bluemarble

Information about the dry dock schedule transcribed from a letter from the captain posted on social media. ==================== Dear Guest(s), We would like to share some important information with you regarding our stay in Cadiz, Spain on Monday, 2 January to Wednesday 4 January and what you can expect. Getting ashore All guests will be required to use the shuttle bus service between the ship and the port gate, no walking through dry dock area is permitted. Guests must stay within the defined foot path between the ship and the shuttle bus pick up. Shore excursions will depart from the port gate, guests will need to use the shuttle service between the ship and the port gate. Monday, 2 January 2023 12.00pm - Queen Victoria will enter stern first into Navantia dry dock in Cadiz, Spain. 3.00pm - Queen Victoria is expected to be sitting on the blocks and the remaining water in the dry dock will be pumped out. 5.00pm - We will expect to have a gangway in position for guests to be able to go ashore, the gangway is located on Deck 1 grand lobby on the port side. 10.00pm - All the water will be pumped out of the dock and work will commence on changing the blade. Complementary shuttle service will run between the Ship and the Port gate from 5.00pm to 10.00pm and a reduced service between 10.00pm and 8.00am (3 January). ADA Shuttle bus will be available between 5.00pm and 10.00pm. Tuesday, 3 January 2023 Queen Victoria will remain on the blocks and work will take place on the blade. Complementary shuttle service will run between the Ship and the Port gate 8.00am to 10.00pm and a reduced service between 10.00pm and 8.00am (4 January). ADA shuttle bus will be available from 8.00pm and 10.00pm Last bus from the port gate to Queen Victoria will be at 8.00am on the 4 January. Wednesday, 4 January 2023 9.00am - All guests are required to be back on board, and the gangway will be removed, shortly after we will start the flood up of the dock. 12.00pm - 2.00pm - Queen Victoria will sail out of the drydock and head out to sea on route to Southampton. We thank you for your understanding as we carry out this essential piece of maintenance, and hope that you thoroughly enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity for most guests to admire Queen Victoria out of water. Warmest regards, Tomás Connery Captain MV Queen Victoria

QV has been in Madeira the past couple days for the New Year festivities. Here is a capture from one of the webcams found at "www.madeira-web.com" a few minutes ago showing QV at the far right in the Funchal anchorage along with some of the fireworks display.

Here's what the instructions state at https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/50351a91-4dc0-4f6b-bfec-684647e6129f (emphasis mine). "Please provide by email, fax or by mail your complete legal name, reservation/booking number, ship and sailing date, along with proof of ownership of Carnival Corporation or Carnival plc shares (for example, photocopy of shareholder proxy card, a dividend tax voucher or a current brokerage or nominee statement with your current mailing address and your brokerage account number blacked out) ...". I must say I haven't paid close enough attention in the past since I've only blacked out the brokerage account number on the statements that I've submitted. Edit to add: I think the part about blacking out your current mailing address is relatively new. I don't see that in older versions of the instructions.

After ringing in the new year on Viking Orion at Cabo San Lucas last year, it's going to be a quieter evening at home this year. We will be watching the antics of AC2 (Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen) broadcasting from Times Square, New York for the ball drop again this year. Their show even manages to provide a bit of quirky (faux-)British humor with cameo appearances by their man on the street, Richard Quest.

I'll list some items I've forgotten or almost forgotten to take on various trips. Most of these are "duh" of course, but I've managed to slip up or almost slip up on these on occasion. Power cords for all devices Power adapters for US to UK/Europe plugs Ear buds/headphones for cell phone (especially for inflight entertainment) Rain poncho Copies of passport and credit/debit card information

I haven't been keeping close enough tabs on webcam sightings lately. QE is in Lyttelton today. Here is a capture this afternoon showing QE on the Inner Harbour West webcam found on the Lyttelton Port Company website at "lpc.co.nz/cams/inner_harbour.jpg". I am copying the image here per my understanding of their Terms of Use policy including acknowledgment that the image is the intellectual property of and is owned by the Lyttelton Port Company.

I think I've figured out your itinerary. Several sites show you scheduled for Santa Cruz de La Palma on December 29th.

The original itinerary I have indicates you were scheduled to call at Gran Canaria on December 29th. Apparently that was changed at some point that I missed. What is on your itinerary now for December 29th?

