sfred

QE is in Kochi Japan today. Another unseen port in "Where in the World". And unfortunately another port where I've failed to find a webcam covering the port area.

Back in 2016, on a QV domestic cruise from Sydney with a free QG upgrade from PG, our adjacent tablemates in the restaurant were from country Victoria. The husband of the couple was a sheep farmer by trade, and he arranged with the QG chef to have devilled lamb kidneys for breakfast every morning. I believe they are prepared with mixture of paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper and fried in butter. Not quite my thing, I must admit, but our tablemate on that trip happily devoured them each day. @exlondoner, does this recipe look correct? https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/devilled-lamb-kidneys-recipe

QE is in Aburatsu Japan today, on the eastern shore of Kyushu. I've searched for a webcam showing her arrival, or at the pier, but no luck. There is a webcam located further north in Miyazaki that might record her departure later tonight, although she may be too far offshore by then to appear. Aburatsu is an unseen port in our "Where in the World game, so if anyone here on Cruise Critic happens to be aboard and can post a photo, it would be much appreciated.

What a great walk the High Line is! Mrs. sfred and I try to do it anytime we pass through NYC. Other cities are trying to replicate the experience. I saw a good article recently about one being developed in Singapore along an old colonial-era railroad right of way. I wish we had something like it in Brisbane.

That was what I was thinking too. Chelsea piers / Pier 57?

On our November trip we had one of those 315 days it does rain. It is a charming place, regardless.

A sunny clear day in Bergen? Looks wonderful!

I think this may have been our first video contribution of a port/cruise-by in "Where in the World". Thanks @Sue-B. If I hadn't caught the glimpse of the lighthouse at 8 seconds, I would have had no idea where to start. From a long distance, the Isle of May has a roughly similar outline to Pladda, hence my initially incorrect guess. This is port number 622 in the game, and number 61 in the UK, 25 of which are in Scotland.

A new day here in Australia, so a fresh turn in the game. I think you are having your sandwich on the Isle of Arran, Scotland, and the island and lighthouse at the 8 second point of the video is the Pladda lighthouse just offshore? Perhaps you were nearby to the dinosaur footprint?

We've found the QM2 PG/QG concierges to be good, and able to do anything we otherwise would have gone to the pursers desk for (when in rower class). QV was a little more irregular, in our experience. The desk was often unstaffed, so we typically pursued any queries through other means. QE somewhere in between. Enjoy your TA, @NE John!

Ah - I think I see what I did wrong. Having used my guess for today, I'll have another try tomorrow unless someone else is able to identify it in the meantime.

Best wishes for a great time!! Alesund was cancelled due to nasty weather on our QM2 Norway trip back in November. Nice photo of QM2. I'm envious!

Thanks @Sue-B. Nice video. At the 8-second point in the video, there's a view of an island and lighthouse off in the distance. There's a google image from a boat approaching Isle of May, Scotland that's an approximate match, so I'll kick things off and guess that cruise-by location this morning.

There is a USB on the television. Two downsides to using it, however: 1) The TV is mounted on the bulkhead wall, so there is no shelf or other place to rest a phone or tablet while charging. If your cord extends all the way to the floor, you could put your device on the floor but then risk stepping on it or tripping over the cord. 2) The TV USB port is low power (it is really there as a way of viewing content on a USB memory stick although I don't know whether Cunard enables that), so it takes forever to charge a device. Devices requiring very high power can actually still drain the battery while plugged in, albeit more slowly.

Confirmed that QE's power point configuration is the same as QV. The right side US power point in @Pushpit's photo is also 115v. There are no Australia/NZ power points anywhere on the ship. We need adaptors to US/UK/Europe. There is a USB on the TV screen which is mounted on the bulkhead wall, but it is a low power USB and there isn't a shelf for placing a phone or tablet.

As @bluemarble has confirmed, it is indeed Kagoshima, and the Sakurajima volcano. It is an impressive sight from the city, especially on a clear day. One of my Japan clients had a regional office in the nearby city of Kumamoto, and one time while working there I went to Kagoshima on the weekend and walked up to the Yunohira Observation Deck. The volcano is still active and usually emits visible smoke and water vapor. This was long before camera phones, so I don't have any photos of my own. Here is the uncropped webcam with the location/date banner.

That's true, but for Cunard ships it is almost always the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) at Circular Quay. Sydney can take cruise ships at four locations: 1. The OPT. 2. White Bay Terminal. The problem is that White Bay is on the other side of the Harbour Bridge and none of the Cunard Queens can fit under the bridge. White Bay is only used by smaller ships. 3. Neutral Bay anchorage. If more than one large ship is in Sydney at the same time, one will dock at OPT and the other will anchor and tender. However the tenders go to the OPT. 4. Very rarely, large ships have used the Australian navy facility at Garden Island but this is indeed rare. One of the other cruise lines (I forget which) had a scheme to convert a cargo pier in Botany Bay to take cruise ships but that idea seems to have been abandoned. So, as @bluemarble indicated based on the port schedule you will be at the OPT.

Sorry... it's in Asia but not Indonesia.

Yes, even limiting a search to just Asia leaves a lot of countries and cities with volcanos. An additional hint is that both my and @bluemarble's webcam photos were taken recently. I think Stamford as a Cunard port must date back to when they had much smaller ships like Sea Goddess 1/2, or Vistafjord or Sagafjord. Perhaps @Colin_Cameron or @bluemarble know which ship called at Stamford which got it onto our port list? I can't see any of the current Queens venturing that far west in Long Island Sound. Any photo will do, really, although ideally one with a nautical theme or some prominent landmark?

You're in the correct region of the world, and the geographic feature is in fact an active volcano. But, sorry, it is not Surabaya.

Here's a webcam of a new port from our unseen list. Apologies that I could not find a camera that covered the cruise terminal in this location. But the webcam of the city and its prominent geographic feature in the distance was taken on the day that a Cunard ship was in this port. I've cropped the date/time/location banner at the bottom that would be a giveaway.

I found the photos I had of our port welcomes for QM2 in Nagasaki (March 2017), and QE in Aomori (May 2019). The students and gathered city residents were very enthusiastic, talented, and enjoyable. They provided excellent first impressions of the ports.

FYI, the light blue "Hakata" sign refers to the ward within the overall city of Fukuoka where the cruise terminal is located. Kind of like a council or a borough. I really like those Japanese port welcomes. They often feature a local school or community group, and they really seem be enthusiastic. I have some photos somewhere in archive folders of port welcomes for QM2 in Nagasaki, and QE in Aomori. I'll try to dig them out for a future posting. At airports, there's also a wave goodbye from the ground staff as your plane is pushing back and taxiing away. By my count, Fukuoka is port number 620 in the game, and number 10 in Japan. Thanks again, @alc13, for taking the time to share the photos during your holiday. Best wishes for safe travels home.

Here is a webcam I found of QE's arrival at Kanazawa that morning. The cruise terminal in @alc13's photo is off QE's port bow. Looks like it was a much nicer day than the call to Akita.

You probably won't have to look too hard. There are few better places in the world than Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market. An amazing range of seafood. Mrs. sfred joined me once on one of my work trips to Tokyo, and we went together to the fish market on the weekend. One of the vendors gave us several slices of salmon cut fresh from the fish. Yum! 🐟🐟🐟