bluemarble

Correct. I couldn't resist posting that one right away since New Plymouth is a port we haven't seen yet on this thread. It isn't on our unseen ports list since this is not only a maiden call for QE, as far as I know this is the first time any Cunard ship has called there. Until today, New Plymouth has not been a Cunard port. That image is from the "Chimney North-East View" webcam on the Primo website at primo.nz. They host a variety of webcam images around the New Plymouth area.

Here's a webcam capture showing a Cunard ship at a port we have not seen yet and is not on our unseen ports list.

Ah, yes. Thanks. Here is your photo of QV anchored at Ny-Alesund. It was identified as "Ny Alesund" (without the hyphen) which is why I didn't find it originally.

To recap past northern contributions, I think these are the two northernmost locations on our "seen" list. This photo from @sogne is Kongsfjorden, Spitsbergen/Svalbard at about 79° 1′ North. This photo from @Colin_Cameron is Magdalenefjorden, Spitsbergen/Svalbard at about 79° 34′ North. Interestingly, I can't seem to find any photo of the port of Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen/Svalbard itself posted on this thread. Perhaps I added Ny-Alesund to our seen ports list simply because that would have been the port of call for one or both of these photos. It would be great if @sogne, @Colin_Cameron or anyone else could post a photo showing Ny-Alesund so that we can say with certainty we've seen that port here.

That's correct. My reference to "Christmas" was a sublte hint because I posted that webcam image less than 24 hours after I captured it. That's from QE's Christmas Day call to Milford Sound this year.

I see the similarity, but no that's not St Lucia.

Here's a webcam contribution to this thread for Christmas. Where in the world is this Cunard ship?

Correct. That's QE arriving at Tauranga earlier this year on January 15th.

On the subject of fortuitous timing for webcam images, here's one I've been saving for a while. I didn't post it earlier since the landmark in this image makes it relatively easy to identify. I'll post it now since the timing was also impeccable for this one. This webcam only refreshes once every fifteen minutes. What were the odds of capturing the ship in this image at all as she sailed past? It's showing a Cunard ship arriving at a port we've seen before. Edit to add: I'm finding a lot of similar views of cruise ships captured by this webcam. Something tells me it's being refreshed when a cruise ship sails by, so my timing probably wasn't so fortuitous after all.

Yes, the timing was serendipitous on that one. Those webcams only refresh about once every seven minutes or so. I was just hoping to get a glimpse of QE on one of them even if only a distant view. But then there she was framed about a well as one could hope for when that particular webcam refreshed.

Correct. That's QE departing Wellington on December 9th after her recent visit there, as seen from one of the Beacon Hill webcams hosted by the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Here's one more to try. This is another webcam capture showing a Cunard ship departing a port we've seen before. Most of the pixelation is in the original webcam image presumably to protect privacy. I've only blurred the black rectangles in the lower corners containing captions and date stamps which would have given it away.

The webcam is located near Cruise Center Altona looking south across the river Elbe. Cruise Center Steinwerder is in the distance at the far right. At the center and left are some of the Blohm+Voss shipyard facilities. That explains the lack of tall buildings in that particular view.

Oh, yes it is. I hadn't noticed that detail. My research tells me that's the U-434 Submarine Museum. Might be something I'd like to check out next time we're in Hamburg. There's a U-boat not too far from our home town; the U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Yes indeed, that's Hamburg. That photo of mine is the view looking toward the east up the river Elbe not long after departing Cruise Center Steinwerder.

That photo does look a bit like Halifax doesn't it? But sorry no, that's not Halifax.

Here's one of my own photos of this same port showing a rainbow as we were departing. This image may be more helpful since at least it's not obscured by raindrops.

No, that's not Belfast either, sorry.

Sorry, no, that's not Southampton.

