ANNE is an awful name indeed. It rather sounds like a Hollywood ship name contrived in the 1930s. Then again, absolutely nothing I've seen, heard or surmised about "the new ship" sounds vaguely appealing so maybe it's a perfect suitably name at that.

 

Sadly, Cunard has gotten themselves into a Royal bind entirely of their own making with this mania for Queen this and that. When, in fact, there are few real Queens to use as name. And Cunard has such a wealth of lovely sounding, distinctive and historic "real" Cunard names ending in the traditional "-ia".

 

But frankly, I would be insulted if the most famous Cunard name of them all. MAURETANIA... was slapped on this hulk. So QUEEN ANNE it should be. A chair and a Cunarder all in one. Just not a steamer chair on a real promenade deck.

You are right in a factual and logical perspective, but there is marketing involved.

Anne is a nearly perfect name as it can be correctly pronounced in many languages. Also this whole king, queen & royal nonsense suggests some extaordinary qualities - which aren't necessarily present. Anyone who's had lunch at King's Court will understand.

Personally I would like to see Cunard to go back to the old roman provinces/-ia scheme, but it could be a lot - seriously a lot worse.

Princess Cruises has given a synonymous name to ROYAL PRINCESS and REGAL PRINCESS, HAPAG has EUROPA and EUROPA 2 in service at the same time. RCI on the other hand follows the OF THE SEAS scheme, which isn't practical but gives passengers at least the opportunity to make cheesy jokes (MONSTROSITY OF THE SEAS, anyone?). By far the worst is TUI Cruises Germany. They named their ships MEIN SCHIFF (MY SHIP) 1 to 6 , but after replacing MEIN SCHIFF 2 with a newbuild they decided to rename the old ship "MEIN SCHIFF AND A BLOODY HEART SYMBOL NOBODY CAN WRITE". It's not even consistent with their own naming logic!

Essentially they created THE SHIP FORMERLY KNOWN AS PRINCE.

Hoping for some updated info in where to stay. [emoji3]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Portsmouth. :D

Because you can visit the Royal Navy Museum in the morning before boarding the ship in Southampton.

Getting to Hamburg by train is easy: A Regional Express train takes about 1h15.

That said: There is a local ticket called the Schleswig-Holstein Ticket, which costs € 32 for two persons per day. (1pax 29, 3pax 35, 4pax 38) This would save you about $200 compared to the service offered by Cunard. https://www.bahn.de/p/view/angebot/regio/regionale-tickets/schholst/schleswig-holstein-ticket.shtml

It is valid on all regional trains in Schleswig-Holstein, the S-Bahn in Hamburg (also to the airport) and even the Hamburger Hochbahn (subway - Chicago style in some parts) and most city buses. Its valid from 9am Monday to Friday, and all day weekends.

You can buy this ticket at any ticketing machine of Deutsche Bahn. BE AWARE THAT IT IS NOT VALID ON LONG DISTANCE TRAINS OF THE ICE/IC/EC CATEGORIES (the white ones), but only on regional trains (the red ones), but there's not much difference in travel time. For timetables have a look at: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml

If you think about going to Frankfurt by train, you could use the same website. There's a nice feature called Save-Fare Finder, which will get you the cheapest ticket for any given day.

Frankfurt has one of the largest airports in Europe with flights going almost anywhere. I recommend you to have a look at a flight back home from there. It might even be cheaper to fly to Frankfurt and take the train up to Hamburg at the beginning of the cruise.

"Class" - a group sharing the same economic or social status; social rank

"Class" - divisions of varying travel categories, each with its own price, perqs and rules

"Class" - dignified or restrained form, appearance, behaviour or style; sophistication

Of course I'm aware of these differences, thats why it made me chuckle... ;)

Don't know too many working stiffs who can afford $1000-$2000 per night fares!

But I agree, even some of the wealthier passengers I encountered seemed to lack class.

And the Cunard experience, while inarguably pleasant, at times failed to meet the refined standards that the company purports to offer.

Well, yes there aren't many, but there are quite a few. If my count is right, then there are 172 cabins in the grills (96 QG, 76 PG) - or 344 passengers. This isn't much compared to the total of 2705 passengers.

I find it funny that you consider the term class outdated but think that some wealthier passengers lack class. :D

This doesn't answer your question precisely, but I found this tour one of the best and most interesting i ever took:

http://www.scottspizzatours.com

As the name implies, Scott will give you a tour on the cultural history of pizza in New York. It seems that the business has expanded since I took a tour 10 years ago, so he might have hired people in the meantime.

On some dates it's by bus on some dates it's on foot, you get a few slices of pizza during the tour.

Like it!, last cruise in the Grills we were chatting to a policeman, and a insurance salesman and other ordinary people. We used to cruise 2 or 3 times a year in a balcony cabin, but now choose to go once a year in Grills, mainly for the bigger cabin and the excellent food and service.

I find Cunard in general to be a very middle class experience. Unless you are a minor nouveau riche like the current POTUS (or his opponent of 2017), then you own or rent one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_yachts_by_length

By coincidence - or maybe not, there are a "Queen Miri" (!) and a "Carinthia VII" among these vessels.

We recently sailed on the NCL Breakaway and was gobsmacked to see in the theatre an area roped off with a sign stating the seats were only for people staying in The Haven! If that isn't class distinction what is?

 

My BIL has stated that he won't sail with Cunard because of their class system but will quite happily sail with Celebrity. When I mention their Aqua. Class he is quite dismissive. As far as he is concerned Cunard is class ridden 'full stop'. I've given up arguing with him.