Starting a booking for two passengers on the Cunard website lists the Britannia Single Oceanview category with the message "! Unfortunately this stateroom isn't available for 2 guest(s)." If you pursued the matter with Cunard, I imagine you would not get very far because of likely restrictions on the lifeboat space allocated for those cabins.

The layout of that unnamed bar on the deck plan does align quite well with this image from the email and a similar image posted on the Bright Lights Society page of the Cunard website found at https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/inspiration/queen-anne/bright-lights-society.

Yes, that's it. The Christmas tree was along the Malecón in Puerto Vallarta and the church interior is indeed from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church there. Sorry, @sfred, those photos weren't from our recent QM2 cruise to the Caribbean where you had been concentrating your investigation. Rather they were taken during our cruise to the Mexican Riviera on Viking Orion over last Christmas and New Year.

It would have been interesting if we had been able to visit this church a few weeks earlier for the festivities leading up to December 12th.

Feliz Navidad is the appropriate clue. I suppose it would have been more correct if I had punctuated it as "¡Feliz Navidad!"

Feliz Navidad! Here's another photo with a Christmas theme taken in a prominent church at the same location as that Christmas tree.

I don't know how it works in the UK, but in the US I'm not sure you necessarily even have to be a past passenger to get the Cunard ecard via email. I used to get them at the regular email address I use for all my Cunard bookings. Then a few years ago I stopped getting any Cunard marketing material at that email address including the Christmas card. I don't think I did anything to opt out. I tried several attempts to sign back up via the "Sign up for special offers" link on the Cunard website to no avail. Only when I signed up for special offers using a different email address (which I never use for anything else with Cunard) did I start receiving marketing emails and the Christmas ecard at that new email address. So now I have one email address I use for all my bookings with Cunard and a separate email address where I receive marketing email and the Christmas ecard. Since all I ever gave them was my name when I signed up using the new email address, it seems a bit of a stretch that they've associated that new email address with my past voyage history (but then who knows).

2022

Our Cunard Christmas ecard arrived a few hours ago. It's the same image as above but cropped top and bottom to make it square. I'll post our complete e-card (including the additional marketing) on my tally of Cunard Christmas e-cards called "Cunard Christmas ecard images from years past."

Following @sogne's lead, here's a Christmas tree photo I can contribute from a port we've already seen.

To find the vintage group, look for "vintage transatlantic crossings". Note this isn't specifically a dance group.

Correct. That's the view from the "SingReef Downtown Singapore Coastal View" webcam. It's showing QE there the morning of October 30, 2022. Apparently the AXA Tower is/was considered to be the tallest "cylindrical" building in the world.

Good. I was hoping the "My Cunard" functionality would work for you if you needed to check on a future booking. In the past I've found that functionality is able to recognize which country the booking reference number is for and automatically directs you to the correct site for that booking when you log in.

Yeah, that's the "My Account" functionality which no longer works for the US as far as I know. If you manage to stumble onto a link that tries to take you there on the US Cunard website, it just tells you the following. "Unfortunately, My Account Login and Registration are currently undergoing maintenance repairs. Please know our teams are working hard to get My Account Login and Registration up and running again. If you have questions regarding your Cunard World Club account or loyalty status, please call Customer Service at (800) 728-6273." It has been that way for over a year now. It seems clear their teams are not working particularly hard to get "My Account" working again in the US.

Are you trying to "Log in to My Account" from "Manage my booking"? That functionality does use email addresses, but that does not apply to the US. We don't have the "My Account" functionality in the US. Or I should say we don't have it any more.

The only way I know to get to the US Cunard website while onboard is to use a VPN that makes it look like you are located in the US. I haven't dug into the details of the onboard wifi, but it is presumably making it look like you are accessing the internet from the UK (or some other location that directs you to the UK Cunard website). If you don't have VPN software installed on the device you are using, I imagine it could be a challenge to download and install one using the ship's wifi. I'm not sure I'm following the part about it not recognizing your email. I wasn't aware of functionality on the US Cunard website that uses email addresses other than to sign up for Cunard's special offers email mailing list.

Hint: The building in the center of this image blocking a large portion of the view is claimed to be the tallest building of its shape in the world. It is the 16th tallest building in this city overall. It is currently being demolished to be replaced by what will become the tallest building in this city.