sfred

For other fans of cargo cranes who have any remaining eyesight, here is the largest collection of cranes I think I've ever photographed, taken from the deck of a Cunard ship upon departure. This is an already seen (and frequently visited) Cunard port.

Definitely agreed that particular stretch extends way too far. But I enjoyed reading about the varied history of the Parthia. She had a few other owners and roles in between Cunard and Alaska Steamship Company, including with the Canadian Pacific Railway. I was also unsuccessful in finding direct Cunard historical proof for Seattle. There must be something, though. I might return to the quest at some pont.

It is a big stretch, but the Cunard liner Parthia later became the SS Victoria of the Alaska Steamship Company, and was based in Seattle. The ship's history is in the below link. https://seattle.fandom.com/wiki/SS_Victoria

Excellent! A Cunard port with cargo cranes. Well, here goes another few percentages of my eyesight. This looks like Lyttelton, New Zealand, the port for Christchurch. There's a good match to the green cranes.

QE is in Hualien, Taiwan today (13 April 2023), potentially a maiden call to this port. I looked for a webcam of her arrival, but could not find any coverage of the port area. If anyone is aboard who can post a photo either here or over in the "Where in the World" thread, very much appreciated.

Thanks @Solent Richard! Ports 615 and 616 added to the list.

According to Marine Traffic, QE's next port after Manila is Hualien, Taiwan, arriving 13 April at 6am local time. If correct, I think this is another unseen port, not currently on either our seen or unseen lists. If anyone currently aboard QE could contribute a photo, in addition to @bluemarble's query about Puerto Princesa, it would be most appreciated. In my past work travels, I visited Taipei and Taichung several times, but I never made it to the east coast of Taiwan where Hualien is located, or the Shei-Pa National Park. It is supposed to be very scenic with spectacular mountains and river valleys.

I missed noticing that stop on QE's itinerary also! Good catch, @bluemarble. There was an article in the local newspaper about QE's arrival: https://palawan-news.com/ms-queen-elizabeth-passengers-try-traditional-filipino-tinikling-dance-at-puerto-princesa-port/ And someone posted a Youtube video of QE's departure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKJdTeHvFOo As of this morning (Tuesday 11 April here) QE is currently in Manila Bay. Deja vu from the long stay there during the covid pause in operations.

With the addition of Cardiff to the seen ports list, we're now up to five ports in Wales. For those with a better knowledge of local languages, what would be the primary spoken language in each place, English or Welsh? Based on earlier discussions here in Where in the World, I had English for Milford Haven and Llandudno, and Welsh for Holyhead. Is that correct? And, what should I assign for Cardiff and Fishguard? Cardiff,UK,Wales,Europe,North,West,TRUE,TRUE,English Fishguard,UK,Wales,Europe,North,West,TRUE,TRUE,English Holyhead,UK,Wales,Europe,North,West,TRUE,TRUE,Welsh Llandudno,UK,Wales,Europe,North,West,TRUE,TRUE,English Milford Haven,UK,Wales,Europe,North,West,TRUE,TRUE,English

The "Where in the World" game here on the Cunard board has some great photos of South America ports, glaciers, and cruise-bys. You can search by the port name to find the specific photos. This is the list of South America ports that have been "seen": Alter do Chao, Brazil Amalia Glacier, Chile Arica, Chile Armacao Dos Buzios, Brazil Belem, Brazil Buenos Aires, Argentina Cape Horn, Chile Cartagena, Colombia Coquimbo, Chile Devil's Island, French Guiana Fortaleza, Brazil Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Guayaquil, Ecuador Jamestown, St Helena Lima (Callao), Peru Macapa, Brazil Maceio, Brazil Manaus, Brazil Manta, Ecuador Montevideo, Uruguay Parintins, Brazil Pio X Glacier, Chile Port Stanley, Falkland Islands Puerto Madryn, Argentina Puerto Montt, Chile Punta Arenas, Chile Recife, Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Salvador de Bahia, Brazil San Andres Island, Colombia San Antonio, Chile Santarem, Brazil Santos, Brazil Ushuaia, Argentina Valparaiso, Chile

...but an excellent photo! Thanks for posting.

