JT1101

Another "Odd Duck" feature occurred to me - the Sunday morning service and the Bible Study. 

I love sailing QM2 in December, and the Sunday Morning Service is a highlight of that day. While being Interdenominational the feel is rather old school Anglican and the readings and hymns are appropriate for being on the sea. The Bible Study is a small group gathering of a more informal nature and being in December tends to be looking at Christmas related verses - one year I was aboard we had a surprise Study member on one of the mornings - Captain Wells. 

These sound like small things but they are all part of what makes Cunard Cunard. In this case these are parts of the onboard activities and enrichments which Cunard leans into pretty hard. 

They changed the coffee in Kings Court from the big silver units? I always liked the coffee in King's Court when I would come in after doing laps on deck and just sit and relax in one of those side window spaces, sip coffee and look out at the Promenade. 

The rowdier behaviors I think tend not to happen on Cunard ships because of the more formal atmosphere and the imbuement of history and tradition into everything. It sort of leads to self selection by guests. 

Probably Stateroom for there Non-Grills and Suites for Grills?

They can only do stateroom replacement on decks 8 or higher and mostly balcony anyway. The lower levels would entail cutting into the hull and interior rooms would entail pulling a lot more stuff out. I would guess the deck 8 work was aimed at accessing wiring and or pipe/duct work. The staterooms can be refurbished in place as described earlier. 

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

I think 'party ship' all depends on a subjective definition.

 

I have been on cruises where parts of the itinerary were two and four day shorties and on our last cruise, I would say the last four days qualified for my definition of a party cruise.

Definitely a different vibe!

Yep! Generally speaking a party ship is one like Carnival or Virgin like to do where you have big parties going on every night on deck that frequently are also raves. Cunard parties tend to be more "refined". 

7 hours ago, babs135 said:

Agree very much with this sentiment.  We've sailed on some of these gigantics of the sea (!) and whilst I freely admit that we did enjoy the cruises - please don't shoot me - we have always returned to Cunard where we feel very much at home.  Only 3 weeks until we board the Queen Victoria, but who's counting?!!

Don't worry no shooting. Of course other cruise lines can be enjoyable and they pursue their chosen audiences the best ways they know how - as does Cunard. Cunard is our "Odd Duck" simply because it's chosen path has been one that embraces the history and traditions, embraces elegance and is not going for either the "theme park" or "party" ship experiences. 

Except that it DID refer to the passengers as early as Queen Mary and possibly earlier. 

Cunard is in many ways the "odd duck" in the world of passenger lines. For example:

 - You won't find water parks, go carts  or other theme park items on a Cunard ship. Cunard leans into the classical passenger ship motifs of decor and layout. 

 - Cunard ships don't fall into the "party ship" category (Hopefully this stays true with Queen Anne). The activity focus is more on old school cruise items with an emphasis on enrichment programmes. 

 - Cunard embraces a kind of "formalism" and respect for history and traditions. All of their ships have a bit of a feel of a museum in places. They have a real history and share it openly. They take their formal nights seriously. 

Also...

 - Cunard has a fantastically high repeat rate (guests who sail Cunard over and over). They also have a phenomenon where you are seeing multiple generations sailing Cunard (they sail it, their parents sailed it and so on). 
 - Cunard has its own subculture. There is a whole thread here about what a Cunarder is (the nickname goes back to Queen Mary). The stability of the crew on the ships leads to people knowing the crew and vice versa. 

Sure we'll kvetch on here about things we see we feel could be better; but even that shows we care. We have an investment that is not monetary. 

Just some thought about our odd duck - and in part why it is the best!
 

I've done four December Transatlantics. Figure the air temperature will usually be in the low 40s (Fahrenheit) but you will also have energetic seas and an inherent wind chill going on from the wind generated by the ship's passage. So I agree with the layering up approach as opposed to a big, thick coat. Emphasis on waterproof and also include a hat. 

As I noted in other threads I made the mistake once of doing promenade laps in fairly energetic weather wearing my leather jacket - which got soaked with seawater along with me. Thankfully the ship's laundry was able to save it by treating it for seawater.

Hope that helps. 

Basically Cunard's website comes off like it was designed by people who don't use browsers. And there are other aspects of their booking operation that need to improve. However their experience at sea is marvelous and that is what counts. 

I have booked usually by phone direct to Cunard - it seems to work the best. I'm sure a good Travel Agent is also a good choice. 

6 hours ago, exlondoner said:

In an article by Stephen Payne in Ships Monthly, it says that in an evaluation after Covid it was found that 18 ships contributed only 3% of Carnival’s revenues, and they were culled. Isn’t it good none of them were Cunarders?

IIRC Carnival has a total of 91 ships (I think, could be higher). So an average money-making ship would contribute 1.09% of the total. In 2022 Cunard's three ships contributed almost 4.6% of venue (they actually beat P&O who has 10 ships). So on average each Cunard ship put forward 1.53% of the total revenue. Just high level approximations of course. 