I've spent the last couple hours taking up the challenge to compare US and UK fares, comparing like-for-like as much as possible. I arbitrarily picked one voyage on each of the four ships departing January 2025 and one voyage on each of the four ships departing July 2025 (for a total of eight voyages). I examined the fares for both Princess Suites and Queens Suites between the Cunard US and Cunard UK websites. I let Cunard pick the least expensive cabin in those categories and in every case both the US and UK websites picked the same cabin for me on the same voyage. On the US website, I selected the "Explore with More" fare when available. That fare is generally less than the "Cunard" fare and offers perks such as OBC and a free meal voucher in the Kings Court/Lido Alternative Dining venue (a value of $20 per person). That's in addition to the Grill Suite Offer which provides the pre-paid Hotel and Dining Service Charge and the Drinks Package up to $12 per drink. On the UK website, I selected the "Cunard" fare which is all that's available for Grill Suite Bookings. I am factoring in the extra OBC that is currently being offered on UK bookings. All these calculations are per cabin based on double occupancy. I've reduced all these calculations to the average net cost per night across all eight of the voyages I examined. OK, enough of the preliminaries. Here is what I found. Princess Suite (US) Average fare/night = $1,149.53 - Average OBC/night = $21.12 - Average value of Meal Voucher/night = $4.56 Average net cost/night (US) = $1,123.85 (not counting drinks package value) Princess Suite (UK) Average fare/night = £718.52 Average fare/night in US$ (at £1 = $1.27) = $912.52 - Average OBC/night = $95.14 + Hotel and Dining Service Charge/night = $33.00 Average net cost/night (UK) in US$ = $850.38 Queens Suite (US) Average fare/night = $1,498.20 - Average OBC/night = $26.24 - Average value of Meal Voucher/night = $4.56 Average net cost/night (US) = $1,467.40 (not counting drinks package value) Queens Suite (UK) Average fare/night = £974.36 Average fare/night in US$ (at £1 = $1.27) = $1,237.44 - Average OBC/night = $129.18 + Hotel and Dining Service Charge/night = $33.00 Average net cost/night (UK) in US$ = $1,141.26

Here's one that would be easy if it weren't for the rain. It still may be fairly easy with the rain. This is a webcam image showing a Cunard ship at a port we've seen before.

I was about to post this quote from the "Alternative dining" section of the "Dining" page in My Cunard as the answer to your question. This has been our past experience with how it works. "Bookable from 14 days before departure." But then I see bookings are open for our QM2 14-night round trip crossing next June within the "Dining" section of My Cunard. Or I should say the first seven evenings of that voyage are bookable in the Kings Court Alternative Dining venue. They are showing Bamboo for the first four evenings and Coriander for the next three evenings. Nothing showing yet for the final seven evenings. So, I'm not sure how they determine when bookings open for Alternative Dining now.

Just to make sure we're clear about the changes to QM2's world voyage itinerary, those changes so far do not involve an alteration to her route. The originally scheduled call to Lisbon has been canceled with the calls to Tenerife, Walvis Bay and Port Elizabeth rescheduled to arrive a day earlier than originally planned. The call to Port Elizabeth is now going to be an overnight to put the rest of the voyage back on the original schedule.

I thought I was going to have to try to find itineraries for Costa Mediterranea to cross-reference with QV's itineraries. In fact I started down that road but wasn't getting very far with that venture. I miss the old "cruisecal" website that had a ship intersect function. Unfortunately that site shut down for good when cruising paused in 2020. Then I thought that building between the two ships looked familiar. Sure enough, I was able to match that building to one of the images in my webcam archives. I think this is Stavanger, Norway. This view is a little bit different from more typical views of ships docked at Stavanger since QV is not docked at the pier furthest in, Strandkaien, but rather at the next pier out, Konserthuskaien. Costa Mediterranea apparently got one of the piers closer in and is passing QV on her way out of port.

Thank you for your latest set of photos. I knew nothing about Louis Cruise Lines in general or Princesa Cypria in particular previously. It's been a good learning experience for me to research that line and ship even if I spent way too much time yesterday trying unsuccessfully to match your photos to Limassol in the process.