Well, the Haven is nothing else than NCL's first class!

I find it amazing how the right wording and branding can make such a difference. A lot of people seem to be easily tricked by the right PR strategy or simply don't bother to think about basic concepts who stand behind the marketeers waffle.

The open decks are the reason why I as tourist class - pardon Britannia - passenger prefer the QM2 over QV & QE.

All in all QM2 is a very ''equal'' ship whilst QV&QE are a bit less so. If I were a Grills passenger I would expect some additional privileges like reserved seats in the theatre and a private pool.

I think that we will see a somewhat of a revival of class separations in the future, though not necessarily on Cunard ships.

In fact if you think about the passengers tourist class was invented for all ships are now all tourist class. I think the first ship to be all tourist class must have been Shaw Savill & Albion's SOUTHERN CROSS.

Also, not on every ship ''tourist class'' has been the same grade of accommodation. With Cunard, it equals Britannia (or Steerage if you will), but on ships of the NDL (Norddeutscher Lloyd) like the BREMEN or the EUROPA there was a separate tourist class grade between 2nd and 3rd class. Ships of the HAPAG had 1st to 3rd class and steerage on the Imperator class vessels, but steerage vanished after WWI. On Union-Castle and Orient Line ships there was just 1st and tourist class.

IMHO calling Britannia grade tourist class is appropriate. Just because some nitwit from marketing has invented a fancy name, it doesn't mean that basic idea isn't the same as 50 years ago.

Me, I still remember the old days when as a single you could share a multi berth cabins with strangers... did that numerous times on Cunard, P&O, BI, French Line, Italian Line etc etc. You could see the world by ocean liner all on your own with nary a care or extra supplement.

Sadly, ships are no longer a mode of long distance transport but a holiday destination. Even on Hurtigruten you can't share a cabin anymore. Now that the venerable RMS ST.HELENA is gone, I think the last place where you could share a cabin (or rather a dormitory) for a journey of several nights, are the vessels of PELNI in Indonesia.

Most of these quite modern ships were built by the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelni

Jack Dawson summed it up best.

 

Indeed, in a world where every company and "experience" yearns to be all things to all people, a squishy conformist blob, Cunard is pretty unusual in the cruise world. You either love it or hate it. And the irony is I am old enough to think it's "mainstream" by being traditional when it is indeed the last bastion of anything like ship travel as I remember it. In some ways, it's like Renaissance Cruises when they started in 1999 and "out there" by being so radically different from other lines i.e. no dressing, no kids, no smoking (anywhere), no bookings by travel agents etc etc.

 

I can imagine many used to say RCCL, NCL, MSC or even today's P&O, feeling quite lost on Cunard. There's no forced activity, no noise, no poolside "contests", no hectoring PA announcements, no "freedom" dining and no "I can wear what I damn please because it's my vacation".

 

Many of us worry, for all good reasons, how long Cunard will have the corporate courage to remain unique. The new ship is perceived by many as a "threat", the thin wedge (or stake) driven into the heart of what we existing customers like about in the first place. I often mused about "the new ship" taking my pre breakfast 1.5 mile walk around the boat deck, smelling the sea, feeling the spray and seeing the sea in all its glory just last week on QE. And appreciating on the new ship I won't be able to do any of it. And that may be just the beginning....

That sums it up pretty nicely. Cunard has a culture of its own. A lot of things are done in a certain way simply because things ARE done this way. I once met a young bartender in the Commodore Club, who apologized that he was on his first term with Cunard, and that he had still to learn "how things are done the Cunard way".

There wasn't much need for an apology, however, the drinks were excellent.

What I really appreciate is the motivation and friendliness of the staff. I only ever met one grumpy employee on any of the ships. His name was Kevin - you may guess the position he held.

That's 6 drinks you have listed. Depends on what they are of course, but let's say an average of $10, that's $60.

 

 

 

And equally you have just listed 6 or more. Another $60.

 

 

So you have both stated you don't know how anyone can drink $69. But 6 drinks @ $10 each, plus 15% comes out at $69.

 

It's so easy to rack up that size of bar bill without even realising it, as both Bell Boy and Shuffleboard Dude have just demonstrated !!

Yes it may roughly equal $69 but as I wrote, that is the absolute maximum I ever had on a single day, and not my regular intake.

I'm quite capable of spending more than $69 for booze a day. Sometimes we order a bottle of wine in the MDR or have a drink that's $15. But these are things that aren't included in the package!

I don't get how anyone who isn't an alcoholic would be able to save money with the $69 package.

Even if I have a beer for lunch, two drinks before dinner, two glasses of wine and a drink after dinner, it wouldn't cost me more than $69.

This is about the maximum I ever drank on a single day onboard, and of course far more than any recommended safe drinking limit.

It’s a shame they don’t take more care with the website. Anything technical doesn’t appear to be Cunard’s strong suit. .

:') Please say that again when you're standing next to QM2's Chief Engineer. :')

Also, make sure that he isn't carrying a spanner at this very moment.

For us - GOOD NEWS! We go under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and enter New York Harbor to pass near the Statue of Liberty in the daylight. It also means normal time for breakfast tomorrow. AND three hours less wait in JFK. All good things, in our case.

- Mark

Well it's full stop for all complaining then. :cool:

Also, a bit of envy from my side.

29.61 knots is the maximum speed reached at the second sea trials, not her service speed. Her planned maximum speed is 29.3 kts. I would estimate her maximum service speed to be around 25-27 kts.

This discussion over at the QE2 forum might be helpful: https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php?topic=1183.0