I wouldn't hold your breath on them rewiring every stateroom on the ship just to put USB ports next to beds (especially when USB is on its way out as a technology in favor of USB 3 / Thunderbolt which uses a different connector). Now when it comes time for the big midlife redo? Who knows? 

One of my favorite hangouts later in the day after the show was actually in one of those side tables in King's Court - you know the ones that overlook the Promenade. Especially when there is wilder weather I'd sit in there, sip hot tea and just enjoy the world and the majesty of the elements. 

I also liked being in the Golden Lion in the evenings. And hanging in Sir Samuel's in the late morning for one of the wonderful hot cocoa's. 

11 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

Yes, Queen Victoria was in drydock at Harland & Wolff in Belfast from May 2 to May 22, 2022. That was just prior to her return to service on June 5, 2022. Similar I suppose to QM2's previous drydock from August 27 to September 26, 2021 at Damen Shiprepair in Brest to get her ready for her return to service in November 2021.

Yes, QM2 brief stop in Brest was to get her reactivated. This last one was essentially the one she was supposed to have in 2020 but then the lockdowns happened. 

Remember that this was not a refit on the scale of Hamburg in 2016 - it was shorter in time for one thing. Cunard usually alternates its dry-docks in major/minor sequence. They did have to break that a bit because of the shutdowns so this is probably the delayed minor refit she was originally supposed to get in 2020. They did do some minor work when she was reactivated but this feels like the deferred dry dock. 

If we see she is out of service for a longer spell in, say, 2026 then that will be the big midlife reconditioning for something like 6-8 weeks. 

I also wish Cunard would be more specific about what the refits are doing but they seem to have stopped doing that for any of the ships for a while now. They just go into dry dock, emerge and reenter service. 

I'm a bit off of track on the others, but I've been assuming this is the refit QM2 was supposed to have in 2020 but the pandemic messed up. Are Victoria and Elizabeth also due for dry dock?

More memories:

I remember entering my stateroom and finding a bottle of champagne and a complimentary dinner for two in the Verandah compliments of Cunard. I even asked what the occasion was and was told just showing appreciation. 

I also remember one of the ship's photographers giving me pointers on how to take good pictures on a ship, even though that kind of hampers her potential income. She told me to hold the camera in one hand and use the other to either hold a rail or against a wall to get my motion aligned with the ship. Worked beautifully and I learned later how to brace to use two hands on the camera. 

8 hours ago, neeuqdrazil said:

Boarding for the first time and immediately feeling as though I had come home. Having the same feeling every time I've boarded her since. 

 

Doing laundry in my ball gown on gala night (very few people want to do laundry on gala night, as it turns out, which makes it a very convenient time to sneak in a load.)

 

(And now I'm curious - what does French Toast mean in the UK?) 

I learned that American French Toast is called "eggy bread". 

I had ordered French Toast on the Queen and got this easy dish:

 

All my trips have been in December and I love being out in the weather! Waves, 40s temps and Beaufort Scale 7+ windspeeds don't deter me. 

First let's be clear the ship is not going anywhere. This is just for us to share with others memories we have made on this remarkable ship:

I remember the friends I have made who still are with me today. They span the whole age, locale and other gamuts. 

I remember learning what French Toast means in the UK as opposed to the USA (I'm American). 

I remember the trip where Stephen Payne was speaking and when he appeared in the program the attendance for the Cunard Insights speaker (from the New York Times) plummeted as everyone flocked to hear Payne, causing a standing room only crowd in Illuminations. 

I remember talking about marine diesels for probably an hour with Captain Philpin in King's Court of all places. It was later at night and for some reason he came through. 

I remember my first trip with Captain Hashmi in 2018 near Christmas (the one with all the storms) and how I did something not the wisest - laps on the promenade with frequent stops to look over the side in adventurous weather. Wound up drenched in seawater from the spray and shivering (too much loss of core heat). Went inside and one of the King's Court attendants saw me, took me to a seat and got me hot tea with lemon to help me heat back up. We chatted a bit and I said I was heading back to my stateroom to change out of the drenched clothing. 

When I got there my steward was eating with a laundry bag to take the sodden clothes (and leather jacket) to get cleaned and the leather treated for salt water. Obviously the attendant at King's Court who had my name called Housekeeping who paged my steward. Over and above the call!

There are more memories, how about you? 

Yes I understood the effect they were going for and it was okay.

The first time I sailed I did not understand about the onboard laundry or cleaning services and foolishly packed for every day I was onboard or away (8 days). After that trip I realized I could travel much lighter because of cleaning and just pack 1/2 of the days plus one now (the plus one is to allow time for cleaning). 

Well we soon will see what they did in the dry dock.

Yep. They will be flooding the dock soon and getting her reloaded and provisioned so she can make her date to return to service.