sfred

Congratulations @Sue-B. Well done! This morning Australia time I was going thrugh the unseen port list to look for other candidates, and came across Ishigaki. Initially I thought I'd made a mistake and forgotten to transfer the port across. But reviewing here and the QE position threads I realised that neither @alc13 nor @martinmct had contributed Ishigaki, and so it had remained unseen. A bit of google maps research confirmed it as a viable candidate. As @bluemarble indicated, the grography matches a ship arriving from right to left. There's also an island to the west, Kohama Island, that is about the right distance away. On the island, Tumaru beach has matching terrain, view towards Ishigaki, and electric poles that are a match to the webcam image. The webcam may have been located at the golf course and resort hotel just to the south of the beach. Well done also to @bluemarble for finding a webcam image of QE's call. A great find, enabling this to be port number 632 and 17 in Japan.

Ah, I think I've found it too. If correct, I had mistakenly thought this port was already on our seen list. As @Sue-B may have gotten to it before me, I'll defer to her to make the first guess when "tomorrow" happens later on in the UK.

That was one of my hypotheses also, @Sue-B. But the unseen places in the Philippines are Cebu, Davao, and Zamboanga. None of them seems to fit the geography. I looked at Davao for a long time, as there are some island hills between the city and the opposte shore at Baney-Baney that might have been a match, and several resort hotels that might have hosted a webcam. But the location doesn't fit the ship arriving from the right in the morning. Also if this were a recent webcam, QE's visit to the Philippines was at Manila and Puerto Princesa, both of which have been seen. So far, I'm stumped.

@bluemarble and others have been keeping a running photo gallery of each year's breed of Cunard bears. It is in this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2804682-cunard-teddy-bears Our next voyage is in August - I hope the 2023 ursus cunardis will be out by then.

Interesting itinerary. While Stamford is only about 35 miles from NY as the seagull flies, for QE2 it would have meant going all the way around Long Island to Montauk point and back on Long Island Sound. I don't imagine she could have fit going up the East River under the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro, Triborough, Hell Gate, Whitestone, and Throgs Neck bridges. Although if it were possible, that might have set some sort of record for the most bridges a Cunard ship passed under on a single itinerary. (Now there's a thought - what are the most bridges passed under on a single voyage?). Thanks @NE John for the Stamford picture. Port number 631.

Nice photos, @NE John. We have had the Dardanelles Strait/Gallipoli seen in the game. Post 4171 by @sogne on 15 October 2022 had a photo taken on the QV Black Sea cruise in 2013. @Colin_Cameron had a photo also, in post 4174. I have it in my dataset as "Dardanelles Strait Gallipoli, Turkey". I think @bluemarble lists it as only Dardanelles Strait Turkey in his list, so you may have overlooked it if you were searching for Gallipoli. Nonetheless, new contributions are always welcome. It sounds like your day on QE was very memorable and moving. Best wihes for the Memorial Day holiday to all our American mates.

Welcome back home, @bluemarble! I'm glad you had a good voyage. I definitely enjoyed your Norway photos, and the restored QM2 cufflinks. Somehow I must have forgotten to press "save" after entering Fukuoka into my dataset. Looking through the list this morning, it is missing. Now restored, and my port count reconciles to 630 with the addition today of Delos Greece and Sapporo (Otaru). Thanks for the catch. With QE and @martinmct now on their way to Alaska, our recent impressive growth in Japanese ports may have drawn to a close for this year. We've gotten to 15 ports for Japan, in ninth place in the "top 10" list of countries. Delos also breaks a long-standing tie for spot number 4 between Greece, Italy, and Australia. Greece is now at 30 ports, and 29 each for Italy and Australia. The updated top 10 graph is shown below. These top 10 countries represent 51.4% of the total 630 ports. There are 133 unique countries in the seen list.

In addition to what @Host Hattie said, the coffee and tea stations on deck 7 Kings Court are open 24x7. The coffee there is only average, although adequate for a morning cup to take outside and watch the sunrise -- my favourite time of day on QM2.

Here are several more photos courtesy of @martinmct. This is a different view of an existing port in the game, but it will be a new port because the terminal and pier shown here are located a significant distance away from the previous location we've seen. The location is given away in the Queen Elizabeth position thread, so don't read that if you want to have a guess.