And, just to complete the geographies, for Australia the email is shareholderbenefit@carnivalaustralia.com It may also be useful to cc this address - cunard.aspac@carnivalaustralia.com. Sometimes the shareholderbenefit address incorrectly sends Australia requests to the US sb@cunard.com, where in my experience they fall into a black hole.and are never heard from again. Involving cunard.aspac seems more reliably to enable correct local processing by shareholderbenefit@carnivalaustralia.com. Although the Cunard Australia website says to email shareholderbenefits@carnivalukgroup.com, in my experience that goes to the same black hole as sb@cunard.com. The Carnival US and UK addresses seem to filter out Australia emails and do not even generate an automated 'message received' reply. @lissie, where do you send your NZ requests?

Thanks @Victoria2. I had forgotten that @roscoe39 was also aboard QV for 2020 South America voyage. My apologies. He does indeed do an outstanding blog!

There were several of us on all or parts of QV's 2020 South America voyage. Mrs. sfred and I were aboard from Rio to Santiago. Others included @carlmm, @Bell Boy, @Palmeat, and @Dogtanian20. I'm sure Ive missed others - my apologies. One blog here on Cruise Critic was @Dogtanian20's posts - a link is copied below. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2729733-queen-victoria-south-america-trip-blog/ Best wishes for 2025 - very exciting! Let us know any questions you have.

Good reminder, thanks. And irons. The iron surfaces can get a little burnt so particularly if pressing a light coloured garment you might want to bring a pressing cloth.

These are on QM2, but QE's are the same

No charge, and free detergent. QE also apparently got new machines during the recent Singapore drydock.

QE is at the Marina Bay Singapore cruise terminal today for embarkation. Spectrum of the Seas is moored on the other side of the pier. Best wishes to anyone boarding today for the trip to Japan.

@exlondoner, do you know if there are regular assigned staffing times for QM2's grills terrace? My impression was that it was rather random, depending on weather, wind, moon phase, heads/tails flip of a staffing coin, etc., As a result we rarely go there when in grills on QM2. I didn't know QM2 did ice cream like QV/QE does, for example. Good to know for a future voyage if wandering in the vicinity around 3ish. To bring this back to the OP's original question, I haven't seen any electric power points available on the QM2 grills terrace. In my experience, the WiFi is pretty good there, and with a charged battery on your phone or tablet it can be a pleasant place to sign in on a warmer day if QM2 has a bow wind and the grills area is protected.

Yes, there is waiter service at the outside Grills terrace on QM2 (at the aft end of Deck 11). It isn't staffed all the time, and when open the Cunard person assigned often looks a little lonely. From memory, the "bar" operates as an ice cooler/trolley stocked with higher potential items, and I imagine the waiter goes off to fetch other items. I don't recall there being food or snacks, only drinks, but I might have overlooked something. And yes, it is unfortunately underwhelming in comparison to the better Grills Deck 12 on QE and QV.

...And now turned around and heading back southwest, dropping down a few knots.

QE is slightly offshore from Singapore this morning, heading eastbound in rather crowded traffic lanes. Looks like some sea trials are planned for today after the drydock in Sembawang.

That was my other guess. There's a match to the street lamps along the waterfront in the park near the aquarium. Well done, @ExArkie. Honolulu also greatly increased the chances of the ship being QV.

I have another possible match for the street lamp and buildings. I'll try again tomorrow.

Hi @NancyDrew1953. The QM2 PG desk, and its electrical power points, is at the side of the bed. A screen shot from the Cunard website is below. This location can sometimes be a bit cramped when sitting at the desk, but is probably much more convenient for a CPAP machine cord. The desk has two UK power points, and four US.