sfred

Thanks @NE John.  I also noticed QE's Port Lincoln South Australia plaque during our February voyage. That one went up on the wall rather quickly.  Perhaps QE never got any plaques from the five maiden calls to to Fiji/Vanuatu/New Caledonia in February. 

The two new Japan ones look very nice!  Thanks again, and also for your Alaska postings.  Hope your trip continues to go well.

1 hour ago, NE John said:

10:15pm sunset leaving Ketchikan last night. Once in a lifetime scene:

Beautiful!  Looks like a pool of volcanic lava.  Thanks for posting.

Thanks @NE John.  Looking forward to your reports and photos!

15 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

I imagine you did go through Carinthia, it's one of the larger lounge areas, with lots of sofas, just after Kings Court on Deck 7. It has the most expensive Illy espresso rig, and is, for many, a good place for coffee. It has a slightly longer coffee menu compared to the other venues. It also does an alternative breakfast menu for those who want just some small plates.

And in the evenings there is the "port bar" with a large range of evening drinks.  On one TA crossing we were on that featured RADA, they did a series of "bedtime stories" with the actors reading different parts of the stories  With a glass of port, it was a very pleasant way to finish a day on QM2.

20 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

That's a shame, it's next to the King's Court. They have a selection of sweet and savoury small plates.

There's occasions when I wish I had never found QM2's Carinthia breakfast selections.  They sometimes have a custard doughnut that is very addictive.

46 minutes ago, Jack E Dawson said:

I think there might be some new plugs in the room, There was an outlet box, mounted to the wall in the corner on top of the refrigerator cabinet. It contained two US type outlets. If this has always been there, I not noticed it on previous cruises. So now there are 4 US outlets and 2 UK outlets by the desk area.

 

 

Thanks for your review, @Jack E Dawson.  Sympathies on becoming ill afterwards - hope you are both better soon.

Those US electrical outlets and RJ45 network jack are remnants from the time that QM2 had the television located on the shelf over the minibar, prior to the screen being mounted on the bulkhead wall opposite the bed.  Nowadays the power points supply the kettle.

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Surprisingly, I discovered that the coffee machine in the King’s Court buffet was better than expected, and certainly better than the room service coffee.

 

My favourite coffee was in Sir Samuel’s, but that is an added cost.

Of all QM2's free coffee machines, I like the one on deck 2 at Illuminations/Connexions the best.  This machine was out of service for a while post-covid, but is now back. 

Thanks @Miss G for your commentary and photos.

QE has departed Sapporo Otaru, finishing her 2024 Japan season, and is beginning the transpacific to Alaska.  First stop Kodiak on 3 June.  Best wishes to all currently aboard, and to @NE John, @david,Mississauga, and others for their upcoming Alaska trips. 

18 hours ago, NE John said:

The specific port - Seogwipo, South Korea 

Thanks all.  Great screenshot,  @bluemarble.  I've been on airplanes back to Australia and didn't have any chances to look on the Seogwipo cams for QE's visit.

16 hours ago, NE John said:

@sfred  Please remind me of the photos you want of the maiden call plaques on QE. I’ll post them here. Next month already!

The new plaques from QE's maiden calls in Februsry in New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Fiji will hopefully have been hung by now. They most likely would be in the starboard corridor to the Commodore Club. QE may also have gotten some new plaques from the recent maiden calls in Japan and Korea.  If I remember correctly the Japan plaques are in the port corridor.   Thanks @NE John and hope you have a great time in Alaska! 

I don't think there's a 4 bottle option, only 6 or 12.  On QE in September 2023 the Commodore 6 bottle was $445 and 12 was $750.  Captain collection was $310 and $550.

We were in Britannia Club on our QM2 trip which finished today so can't say for PG.  There were definitely cheese trolleys in PG on QE on our recent February voyage.  As @exlondoner said, there are six or seven choices, biscuits, and fruit.

Thanks @babs135.  As @bluemarble indicates, your photo is the Dalian art gallery.   Looks like winter from the people's clothes.   

I went to Dalian frequently in a past work life.  Winter was very cold in contrast to summertime Australia. 

17 hours ago, rafinmd said:

While I haven't contributed much recently, I am thrilled that this is still alive.

It is my favourite time aboard!

We have a clear horizon this morning 15 May from QM2, enroute back to Southampton. 

Sunrise on the Elbe, Tuesday 14 May.

Taylor is aboard QM2.  $28

A rather hazy sunrise on Monday 13 May from QM2 in the Channel enroute to Hamburg.

7 hours ago, sfred said:

Looking forward to embarkation day beer this afternoon! 

And we're aboard!

QM2 is in Southampton this morning,  Sunday 12 May, arriving from NY.  That's not particularly noteworthy. 

The noteworthy part for us is that Mrs sfred and I will board later on today for a short four night trip to Hamburg and back.  We've been in Morocco for two weeks and the timing worked out nicely to catch QM2 before returning home to Australia. 

(Given our departure from Morocco on stolen letters of transit from Rick’s Cafe,  I wondered if it was a bad idea to be going to Germany.  But hopefully the authorities believed we went to Lisbon instead of Southampton. 😀 )

Looking forward to embarkation day beer this afternoon! 

1 minute ago, D&N said:

It did feel a bit like cheating. I did see some other pics of the port in the reverse lookup, but I knew that if I simply identified the ferry I could probably find the location.

The screenshot I had saved didn't include the ferry.

Earlier that morning in Japan, there was a great sunrise view of the wider harbour.   I saw a small dark blob that I thought was probably QE as she arrived but it was far too small and the lighting contrast of the dark water and brightening sky made identification impossible.   Sometime later that morning the webcam operator narrowed the focus to the ship to the view that @bluemarble posted.

2 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Here's a webcam capture showing a Cunard ship at a port we haven't seen yet.

I was glad to see this webcam zoom in on the ship during its port call, from the usual wider view of this port.

Edit:  I see that @D&N has identified Sasebo while I was typing.  Congratulations! 

@bluemarble, should we record QE's visit by the port name Beppu, or the city Oita, or some combo?

14 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

Here's a webcam capture of a Cunard ship arriving

I was hoping you might capture the arrival or departure!!  I made a diary note to try to have a look, but unfortunately have been in the wrong time zone lately.

23 hours ago, sogne said:

this although not an obvious view is an as yet unseen sail by

I found an online photo of the building and falls, which google maps says is on the Innvikfjorden in Norway.

5 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Knowing the country based on the previous Casablanca identification helped to narrow down this location. I think this is Essaouira, Morocco. Yeah, I'm not finding any evidence that a Cunard ship has called here either. Looks like an interesting location for a work meeting. Hopefully you avoided any serious intrigues here. 🙂

Essaouira is correct.  An interesting port town with a nice historical Medina and waterfront. 

4 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I was going to ask if you had been to Rick’s. If you have those letters, tread carefully and keep an eye out for potential assassins. I suppose you might say the original Rick’s Café was a little touristy too. 😀😀

I think Major Strasser has been following us ever since!  😀