Thanks - I believe it should count, particularly as it is a personal photo taken during a trip you made to the port. Port number 627 in the game, and only our third port in Russia (the other two being St. Petersburg and Yalta).

Thanks @Sue-B. That looks like the airport/olympic park at Sochi, Russia. Indeed, an unseen port on the list, and one where Cunard is unlikely to visit again anytime soon. This might be my last opportunity to beat @bluemarble to a port identification, as he returned to New York off QM2 earlier today US time. 🙂 I hope you had an excellent voyage @bluemarble, albeit shortened by QM2's mechanical issues. I've enjoyed your photo postings.

By the way, I see that your next port after Aomori is Otaru, for Sapporo. That is another unseen port in the Where in the World game. In 2019, we used Muroran for our Sapporo call, on the other side of Hokkaido. A photo would be wonderful - thanks!

Hope you've had a nice day in Aomori, @martinmct. That was our first port on 7 May 2019 after leaving Tokyo for Alaska. Mrs sfred and I had a very nice day there. The cherry trees in the parks all still had their blossoms, while Tokyo's were already finished for the season.

I'm quite happy with getting to the ship. It's getting from the ship that I find crushingly depressing. 🙂

As @Sue-B guessed, the port is indeed Taiwan, specifically Hualien Taiwan. Port number 626 in the game. Thanks again to @martinmct for the contribution.

Thanks @martinmct. You're lucky to have a clear day to see Mt. Fuji. The hotel where I used to stay in Tokyo had a concierge lounge with a window facing Mt. Fuji. In all my work trips, I think I had a clear view only once or twice. Hope you have a good port day.

No, I guess there aren't. The bow mast flags that sometimes provide a clue are too far away to see, and there's not much detail on the pier. A hint is that it is a port that was on @martinmct's voyage prior to arriving in Japan, in a nearby Asian country. The "Queen Elizabeth position" thread gives it away, so avoid reading that if anyone wants to make some guesses.

As mentioned, with these three additional ports Japan has now entered the top 10 list of countries in the game. Italy Greece and Australia remain tied for the number four spot at 29 ports each. And France and Spain are tied for seventh at 25 ports each.

Thanks @martinmct. Hualien was also an unseen port where none of us could find a webcam covering your port call that day. I've copied your photo over to the "Where in the World" game.

It looks like all our game participants have either already read the giveaways in the "Queen Elizabeth position" thread or have been stumped by @martinmct's generous contributions. I'll go ahead and reveal the very badly kept secret of the three previous photos, all of which are new ports for our list. Kochi, Japan (perhaps the worst kept secret given the welcome banner from the port greeters) Aburatsu, Japan Miyakojima - Hirara, Japan This brings us up to 14 seen ports in Japan, bumping off Brazil for the number 10 spot in the top 10 countries seen. 625 ports and cruise-bys overall. And, in case you're reading this thread first today, here is an additional new photo contribution from @martinmct. This unseen port from our list isn't in Japan!

Here is a third port, also unseen and not on our unseen list, courtesy of @martinmct. Again, if you'd like the challenge, don't look at the Queen Elizabeth position thread for the giveaway.

Thanks for your Kagoshima photo. That is a much better view than the webcams that @bluemarble and I found of that port. Interestingly, since your QE port call there, there has been a partial eruption of the Sakurajima volcano. Volcanic ash was spread over the eastern part of Kyushu. Here are two web sites with some photos. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/08/national/sakurajima-eruption-kagoshima/ https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=282080

Here are two photos of two unseen ports that are courtesy of @martinmct, who is aboard QE and has kindly given me permission to copy and paste these photos here for our game. This first photo will be a bit obvious... 🙂 This second port might be a little harder. If you want a challenge, please do not read the latest posts in the "Queen Elizabeth position" thread which will give it away. Thanks again @martinmct!! Best wishes for the remainder of your voyage.

Many thanks @martinmct!! I hope you have been having a fun and enjoyable voyage. Would it be okay if I repost your Kochi and Aburatsu photos in the "Where in the World" thread? It will give us two more ports that we can add to our list.

I'm afraid I can't comment on texture. My mum's cooking similarly ruined any enthusiasm I might have developed for the more obscure bits of animals. I do enjoy a good cumberland sausage, though, which is kind of ironic given the mixed lineage of sausage ingredients.